"Oh, you just wait!" exclaimed Sammy. "I'll find something yet."
But it did not seem that he was going to, at first. Room after room was deserted, the once gay wallpaper hanging in mouldy strips. Broken shutters flapped in the wind, and there was ruin on all sides. In some rooms were bits of broken furniture, and in others only heaps of rubbish.
"I shouldn't like to stay here," said Bob, with a little shiver.
"Me, either," added Frank.
They were up in the top story now, and had found nothing.
"Well, I suppose we may as well go down," spoke Sammy, in disappointed tones. "There's nothing here."
"Unless it's in one of those secret rooms you read about," said Bob. "This mansion looks old enough to have one of those."
Sammy did not reply. He was looking at a spot on the wall, and suddenly he put forth his hand and pressed on a carved bit of moulding.
To his surprise, as well as to the surprise of his chums, the wall seemed to slide away. There was a rumbling sound, and a hole came into view.