The younger Corner House girls poked into the dark corners of the cellar.
The investigations of any of them amounted to nothing. Beyond a few places where the dirt cellar bottom appeared to have been dug up—and it was not certain but what Sammy and the little girls had done this—there was nothing unusual to be seen.
“Not even a secret door,” lamented Neale, who rather hoped to find this.
“I guess the man who struck Luke was just a tramp who came into the cellar to get out of the rain,” suggested Hal. “And when he thought he was going to be caught he struck out and ran.”
It seemed this explanation was the only one that would hold.
“But there is still Hop Wong to be accounted for,” observed Agnes.
“He’s a faker, pure and simple,” declared Luke.
“Maybe—and maybe not,” returned the flyaway sister glibly.
At this moment Dot, who had persuaded Sammy to let her take the precious cigar-box lantern, went into a far and dark corner of the cellar to make further search. Suddenly an excited cry came from her.