“Oh, I’ve found something! I’ve found it! Come quick! Look!” shrieked the littlest Corner House girl.
CHAPTER XX
HOP WONG IS CAUGHT
The others, rushing toward her, found Dot standing near a barrel, flashing upon it the rays from Sammy’s cigar-box lantern.
“What is it, Dot?” asked Ruth. She and the others had been about to give up exploration of the cellar, since nothing had developed. “What have you found and where is it?”
“I don’t know what it is,” Dot answered, “but it’s in that barrel. It’s a—Oh, listen! It’s a noise!” she finally told them.
“A noise!” cried Agnes. “Is that all?”
“Many things start with a noise,” remarked Ruth. “In fact, this whole affair started from a noise in the cellar. Stand back, Dot, and let us see what it is.”
With a more powerful light than Sammy’s improvised lantern, Luke leaned over and peered into the upright barrel. Grouped behind him the others waited anxiously.
Suddenly Luke laughed, and this relieved the strain under which the older ones, at least, were laboring.
“Yes, Dot’s found something all right!” chuckled Luke.