“Hooray!” cried the boy; “that looks good. Now, let’s see, I must be at the bottom of a chimney of some kind. Maybe it has an opening into one of the rooms of the house above. At any rate, it may be possible to climb up it—it’s wide enough. Here goes for a try, anyhow.”
CHAPTER XIX.
NED IS ASTONISHED.
He felt about, and soon made out that the chimney was made of rough stone, with rather wide interstices between each boulder. It was an easy matter to clamber up it, and soon Ned was on his way toward the stars framed by the top of the structure. But when he had reached a height of some ten feet above the cellar floor, a strange thing happened. One of his feet struck a part of the chimney, which gave out a hollow sound. Moreover, the sound was that of wood.
“Guess that there must be a fireplace opening there,” thought the Dreadnought Boy; “evidently, they had it boarded up for the summer, or maybe the chimney was never finished. Guess that must be it. Now, the question is, what lies beyond that board?”
As if in answer to his unspoken thought, he heard, at that moment, a distinct groan coming from the other side of the board.
“That must be Mr. Lockyer,” was the boy’s instant thought; “wonder how tight this board is?”
A hearty kick soon solved the question. The board flew outward into the room with a clatter, and the next instant Ned beheld the face of Channing Lockyer once more. The inventor was seated at a table in a room which, apparently, contained no other furniture beside that and the chair to which, in a close view, it became apparent he was tightly bound. In one corner of the place a lamp, on a high shelf, shed a sickly light.
“Mr. Lockyer!” cried the boy.