The Cubs found themselves in the central living room. One wall had been paneled but the others never had been finished. The main point of interest was a huge fireplace ornamented with imported tiles in an old English hunting scene design.
Crossing to the hearth, Dan gazed curiously up the deep chimney.
“Filled with old bird’s nests,” he reported.
Dan ran a stick part way up the chimney, knocking down some of the debris.
“Hey! Quit it,” Ross commanded. “You’re stirring up an awful dust.”
Dan’s stick had lodged between two loose bricks.
To free it, he reached up and moved the bricks slightly. Much to his astonishment, one of them pulled out.
“This old chimney is falling apart,” he said. “Either that or—”
“Or what?” Brad demanded.
Rather excited, Dan thrust his arm far up the chimney and groped about.