“It is five minutes to seven,â€� he said. “They have been gone from here twenty or twenty-five minutes. We must——â€�
Patsy interrupted him.
“I have been searching for a way out of here other than the one by which we entered,� he said. “I haven’t found it.�
“I have,� exclaimed Thomas. “Look!�
He pointed through the opening into the space at the foot of the spiral staircase, for the door formed of the shelves had been left ajar.
A narrow section of the wall across that narrow space had disappeared, revealing a literal hole in the wall. Darkness was beyond it, but neither of the detectives thought of that.
“The act of opening this door opened that one also,� said Nick, as he stepped quickly forward.
They passed along an underground passage which was just wide enough and high enough for one person at a time, and which led, Nick thought, in a southeasterly direction.
“It leads us toward the garage,� was all the comment he made; but after a moment, as they went onward, he added: “It was once a stable, you know, before horses gave place to the choo-choos.�
There was no difficulty of egress at the other end of the passageway; there never is, from the inside of such secret places.