Putting on more steam, a couple of minutes later Donald also
dashed into the patio; but Strong was nowhere to be seen.
"He must be in the bank," muttered the boy, and he quickly
entered the door.
But Strong had disappeared as completely as though the earth had
opened and swallowed him up.
CHAPTER XXX.
THE MYSTERY SOLVED.
When the opening at the head of the stairs had closed upon Billie
and he realized that he was shut in a subterranean passage, for a
minute his heart sank within him.
He had tried to find an opening at the top of the opposite stairs
and had failed, and he did not know that he would have any better
success in trying to find a way to open the place through which
he had descended.
"Nobody on earth knows that I am down here," he thought, "and
with Santiago sick and maybe dying, no one on earth probably
knows that there is such a passage."
But Billie was not the lad to sit down and cry. He had been in
tight places before and he had an abiding faith in his own
ability to do things. Therefore, he called up his courage and
slowly mounted the stairs leading to Santiago's patio.
At the top of the stairs he found himself confronted by exactly
the same condition as he had found on the opposite side.
Pages:
216
217
218
219
220
221
222
223
224
225
226
227
228
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240