stillness of the old house, save the rattle and bang of the ruined
shutters.

"I'm safe! Safe!" exulted the man, with a cruel chuckle. "Now to bind
him, and hide him in the secret chamber."

He laid Mark down on a pile of bagging in a corner of a room at the
head of the stairs. Then, still glancing behind him, as if fearful of
being observed, the man walked over to a mantlepiece, fumbled about a
bit of carving that adorned the centre, and pressed on a certain spot.
A moment later the mantle seemed to swing out, and there was revealed a
secret room, the existence of which would never have been suspected by
the casual observer.

Taking some of the bags from the pile where the unconscious lad was,
the man made a rude bed in the secret room. Then he carried Mark in,
and placed him in a fairly comfortable position, first taking the
precaution, however, of binding his hands and feet.

"There," whispered the man, when he had finished, "I guess you'll not
get away in a hurry. Now I'll wait until dark, and then I'll give you
something to eat, for I don't want you to starve. But I must keep in
hiding, for, very likely, there'll be a search made for him. Guess I'd
better stay here, and see what happens," and the mysterious man pressed
the spring that sent the mantle back into place again, hiding all
traces of the secret room.

"It's a good thing I stumbled upon this hiding place," he said to
himself. "It couldn't be better for what I want. Now to see what
happens next."