As she kept the lock
well oiled she entered noiselessly, and then locking the door behind
her lighted a candle and commenced her search. On the fifth night she
was rewarded by finding that the center of what looked like a solidly
carved flower in the ornamentation of the mantelpiece gave way under
the pressure of her finger, and at the same moment she heard a slight
click. Beyond this nothing was apparent; and after trying everything
within reach she came to the conclusion that it needed a second spring
to be touched to reveal the entrance.
It took her another three weeks before she found this. It was a slight
projection, about as large as a button, in the inside of the chimney
behind the mantel. Pressing this and the other spring simultaneously,
the bookcase on the left of the fireplace suddenly swung open three or
four inches. For a moment she stood breathless with excitement,
hesitating before she entered; then she swung the bookcase open.
There, as she had expected, was a little room seven feet long by four
deep; but, to her bitter disappointment, it was bare and empty. A few
scraps of paper lay on the ground, but there was no furniture, chest,
or boxes in the room. The revulsion was so great that Mrs. Conway
returned into the library, threw herself into a chair, and had a long
cry. Then she went back into the room and carefully examined the
pieces of paper lying on the ground.
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