The
walls of the room were wainscotted to the height of four feet or so,
but the recess was bare. There were signs of hinges on one, and of a
bolt on the other of the front edges: it had seemingly been once a
closet, whose door continued the wainscot. There were no signs of
shelves in it; the plaster was smooth.
But Donal was not satisfied. He took a big knife from his pocket,
and began tapping all round. The moment he came to the right-hand
side, there was a change in the sound.
"You don't mind if I make a little dust, my lady?" he said.
"Do anything you please," answered Arctura.
He sought in several places to drive the point of his knife into the
plaster; it would nowhere enter it more than a quarter of an inch:
here was no built wall, he believed, but one smooth stone. He found
nothing like a joint till he came near the edge of the recess: there
was a limit of the stone, and he began at once to clear it. It gave
him a straight line from the bottom to the top of the recess, where
it met another at right angles.
"There does seem, my lady," he said, "to be some kind of closing up
here, though it may of course turn out of no interest to us! Shall I
go on, and see what it is?"
"By all means," she answered, but turned pale as she spoke.
Donal looked at her anxiously. She understood his look.
"You must not mind my feeling a little silly," she said.
Pages:
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442