"I've no idea.I was sitting in the window of the blue room，resting，when there was a bang，whirligig，fireworks—and here I am，your uninvited guest.""The blue room！"cried Mildred.
"Yes.Did you happen to notice my arrival？I don't mean its lack of dignity，but the direction I came from？""You came from somewhere behind that bed.I saw you strike the mattress and—and bound up again.""To be sure.I remember bounding up again.I—I didn't care to stop，you see.I was anxious to—to—see if baby Jane was all right."Mildred could not repress a smile，while Inez giggledopenly.
"However，"continued the big man，good—humoredly，"the direction affords us a clew.Pardon my absence for a moment while I investigate."He took one of the candles，cautiously made his way overthe couch and stood upon the oak chest at the end of the narrow chamber.Here he was able to examine the heavy planking set in the adobe，through which he had doubtless made his appearance but which now appeared as solid and immovable asthe wall itself.
Runyon's ？rst act was to pass the light of the candle carefully over every joint and edge，with the idea of discovering a spring or hinge.But no such thing seemed to exist.Then he took out his big jackknife and began prying.When a blade snapped he opened another，only to break it in his vain twisting and jabbing.Finally he threw the now useless knife from him and began pounding with his ？sts upon the planking，at the same time shouting with the best voice he could muster.Perhaps the pounding might have been heard had not his friends at that moment been seeking for his mangled form in the garden，among the rose vines.
After listening in vain for a reply，Runyon came back tothe girls，saying：
"This is certainly a singulara occurrence.I came in as easily as I ever did anything in my life，I assure you；but the way out is not so easy.However，we won't have to endure this con？nement long，for the boys are breaking down the wall in two places."Then，in reply to their anxious questioning，he related the incidents of the night：how the discovery was made that Toodlums and her two nurses were missing；of the search throughout the country in automobiles；how the major had heard the "ghost"of baby Jane，which had given them their first intimation of the truth，and of the desperate and vainattempts made to get into the secret chamber.
Mildred，in return，explained the accident that had led to their imprisonment and of their failure to ？nd any means of escape.
"There must be a way out，of course，"she added，"for Se？orCristoval would never invent such clever and complicated ways of getting into this hollow wall without inventing other means of getting out.""True enough，"agreed Runyon；"but I can't see why hethought it necessary to make the means of getting out a secret.These rooms were probably built as hiding—places，and there are at least two separate entrances.But whoever hid here should be master of the situation and have no difficulty in escaping when the danger was over.""Unless，"said Mildred，thoughtfully，"the rooms were also intended as a prison.""Well，perhaps that is it，"said the man."Old Cristovalmay have thought the occasion would arise when he would like to keep one or more prisoners here，so he concealed the exits as carefully as the entrances.Let us admit，young ladies，that it's a ？rst—class prison.But，"his tone changing to one of kindly concern，"how have you stood this ordeala ？You must be worn out with anxiety，and desperately hungry，too."As he gazed into Mildred's face it occurred to him，for the first time，that Jane's new nurse was an interesting girl.
She was not exactly beautiful，but—attractive.Indeed，at that moment Mildred was at her best，despite the night's vigila.The hard，defiant look had left her eyes for the first time in years，driven out by a train of exciting events that had led her to forget herself and her rebellion against fate，at least for the time being.
"We are not very hungry，"she said，smiling at the big，boyish rancher，"but we are thirsty.I'd give anything for a good drink of water.And baby is now devouring the last few drops of her prepared food.When it is gone there is nothinghere that she can eat.""Well，"said he，spurred to action by this report，"I'm going to explore this place carefully，for if we can manage to find a way out it will save Weldon and his men from ruining that wall，and also save time，for the blamed adobe is so hard and thick that it will still require hours for them to make a hole big enough to get us out."
