CHAPTER XXIV

The Lost Tunnel

between ten and twelve o'clock, Frank and Joe covered a lot of ground. They hid the car in a grove of trees, then started their search along the north bank of Rocky Run, the side which was nearest the plantation buildings.

"Suppose you look for signs of a tunnel along the shore, Joe," his brother suggested. "I'll keep my eyes open for Franklin trees, or other clues a little distance from the water."

The boys started upstream, carrying a shovel and a spade. Every little crevice among the rocks, every depression in the ground was carefully probed. When an old stone fence indicated they had come to the end of the plantation, Frank and Joe crossed the shallow stream and started back along the opposite shore.

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198 The Secret of the Lost Tunnel

Suddenly Joe became suspicious of a round stone near the water's edge. He called his brother's attention to it.

"I don't believe that rock just happened to be so round," he said. "I'm going to take a look at it." He scanned the brown, pitted stone carefully, then cried out, "It's carved! It says C S A! Maybe the tunnel's underneath here!"

Joe dug deep into the soft ground beneath the stone. Suddenly he stopped.

"Frank, I've hit something!" He tapped the object. "It's wooden."

He and Frank scraped the earth from around the obstacle. Then both halted and looked at each other.

"A soldier's grave," Frank said solemnly.

"Bingham's? The spy?" Joe suggested.

Frank shook his head. "I think not. This rock marked C S A is probably the headstone for an unknown soldier of the Confederate Army."

Joe reverently started to push the dirt back into the hole. "We won't disturb him."

The brothers finished filling the ancient grave and tamped the ground with their feet. Then Frank rolled the stone into place. The boys saluted and silently walked away.

They continued the search, looking at every tree

The Lost Tunnel 199'

and every inch of ground until their necks ached. Finally Frank called a halt. He went to the brink of the stream, bent down, and splashed his face with the cool water. The refreshing pause must have sharpened his senses, for, taking in a deep draught of woodland air, he remarked:

"Smell that sweet honeysuckle?"

"Honeysuckle?" Joe repeated. Suddenly his eyes lighted with imagination. "Maybe it's from the blossoms of the Franklin tree!"

"Joe, you're a whiz. Only I didn't find any Franklin trees."

"Let's look on the other side of the stream," Joe suggested excitedly.

They crossed the rapidly swirling water and pressed several yards into the woods. Suddenly Frank spotted a flowering tree.

"Follow me!" he cried, scrambling through the brush.

He and Joe gazed at the beautiful tree, whose fragrance scented the woodland. There were no others around like it.

"The only one left of Beauregard Smith's favorite trees," Frank murmured in awe.

"Let's not just stand gaping at it," Joe said. "We've got to find the tunnel!"

Starting at the base of the tree, the boys made ever-

200 The Secret of the Lost Tunnel

widening circles, probing out every inch of ground as they went.

"Hey, look at this!" Frank said as he came upon a large mossy mound close to the stream. Opening his knife, the boy peeled off some of the thick green sod. Underneath a layer of dirt he found a brick.

The boys furiously continued to dig away the sod, uncovering a brick vaultlike enclosure. They loosed the bricks in the side one by one. Finally they had made an opening large enough to allow entry. The daylight which penetrated the dark enclosure revealed old stone steps leading downward.

"The lost tunnel! The arsenal!" Joe exulted in a loud voice. "The hidden gold!"

Frank was just as excited as his brother, but he warned Joe not to tell the countryside of their discovery, and also not to be disappointed if they drew a blank again.

But Joe already was leaping down the steps, Frank close behind. They were in a musty cavern. Both boys whipped out their flashlights, then halted as if welded together.

"Cannon balls!" Frank exclaimed. "A hundred of them. This is the arsenal all right!" The balls were piled in a pyramid in the middle of the cave.

"I don't see any gold," Joe said in disappointment, straining his eyes to catch every detail of the place.

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The gloomy tunnel was a natural rock cavern which had been enlarged for a storehouse. The brothers ran to the end, about fifty feet ahead. The exit was solidly blocked with stones, bricks, and dirt. There was no evidence the bank's gold and the Smith fortune had been secreted here.

"Unless," Frank said. "Yes! I have it! You remember the message, 'Find coin in iron'?"

He leaped back toward the entrance. At the same moment the sunlight was cut off. There came the sound of men's voices. Ominous words were projected into the tunnel.

"You've had your last chance! We warned you*" father! Smiley, light the fusel"