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Suddenly something happened. He was lying across his immovable

cot fingering the boards low down in the right rear corner when

he felt something give beneath his thumb. A flash of hope almost

stifled him, and he lay quiet for a moment to regain command of

himself. Then he put his thumb again in the niche and lifted up.

With all his strength he lifted and, all at once, a panel rushed

up and stuck, revealing a little box perhaps a foot square that

had been built back from the rear wall of the old storeroom.

That was all, except for the fact that something was in the

box--a package done up in paper.

For a while he did not investigate the package, but devoted his

attention to sounding the rest of the near-by planks with the

hope that they might give into a larger opening and furnish a

means of egress. For half an hour he worked and then gave up. He

had covered every inch of wall and every niche, and this was all!