ct," I exclaimed in admiration. "Where does the
staircase lead?"

"To a very comfortable room underground. It had not been used for a
generation until this war began. Eric and I learned of its existence by
accident, while rummaging over some of our grandfather's old papers. I
was about sixteen then, and shall never forget our first exploration. We
found nothing down there then but a rough bunk, an old lanthorn, and the
leathern scabbard of a sword. But since then Eric has been compelled to
hide there twice to escape capture, and we have made the room below more
comfortable. You will be obliged to grope your way down the stairs, but
at the bottom will discover flint and steel, and a lantern with ample
supply of candles. Peter will bring you food, if you need remain there
for long!"

"Peter! Then he is in the secret?"

"Peter is in all secrets," she confessed. "From him nothing is hid, at
least so far as may concern the Mortimer family. You have yet to learn
the deep subtlety of Peter, Major Lawrence. He sees all things, retains
all things, and reveals nothing."

"A discovery already made."

"No, barely glimpsed; no short acquaintance such as yours has been could
ever serve to reveal the character of Peter. Since babyhood he has been
my monitor and guide, and still he remains to me a silent mystery."

"An old servant?"

"Yes, born to the position, his father serving before him. There is no
doubt in my mind but what he knew of this secret passage before Eric and
I were born. Not that he has ever confessed as much, yet I am convinced
our discovery of it brought no surprise to Peter. What do you suppose his
age to be?"

My mind reverted to that expressionless face without a wrinkle in it, to
that totally bald head, and my answer was the merest guess.

"Oh, possibly fifty."

"I told you you were far from knowing Peter," she laughed. "He is
seventy-two, and, would you believe it, until this war came, was never
ten miles from this spot."

"And since?" recalling the events of the night before.

"He has made it his duty to attend me; he has become my shadow. From the
humdrum experience of a respectable house servant he has become the very
spirit of reckless adventure--he has journeyed to New York, to Trenton,
to Philadelphia, to--"

"Night riding with Hessian foragers," I broke in, "disguised in a
Ranger's uniform."

"Well, yes," she dimpled quietly, "even that."

I waited for something more, some explanation