Part 36 (1/2)

As she cautiously opened the squeaky door, she saw before her shattered Gothic columns which once had supported a magnificent roof. Now dim stars cast a ghostly light over a ma.s.s of piled-up rubble.

Walls, however, had proved remarkably st.u.r.dy, rising to a height Penny could not hope to scale. There were no visible exits.

”Where did Father Benedict go?” she speculated. ”Steps must lead down to the crypt.”

Penny flashed her light about, seeking an opening. Investigating a pile of stone which had tumbled from an archway, she was elated to find her search at an end. Behind the piled up rocks, cleverly concealed, was a vaulted stone pa.s.sage and stairway leading down.

Though Penny knew it was highly dangerous to venture below, she did not hesitate. A step at a time, and pausing frequently to listen, she stole down toward the inky blackness of the crypt.

The stone walls on either side of the narrow, curving stairway were cold and clammy to the touch. Water dripped from overhead.

Ahead, in a sunken recess amid the stones, the girl suddenly saw a shadowy figure. Startled, she jerked to a standstill. Then, observing that the object was not a human being but a rusty coat of armor, she breathed easier and went on.

A minute later, as she crept around a turn of the stairway, terror gripped her at first glimpse of the dimly lighted burial crypt.

In grim, orderly rows were the elaborately carved stone sarcophaguses of former residents of the monastery.

Beyond the tombs, backed against a wall, sat Rhoda. Sleepy-eyed, her hair in disarray, she faced Father Benedict who held a lighted lantern close to her face.

Jay Highland had doffed his long robes and stood revealed in ordinary gray business suit. In his coat pocket, within easy reach of his right hand, was a revolver.

”Wake up!” he said, giving Rhoda a hard shake. ”You're only pretending now! The drug in the coffee was not strong enough to keep you asleep.

Wake up!”

Rhoda stared at him and her eyes widened in horror.

”You fiend!” she accused him. ”Don't you dare touch me! I'll scream!”

”Scream at the top of your lungs, my dear. Only the dead will hear you.”

”The dead! Oh!” A shudder wracked Rhoda's thin body as she became aware of the tombs in the crypt. ”Why did you bring me here?”

”For one purpose. I want the sapphire. Hand it over and you will not be harmed.”

”I haven't the gem.”

”But you know where it is.”

Rhoda remained silent.

”You'll tell,” Highland rasped, losing all patience. ”I haven't all day!

You tricked me with that cheap subst.i.tute, and you induced your grandmother to hold out against me. Now we are through playing.”

”You're nothing but a cheap crook!”

”A crook perhaps,” said the man, ”but hardly cheap. The sapphire should be worth $50,000 at a conservative estimate. Now where is it?”

”You'll never learn from me!” Rhoda cried defiantly. ”I'll die before I'll tell!”

”My! My! Such heroics! However, I think you will change your mind. Let me show you something, my dear.”