Free The Phantom of Pine Hill by Carolyn G. Keene

big bar inside falls into place. If Nancy was hammering on the walls, the vibration could have made the door close. But Nancy should be able to raise the bar.”
    “And why doesn’t she answer us?” Bess wailed.
    George said, “Mrs. Holman, do you have a big hammer handy?”
    “There’s one in the kitchen. I’ll get it.”
    She vanished up the stairway but returned in half a minute with the hammer. George swung it heftily, trying to knock off the heavy old-time hinges. They were so deeply embedded in the wood that she could make no impression.
    Bess spoke up, her voice trembling, “Mrs. Holman, is there a window from the outside that opens into that workshop?”
    The housekeeper shook her head. “There’s no entrance to that room except from here.”
    “Have you a thin saw that we could put through this crack?” George asked.
    “I think so. I’ll look.”
    Five minutes elapsed before Mrs. Holman came downstairs and handed a dull, rusty saw to George. The girl wedged it through the crack. She could feel the obstructing wooden bar, but though she tried hard, George could not saw through it.
    Bess complained, “Oh, why can’t we do something?”
    “Crying won’t help any,” George said severely to her cousin. “Put on your thinking cap!”
    Chastened, Bess thought quickly and said, “Why don’t we get a hatchet or an ax and hack down the door?”
    “Now you’re using your head,” said George. “Mrs. Holman, can you produce one of those tools?”
    The housekeeper was not sure but said she would look in the garage. Fortunately she found a sharp ax. George grabbed it in both hands, gave a mighty heave, and landed it on the door. There was a distinct sound of cracking wood.
    Twice more she aimed at the same spot. On the third try the ax crashed all the way through. There was an opening large enough for her to put her hand through and raise the bar.
    Bess pulled the door open, then gave a shriek. Across the room Nancy lay on the floor unconscious, a heavy door partly covering her body. Beyond was a gaping hole to the garden!
    Mrs. Holman and the two girls rushed over to Nancy. As Bess and George lifted the door away, Mrs. Holman knelt down and felt the girl’s pulse. At that moment Nancy stirred.
    “She’s coming around!” the housekeeper said.
    “Thank goodness!” Bess murmured. She crouched and ran her fingers through Nancy’s hair. “Oh, Nancy darling, whatever happened to you?”
    Her friend did not reply. It was several minutes before she opened her eyes and looked around. She seemed to be in a daze.
    “I’ll get some water,” Mrs. Holman offered.
    The soothing cool water soon revived Nancy and in halting tones she told what had happened to her.
    “Do you think the phantom did it?” Bess asked Nancy.
    “No. There was no one in this room.”
    Mrs. Holman said she thought Nancy should go upstairs and lie down. “I’m going to ask the university doctor to come in and examine you,” she stated.
    Nancy was sure she would be all right. “I’m just a bit bruised.” But the housekeeper insisted.
    She put an arm around Nancy to help her upstairs. At the housekeeper’s suggestion, Bess and George stayed behind to set the hidden door in place. For the first time they noticed how unusual the outside of it was. Very thin pieces of stone had been wedged into the wood. When the door was in place, it would look as if it were part of the foundation. The two girls searched, but they found nothing to indicate that the door could be opened from the outside.
    “I’ll bet it was for escape in case of Indian attack,” George remarked, as the girls walked to the kitchen stairway. The cousins found Nancy in the living room, resting on the couch. After they told her about the camouflaged door, she said, “Anyway, the phantom didn’t use it. That door hadn’t been opened in years!”
    Within fifteen minutes Dr. Smith arrived and with him, Ned Nickerson, whom he had called, knowing that Ned was a special