They had not met since the close of the last term, and they shook hands in a friendly way, and made polite inquiries about each other's vacations. "What have you got here?" asked Frank, then, stepping toward the fireplace with a queer look at Page. The latter had not the nerve to answer. "I suppose it used to be a fireplace," said Ford. "It looked when I came into the room just as if there was no opening into the chimney at all, but this door fits very closely." "Were you trying to use the chimney as a telescope when I came in?" asked Frank. "I saw you were both on your knees, looking up." "No," replied Ford, "Page had something in there, he won't say what it was, some kind of a pet, I believe, and it has flown out." "No wonder," remarked Frank, dryly; "it would be a pretty poor kind of a pet that wouldn't fly out of a place like that." "If it was an unusual kind of a bird," suggested Ford, "why don't you give notice of it to the police? It sometimes happens that they recover missing pets." "Oh, I guess I won't say anything about it," responded Page, blushing furiously. Frank could not control his laughter, so he threw himself into a window seat, and looked out, having his back to the other two. "What are you laughing at, anyway?" asked Ford. "Oh, at my thoughts!" chuckled Frank. "I think Page ought to offer a thousand dollars or so reward for his missing pet." "You hold your tongue, Merriwell," said Page, "and some time or other I'll make it right with you." "Are you two fellows putting up some kind of a job on me?" exclaimed Ford, suspiciously. "Oh, no, on my honor!" exclaimed Frank, quickly. "I was just thinking of a little joke that you don't know anything about." "Aren't you going to spring the joke?" "No, I'm going to keep it to myself." Page looked immensely relieved, while Ford, after a doubtful glance at both of them, turned his attention again to the chimney. He pushed the secret door back into place and then opened it again. "Mighty funny idea, isn't it?" he said, half to himself. "Certainly, nobody would ever believe that that fireplace could be opened without a pickax." "I supposed it was solid," responded Page, "and got at the secret entirely by accident." "Opens easy, doesn't it?" Ford kept opening and shutting the door. "If this was in the olden times," he said, "when men had to hide from enemies, what a racket it would be to shut one's self in here and then climb out through the chimney." Frank turned his back again to conceal his chuckle, while Page answered that he thought it would be a good scheme. Then he added: "I think I'll take the door down and make a fireplace of it." "And not get your bird back?" "No. Hang the bird!" "Well, of course, that's for you to say. As for myself, I'm going to get over to my room and look up mathematics for a while." "I shouldn't think you'd need to," said Frank.