"Guess I might as well--no telling where the key would be," said Sandy. With the hatchet he soon had lifted the cover of the box. Then he gave a joyful cry. "It's here!" he shouted. "It was Uncle Isaac's box, all right, and the money's here--quite a lot of it, and some valuable papers worth more. Hurray! The farm is saved, after all! Tell pop and mom!" "No, we'll let you tell them," said Russ. "Come and tell them yourself." "How'm I goin' t' git up?" asked Sandy, trembling with excitement and new hope, as he fingered the dusty bills that would mean so much to him and his parents. "Here's a rope," suggested the carpenter, for he had been using one at his work. "We'll drop it down to you, and you can tie it to the box. Then you can come up on the rope yourself." This was soon done, and a little later Sandy was standing beside his aged parents, showing them the find. "It's money--real money!" he cried. "The money Uncle Isaac owes us. Now we can pay off the mortgage on the farm. You won't have t' move off th' farm!--Pop--Mom! You can stay here!" "Praise the Lord!" cried the farmer, reverently. "My prayer has been granted; I can die on the old place!" "Why, Pa, don't talk about dyin' now!" protested Mrs. Apgar, through her tears. "We're goin' t' live--live on th' old place!" "That's what we be!" he cried. A close examination of the contents of the box disclosed the fact that it contained considerable wealth. There were some bonds and stocks, as well as a large sum in cash. At least five thousand dollars of this belonged to the Apgars, representing the loan they had made to Uncle Isaac. And as he left no other heirs, eventually the entire wealth would come to the farmer. "This has been a lucky day for us!" exclaimed Sandy, as he put the wealth in a secure place in the house. "Well, it will be an unlucky one for us, if we don't get this fire film," remarked Mr. Pertell, half humorously. "Just so," returned Russ. There was much discussion over the find, and then an examination was made of the secret room. From within the sliding panel door, by which entrance was gained, could easily be seen. But outside, it was so well hidden that it is doubtful if anyone but one who knew the trick could have found it. Mr. Apgar recalled that the barn stood on the farm when he had purchased the estate years before. It had belonged to an eccentric man, and there was little doubt that he had built the secret room for his own use--though what it was could only be guessed. "And Uncle Isaac must have discovered the hidden door when he was out here in the barn so much," said Sandy. "Lunatics are cunning, sometimes, I've heard. He probably found th' place and kept it to himself, as a good place to hide his valuables. "That's why he spent so much time out here. I used to wonder sometimes, at having him appear from inside the old barn, when I never suspected he was on hand. He was in this room, all right."