officer is right," said Old King Brady. "We better be sure than sorry. If we only had a rope."
"Look here, some of youse guys, get a rope!" cried the policeman, charging in among the crowd.
There were enough that understood him.
Some of them started to act.
A moment later a man came out of a Chinese grocery near by with a rope.
It was tied under Harry's arms and he was lowered into the hole.
The floor of the vault had water an inch deep upon it; the brick sides were dripping with a slimy ooze.
But there was no sign of Ed.
Nor was there any apparent opening except at the top.
The walls on all sides looked to be solid.
And Young King Brady saw now that they were up against another Chinese mystery.
But a mystery had also been revealed.
For the great storm had laid open one of the secrets of Pell street.
And who could say into what sort of a queer den this opening might lead?
CHAPTER II
ED FINDS ETHEL
Ed Cullen was not yet eighteen, although he looked to be twenty.
The boy, in fact, had but just graduated from the Albany High School.
He little dreamed into what peculiar adventures this visit to New York was destined to lead him.
The fall of the two flagstones came altogether as a surprise to Ed.
Doubtless the weight of the Bradys as they trod upon them completed the work of the water.
At all events, Ed had no more than planted his feet upon them when down they went.
The shock sent the boy on his knees.
He scrambled up and answered the Bradys as told.
Then an instant later Ed was seized from behind by two pairs of hands.
A secret door – bricks set in a box – had opened.
The boy, in spite of his struggles, was dragged through the opening.
Two Chinamen had captured Ed.
But why?
There was the mystery!
And we may as well add right here that just how it came about was never fully explained.
The chances are that the pair were inside the secret door when Ed fell, and hearing the noise, looked in upon him, although he did not see them.
A third Chink in American dress, which was not the case with the others, stood in a narrow passage holding a lantern.
Instantly Ed recognized him as Pow Chow, the Chinese mission worker who had run away with Ethel Rawson and caused all the trouble.
"You scoundrel!" cried Ed, who was nothing if not plucky.
He made a dive at the fellow and dealt him a stinging blow in the face.
It was a piece of folly, of course.
That was the time Ed got it good and plenty.
Pow Chow hit him over the head with the lantern.
The two others set upon the boy and gave him a good pounding.
Then having completely subdued him, for Ed saw that he was not in it, they dragged him along the passage through a door, and into one of the secret dens of Pell street, of which there are many, if rumor tells the truth.
It was a square room furnished in Chinese style and lighted by a hanging lamp.
The Chinaman gave Ed a shove and laughed when he landed on his back in a corner.
But Pow Chow did not laugh.
He came forward threateningly.
"You little fool! Whatever brought you to New York?" he demanded. "Looking for Ethel, hey?"
Pow Chow's English was perfect, for he was San Francisco born and his mother was a white woman, so he had always claimed, although he did not look like a half breed.
Ed picked himself up and glared at this man, whom he hated and despised.
"Where's Ethel?" he demanded, feeling that he had to say something.
"Never you mind where she is. What brought you here? Came to find her and to bring her back, I suppose. Well, she won't go."
"I haven't a thing to say to you," retorted Ed. "You let me out of here or Old King Brady will be after you. I want you to understand I am with him."
It was an exceedingly foolish speech.
The two Chinks began to chatter in their own language.
"Do you mean to say your father has set Old King Brady on to me?" demanded Pow Chow.
"Yes, he has. I was with him and his partner when I fell down into that hole. They'll be right after me. You let me go!"
Instead of answering, the man said something to his companions.
Evidently he gave the order to have Ed carried still further into these secret dens.
They immediately set upon the boy and blindfolded him.
Ed was then dragged out of the room, hurried upstairs and downstairs, through passages, up more stairs, and then down a long flight.
Resistance was impossible. A Chinaman had him on either side.
At last the journey ending, the handkerchief was removed, and Ed found himself in a little box of a room where there was a mattress flung down on the floor.
"There!" exclaimed Pow Chow. "Now we have brought you to a place where your friends, the Bradys, will never find you, Eddie. See that bed – it's yours for to-night – better get on it and make yourself as comfortable as you can."
And having said this, Pow Chow withdrew. His companions followed him, and Ed found himself a prisoner behind an iron door, which no power he could have exerted would budge.
And in that secret den Ed Butler stopped all night.
Worse still for the boy's peace of mind, he remained in that hot, stuffy place all the next day.
No one came near him.
At the end of his imprisonment Ed found himself a very uncomfortable boy.
Ravenously hungry, choked with thirst, despairing of ever getting help, he was thoroughly alarmed for his own safety.
He had almost come to the conclusion that Pow Chow meant to let him starve to death there in the secret den.
But
