Roosevelt High School - Round Up Yearbook (Los Angeles, CA)

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was large, and had many unexplored nooks and corners. There proved to be nothing in the attic except a pile of old furniture. Antiques, sniffed Nancy, 'fand just look at the dust. It would take a month to clean this placef' Feeling a trifle disappointed, Stan and Nancy came down the narrow attic stairs. And there, built into the Wall at the foot of the staircase, was something they had not seen in their rapid trip up to the attic. It was a small door with a tiny, cob-webbed window in the upper portion. The door was locked, and appeared to be made of very heavy wood. Maybe mother has the key among the bunch that Uncle left, cried Stan. Letls go and seef, They found their mother with a letter that had been left by Uncle Ben, open in her lap, and a very perplexed expression on her face. fShe had been reading it aloud to her husband.J The children hurriedly told her what they had found. f'Well, that clears one thing up, replied Mrs. Lawrence. 'fThis letter says there is a locked room in this house. It contains something important for us. But Uncle Ben said we would have to find the key. Mrs. Lawrence produced a bunch of keys, and she, Mr. Lawrence and the rest trooped up to the locked door and tried one key after another, but to no avail. Not a key would turn the lock. Stan looked at it ruefully. 'fWe1l, Uncle certainly didn't make it easy for us, he said. Nancy rubbed the cob-webs and dust from the little window in the center of the door, and peeked into the room. Then suddenly she gasped. CHAPTER III When Nancy gasped, Mr. Lawrence took it upon himself to look into the matter. What he saw puzzled him. There, in the sunlight which shone on the table from a tiny barred skylight, lay a small golden key. 'fHow are we going to get in there? asked Stan, disgustedly. Hjust one little window, and that is heavily barredf' f'Maybe the code has something to do with it. Uncle Ben wrote it, and there must be some clue about the meaning of this room. I don't believe that key opens the door, it is too small, but there must be a key somewhere in this house that will open the door of the room. That night, when Mr. Lawrence returned from the office, the family was still talking about the secret room. ffHave any of you told anyone about this mystery? inquired Mrs. Lawrence. f'Why, yes, I have, answered Mr. Lawrence. UI met that queer old man, Mr. Von Burgen, who is so interested in antiques, and he asked me if Uncle Ben had left a message of any kind for us in his will, so I told him all about our discovery of the code and the secret room. 'LI feel you shouldn't have done that, said Mrs. Lawrence. Mr, Von Burgen is a very peculiar man, and somehow I don't trust him. The next afternoon the Lawrences had a caller W- Mr. Von Burgen in person. He expressed a desire to examine the door to the secret room, and cast a lingering look at the golden key on the table. He took his departure after a half-hour, leaving a vague feeling of uneasiness behind him. CHAPTER IV That night Nancy dreamed that Mr. Von Burgen was creeping up the stairs to the door of the secret room, with a key in his hand and a fiendish gleam in his eye. In her dream, she tried to snatch the key away, but he seized her in an iron grip and clapped a hand over her mouth. She awoke moaning, and it was daylight before she could shake off the horror of that dream. After breakfast, Stan and Nancy found a long ladder in the old barn, and prop- ping it against the side of the house, they climbed up one by one to take a peek l24l

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Mr. Squirrel paused to watch a hand reach in and grab a handful of his well earned nuts. A few minutes a voice cried, Goldl the thief is found. What Mr. Squirrel had thought were nuts were really gold nuggets. So poor Mr. Squirrel was robbed which was just too bad, so he had to store up a pile of new nuts. ELEAN OR LYONS. THE KEY WITHOUT A LOCK This story is written by the eleven members of the ,Short Story Club, who have nicknamed themselves 'The Ink Slingersf' Each member wrote a chapter, after draw- ing lots to determine the order, and the story became a continued affair, as each member, after reading his chapter aloud to the club, passed it on to the one next in order. The main characters are the Lawrence family, consisting of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence, Nancy, 14, Stan, 15, and Betty Lou, 5, and Mr. Von Burgen, a peculiar and sinister antique dealer. The Lawrence family have just inherited a rambling old house by the terms of Uncle Ben jameson's will, and as they are not a wealthy family, are much thrilled and excited. Now read the story. The authors are: Grace Childs Arlene Ellis Robert Long ' Arthur Stribbley Josephine Budts Adeline Swensen Zelma Glazier Tommy Orthman Antoinette Selzer Robert Craycroft Miss Skinner CHAPTER I Oh, isn't it thrilling, exclaimed Nancy, Hto think this big old house is really ours, and that Uncle Ben, whom we children met only once in our lives, has willed it to us? I'm just dying to explore all these rooms. It looks like a house with secrets. The funniest thing about the whole thingf' answered Stan, her brother, His the rag doll that Uncle left Betty Lou. Mother and father said he was sort of queer, and I agree, Poor Betty Lou, laughed Nancy. 'fShe wanted to throw it away, but mother wouldn't let her. Betty Lou says the rag doll is a disgrace to her best doll, Lizabeth Ann. After dinner, the Lawrence family gathered in the spacious library and Betty Lou was endeavoring to give the despised rag doll a ride on Prince, the fox terrier. Tiring of this game, she dropped the doll and ran upstairs for the beloved doll, Lizabeth Ann. Prince was of an inquiring turn of mind, and when Nancy next looked up, it was to discover Prince blissfully chewing on the torn rag doll. Quit that! she yelled, tearing the doll away from the astonished dog. tfjust see what you've donef' A piece of paper protruded from the doll's head, attracted her attention, and opening it, she gave a gasp. Come here, everybody, she called, Hlook what I've foundlv Peering over her shoulder, they saw in printed letters this message: WPM RGPDODZW UOJL LP IJPU UXSOS LXS ISW YH YL YJ. CHAPTER II The next morning Nancy and Stan decided to explore the house, starting with the attic. Betty Lou tagged along, dragging her doll by one arm. Both Nancy and Stan had a feeling of excitement. Perhaps they might find something valuable. The house i251

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through the barred skylight, but nothing except one chair and the table with the golden key on it were visible. Disappointed, they climbed down again, and after puzzling in vain over the code, they gave the matter up as a bad job and went out to play a refreshing game of 'fone ol' cat with Ted, a neighbor boy. Ted knocked the ball into the thick shrubbery surrounding the house, when his turn came to bat, and all three started a search for the elusive ball. Suddenly Ted cried, 'fCome here, folks! See what I've found! 'l CHAPTER V They rushed over to where Stan was peering into the bushes. What is it? cried Nancy. Stan held up a silver cigarette case with the initials UH. V. B. engraved upon it. With tense and trembling fingers, Stan snapped open the case, and in it was lying the slip of paper that had been in the rag doll- the slip with the secret code on it. H, V. B., mused Nancy. HI believe this case belongs to Von Burgen, and somehow he has taken our code- maybe he took it from the desk yesterday when he was here. He probably was snooping around the house when he dropped the case. I don't like the looks of this at all. That night as the Lawrence family were sitting at dinner the telephone rang. Hello! called Mr. Lawrence into the receiver. In a faint, hoarse whisper came these words, Watch out! Stay in your rooms. Danger tonight. 'fIt's probably a silly practical joke of some kind,'l Mr. Lawrence soothed his frightened family. At eleven o'clock nothing unusual had happened, so the family went to their rooms. Mr. Lawrence was just taking his automatic from a table drawer when Nancy hurriedly entered. 'fMother, daddy, she softly called, UI heard some- body moving around down in the cellar. At this instant the lights went off, and in the complete darkness that followed, stealthy footsteps could be heard ascending the stairs to the second floor. CHAPTER VI Mr. Lawrence gripped the automatic tensely, and Mrs. Lawrence bent forward, her eyes straining to penetrate the thick pall of darkness. Nearer came those stealthy footsteps, now they were at the top of the stairs, another second and they would pass the door. Mr. Lawrence raised the automatic. Stop! he commanded in steelly tones, Nor I fire! f'Dad, it's Stan! came the cry. 'tDon't shoot!', ' 'tOh, Stan, almost sobbed Mrs. Lawrence, 'tyour father might have killed you. What do you mean by creeping around the house that way in the middle of the night? You should be in bed and asleep? Sh, mother, implored Ben, patting her hand. ttListen! I was asleep when some- thing awakened me. I don't know just what it was, but something seemed to brush my face. I sat bolt upright in bed and pressed the light switch, but it wouldn't work. Our lights must be out of order. Then, I don't know exactly why it was, I remem- bered that I had left that cigarette case with Von Burgen's initials on it down on the library table, and I crept downstairs and into the living room after it. Did you get it? inquired Mr. Lawrence. No, dad, I didn't,H answered Stan, because it wasn't there. I ran my fingers over every inch of that table, and it wasn't there. Oh, daddy, broke in Nancy, who up to this moment had been too startled and upset to say anything, I think I'll go crazy if we donit have some light in this house. 'tI'll fix the light, 0. K., volunteered Stan. I know how to do it with a penny. We were told in a talk on Fire Prevention to put a new fuse in and never to use a penny, but I'd like to know what's a fellow to do when he hasnit any fuse, and it's midnight, and the fifteen-cent store isn't open. Tomorrow, I'll buy a dozen fuses l25I