Roanoke of Roanoke Hall: A Romance — page 231: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

Roanoke of Roanoke Hall. 225 firm. I sought for a secret spring, but could find nothing to indicate one, and I finally de- termined, as craft had failed, to employ force. I armed myself with a cold chisel, and without difficulty removed, one after another, the strips of moulded oak which secured it to the wall. On the very first one I observed a notable fact: some of the paint from the picture had been transferred to the frame, wherever they came in contact, thus proving that it had been placed in position so imme- diately after completion that the pigments had not had time to dry. ‘“‘There must surely,” I thought, ‘‘ have been some strong reason for this unusual haste.” Whatever the object was it had apparently no connection with any hiding-place in the wall behind, for this was perfectly solid, and showed no traces of ever having been _ disturbed. In the picture itself then, if any- where, lay the key. This was so stained with damp and dirt, “owing to the long neglect of the chamber, that my first proceeding was to wash it thoroughly with warm water and a soft cloth. f 1 le comichbooks.com