There is no cellar proper to The Gables--at least no such cellar
appears in the plans."
"But--"
"But there _is_ one beyond doubt--yes! It must be part of some older
building which occupied the site before The Gables was built. One can
only surmise that it exists, although such a surmise is a fairly safe
one, and the entrance to the subterranean portion of the building is
situated beyond doubt in the wine cellar. Of this we have at least two
evidences: the finding of the fragment of silk there, and the fact
that in one case at least--as I learnt--the light was extinguished in
the library unaccountably. This could only have been done in one way:
by manipulating the main switch, which is also in the wine cellar."
"But, Smith!" I cried, "do you mean that _Fu-Manchu_ ...?"
Nayland Smith turned in his promenade of the floor, and stared into my
eyes.
"I mean that Dr. Fu-Manchu has had a hiding-place under The Gables for
an indefinite period!" he replied. "I always suspected that a man of
his genius would have a second retreat prepared for him, anticipating
the event of the first being discovered. Oh! I don't doubt it! The
place probably is extensive, and I am almost certain--though the point
has to be confirmed--that there is another entrance from the studio
further along the road. We know, now, why our recent searchings in the
East End have proved futile; why the house in Museum Street was
deserted: he has been lying low in this burrow at Hampstead!"
"But the hand, Smith, the luminous hand.
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