“Sure, Dad!” Bertagreed. “I’ll bet he would!”
“Let’s find out on Monday,” Nan proposed.
“Mother,” said Flossie, “did you ask Mrs. Marden about the ghost?”
“She just laughed at such an idea,” Mrs. Bobbsey answered.
It seemed to the twins that Monday would never come, they were so eager to begin their search. But Monday finally did arrive and after a good breakfast of Dinah’s special pancakes, the children started off to school.
On the way they met a boy and a girl who were Bert’s and Nan’s best friends. Charlie Mason was about Bert’s height and like Bert he had dark hair and brown eyes. Nellie Parks, Nan’s chum, was a pretty blond girl with blue eyes.
“Hi, twins!” Nellie called as the six children reached the corner at the same time.
“Hello, Nellie!” Flossie replied. “We’re going to solve a mystery!”
“You are?” Nellie asked, her blue eyes widening with interest. “What’s the mystery about?”
Bert and Nan took turns telling their friends the story of Mrs. Marden and the valuable cameo and coins which she had misplaced.
“Whew!” Charlie exclaimed. “That is a mystery! Are you going to search the old house?”
“Yes,” Bert replied. “Would you and Nellie like to help us?”
“I sure would,” Charlie said. “How about you, Nellie?”
Nellie eagerly agreed, and the children discussed the old house the rest of the way to school. As they walked into the building Charlie asked, “When are you planning to talk to Mr. Tetlow?”
“Nan and I are going to his office right after school this afternoon,” Bert replied.
“Okay,” Charlie said. “Nellie and I will meet you in the hall and hear the result.”
“Keep your fingers crossed,” Bert said with a grin.
The day seemed very long. From where Nan sat in her homeroom she could see the deserted Marden house. It was a large three-story building which at one time had been painted white. Now the paint was worn and chipped. The once green shutters hung at crazy angles. Two of the windows in the second story had been broken, and at one of them Nan could see a torn window shade waving to and fro.
“Where could Mrs. Marden have hidden the cameo and coins?” Nan mused. “If she just left them in a cupboard or closet, perhaps someone has already found them and taken them away. Wouldn’t it be sad if Mrs. Marden never got her things back?”
Finally the afternoon classes drew to a close. Nan and Bert walked to the principal’s office which was located on the first floor and went in.
“Is Mr. Tetlow expecting you?” the school secretary inquired.
Nan spoke up. “No, but Bert and I have a question we’d like to ask him if he isn’t too busy.”
The young woman went into the principal’s private office and returned in a few minutes. “Mr. Tetlow says to come in,” she announced with a smile.
Mr. Tetlow greeted them from behind his large desk. “I’m glad to see you, Nan and Bert,” he said. “I hope you’re not in any trouble.”
“Oh, no,” Nan replied. “We just want your help in solving a mystery.”
The principal leaned back in his chair and took off his glasses. “Well now, that sounds very interesting,” he said. “What kind of a mystery is it?”
Quickly Bert explained about Mrs. Marden and the fact that she could not remember where she had hidden the valuable souvenirs. “We thought that if we could search the old house before it’s torn down we might find them for her,” he ended.
“And the surveyors told us the house was locked,” Nan said. “We hoped you might unlock it for us.”
Mr. Tetlow explained that although all the furniture had been taken out of the house, the school authorities had decided it should be kept locked so that no prowlers could get in.
“Sometimes old houses are ransacked of good wood, plumbing fixtures, and lighting fixtures which can be sold,” Mr. Tetlow went on. “But I see no objection to your looking through the house for Mrs. Marden’s property. You’re responsible children, so I’ll let you take our extra key for a few days. Just be sure to bring it to school each day in case anyone needs to get into the house. I have a key, but I might not be available at the moment.”
Nan’s eyes were shining. “Thank you, Mr. Tetlow,” she said. “We’ll be very careful and lock the house each time.”
The principal opened a drawer of his desk and took out a large, old-fashioned key. “This is it,” he said. “Perhaps we’d better mark it,” he added with a twinkle in his eyes, “so if you should happen to lose the key, the finder could send it back.”
As Nan and Bert watched, Mr. Tetlow took up a white tag and tied it to the key. Then in tiny letters he wrote on the tag: “Marden house, property of Lakeport School Board.” Then he handed it to Bert.
“Thank you, sir,” Bert said. “I’ll be very careful not to lose the key,” he added.
“I know you will,” Mr. Tetlow said with a smile. “Good luck with your mystery solving, Nan and Bert. I hope you find Mrs. Marden’s valuables for her.”
When the twins left the principal’s office they found Charlie and Nellie waiting in the hall.
“What did he say?” Nellie asked eagerly. “May we go in the house?”
In reply Bert pulled the big key from his pocket and dangled it in front of Nellie. “What do you think this is?” he asked teasingly.
“Say, that’s great!” Charlie exclaimed. “Let’s get on with the Marden mystery!”
As the four children started toward the school entrance, a boy stepped from the classroom near where they had been standing. He was taller and heavier than Bert and Charlie and had an unpleasant expression on his face.
“Danny Rugg!” Nellie exclaimed. “Have you been spying on us?”
“Why should I spy on you silly kids?” Danny replied scornfully. “But you’d better keep out of that old house. It’s haunted ! I know!”
CHAPTER III
THE SEARCH BEGINS
BERT and Nan looked at each other. “What makes you so sure the house is haunted?” Nan asked Danny scornfully.
Danny shrugged and walked away. “Just don’t say I didn’t warn you!” he called back over his shoulder.
“Don’t pay any attention to him!” Charlie advised. “You know he’s always trying to make trouble.”
“He’s doing his best to scare us so we won’t find Mrs. Marden’s things,” Nan declared heatedly.
“That’s right, Sis,” Bert agreed. “Let’s go in the house and look around.”
Followed by the other three, Bert walked over to the deserted old mansion. As he put the key in the lock there came a giggle and Freddie and Flossie stuck their heads from around the corner of the porch.
“We waited for you,” Freddie announced. “Flossie and I want to go inside the haunted house too!”
“All right, come along,” Nan said as Bert turned the key and opened the door into a wide center hall.
The six children walked in and looked around. At one side of the hall they could see a stairway. The broad steps were littered with bits of fallen plaster. The scenic paper which covered the walls was stained and peeling in places.
“Ooh, it is sort of spooky!” Nellie remarked with a little shiver.
There were four closed doors, two on each side of the hall. Gingerly the children opened the one on the left. It led into the living room. There was a large fireplace at the far end.
The playmates crossed the hall and opened the other door. “This must have been the dining room,” Nan said, seeing built-in cupboards in two corners of the room.
“And this was the library,” Bert guessed as they went into the room behind the living room. Two walls were covered by bookshelves which extended almost to the ceiling.
The fourth door proved to lead to a small corridor at the far end of which was the kitchen.
“What a ’normous cooking fireplace!” Flossie exclaimed. The big opening took up
almost the entire end of the room. It was blocked now with logs piled high.
“In olden days people did their cooking in fireplaces,” Nan said.
“Let’s see what’s upstairs,” Bert proposed.
There was a narrow flight of stairs leading from the kitchen, and the children crept up them carefully. On the second floor they found five more rooms. Here again paper was hanging from the walls in strips. Closet doors stood open, and torn window shades hung at crazy angles over the windows.
“It doesn’t look as if there are very many places to search,” Nan said in discouragement. “Everything seems to have been cleared out!”
“We could break up into teams,” Bert suggested, “and look through the rooms very carefully.”
At that moment the children heard a loud bang! Flossie screamed. “It’s the ghost!” she cried.
“What was that?” Nellie asked, her voice shaking a little.
Bert walked over to a window and peered out. “I think that’s the ghost,” he said with a grin.
The others gathered behind him, and he pointed to a loose shutter. As they watched, a gust of wind struck the shutter and banged it against the side of the house.
“Just the same,” Flossie quavered, “I want to go home!”
“All right, honey,” Nan replied. “It’s getting late anyway. We’ll come back some other time.”
At breakfast the next morning Flossie said, “Mother, I want to see Mrs. Marden and ask her about the things she hid. Maybe by now she remembers where they are.”
“All right, dear. I’m going out that way this afternoon. I could drop you and Nan off at the nursing home if you like.”
Bert looked up from his bacon and eggs. “This would be a good day for you to go. I have baseball practice after school, so we couldn’t search the old house anyway.”
It was agreed that Mrs. Bobbsey would pick up Nan and Flossie at the end of the school day. As soon as the dismissal bell rang that afternoon the girls took their coats from the locker room and dashed outside. Mrs. Bobbsey was waiting for them.
“Oh, I do hope Mrs. Marden has remembered where she put her things,” Flossie said as she climbed into the car.
“I hope so, too,” Mrs. Bobbsey remarked. “But you know, dear, Mrs. Marden is a very old lady and when one gets to be her age, one is apt to be forgetful.”
A short time later the car drew up before the comfortable-looking nursing home. Mrs. Bobbsey handed Nan a box. “Here are some cookies Dinah baked for Mrs. Marden. I’ll be back in about an hour to pick you girls up,” she said.
Flossie and Nan waved good-by to their mother as they ran up the stone walk to the front door. A nurse brought Mrs. Marden to the reception room and Nan introduced herself and Flossie.
“It’s very nice of you to come to see me,” the elderly woman said, giving each girl a little hug.
“Dinah sent you some cookies,” Nan said and gave Mrs. Marden the package.
“Thank you, dear,” the elderly woman replied. “We have tea here each afternoon. Would you like to pass the cookies around to my friends at that time? It’s my turn to pour the tea today.”
Flossie could wait no longer to ask a question of her own. “Have you remembered where you hid the pin and the coins?” she asked breathlessly.
Mrs. Marden shook her head and told the girls that although she had tried very hard she could not recall the hiding place of the valuable gifts. At that moment several more elderly women came into the room, and Mrs. Marden introduced Nan and Flossie to them. A maid rolled in a tea cart.
Mrs. Marden sat down and began to pour the tea. “Would you girls like cambric tea?” she asked with a smile.
“What is that?” Nan asked curiously.
Mrs. Marden filled a cup almost full of milk, then added a little tea and sugar and handed it to Nan. She then fixed a similar cup for Flossie.
“It’s good!” Flossie exclaimed. Nan agreed.
When the tea had been poured Flossie passed a plate of Dinah’s cookies, then sat down next to Mrs. Marden.
“Can’t you sing us a little song?” the old lady asked her.
Flossie looked hesitant, but Nan encouraged her with a smile. “I have one I made up myself,” she said finally, “and I dance to it.”
When the ladies said they thought this would be very nice, Flossie stood up. As she danced around the room she sang a little song about a cricket. It ended, “And the cricket on your hearth goes chirp, chirp, chirp!”
As the other women applauded, Mrs. Marden looked excited. “That’s it!” she exclaimed. “The hearth! It has something to do with my lost treasure!”
“Oh, can you think of anything more?” Nan asked breathlessly.
The elderly woman’s expression grew sad. “No. I thought I had it for a moment, but it’s gone now!”
“Never mind,” Flossie said consolingly. “We’ll find the things for you!”
In a few minutes Mrs. Bobbsey came for the girls, and they said good-by to the guests of the nursing home. “Do come again,” Mrs. Marden called as they got into the car.
That evening at the supper table Nan and Flossie described their visit to the nursing home. When they told how excited the elderly woman had been at the mention of a hearth, Bert snapped his fingers.
“Maybe the treasure is hidden under the hearth of one of the fireplaces in the house ! There may be a stone which lifts out!” he reasoned.
“There are lots of fireplaces in that house,” Freddie recalled.
“Let’s search tomorrow after school,” Nan suggested, and the others agreed.
But when the next day came Freddie and Flossie decided to go home with some of their little friends to play after school. Nan met Bert in the hall.
“Nellie and I have to go to a meeting,” she explained. “I’ll meet you later at the Marden house.”
There was to be a new gymnasium in the addition to the school, and the children were organizing different activities to raise money for modern equipment. Nan and Nellie were members of one of the committees.
“Okay,” Bert agreed. “I’ll hang around until you’re free.”
Bert wandered out into the schoolyard Charlie Mason came running up.
“Are you going to search the old house again?” he asked eagerly. “I have to go home now. My mother made a dentist appointment for me. I can help look tomorrow, though,” he added.
Bert said he was waiting for Nan and they would probably go to the house. “I’ll let you know if we find anything,” he promised Charlie. “If we don’t, we’ll all look again tomorrow.”
As Charlie ran off, a couple of other boys hailed Bert. “Come on and play ball,” Ralph Blake called. “We need one more for our side.”
“I’m waiting for my sister,” Bert answered, “but I’ll play until she comes.”
Danny Rugg had joined the group of ball players. When he heard Bert’s reply, he snickered. “Bertie Boy would rather play with girls,” he taunted him.
Bert Bobbsey clenched his fists and walked toward the bully. “Are you looking for a fight, Danny?” he asked.
Danny backed away. “Come on, let’s play ball if we’re going to,” he protested.
The other boys came up and the game began. In a short while the score stood five to six with Bert’s team ahead. When Danny came to bat there was a man on base. This was his team’s chance to win the game !
“Come on, Danny!” called Jack Barton on Danny’s team. “Let’s have a home run!”
The pitch came toward Danny. He swung an gave the ball a terrific wallop. Danny raced around the bases as Bert ran back. The next see ond Bert had caught the ball! The game was over and Bert’s side had won !
Danny’s face was red with rage. “You think you’re so smart, Bert Bobbsey,” he yelled, “let me see you catch this one!” He picked up a ball and threw it viciously at Bert who was walking toward the school building.
“Duck!” cried Ned Brown.
As Bert stooped, the fast ball
sped over his head. Crash! It smashed through a window 1
CHAPTER IV
THE SECRET TRAP DOOR
WHEN Danny saw the ball hit the school window he turned pale. The next minute he ran from the yard as fast as he could! A moment later Mr. Tetlow appeared at the door of the building.
“Who threw that ball?” he asked sternly.
The boys shuffled their feet and were silent. Mr. Tetlow’s expression softened. “I suppose you don’t want to tell on a schoolmate,” he said. “However, I have a good idea who is to blame.”
The principal went back into the school as Bert and the others heaved sighs of relief. The ball players with the exception of Bert trickled off toward their homes. In a few minutes Nan ran up to her twin.
“Nellie couldn’t stay either,” she announced, “so you and I are the only ones left to search.”
As the two children walked toward the old house, Bert told his sister about the broken window.
“That was just like Danny to run away!” she said indignantly. “I’m surprised he didn’t try to put the blame on you!”
Bert grinned. “In a way it was my fault. If I hadn’t ducked, Danny would have hit me instead of the window!”
“It’s a good thing he didn’t,” Nan replied. “He might have hurt you badly!”
Bert took the old-fashioned iron key from his pocket and unlocked the front door of the deserted house. “Shall we divide up the rooms to save time?” he asked as he and Nan stepped into the dim hall.
Nan nodded. “I’ll take the left side of the first floor and you take the right. If we don’t find anything, then we can go upstairs together.”
Bert walked into the old living room and over to the fireplace. The hearth and the space surrounding the opening were fashioned of blue and white tiles. On each one was a picture of some animal or a flower.
“I wonder if one is loose,” Bert murmured. He knelt down and carefully ran his fingers over each tile on the hearth. Several were cracked, but all of them seemed to fit solidly together and he could move nothing.
Next Bert examined the tiles on each side of the fireplace. He took a knife from his pocket and tapped them, listening for any sound which might tell him one was loose. Again he had no success.
The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport Page 2
