The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport

by Laura Lee Hope

  He pulled it out of his pocket and, flashing it ahead of him, descended the steps. “You boys may come down too if you wish,” he called back.

  Eagerly Bert and Freddie followed. When they reached the bottom of the steps they looked around. As their eyes got used to the gloom, they could make out a little of the cellar from the light coming in one grimy window.

  The floor and walls were made of unevenly spaced bricks. The ceiling was so low that Mr. Tetlow was forced to stoop as he walked over to the two windows. The second window had lost its glass and was covered by a wide board which had been wedged into the window frame.

  “It’s funny that there are windows on only one side,” Bert mused, as he walked slowly around the edge of the cellar.

  When he reached the side away from the two windows he felt the wall curiously. One section was covered with cobwebby wood. Then he uttered an exclamation! The wall which seemed solid had moved! With a creak it slid to one side!

  “A secret entrance!” Bert cried.

  Mr. Tetlow and Freddie ran to his side. “By George!” Mr. Tetlow exclaimed. “You must have touched a hidden spring!”

  “But why would Mrs. Marden have a secret entrance to her cellar?” Freddie asked in bewilderment.

  Mr. Tetlow laughed. “I don’t imagine Mrs. Marden had it put in. She may not even know it’s here!”

  “Who made it then?” Bert inquired curiously.

  “I don’t know. But it may have been put in when the house was built. Many of these old houses had secret entrances to take care of runaways who came up from the South.”

  “What shall we do about it now?” Bert asked.

  Mr. Tetlow examined the sliding wall. “I don’t think we can do anything without a hammer and some nails. It’s not likely that anyone knows about the sliding door, and as long as the house is going to be torn down soon, I think we’ll just not worry about it.”

  Bert closed the secret door, and the three went up into the kitchen again. As Mr. Tetlow led the way to the front door, he said, “You boys did right to call me. I’ll notify the police that there has been another intruder in here and ask them to keep a watch on the house.”

  “Do you s’pose it was the same man you all saw yesterday?” Freddie wondered.

  “I don’t know,” Bert replied, “but at least he won’t be able to come in that back door again!”

  When Bert and Freddie reached home, they found the rest of the family ready to sit down to supper. They hurried to wash their faces and hands and then slid into their chairs.

  “How was the cooky sale?” Bert asked his sisters.

  Nan and Flossie launched into an account of their experiences with THE COOKY Box. When they told how Snoop had foiled Danny’s attempt to steal the doughnuts, Freddie laughed so hard he almost fell off his chair.

  “Good for Snoop!” Bert cried. “He got even with Danny for tying him to the kite!”

  “What did you boys do this afternoon?” Mr. Bobbsey asked when they had stopped laughing about Snoop.

  “Bert found a secret intrance to the Marden house!” Freddie announced importantly.

  “A secret entrance! Tell us about it,” Mrs. Bobbsey urged.

  Bert and Freddie described the cellar of the old house and the way in which Bert had discovered the sliding door.

  “I’ll bet the person who lifted that trap door in the kitchen when we were there yesterday came into the house through that secret entrance!” Nan declared.

  “I don’t think so,” Bert objected. “When I opened it, the wall was covered with cobwebs. It didn’t look as if it had been touched for years!”

  “I want to see the secret door!” Flossie cried. “Will you show it to me, Freddie?”

  Bert answered for his brother. “We’ll show you and Nan on Monday, but I think we ought to keep it a secret from everyone else.”

  “I won’t tell anyone,” Nan promised.

  The rest of the family agreed with Bert that, since the sliding door could still be opened, no one should be told of its existence.

  “Mrs. Marden is coming to dinner tomorrow,” Mrs. Bobbsey said. “You might ask her about the secret entrance.”

  “Goody!” Flossie exclaimed. “I like Mrs. Marden I”

  “Perhaps by this time she has remembered where she put the cameo and coins,” Nan said hopefully.

  The next day after church Mr. Bobbsey drove the twins out to the Rolling Acres Nursing Home. It was warm and sunny, and Mrs. Marden was waiting on the front porch. Flossie jumped out and ran up the walk to escort her to the car.

  The elderly woman wore a blue coat over a blue-and-white flowered dress. On her white hair was a pretty blue hat.

  “You look bee-yoo-ti-ful!” Flossie exclaimed admiringly.

  “Thank you, dear,” Mrs. Marden replied as Mr. Bobbsey helped her into the front seat.

  Flossie climbed in beside her while Mrs. Bobbsey and the other twins sat in the rear seats. When Flossie looked up at Mrs. Marden the little girl’s face took on a surprised expression.

  “You found it!” she exclaimed.

  “Found what, dear?” Mrs. Marden asked, smiling at Flossie.

  “Your cameo!” Flossie fingered a small pin at the elderly woman’s neck.

  For a moment Mrs. Marden looked confused, then she laughed. “Mr. Marden brought this from Italy before we were married, and I’ve always worn it.” She shook her head sadly. “No, I haven’t found the antique one. It was set with diamonds and was very valuable.”

  Mr. Bobbsey saw that the woman was upset and shook his head warningly at Flossie. He changed the subject, and nothing more was said about the lost articles.

  Later, however, when Dinah brought in a towering strawberry shortcake for dessert and set it before Mrs. Bobbsey, Bert brought up the subject of the secret door in the cellar of the old house.

  “Oh, yes,” Mrs. Marden said. “My husband told me that there was supposed to be such a door, but we were never able to find it. Those old houses often had secret doors and cupboards.”

  The elderly woman looked thoughtful, then continued, “I had a strange dream last night.”

  “What was it?” Freddie asked eagerly. “I like to dream!”

  “I dreamed I was walking up a chimney,” Mrs. Marden said. “Wasn’t that queer?”

  Bert and Nan looked at each other excitedly. Each had the same thought! Could Mrs. Marden have hidden the lost articles in a chimney?

  CHAPTER X

  CATCHING A GHOST

  WHEN Mrs. Marden described her dream about the chimney, Flossie giggled. “Maybe you were Santa Claus!” she said.

  Under cover of the laughter which followed, Bert whispered to Nan, “Could this be a clue, do you think?”

  “Yes I do.”

  Later, while Mr. and Mrs. Bobbsey were driving their guest back to the nursing home, the children went into a huddle. Bert and Nan told the younger twins about their suspicion that Mrs. Marden’s dream might have something to do with the lost souvenirs.

  “You mean they’re in the chimney?” Freddie asked excitedly.

  “We don’t know, of course,” Nan replied, “but let’s pay special attention to the chimneys tomorrow when we visit the old house.” The others agreed and eagerly looked forward to the next afternoon.

  At recess time the following day a group of boys stood admiring the newly paved driveway. Its smooth surface sloped gently down to the street.

  “That would make a keen place for a roller skate race,” Charlie Mason observed to Bert.

  “Okay,” Bert agreed. “Let’s get our skates!”

  Several other boys overheard the conversation and said they would like to join the race. Danny Rugg was one of them. They all ran into the locker room and returned with skates.

  “You can be the starter!” Charlie called to Nan, who had just walked out of the building with Nellie.

  “What shall I do?” Nan asked.

  Nellie pulled a handkerchief from her pocket. “Take this,” she d
irected. “Hold it up high, and when you want the race to start, bring your arm down.”

  Nan practiced a few minutes until she could bring the handkerchief down in a sharp arc. Then she called, “Okay, boys. Are you ready?”

  Bert, Charlie, Danny, and three other boys lined up at the top of the driveway. Nan gave the signal and cried, “Go!” The racers started off, arms swinging as their legs flashed ahead left and right.

  Ned Brown was in the lead, but Bert soon drew up to him. Then came Charlie, Danny, and the other two boys.

  “Come on, Charlie!” Nellie cried while Nan frantically urged Bert to pass Ned.

  The driveway was a little narrow for six racing boys. Charlie and Danny drew ahead of Bert and Ned. Then as Charlie put on an extra spurt of speed, one of his skates accidentally touched Danny’s left foot.

  Danny went down on his back, feet in the air. The cuffs of his slacks fell back, revealing an amazing pair of socks. They were a large checkerboard pattern of orange, blue, and green !

  Unable to keep from giggling at the loud socks, Nan and Nellie ran toward the fallen boy. “Are you hurt, Danny?” Nan asked sympathetically.

  Danny sat up and took off his skates. He paid no attention to Nan but gazed down to the end of the drive where the other boys were congratulating Charlie on having won the race.

  “I should have won!” he exclaimed. “Charlie tripped me on purpose!”

  “What a mean thing to say!” Nellie protested hotly. “You know it was an accident!”

  By this time the boys were walking back toward the building, and Danny got up. He muttered ungraciously when Charlie said he was sorry that his skate had caused the accident.

  “You didn’t deserve to win!” Danny said and walked off into the building.

  Bert winked at Charlie. “Don’t let him worry you, pal. You know he’s always a poor loser!”

  The twins met by the door immediately after school was out. “Are we going to search the chimneys now?” Freddie asked eagerly as they were joined by Charlie and Nellie.

  “We looked at all the fireplaces before,” Nellie reminded them. “Do you think we might have missed something?”

  Nan told her about Mrs. Marden’s dream. “Bert and I think maybe it’s a clue,” she added.

  The six children walked over to the old house, and Bert unlocked the door. Flossie shivered a little as they stepped into the wide hall.

  “I hope that man who keeps running away isn’t in here now!” she said, her blue eyes as wide as saucers.

  “I’m sure no one can get in the house now,” Nan told her with a quick hug.

  Bert had brought a flashlight and the six children gazed steadfastly up each of the chimneys. Not a brick was loose. “Nothing’s hidden in these chimneys,” said Bert finally.

  “Let’s look at the sections that run through the attic,” Nan suggested.

  “Good idea,” Bert said.

  The others agreed, and single file they trudged up the two flights of stairs. When they reached the top of the attic steps they paused and looked around.

  “There are four chimneys, two at each end,” Bert pointed out. “We can figure out just where they would be and then examine the walls there from the inside.”

  Nan and Nellie started toward one end of the long room. Suddenly Nellie stopped and pointed. “Lookl” she cried. “The trunkl”

  “What’s the matter?” Charlie asked. “We looked in that trunk when we were up here before.”

  “I see what you mean, Nellie,” Nan spoke up. “It’s open, and I’m sure we put the lid down when we left!”

  The trunk which the children had dragged into the middle of the dusty floor still stood there. But the top was up, and the tray had not been replaced.

  “I guess our mysterious intruder has been up here,” Bert observed.

  “Do you think he’s looking for Mrs. Marden’s things too?” Freddie asked.

  Charlie laughed. “If he is, I guess he’s not having any better luck than we are.”

  “We haven’t examined the chimneys yet,” Nan reminded the others.

  “Where are the chimneys?” Flossie asked. “I don’t see any.”

  Nan explained that the chimneys ran up the outside of the house. “But we thought perhaps there might be some sort of secret cupboard or hiding place on the inside.”

  Bert walked to one of the windows and after a few tugs managed to open it. Then he leaned out and looked along the side of the house.

  “The chimneys are about six feet wide on both sides of this window,” he announced, pulling his head back into the room.

  The children divided into two teams to examine the walls behind the chimneys. But although they felt every inch of the space, they found no sign of any secret hiding place.

  When they had done the same thing at the opposite end of the attic without success, they looked at one another in discouragement.

  “I guess Mrs. Marden’s dream didn’t mean anything,” Flossie observed dolefully.

  Nan could not conceal her disappointment. She had been so sure the dream was a clue. “I don’t know where else we can search,” she remarked.

  “Let’s look at those dresses in the trunk before we go down,” Nellie suggested. “Mrs. Marden might possibly have put the things in a pocket of one of them.”

  Whoever had opened the trunk had mussed up its contents considerably. Nan and Nellie took out the dresses one by one and searched the pockets. In one they found a lace glove with no fingers and in another a yellowed dance program.

  “Isn’t this pretty?” Nellie exclaimed, holding up a dark red satin dress. The material was so stiff that it stood upright when Nellie set it on the floor.

  “I’m going to try it on!” Nan cried. Quickly she slipped the costume over her own dress and began to parade around the attic.

  Then Flossie and Nellie each put on one of the old gowns. The boys watched for a few minutes, then Charlie said, “Oh, come on, girls, this isn’t finding anything. Let’s go downstairs.”

  The girls reluctantly took off the costumes and put them back into the trunk. They closed the lid and started down the stairs.

  When the children reached the landing between the first and second floors, they heard a muffled sound. It seemed to come from the cellar.

  Flossie stopped short. “What was that?” she whispered in a frightened tone.

  Nan put her finger to her lips, and they all tiptoed down to the front door. As they paused there came another thump.

  This was enough for Flossie. She flung open the door and dashed out of the house. Freddie and the older children followed.

  They had not gone far when Bert stopped. “I forgot to lock the door,” he said. “I’ll have to go back.”

  Flossie turned to speak to her brother. “Oh, don’t—” she began. Then she screamed. “The ghost!” she cried, pointing at the house.

  The others looked. One of the shutters on the second floor had been flung open. In the window was a white figure which swayed as they watched I

  Flossie started to run, but Nan caught her by the hand. “Don’t be frightened, honey,” she said. “Nothing is going to hurt you. There is no such thing as a ghost!”

  “Are you sure?” Flossie quavered.

  “Of course!” Freddie said stoutly. “They’re just people dressed up!”

  “You’re right, Freddie!” Bert declared. “And I’m going to find out who this ghost is!”

  “If you’re going back into the house, I’m going with you!” Nan announced. “Nellie and Charlie, will you stay with Freddie and Flossie until we get back?”

  The friends agreed to wait for Bert and Nan. As the older twins started for the house, the ghostly figure in the window waved its arms and let out an unearthly screech.

  Although Flossie called to them to come back, Bert and Nan walked resolutely toward the house. When they reached it, Bert opened the door noiselessly, and they entered the hall. Everything was quiet now.

  They stood listenin
g for a moment, then Bert whispered, “Let’s go up to that room and see if the ghost is still there.”

  Nan nodded in agreement Hardly daring to breathe, they crept silently up the stairs. When they reached the top, Bert pointed to a doorway on their right. Again Nan nodded.

  Pausing after each step and hoping that the old floor boards would not creak, they advanced toward the bedroom. The door was open. Quietly they tiptoed into the room. The white figure was still looking out the window. Suddenly, as they watched, it raised its arms in a threatening gesture.

  With a stifled giggle, Nan pointed to the ghost’s feet. It was wearing sneakers and orange, blue, and green socks !

  CHAPTER XI

  A RUINED CAMP TRIP

  “THIS is going to be good!” Bert whispered. He dashed across the room, and before the ghost could move Bert snatched off the sheet. Danny Rugg stood revealed !

  Furious, the bully turned around. “You think you’re smart, Bert Bobbsey!” he cried. “But I had you plenty scared!”

  “You didn’t scare us at all!” Nan replied quickly.

  “I’d like to know how you got in here!” Bert said sternly. “Mr. Tetlow gave me a key, but nobody else is supposed to come in!”

  “Teacher’s pet, aren’t you?” Danny sneered. “Well, I don’t need any old key. I have my own way of getting in here if I want to!”

  Bert looked uncertain. He was afraid that Danny had somehow found out about the sliding door in the cellar. If Danny knew about the secret entrance, perhaps someone else would find it too and take the hidden jewelry and coins.

  On the other hand, if Danny did not know about the sliding door, Bert did not want to mention it and so give away the secret.

  Nan guessed her twin’s dilemma so she spoke up. “You haven’t scared us, so you might as well stop playing such silly tricks,” she said. Then she walked out of the room.

  Bert followed, leaving a crestfallen Danny to pick up his sheet and come along. Once out of the house, Danny ran off toward his home while Bert and Nan joined Charlie, Nellie, and the small twins.

  “Did I see Danny come out with you?” Charlie asked in surprise.

  Nan nodded, her brown eyes dancing with merriment. When she told the story of the “ghost” in checkered socks, the rest of the children doubled up with laughter.