Finally Nan said, “I guess he isn’t here after all. And maybe Snoop wasn’t the kitten Mrs. Marden gave away.”
“We haven’t looked in the house,” Freddie suggested.
“How would a cat get in?” asked Flossie.
“We might as well look,” Bert remarked. “Cats can get in places no one would ever expect them to.” He opened the front door with his key, and the four children walked into the hall.
Once more they went through the house, this time paying special attention to the closets and any small spaces into which a kitten might crawl. But they had no success.
“There’s still the third floor,” Bert said. He and Nan trudged up the narrow stairs to the attic, but Freddie and Flossie did not want to go. “See you later,” the little boy called.
The small twins ran down to the first floor. They were chasing each other through the musty, vacant rooms when suddenly there came a loud meow! The small twins stopped and listened. The sound came again!
Flossie put her finger to her lips. “I think the —the cat’s in the living room,” she whispered.
The two children tiptoed across the hall and into the empty room. There was no cat in sight. Then they heard another loud meow followed by a snicker. The sound seemed to come from just outside one of the shuttered windows.
“That wasn’t any cat!” Flossie declared.
She crept to the window and peered through the blind. She beckoned Freddie to join her. What they saw made the two children giggle. Then together they let out a “meow!” at the top of their lungs.
There was a scrambling noise under the window. Through the shutter Freddie and Flossie saw Danny Rugg running pell-mell toward the school !
“He was trying to make us think he was Snoop, but we scared him! We scared him!” the twins howled with glee.
“Serves him right!” Freddie added.
At that moment Nan called from the kitchen, “Bert! Flossie! Freddie! Come here!”
The younger twins hurried toward the sound of her voice, and Bert came running down the stairs. The four met in the old kitchen. Nan stood in the middle of the room, a paper in her hand.
“Look what I found!” she exclaimed, holding out a small folder.
“Why, it’s the last School Assembly program!” Bert exclaimed. “How did that get here?”
“I can’t imagine!” Nan replied. “It certainly wasn’t here the other time we searched the kitchen!”
Bert passed the paper to Freddie, who looked at it closely. “Look!” he said. “There’s a drawing on it.”
“Where?” Nan asked. Then as she bent to examine the program, she exclaimed, “I think it’s a plan of this house, isn’t it, Bert?”
“It sure is!” her twin agreed. “But what’s it all about?”
“Someone connected with the school must have been in here!” Nan said. “Do you think it could have been Mr. Tetlow? After all, he has the only other key.”
Bert looked thoughtful. “I think we ought to tell him about what you found anyway. Why don’t you take the program to him while I fix Danny’s surprise?”
“We didn’t find Snoop.” Flossie sighed. “But maybe Nan found a clue.”
There was only a short time before the first bell would ring, so the four Bobbseys walked over to the school. At the door they met Charlie and Nellie.
In low tones Bert and Nan explained about the trick they were going to play on Danny. Charlie guffawed. “That’s terrific!” he exclaimed. “I’ll help you get it ready, Bert.”
The two older boys went off to the locker section while Freddie and Flossie said good-by and turned toward their first grade room.
“I’ll see you in a few minutes,” Nan said to Nellie as she left her friend and walked down the hall to the principal’s office.
“Don’t be late for the fun!” Nellie called after her.
“Oh, I won’t!”
Mr. Tetlow was at his desk and motioned to Nan to come in when she entered the outer office. He took the program from her and listened intently as she explained that she had found it in the kitchen of the old house.
“This is most disturbing,” he observed. “I’m the only person besides Bert who is supposed to have a key, and I haven’t been in the Marden house for a week or so!”
“Who do you suppose dropped the program, and why is there a map of the house on it?” Nan wondered.
“I don’t know, but I’ll turn this over to the police,” Mr. Tetlow promised. Then he looked at his watch. “You’d better get to your classroom. The bell will be ringing in a few minutes.”
Nan thanked him and ran down the hall where Nellie was waiting. The two girls walked into class together.
While Nan was in the principal’s office Bert and Charlie had gone to the boys’ locker room. There they had met Ned Brown and told him what they were planning.
He chuckled and asked, “Can I do something to help out?”
“You can keep Danny out of the way until we have everything ready,” Bert suggested.
At that minute Danny Rugg walked into the room. When he saw Bert he sneered, “Aren’t you the early one today! I thought you Bobbseys were still playing house or some of your other silly games.”
Bert pretended to be busy at his locker and did not reply.
“Say, Danny,” Ned called, “I saw your baseball bat over in the corner of the gym a little while ago. You’d better get it before Mr. Tetlow finds it.”
“That’s right,” Charlie chimed in. “You know we’re supposed to keep our equipment in here.”
“I don’t know how it got there,” Danny said, “but I suppose I’ll have to get it or old Tetlow will be on my neck!” He grumbled and strolled out of the room.
“Good for you fellows,” Bert said. “That was a neat way to get Danny out of here.” He had been running the hot water in the hand basin. Now he tested it. “That should be about right!” he remarked.
Bert carefully filled the doll’s hot water bottle and slipped it into the fur muff. The three boys then walked across the hall and into their homeroom.
The teacher, Miss Vandermeer, was writing on the blackboard and did not turn around when Bert, Charlie, and Ned entered.
Casually Bert walked over to Danny’s desk and slipped in the muff. Then he took his seat.
In a minute Nan and Nellie came in. Nan stopped by Bert’s desk. “Is everything fixed?” she whispered.
Bert winked and made a circle with his thumb and first finger. Nan giggled and went on.
By this time most of the children were in their places. Just as the final bell rang Danny slipped into the room and hurried to his desk.
After Miss Vandermeer had said good morning to the class, she directed the boys and girls to take out their notebooks and pencils. “I want to give you your assignments now,” she remarked.
The eyes of the Bobbseys and their friends were on Danny as he put his hand into his desk!
CHAPTER XVII
A CONFESSION
“OW!” Danny yelled and slammed down the desk lid.
“What is the meaning of this?” Miss Vandermeer asked sternly as a wave of titters spread through the room.
“I—uh—I stuck my finger,” Danny answered, his face red.
“I’m sorry if you hurt yourself,” the teacher remarked, “but please don’t make so much noise. Now take out your notebook and pencil.”
But Danny did not move. He sat staring straight ahead.
“Danny!” Miss Vandermeer prompted him, frowning. “What is the matter? I expect an answer when I ask you a question.”
Danny gulped miserably. “I—I think there’s a cat in my desk!” he finally stuttered.
“A cat!” the teacher gasped in astonishment “The very idea! Take it out at once!” she commanded.
Gingerly and reluctantly Danny put in his hand and slowly pulled out the muff! He turned a vivid scarlet as the class burst into roars of mirth. Even Miss Vandermeer could not keep from laughing.
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sp; “I didn’t put it there!” Danny cried. He pointed at Bert. “I’ll bet he did it. He’s mad at me because I found out he squealed to Mr. Tetlow when I broke that window!”
“He did no such thing,” came a voice from the doorway. It was Mr. Tetlow! “Bert would not say who threw the ball,” he went on, “but I saw you running away so it was not hard to guess who the culprit was!”
Danny shuffled his feet and looked at the floor. Mr. Tetlow spoke to Miss Vandermeer for a few minutes, then left the room.
“Did you put the muff in Danny’s desk, Bert?” Miss Vandermeer asked.
Bert looked sheepish. “Yes, Miss Vandermeer,” he admitted. “Danny’s always playing tricks on me and my brother and sisters, so I thought I’d play one on him!”
“The classroom is no place for tricks,” the teacher replied. But a little smile played about her lips. “I will keep the muff in my desk until noontime. You may pick it up then. Now I suggest we get on with our assignments.”
With a few suppressed giggles the boys and girls bent over their notebooks and settled down to work.
Shortly before noon a message came for Bert and Nan to report to the principal’s office. “I suppose he’s going to punish me,” Bert said to his twin as they walked down the hall, “but it was worth it to see Danny’s face when he felt that muff!”
Nan laughed. “Wasn’t he priceless?” Then she added, “I don’t think Mr. Tetlow wants to see you about that or why would he want me to come too?”
As Nan suspected, the principal did not mention the muff incident. Instead he indicated a roughly dressed man who was standing near by with Officer Murphy.
“I thought perhaps you children would like to see the man who has caused all the strange happenings at the old Marden house,” the principal remarked.
Seeing the twins’ puzzled expressions, he went on, “This is Jack Ringley, who used to be a janitor here at the school. We let him go when he began taking supplies.”
“But why would he be in the house?” Nan asked in bewilderment.
“Ringley overheard you telling your friends about the missing articles you were trying to find for Mrs. Marden. He decided to look for them himself.”
“How did he get in?” Bert wanted to know.
“That’s what I wondered,” Mr. Tetlow said. “Ringley has confessed that he took the key from my desk drawer one day when the office was empty. He had a duplicate made so he could go into the house any time he wanted to. He returned the key before I had a chance to miss it.”
At this point Officer Murphy spoke up. “I’ve been watching that house. This morning I saw you children leave. Then a little while later this fellow walks up and lets himself in with a key!”
“Then you didn’t know about the secret entrance in the cellar!” Nan exclaimed in satisfaction, turning toward the prisoner.
“What secret entrance?” Jack Ringley asked sullenly.
Nan did not reply but Bert burst out, “Was it you who went down through the trap door in the kitchen one day when we were in the house?”
“Yes. You almost caught me that time. I had to duck down there when I heard her”—he nodded at Nan—“coming toward the kitchen.”
“I’ll bet you took up that lower step too!” Bert said accusingly.
“Sure I did,” Jack Ringley replied boastfully. “I wanted to scare you kids so you wouldn’t hang around the house while I was looking for those things.” Then he added resentfully, “I yelled at you from the upstairs window too, but it didn’t do any good!”
“You must have looked in the trunk in the attic. Did you find anything?” Nan asked curiously.
The man shook his head in disgust. “No, I thought I had really found the hiding place when I saw that trunk but there was nothing in it but a lot of musty old clothes!”
The former janitor confessed that he had even gone into the house very late one night to search for the valuable heirlooms but had not been able to find them.
“That must have been the night Sam drove us home from the lake!” Bert cried. “We saw the light.”
Mr. Tetlow took the school program from his desk. “I guess you dropped this on one of your trips,” he said.
Then he nodded to Officer Murphy. “That’s all. Take him down to police headquarters now. We’ve found out what we wanted to know. The mystery of the haunted house is cleared up!”
After the officer had left with Jack Ringley, Mr. Tetlow stood up. “Well, it looks as if Mrs. Marden’s heirlooms are not going to be found. The wreckers are starting to tear down the old mansion this afternoon.”
“I guess the things are not there if none of us could find them,” Nan agreed sadly. She and Bert left the office.
Freddie and Flossie had gone home to lunch and were waiting impatiently for the older twins when they finally came to the table.
“We thought you’d never come!” Freddie cried. “How did the trick work?”
“Was Danny scared?” Flossie asked.
Bert and Nan had been so excited about the capture of the mysterious visitor to the Marden mansion that they had almost forgotten about the trick they had played on Danny.
But now they gave a step by step account of what had happened in the classroom. When they came to the part where Danny had pulled the warm muff from his desk, Freddie and Flossie collapsed in giggles.
Dinah had stayed in the dining room to hear the story. She threw up her hands and rolled her eyes to the ceiling. “Hee, heel That boy sure got what he deserved!” she cried, her ample bulk shaking with laughter.
“I hope that will discourage Danny for a while,” Mrs. Bobbsey said, wiping the tears of mirth from her own eyes. “But why are you children late to lunch?” she asked.
“The ghost in the haunted house has been caught!” Bert announced with a grin.
“Who was it?” Freddie asked, so excited he stopped eating his dessert.
Bert and Nan took turns telling of the happenings in Mr. Tetlow’s office. Freddie’s and Flossie’s eyes grew big as they heard of Jack Ringley’s confession.
“Then Danny didn’t play all those tricks!” Flossie exclaimed, amazed.
“Not all of them,” Bert admitted, “but we did catch him playing ghost!”
When the younger twins heard that the old Marden house was going to be torn down that afternoon they were sad.
“And we haven’t found Mrs. Marden’s nice things!” Flossie wailed.
“But it will be fun to watch them knock the house down!” Freddie reminded her.
That afternoon when school had been dismissed a large crowd of boys and girls gathered on the driveway to watch the house wreckers.
While one group of workmen was busy getting the machinery ready, another group was tearing out woodwork which could be used again. There was a steady procession of men carrying out mantelpieces, fine old doors, and stair rails. These were piled into a truck and driven away.
Finally a man climbed into the cab of a huge machine from which a crane protruded. At the end of the crane was a giant iron ball.
“That’s the wrecking ball!” Freddie called out in excitement. “Watch it smash the house!”
At that moment Mr. Tetlow came from the school building and stood beside the Bobbseys. A man stationed near the house gave a signal, and the huge ball swung against the old house.
Crash! The ball smashed into the roof and tore a big hole. Splinters of wood flew in all directions.
Then as the operator pulled the ball back for another swing, Nan Bobbsey screamed loudly:
“Stop!”
CHAPTER XVIII
THE TREASURE
THE wrecker looked from the cab of his machine. “Did someone call me?” he asked.
Nan, followed by Mr. Tetlow and the other Bobbseys, ran over to the huge machine. “Will you stop for a few minutes, please?” she pleaded. “I think I heard a cat crying.”
“I heard it too!” Freddie agreed excitedly. “Do you think it could be Snoop?”
�
��There it is again!” Bert exclaimed. “It’s coming from the kitchen!”
The children and the principal ran into the house and back to the kitchen. What a sight met their eyes The logs in the fireplace had tumbled forward and scattered on the floor. The metal plate wall back of it had crashed inward and lay on top of the logs.
Nan dashed over to the opening. As she leaned forward to look in, something jumped onto her shoulder.
Snoop! Covered with soot!
Freddie grabbed his pet and hugged him. “I’m so glad we found you!” he cried. “Please don’t go away again!”
Snoop snuggled up under Freddie’s chin and purred happily.
“Where do you suppose he was?” Bert said, curious. He pulled out his flashlight, stepped into the fireplace, and gasped.
“That wall we saw was a fake!” he exclaimed. “There’s another one back of it with steps leading to the roof ! Snoop must have climbed to the roof and then was afraid to come back.”
“And went down the chimney steps!” Flossie cried. “She’s a smart kitty.”
“Oh, boy!” Freddie exclaimed. “A mystery stairway You’ve really found something, Bert!”
“That terrific bang on the house by the wreckers did it,” Bert replied.
“I wonder where the steps go?” Nan said. “Maybe to a secret room!”
“Let’s go up and see!” Flossie proposed, starting forward.
Mr. Tetlow caught her by the hand. “Not so fast, young lady,” he cautioned. “I think one of the older children should go first.”
“I will,” Nan volunteered. While Bert held the flashlight so that it shone in front of her, Nan crept up a few steps. Suddenly she called out, “There’s a box here!”
“Ooh!” Flossie cried. “Can you bring it out?”
In reply Nan carefully backed down the steps, holding a black metal box in her hands. She put it on the floor and they all waited breathlessly while she fumbled with the clasp.
In another minute the box was open. Inside were two small chests—one a velvet jeweler’s case and the other of carved wood with a slide top.
“Open them quick!” Freddie urged, his blue eyes snapping excitedly.
The Bobbsey Twins of Lakeport Page 10
