CHAPTER XV
PUZZLING RHYMES
"As I was saying," continued Sinclair, "Mr. and Mrs. Hartley livedhappily at Cromarty Manor. Three beautiful children were born to them,who have since grown to be the superior specimens of humanity you seebefore you. I am the oldest, and, as I may modestly remark, the flower ofthe family."
"Oh, I don't know," commented Patty, looking affectionately at Mabel.
"Well, anyway, as was only natural, the search for that hidden fortunewent on at times. Perhaps a visitor would stir up the interest afresh,and attempts would be made to discover new meaning in Uncle Marmaduke'slast words. And it was my father who succeeded in doing this. He sat inthe library one day, looking over the old set of Dickens' works, whichalways had a fascinating air of holding the secret. He had not lived herelong then, and was not very familiar with the books on the libraryshelves, but looking about he discovered another set of Dickens, a muchnewer set, and the volumes were bound in cloth, but almost entirelycovered by a gilded decoration. Wait, I'll show you one."
Sinclair rose, and going into the library, returned in a moment with acopy of "Barnaby Rudge." It was bound in green cloth, but so ornate wasthe gold tooling that little green could be seen.
"Dickens--gold----" murmured Patty, her eyes shining as she realised thenew meaning in the words.
"Yes; and, sure enough that was what Uncle Marmaduke meant. Just think!For fifteen years that set of books had stood untouched on the shelves,while people nearly wore out the older set, hunting for a clue to thefortune!"
"It's great!" declared Patty; "go on!"
"Well, this set of Dickens proved extremely interesting. Between theleaves of the books were papers of all sorts. Bills, deeds, banknotes,memoranda, and even a will."
"Then you had the fortune, at last?"
"No such luck. The banknotes and the few securities in the books amountedto a fair sum, which was gratefully appreciated by my parents, but as tothe bulk of the fortune, it only made matters more tantalising thanever."
"Why?" asked Patty.
"One of the papers was a will, properly executed and witnessed, leavingall the fortune of which Uncle Marmaduke died possessed, to my mother.Then, instead of a definite statement of where this money was deposited,were some foolish jingles hinting where to find it. These rhymes would beinteresting as an old legend, or in a story book, but to find theminstead of a heap of money, was, to say the least, disappointing."
"And did you never find the money?"
"Never. And, of course, now we never will. Remember all this happenedtwenty years ago. I mean the discovery of the papers. Of course, themoney was hidden more than thirty-five years ago."
"And do you mean to say that you people are living here, in your ownhouse, and your own money is hidden here somewhere, and you can't findit?"
"Exactly as you state it."
"Well! _I'd_ find it, if I had to tear the whole house down."
"Wait a minute, Miss Impetuosity. We don't think it's in the house."
"Oh, out of doors?"
"You're good at puzzles, I know, but just wait until you hear thedirections that came with the package, and I think you'll admit it's ahopeless problem."
"May she see them, Mother?" said Mabel. "Will you get them out for us?"
"Not to-night, dear. I'll show the old papers to Patty, some other time;but now Sinclair can tell her the lines just as well."
"Of all the papers in the books," Sinclair went on, "only two seemed tobe directions for finding the money, although others vaguely hinted thatthe fortune was concealed. And still others gave the impression thatUncle Marmaduke meant to tell mother all about it; but as his death cameupon him so suddenly, of course he could not do this. On these two papersare rhymes, which we children have known by heart all our lives. One is:
"'Great treasure lieth in the poke Between the fir trees and the oak.'
"You see uncle was a true poet."
"What does the poke mean?" asked Patty.
"Oh, a poke is a pocket; or a hiding-place of any sort. Of course, thisinformation sent father to digging around every fir tree and oak tree onthe place. As you know, there are hundreds of both kinds of trees, so thedirections can't be called explicit."
"But," said Patty, wrinkling her brow, "it says 'between the fir treesand the oak,' as if it meant a clump of firs and only one big oak."
"Yes; that's what has been surmised. And many a separate oak tree thatstands near a group of firs has been thoroughly investigated. But wait;there's another clue. On a separate paper these words are written:
"'Above the stair, across the hall, Between the bedhead and the wall, A careful searching will reveal The noble fortune I conceal.'
"There, could anything be plainer than that?"
"Then the money is _in_ the house!" exclaimed Patty.
"Take your choice. There are the two declarations. It may be he concealedthe money in one place, and then transferred it to another. Or it may behe put part in the ground, and part in the house."
"But, 'between the bedhead and the wall,' is so definite. There are notso very many bedrooms, you know."
"True enough. And of course, when my father found that paper, he wentdirectly upstairs, crossed the hall, and so reached Uncle Marmaduke's ownbedroom. The furniture had been moved about, but Grandy remembered wherethe head of the bed stood in Uncle's time. They searched thoroughly, tookup flooring, took down wainscoting, and all that, to no avail."
"Of course, they tried other 'bedheads'?"
"Yes, tell her about it, Grandy."
"Yes," said Mrs. Cromarty, placidly. "All the bedrooms in the house, eventhe servants' rooms, were subjected to most careful scrutiny. Although somany years had elapsed, I could remember where the various beds stoodwhen Marmaduke was with us. Behind each, we had the walls sounded, and insome cases, broken into. We even looked for pockets or receptacles ofsome sort on the backs of the headboards themselves, but never a trace ofanything could we find."
"It's very exciting!" said Patty; "how can you all be so calm about it? Ishould think you'd be searching every minute!"
"You must remember, dear," said Mrs. Hartley, "it's an old story to us.At first, we were indeed excited. For several years we searched almostcontinuously. Then hope began to fail, and our investigations becameintermittent. Every now and then we would make a fresh attempt, butinvariably repeated failures dampened our enthusiasm."
"It's _so_ interesting," sighed Patty. "Can't we get up a little of theold enthusiasm, and do some searching while I'm here?"
"Indeed, we can," cried Bob. "Would you prefer an excavating party, withpicks and spades, or an indoor performance in the old bedrooms?"
"Both," declared Patty. "Of course I know how absurd it is to go over theground that has already been worn threadbare, but--but, oh! if we _could_find it!"
Grandma Cromarty smiled.
"Forgive me, dearie," she said, "but I've heard those sentiments from allmy guests to whom we have told the story, for the past thirty-five years;and though I don't want to seem ungrateful for your interest, I feel itmy duty to warn you there is no hope."
"Oh, yes there is _hope_, Grandy," said Sinclair, "but there is nothingelse. There's no probability, scarcely a possibility, but we'll _never_give up hope."
"Never!" agreed Bob; but Mabel's expression plainly showed that shehadn't the faintest glimmering of a hope.
"It does seem so strange," said Patty, thoughtfully, "to have the twodirections, and both so explicit. No, not explicit, they're not that, butboth so definite."
"Hardly definite, either," said Bob, "except that they seem to reveal thefact that there _is_ a fortune concealed about the place. Oh! it makes mefrantic! I feel so helpless."
"There's no use storming about it, Bob, my boy," said his mother. "And,Patty, you mustn't set us down as too mercenary in this matter. But Ithink you know that we, as a family, l
ong for the means which wouldenable us to keep up this dear old place as it should be, and not let itsbeautiful parks and gardens go uncared for and neglected."
"I do know!" cried Patty; "and it makes me furious to think that themoney--your own money--is perhaps within your reach, and yet--you can'tget it! Oh, why didn't Mr. Marmaduke say just where he put it!"
"He did," said Bob, smiling.
"Yes, so he did. Well, I'd tear up every square foot of ground on thewhole estate, then."
"Remember, Patty," said Sinclair, in his quiet way, "there are nearly tenthousand acres in all; and except for meadowlands and water, there areoaks and firs on nearly every acre. The fortune itself would scarcely payfor all that labour."
"Well, then, I'd tear the house to pieces."
"Oh, no you wouldn't," said Mrs. Hartley; "and beside, that has almostbeen done. My husband had so much of the woodwork and plaster removed,that I almost feared he would bring the house down about our ears. And itis such a big, rambling old place, it is hopeless to think of examiningit really thoroughly."
Patty glanced around at the great hall she was in. The groined ceiling,with its intricate carvings at the intersections; the cornice carved indeep relief, with heraldic bosses, and massive patterns; the tall columnsand pilasters; all seemed part of an old monument which it would bedesecration to break into.
"I wonder where it is," she said; "indoors or out."
"I think it's out of doors," said Sinclair. "I think uncle hid it in thehouse first, and then wrote his exquisite poem about the poke. Perhaps itwas merely a pocket of leather or canvas, that hung behind the headboardof his own bed. In that case all prying into the walls would meannothing. Then, I think, as that was only a temporary hiding-place, helater buried it in the ground between some special oak tree and fir tree,or trees. I think, too, he left, or meant to leave some more of hispoetry to tell which trees, but owing to his sudden taking off, he didn'tdo this."
"Sinclair," said Bob, "as our American friend, Mr. Dooley, says, 'Yeropinions is inthrestin', but not convincin'.' As opinions, they're fine;but I wish I had some facts. If uncle had only left a cryptogram or acipher, I'd like it better than all that rhymed foolishness."
"Perhaps it isn't foolishness," said Patty; "I think, with Sinclair, it'slikely Mr. Marmaduke wrote the indoor one first, and then changed thehiding-place and wrote the other. But how could he do all this hiding andrehiding without being seen?"
"I went up to London every season," said Mrs. Cromarty; "and, of course,took Emmeline with me. Marmaduke always stayed here, and thus had ampleopportunity to do what he would. Indeed, he usually had great goings-onwhile we were away. One year, he had the Italian garden laid out. Anotheryear, he had a new porter's lodge built. This was done the last year ofhis life, and as he had masons around so much at that time, repairing thecellars and all that, we thought later, that he might have had ahiding-place arranged in the wall behind the head of his bed. But, if so,we never could find it."
"And have you dug under the trees much?" persisted Patty, who could notaccept the hopelessness of the others.
"Dug!" exclaimed Bob, "I've blistered my hands by the hour. I've viewedfir trees and oaks, until I know every one on the place by heart. I'vetrudged a line from oaks to firs, and starting in the middle, I've dugboth ways. But I'm nearly ready to give up. Not quite, though. I'm makinga thorough search of all the books in the library, on the chance offinding some other message. But there are such a lot of books! I've beenat it for three years now, off and on, and I'm only three-quarters wayround. And not a paper yet, except a few old letters and bills."
"I'll help you, Bob," said Patty; "oh, I'd love to do something towardthe search, even if I don't find a thing. I'll begin to-morrow. You tellme what books you've done."
"I will, indeed. I'll be jolly glad to have help. And you can do as muchas you like, before your young enthusiasm wears off."
"I'll do it, gladly," said Patty, and then they discovered that theevening had flown away, and it was bedtime.
As they went upstairs, Mabel followed Patty to her room and sat down fora little good-night chat.
Patty's eyes were shining with excitement, and as she took off her hairribbon, and folded it round her hand, she said:
"Even if we don't find anything, you'll be no worse off, and it's suchfun to hunt."
"They didn't tell you all, Patty," said Mabel, in a pathetic tone, andPatty turned quickly to her friend.
"Why, what do you mean?"
"I mean this. Of course, we've never been rich, and we've never been ableto do for the place what ought to be done for it; but we have been ableto live here. And now--now, if we can't get any more money, we--we can'tstay here! Oh, Patty!"
Patty's arms went round Mabel, as the poor child burst into tears.
"Yes," she said, sobbing, "some of mother's business interests havefailed--it's all come on lately, I don't entirely understand it--but,anyway, we may soon have to leave Cromarty, and oh, Patty, how _could_ welive anywhere else? and what's worse, how _could_ we have any one elseliving here?"
"Leave Cromarty Manor! Where you've all lived so long--I mean yourancestors and all! Why, Mabel, you can't do that!"
"But we'll have to. We haven't money enough to pay the servants--or, atleast, we won't have, soon."
"Are you sure of all this, dear? Does Mrs. Cromarty expect to go away?"
"It's all uncertain. We don't know. But mother's lawyer thinks we'dbetter sell or let the place. Of course we won't sell it, but it would bealmost as bad to let it. Think of strangers here!"
"I can't think of such a thing! It seems impossible. But perhaps mattersmay turn out better than you think. Perhaps you won't have to go."
"That's what Sinclair says--and mother. But I'm sure the worst willhappen."
"Now, Mabel, stop that! I won't let you look on the dark side. And,anyway, you're not to think any more about it to-night. You won't sleep awink if you get nervous and worried. Now put it out of your mind, andlet's talk about the croquet party to-morrow at Grace Meredith's. How arewe going over?"
"You and I are to drive in the pony cart, and the others will go in thecarriage."
"That will be lovely. Now, what shall we wear?"
Thus, tactfully, Patty led Mabel's thoughts away from her troubles, forthe time, at least, and when the two friends parted for the night, theyboth went healthily and happily to sleep.