CHAPTER V _The Stolen Treasure_
"I'm not just tired," announced Jane Patterson, dropping into the hammockon Mary Louise's porch after the tennis was over. "I'm completelyexhausted! I don't believe I can even move as far as our house--let alonewalk anywhere."
"Oh, yes, you can," replied Mary Louise. "You'll feel lots better afteryou get a shower and some clean clothing. Four sets of tennis oughtn't todo you up. Many a time I've seen you good for six."
"I know, but they weren't so strenuous. Honestly, you and Max ran meragged. I tell you, Mary Lou, I'm all in. And I couldn't walk up thathill to Miss Grant's house if it meant life or death to me."
"But think of poor Elsie! She may need us now."
"Oh, what could we do?"
"I don't know yet. But we have to go to find out just what was stolen, iffor nothing else. She may know by this time."
"Then why not let the boys drive us up?" asked Jane, with a yawn.
"You know why. We can't let them into the secret: they'd tell everybody.And I bet, if the thing got out, Miss Grant would be so mad she'd haveElsie arrested then and there. No, there's nothing for us to do butwalk.... So please go get your shower."
Wearily Jane struggled to her feet.
"O.K. But I warn you, I may drop in my tracks, and then you'll have tocarry me."
"I'll take a chance."
Mary Louise met another protest from her mother, who tried to insist thather daughter lie down for a little rest before supper. But here againpersuasion won.
"Really, I'm not tired, Mother," she explained. "It's only that I'm hotand dirty. And we have something very important to do--I wish I couldtell you all about it, but I can't now."
Her mother seemed satisfied. She had learned by this time that she couldtrust Mary Louise.
"All right, dear," she said. "Call Jane over, and you may all have somelemonade. Freckles said he had to have a cold drink."
The refreshments revived even Jane, and half an hour later the two girlswere walking up the shady lane which led towards the Grant place. Itwasn't so bad as Jane had expected; the road was so sheltered by treesthat they did not mind the climb.
Once inside the hedge they peered eagerly in among the cedar trees for aglimpse of Elsie. But they did not see her anywhere.
"She's probably in the kitchen helping Hannah with the dinner," concludedMary Louise. "Let's go around back."
Here they found her, sitting on the back step, shelling peas. She waswearing her old dress again, and the girls could see that she had beencrying. But her eyes lighted up with pleasure at the sight of her twofriends.
"Oh, I'm so glad to see you girls!" she cried. "I wanted you so much, andI didn't know how to let you know. You see, I don't even have youraddress--though that wouldn't have done me much good, because I'm notallowed out of the gate, and I haven't any stamp to put on a letter. Theonly thing I could do was pray that you would come!"
"Well, here we are!" announced Mary Louise, with a significant look atJane. "Now tell us why you specially wanted us."
"I wanted you to assure Aunt Mattie that you really did give me thosedresses and things. Right away she said I must have bought them with hermoney. Though how she thinks I ever had a chance to get to any store isbeyond me. She knows I never leave this place."
"How did she find out about them?" inquired Mary Louise. "You didn't showthem to her, did you?"
"No, I didn't. She found them while she was searching through my thingsthis morning, to see whether I had her money hidden anywhere."
"That's terrible!" exclaimed Jane. "Oh, how dreadful it must be to be allalone in the world, without anybody who trusts you!" Something of thesame thought ran through Mary Louise's brain at the same time.
"Tell us just what has happened today, since we left," urged Mary Louise."Has anybody been here?"
"No. Not a soul. But Aunt Mattie put me through a lot more questions atlunch, and afterward she gave my room a thorough search. When she foundmy new clothes, she was more sure than ever that I was the thief. Shetold me if I didn't confess everything right away she'd have to changeher mind and call the police."
"Did she call them?" demanded Jane.
"Not yet. It's lucky for me that she hasn't a telephone. She said sheguessed she'd send William after supper. So you can see how much it meantto me for you girls to come over now!"
Mary Louise nodded gravely, and Jane blushed at her reluctance in wantingto come. If Elsie had gone to jail, it would have been their fault forgiving her the clothing!
"When can we see your aunt?" inquired Mary Louise.
"Right now. I'll go in and tell her. She's out on the front porch, Ithink."
Elsie handed her pan to Hannah and went through the kitchen to the frontof the house. She was back again in a moment, telling the girls to comewith her.
They found the old lady in her favorite rocking chair, with her knittingin her lap. But she was not working--just scowling at the world ingeneral, and when Elsie came out on the dilapidated porch an expressionof pain crossed her wrinkled brows. Whether it was real pain from thattrouble in her side which she had mentioned, or whether it was only amiserly grief over the loss of her money, Mary Louise had no way oftelling.
"Good-afternoon, Miss Grant," she said pleasantly. "How is your kittentoday?"
A smile crept over the woman's face, making her much more pleasant tolook at.
"She's fine," she replied. "Come here, Puffy, and speak to the kind girlswho rescued you yesterday!"
The kitten ran over and jumped into Miss Grant's lap.
"She certainly is sweet," said Mary Louise. She cleared her throat: whycouldn't the old lady help her out by asking her a question about theclothing?
But Elsie, nervously impatient, brought up the subject they were allwaiting for.
"Tell Aunt Mattie about the dresses and the coat," she urged.
"Oh, yes," said Mary Louise hastily. "Your niece told us, Miss Grant,that she never gets to Riverside to buy any new clothes, so when Inoticed we were all three about the same size, Jane and I asked ourmothers whether we couldn't give her some of ours. They were willing, andso we brought them over this morning."
"Humph!" was the only comment Miss Grant made to this explanation. MaryLouise could not tell whether she believed her or not and whether she waspleased or angry.
"You didn't mind, did you, Miss Grant?" she inquired nervously.
"No, of course not. Elsie's mighty lucky.... I only hope when she'sworking as somebody's maid that they'll be as nice to her. It helps out,when wages are small. For nobody wants to pay servants much these days."
A lump came into Mary Louise's throat at the thought of Elsie's future,which Miss Grant had just pictured for them. She longed to plead thegirl's cause, but she knew it would do no good. Especially at the presenttime, with Miss Grant poorer than she had ever been in her life.
The old lady's eyes suddenly narrowed, and she looked sharply at MaryLouise.
"See here!" she said abruptly. "You two girls are the only people besidesthose living in this house who know about this robbery, and I don't wantyou to say a word of it to anybody! Understand? I don't want the policein on this until I am ready to tell them. Or my other relatives, either.I expect to get that money back myself!"
All three girls breathed a sigh of relief: it was evident that the policewould not be summoned that evening. And both Mary Louise and Jane gavetheir promise of utmost secrecy.
"But we'd like to help discover the thief, if we can," added Mary Louise."You don't mind if we try, do you, Miss Grant--if it's all on the quiet?"
"No, I don't mind. But I don't see what you can do." Miss Grant lookedsharply at Elsie, as if she thought maybe her niece might confess tothese girls while she stubbornly refused to tell her aunt anything."Yes," she added, "you might succeed where I failed.... Yes, I'll pay tendollars' reward if you get my money back for me."
"We think it might have been a robber," remarked Mar
y Louise, to try todivert Miss Grant's suspicious eyes from her niece. "He could haveslipped in while you were at supper."
"It wasn't a robber," announced Miss Grant, with conviction. "If it hadbeen, he'd have taken everything. The most valuable things were left inthe safe. My bonds. They're government bonds, too, so anybody could seethe value of them--except a child! No, it was somebody right in thishouse!"
And she laughed with that nasty cackle which made Jane so angry, that,she said afterward, if Miss Grant hadn't been an old lady, she would haveslapped her then and there in the face.
"Or maybe it was one of your other relations," said Mary Louise evenly.
"Possibly. I wouldn't trust Harry Grant or Corinne Pearson. Or Corinne'smother, either, for that matter!"
"How about Mrs. Grant?"
"My sister-in-law? No, I don't think she'd take anything. And I know itwasn't John--or either of the servants.... No." She looked at Elsieagain. "There's your culprit. Make her confess--and you get ten dollars!"
She paused, while everybody looked embarrassed. But she was enjoying thesituation. "I'll make it ten dollars apiece!" she added.
"It isn't the money we want, Miss Grant," said Mary Louise stiffly. "It'sto clear Elsie of suspicion."
"Nonsense! Everybody wants money!"
Mary Louise took her notebook out of her pocket.
"Would you tell us just how much money was taken, Miss Grant?" she asked."And--all about it?"
"Yes, of course I will. There was a metal box in the safe with fivehundred dollars in gold----"
"Gold!" exclaimed Jane. "I thought you were supposed to turn that in tothe government!"
"You mind your business!" snapped Miss Grant.
"We will--We will!" said Mary Louise hastily. "Please go on, Miss Grant!"
"Five hundred dollars in twenty-dollar gold pieces," she repeated. "Thenthere was eight hundred and fifty dollars in bills--all in fifty-dollarnotes. I have the numbers of the bills written down in a book upstairs.Would you like to copy them down, Mary Louise?"
"Yes, indeed!" cried the latter rapturously. Miss Grant was treating herjust like a real detective!
"Come upstairs, then, with me, and you can see the safe and my room atthe same time." The old lady turned to her niece, who was still waitingnervously beside the door. "Go back to your work, Elsie," she commanded."Hannah will be wanting you."
The girl nodded obediently, but before she disappeared she softly askedMary Louise, "Will you and Jane be back again tomorrow?"
"Yes, of course," was the reply. "You can count on us."
Miss Grant gathered up her knitting and picked up her kitten from theporch floor, where it had been rolling about with a ball of itsmistress's wool.
"I may want you girls to walk over to the bank with me tomorrow," sheremarked. "Unless John happens to come here in his car. I've aboutdecided to put my bonds into a safe-deposit box at the bank."
"We'll be glad to go with you," Mary Louise assured her.
The old lady struggled painfully to her feet and led the way through thehouse, up the stairs to her room. Both girls noticed the ominous creakwhich these gave when anything touched them, and Jane shuddered. It mustbe awful to live in a tumble-down place like this!
Miss Grant's room on the second floor was at the front of the house, justas Elsie had said, and one window overlooked the porch. It was furnishedwith ugly, heavy wooden furniture, and a rug that was almost threadbare.Along one wall, opposite the bed, was a huge closet, in which, no doubt,Miss Grant kept those old dresses which she had offered to CorinnePearson. And the most astonishing thing about the bedroom was the factthat it contained not a single mirror!
("But, of course," Jane remarked afterward, "you wouldn't want to seeyourself if you looked like that old maid!")
Off in the corner was the iron safe, with the only comfortable chair inthe room beside it. Here, evidently, Miss Grant spent most of her time,rocking in the old-fashioned chair and gloating over her money.
Now she hobbled directly to the safe and opened the door for the girls tolook into it. "You can see how the lock has been picked," she pointedout. "It's broken now, of course." She suddenly eyed the girlssuspiciously, as if they were not to be trusted either, and added, "Thebonds aren't in there now! I hid them somewhere else."
Mary Louise nodded solemnly.
"Yes, that was wise, Miss Grant.... Now, may I write down the numbers ofthe bills that were stolen?"
After she had concluded this little task, she went to examine thewindows. They were both large--plenty big enough for a person to stepthrough without any difficulty. But the one over the porch proveddisappointing, for the roof of the porch was crumbling so badly and theposts were so rotted that anyone who attempted to climb in by that methodwould be taking his life in his hands.
"I always keep that window locked," said Miss Grant, following MaryLouise. "So you see why I don't think it was a burglar who took my money.Locked--day and night!"
Mary Louise nodded and examined the other window. It was high from theground; there was a tree growing near it, but not near enough to make itpossible for a human being to jump from a branch to the window sill. Onlya monkey could perform a trick like that!
Mary Louise turned away with a sigh. She was almost ready to admit thatthe robbery was an inside job, as Miss Grant insisted.
"May we see inside the closet before we go?" she asked as anafterthought.
Miss Grant nodded and opened the door, disclosing a space as large as thekitchenettes in some of the modern apartments. Miss Grant herself used itas a small storeroom for the things that she did not want to put up inthe attic.
"Anybody could hide here for hours," Jane remarked, "without beingsuffocated."
"Which is just what I believe Elsie did!" returned Miss Grant, with asmirk.
And the girls, unhappy and more baffled than ever, went home to theirsuppers.