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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/32437-8.txt b/32437-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..f4dd3f6 --- /dev/null +++ b/32437-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5873 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Automobile Girls at Chicago, by Laura +Dent Crane + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Automobile Girls at Chicago + or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds + + +Author: Laura Dent Crane + + + +Release Date: May 19, 2010 [eBook #32437] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32437-h.htm or 32437-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32437/32437-h/32437-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32437/32437-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text in bold face is enclosed by equal signs (=bold=). + + Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + + + + + +THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO + +Or + +Winning Out Against Heavy Odds + +by + +LAURA DENT CRANE + +Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls +in the Berkshires, The Automobile Girls +Along the Hudson, etc. + +Illustrated + + + +[Illustration: "He's Here!" Cried Barbara. + +_Frontispiece._] + + + + + + + +Philadelphia +Henry Altemus Company + +Copyright, 1912, by +Howard E. Altemus + +Printed in the +United States of America + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. THE MAN IN SECTION THIRTEEN 7 + II. THE MISSING PASSENGER 19 + III. A DIZZY ROUND OF PLEASURE 32 + IV. BATTLE OF THE BULLS AND BEARS 45 + V. AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT 56 + VI. THE WRECK OF MR. A. BUBBLE 68 + VII. THE MYSTERY OF THE IRON GATES 75 + VIII. EXPLORING THE SECRET PASSAGE 84 + IX. IN AN INDIAN GRAVEYARD 96 + X. MEETING A TREASURE HUNTER 106 + XI. GIVING AN ATTIC PARTY 116 + XII. A CURIOUS OLD JOURNAL 127 + XIII. THE MYSTERY OF THE ATTIC 136 + XIV. TOMMY TAKES A WILD RIDE 143 + XV. AN AMAZING OCCURRENCE 154 + XVI. BOB SOLVES ANOTHER MYSTERY 164 + XVII. A LONG-REMEMBERED CHRISTMAS 178 + XVIII. BAB'S EXCITING DISCOVERY 187 + XIX. A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT 195 + XX. CONCLUSION 204 + + + + +The Automobile Girls at Chicago + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE MAN IN SECTION THIRTEEN + + +BARBARA THURSTON awakened with a violent start. + +"Wha--a-at is it?" she muttered, then opened her eyes wide. In the +darkness of the Pullman berth she could see nothing at all save a faint +perpendicular line of light at the edges of the curtains that enclosed +the section. + +"I--I wonder what made me wake up so suddenly?" Barbara put out a +groping hand. The hand came in contact with Mollie Thurston's face. +Mollie brushed it away, muttering irritably in her sleep. Then all at +once Barbara discovered what had awakened her. Close at hand she heard +the voices of two men. They were conversing in low, cautious tones. + +"I tell you I'll crush him! I'll crush them both. I'll make beggars of +them!" declared one of the men in a slightly heightened tone. + +The train had stopped, as Barbara realized at that moment. Otherwise she +might not have been able to hear the words so plainly. The girl +shuddered at the tone of the speaker's voice more than at the words +themselves. She drew the curtains aside a little and peered out. It was +then that she discovered by the light reflected from the adjoining +section that the berths next to her had not been made up. Two men were +sitting in the double seat within a few inches of where her head had +lain. She was unable to see the men, nor did Barbara recognize either of +the voices. Their conversation could be of no possible interest to her, +she told herself. Still for some reason that she did not stop to +analyze, the girl lay back with half-closed eyes, listening. She +listened not because she wanted to hear, but for the reason that she +could not well help overhearing the conversation in the adjoining +section. + +At Barbara's side Mollie Thurston lay sleeping peacefully. As for +Barbara, she was now wholly awake, all thought of sleep having left her. + +"You mean you will crush them financially?" suggested the second +speaker. + +"Body and soul!" + +"Do you mean to say that you would crush a human being--perhaps drive +him to do desperate things--merely to gratify your love of money and +power? Is that what you mean, Nat?" + +"That is partly my meaning. Yes, I want power. Already they call me the +'Young Napoleon of Finance,' but that is not enough. Those men must be +driven to the wall, for in crushing them I shall be increasing my own +power as well as taking theirs from them. I'd crush them just the same +if I knew it to be my last conscious act on earth." + +Barbara Thurston gazed into the darkness wide-eyed. She knew she was +listening to the resolve of a desperate man, though she had not the +slightest idea what might be his plans for accomplishing his purpose. + +"Why do you hate them so?" questioned the second voice. "What have they +ever done to you?" + +The first speaker paused a few seconds before replying, then in a voice +tense with suppressed emotion he answered slowly: + +"Hate them? That isn't exactly the word, but it will answer. I hate ---- +---- because he turned me out when I was making my start. Turned me out +into the street, Jim. Do you understand? Turned me out without a dollar +in my pocket when I was trying to make something of myself. I hate the +other man because he is working with him. They are pulling together and +they must go down together. Let them down me if they can. I'll make +beggars of both of them!" + +"Oh!" exclaimed Barbara Thurston in a tone that plainly must have +reached the two men. + +The terrible threat had struck her almost with the effect of a blow. A +name had been mentioned that stirred her to instant alertness, a name +almost as familiar to the girl as her own. + +"What was that?" demanded the voice that had uttered the terrible +threats. + +"Someone dreaming." + +"Let them dream. As for me, I never sleep these days. I leave that to +others. Jim, you watch me. I'll be a king of finance yet. I'll be the +Napoleon in reality before I have done. And what is more, those men will +never know where their opposition comes from until after the blow has +fallen. I'll see to it that they know then, however. Watch me, but keep +silent. Not a word, not a breath of what I have told you. I've said too +much, but I had to talk to some one I could trust. Now I'm all right +again." + +"Never fear, Nat." + +"And I'll give you a tip, boy. Buy wheat." + +Bab could not catch all of the sentence. She caught the word "wheat," +but a word ahead of that she missed. + +"Thank you, I never gamble," replied the second man. "I'm sure to lose +if I do, so I have always steered clear of speculation. But I'm sorry +for the Old Man if you are after him. I'm sorry for anyone that you +visit your displeasure upon. I should hate to have you get after my +scalp." + +"What's--who's talking in this berth?" demanded Mollie, sitting up +suddenly. + +"Sh-h-h!" warned Barbara, laying a restraining hand on her sister's +lips. "It isn't in this berth. It's in the next one. Go to sleep." + +"Is--is Grace asleep?" + +"Yes. Be quiet." + +Grace Carter, the girls' companion, occupied the berth above them. As no +sound had been heard from that quarter it was reasonable to suppose that +Grace had not been awakened by the conversation of the two men. + +Barbara was trembling violently. She was profoundly affected by what she +had overheard. Yet while she had heard a name mentioned and a threat +made against the owner of that name, she was in the dark as to the +meaning of the threat--she did not understand what it was that this man +proposed to do. Her ears were now strained to catch every word uttered +on the other side of the partition. + +"I shall watch the market with interest, Nat," the second speaker was +saying. "I don't say that I approve of your way of getting revenge, but +that is your own affair. Remember, however, that people who play with +fire are sooner or later sure to be singed." + +The other man laughed. + +"My feathers were singed a long time ago, Jim," he said. + +"Well, here's where I get off. Good luck, old man, and good night." + +The train had moved forward slowly, halting at a station a short +distance from the last stop. The man who had made the threats +accompanied his friend to the door of the car, then instead of returning +to the seat he had occupied with his friend, he seated himself opposite +the section occupied by the girls. + +Bab, determined to know who the man was, peered cautiously between the +curtains. + +"It's the man in section thirteen!" she exclaimed. Then she realized +that she had expressed her thought aloud. + +The man wheeled sharply, his face hardening, his eyes narrowed to mere +slits as he gazed questioningly about him. He saw no one, for Barbara +had quickly withdrawn her head, holding the curtains firmly so that he +should observe no movement of them. The girl had learned that which she +was so curious to know. She now knew the man who had uttered the +threats. He had occupied the section opposite to her all during the +previous afternoon, though she did not recall having heard him speak nor +did she know his name. The man across the aisle reached for his bag, +from which he selected a package of papers. These he regarded +thoughtfully for a full minute, after which he opened the package, +taking several documents, returning the rest to the bag. Then after +drawing his cigar case from the bag, he rose and strode rapidly toward +the rear of the car, where the smoking compartment was located. + +"So that's the man. I'm glad I know what I do, even though I do not know +what it is all about. I must ask Mr. Stuart about that man," mused +Barbara. Consulting her watch, she found that it was nearly one o'clock +in the morning. The girl shivered, snuggled into her blankets and fell +asleep. It was December and the air was chill. Barbara had not been +asleep long when she was awakened by a violent jolt, then a bumping that +shook her until her teeth chattered. The sleeping car swayed giddily +from side to side as it moved slowly forward with a grinding, crunching +sound. Then the car gave a lurch that hurled Bab violently against her +sister. + +Mollie uttered a little cry of alarm. Bab threw her arms about her, +hugging Mollie in a tight embrace to save her sister from being thrown +against the side of the car. As yet Bab had not had time to think of +what was occurring outside. But now she began vaguely to realize that +the Pullman car had left the rails. An accident had occurred. Shouts and +cries of alarm from various parts of the car testified to the terror of +other passengers who were being buffeted about by the rocking sleeper. +All at once the forward end of the car appeared to plunge down head +first, as it were. The two girls were tumbled into one end of their +berth where for a few agonizing seconds both were nearly standing on +their heads. + +Mollie screamed again. + +"Don't!" commanded Barbara sharply in a half-smothered voice, holding +her sister even more tightly than before. + +"We're going over!" cried Mollie. + +Barbara had managed to straighten out and was now bracing herself with +all her might. She had thus far made no effort to get out into the +aisle. She was a girl quick to think and act in an emergency. She had +reasoned that they would be safer in their berth than out of it, for +they could not be buffeted about so much in the narrow berth as they +might be in the aisle where they could hear the thud of bags and other +articles falling from the various berths or being hurled from one side +to the other of the car. + +The lights suddenly went out. Fortunately the train had not been moving +very fast when the accident occurred. Now it gave a sudden, sickening +lurch and lay over on its side to the accompaniment of crashing glass as +the windows were burst in and renewed cries of fear came from the +passengers. + +The broad windows of the Thurston girls' berth burst in, sending a +shower of glass over them. Both received bruises as well as slight cuts +from the broken glass that had showered over them, though Barbara had +borne the brunt of the shock, managing to keep her own body between +Mollie and danger. + +"Are we killed? Are we killed?" moaned Mollie. + +"No. We are all right," soothed Bab with a confidence that she did not +feel. "Quick! Get on your clothes if you can find them. Here, put this +on. Don't try to dress completely, but just throw about you whatever you +can find." + +While urging her sister to action, Bab was hunting feverishly for their +belongings. She thrust the first clothing she could find into the hands +of the trembling Mollie, then wrapped the younger girl in a blanket. + +"I want my shoes," cried Mollie. + +Barbara thrust two shoes into the girl's hands. One was Mollie's shoe, +the other Barbara's, but she could not be particular under the +circumstances. + +Now a new danger threatened. Bab was certain that she could smell smoke. +She fairly dragged Mollie from the berth into the aisle that was now +tilted at an angle. + +"Hurry! Get to the upper end of the car as fast as you can. The other +passengers are out I do believe." + +"Oh, I can't! Help me, Bab." + +"Help yourself. I must look after Grace." + +"Grace!" groaned Mollie, a sudden and new fit of trembling seizing upon +her until her legs threatened to collapse under her. + +Barbara gave her a violent push. + +"Climb up the aisle. Support yourself by the seats. You will be able to +get through all right. I'll follow you just as soon as I can find Grace. +She may have gotten out, but I don't believe she has." + +"Is--is--do you think she is dead?" gasped Mollie. + +"Hurry!" urged Barbara, as the smell of smoke smote her nostrils more +strongly than before. "Grace!" she called, as soon as she saw that +Mollie had begun climbing. + +There was no answer. Barbara was hurrying into such of her clothing as +she was able to find. The intense darkness of the car made any +systematic effort to dress impossible. + +"Grace! Oh, Grace!" + +Still no answer. Bab observed by the light that now filtered through the +broken windows of section number thirteen on the opposite side of the +aisle, that that section was empty. The car itself appeared to be empty. +At least the cries had died out, though outside the car there was a +great uproar. Barbara climbed into the upper berth occupied by Grace +Carter, who lay silent, unheeding Barbara's voice. + +"Oh, Grace! Grace!" begged Barbara, throwing her arms about her friend. +"Answer me." + +There was no response. A bar of moonlight shone through the broken +window of section number thirteen, falling directly on the pallid face +of the unconscious girl. Barbara shook her, calling upon her friend to +answer, but Grace neither spoke nor stirred. + +"Is there any one left in here?" called a voice from the other end of +the car. + +"Yes, yes; come here quickly and help me," cried Barbara. + +Instead of coming to her assistance, the owner of the voice appeared to +turn back and go out again. Barbara was now chafing the hands and face +of the motionless girl in the upper berth. + +"Oh, she's dead, she's dead. What shall I do?" gasped Bab. + +With a suddenly formed resolution, she clasped her arms about Grace and +with considerable difficulty--for Grace was now a dead weight--dragged +the unconscious girl from her berth into the aisle. Bab did not pause +for an instant. Handling her friend as tenderly as possible, she began +working her way up the steep aisle, making but slow progress, one arm +about Grace Carter, the other pulling herself and her heavy burden along +by grasping the backs of the seats and the partitions between such of +the berths as were made up. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MISSING PASSENGER + + +AN endless corridor it seemed to Barbara Thurston as little by little +she dragged her drooping burden to the end of the aisle. Reaching the +narrow passage that led past the staterooms, she was obliged to creep on +hands and knees along the slippery lower side of the car. + +Suddenly she heard a groan. + +Bab glanced apprehensively at the curtains that hung over the door of +the smoking room. The curtains now stood out at a sharp angle. A thin +cloud of smoke filtered out from the smoking compartment. + +"Oh, there's some one in there," exclaimed the girl. But she had other +work to do just then. The young woman struggled on, at last reaching the +platform that now stood in the air some feet above the track. + +"Jump! We'll catch you," called a voice. + +"I--I can't. Help me. My companion is hurt." + +"She's got someone with her. Get up there," commanded a sharp voice. + +Two trainmen clambered to the platform. + +"Is the girl dead?" demanded one. + +"I don't know. Oh, please hurry," begged Barbara in an agonized tone. + +The men quickly lifted down Grace Carter's limp form. Then they turned +to assist Barbara, but she already had swung down without assistance. +Mollie was kneeling beside Grace, other passengers crowding about the +unconscious girl who lay stretched out on the ground beside the track. +Someone pushed through the crowd to Grace and thrust a bottle of +smelling salts under her nose. + +This served to restore her to consciousness, and she feebly brushed the +bottle aside. + +"She's alive," screamed Mollie, almost beside herself. + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Barbara in an ecstacy of joy. + +Grace Carter sat up dazedly. + +"Are you hurt, dear?" urged Bab. + +"I--I don't know. I think not. Oh, it was awful. I--I thought the world +surely was coming to an end. Was anyone--anyone killed?" + +"No," answered a voice from the crowd. "Some of us got a fine shaking +up, but the train was running so slowly that the shock of the accident +was not very severe." + +"What was the matter?" asked Grace as Barbara assisted the trembling +girl to her feet. + +"The trainmen say it was a loose rail. They've been putting in new rails +at this point and the train was running slowly on that account, the work +not yet being entirely finished." + +At this juncture the conductor came bustling up, ordering the passengers +to go to the cars ahead, which had not left the track. The train was to +move on in a few minutes. A flagman had been stationed some distance to +the rear to stop any following trains and the conductor was anxious to +reach the next station ahead to telegraph for a wrecking train and +report the wreck of the sleepers. A pleasant-faced woman whom Barbara +had seen on the train the day before, stepped up and offered to assist +them, which she did by placing an arm about Grace, helping to support +the latter in the walk to the cars. + +"I am Miss Thompson, from Chicago," said the woman. "My father is with +me. I saw you yesterday and wanted to speak to you. Are you going to +Chicago?" + +"Yes. You are very kind," answered Barbara. + +"I wonder if all the passengers were gotten out of the sleeper?" asked +Miss Thompson when they had finally reached the cars up ahead and Grace +had been comfortably disposed of in another sleeper. + +Barbara started. + +"Oh, I forgot. Conductor! There was a man in the smoking compartment of +our car." + +The porter who had followed them with the other passengers and such +luggage as he could find, shook his head. + +"I know there was. I had forgotten all about it," declared Bab. "I heard +someone groan in there as I passed the compartment with my friend. Where +is the man who occupied the lower berth of section thirteen?" + +No one had seen him. All the other passengers had been accounted for, +but no one had seen the tall, slim, sandy-haired man from section number +thirteen. + +"Then he is in that smoking compartment. I saw him when he went there. +The compartment was on fire when I passed it," cried Barbara Thurston, +springing up, her face flushed, her eyes large and troubled. + +"If there's anyone there the men will find him. There was no fire in +that car," said the conductor, with which statement the porter agreed. + +"There was smoke," declared Bab. "I don't know about fire. I do know +that I'm going back to find out about that man," she announced. + +"Come back," called the conductor. "We're going to start." + +Unheeding, Barbara ran for the door, and, leaping from the platform, +started on a run back to the wrecked sleeper. The conductor was +determined to move his train, but the passengers objected so strenuously +that he reluctantly decided to wait and make a further hurried search of +the wrecked sleeper. + +With a porter and half a dozen passengers the conductor followed +Barbara. She could smell the smoke before she reached the car. Hastily +climbing to the platform, she crawled in. By the time she had gotten +into the corridor a porter had also climbed up. The smoke was so thick +and suffocating that the girl choked and coughed. + +"He's here," she cried, as a faint groan reached her ears. "Hurry! Oh, +do hurry!" Then Bab's words were lost in the fit of coughing that had +seized her. + +Three men pushed their way into the smoking compartment. They saw that +the carpet was smouldering. It had probably been set on fire by a +burning cigar or a lighted match. There was no blaze, just a dull +smoulder and a lot of smoke. It did not seem possible that one could +live in that atmosphere for very long. + +Suddenly the porter stumbled over the form of a man. It was the former +occupant of section number thirteen. + +"Young woman, get out of here at once," commanded the conductor. "We +will take care of this man." + +Bab staggered out to the platform, where she waited. A minute later the +men came out bearing the unconscious form of the stranger. Barbara asked +if he were dead. The men said no, but that he was half suffocated from +the smoke he had inhaled. They carried the man on ahead to the train and +up to the dining car, after which a doctor was hurriedly summoned from +one of the other cars. In the meantime Barbara had returned to her +companions, who were anxiously awaiting her reappearance. She told them +of finding the man, and was warmly commended by the passengers for her +bravery. + +"I do wish we could get word to Ruth Stuart that we are all right," said +Barbara, after she had related the story of the finding of the man from +section thirteen. + +"Ruth Stuart?" questioned Miss Thompson. "I wonder if by any chance she +could be related to Robert Stuart, a Chicago broker?" + +"Why, she is his daughter. Do you know the Stuarts?" cried Barbara, a +smile lighting up her face still pale and somewhat drawn. + +"No, but my father wishes to know Mr. Stuart. Only yesterday he was +speaking of him. I should not be surprised if he were to call on Mr. +Stuart soon to discuss a business matter with him." + +"The world is small, after all, isn't it?" smiled Bab. "We are on our +way to Chicago to visit the Stuarts. We are friends of Ruth Stuart. We +four are known to our friends as the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +The readers of this series must undoubtedly feel well acquainted with +that quartette of sweet, dainty, lovable girls, Ruth Stuart, Barbara and +Mollie Thurston and Grace Carter, who were met with in the first volume +of this series, "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT." Their acquaintance +really dated from the time Barbara Thurston so pluckily stopped a team +of runaway horses driven by Ruth Stuart, a wealthy western girl, then +summering at Kingsbridge, the home of the Thurstons. A warm friendship +sprang up almost at once between the two girls, culminating in a long +trip in Ruth's automobile, during which journey Ruth, Bab and Mollie +Thurston, their friend Grace Carter, and their chaperon, Aunt Sallie +Stuart, met with many exciting adventures. It was on this eventful trip, +as will be recalled, that Barbara distinguished herself by causing the +arrest of a society jewel thief, at the same time heaping coals of fire +on the head of a girl cousin who had treated Barbara and Mollie with +scornful contempt. + +The girls were next heard from in "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE +BERKSHIRES," to which region, chaperoned, as always, by Ruth's Aunt +Sallie, they had driven in Ruth's car for a month's stay in a lonely +cabin in the Berkshire Hills. Their experiences with the "Ghost of Lost +Man's Trail" was not the least of their exciting adventures there; in +fact, their stay in the mountains was filled with a succession of +strange happenings that thrilled the girls as nothing in their lives +ever had done before. + +By this time they considered themselves veteran automobilists and +seasoned travelers. As related in "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE +HUDSON," the now famous quartette showed themselves fully equal to the +more than ordinary emergencies they met with from time to time on a most +eventful journey. From balking highwaymen to fighting a forest fire that +for a time threatened the ancestral home of Major Ten Eyck, whose guests +they were at the time, the "Automobile Girls" fully lived up to the +reputation they had earned for themselves. + +After their trip through the Sleepy Hollow country, Ruth had returned to +her home in Chicago, while Mollie, Barbara and Grace had settled down +to their studies in the Kingsbridge High School. But with the approach +of the holidays had come Ruth's cordial invitation to spend Christmas +with her in her own home, not forgetting to mention "Mr. A. Bubble," +who, she promised, would do his part toward making their visit a lively +one. The three girls had set out on their journey to the Windy City on +the Chicago Express, that journey having been interrupted in a most +unexpected manner, as already related. + + * * * * * + +The conductor sent off a message for them to Ruth Stuart at the next +stop. It was a characteristic message from Barbara, reading: + + "Train wrecked. 'Automobile Girls' safe. Arrive + some time. + + "GRACE, MOLLIE, BAB." + +This telegram for a time created no little excitement in the Stuart +home. + +Daylight was upon them by the time the train started from the scene of +the wreck. Grace said she felt as though she had contracted a severe +cold, for she was aching in every muscle of her body. Mollie declared +that she was all right, but Bab averred that she knew she hadn't been in +bed in a hundred years. + +The dining car was opened early, for all the passengers felt the need of +something more sustaining than fright. When the girls came back from the +dining car they felt much better. Grace had suffered no serious +injuries, but Bab's face was scratched from the particles of broken +glass that had showered over her when the windows burst in. + +A young man was occupying Barbara's seat when she entered the car they +had occupied since the accident. He was leaning back against the high +chair. His eyes were closed and a bandage was bound about his head. + +"That's the man from number thirteen," whispered Barbara over her +shoulder to Mollie. He glanced up, met Barbara's eyes and smiled. + +"I am very glad to see that you weren't seriously hurt," said Bab. + +The young man rose, supporting himself by the back of the chair. + +"Are these your seats?" he asked. + +"Yes, but please do not disturb yourself," urged Bab, taking a seat +across the aisle. The young man leaned toward her. + +"You are Miss Thurston, are you not?" he asked. + +Barbara nodded, flushing a little. + +"I have been told that I practically owe my life to you. The fire was +nothing but a smoulder of the carpet, but I was slowly being +asphyxiated. Thirty minutes more and it would have been all up with me. +Even had I been rescued too late to get this train it would have been +serious for me. My presence in Chicago to-day is imperative. I might say +that it involves my whole future. You see, my dear young lady, you have +done more for me than you perhaps realize. You are going to Chicago?" + +"Yes; we are going on a visit to our friends, Mr. Robert Stuart and his +daughter." + +"Robert Stuart!" exclaimed the young man. Then his face grew hard. + +Suddenly the conversation that she had overheard the previous night +flashed into the mind of Barbara Thurston. The color left her face. The +young man's keen eyes observed her change of expression. He shot a sharp +glance of inquiry at her. + +"I have a slight acquaintance with Mr. Stuart and his daughter," he said +coldly. "I also know intimate friends of theirs, Mr. and Mrs. Presby and +their daughter. Therefore I may have the pleasure of meeting you again. +I think perhaps I had better lie down and rest for the remainder of the +journey. By the way," he continued, after a slight hesitation, "did you +perchance discover a bundle of papers when you found me in the +compartment on the other car?" + +"Oh, I beg your pardon!" exclaimed Bab. "I did find some papers. They +are in my bag. I picked them up from the floor of the car thinking they +might be of value to you." + +Slightly confused, Barbara opened her bag, and after turning over its +contents drew forth a bundle of papers held together with rubber bands. +She handed the bundle to the young man. + +The smile that lit up his face as he thanked her changed his expression +completely. It was almost a gentle smile, and seemed strangely out of +place on that cold, calculating face. + +"Here is my card. I am rated as a cold, heartless man. But, my dear Miss +Thurston, I have at least one virtue--gratitude. If ever you are in need +of assistance in any way do not hesitate to call upon me," he said, +extending a hand to Barbara as he rose rather unsteadily to his feet. +Bab mechanically dropped the card into her bag without looking at it, +closing and dropping the bag on the floor beside her before accepting +the hand. The touch of the cold fingers of the man's hand sent a feeling +of dislike through her. It recalled to her mind more vividly than ever +the conversation she had overheard in the sleeper. + +"I hope I never shall see him again," muttered Barbara, just as Miss +Thompson came smiling up to them. But Barbara Thurston was destined to +see the man whom she had rescued, though under circumstances that she +little dreamed of at the present moment. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A DIZZY ROUND OF PLEASURE + + +THE train stopped at Englewood for a moment and then pulled out again +for the Union Station. The girls already knew that they were in Chicago, +and were feverishly gathering up their wraps. Bab was drawing on her +overshoes when two warm hands were suddenly pressed over her eyes. + +"Guess who it is?" cried Grace, after she and Mollie had uttered little +smothered exclamations of delight. + +"It's my Ruth! Oh, Ruth, Ruth!" cried Barbara, springing up and flinging +both arms about the neck of Ruth, fairly smothering her friend with +kisses. Ruth and her father had gotten on at Englewood to welcome their +young friends. + +"You dear, dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried Ruth, now clasping the three +girls one after another in a tight embrace. + +"Am I to be left out of this entirely?" questioned Ruth's father in an +aggrieved tone. + +The girls disengaged themselves from Ruth's arms and fairly pounced upon +Mr. Robert Stuart. + +"Oh, how is dear Aunt Sallie and Mr. A. Bubble?" laughed Barbara, her +eyes shining with joy. + +"Aunt Sallie is waiting to greet you at our home. Mr. A. Bubble is +outside growling over your delay in getting to Chicago," smiled Mr. +Stuart. + +"We received your telegram," said Mr. Stuart, as they left the Union +Station. "For a time we were considerably upset. Later we saw an account +of the wreck in the morning paper. We did not learn that anyone was +injured." + +"What caused it? Wasn't it awful?" questioned Ruth, gazing at her +friends admiringly. "And to think I wasn't there to share the honor of +being mixed up with a railroad wreck. Too bad," she pouted. + +"It wasn't a wreck, it was a shake-up," answered Grace. + +"I am glad you were not with us. Who knows what might have occurred," +answered Bab soberly. "Oh, there is Mr. Bubble," she cried, her serious +expression changing to a happy smile as she ran forward to the puffing +red automobile and patted it affectionately. A thin curl of blue smoke +was rising from the exhaust of the motor car. + +"Hear him purr his delight," cried Mollie. "He's just like a contented +kitten for all the world," she laughed. "He isn't grumbling at all." + +"He was grumbling loudly enough when we left him," answered Mr. Stuart. + +"That's because he was cold. But we will warm Mr. A. Bubble up on our +way home," declared Ruth. This she did, keeping a wary eye out for +traffic policemen who might claim that she was exceeding the speed +limit. But Ruth knew fairly well where to look out for a traffic man and +where not to look for him. Up Dearborn Street to Madison Street the car +whirled, the sharp air putting color in the faces of the girls and +making their eyes sparkle. + +Bab kept stealing perplexed glances at Mr. Stuart. Something was on the +young woman's mind, but she did not give expression to the thought. In +the meantime the girls were chattering at a rapid rate. Through Madison +Street they traveled and into Michigan Avenue, where a gust of biting +wind fresh from Lake Michigan smote them in the face. + +"Oh, look at the river!" cried Mollie. + +"That's Lake Michigan, you goose," answered Ruth, laughing merrily. "How +insulting to call our lake a river. But here we are." + +The car swung into a driveway, coming to a halt before an imposing +residence, four stories high, overlooking the lake. + +"What is this great building?" questioned Mollie. + +"This is where we live, dear," answered Ruth. "This is my home." + +"Oh, dear me, I thought it was the Chicago public library," retorted +Mollie. + +"Molliekins, what _are_ we going to do with you?" chided Ruth, laughing. + +The other girls were already running up the broad stone steps. The doors +swung open and the next second Barbara, Mollie and Grace threw +themselves into the arms of Miss Sallie Stuart. There was a volley of +little screams of delight and any number of resounding smacks. Mr. +Stuart had followed them in. He stood with his back to the door, smiling +contentedly on the joyous scene. He had come to love the three girls +with a love that was not far behind his affection for his own daughter +Ruth. + +The girls having released Miss Sallie from their embrace, Ruth dragged +her friends upstairs. They were first shown to their own rooms, and +wonderful rooms they were. None of the three girls from Kingsbridge ever +had seen anything to compare with the beauty of these handsome +apartments. A few minutes later they were in Ruth's private sitting +room, the walls of which were done in pale blue silk. The furniture was +of old mahogany and on a dainty writing desk the girls found paper and +envelopes bearing the monogram "A. G." Ruth had had these prepared for +the girls' use. + +"Now, girls," she said, "are you too fatigued after your exciting +experiences to go out this evening?" + +"No, indeed," cried the three girls in chorus. + +"Then listen! Father has taken a box at the opera for this evening. We +are to hear Romeo and Juliet----" + +"Oh, how perfectly lovely," bubbled Mollie. + +"That reminds me, Molliekins, that I received a note from your 'lovely +lady,' Mrs. Cartwright, yesterday. She asked me to tell you to look for +a diamond butterfly at the opera to-night. She thought that might help +you to locate an old friend." + +Mollie smiled happily. At this juncture there came a light tap at the +door and a well-known gentle voice asked, "may I come in?" + +Miss Sallie was assisted into the room somewhat faster than she +considered dignified, but there was no resisting her "Automobile Girls." +After getting her breath she sank into an easy chair, the girls +surrounding her. + +"I want to consult with you about our plans," she said. "We wish to make +this reunion one that you will remember all the rest of your lives. Our +cousins, the Presbys, wish you to spend some time with them. Olive +Presby, their daughter, is especially desirous of having you there. You +will find her a charming girl and I am sure you will all fall in love +with her at sight. What do you say?" + +"About the falling in love?" questioned Mollie innocently. + +"No, no, Molliekins," rebuked Ruth. "About the invitation, of course." + +"I am sure we shall be well pleased with whatever arrangements have been +made for us," said Grace. + +"Yes, indeed," added Barbara. + +"I am between fire and water," declared Ruth laughingly, as she dropped +into a chair before the fireplace. "I want you to stay and I want you to +go to the Presbys. I have decided, with your approval, that we shall +divide your time between our home and the Presbys' place. First, we will +do Chicago, after which we will go to Cousin Jane and Cousin Richard +Presby. They have a grand old home and hundreds of acres of grounds +surrounding it." + +"Are they so very rich?" questioned Mollie. + +"On the contrary, they are extremely poor," answered Aunt Sallie, +whereat Mollie puckered her brow in perplexity. "Their property is +heavily mortgaged. They are in a fair way to lose it unless----" + +"Unless what, Aunt Sallie?" asked Bab gently. + +"Unless perhaps they may in the meantime find the buried treasure." + +The effect of this announcement on Mollie, Barbara and Grace made Miss +Sallie smile. + +"Buried treasure? Buried treasure! Oh, oh, oh!" they cried in chorus. + +"Don't get excited, dears. There is no chance for the 'Automobile +Girls,'" interjected Ruth. "I've stirred myself up so many times over +that old treasure that I have lost ever and ever so many nights' sleep. +Take my advice and forget all about it," she admonished. + +"Oh, please tell us about it," urged Mollie. + +"A buried treasure? How perfectly delightful!" sparkled Barbara. + +"I haven't time to tell you now. It is a long story. This treasure was +buried many years ago by one of the Presbys' ancestors. They will tell +you all about it when you go out there, and I am sure Cousin Richard can +make the story much more interesting than I could." + +This had to suffice for the present, though the girls were burning to +hear the story. Anything that savored of adventure appealed to these +healthy, outdoor girls, and what could be more adventurous than hunting +for a treasure that had been buried for years and years? + +The girls' trunks had been brought up, and while they were dressing for +the evening, Bab took advantage of the occasion to consult with Ruth +about her gown. + +Ruth ran forward, flinging her arms about Barbara's neck the instant Bab +came into her room. + +"Dear, dear old Bab," she breathed, running tender fingers over the +shining brown hair of her companion. "You can't know how I have wanted +you. It seems years since last I saw you. Answer me truly, dear. How do +you think father is looking?" + +Barbara's face sobered instantly. Ruth noted the quick change of +expression. + +"You needn't tell me. I see by your expression what you think," added +Ruth quickly, brushing a stray wisp of hair from her face. + +"That was what I wished to ask you about, dear," said Barbara. "He looks +so worn. What is the trouble? Has your father been ill?" + +"No. Not in the sense you mean. Nevertheless, we are greatly worried +about him. He has been speculating. We think he has lost a lot of money. +He does not speak of his business affairs as he used to do, and that +makes us all the more certain that things are not going as they should +with him. However, I mustn't speak of these matters now, as I wish you +to have the happiest time of your life while you are with us. Why, +Barbara Thurston, what a lovely frock!" exclaimed Ruth impulsively. + +Barbara flushed with pleasure at the compliment. Her gown was of dark +red crepe-de-chine, trimmed in soft folds of liberty velvet. Bab had +tucked a single red rose in her hair. Ruth never had seen Bab look more +charming. + +"It is mother's Christmas present to me," explained Bab, referring to +the frock. "I think it very pretty." + +"I wish I could look half so well in anything," answered Ruth, but +without a trace of envy in her tone. "But I must hurry. If I run on like +this we'll never get to the opera." + +"I was just about to ask if you mind my running down to chat with your +father a few moments before we go?" + +"Do, dear. It will do him good. You always act like a tonic on father," +smiled Ruth. "He's in the library." + +Bab tripped away, holding up her skirts, followed by the admiring eyes +of her friend. + +"She's such a dear," mused Ruth, beginning the finishing touches of her +dressing. + +Bab was especially anxious to see Mr. Stuart alone. She wanted to see if +she could fathom the cause of his distress. He looked even more tired +and careworn than when she had first seen him. She entered the library +rather diffidently pausing before Mr. Stuart, who stood near the +fireplace. + +"Am I intruding?" asked Bab. + +"Intruding, my dear? You could not do that. But how beautiful you are +to-night." + +"Don't. Please don't," protested Bab with well-feigned displeasure. "You +will make me a vain little creature. Ruth has just said the same thing +to me. At this rate I fear I shall begin to believe something of the +sort myself very soon." + +"No," answered Mr. Stuart, gazing at her approvingly. "You are far too +sensible a young woman to have your head turned so easily as that. Tell +me about your good mother. How is she?" + +"Quite well, thank you," replied Bab simply. + +"I am sorry that she could not come with you. We had hoped to have her +with us." + +"Yes, we wanted mother to come. She asked me to thank you very kindly +for your invitation, but said it would not be possible for her to go so +far away from home just now. Perhaps later she may visit you." + +"Bab, a good mother like yours is a most priceless treasure. Never +forget to value your treasure at its real worth," said Mr. Stuart +impressively. + +"I do and I trust I always shall, sir," answered Barbara, and Robert +Stuart smiled, for he knew that she meant what she said. + +Ruth and the other two girls came in at this juncture and the +conversation turned on their gowns and the pleasures that were before +them that evening. Barbara had not mentioned that she thought Mr. Stuart +was looking ill. She would not have ventured to do so, although she was +more convinced than before that something very, very serious had come +into the life of her friend's father. She wondered if she might not be +able to do something to relieve the distress under which he was so +plainly laboring. + +"There, now, what did I tell you, Bab?" demanded Ruth, entering the +library. "Didn't I say you were always a tonic to father?" + +Barbara blushed. + +"She is indeed, daughter. So are you all. But we must be going. Is your +Aunt Sallie ready?" + +"She is waiting for us in the reception room," answered Ruth. + +"Then we will be off. Be sure that you girls are well wrapped up. You +are not used to going out in this climate with such thin gowns. Ruth, +where is your cloak?" + +"Below, father. I will pick it up on my way down." + +Then they started downstairs, Mr. Stuart leading the way. They were +joined by Miss Sallie in the hallway and a few minutes later were being +borne away by Mr. A. Bubble, who, for this evening at least, was on his +best behavior. Reaching the opera house, they were conducted to the box +reserved for them. Ruth insisted on her guests occupying the front +chairs. How the heads of the three little Kingsbridge girls did swim! +Beautiful gowns, beautiful women and dazzling jewels were to be seen +wherever the eye rested. It was a brilliant and animated scene, such as +none of the three girls ever before had gazed upon, for this was their +first visit to the opera. + +"Isn't it all wonderful?" said Bab to Ruth. + +"Yes, indeed," responded Ruth warmly. "There is nothing quite like an +opera night, and I have been particularly interested in grand opera +since we discovered Zerlina." + +"Oh, to be sure," exclaimed Bab. "Where is Zerlina now?" + +"She is in Paris, studying under the best teachers that can be procured +for her," replied Ruth. "She writes me regularly. Her teachers give her +great encouragement, and she expects to be ready to sing important rôles +within the next two years. She adores José, and he is delighted with +having so talented a sister." + +"She is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen," said Barbara. +"What a wonderful 'Carmen' she will make." + +"Yes; won't she, though," responded Ruth eagerly, "and that is the part +that she particularly looks forward to singing." + +The subject of Ruth's and Barbara's conversation was a beautiful gypsy +girl that they had met during their trip along the Hudson. She had +become a protegé of Ruth, who had cherished high hopes of sending +Zerlina to a conservatory, but had been forestalled by the appearance on +the scene of Zerlina's handsome half-brother, José Martinez. On account +of family differences, José and Zerlina had been separated for many +years, but in the end Zerlina was persuaded by him to place herself +under his protection. All of this has been fully narrated in "THE +AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON." + +"What do you think of it, Molliekins?" whispered Ruth over Mollie's +shoulder. + +"Think of it?" breathed the golden-haired Mollie. "I'm so happy that I +could scream right out so everybody in the theatre would hear me," +answered Mollie. "I don't know what I shall do when the music begins." + +A wave of laughter rippled over the box at Mollie's quaint way of +expressing her delight. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BATTLE OF THE BULLS AND BEARS + + +THAT evening at the opera was like a dream to the little Kingsbridge +girls. Mrs. Cartwright visited them between the acts, then they were +introduced to Olive Presby, who came to their box, accompanied by a +young man named Jack Howard, an artist who had just returned from Paris. +These two had been chums since childhood. + +Bab thought Olive the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. She could +not keep her eyes off of her, and Olive appeared to be equally attracted +to Barbara, though there was little opportunity for conversation between +them. Olive was fully five years older than Barbara with fair skin, +black hair, and eyes of deep gray, veiled with long, black lashes, +making an unusual and most attractive combination. Olive Presby was a +striking looking girl. All through the second act Bab kept gazing across +at Olive, and it was with a deep sigh of regret that Barbara finally +turned her eyes away under the teasing of Ruth and Grace. The glorious +evening came to a close all too soon for them. + +Reaching home, the girls lost little time in getting to their rooms, +for the three travelers had had little sleep in the past two nights. + +They fell asleep almost the instant their heads touched their pillows, +but in spite of their late hours the four girls descended to the dining +room the following morning bright-eyed and ready for whatever the day +might bring forth. + +Miss Sallie rustled in, dressed in her silk morning gown a few moments +after the others had reached the dining room. The girls greeted her +enthusiastically, each girl giving her a hearty hug and kiss, after +which they seated themselves at the breakfast table, and a lively +chattering ensued. + +"What do you think of Cousin Olive?" asked Ruth. + +"Oh, I just love her," cried Bab enthusiastically. + +A cloud passed swiftly over the face of Ruth Stewart. + +"I could love her almost to death. Is she engaged to Mr. Howard?" + +"No indeed," said Miss Sallie with emphasis. "Olive is devoted to her +parents, especially now that they are in such deep trouble. She is their +comfort in their distress and she knows it." + +"Young ladies," interrupted Mr. Stuart, "do you feel equal to beginning +your sight-seeing to-day?" + +"We do," chorused the girls. + +"I have so planned my affairs as to have this day free for you. Mr. A. +Bubble also is at your disposal. He has had a thorough going over at the +hands of his man this morning, and I think you will find him in fine +condition." + +"Olive Presby is coming to see you this morning, you know," reminded +Miss Sallie. + +Ruth's face clouded again. Bab's eyes glowed, for she wished to see +Olive even more than to explore Chicago. + +"We might call her up on the telephone and have her come over so she may +go with us," suggested Mr. Stuart. + +The girls seconded this proposal enthusiastically, and this was done +without delay, Olive promising to come over as soon after breakfast as +possible. + +"I propose," announced Mr. Stuart, "to take you over to the Board of +Trade on La Salle Street to show you the famous Pit." + +"Is it a very big hole?" questioned Mollie innocently, whereat a merry +laugh rippled all the way around the table. + +"The Pit," explained Mr. Stuart, smilingly, "is the place where men buy +and sell grain-stuffs. It's the same as stock speculation." + +Mollie thought stock speculation was trading in cattle. + +"You ridiculous child," exclaimed Ruth. "I'll explain it to you so you +will understand it. Now if you want to speculate you order your brokers, +for instance, to 'buy a thousand shares of B. Sell five thousand shares +of G and ten thousand shares of C.' That's all. Next morning you wake up +to find yourself ten or fifteen thousand dollars richer----" + +"Or poorer," added Mr. Stuart. "I must say, Ruth, that your explanation +is very lucid. Take the girls down to my office, leaving here at half +past ten o'clock. I shall have my morning mail disposed of by that time +and my day's orders issued, then my time will be at your disposal. +Sallie, are you going with the girls?" + +"No, thank you. Not this morning. I have seen quite all of Chicago, I +think. Besides, I have no love for your horrid Board of Trade. The +automobile will be pretty well filled as it is." + +"Oh, please come with us," urged Mollie. + +Aunt Sallie shook her head smilingly, so it was arranged that the girls +should go downtown by themselves, there to be met by Mr. Stuart. Olive +bustled in shortly before ten o'clock. She was dressed in a brown +tailor-made suit of broadcloth, with furs and hat of mink. She came +running up the stairs to Ruth's sitting room, bright and eager, her eyes +sparkling with anticipation. + +"Here I am," she cried gayly. "I'm going to introduce myself all over +again. I'm Olive, girls. I'm a sort of adopted cousin of the 'Automobile +Girls.' So this is Bab," she sparkled, giving Barbara's hand a friendly +squeeze. "This little yellow-haired girl is Mollie, and the bigger, +brown-haired one is Grace. Now I think we are properly introduced. Now +what can I do to add to the pleasure of the 'Automobile Girls' this fine +morning?" + +"I would suggest that you first sit down and compose yourself," replied +Ruth with some severity. "How you do run on, Olive." + +"Now, I call that downright mean," pouted Miss Presby. "Don't you, Bab?" +Olive suddenly bent over Barbara, giving the little Kingsbridge girl an +impulsive hug. + +Ruth frowned. Bab looked embarrassed. She felt that Ruth resented +Olive's affectionate demonstration. It caused the three Kingsbridge +girls, however, to lose their awe of Miss Presby, whom they had before +looked upon as a superior grown-up person. + +"What are the plans for the day, dear?" questioned Olive, turning to +Ruth. + +"We are first to go to the office to pick up father. He is to take us +to the Pit. I don't know where we shall go from there." + +About this time a maid came up to tell them that the car was at the +door. The girls hurried down, laughing and chatting, Ruth's irritation +apparently having been banished from her mind. It was a bright, +sparkling day. The lake glistened and the wind from it again blew the +color into the faces of the "Automobile Girls." + +Mr. Stuart's office was in one of the tall office buildings on La Salle +Street, not far from the Board of Trade. The girls were shot up to the +seventeenth floor on the elevator with a speed that fairly took their +breaths away. Mollie uttered a chorus of subdued "ohs" all the way up. + +Even in the staid business office the girls found much to interest them. +Mollie's attention was first attracted to an energetic little machine at +one side of the room. This odd looking machine ticked like a clock, but +resembled one in no other way, and from it at intervals spun a narrow, +ribbon-like strip of paper which curled and coiled into an elongated +waste-paper basket. Mollie stood over the basket regarding the +perplexing letters and figures printed on the paper ribbon. + +"Do--do you make ribbons on this?" she questioned, laying a finger on +the glass globe that covered the mechanism. + +"Not exactly, my dear," answered Mr. Stuart. "But that little machine +sometimes helps us to buy ribbons for our families. That is a ticker. It +gives the market quotations. I hardly think you will be interested in +it." + +Mollie decided that she wasn't. + +"If you are ready, girls, we will go over to the Board of Trade, where +you will see the bulls and bears engaged in a pitched battle. It is to +be a lively day on the floor of the Pit." + +Mollie was frowning perplexedly. + +"Are we really going to see a bull fight?" she whispered to Ruth. "Do +the bulls and the bears really fight? I--I don't think I want to see +them if they do." + +"No, no, silly. Nothing of the sort. Oh, girls!" laughed Ruth merrily. + +"Don't you dare tell them," admonished Mollie, "I'll never forgive you +if you do." + +"Never mind," called Ruth to the others, "I'll explain, dear. Of course +you know nothing about these things. I wish I didn't. I wish father did +not, either," she added with a touch of bitterness. "Bulls and bears are +mere men. The bulls are those who try to force up the prices of wheat +and other things, while the bears are the ones who seek to keep the +prices down. I--I never have been able to make up my mind which of them +is the most undesirable." + +"I am sure Mr. Stuart isn't a bear," muttered Mollie. + +"Indeed he is not," laughed Ruth, once more restored to good nature. + +Instead of taking Mr. A. Bubble, the girls walked down from Mr. Stuart's +office to the big, gloomy building that housed the Board of Trade. They +were conducted to the gallery, where Mr. Stuart left them to go down to +the brokers' rooms to consult with some of his friends. + +It was a mad, wild scene that the little country girls gazed upon. It +was like nothing they ever had seen before. + +"Goodness me, they _are_ fighting!" cried Barbara in alarm. + +Men were dashing about here and there. Hats were smashed, paper was +being torn by nervous hands and hurled into the air, to fall like +miniature snow flurries over the heads of the traders. Shouts and yells, +hoarse calls were heard from all parts of the floor. One man threw up a +hand with the fingers spread wide apart. Instantly a dozen men hurled +themselves upon him. He staggered and fell. Willing hands jerked him to +his feet. It was then that the "Automobile Girls" saw that the +unfortunate man's coat had been torn from him. His collar flapped under +his ears and a tiny red mark was observable on one cheek. + +"Oh!" gasped the Kingsbridge girls. + +"Wha-a-at are they fighting about?" gasped Mollie, her face pale with +excitement, perhaps mingled with a little fear. + +"They aren't fighting." Ruth had to place her lips close to the ears of +her companion to make herself heard. "They are buying and selling. That +is the way business is done on the floor of the Pit. See! There is +father!" + +The girls gazed wide-eyed. Mr. Stuart had projected himself into the +maelstrom of excited traders. He, like the rest, was waving his arms and +shouting. A group of excited men instantly surrounded him. He was for +the moment the centre of attention, for Robert Stuart was one of the +largest and most successful traders on the Chicago Board of Trade. The +battle waged furiously about him, while the "Automobile Girls" gazed in +fascinated awe upon the strange, exciting scene. + +All at once a gong sounded. The tension seemed to snap. Men who had been +fighting and shouting suddenly ceased their activities. The bodies of +some grew limp, as it were. Some staggered. Others walked from the floor +laughing and chatting. Out of the crowds strode a man--a young man. +What first attracted the attention of the girls to him was a bandage +about his head. He was walking straight toward them, though on the floor +below. All at once he glanced up. Only Bab was looking down at him now. +His gaze swept over the gallery. His eyes rested for a moment on the +face of Barbara Thurston. + +"The man from section thirteen!" exclaimed Bab under her breath. Then as +she caught his eyes, she gazed in trembling fascination. The man's +features were contorted. Barbara thought it was the most frightful face +she ever had gazed upon. Anger, deadly passion and desperate purpose +were written there so plainly that anyone could read. Looking her fairly +in the face, the man sneered. Whether he recognized her or not, the girl +did not know. + +"Oh!" cried Bab, with a shudder. + +"What is it, dear?" questioned Ruth anxiously. + +"Oh, take me away from here. Please take me away," almost sobbed +Barbara. "I--I can't stand it. It was awful." + +"Come, girls," urged Ruth. "Bab is upset. I will confess that I have had +enough of this place of nightmares." Rising, she led her friends down +the stairs to the lower floor. Barbara was still trembling when they saw +Mr. Stuart coming toward them. His face was set and stern. But the +instant he caught sight of the "Automobile Girls" the sternness drifted +slowly from his features, giving place to a pleased smile. + +"Why, Barbara, how pale you are!" he exclaimed. "What _is_ the matter?" + +"She is upset," answered Ruth briefly. + +Mr. Stuart eyed her keenly. + +"Was the excitement too much for you, my dear?" he asked. + +"I--I think so," replied Bab. Then as the thought of that face and its +dreadful expression recurred to her mind, she trembled more violently +than before. Mr. Stuart linked his arm in hers and led her away, +followed by the others of the party. + +"It really is no place for young girls," said Mr. Stuart. "I should not +have brought you here. Girls, we will take the car and go home at once. +Barbara had better lie down for a while before luncheon. She is +completely unnerved." + +This Barbara knew to be true, but by great effort she conquered her fit +of trembling, and before the Stuart's residence was reached she had in a +great measure regained her self-control. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT + + +"OH, it is good to be back," declared Bab, as they entered the broad, +cheerful hall of the Stuart mansion. "I don't feel as though I ever +wanted to leave the house again." + +"I like it here just as well as you do," answered Mollie. "But I +shouldn't like to feel that I had to stay inside the house always." + +Ruth had made good time on the return, now and then "shaving the paint +from the sides of a street car," as Bab expressed it. Still, Ruth Stuart +was not nearly as careless a driver as she appeared to be. She did take +chances frequently, but the guiding hand at the wheel was sure and +steady. She seldom used bad judgment. Her father had such confidence in +her driving that he never interfered while riding with her. As for the +three Kingsbridge girls, they were by this time so used to Ruth's +driving that they declined to get nervous even when she had narrow +escapes from collision. + +"Girls, I am glad you have returned," greeted Miss Sallie, meeting them +in the hallway as they entered. "You have callers." + +"Pshaw!" muttered Ruth disgustedly. "Bab wants to lie down and rest. She +is all upset. Can't we make our escape?" + +"I am all right now," protested Barbara. "However, the company probably +came to see Ruth instead of the rest of us." + +"You are wrong," smiled Aunt Sallie. + +"Who is it?" questioned Ruth. + +"Cousin Richard, Cousin Jane and Tom Presby. You don't mind them." + +"Oh, no indeed," laughed Ruth. "Come on, girls, let's go upstairs and +get rid of our wraps, and remove some of this Chicago smoke from our +faces. If I look as dirty as I feel I must be a sight." + +"Father and mother here? You don't mean it?" exclaimed Olive in +surprise. "I wonder why they have come in. Girls, you needn't worry +about your appearance. Neither father nor mother will notice it. They +are well used to the ways of healthy girls. As for Tom, well he doesn't +figure at all. He wouldn't know whether our faces were clean or grimy. +Come right in. Are they in the library, Aunt Sallie?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"Not one step will I go until I have made myself more beautiful," +declared Ruth. + +"I don't think that would be possible," said Bab in a tone calculated +for Ruth's ears alone. + +"Don't," begged Ruth. "I shall think you insincere if you don't stop +talking that way. And my face is so besmudged that I am not fit to see +anyone. You must come upstairs with me," she added, linking an arm in +Barbara's. "Please tell them we shall be right down, Auntie." + +Olive went directly to the library to see her parents. The other girls +soon followed her. The library was darkened, lighted only by the +snapping fire in the fireplace. Mr. Presby explained that he had come +into town to see Mr. Stuart, who was at that moment welcoming him. Mr. +Stuart excused himself, promising that he would return to his guests as +soon as he had telephoned certain necessary orders to his office. Mr. +Stuart had barely left the room when Bab and Ruth entered. Olive came +forward quickly. She took Barbara's arm in hers, steering Bab toward +Mrs. Presby. + +"I want you to meet my mother. I know you will love her, for she's a +dear. Mama, this is Barbara Thurston, of whom you have heard so much. I +can assure you that she has not been overrated." + +Bab moved blushingly forward. The floor was one of those slippery, +hard-wood traps for the unwary. Barbara was not used to polished floors. +She took a long step to keep up with Olive, who was moving rapidly. +Bab's foot came in contact with a small rug, and together the rug and +foot slid over the slippery floor. + +Barbara Thurston's other foot followed the first. Realizing that a fall +was inevitable, Barbara quickly released her arm from Miss Presby's. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Bab, and sat down on the floor with such force that it +jarred her from head to foot. There was a distinct vibration from +several articles in the room as though they were moving out of sheer +sympathy for the unfortunate girl. + +Barbara struggled to her feet. Again she stumbled over the rug that had +caused her to fall, and brought up heavily against a dark object near +by. The object uttered a deep groan, as out of the shadows limped an +elderly, dignified man. Pain and anger were struggling for the mastery +of his facial expression. Barbara had landed fairly on Mr. Richard +Presby's gouty foot. + +"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," pleaded the girl. "I am so awkward and I +did not see you at all. Please forgive me, if you can," she begged. + +Mr. Presby, however, merely grunted out some unintelligible words. That +he was not appeased by her contrition was plain to be seen. He had been +in the act of rising to his feet to bow to the girls when Bab collided +with him. Grace, Mollie and Ruth, who had followed Barbara into the +room, suppressed their giggles with no little effort. + +Barbara rushed toward the shadowy, far corner of the room, where she +sought to hide her confusion. She flung herself into a great, easy +chair. Something under her moved and wriggled. + +"Oh, I say," exclaimed a voice from under her. "Get up. Don't put me out +of business, too." + +Bab sprang to her feet, her face burning with humiliation. She whirled +about and peered into the depths of the chair. There sat a boy of +twelve, grinning from ear to ear. + +"I'm Tom," he informed her. "Lucky for me it wasn't I who stepped on the +governor's game foot." + +"Oh!" cried Barbara. + +"I forgive you for sitting on me, but gracious, you're heavy." + +Just at this moment Olive Presby, had hurried across the room. There was +deep sympathy in her face as she extended a hand to the embarrassed +Barbara. + +"Don't mind it at all, dear. It is a thing that occurs to all of us +frequently. Polished floors are such a nuisance," said Olive. + +The other girls had been introduced to Mrs. Presby in the meantime. It +was now Bab's turn, but instead of being first, as Olive had intended, +she was last. Her face was still flushed and her eyelids drooped as she +was presented. + +Mrs. Presby pulled the girl's head down between two warm hands and gazed +into her eyes, then kissed Barbara full on the lips. + +"Never mind, my dear," she said. "You couldn't help it." + +"If I could have a good cry, I know I should feel better," was Bab's +plaintive rejoinder. + +"Richard, come here, please, and shake hands with Miss Thurston," +commanded Aunt Jane in a slightly peremptory tone. Mr. Presby did so, +but with apparent reluctance. He had had one experience with the +brown-haired girl from Kingsbridge. + +"My dears, we want you to come to Treasureholme with us. We cannot spare +Olive, so you will have to come to us," smiled Mrs. Presby. + +"We want you to come out for Christmas," interjected Mr. Presby rather +grudgingly, and as if he were reciting a line from memory. + +"Before Christmas," nodded Mrs. Presby. "You must come out this week. +Sallie, you will come with them. We shall expect Robert also, though I +suppose he will be running away to the city all the time." + +"I don't know whether Robert will wish to spare the girls or not. He +likes to have them with him as much as possible," said Miss Sallie. + +"Treasureholme? What a beautiful name!" breathed Barbara. + +"And such a romantic name too," added Mollie soulfully. "I could love +the place just on account of its name." + +"We call the place 'Treasureholme' because it is or has been supposed to +hold a lost treasure. But we have given up that idea. We gave it up a +long, long time ago. You will come, won't you, girls? This, in all +probability, will be our last Christmas in the old home. We wish to make +it a bright and joyous occasion," said Mrs. Presby, with a wan smile. +"We have planned to have a Christmas tree. Cousin Robert, you and Sallie +can have the gifts delivered at our place just as well as at your home +here." + +"I shall have to leave it all to Robert," answered Miss Sallie. +"Robert's business, as you know, is giving him no little concern these +days. He may not care to leave it, and I am certain he would not consent +to the girls going away at this time unless it were possible for him to +spend at least part of the time with them." + +"Then I shall talk with Robert myself," announced Mrs. Presby firmly. +She did so then and there. Rather, she went directly to Mr. Stuart's +own particular sanctum, where Robert and Mr. Presby were then in +consultation over business matters. Mr. Stuart did object to the girls +going to Treasureholme to spend Christmas. But Mrs. Presby pleaded with +him to let them come. She told him that before another Christmas came +Treasureholme would be in other hands. She pleaded with Robert Stuart to +let nothing stand in the way of helping them all to have a joyous +holiday in the old home. + +Mr. Stuart finally gave a reluctant consent. Mrs. Presby hurried back to +the library to acquaint the girls with his decision. A merry chatter +followed. Everyone talked at once, each making suggestions as to what +should be worn and how the Christmas holiday should be spent in the +country. As for the "Automobile Girls" from Kingsbridge, the idea of +going to the country appealed to them strongly. It would seem almost +like being home again. It must be confessed that Bab and Mollie now and +then suffered the pangs of homesickness, even though they found so +little time for their own thoughts. + +It was finally decided that they were to leave for Treasureholme, a +distance of more than thirty miles from the city, on the following +Monday, three days hence. Mrs. Presby consented to Olive remaining with +them until that time, and accompanying the girls to the country in +Ruth's motor car. That arrangement stood. The guests declined an +invitation to remain to dinner and as soon as the two men had finished +their business talk, Mr. and Mrs. Presby took their leave. + +Two of the following three days were given up to a round of +sight-seeing, paying and receiving calls on friends of the Stuarts, +during which time the cylinders of Ruth's automobile scarcely had time +to grow cold. Mr. A. Bubble was doing his full duty during these happy +days. + +Sunday was a day of rest. All were ready for the rest, too. The +Kingsbridge girls looked a little more pale than usual, but their eyes +were bright and sparkling when Monday morning arrived. It was a clear, +frosty morning, with a suggestion of snow in the air. Miss Sallie had +risen early, in order to have plenty of time to make all arrangements +for their trip. She saw to it also that the girls' wardrobes were +properly selected for their stay in the country, and suggested that they +have the chauffeur drive them out. + +"No, indeed," objected Ruth. "I am not wholly a fair-weather driver. I +shall have my heavy gloves. Therefore, my hands will be warm and my feet +will be so well occupied with working the brake and control that they +won't have time to get cold. Girls, you won't have anything to do, so +wrap yourselves up. Auntie, I'm going to get out some of father's heavy +coats. He won't need them." + +"A jolly good idea," agreed Mollie. "Always provided that the master of +the house doesn't object," she added, smiling at Mr. Stuart. + +"My dear, if you had lived in this house as long as I have, you would +understand that it would make little difference if the master of the +house did object," interjected Mr. Stuart. + +"Oh, dad," chided Ruth. "How can you say such a thing? You know I am +your dutiful daughter." + +"You suit me," answered Mr. Stuart, giving the protesting Ruth a quick +embrace and a kiss on the forehead. "Yes, take anything you can find in +the house. But leave the house. I may need it before I get out of the +woods." + +A shadow flitted across the face of Ruth Stuart. Then she smiled and +kissed her father affectionately. A search for coats was made and a +thousand and one details attended to. It was well into the afternoon +before they were ready to start, Bab wrapped in Mr. Stuart's long fur +coat, the other girls in cloth coats, with the exception of Ruth, who +wore her own sealskin coat that reached down to her ankles. A fur cap, +silk lined and a pair of fur gloves that looked, Barbara said, like the +feet of a bear, completed the outfit. + +Mr. A. Bubble was grumbling when the girls emerged from the house. Their +bags had been strapped on behind. Inside the automobile there were four +foot warmers. Bab and Ruth spurned theirs. With many urgings on the part +of Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie to be careful, Ruth threw in the clutch, +advanced the spark and Mr. A. Bubble wheeled himself slowly away from +the house, out into the avenue, then launched into a burst of speed that +set at defiance all the regulations of the Windy City. + +This was to be an eventful visit. It was to be one full of excitement +and adventure, a visit that none of the girls ever would be likely to +forget. + +They rapidly rolled through the city and in a little while were out in +the country, where the land flattened down into a rolling prairie, +broken here and there by groups of slender trees and farm buildings. + +The snow began to sweep past them in flurries shortly after they cleared +the city limits. Ruth stopped the automobile and called upon the girls +to assist her in putting on the storm curtains. When they had finished +the car was entirely enclosed, a heavy curtain taking the place of the +wind shield which the driver had turned down at its middle. + +"Isn't this comfy?" chirped Mollie. + +It did not prove so "comfy" after all, the way Ruth accelerated the +speed, sending the car careening ahead at a high rate. + +"Olive," said Bab, mustering courage to introduce a subject that was +near to her heart. + +"Yes, dear." + +"Would you--would you think me too personal if I asked you to tell us +the story of the buried treasure of Treasureholme?" she asked +hesitatingly. + +"Not at all." + +"Oh, do tell us," urged Mollie and Grace in one voice. + +"I've been just dying to hear about it ever since I first learned there +was such a place as Treasureholme. Are there real ghosts there?" +questioned Mollie. + +"No; no ghosts. But there are memories. Listen, girls, and I will tell +you all I know about it," said Olive, settling herself to relate the +tale that was to prove of such fascinating interest to the "Automobile +Girls." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WRECK OF MR. A. BUBBLE + + +"BURIED treasures are such ravishing mysteries," observed Mollie, while +Olive was mentally arranging her facts. "I never thought I should +actually be face to face with one." + +"I am sure it must be a grand old place," volunteered Barbara. + +"In reality, it is very big and bare," smiled Olive. "But I love every +foot of the old place where I have lived all my life except when I have +been away to school and where my ancestors have lived for oh, ever so +many years." + +Olive's eyes filled with tears. Barbara stole a groping hand under the +robe and clasped one of Olive's. The latter pulled herself sharply +together. She gave Bab a grateful look. The sympathy in that gentle hand +clasp had meant more than words to her. Perhaps in that one brief moment +the two girls came to understand each other better than in all the days +that had passed since their first meeting at the opera. + +"You know we fully expect to be obliged to give up the place at an early +day. Father's business affairs have been going from bad to worse, until +now there seems to be no hope of our keeping Treasureholme." + +"Perhaps it may not be so bad as you imagine," suggested Bab softly. +"'Never give up until you have to.' That is my motto." + +"You wouldn't be the Barbara I have heard so much about if it weren't. +But to come to the story. Treasureholme has been in our family, as I +have already said, for many generations. My ancestor who founded the old +place was one of the pioneers here. He was rich when he came here, but +he foresaw a great future for what is now Chicago, so he brought his +family and all his worldly goods here. He said confidently that a great +city was certain to spring up here some day. You see how true was his +prophecy. It was almost uncanny as I look at it now." + +The girls nodded, but said nothing. + +"Gracious! Did you see that?" called Ruth, with a trace of excitement in +her tone. + +"No, no. What is it?" cried the girls. + +"Oh, nothing, only I ran down a cow," answered the fair driver, trying +to speak carelessly. + +"Ran down a cow!" exclaimed Bab, peering through the curtain windows. + +"You needn't look for her. She is a mile or more back now. I didn't run +over her. She appeared so suddenly out of the snow cloud that I didn't +see her until the car was almost on top of her. I must have hit her only +a glancing blow, for I barely felt the jar. I hope I didn't hurt the +poor thing." + +"So long as we keep on four wheels, please don't interrupt us," begged +Miss Presby severely, whereat there was a series of giggles from the +girls. "Where was I, girls?" + +"Still at Chicago," replied Mollie. "You were speaking of your +ancestor's prophecy." + +"Oh, yes. At the time they were living in the garrison, at the first +fort ever built on the Chicago River. You know the Indians were pretty +thick hereabouts at that period." + +"Indians!" murmured Grace apprehensively. + +"Yes. After a time our ancestors built Treasureholme. That is why it is +so old-fashioned now, though many changes necessarily have been made in +the house since then, but the main part is practically as it was built +by my pioneer ancestor. The boards that were used were laboriously sawed +out and the timbers hewn by hand. It must have taken years to build the +place. Outwardly it now has a more modern appearance, each succeeding +ancestor adding and improving. But for a long time after it was built +there were Indians and bad men hereabouts. This perhaps accounts for +the secret passages and numerous hiding places in the old house." + +"Glorious," said Mollie, her eyes dancing. + +"One day a message came that the Indians were no longer friendly. My +ancestor was warned to hide his valuables and hasten to the fort with +his family for the safety afforded there. It is believed that the +treasure was buried at that time." + +"Money?" asked Barbara. + +"Gold and plate and jewels that had been brought from the old country +when the family first came to the new world from England. But, alas, the +garrison was wiped out by the Indians, leaving not a living person who +knew the location of the treasure. Later on other members of the family +came here from the east and took possession. The Presbys have been +living on the estate ever since." + +"Has no attempt been made to find the treasure?" questioned Barbara. + +"So many attempts that I couldn't count them. Someone always is nosing +about the place for clues. Father has spent a great deal of money in +looking for it himself, but I think he has about given up hope of ever +finding it. It is my idea that some of the other early members of the +family found the hidden treasure, but said nothing about it." + +Silence reigned in the automobile for some moments. + +"Do you know," said Barbara, breaking the silence, "I think this is an +excellent opportunity for the 'Automobile Girls' to distinguish +themselves further?" + +Olive shook her head smilingly. + +"It would be effort wasted. Besides, we shall manage to keep your time +so fully occupied that you will have no opportunity to search for buried +treasure." + +"What about those secret passages that you spoke of?" asked Grace. + +"You shall see them and explore them to your hearts' content. Tom will +show them to you. What Tom doesn't know about the old place, no one else +does. And he knows a lot more about it than any of the rest of the +family. I suspect that he has been making investigations on his own +hook. He, like the boy he is, still has hopes of discovering the buried +treasure." + +"Is the gate open?" called Ruth over her shoulder. + +"Yes. It hasn't been closed this fall." + +"Then I'll drive in in style and make one of my flying stops," answered +Ruth. "We'll make them think a train has left the C., B. & Q. track and +is going to smash the house down. I think they will be surprised. I'll +open up the exhaust just as we get to the house, make a flying stop and +the noise will wake up Olive's scalped ancestors." + +"Be careful that you don't hit the house in reality," laughed Olive. +"Remember it is old. It might tumble down. I don't care so much about +the house, but I shouldn't like to see it tumble down on father and +mother." + +"Oh, it will not be quite as bad as that. We shall simply be making a +big noise." + +"I was only joking," replied Olive. "You don't think I thought for a +minute you would run into the house, do you?" + +"That is exactly what I am going to do." + +"Ruth Stuart!" exclaimed Bab sternly. + +"After I have stopped the car," finished Ruth, with a merry laugh. "But +look here, young ladies, if you keep on talking to me and making me +laugh, I am likely to pile you all in the ditch right here." + +"Can you see the road?" + +"Yes. Between snow flurries. I can't miss the road. The turn into the +grounds is enclosed in stone fences, isn't it?" + +"Yes." + +"I'll pick it up all right. You girls look out when I give the word. I +am going to make the turn wide and at full speed. Hold fast!" she cried, +giving the steering wheel a sharp turn. For one giddy moment Mr. A. +Bubble appeared to be uncertain whether to turn turtle or go on the way +he was headed. He decided upon the latter course, and settling down on +all four wheels shot straight ahead. The light was uncertain, but Ruth's +eyes were on the road, all her attention centred on her work. Suddenly +she uttered a sharp little cry. The emergency brake went on with a +shock. Then came a mighty crash. To the girls in the car in their brief +instant of consciousness, it seemed as if the universe were going to +pieces. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MYSTERY OF THE IRON GATES + + +INSTEAD of running into the Presby home, as she had laughingly +threatened to do, Ruth Stuart had dashed at almost full speed into the +closed heavy iron gates at the entrance to the Treasureholme grounds. +These gates were supposed to be open. As Olive had said, they had not +been closed in some months. Why should they be closed now when the +"Automobile Girls" car was looked for to arrive at any moment? + +None of the girls was thinking of this at the moment. None was in +condition to think at all. Ruth had discovered the obstruction in time +to throw on the emergency brake, but not quickly enough to stop the +headway of the automobile. + +The car crashed against the gates with great force. The heavy iron bars +of the gates buckled under the impact, then with a great creaking and +rattling the hinges gave way, the old brick columns to which the hinges +had been attached crumbled and fell in a cloud of dust and mortar. +Accompanying the crash was the sound of breaking glass. But not a cry +had been raised from the interior of the car, save Ruth's warning. + +That cry of warning had set Barbara instantly on the defensive. She +threw both arms about Mollie and Olive. Grace was on the front seat with +Ruth. Bab braced her feet with a mighty effort. Then the crash came. + +It seemed to Barbara Thurston as though her arms were being torn from +their sockets. Then the three girls on the rear seat were jerked to +their feet. They toppled over the back of the seat ahead of them, +plunging head first into the forward part of the car, where the +operating mechanism was located. + +Ruth and Grace had been hurled against the storm curtain, securely +fastened down between themselves and the glass wind shield. Fortunately +for them, the curtain held for a few seconds until the shower of glass +from the shield had fallen into the roadway, then the curtain gave way +and the two girls tumbled out in the wake of the glass. + +The automobile, after the first impact, had recoiled several feet. It +essayed to plunge forward again, but the emergency brake held it +motionless while the motors began to race, making a noise that was heard +in the house, which stood at some distance from the fallen gates. + +The "Automobile Girls" lay where they had fallen, Ruth and Grace in the +roadway, Bab, Mollie and Olive in the forward end of the car. + +"There they come," cried Mrs. Presby. "Why, what a frightful noise," she +exclaimed, starting for the door, followed by Mr. Presby, with a painful +limp. + +Tommy's face turned white when he heard the crash. With a bound he +passed his father and mother, tore down the steps and off down the +drive. + +"Something has happened, Richard," cried Mrs. Presby. + +"Something will happen to my gout, too, if I have to remain out in this +chill atmosphere," declared Mr. Presby irritably. + +"Hurry, hurry!" wailed the distant voice of Tommy. + +"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Presby, picking up her skirts and running +down the drive. + +"They're killed! They're killed!" howled Tommy. "They've smashed into +the gates. Everything's done. Finished!" + +"Run, Richard! Quick! Get help! An accident has occurred," begged +Olive's mother. + +The woman was almost beside herself with terror. Tommy's face was +ghastly. + +"Here's Ruth," he said, almost brusquely, lifting the girl by main +strength and staggering toward the house. He bore the burden only a few +feet, however, then hastily deposited it on the ground. Ruth was +senseless. + +A neighbor had witnessed the accident and with rare forethought +telephoned for a doctor. By this time a general alarm had been sounded. +The old fire bell on Treasureholme had been rung by Mr. Presby as the +quickest method of summoning assistance. Neighbors came on the run. They +were appalled when they first looked upon the wreck of the old gates. +The wreck at first sight appeared to be much worse than it really was. +The automobile motors were still racing, the exhaust emitting frequent +explosions that sounded like the discharge of a Gatling gun. It was +almost as though Mr. A. Bubble were summoning assistance on his own +responsibility. + +No time was lost, however, in attending to the five girls. Ruth and +Grace being nearest at hand, were quickly lifted by strong arms and +borne to the house. The three girls still in the automobile were +tenderly lifted out and also carried in. Each girl was placed in the +room that had been set aside for her. The doctor was on hand almost by +the time the girls had been placed on their beds. He made a hasty +diagnosis of each case, announced that no bones had been broken and, +assisted by Mrs. Presby, administered restoratives to the victims of the +accident, who soon recovered consciousness. + +No one had thought to send word to Mr. Stuart. The household was too +much upset to think of anything save the accident that had occurred. + +Grace and Ruth really had the front storm curtain to thank for saving +their lives. Had they been hurled through the heavy glass wind shield +they undoubtedly would have been killed instantly. Mollie and Olive no +doubt were saved by Barbara Thurston's presence of mind. But Barbara by +devoting her whole effort to saving her companions had been badly +bruised and shaken. + +Someone in the meantime had shut off the motors and pushed the car out +of the way. The wreckage of the gates was also cleared away at the +direction of Mr. Presby, so that no one else should collide with it. + +The doctor remained at Treasureholme until nine o'clock in the evening. +Before taking his departure, however, he gave strict orders that none of +his patients were to be allowed to leave their beds until he called the +next morning, and pronounced them able to rise and dress. + +Mrs. Presby broke down and cried after she learned that the girls were +not seriously injured. Tom went out in the woodshed and wailed so loudly +that he was heard in the rooms upstairs. Mr. Presby hobbled about +irritably. He did not care to have those in the house know how much +affected he really was. + +Early the next morning he sent for one of his men. The old gentleman was +now in a fine temper. Owing to the excitement caused by the accident, +and a particularly painful attack of the gout, he had passed a sleepless +night and was therefore in a most unamiable frame of mind. + +"Who closed those gates?" roared Mr. Presby the instant the man appeared +in the doorway of the dining room, where the master was hobbling back +and forth. + +"I--I don't know, sir." + +"You closed them!" thundered Richard Presby. + +"I did not. They were open when I last saw them." + +"When was that?" + +"About an hour before the accident occurred, I think, sir." + +"If you didn't close them, who did? Answer me that." + +Of course the man could not answer that question. He made no answer at +all, thinking thereby not to further irritate his employer. + +"I suppose the gates were closed by some of those rascally treasure +hunters that are continually tearing over my premises, digging holes for +the unwary to fall into and making general nuisances of themselves in +every other way. Drive them off. Pepper them with shot if you can't get +rid of them in any other way. I may not be here for long, but while I am +here, I'm the master of Treasureholme. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the man humbly, his face reflecting no expression +at all. + +Mr. Presby thumped back and forth with his cane for nearly an hour after +that, despite the fact that every step he took sent excruciating pains +through his gouty foot. Finally retiring to the library, he went to +sleep in his Morris chair, with the troublesome foot propped up on a +stool. + +Early in the forenoon Mrs. Presby communicated with Miss Sallie and Mr. +Stuart, telling them as much of the details of the accident as was +known. Ten minutes later Robert Stuart and Miss Sallie were on their way +to Treasureholme as fast as an automobile could carry them. The girls +were asleep when they arrived. The doctor, who had arrived in the +meantime, would not permit his patients to be disturbed. He assured Mr. +Stuart, however, that the girls had providentially escaped with a few +slight scratches and bruises and that they would all be up before the +end of the day. + +But the mystery of the closed gates was disturbing the entire household. +It was inexplicable. Mr. Presby declared that it was the work either of +his enemies or of some treasure-seeker who thought he was doing the +owner a service by closing his gates for him. + +Late that afternoon the five girls appeared in the dining room little +the worse for their shaking up, although Barbara was far more lame and +sore than she would admit. A general season of rejoicing ensued, and +several neighbors dropped in to congratulate the girls on their +miraculous escape from serious injury. + +On seeing her father, Ruth's first question was, "What happened to A. +Bubble?" + +Mr. Stuart did not know. He promised to find out, which he did an hour +or so later. Mr. A. Bubble, he told her, would be sent to a shop for +repairs the next day, as he intended going back to Chicago that night +and would attend to it. The radiator had been badly bent, the forward +axle had buckled, guards were smashed, the hood was damaged, in short, +Mr. Bubble presented a most disreputable appearance. + +Mr. Stuart told Ruth she was in a certain degree responsible for the +accident, still she had no thought that the gates would be closed. + +"I'll know enough after this to keep my car under control. I won't try +to knock over any more houses and things," Ruth retorted. + +By the afternoon of their second day at Treasureholme the "Automobile +Girls" had practically gotten over the effects of their accident and +were cosily established in Olive's room consuming hot chocolate and +cakes while Olive, at their urgent request, again recounted the story of +the buried treasure. Now that they were face to face with the great +mystery, they were alive with curiosity. They were burning to see with +their own eyes the place that held so much of mystery and perhaps a +fortune that was probably being trodden over by human feet every hour of +the day. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +EXPLORING THE SECRET PASSAGE + + +"I CERTAINLY do adore this room!" exclaimed Mollie Thurston, with +glowing eyes. + +The "Automobile Girls" and Olive were sitting in the dining room of old +Treasureholme. It was a massive, but cheerful room, the ceiling studded +with great beams. A fireplace constructed of boulders of varying shapes +and sizes, large enough to take a six-foot log, occupied the greater +part of one side of the room. Olive Presby had been telling her guests +various anecdotes relating to Treasureholme and as usual the +conversation had turned to the tale of the long-lost treasure. + +An old-fashioned bookcase, extending all the way across one end of the +room, was filled with leather-bound books. Bab regarded them longingly. +She made up her mind to browse among these old volumes at the first +opportunity. + +"Help yourself any time you wish," smiled Olive, who had observed Bab's +eager glances at the bookcase. Barbara blushed that her thoughts should +have been read so easily. + +"Oh, I should love to!" she answered simply. + +Mollie cast an apprehensive glance about her. + +"Are you sure there are no ghosts in this old place?" she asked. + +"Of course not. What made you think of that?" laughed Ruth. + +"In all the stories I ever read about buried treasure there was sure to +be a ghost to guard it," replied Mollie. "Perhaps Treasureholme has a +ghost, too. At any rate, I feel spooky." + +"So do I," agreed Grace. "Did you hear that noise?" + +"It sounds to me like rats or mice," ventured Barbara. "Of course it is. +I know the sound. I hope they don't come out while I am here." + +A hush fell over the little party of "Automobile Girls." A gentle +scratching that seemed to come from the left side of the fireplace was +audible to each of them. As they listened the sound seemed to magnify. A +draft through the open door that led into the hallway smote Mollie in +the back of the neck. She sprang up, uttering a little cry. + +"It's a ghost. I felt it blow on my neck," she cried. + +"Nonsense! I'll soon show you the ghost," offered Ruth, starting to her +feet. "I know this old place pretty well. May I, Olive?" + +Olive nodded smilingly. Ruth stepped to the left side of the fireplace +and, grasping a knob that had escaped the observation of the +Kingsbridge girls, deliberately pulled out a panel that was in reality a +door. + +The girls uttered exclamations of amazement. Then they saw something +move in the dark recess the door had revealed. It was Tom, sitting in +the hole in the wall, with his feet curled up under him. He was grinning +sardonically. + +"Here's your ghost," announced Ruth, taking firm hold of the +irrepressible Tom's collar and assisting him out into the room. "You +ought to be ashamed of yourself, Thomas Presby, frightening young women +in that fashion." + +"Yes, Tom, I am ashamed of you," rebuked Olive. But Tom was perfectly +cheerful and unabashed. + +"A secret passage?" gasped Mollie. + +"It's a sort of underground passage, built to look like an old-fashioned +Dutch oven," explained Olive. + +"Per--perhaps the treasure is buried there," suggested Bab scarcely +above a whisper. + +Tom laughed derisively. Olive smiled tolerantly. + +"If it ever was hidden there, it was taken out long, long ago. That +passage has been known for some generations, I believe," said Olive. + +"How ever did you get in there?" demanded Ruth, a sudden thought +occurring to her. + +"Find out," grinned Tom. + +"There must be another entrance to it, isn't there, Olive?" + +"Not that I know of. Is there, Tom?" + +"Maybe and maybe not." + +"Oh, please tell us. Can't you see we are burning with curiosity?" +begged Bab. + +"I'll show the place to any girl who's got the sand to go in there with +me," answered Tom Presby. + +All the girls, except Barbara, drew back. She was regarding the boy +questioningly. + +"Will you show me?" she asked. + +"You bet I will if you've got the nerve." + +"Don't trust him," warned the girls. + +"I am not afraid of one small boy, especially Tom," answered Bab, with a +twinkle in her eyes. "But, Master Tom, if you try to play any tricks on +me it will be a sorry day for you. You can't play tricks on the +'Automobile Girls' without getting into trouble, remember. Olive, may I +go?" + +"Of course, if you wish," smiled Miss Presby. "I have been in there ever +so many times, and"--with a blush--"I have dug and dug in there." + +The girls laughed merrily, all save Bab, who was thoughtful. The +impression was strong with her that somehow this passage was connected +directly or indirectly with the secret of the lost treasure. + +"Take a light with you. I won't go in in the dark," declared Barbara. + +Tom produced a candle and lighted it. Barbara crawled into the dark hole +after him. The others crowded about, peering in wonderingly. + +"Close the door," commanded Tom. + +Barbara pretended to do so, but left a crack through which the light +from the dining room filtered faintly. + +"Don't you girls dare to fasten the door," she called. "I should die of +fright if I thought I was locked in this hole." + +"We'll come in by way of the front door," called back Tom, as he began +burrowing into the hole. The place was inky black save for the faint +light shed by the candle. "Don't be afraid. After we get out from under +the house you will be able to stand up." + +"Oh! Is the passage so long as that?" gasped Bab. "I--I guess I don't +want to go any further. I'll explore with you to-morrow." + +"It won't be any lighter in the daytime," reminded the boy. "It's always +dark down here." He was getting further and further away from her. + +"Thomas Presby, you come right back here," commanded Barbara. "I won't +go another step." + +"'Fraid cat!" jeered Thomas. + +"I'm not!" retorted Bab, starting forward. She knew she could easily +find her way back again. She bumped her head against the roof of the +passage several times. The place smelled stuffy and mouldy, though the +girl realized that a faint current of air was passing through the +tunnel. All at once she discovered that the passage had grown larger. +She was able to stand up without difficulty. She then made a further +discovery. Tom and his light had disappeared. + +"Tom! Oh, Tom!" cried Barbara. + +There was no answer. The silence was so deep that it made her ears ring. +At first the girl was panic stricken, then she reasoned out her +situation more calmly. She had only to retrace her steps to return to +the dining room. Tom no doubt had eluded her and left the passage +through an exit known only to himself. She would show him that she was +as good as any boy. + +"I'll go straight back," declared Barbara. But somehow the "going back" +was not accomplished with the ease that she had hoped for. The way +seemed much longer than had been the case when she was on her way in. +Bab was peering ahead of her, expecting every moment to catch sight of +the light from the dining room. She would have called out to her +companions, only she did not want them to know that she was in trouble +or that she was afraid. + +Barbara had been in the low-ceilinged passage for some time when she +came in contact with a solid wall. She gave a glad little exclamation, +believing that she had reached the panel that led into the dining room. +She had now but to rap and her companions would open the panel. The wind +must have blown the panel shut. Barbara put out her hands and began +groping for the panel. To her horror, there was no panel there. Her +hands found nothing but earth. Some moments had elapsed when Barbara +Thurston realized that she was in a predicament. + +"I am lost!" she groaned. "Oh, what shall I do?" + +The girl decided to call for assistance. There seemed to be no other +way. She raised her voice and shouted, but, to her amazement, the shout +was merely a feeble call that could not have been heard many feet away. +The low walls deadened the sound of her voice. + +A little investigation convinced her that she had strayed into a short +blind passage. Having made this discovery, she began creeping back, +hugging the right-hand wall of the passage, believing that the main +passage must begin on the right-hand side. In this she was correct. + +Barbara had proceeded but a short distance before she found the junction +of the two passages. She had not observed this shorter passage when +following Tom, and no doubt he had known that she would be almost sure +to lose her way, just as she had done. But there was no Tom present on +whom to vent her displeasure. Neither was Barbara yet out of the tunnel. +For all she knew she might be in a wholly new passage. Before going +ahead she sat down to think over her situation carefully. + +"No, I can't be mistaken. I must be right. But I ought to see the light +from the dining room from this point. However, I will go on and trust to +luck." + +Barbara started on at once, though she took no chance of losing herself. +Every foot of the walls on either side was carefully groped over by her +hands as she made her way. The earth felt cold and damp. To touch it +made her shiver. But Barbara was plucky. She continued bravely on. + +"Oh, there's the light," she cried. "I'll call to let them know I am +coming. No, I won't. I'll give them a scare. Lucky for me that I kept my +head. I might have been lost in that short passage and never found +again. How terrible. But an 'Automobile Girl' never gives up. I hear +voices. The girls must be wondering what has become of me. I think I +hear Tom in the dining room. I wonder what I had better do to punish him +for the trick he played on me? I shall have to think it over. I---- + +"Gracious! What would I do if the girls should happen to have company in +the old dining room? I shouldn't dare to come out, for I know I must +look a fright." Bab soon reached the panel, which was still as she had +left it upon entering the passage. Then as she craned her neck forward +and peered into the dining room she uttered a smothered exclamation. + +Mr. and Mrs. Presby were sitting facing the fire, talking. The girl in +the passage drew back as she saw Mr. Presby's eye fixed upon the panel. +He appeared to be looking straight at her. A moment more and she was +convinced that he was not. + +Bab was in a quandary. She dared not show herself. What would they think +of her, their daughter's guest, were she to be seen crawling from a hole +in the wall? Her first meeting with Mr. Presby had been unfortunate +enough. He surely would not forgive her for this exploit. Then the humor +of the situation dawned upon her. Bab stuffed her handkerchief into her +mouth so that they might not hear her giggles. + +All at once she ceased laughing and sat up very straight. + +"Nathan Bonner called on me at my office to-day. It was of that that I +wished to speak with you, and that is why I asked the girls to leave the +room." Mr. Presby was speaking. + +"Did he wish to help you?" + +"He intimated something of the sort. What he did want was permission to +call on Olive." + +"Oh!" The exclamation escaped Mrs. Presby unwittingly. + +"And you told him----?" + +"No. Not with my permission. Bonner is a very rich man, Jane--and an +unscrupulous one I am informed. I know little more about him, except +that he has come to be an important figure on the Board of Trade. His +rise has been phenomenal. I don't care for the man, however. I do not +consider him the sort of man that Olive would like." + +"You wish me to speak with her upon the subject?" asked Aunt Jane. + +"No!" The word came out with explosive force. "The incident is closed. I +am not so base as to consider for a moment the idea of my daughter +making a rich alliance some day for the sake of retrieving our financial +affairs. I am simply confiding the facts to you, that you may be +governed accordingly." + +Jane Presby rose, and, going over to her husband, kissed him tenderly on +the forehead. + +"You are a noble man, Richard." + +"Has it taken you all these years to find that out?" retorted Mr. Presby +testily. + +"I have always known it," answered Mrs. Presby simply. + +"What do you know about this Jack Howard's attentions to Olive?" he +demanded sharply. + +"They are childhood friends. Olive is still our baby, Richard. She has +no thought of leaving us, I am sure. At least not in a long, long time." + +Barbara, realizing that she was listening to a family conference, had +suddenly shrunk back further into the corridor. She still could hear +their voices. She retired further into the passage. Now their voices +reached her ears in a confused murmur. The girl crouched down, waiting. +The words of Mr. Presby had not made a very great impression on her, +except that he had objected to one Nathan Bonner calling on his +daughter. Who Nathan Bonner was Bab did not know. + +Words, clear and distinct, spoken by Richard Presby, now reached Barbara +plainly. He was speaking of another matter, one that was near to the +heart of the "Automobile Girl" crouching there in the secret passage of +the old mansion. Barbara's face blanched as she heard and understood +what Mr. Presby was saying. She was powerless to shut her ears to the +words. Mr. Presby's further remarks were brief. He rose and stamped from +the room, followed a few seconds later by his wife. + +Barbara crept forward to the panel, peered out cautiously to make sure +that there was no one there, then, throwing wide the panel, stepped into +the dining room, and, gathering her skirts about her, fled to her room +on the next floor. She could hear the girls laughing and talking in +Olive Presby's room. + +Reaching her bedroom, Barbara Thurston threw herself on the bed, and +sobbed as though her heart would break. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN AN INDIAN GRAVEYARD + + +IT was Olive who found Bab there. She halted in the doorway, gazing in +in amazement. + +"Why, Barbara Thurston! What can be the matter with you?" cried Olive. +"We thought you were exploring the secret passages under the old house, +and here you are crying all by your lonely little self. Where is Tom?" +demanded Miss Presby, with growing suspicion in her eyes. + +"I--I don't know," confessed Barbara weakly. + +"See here, Bab, did Tom play any tricks on you?" + +"Nothing of any account. He went out by some other exit. I returned the +way I came. I am going back there to-morrow, if you do not object. I +must solve the mystery of that secret passage." + +"You are a dear!" exclaimed Olive, kissing Bab affectionately. + +At this juncture Ruth Stuart came in, having heard Bab's voice as she +was passing through the hall. + +"Bab! When did you get back?" exclaimed Ruth. "Oh, I beg your pardon," +she added, laughingly, as she discovered Olive and Bab engaged in +serious conversation. "I see I am intruding." + +"Come in, Ruth," answered Olive. "I found Bab crying here. I think Tom +must have played pranks on her. Wait until I get my hands on the young +man. You say you haven't seen him since you left the passage, Barbara?" + +Bab shook her head. + +"I shall find him at once," announced Olive, rising and starting for the +door. + +"Please, please don't scold him," begged Bab. "Really, it isn't that +that is the matter with me." But Olive insisted and went on her way in +search of the irrepressible Tommy. Ruth stepped over and sat on the edge +of the bed, gazing down at Barbara. + +"Now, tell me all about it," urged Ruth gently. + +"There--there isn't anything to tell," murmured Bab. + +"I know what the trouble is. You are homesick," declared Ruth Stuart. +"To-morrow we have planned to give you an interesting day. We are going +to explore the old place and I am going to take you to the Indian +Cemetery. Quite likely some of the same gentlemen who scalped Olive's +ancestors are buried out there. Bab, do you love me just the same as you +used to?" asked the girl, bending a questioning gaze on Barbara's +tear-stained face. + +"You ought not to ask me that question, dear," answered Bab. "You know I +do. It seems to me that I have known you for ever and ever so many +years. Perhaps our friendship began in some other life. Sometimes I +think it must have. But you haven't acted quite the same of late. It has +seemed to me that you didn't love me as dearly as you used to and the +thought has hurt me, oh, so much, Ruth." + +"Why, Bab Thurston, how can you say so?" exclaimed Ruth. "I love you +better than any other girl I've ever known. You ought to know that. The +truth of the matter is that I am worried, dear. I have not been quite +myself of late. I'm worried about father. Was--was it that that made you +cry, dear?" + +"Not exactly. I was crying because--because I felt sorry for you +and--and for----" + +"For whom?" + +Barbara shook her head and closed her lips firmly. + +"I shan't say another word. Please don't ask me. I want to think. If you +don't mind, I am going to bed. Must I go downstairs first?" + +"No, child. You tumble right in. I will tell the folks you are not +feeling quite well. I want to speak to Olive before I go to bed, +anyway." + +"Tell them that I am going to bed, please." + +"Yes." + +"Please also say good night to Mr. and Mrs. Presby for me, won't you?" + +Ruth said she would do so, and hurried from the room. She stopped in +Olive's room to tell the other "Automobile Girls" not to disturb Bab, +who had gone to bed feeling a little indisposed. + +On the following morning matters appeared to have adjusted themselves to +the satisfaction of all, for the girls were in their brightest mood. Bab +now and then grew sober and thoughtful, but strove to throw off the +feeling of depression that persisted in taking possession of her. + +"I have a note from father," announced Ruth. "He says Mr. A. Bubble has +entirely recovered. There were some broken bones, but these have been +mended. Bubble is to be returned to us to-day, and then we will have a +jolly ride." + +"I sincerely trust there will be no gates in the way this time," +observed Mrs. Presby, smilingly. + +"Never fear. I have had my lesson," answered Ruth, flushing a little. "I +never thought it would be possible for me to get into so much trouble +with a motor car. Shall we show the girls the Indian burying ground this +morning?" + +"You take them, Ruth, if you will, please," answered Olive. "I must help +mother with some family matters. You know more about the old cemetery +than I do." + +They started out shortly after breakfast, full of keen anticipation. +Just outside the house Tom joined them. He had with him Olive's big +setter dog, "General." Bab pinched Tommy's ear playfully. + +"You were a naughty boy last night," she said. + +"But you didn't find out where I got out, just the same," jeered Tom. + +"No, but I am going to." + +"I'll bet you don't." + +"I shall. See if I don't. By the way, Tom, have they found out yet who +closed those gates the night we ran into them?" asked Barbara +carelessly. She and Tom had fallen behind the others. + +"No-o-o-o," answered the boy, giving her a quick glance. Bab's face told +him nothing. + +"I suppose you haven't the slightest idea who could have done that?" + +"How should I know anything about it?" + +"I thought perhaps you might have done it; you are such a very smart +young man," observed Barbara soberly. "Couldn't you even guess?" + +"No. Could you?" + +"I don't have to guess." + +Tommy regarded her shrewdly. + +"What do you mean?" + +"I don't have to guess because I _know_. You closed those gates, Tom +Presby. You thought it would be a good joke to fool Olive and Ruth and +the rest of us. I'm not sure but that you thought you would be taking a +proper revenge on poor me for sitting down on you that night at Stuarts' +house. You came near causing the death of five girls with what you +thought only a prank, young man," added Bab, in her most severe tone. "I +should think you would be ashamed of yourself." + +Tommy's face grew very pale. Beads of perspiration broke out on his +forehead. + +"Don't tell father. Don't, please don't. He'd skin me alive if he knew I +did that. How'd you find out?" + +"You told me," answered Bab, now with a merry twinkle in her eyes. "I +guessed it first, then you admitted it just now." + +"That was a mean trick. Nobody but a girl would take such a mean +advantage of a fellow." + +"Nobody but a mischievous boy would intentionally cause an automobile +smash-up and endanger the lives of five girls, including his sister," +rebuked Barbara. "What do you think I ought to do with you?" + +"You aren't going to tell the governor? Oh, don't say you are. I'll do +anything for you! Say, I like you better than all the rest, Bab. Honest +and true I do. I'll show you how I got out of the hole last night if you +won't give it away. I'll show you everything I know about the old place. +You aren't going to squeal on a fellow, are you?" + +"No, Tom, I'm not," answered Bab, laughing heartily. "Nor am I going to +ask you to show me the exit from the secret passage. If I can't find it +out for myself, I don't want to know." + +Tommy regarded her admiringly. + +"Say, you're a good sport, aren't you? I'll show you anyhow, for that." + +About this time the setter dog, General, attracted the attention of the +girls by diving into a hole in the base of a great tree that stood some +little distance from the house. Nothing but his tail was visible. Tom +soon had a firm grip on this and was hauling the angry General out to +the accompaniment of merry shouts from the girls. + +Ruth explained that this tree was an old landmark. It had been there +ever since the oldest inhabitant could remember. It was known as "Old +Sentinel," having stood sentinel over Treasureholme for at least a +hundred years. + +"What is in that hole?" demanded Bab. + +"General's buried treasure," answered Tom carelessly. "He hides his beef +bones there." + +Now they moved on together, making an attractive picture as they walked. +Grace and Ruth were the only ones of the party who wore furs. Mollie +wore her heavy dark-blue traveling coat, with a gentian-blue scarf tied +about her throat. Bab, with a scarlet wing perched at a jaunty angle in +her brown cloth hat, reminded one of a robin redbreast. + +"You don't think you will catch cold?" asked Ruth solicitiously. + +Bab assured her that they would not, to which Ruth made no reply, though +she hugged a dark Christmas secret closer to her heart and chuckled +inwardly. + +"There is the old burying ground," she announced finally, pointing to a +succession of hillocks a short distance ahead of them. These were of a +mushroom shape, with the tops sloping gently to the ground. The girls +thought them the most curious-looking graves they ever had seen. They +observed a very large mound in the centre. Ruth explained that this was +supposed to be the grave of an Indian chief. + +"If that is true, his weapons and his faithful dog are buried beside +him," continued Ruth. "These graves, I believe, are very old. No one +appears to know just how old they are. Do you wish to see the rest of +them?" + +The girls did. Mollie suggested that perhaps if they remained there long +enough they might possibly meet the ghost of the old chief. + +"What would you do if we should?" questioned Ruth whimsically. + +"I'd run," answered Mollie promptly. + +"I rather think the rest of us would not be slow in following you," +agreed Ruth. + +"I should think the Presbys would feel spooky all the time with so many +queer things about them," observed Grace. "There's mystery all over the +old house, and there are goodness knows how many dead Indians and things +on the outside." + +"Only girls are afraid," spoke up Tommy. + +"Only girls?" questioned Bab, with a significant glance at the boy. +Tommy subsided instantly. Then all of a sudden General stiffened his +tail, uttered a low, menacing growl and stood pointing his nose in the +direction of a mound that reached higher than any of the others. + +"What is it, General?" asked Ruth, gazing in the direction of the +point. + +"He smells somebody," volunteered Tommy. "Don't be afraid. I'm here," he +added, swelling out his chest. + +"It's a man!" cried Mollie. "He's there hiding behind that mound. I saw +him peer over the top just now. Oh, let's run. Hurry, girls!" + +Tommy cast a withering look at Mollie and, whistling to the dog to +follow him, trudged toward the mound in question. Bab promptly followed +him, with Ruth not far behind her. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MEETING A TREASURE HUNTER + + +GENERAL made a leap over the high mound. There came a growl, then a +sharp bark. + +"Down, General!" commanded a manly voice. + +A young man wearing rough clothes and a broad-brimmed soft hat, from +under which looked out a pleasant face, appeared, facing the girls. + +"I beg your pardon," he said. "I thought perhaps you might not see me. +You are from the house yonder. I know Miss Stuart by sight and the +General and myself are old friends." + +The young man stuffed some papers into his pockets. As yet none of the +party had spoken. + +"Hello, Bob. Is that you?" greeted Tommy. + +"Yes. You caught me this time." + +"You bet I did!" + +"Won't you introduce me to your friends, so I may apologize to them for +my peculiar actions?" + +"Oh, they're only girls," answered Tom airily. "What are you doing +here?" + +"I am Robert Stevens, young ladies. I live near by. The Presbys are +friends of mine." + +The girls were beginning to feel more at ease. He was not a desperate +character, after all. Their adventure had ended in nothing more than +meeting a friendly neighbor. Ruth stepped forward at this juncture. + +"I am on a treasure hunt," said Stevens, smiling sheepishly. + +The girls were on the alert on the instant. + +"Treasure hunting!" exclaimed Barbara. "Where are your pick and shovel?" + +"Oh, I haven't gotten that far yet," laughed Bob. + +The girls decided that they liked Mr. Bob Stevens, and what was more, +they were keenly interested in his statement that he was hunting for the +lost treasure. + +"I may as well be frank with you," he said, flushing. "Ever since I was +Tommy's age I have hoped to find some day the fabled pot of gold, or +whatever the treasure may be. My grandfather before he died gave me maps +and diagrams that he had made. He was as mad on the subject of the +buried treasure as the rest of us," explained Stevens. "It was his idea +that it would be found not far from the lake. He thought the Presbys had +naturally planned to return by water for the treasure in case they had +to flee from the fort. I have worked the ground near the lake +thoroughly. Now I am trying this strip of woods, working out from these +Indian mounds." + +"Is the trail hot or cold?" questioned Bab. + +"Very cold. Almost colder than the atmosphere to-day. Still, I have +hopes." + +"If you were to find the treasure what would you do with it?" demanded +Ruth severely. + +"Do with it? Why, I should turn it over to its rightful owner," answered +Stevens. "It's the sport of the search that interests me. You did not +think I would keep what doesn't belong to me, did you?" + +The girls murmured their apologies. + +"Please tell Mr. Presby that you found me here. Perhaps I had better go +back with you. May I?" + +"Come along, Bob. Father will be glad to see you," said Tom, answering +for them. The girls offered no objections, so the young man accompanied +them, walking beside Tommy and General. + +"You young ladies might be interested in looking over those old maps and +diagrams," suggested their new acquaintance. + +"Indeed we would," agreed Barbara enthusiastically. + +"Another thing I'd like to say, if you will permit me. Were I in your +place, I wouldn't go into the woods back there alone. There are people +hanging about this estate who are little better than tramps." + +"What do you mean?" asked Grace. + +"The news has been circulated that the Presbys are going to lose the old +place. There are a choice lot of gentlemen nosing about here hoping to +get a clue to the treasure before another owner takes charge. I heard +yesterday that some fellow from the city is planning to put men to work +here systematically. I don't know how true it is." + +"They wouldn't dare to dig for treasure on another man's property," +retorted Ruth indignantly. + +"They wouldn't have to dig until they had located the treasure. Then +they might dig it up in the night and be off before anyone else was the +wiser." + +"I don't believe there is any danger in our going where we please about +these grounds. I have been here a good many times, Mr. Stevens, and you +are the first stranger I have ever met on the grounds," declared Ruth. + +"There are two men back there in the woods now," answered Bob +carelessly. + +The girls stopped short and stood gazing at the forest that lay beyond +the Indian burying ground. + +"Are you sure of that?" + +Stevens nodded. + +"I saw them," he replied, "watching you all the time you were coming +toward the mounds. I was watching them, though they didn't know that." + +"Why don't you speak to Mr. Presby and have him put them off the +premises?" demanded Barbara. + +"It wouldn't do any good. The fellows would take good care to keep off +the place while a search was being made for them. There's Miss Olive +waiting for you." + +"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Stevens? I am glad you are with the girls," said +Olive. "Father was disturbed when he found they had gone over to the +Indian mounds alone. He said it wasn't safe to do that. Have you met my +friends, Mr. Stevens?" + +"In a somewhat unceremonious fashion," laughed Stevens. + +"Father wants to see you. I'll venture that I can guess how you chanced +to meet the girls," smiled Olive. "Now confess that you were treasure +hunting." + +"I confess. Where may I find your father?" + +"In the library. Go right in." + +Bob Stevens promised the girls that he would show them his diagrams +after he had finished his conference with Mr. Presby. Then, raising his +hat to them, he set off toward the house. Mr. and Mrs. Presby were fond +of Robert Stevens. He was of good family, and well educated for a +country boy. His people were comfortably situated and Robert's ambition +was to help his friends, the Presbys, find the treasure that he never +had doubted was hidden somewhere on the estate. + +But the girls did not see him again that day. Ruth's motor car had +arrived by the time they reached the house. The girls ate a hurried +luncheon and set off for a long ride before the two men had finished +their conference. It was almost dinner time when they returned with rosy +cheeks and sparkling eyes, greatly invigorated after their drive. A. +Bubble had behaved himself splendidly. Ruth said he worked much better +than before the accident. Bab suggested that it might be an excellent +idea to have him collide with a pair of stout iron gates at regular +intervals. + +Bob Stevens had left his maps and diagrams for the girls to look over, +which they did after dinner. They were unable to make anything out of +the lines and figures of the treasure hunter. Mollie declared that the +man who made them must surely have been insane. + +For an hour after dinner the Presbys and their guests chatted in what +was called the drawing room, a long, low, barn-like apartment, almost +rustic in its fittings and furnishings. The dining room being cleared, +Olive called the girls there. They found the room in darkness save for +the light shed by the fire in the fireplace and five candles arranged on +the sideboard. + +"One for each girl present," explained Olive. + +"To light us to bed?" questioned Mollie. + +"No, indeed," smiled Olive. "Bedtime is still a long way off. We are +going to have a feast by candle light." + +"I couldn't eat another mouthful after the dinner we had to-night. It +would be a physical impossibility," declared Bab. + +"Don't make any rash assertions until you see what I have provided for +you in the way of a feast," replied Olive, as she took a large, flat tin +box from the lower compartment of the old-fashioned sideboard. "Ruth," +she continued, "if you will draw the rugs up close to the fireplace we +will lose no time in beginning the festivities." + +Ruth Stuart did so, arranging the rugs in a semi-circle. But the +interest of the girls was centred on the tin box, not on the rugs, just +at that time. Then Olive brought out five long, slender white sticks, +which she distributed among the girls. + +"Aren't you going to open the box?" begged Grace anxiously. "Can't you +see we are dying with curiosity to know what is inside?" + +"Bab, you may open the box." + +The cover was off almost before the words had left Olive's lips. + +"Marshmallows!" cried the girls in chorus. "Oh, isn't that simply +glorious?" + +"And such a lot of them, too," added Grace Carter. + +"Five pounds," Olive informed them. "We are about to sit down to a +marshmallow toast. Eat all you wish, but for goodness sake do not make +yourselves sick." + +"She means you, Mollie," teased Ruth. + +"The coat doesn't fit me, however," retorted Mollie. "But I do love +marshmallows. Do we toast them over the flames of the candles?" + +"No," replied Olive, as she placed the five-pound box of sweets on the +rug between them and the fire. The girls sat down on the rug, with their +feet curled under them. Each speared a marshmallow and thrust it close +to the fire. Little blue flames rose from the white cubes and a +tantalizing odor filled the air. + +"Oh, dear me. Mine's gone into the fire," cried Mollie in distress. "It +just melted away." + +"So did mine," answered Barbara, "but it melted in my mouth." + +"How nice of you to think of this, Olive. Thank you ever so much," +glowed Grace Carter. + +"This isn't my treat. My part is to carry out the little surprise. Mr. +Stuart sent out the marshmallows to me, asking me to give you girls a +toast. It is a real treat, isn't it?" + +"Glorious!" breathed the girls. + +"Did you children ever do fire-gazing?" asked Olive after a moment of +silence as the girls helped themselves to the sweets. + +The "Automobile Girls" confessed their ignorance of the game. Olive +explained that each girl was to gaze into the fire then describe what +forms or figures appeared to grow out of the flames or coals. + +"I see a red automobile," cried Mollie, almost as soon as she had fixed +her gaze on the fire. "And, oh, look at the man driving it! He is all in +red, wears a pointed beard and has a cloven foot. Isn't he a frightful +looking creature?" + +"Your imagination needs no encouragement," declared Olive. "Let us hope +that the gentleman with the cloven foot may drive his car up the chimney +flue and fly away. What do you see, Ruth?" + +"I see a fiery pit with a lot of imps dancing about, hurling balls of +fire at each other." + +"Your turn, Barbara." + +Bab was gazing at the fire in wrapt attention. + +"I see a black chest, but I can't see what it holds, for the cover is +down. There goes the cover! Oh, look, girls! See the gold and the +sparkling jewels! See the golden coins glitter in the light of the fire! +Oh, oh, oh!" + +"Money? Money? Where?" cried Mollie. "I want some of that money." + +The spell was broken in a merry laugh. Mollie laughed, too, then turned +her gaze toward the window, for her eyes were smarting from the heat. +Suddenly her face took on a frightened expression, the color fading from +it. + +"Look! Oh, look!" she gasped, scarcely above a whisper. + +What they saw made the "Automobile Girls'" faces turn white with fear. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +GIVING AN ATTIC PARTY + + +PEERING in at them was a hideous yellow face with a nose that in the +light from the room seemed to be fiery red. The face was pressed against +the window pane. Now a long-drawn, dismal groan sounded from the other +side of the window. + +"It's a ghost!" cried Grace. + +Barbara, however, had seen more than the other girls, and, mustering up +all her courage, ran to the door. + +"Come back!" called the girls anxiously. Bab kept on, unheeding their +cries. As she jerked the outside door open, they heard a crash and the +frightful face suddenly disappeared from the window. Ruth and Olive +rushed to the door. Both girls remembered that an old rain barrel had +stood under that window for a long time. + +"I've got the spook!" shouted Bab triumphantly. "I picked it out of the +rain barrel." She came in, dragging by an ear the irrepressible Tom. + +"Thomas Warrington Presby, what does this mean?" demanded Olive +sternly. + +"The--the rain barrel went to pieces," complained Tom. + +"Oh! Was it you who scared us out of our wits?" questioned Mollie. + +"I knew it was a false face almost the instant I saw it," said Barbara. +"Thomas, I fear I shall have to turn you over to your father. You have +evidently forgotten some things." + +Tom wriggled, his face worked anxiously. + +"Please don't. Maul me, do anything you want to punish me. I won't +squeal, but don't peach to father." + +"Girls, what shall we do with him?" asked Bab. + +"I move we make him sit down on the rug and eat marshmallows," suggested +Ruth. + +"The very idea," agreed Mollie. + +"But we want them ourselves," objected Grace. + +"I have another box," admitted Olive. "Your father sent two boxes, +though I did not intend to tell you about the second one just yet." + +It was agreed that Tom's punishment should be a sweet one. Tom grinned +broadly. + +"Those things are for girls. I can swallow a boxful without winking an +eyelid," he declared. "Gimme the box." + +"No, Thomas, you aren't going to eat them that way. We are going to wait +on you and help you to every mouthful," answered Barbara sweetly. "It +isn't every boy who has five nice girls to wait on him when he eats. Is +it, Tommy?" + +"No," answered the boy in a doubtful tone. He did not exactly like the +look of things now. Barbara placed a firm hand on his arm and set him +down on a rug in front of the fireplace. Tommy was closer to the fire +than was comfortable, but there seemed to be no escape for him. The five +girls speared as many marshmallows, toasted them and thrust them flaming +at the boy. Tommy gulped down the first one with evident enjoyment. Four +others went down easily. Tommy decided that marshmallows were pretty +good stuff. He called for more, and got them. There was always a stick +with a flaming cube on the end of it ready to be thrust into his mouth. +Tommy rolled his eyes with satisfaction. + +"I could take punishment like this for a week at a stretch. More!" + +Still the girls fed him. Even Olive was gentle and considerate. Tommy +did not recall ever having seen her more so. All the girls were very +kind to him, but there was a mischievous twinkle in their eyes that +Tommy was not astute enough to read. + +[Illustration: "I've Got the Spook," Shouted Bab Triumphantly.] + +After a time the marshmallows began to take on a bitter taste. He did +not appear to be eating them with the same relish as before. + +"That stuff's no good for men," he jeered. + +"Have another, Tommy," answered Bab, thrusting a blue flame into the +boy's face. + +"You needn't burn a fellow up," he rebuked, then swallowed the +marshmallow with a gulp. + +"Here, Tommy, is a nice, large one," added Mollie. + +Tom's eyes were rolling. His face that had appeared very red when he +first sat down before the fire, had grown several shades paler. The +girls continued to feed him with marshmallows, forcing one after another +upon him. + +"I won't take another----" Tom did not finish what he had started to +say. Olive thrust a hot marshmallow into the boy's open mouth. Tommy +closed his mouth instantly, but not soon enough. The hot sweet clung to +the roof of his mouth, bringing from Tommy a yell of pain. + +"I'll be even with you girls for this," he howled, the tears starting +from his eyes as he bounded for the kitchen for a drink of water. A +shout of merry laughter followed him. Tommy felt very sick and staggered +off to bed, where, half an hour later, his mother found him groaning. In +response to Mrs. Presby's anxious inquiries, Tommy explained that he had +an "awful stomachache." + +"He deserved it," declared Olive. "He will learn to let us girls alone, +I hope. Nevertheless, we got even with him this time." + +"Yes, revenge is sweet," observed Bab, whereat the girls groaned +dismally. + + * * * * * + +It had been decided that the "Automobile Girls" and Olive were to drive +into Chicago on the following morning to bring Miss Sallie and Mr. +Stuart also to Treasureholme, if he could be induced to return with +them. Ruth felt too that Mr. A. Bubble had not been getting enough +exercise of late. Her companions agreed with her. But the next morning +dawned most disappointingly. A great gale was blowing in from Lake +Michigan, accompanied by blinding flurries of snow. It was not a +cheerful outlook. The day was dark and the wind bitter cold. + +Ruth was for starting out just the same, but a telephone call from Miss +Sallie while the girls were at breakfast was to the effect that Mr. +Stuart had absolutely forbidden their starting out in such a storm. + +"I am sorry, girls, but when dad puts it that way he means what he says. +I speak from long experience," declared Ruth. "We shall have to wait +until to-morrow." + +"This storm is likely to last for some days," announced Mr. Presby. + +Ruth made a wry face. + +"We will explore for the treasure if we have to stay in the house all +the time," said Bab. "A day like this makes one feel mysterious." + +"And creepy," added Mollie. "Why, good morning, Tommy. How are you +to-day?" she smiled, as Master Thomas Presby took his place at the +breakfast table. Tommy grunted out some unintelligible reply. For some +reason he was not in the best of humor that morning. + +In the meantime Olive was trying to think up some entertainment that +would amuse the girls on a stormy day. + +"I have it," she cried. "How would you girls like an attic party?" + +They did not quite understand, never having heard of an attic party. + +"What do we do at an attic party?" asked Mollie. "Do we have luncheon in +the attic?" + +"No. It is an entirely new idea with me. My idea is that we go to the +attic and rummage. There are old chests and trunks up there, together +with all sorts of odds and ends, as is usual with a family garret." + +The girls beamed on her. + +"That will be perfectly splendid," cried Mollie. "Remember, Bab, how we +used to rummage in our garret on rainy days?" + +"It will be a great fun," answered Bab. + +"As we fear we may have to leave the old place," continued Olive, "we +wish to overhaul everything up there, burning such stuff as we have no +use for, saving anything that may be of use in the future. You girls can +help me clear out the place." + +"Am I in on this game?" interrupted Tom. + +"Yes, if you will behave yourself," replied Olive, giving him a severe +look. + +"I can carry out the stuff that you want burned," he suggested. + +Such willingness on the part of Tommy was unusual. Olive gave him a +smile of approval. + +"You shall have some more marshmallows for that," declared Ruth. + +A pained look appeared on the boy's face. + +"I don't want any marshmallows," he growled. "No more girls' food for +me." + +The "Automobile Girls" giggled. Mr. and Mrs. Presby paid no attention to +this conversation. They were not in possession of the secret. The girls +were eager for the attic party. There is always an element of mystery in +an old family garret. This was especially so at Treasureholme. +Everything about the old place savored of mystery. Then there was the +buried treasure, which, even though it might be a myth, lent an +atmosphere of greater mystery than all the rest. + +Little time was lost in getting to the garret, the girls first, however, +putting on the oldest skirts they possessed. Olive explained that the +place was full of dust and cobwebs. + +Tom hurried upstairs ahead of them. They followed a winding, narrow +stairway to the upper floor. To their surprise, the ceiling was high, +the side walls were heavily wainscoted, an unusual condition for a +garret. A broad chimney passing up through the centre of the big room +took the edge off the chill atmosphere of the morning, although they +could hear the wind whistle and wail about the gables. There were +shadowy corners holding old-fashioned trunks. Here and there were old +family pictures in faded, chipped frames, old clothes, curtains, books, +broken and old-fashioned furniture, in short, a varied and ancient +collection of odds and ends that almost filled the place. + +"Oh, girls, isn't this jolly!" exclaimed Bab, halting at the head of the +stairs, taking in the scene eagerly. "I know we shall have a perfectly +splendid time up here, and who knows but that we may unearth some of +your ancestors' family skeletons, Olive?" + +"Tom will dispose of them promptly if you find any," answered Olive. + +"I'll make their old bones rattle. You just watch me," announced Tom. + +"Now, girls, go ahead and browse to your heart's content. We are going +to empty every trunk and chest and box in the place. We may find +something exciting before we get through up here." + +Olive's prophecy was a true one. They were going to meet with exciting +experiences in the old garret, even more exciting than any of them had +dreamed possible. They began eagerly to turn out the contents of trunks +and boxes upon the garret floor, first dragging the receptacles up where +the light from one or another of the windows would shine down on their +work. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A CURIOUS OLD JOURNAL + + +"OH, here's a bundle of letters, ever and ever so old!" called Grace. +Hers was the first find of interest, "Wouldn't it be splendid if I had +unearthed an old romance?" + +"Give them to Olive," suggested Bab. "We have no right to read them." + +Grace promptly handed the packet to Olive, who turned them over +reflectively. + +"The writers of these have been dead for many, many years. There can be +no harm in our reading the letters. However, let's defer that pleasure +until another time. Here, Tom, you might carry out those old clothes. +They are so moth-eaten that they are likely to fall apart before you can +get them outside." Tom reluctantly gathered up an armful and went +stamping down the garret stairs. + +Old clothes, trinkets, some of them of value, recipes for cooking, +written on the fly leaves of books and on scraps of paper, a varied +assortment of everything, including early photographs of forgotten +persons, were discovered. Everything was assorted and placed in piles +for future disposal. The girls' faces and hands were covered with dust +long before they had gone through the contents of the first few trunks. + +Nothing of unusual interest had been discovered after something more +than an hour's rummaging. Tom had made so many trips to the back yard +with rubbish that he was tired. Finally he rebelled, declaring that he +wouldn't tramp up and down those stairs again for the whole of +Treasureholme. + +Ruth found a chest of books in very old bindings. She called Bab over. + +"Here, dear. You are simply crazy over old books. Here are some that +will keep you busy for the rest of the morning." + +Bab ran over, and with a little chuckle of delight dropped down on her +knees in front of the open chest. She lifted out the ancient bindings +almost reverently, ran the pages through her fingers, pausing here and +there to read a line or a page, or a faded notation in pencil, then +carefully piled the books by the side of the chest. She was so wholly +absorbed in the contents of the chest that she failed to hear the lively +chatter going on about her. + +About half way down in the chest she found a thin, leather-covered +volume, showing indications of long usage and much thumbing. On the +front page she read, "Journal of T. W. P." + +"Olive, who was 'T. W. P.'?" + +"'T. W. P.'? Why that's Tom's initials. Wait! Did you find that in one +of those old books?" + +Bab nodded. + +"Then it must refer to Thomas Warrington Presby. He is the gentleman who +is supposed to have been scalped by the Indians, the man who buried the +treasure that we have had all the fuss and excitement about. What is the +book?" + +"It is his journal. His diary, I think we would call it. May I read it?" + +"Of course. I hope you may find something interesting in it." + +The reading of the diary was not easy. The ink was faded and the writing +was so peculiar that Bab deciphered it with some difficulty. Bab curled +up on a pile of old clothes under a window and buried her nose in the +old diary. She found it fascinating to read the diary of the man who +actually buried the treasure that had made the name of Treasureholme +well known in all that part of the country. + +The entries in the diary dealt with the routine affairs of the life of +the owner. Then there were other and more absorbing passages. One that +made the girl's pulses quicken was the following: + +"Rumors of Indian troubles are afloat. Jake was wounded by an arrow +to-day, shot from somewhere in the forest back of the house. But no +Indians were seen. We shall soon have to seek safety in the fort, I +fear. What to do with my worldly goods when we go is the question that +is troubling me now." + +"Oh!" breathed Barbara. + +"Does it blow hot or cold?" questioned Olive. + +"It seems to be getting warm," replied Bab. "He is talking about the +treasure." + +"What?" The girls were on their feet in an instant. Barbara read the +entry to them. + +"Oh, fiddle!" sniffed Mollie. "That doesn't amount to anything. Don't +arouse my curiosity again unless you have something worth while." + +Barbara considered that she had found something worth while, but she +made no comment on Mollie's remark. Instead, the girl returned to her +perusal of the old diary, reading each page carefully, not knowing when +a word or a sentence might give a clue to the mystery all were seeking +to solve. The girls went on with their rummaging and their lively +chatter. Tom had gone to sleep on a heap of bed spreads that were yellow +with age. The ghosts of the past did not trouble this healthy young +country boy. Mollie crouched down beside him, gently tickling his ear +with a feather that she had found in a trunk. Mollie nearly exploded +with merriment to see Tommy fight an imaginary fly in his sleep. The +other girls were soon attracted to the game, though Barbara was entirely +oblivious of what was going on. The girls gathered noiselessly about +Mollie and Tom, shaking with silent laughter, taking care not to awaken +the sleeping boy. + +Tom's face twitched nervously. After a little one eye opened ever so +little then closed warily. The girls did not observe the movement of the +eyelid. Then all of a sudden things began to happen. Tom, with +incredible quickness, leaped to his feet, and began laying about him +with a folded bed spread. Mollie was the first to go down under the +attack. The others tried to get away from that sturdily wielded spread, +but were not quick enough, however. Tom did considerable execution with +his unwieldly weapon before the girls finally threw themselves upon him. +Then Tom went down and out. The girls dragged him to the stairway and +started him sliding down the stairs, feet first. With faces flushed, +eyes sparkling, brushing truant wisps of hair from their foreheads, the +girls returned to their exploration of the old chests. First Olive +closed and locked the door that opened onto the staircase. + +"There! I think we shall have peace now," she announced. + +Suddenly Barbara uttered a sharp little cry. + +"Girls! Girls! Come here! Oh, come here!" + +The girls with one accord rushed pell-mell across the garret. Excitement +reigned for a few seconds. + +"I've found it! I've found it!" shouted Barbara. + +"Found the treasure?" cried a chorus of voices. + +"It's here, here!" she exclaimed, waving the little leather-bound +journal above her head. + +"What have you found?" demanded Olive, showing less excitement than her +companions. + +"This entry. It means something. I don't know just what, but I know it +means something." + +"Read it, read it!" demanded the girls. + +"The item is a month later than the one I found in the journal in which +they were afraid the Indians were going to make trouble. Listen to this. +If you don't think I have found something you are not half so smart as I +had thought." Barbara hitched a little closer to the window and with her +back to the light read from the journal the following entry: + +"'To My Heirs: I am fleeing with my family, to the fort. The future +looks dark. Should I not return, others of my family one day will come +here and take possession, provided the savages do not destroy the old +place, which is not probable, as the spirit of a long dead Indian chief +is said to make his home here.'" + +"I knew all the time there were ghosts here," interrupted Mollie. + +"Wearing false faces," added Grace under her breath. + +"There are further directions. 'Search and you shall find. I cannot be +more explicit save to say that what is here is well worth years of +endeavor,'" Barbara read on. "'I have a feeling that I shall see the old +place no more. Remember, that to every people its own dead are sacred +and be governed accordingly.'" + +Barbara glanced slowly up at the solemn faces above her. + +"Is that all?" asked Olive. + +"Yes. That is the last entry in the journal, showing that the former Mr. +Presby did not return, as you already have told us that he did not." + +"What do you make of it, dear?" questioned Olive thoughtfully. + +"It is a clue and a direction to the buried treasure. There can be no +doubt of that." + +"Yes, but we don't understand it," spoke up Ruth. "I doubt if we ever +shall." + +"It's my opinion that Mr. T. W. P. wasn't in his right mind when he +wrote that," declared Mollie with emphasis. "I think the Indians must +have gone to his head." + +"This is no joking matter, Mollie," rebuked Barbara. "Can't you be +serious for once in your life? We must study this." + +"What do you say if I send for Mr. Stevens, girls?" cried Olive. "He has +studied this mystery more thoroughly than anyone else and he will no +doubt understand the veiled allusion to the treasure. Suppose we copy it +so we can read it more easily. Wait! I'll get a pencil." + +Olive ran downstairs to her room, now not a little excited. + +"I've sent Tom after Bob Stevens," she called, as she burst into the +attic on her return. "Now read it to me and I will put it down." + +"Perhaps I had better do that," answered Bab, reaching for the pencil. +"I know the writing better than you do and I want to make the copy +exactly like the original. There," she added, after having carefully +copied the extract from the journal. + +Olive regarded it perplexedly, Grace, Mollie and Ruth bending over her +shoulder as she read and reread the extract from the old Presby diary. + +"I must show this to father and mother," exclaimed Olive suddenly, as +she whisked out of the room with Ruth, Mollie and Grace racing after +her. Barbara, once more absorbed in the journal over which she was +bending with wrinkled forehead, did not seem to realize that she had +been left alone. + +"Oh, if it should be true! If it should lead us to the treasure! If we +could save Treasureholme for the Presbys it would be glorious." Barbara +got up and began pacing back and forth. She saw nothing of the dingy +garret room. Her imagination was traveling at express-train speed. Bab +stood leaning back against the heavy wainscoting, with her eyes fixed on +the ceiling, thinking. + +"Oh, Barbara!" called Ruth's voice from the foot of the stairway. + +"Yes?" + +"Come down. Mercy! What was that?" A mighty crash shook the old house to +its foundations. The shock seemed to come from above. Ruth sped up the +stairs on winged feet. Those below stairs heard her utter a frightened +scream. + +"Come! Oh, come quickly!" cried Ruth Stuart in a voice of terror. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MYSTERY OF THE ATTIC + + +THE sound of running feet was heard on the floor below following Ruth's +cry for help. Olive, Mollie and Grace had heard it from the foot of the +stairs on the ground floor. Mr. and Mrs. Presby, sitting in the dining +room, had also heard the cry and started for the stairs. Tom, who was +down in the cellar, heard the girls running, and started up the stairs +three steps at a time, instinctively realizing that something was wrong. +His first thought was that the girls in the garret had set the house on +fire. + +The three girls fairly tore up the stairs to the attic in response to +Ruth's cry, getting in each other's way on the narrow stairs as they +ran. Tom was close at their heels, while his father and mother followed +more slowly. + +At first they could distinguish nothing but Ruth's figure dimly outlined +in a haze of dust that filled the air. + +"Fire!" cried Grace. + +"No!" roared Tom. "It's dust. Somebody's been kicking up a fine smudge +here. What's the matter? Have you folks gone crazy?" + +"Ruth! Ruth! What is it?" cried Olive. + +"It's Bab," moaned Ruth. + +"Bab?" cried the girls. + +For the first time since reaching the attic their thoughts turned to +Barbara Thurston. But where was she? Nowhere in sight. Mr. Presby came +limping into the room, followed by his wife very much out of breath. + +"Wha--wha--what is the cause of all this uproar?" demanded Mr. Presby +testily. + +"It's Bab! It's Bab, I tell you," almost screamed Ruth. "Oh, what has +happened?" + +"That's what we would like to know," retorted Mr. Presby. + +"Where is Bab?" demanded Tom, who had been nosing around the room like a +terrier. + +"She--she's gone," moaned Ruth. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with +fright. Tom rushed to the windows, which were tightly closed. + +"What fell?" he questioned sharply, halting in front of Ruth. + +"I--I don't know. I--I wasn't here. I was at the foot of the garret +stairs when I heard that terrible crash." + +The dust, slowly settling, gave them a clearer view of the attic. +Barbara Thurston was not in sight. + +"What has become of Bab? Why don't you look behind the chests?" +demanded Mollie, gathering up her skirts, darting here and there, +kicking aside the heaps of old clothing that had been turned out on the +floor. + +Mollie paused with a dazed look in her eyes. + +"She's gone," whispered the girl. + +"Yes, she's gone, all right," answered Tom. "I know what she has done. +She's played a trick on all of you. I know her. She is a sharp one. +She'd catch you napping when you were looking right at her. She must +have gone downstairs after you did, and----" + +"No, no," protested Ruth excitedly. "She never left this attic by the +stairway." + +"Calm yourself, my dear," begged Mr. Presby in a somewhat more gentle +voice, at the same time laying a hand on Ruth Stuart's shoulder. "Now +let us understand this affair. You say Barbara was up here--she did not +go downstairs with you?" + +"No, no!" exclaimed Mollie. "She was reading that old journal when we +went down. We left her sitting right there. Don't you remember, you +asked us to call Barbara downstairs? You wanted to see the diary of old +Mr. Presby, and Ruth went upstairs to call her." + +"Yes, yes. Ruth, how do you know that Barbara was here when you called +to her?" + +"Because she answered me," replied Ruth. + +"What next? Did her voice sound as if she were here in the attic?" + +"Yes. I know she was here." + +"Was that when you cried out?" + +"No. That awful crash came a few seconds after she had answered me. I +ran up here as fast as my feet would carry me. At first the dust was so +thick I was unable to make out anything clearly. I called to Bab but she +did not answer me. I then ran about the room in search of her, thinking +that she had fallen and hurt herself. But she wasn't here," wailed Ruth. +"Oh, what shall I do?" + +"Calm yourself. That is the first thing to be done. There is something +mysterious about this. I wish Bob Stevens were here." + +"I sent Tom for him. Did you see Mr. Stevens, Tom?" + +"No. I sent word by one of the hired hands," admitted Tom sheepishly. +"I--I wanted to do some work in the cellar." + +"Then go at once," commanded Mr. Presby sternly. + +"Wait!" exclaimed Ruth. "I'll drive the car, storm or no storm. The cold +air will help me to brace up. How far is it to Mr. Stevens' house?" + +"Mile and a half," answered Tom. + +"Come with me, Tommy. We will be there and back in twenty minutes. Do +you know the way?" + +"Yes, he knows the way. He knows too much about everything in these +parts," answered Mr. Presby testily. "I will telephone to Mr. Stuart." + +"Oh, don't, please. At least--not un--until I get back. Per--perhaps Mr. +Stevens may find her." + +"He will, if anyone can," declared Olive. Everyone in the room was +overwhelmed with the mystery of it all. That a person could disappear so +completely from a room that had only one entrance and with that entrance +guarded at the moment passed all comprehension. + +Once more Mollie set herself to examining every nook and corner of the +room. She even raised the lids of the closed trunks and chests, thinking +that possibly Barbara might have hidden in one of them. There was no +trace whatever of the missing girl. + +"Has anyone found the diary?" questioned Olive. + +"Could it be that she fell through a trap in the floor?" queried Grace. + +"There are no traps in the floor," answered Mr. Presby sharply. + +"If there were, and Bab had fallen in, she would have dropped into one +of our rooms," explained Olive. "I believe I will go all over the +house," she decided as an afterthought. + +"We will go with you," declared Grace. "Oh, Bab, Bab; where are you?" +Grace broke into a paroxysm of heart-breaking sobs. This was too much +for Mollie, who began sobbing also. + +"Come, come, girls; this won't do," chided Olive. "We must keep our +heads clear. Something has happened to Bab, but I'll venture to say that +she is all right, no matter where she is." + +"But--but if she _is_ all right, why doesn't she call to us?" questioned +Mollie, gazing at Olive through her tears. + +Olive was unable to answer that question. The same thought had occurred +to her. Now Mr. Presby began thumping the sides of the room with his +cane. They understood his purpose and waited in breathless silence until +he had gone all the way around the room. + +"All sounds alike," he announced. "I didn't know but there might be +another of those secret passages up here. I see, however, that it is not +possible. Come, there is nothing to be gained by remaining here. Come, +Mollie. Do not take it too much to heart," soothed Mr. Presby. + +Mollie was now leaning against the wall with head buried in her arms, +crying softly. The others had started for the stairway. A servant came +up the stairs and announced that Ruth had telephoned from the Stevens +place saying that Bob Stevens had gone to Brightwaters, and that she was +going there to find him. + +"Good gracious! What was that?" screamed Mrs. Presby, gripping her +husband's arm with both hands as a mighty crash shook the building. A +violent current of air smote them, another cloud of suffocating dust +filled the air. + +"Mollie's gone, too!" screamed Grace Carter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +TOMMY TAKES A WILD RIDE + + +FOR a moment the little group stood regarding one another in +horror-stricken silence, then by common consent they all made for the +stairway. Mr. Presby was half carrying, half dragging his wife, who was +in a state of collapse. All had lost their heads completely. They did +not know at what moment that terrible mysterious force might whisk them +all out of existence. Instead of remaining calmly to solve the reason +for Mollie's disappearance before their very eyes, all hands were +fleeing from the scene of the double disaster. Mollie had not even cried +out. She had simply gone, followed by that mighty crash. That was all +they knew about it. + +They did not halt until they had reached the ground floor, where Mr. +Presby called a servant to summon the neighbors and summon them quickly. +Fifteen minutes later the neighbors began to arrive. With them were two +or three strangers, whose offers to join in the search through the house +Mr. Presby politely declined, as he was suspicious of all strangers. +Those of the neighbors who were friends of long standing were given +free rein to search the house and grounds as thoroughly as they wished. +They took full advantage of the opportunity, delving into every nook and +corner. + +In the meantime Ruth Stuart with the shivering Tommy by her side was +driving her automobile across the country. There was no storm curtain in +place now. Even the wind shield had been turned down because the snow +clouded it so Ruth could not get a clear sight ahead. As it was, she +could see no more than a rod or two in advance. She took the storm full +on the right side of her face. The girl's eyes and nerves were steady +now. Her touch on the steering wheel was light, for at that speed a +heavy hand might have ditched the outfit. + +Country people on the road were startled by a rush of wind and a shadowy +monster shooting past them with a snort, occasionally sending their +horses off the highway in frightened leaps. But Ruth Stuart's eyes never +wavered from the straight path ahead. Evidently she had forgotten her +promise to herself to drive with her car under more perfect control. +Every ounce of speed that Mr. A. Bubble possessed was being used on the +present run. + +Tommy's eyes were full of snow, his lips were blue, his hands were +gripping the cushions until he had no feeling left in them. + +"Tell me when we get near to the place," commanded Ruth in a sharp, +incisive tone. + +"Ju-s-s-st around the nu-nu-next turn," chattered Thomas. "He's at +Martin's ranch." + +Ruth turned the air into her siren. A wild, weird wail rose from the +horn. Tommy shivered more than ever. That sound always did make the hair +rise right up on the crown of his head. Ruth kept the siren going. +Rounding the bend at top speed, her siren wailing, she made enough noise +to be plainly heard above the storm. Taking careful note of her +position, she ran up the drive into the yard, slowing down just as she +saw two men come from the house bare-headed. + +"Jump in, quick!" she cried to Bob Stevens. "Trouble!" + +Bob was quick-witted. He understood that something was wrong. He caught +one of the canopy braces and swung himself in over the closed door. + +The car was still in motion. Without a word of further explanation, Ruth +advanced her spark. When they rounded into the road the snow from the +skidding rear wheels flew up into the air higher than the peak of Jud +Martin's hip-roofed barn. Stevens instinctively gripped the automobile +body. + +"Put a blanket over your head," called back Ruth. + +"I can stand it bare-headed here, if you can keep your seat in this cold +wind up ahead," answered Stevens calmly. "What is it?" + +"I'll tell you when you get there. I haven't time now." + +Bob asked no further questions. They were racing back to Treasureholme +at a rate of speed that would have left the Pacific Coast Limited some +distance to the rear in a very short time. + +Boom! A report like that of a cannon startled Tommy. Boom! Another +similar report and Tom was on the verge of leaping from the car. + +"Tire's gone. Rear tire's down," called Stevens. Ruth nodded, but he +could not see that she reduced the speed of the car in the slightest +degree. Bob Stevens never had had such a ride as that, even on a +railroad train, but he declined to give in to his inclination to warn +her to slow down. If a young woman had the nerve to drive a car at that +speed he surely should have sufficient pluck to ride behind her. + +Tommy had tightened his grip on the cushion. His body was swaying from +side to side, now and then humping up into the air as the wheels passed +over a hummock. + +"I shall go on as long as the rims hold," flung back Ruth in +acknowledgment of his warning about the tires. + +The young man knew very well that the rims were likely to be crunched +in like egg shells at any second. That would mean the complete wreck of +the car and no doubt the instant death of the passengers at the speed +they were now traveling. The soft, springy snow that covered the ground +protected the rims from the hard road somewhat. He observed, however, +that in rounding sharp turns in the road, Ruth steadied the car with her +foot brake. She was driving with great skill, even though the pace was a +reckless one. Bob gazed at the back of her head, a great admiration for +her pluck welling up within him. But he felt sorry for Tommy. It was +plainly to be seen that Thomas Warrington Presby was not having the +happiest ride imaginable. + +"Almost there," encouraged Ruth. "If anything happens, never mind me, +but run for the house as fast as you can go." + +He did not answer, but he was thinking deeply. Something of a very +serious nature must have occurred at Treasureholme to make necessary all +this haste. He did not know that they had sent for him because of the +great confidence the Presbys reposed in him. It would have made little +difference to the resourceful Bob Stevens if he had known. + +The car lurched into the drive, past the scene of Ruth's previous +disaster, where the broken posts and twisted gates still lay at one +side of the drive. None of the occupants of the car heeded these +evidences of a former smash-up. Ruth's eyes were on the drive. Bob's +eyes were on the house, while Tommy's eyes were so full of snow that +they weren't fixed on anything in particular. + +The car came to a jolting stop in front of the Presby home. At that +instant the rear of the car settled with a crunching sound. + +"There go the rims," said Ruth calmly. "But I don't care now. Please +hurry." + +Bob lifted Tommy to the ground, the boy being on the side that Stevens +had leaped from just as the rims were going down. He then assisted Ruth +out. Tommy rubbed the snow from his eyes, blinked rapidly and gazed at +Ruth. + +"Never no more for mine," he declared, with ungrammatical force. + +Ruth tried to run up the steps. She halted suddenly. Her body swayed +unsteadily. Stevens thought she was going to collapse. He took firm hold +of her arm. + +"Let me assist you," he said politely. + +"I--I am all right," muttered Ruth. "Just a little dizzy from watching +the road so closely," then she crumpled up on the steps of +Treasureholme. + +Bob Stevens picked her up and carried the girl into the house, followed +by Tom, still blinking. Tom was choking a little, too. Everything had +been moving so rapidly that, active as was his mind, he hadn't been able +to follow matters very clearly. + +The door swung open. Bob handed his burden over to Mrs. Presby. + +"She's played out. Better put her to bed. What's wrong?" + +"No, no, no!" protested Ruth. "Give me a drink of something hot. I--I'm +chilled through." She staggered to one side of the hall, waved +assistance aside and leaned against the wall with closed eyes for a few +seconds. Then Ruth straightened up suddenly. + +"Bab! Have they found her?" she cried. + +Mrs. Presby shook her head. Grace came running down the hall. She threw +herself into Ruth's arms. + +"Oh, Ruth! Mollie's gone, too!" she sobbed. + +"What's this?" demanded Stevens. "Tell me quickly what has occurred." + +Mrs. Presby told him very briefly all that she knew about the series of +disasters that had befallen them. The hall was fairly well filled with +neighbors, all more or less helpless. With bulging eyes and open mouths, +they were listening and gaping without doing anything on their own +account. + +Bob dashed toward the stairs without asking another question. Neighbors, +the Presbys and the three girls followed him. Mr. Presby was the last in +line. He thumped up the stairs with the aid of his stick. Bob had halted +near the door of the attic, where he stood surveying the room with +critical eyes. + +"Get lights! It's dark here," he directed sharply. "Now tell me just +what occurred as far as you know, please. Who discovered the loss of +Miss Thurston and her sister?" + +Ruth told him what she knew of Bab's disappearance. Olive related the +story of how Mollie had suddenly vanished. + +"They certainly didn't vanish into thin air. They are still in this +house and I am going to find them, even if I have to tear the house +down, with Mr. Presby's permission, of course." + +"Get the girls. Go as far as you like. Tear down the old house if you +must. I shall not have use for it very much longer." + +Bob groped about on the floor. His hands found a broken stove poker. +With this he began sounding the walls about waist high, thumping and +listening, listening and thumping. He paused suddenly. + +"Where was Miss Mollie standing when you last saw her?" he demanded, +turning to the group. + +"There on the south side," answered Olive. + +"Something has been there against the wall for some time, hasn't there? +I see a mark on the wall." + +"I don't recall whether or not there was anything there," answered Mr. +Presby. + +"Yes, there was an old dresser there. I moved it aside to-day to get +some things that had fallen behind it. We were cleaning out the garret. +That's the dresser over yonder," Olive informed him. + +The young man did not look at the piece of furniture indicated by Miss +Presby. Instead, he strode over to the point where the dresser had stood +for no one knew how long. It was a dresser belonging to some of the +Presby ancestors. It never had been disturbed during the present owner's +occupancy. + +Stevens began thumping over every inch of the wall at that point. He +varied his investigations finally by trying the wainscoting on either +side. The latter to his keen ears gave out a different sound. He turned +sharply. + +"Bring me a maul, if you have one." + +Mr. Presby directed one of the farm hands to bring one from the +woodshed. In the meantime the others in the attic watched in breathless +silence as Stevens pursued his investigations. + +"You haven't heard them call or cry out?" + +"No," answered Olive. + +Ruth had said scarcely a word. She had appeared to be crushed upon +hearing of Mollie's disappearance. She had answered questions briefly +and with apparent great effort. But now her eyes were following every +movement of Bob Stevens. + +A commotion on the stairs caused Bob to stride over to the door. It was +the man with the maul, a heavy tool used for driving fence posts and +other similar work. Bob took it from him and started for the place where +the dresser had formerly stood. He halted just before reaching his +objective point. The others in the chamber were crowding about him. + +"I would suggest that you people stand back," he said. "We don't know +what might happen. I might loose my grip on the maul. I don't want to +injure anyone." + +The "people" shrank back out of the way. + +"I'm going to do some damage, Mr. Presby. At least I think I am." + +Richard Presby nodded. + +Bob stepped close to the wall, moved back three or four feet, then +slowly swung the maul in a circle and let drive with all the force at +his command against the side of the wall. The maul landed with a +tremendous report. + +A most remarkable thing followed, sending the occupants of the room +rushing for the staircase, the women uttering cries of alarm. Bob +staggered backwards and sat down heavily on the floor. His experiment +had been attended with greater success than he had even dreamed were +possible. It had been followed by a terrific crash. A cloud of dust +filled the room, the structure vibrated as if from a slight earthquake +shock, then quiet once more settled over the gloomy attic of +Treasureholme. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +AN AMAZING OCCURRENCE + + +BOB was on his feet again ere the dust had settled in the room. + +"Don't be alarmed," he cried. "There is no danger so long as you keep +away from that partition. That is where the trouble lies." + +"Where--where is the hammer?" cried Grace. + +Stevens stepped forward and looked for the maul on the floor near the +baseboard, but finally glanced up with a perplexed expression in his +eyes. + +"The maul has disappeared, too," he said. + +There was a gasp following this announcement. But the young man was not +disturbed. + +"I understand a little of what all this means," he said. "The maul has +gone. If someone will get me an axe I will chop down this partition near +where I struck it with the maul." + +"Is there some secret there?" whispered Mr. Presby over Bob's shoulder. +The young man nodded. + +"Yes. I have an idea what it is. However, we shall see." + +When the axe was brought he chose his location with some care, then +began chopping away, swinging the axe in a manner that showed him to be +no novice at that sort of work. The axe went through the partition soon +after that. Using the back of the tool, he began smashing in the boards, +here and there employing the blade to cut through a scantling or a +brace. Soon after he had laid open a dark recess behind the partition. + +Tom pushed forward and was about to crawl in when the young man stopped +him. + +"Better be careful, young man! That may be a pitfall, and I suspect that +it is." + +The others were too amazed to speak. Still another secret in the old +house had been revealed. But the sudden disappearance of the maul was +still unexplained, though Stevens had his own idea about this. He began +cutting further. A tremendous crash followed a moment of chopping. He +sprang back to await developments. There were none. + +"There, I think I have drawn the monster's teeth," he said, reaching for +a lantern. "One of you will please hold another lantern at the entrance +here. I may need help." + +Ruth Stuart snatched a lantern from one of the countrymen and stepped +promptly up beside the young man. He nodded. + +"Do not try to follow me in here unless I tell you to. I must first find +out what is in here." + +"Do you think they are there?" she asked in a half whisper. + +"Yes. Probably below somewhere," he answered, thrusting the lantern +ahead of him and crawling into the opening he had made. + +Bob found himself in a narrow chamber formed by a gable that had been +shut off and enclosed by the partition. He did not trouble himself at +that moment to investigate the strangeness of the disappearance of his +maul. Instead, he began going over the little room cautiously. The light +from his lantern soon revealed a hole in the floor about a yard square. + +"Don't lean against that partition on your life," he called. Those near +the entrance to the gable apartment drew back a little. They gazed at +the apparently solid wall to the left of the hole, in respectful +silence. Bob lowered his lantern into the hole and peered in. It +appeared to extend down a long distance. A trap door that evidently was +intended to cover the opening, lay to one side of the opening. As he +peered in he saw that the opening revealed a bricked-in shaft. + +"A chimney, as I live!" he exclaimed. Then he raised his voice in a +long-drawn shout. + +"Hello-o-o down there!" There was no response. Stevens called again. A +faint wail drifted up through the shaft. Ruth, at the panel, hearing it, +uttered a scream of joy. + +"They're there! They're there!" she cried. + +For the first time since his arrival at the house, Bob Stevens showed +traces of excitement in his face, but his voice was calm when he spoke. + +"Get a rope, quickly. A long one," he commanded. + +Ruth, Olive and Tommy crowded into the narrow opening, unable to +restrain their impatience longer. + +"Be careful," warned Bob. "This floor doesn't seem to be very strong." + +The three held their ground, however. + +"Hello-o-o down there! Are you hurt?" + +They were unable to distinguish the words of the reply, but it evidently +was made by Barbara. + +"There's a ladder," exclaimed Tommy, starting to go down it. Stevens +hauled him back. + +"Keep out. It looks shaky. I am going down there myself. That's why I +sent for a rope. I don't want to fall in, too. Men, I want you to stand +by to lend a hand on the rope. Keep it fairly taut, but don't hold me +back." + +When all the arrangements had been made, Bob started down the ladder. He +had gone not more than four or five feet when he found that the ladder +extended no further. It appeared to have been broken off. He called to +the men to lower away. Finally his feet reached something soft. At first +the horrified thought came to him that it was the body of one of the +girls for whom he was in search. Instead, what he had found proved to be +a piece of an old mattress with a bundle of old clothes heaped on it. +This was something like seven feet from the opening through which he had +descended. + +He heard a moan from beneath the heap of old garments. He tore them +feverishly aside. Mollie lay before him, pale and with eyes closed. +Stevens uttered a shout. + +"I've got Miss Mollie. She is injured. Stand by to pull her up when I +give you the word," he directed in a tone of excitement. Quickly +securing the rope under her arms, he bade them haul away, he lifting the +girl as high as his arms would reach, then grasping her feet, lending +such assistance as possible in this way. She was quickly in the arms of +her friends, who bore her downstairs to her own room and set to work to +revive her. + +Now came the next stage of Bob Stevens' work. He could not imagine where +Barbara could be. Just at this point he discovered a bend in the +supposed chimney. This he decided was in order to avoid some +obstruction on the second floor of the house. He found an opening in the +platform scarcely large enough to admit his own broad shoulders. There, +unmistakably was a ladder, made of thin strips of iron, bolted to the +chimney itself. + +"I'm going further down," he shouted to those above. "Don't pull unless +I call upon you to do so. Are you down there, Miss Barbara?" + +"Yes," came the answer. It sounded very far away. Bob knew that the +young woman must be a great distance below him, or else there was +another bend in the chimney that shut off the sound of her voice. +Perhaps, too, there was another landing. One might expect to meet with +anything in this house of mysteries. + +"The other one is all right," yelled the young man to those above. "Keep +up your courage, Miss Barbara. I will be with you as soon as I can get +down. Can you climb up?" + +"No." He did not catch what followed. Bob was climbing down the narrow +ladder, prudently keeping the rope about his waist in case the ladder +should give way. He carried the lantern with him on his descent, which +he made with considerable caution. He feared that were he to dislodge a +brick or a section of the ladder, it might fall on the girl below and +seriously injure her. Why she should be so far below the narrow +platform where he had found Mollie Thurston he did not pause to ask +himself. The urgent work of the moment was to get Barbara out as quickly +as possible. + +"Is there no end to this?" muttered the young man. He figured that he +must be somewhere in the vicinity of the cellar. Barbara's voice, now +strong and clear, halted him suddenly. + +"Be careful," she warned. "The ladder doesn't reach all the way down. +You will fall if you don't step carefully." + +"Where are you?" he cried. "Goodness, I'm glad to hear your voice! I +feared you had been killed." + +"I don't know how this happened. I am down here. That is all I can tell +you about it." + +Stevens had reached the end of the ladder by this time. He lowered his +lantern, directing her to take it from the rope, then observing that he +was not more than half a dozen feet from the bottom, he dropped lightly +down beside her. + +"Did you fall down here?" he asked. + +"The last several feet I did," she answered. Bab was pale, but her eyes +were bright. + +"Then how did you get down this far? Didn't the landing stop you?" +questioned the young man while looping the rope under Barbara's arms. + +"Yes, the landing stopped me. I thought I surely had been killed, but +after a little I pulled myself together and screamed for help. I guess +no one heard me." + +"They were excited. The house is in an uproar. Your sister is in the +hands of her friends. I think she will be all right." + +"My sister?" questioned Bab, opening her eyes wide. + +"Yes. Didn't you know she fell in, too?" + +"Tell me--was she--how did it happen?" demanded Bab, all in one voice. +"Oh, it was awful! Mollie fell in, you say?" + +"Yes. I got her out with the help of the others. You haven't answered my +question. Why did you come on down here?" + +"I thought there might be an opening at the bottom. This chimney was +intended to be used for climbing. Hurry. I want to see Mollie." + +Barbara was in a fever of excitement. She could not see why she +shouldn't climb the rope. Stevens advised her to calm herself, saying +that when she reached the ladder she might climb, but not to cast off +the rope. + +"When you reach the top tell them to lower the rope again, so I can get +out." + +Barbara suddenly collected herself. + +"Oh, forgive me for my thoughtlessness. You go on up. I can come +later." + +Bob Stevens merely smiled, then raised his voice in a shout to the men +to pull up. He lifted Bab up with apparent ease, for he was a muscular +young man. The rope began to move up slowly. He helped Barbara until she +had reached the ladder, then after seeing her safely on her way, and +when she was no longer visible, the young man picked up his lantern and +began to look about him. + +The chimney reached clear to the bottom of the pit in which he was +standing. A short passage underground led off from the pit. He followed +it for about thirty yards, when it ended abruptly against a solid mound +of earth. Investigation showed that this earth had caved in, thus +blocking what had once been a long passage. Little particles of dirt +showered down on his head as he stepped carefully about, indicating that +the rest of the roof might cave in at any moment. + +"The silence of the tomb," muttered Bob. "What a place in which to be +buried alive! I can imagine what that poor little girl must have +suffered in here without a light, not knowing whether she ever would be +found again. There's pluck for you. I know I should have been scared +stiff. What a house of mystery this is! If it were mine I would pull it +to pieces to satisfy my curiosity if for no other reason. But the +treasure? Can it be possible that we have stumbled upon the hiding place +of the real treasure? I'm going to investigate this place later on. Mr. +Presby's ancestors must have been regular woodchucks. At least they were +great burrowers. Hold on; there must have been some sort of stream +through here by the looks of the ground. The tunnel was already made. +All it needed was covering and filling. I begin to see. The families +used it for getting away when the Indians got too busy. But I hear the +rope. I want to examine that attic." + +Bob held up his lantern to look for the rope when a ray from the lantern +glinted on something bright in a niche in the chimney near the base, +from where a brick had been pried out. He held the lantern closer, his +eyes grew large, then the young man gave a whoop that was heard far +above him in the attic. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BOB SOLVES ANOTHER MYSTERY + + +"I'VE got it!" he cried. "I've found the--but it can't be a very big +treasure done up in so small a package," he added in a disappointed +tone. + +That which had attracted his attention was a metal box about six inches +in length which had been set into the chimney so skilfully that a person +passing would be unlikely to observe it. The box fitted the niche so +nicely that Stevens was obliged to use his knife to pry it out. The box +was locked. He found no key and was about to attempt to pry open the +cover with his knife when he paused. + +"No. I won't do it. That wouldn't be fair. Miss Thurston is the real +discoverer. She shall open the box, or I will open it in her presence +unless Mr. Presby wishes to do so himself." Saying which, Bob Stevens +pocketed his curiosity as well as the little metal box. The rope now +being at hand, he slipped the loop about his waist, reached up and +grasped the lower rung of the ladder, drawing himself up easily until +the lower rung was beneath his feet. From that point on he climbed +rapidly to the platform. From there he was obliged to use the rope in +place of the missing section of the ladder. A few seconds later he was +standing in the garret. + +"How is Miss Mollie?" were his first words. + +"Just coming to," answered one of the hands. "Miss Ruth was just up here +to see if you had gotten up yet. She wishes to see you." + +"Hold up the lantern. I want to look at this wall a moment." Bob had +found the maul lying on the floor in the gable. He returned it to the +garret. He now recalled the crash that had followed his final chopping. +Since then the young man had reasoned out what he thought was the +mechanism that had caused all the trouble. + +Stevens pushed gently on the panel against which he had originally +struck so hard a blow. To the amazement of the onlookers, the panel fell +into the gable with a mighty crash. + +"I thought so," he nodded. The others had leaped to the far side of the +room. Mr. Presby came hobbling up, fearing that still another disaster +had fallen upon the house. + +"Please look here, Mr. Presby," called Bob. "Here is the secret. See +that narrow panel? It is a little wider than a man's body. It is hinged +at the bottom. Attached to it were ropes running over pulleys in wooden +tunnels. At the ends of these ropes are heavy weights. So nicely +balanced were the weights that the pressure of a few pounds from this +side would throw the panel inward. Any person leaning against it on this +side would be dumped into the other room so quickly that unless he +understood the mechanism, he would not know what had occurred." + +"Wonderful," breathed the owner. + +"It was evidently intended to afford a quick get-away in case the +occupants of the house found it necessary to leave hurriedly. You will +find the remnants of an old mattress in the gable there. I presume that +was originally so placed that the person going through would slide from +the smooth panel to the mattress without the least danger of injury. The +instant his body left the panel the weights would pull the panel into +place with a great bang. When the weights struck their foundation--the +floor--another crash would be heard. Were I an Indian, I think I would +run if I heard all that crashing and smashing. However, I have cut the +ropes. You will have no recurrence of to-day's accident. The trap was +open and both the young women fell into it while groping about in the +dark in there. Is Miss Mollie seriously hurt?" + +"One wrist is sprained and she is somewhat bruised. I do not believe it +will prove to be anything serious," answered Mr. Presby. "Bob, I thank +you," he added, giving the young man's hand a hearty grip. + +"May I go down there now?" piped Tommy. + +"You may not, sir," returned his father sternly. "You will keep away +from that place entirely. I shall have the opening nailed up to-morrow. +By the way, Robert, what did you find at the bottom?" questioned the +master eagerly. + +"A caved-in passage. I also found this. I intended to give it to you in +the presence of Miss Thurston. However, it belongs to you." + +Mr. Presby turned the metal box over in his hand reflectively. + +"Open it, Robert. I decline to become excited." + +"May I call Miss Barbara?" + +"Certainly." + +Tommy fairly flew downstairs for Bab, who returned with him on the run. +Stevens showed her the box. Her eyes glowed. + +"How is Miss Mollie?" asked the young man. + +"I don't think there is very much the matter with her except the shock +and the fright. She must have been unconscious down there for quite a +time. Please open the box. I am dying of curiosity." + +He broke open the box with the stove poker with which he had sounded +the walls. All necks were craned to see what was in the box. To their +wonderment, not unmixed with disappointment, Bob Stevens drew out a +tarnished gold watch, on the back of which had been cut the letters "T. +W. P." It was of English make and very old. + +Mr. Presby regarded it solemnly. + +"That is my ancestor's watch. It can mean but one thing, finding it as +we have. He left such of his worldly possessions as he could--this +watch. And to think we have dug up half of the estate for a treasure +that did not exist! It was his silent message to us that this was all he +had to leave in case he did not return." Mr. Presby's voice held a note +of keen disappointment. Even up to now he had not fully lost hope that +by some fortunate circumstance the treasure might yet be found. + +"He may have returned and taken the rest of it," reflected Bob. "But if +that were so, why should he have gone to all the pains of leading us to +believe there was more?" + +"How so?" + +"This find means more than appears on the surface, sir." + +"May I look at it?" asked Barbara. + +[Illustration: A Slip Of Paper Fluttered To the Floor.] + +Mr. Presby handed the watch to her. She opened the case and gazed long +at the face of the timepiece. She closed the case with a snap, then +turned to the back, first studying the initials, next trying to open the +back case. Bob Stevens assisted her with his pocket knife. The case came +open suddenly. A slip of paper fluttered to the floor at Bab's feet. + +"Oh!" she cried, snatching it up. She started to unfold the paper, then +flushing, handed it to Mr. Presby. He shook his head. + +"Look at it, my dear. There need be no secrets here." + +Barbara did so, her hands trembling with excitement. A little furrow of +perplexity appeared between the eyebrows. What she saw on the paper was +a crude drawing of a toadstool with a slight point rising from the +centre of the toadstool. In the background was what appeared to be a +forest, but so awkwardly drawn that it was not possible to say +positively that a forest was what the artist had intended. Below the +picture of the toadstool was some writing. Stevens held the lantern +closer, at her suggestion. "'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'" +read Barbara Thurston. "Now, what in the world does that mean?" + +"I think it was your little golden-haired sister who expressed the +opinion that my ancestor was not in his right mind," said Mr. Presby. "I +am inclined to that belief myself. I wash my hands of the whole affair! +Come, let us go below. This air here suffocates me." + +Bob Stevens took the paper and, holding the lantern in the crook of his +left arm, studied the bit of paper on his way downstairs, but made +nothing out of it. + +"I am not certain that it means anything at all, Miss Thurston," he +said. "Perhaps the girls may discover some meaning. As for myself, I +give it up." + +"Thank you," answered Barbara. "I will show it to them. I know it must +mean something, unless--unless the original Mr. Presby were crazy in +fact." + +"I am beginning to think we are all crazy," laughed Stevens. + +After having again inquired for Mollie, and shaken hands with Barbara +and Ruth, Bob went home. Barbara had stuffed the slip of paper into the +pocket of her blouse on her way to Mollie's room. Mollie now lay wide +awake. Her face was pale. There was a livid mark on her forehead, where +she had come violently in contact with the chimney side on her tumble +into the hole in the gable floor. + +"Oh, Mollie, dear," soothed Bab, throwing her arms about her sister. "It +had to be you who got the worst of the bump. Were you leaning against +the wall, too?" + +Mollie nodded weakly. + +"What happened?" she asked. + +Barbara explained as well as she could from the brief description of the +panel mechanism that Mr. Stevens had given to her, to which Mollie +listened wide-eyed. + +"You dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried Ruth. "Will you never stop picking +up horseshoe nails with all four tires?" + +"But we manage to wriggle our way through the broken glass, don't we, +Molliekins?" + +Mollie nodded and smiled. The wind was still howling without. In the +pause of conversation the girls listened. Suddenly Ruth sprang up. + +"I have forgotten two things," she exclaimed. "I must go out and put the +storm curtains on Mr. A. Bubble and telephone father that Bubble must go +to the shop." + +"You didn't have another accident?" inquired Barbara anxiously. + +"No. I blew up the two rear tires and came in on the rims. Oh, girls, I +wish you might have been along. No, I don't, either. I'm afraid the car +wouldn't have stood up under that additional weight. It was great!" + +"Did--did you go some?" questioned Mollie. + +"Did we? Ask Tom! I'll wager that young man's head is whirling still. I +never thought we should make it, but I was bound not to set back the +spark a single notch until I either turned turtle in the ditch or got +Mr. Stevens here to help find you, Bab. We made it, didn't we, Tommy +boy?" Tom had just entered the room to see what was going on. + +"You bet we did," answered Tom. + +"Would you like to ride so fast as that another time?" questioned Ruth +merrily. + +"Well, maybe in a railroad train," answered Tommy. + +"I'll take you out again when the car is repaired," said Ruth. + +"Not when I'm awake you won't." + +"You say you came home on the rims?" wondered Barbara. "I should have +thought it would have crushed them. Yours is a heavy car, Ruth." + +"It would have crushed them, only the rims didn't touch the ground till +we got in the drive here," observed Thomas wisely, whereat the girls +laughed merrily. + +Ruth started to go down and put on her storm curtains. Bab ran after her +to assist. + +"Oh!" cried Barbara, as an icy blast smote her in the face the moment +she stepped out into the open. + +"You had better run back and put something over your head," advised +Ruth. + +For answer, Barbara pulled out her handkerchief, binding this over her +head. The two girls, after no little effort, succeeded in putting the +curtains up, though the wind made their task doubly difficult. +Finishing, they ran into the house with benumbed fingers and cheeks +aflame. They rushed to the nearest fireplace, to which they pressed +closely until the odor of scorching cloth warned them to beware. Olive +and Grace had come downstairs, for dinner was on the table. A tray had +been taken up to Mollie, but she did not care to eat, and had soon after +fallen into a restful doze. + +"You haven't told us what you found in that great, deep hole," urged +Olive, after they had been seated for some little time. + +"Oh, I forgot," answered Barbara. "Everything has been moving so rapidly +that I haven't had time even to think. I found--I mean Mr. Stevens found +something. But I am afraid it doesn't help us much." + +"Bob found something?" cried Olive. "Oh, tell us about it." + +"Yes, he found a metal box in the chimney. In it there was a watch that +belonged to your scalped ancestor--I beg your pardon. I shouldn't have +said that. Your father has the watch. Well, inside the back case was a +tiny slip of paper with the funniest picture you ever saw. There was +some writing beneath the picture. I'll show it to you. I believe it +means something, but I can't understand it at all." + +"All rubbish," observed Mr. Presby. The master of the house already had +shown the watch to Mrs. Presby, and had explained the manner of its +finding by young Stevens. + +Bab was searching through her pocket for the slip of paper. She had her +handkerchief in her hand, together with some other articles that the +pocket had held. Going clear to the bottom, she groped with eager +fingers. Her face grew a shade paler. + +"You haven't lost it?" begged Ruth. + +"Oh, I am afraid I have!" gasped Barbara, turning her pocket wrong side +out. "I--I must have dropped it in the garret. May I be excused while I +go up to look for it?" + +Receiving permission, the girl ran hurriedly up the garret stairs, first +having snatched up one of the lanterns. She searched the garret floor, +paying especial attention to the spot where they had been standing when +discussing the find. She found no trace of the missing slip. Next +Barbara examined every inch of the stairs, then entered Mollie's room on +tip-toe, but with no better success. Every nook and corner where she +could remember to have been on both floors was searched in vain. + +"I think I can tell you where you lost it," volunteered Ruth Stuart "You +took out your handkerchief to put over your head when we were outside +covering the car. You must have pulled the paper out with the +handkerchief." + +"Then I must go outside and look for it," wailed Bab. "I simply mustn't +lose that paper. It may mean everything to you all. Oh, I must find it." + +"Silly! You won't find the paper if it has been dropped out of doors. On +a night like this it has probably blown far away," interposed Olive. +"Don't worry. It isn't worth it. Hunting for the Treasureholme treasure +brings nothing but tears. Forget it all and be your own bright little +self." + +Barbara Thurston struggled with her emotions for a few heart-breaking +seconds, then burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A LONG-REMEMBERED CHRISTMAS + + +THERE had been an air of new mystery about Treasureholme for the last +three or four days. Packages large and small, all addressed to Mrs. +Presby had been delivered from the city. Mysterious conferences were +being held between Mrs. Presby and this and that girl. Each of the +"Automobile Girls" appeared to be bursting with the burden of the secret +she was carrying about with her. + +The explanation of all this mystery was that it then lacked but two days +to Christmas. Bab had in a measure recovered from her disappointment and +chagrin at losing the slip of paper found in the chimney, and strange to +say she had wholly forgotten the words that were written on the little +slip. All the information that Robert Stevens could give her was that it +was something about a "minute." The excitement under which all hands +were laboring at the time of the find, perhaps might be blamed for their +short memories. However, there was no help for the disaster now. The +coming holiday served to take their minds from the subject of the buried +treasure, though now and again Tom brought in reports of having seen +strange men in the grounds out near the woods. One evening the girls had +been frightened almost to the verge of hysterics by discovering a man +peering through the window of Olive's sitting room upstairs, while the +girls were chatting after the others below stairs had gone to bed. A +ladder found on the outside explained how the man had gotten to the +window. That his spying had something to do with the mad hunt for the +treasure, they had no doubt. In this instance their screams, aided +perhaps by the bottle of smelling salts that Olive had instantly hurled +through the window upon catching sight of him, had driven him away. + +Christmas eve at last was at hand. The air without was crisp and clear, +within all was cheer from the blazing fireplaces, with decorations of +holly festooned with ribbons in all the downstairs rooms. The dining +room had been cleared as soon as possible after dinner, for it was there +that a Christmas tree was to be set up, there that the presents were to +be distributed to the "Automobile Girls" and various members of the +family. Excitement ran high. Bob Stevens had been invited to join in the +festivities, which included a molasses candy pull and games appropriate +to the occasion. + +Seven o'clock had just boomed out on the grandfather's clock in the +hall when there came a ring at the door. The girls, with ears alert, +heard a familiar voice greeting Mr. and Mrs. Presby. Down the stairs +rushed the girls, with Ruth in the lead, crying at the top of her voice: + +"It's my daddy! Oh, it's my dear daddy!" Ruth flung herself into her +father's arms. She had not seem him in more than two weeks. The rest of +the girls rushed up to Mr. Stuart, each giving him an affectionate hug, +for to them he seemed almost as much a father as he did to Ruth. + +Barbara's heart sank as she stepped back to take a good look at Mr. +Stuart. His face was positively haggard. Ruth had observed this in the +first glance and two great tears dropped from her eyes to Mr. Stuart's +shoulder as she clung there. + +"Dear daddy. Don't take it so hard. You have me," whispered Ruth. This +brought a momentary relaxation to the tense muscles of the speculator's +face. + +Barbara was shocked at his appearance. He seemed to have added years to +his age since last she saw him. Mr. Stuart observed her inquiring gaze +fixed upon his face. He smiled reassuringly, well understanding that she +had noted the change in him. Then, to divert Bab's thoughts, he pinched +Mollie's dimpled chin. + +"How is my little Molliekins since her adventure in the lower regions of +Treasureholme?" he questioned. + +"My stock went down that day. It hasn't come up yet," answered Mollie +brightly. + +"I am afraid you are not alone in that experience," laughed Mr. Stuart. +"Am I right, Richard?" addressing Mr. Presby. Mr. Presby nodded +solemnly. "By the way, Ruth, the chauffeur will drive your car out in +the morning. I heard all about that last drive of yours from the people +of Brightwaters. I expect my little girl will break her neck and at the +same time her dad's heart one of these days." + +"I am not afraid for the first, but I shouldn't like to be responsible +for the latter," answered Ruth soberly. + +"To-night we won't think of serious subjects. We are to make it a real +holiday, eh, Richard?" + +"That is our plan. We want the 'Automobile Girls' to enjoy themselves. +It makes us happy to see them so happy. I've never seen Olive more happy +than she is to-night." + +Olive was radiant. She, like her girl guests, was dressed in white, with +a sprig of holly pinned to her waist. Faces were flushed, eyes +sparkling. They were a happy, joyous lot of young women. Olive stole +into the drawing room that at her direction the servants already had +cleared of rugs, moving the furniture to the sides of the room. The only +light there was from the blazing fireplace. Olive sat down at the piano. + +"Come on, everybody!" she called, striking up a lively two-step. + +The "Automobile Girls" ran for the drawing room. With them went the +older members of the party. Ruth grabbed her father and led him a giddy +dance. Bob Stevens claimed a dance with Bab. Mr. Presby's gouty foot +would not permit his joining in the frolic, so Bob very thoughtfully cut +short his dance with Barbara, dancing a few minutes with each of the +other girls. Thomas Warrington Presby was turning handsprings in a +corner of the room, and, being in the shadow, he was not disturbed in +his antics. + +Soon after this Mrs. Presby appeared at the door. + +"Children," she called. "You are invited to come to the dining room. I +do not think a second invitation will be necessary." + +It was not. There was a grand rush for the dining room, followed by a +chorus of "ahs" and "ohs" as they caught sight of a real, old-fashioned +Christmas tree, all alight with candles, glittering with spangles, +many-hued balls and yards and yards of sparkling frosted fringe. At its +top and hovering over it, floated a cherub, supported by an invisible +wire suspended from the ceiling. At the base of the tree were the +presents. There seemed to be a whole truck load of them. Some very large +packages excited the curiosity of the girls, but what caused the most +merriment was a huge red automobile, made of wire and red paper. The +automobile was filled with red roses, both being the gift to the +"Automobile Girls" from their friend, Mrs. Cartwright. + +It fell to the lot of Mr. Stuart to distribute the presents. There was a +rifle for Tom, small gifts for all the girls from Mrs. Thurston, Mrs. +Presby and Miss Sallie, who had come over earlier in the day, having +spent most of her time thus far in getting the gifts ready for the +presentation. Bab and Mollie gave each of their friends drawn-work +handkerchiefs and some small pieces of embroidery, all their own work, +to Miss Sallie and Mrs. Presby. As yet the large packages that held so +much of mystery had not been opened. + +Ruth finally slipped over and whispered to her father. He nodded. At +that she hurried to the tree, dragging the largest of the packages out +into the light. Mr. Stuart cut the strings, Ruth being too impatient to +untie them. A great heap of tissue paper, that piled high on the floor, +gave promise of something good. Ruth drew out a long, black object which +she ran over and placed in Barbara's arms. + +"There, you dear! That should keep you warm," she said. "This is from +father and myself." + +Barbara stared at the object that lay across her arms. It was a +three-quarter length Persian lamb coat. Barbara was too astonished to +catch the meaning of it all. + +Aunt Sallie took the coat from Barbara's arms, turned the girl about and +slipped the coat on. + +"Oh-h-h!" gasped Bab, catching sight of herself in a mirror. "No, no, I +can't accept it. It is--isn't right, Ruth--Mr. Stuart. Oh, you shouldn't +have done this! I didn't look for anything but some simple little gift. +But this lovely coat. Oh, Mollie, Mollie." Bab's eyes were swimming. + +"Never mind, Molliekins," twinkled Mr. Stuart. "There is something in +the other package that I think will please you equally well. Ruth, +aren't you going to give my little golden-haired girl her present?" + +Ruth flew to the second large package, the strings of which had been cut +by Mr. Stuart. From this package Ruth drew forth a coat exactly like +Barbara's, for Mollie. Two caps of the same material were placed on the +heads of the Thurston girls. Mollie needed no urging to put her coat on. +She slipped into it, then began dancing about the floor, regardless of +whose toes she stepped on. Fortunately for her, she missed Mr. Presby's +gouty foot. + +"Now what do you think of yourselves, you dears?" questioned Ruth. + +"Splendid!" cried Mollie. + +Barbara shook her head, though her flushed face reflected the happiness +she felt. She glanced questioningly at Grace. The latter was smiling +with no trace of envy in her pleasant face. Then came Grace's turn. She, +too, received a coat and cap, these being of gray squirrel. Olive's +surprise was a set of silver fox furs, with a stole that reached almost +to her feet. + +Ruth was last. Mr. Stuart opened a velvet case, then slipped a slender +gold chain about the neck of his daughter. From the chain was suspended +an exquisite pearl pendant. For Bob Stevens there was a handsome scarf +pin from the Presbys. The girls' gifts to the young man were gloves and +ties, a silver-handled pocket knife and other odds and ends that caused +Tommy to sniff disdainfully. + +"That's just like girls," he jeered. "Why didn't you get him a rifle or +an automobile or something that he could do something with? I'd rather +have a pair of rubber boots than all of that truck." + +But Bob Stevens was well pleased. He was greatly surprised, for he had +not looked for presents. The candy pull had been forgotten. The girls +were too happy in their new possessions, though Barbara Thurston was a +little troubled over the magnificence of the gifts for herself and +Mollie. She did not think Mr. Stuart should have given them such +expensive gifts. In spite of the happiness of the day and evening a +shadow overhung the entire party at Treasureholme. Perhaps Barbara +Thurston felt it more deeply than any of the other girls. And instead of +lightening the shadow was to grow deeper before the night was ended. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BAB'S EXCITING DISCOVERY + + +A CHORUS of "Merry Christmas" was heard as the clock in the hall struck +the hour of midnight. Olive was seated at the piano. As the strokes of +the old clock ceased, she touched the keys softly, then began to sing. +The girls knew the song. They joined with her, raising their sweet, +young voices in the Christmas anthem: + + "Hark the herald angels sing + Glory to the new-born King! + Peace on earth, and mercy mild, + God and sinners reconciled!" + +Ere the song ended, Ruth's father had slipped away. He had been +profoundly stirred. Ruth saw him go. She stole away after him. It was +half an hour later that Barbara, on her way to her own room, where +Mollie already had gone, saw Ruth's door slightly ajar. Bab tapped +lightly. Ruth's voice bade her enter. But Bab shrank back when she saw +Mr. Stuart sitting there. His face was drawn and sad. There were tears +in Ruth's eyes. Barbara could scarcely keep back her own tears, so +keenly did she feel for these two whom she loved so well. The girl +stammered an apology and drew back. + +"Bab, dear, come in," called Mr. Stuart. + +"Yes, do. We need you. Perhaps you may be able to make daddy smile. I +can't, because I have no smiles left in me." + +"I--I am afraid I haven't, either," answered Barbara, with trembling +lips. "Hadn't I better go to my own room? Perhaps you wish to talk +undisturbed." + +"We want you here," answered Mr. Stuart. "Please close the door and sit +down." Bab walked to the centre of the room, where she stood leaning +against a table gazing down on them questioningly. Ruth nestled on her +father's knee with an arm thrown affectionately about his neck. + +"My dear," he said, addressing Barbara, "I have just been telling Ruth +that this may be the last Christmas that she will be able to have all +her heart craves. I mean in the way of luxuries. My business affairs are +in a very bad way. You already know that Mr. Presby has no hopes of +being able to pull through. When he goes, I go. We shall go down +together. We have been speculating in wheat. We have loaded up so +heavily that I see no possibility of getting out." He paused +reflectively while the lines of his face grew haggard. + +"You mean you are going to lose all you have?" almost whispered Barbara. + +"Yes. Instead of the price of wheat going up, as it should have done at +this season of the year, wheat has been forced down and down by a strong +bear market. Behind it all there is a powerful but mysterious force, a +master brain that is forcing the price down and seeking to ruin us." + +"Have you no idea who is doing this--who your enemy is?" asked Barbara. + +"Nothing more than a vague suspicion. You see, the trading is done +largely through others. There is no one man, so far as we have been able +to discover, who is crowding us, forcing us to load up and to hold at a +frightful cost to ourselves. We know, however, that there is an +individual force back of this movement. Richard has mortgaged his +property to the last cent. After the first of the year, unless there be +a turn for better in his affairs, Treasureholme will be taken away from +him. After the first of the year I shall be a ruined man financially." + +"Mr. Stuart," said Barbara in a steady voice, "I felt that you should +not have spent all that money on those beautiful gifts for us. I feel +even more strongly about it now. Won't--won't you please take them back? +Oh, you understand what I mean," cried Barbara, flushing hotly as she +saw his gaze fixed inquiringly upon her. + +"Yes, my dear, I do. And I thank you. You are a noble girl. But even +such a sacrifice on your part would do no good. A few hundred dollars +would make no difference. I wanted Ruth and her friends to have a happy +Christmas; I wanted you all to be remembered as you deserve. As it is, I +have not done all that I had wished to do." + +"Oh, you have done too much!" exclaimed Barbara. + +"I wanted you as well as Ruth to understand just how matters stand. I +feel better for having unburdened my mind." + +"Would it help you in the least if you were to know who this man is who +is driving you and Mr. Presby to failure?" asked Bab. + +"It might help somewhat, thought it may be too late. Had I known a month +ago I might have succeeded in turning the tide against him." + +"Oh, daddy, give it up! It's a dreadful business," begged Ruth. + +"I am afraid I shall have to, whether or not I wish to do so. I agree +with you that it is a dreadful business, and if I get out of the woods +this time, I am through with speculation. Now, children run along. I +wish to talk with Mr. Presby. He awaits me downstairs." + +Mr. Stuart kissed both girls, but clung to their hands a moment as he +gazed into their eyes. Then he released the hands and moved toward the +door. Ruth and Barbara stood watching him until Mr. Stuart had passed +from their sight and they heard him descending the stairs. + +"Good night, dear. I can't talk any more to-night," said Ruth, +controlling her voice with an effort. + +"I--I am afraid I can't either," answered Bab, with averted eyes. + +She left the room rather hurriedly, closing the door behind her. For a +long time after Barbara had left Ruth Stuart's room, she lay in her own +bedroom on a lounge staring straight up at the ceiling. Mollie was +asleep, her golden head barely visible above the tops of the covers. "If +I could only do something for these good friends," murmured Bab. "But +what can a girl do? I wonder how much money it would take to save them? +It would take a lot, I know." + +After a time Barbara got up to get her handkerchief. She had dropped +hers in Ruth's room. On the dresser lay Barbara's hand bag, the one she +had carried with her on her way from Kingsbridge. She had not used it +since, Ruth having bought her a very handsome bag in Chicago during one +of their shopping expeditions. Bab remembered that there was a +handkerchief in the bag. + +Opening the bag, she drew out the handkerchief which lay under some +other articles. As she did so something white fluttered to the floor a +few feet from where she was standing. Barbara wiped her eyes, then stood +regarding herself in the mirror. She saw that her own face was troubled +and that her eyes were red, as though she had been weeping. Then she +stepped over, picking up the handsome coat that Mr. Stuart and Ruth had +given her for Christmas. With a sigh Bab laid the coat down, smoothed it +out and began preparing for bed. She had given no further thought to the +little piece of white cardboard that had slipped from her handkerchief a +few moments before. Bab was in bed, snuggling down by Mollie, very +shortly afterwards, with the lights turned off. The girl lay staring +into the darkness until her weary eyelids closed and she dropped off to +sleep. + +When Barbara awoke the following morning Mollie was still sleeping +soundly. Bab, however, rose at once, still rubbing her eyes and trying +to recall something that had been troubling her when she went to sleep. +Suddenly it all came back to Bab in a flood of disagreeable +recollection. + +Barbara took her time at making her toilet, thinking deeply as she +brushed her thick, fine hair before the mirror. The girl had half turned +to call Mollie when all at once she caught sight of the bit of +pasteboard lying on the floor. + +"I wonder what that is? I remember seeing something fall from the bag +last night." + +She picked up the card, glanced at it carelessly and was about to toss +it on the dresser top when suddenly Bab uttered a little gasp. Her hand +trembled. She gazed with staring eyes at the name on the card. "Mr. +Nathan Bonner," she read. + +For the moment Bab continued to stare. + +"The man in section thirteen," she murmured. Bab tried to recall what +had been said about Nathan Bonner, but she could not remember. She knew +only that what she had heard had left an unpleasant impression on her +mind. It was Nathan Bonner whom she had seen in the Pit at the Board of +Trade. She shuddered as she recalled the almost demoniac expression on +that hard, cruel face. Then all at once the conversation that she had +overheard while lying in her berth in the sleeping car on that eventful +night came before her. + +"Oh, oh, oh!" cried Barbara under her breath. + +"What ever is the matter with you, Bab?" demanded a voice from the bed. + +"Oh, Molliekins, I've made such an exciting discovery. But I can't say a +word about it. I must find Mr. Stuart this very minute. I must hurry. I +haven't a moment to lose. Oh, I do hope I am not too late!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT + + +BARBARA had slipped on a kimono and was starting for the door. + +"Aren't you going to kiss me good morning?" pouted Mollie. + +Bab ran back, throwing her arms about Mollie, giving her sister a quick +embrace and kiss; then she hurried from the room, going straight to +Ruth's bedroom. To her surprise, she found Ruth Stuart fully dressed. +The girl was sitting before a window staring out at the whitened fields. + +"Oh, Ruth, I'm so glad I found you awake. Do you know whether your +father is up yet?" + +"Yes. Why, dear?" + +"I must see him at once. I have important information for him. You will +excuse me, won't you, if I run down to see him? Is he downstairs?" + +Ruth shook her head sorrowfully. There was no laughter in her eyes this +morning. She seemed very different from the bright, carefree Ruth of +old. + +"Father is not here, Bab." + +"No-ot here?" gasped Bab. + +"No; he left on the seven o'clock train for Chicago this morning. After +an all-night conference between him and Mr. Presby, it was decided that +daddy must go into the city early this morning to see that Mr. Thompson +whom you girls met at the wreck of the car on your journey to Chicago. I +don't know what it is all about, but I suspect it is money," concluded +Ruth with a trace of bitterness in her tone. "When I think how happy you +girls are in your little home without wealth, I sometimes wish I had +never known luxury. But what did you want to see father about?" demanded +Ruth suddenly. + +"I--I wanted to tell him something. Oh, please don't ask me now, Ruth, +dear. Is--is he at home or at the office?" + +"At home, I think. The office will not be open to-day, this being a +holiday." + +"Then I am going to Chicago to see him," declared Barbara firmly. + +Ruth gazed at her incredulously. + +"You can't mean that?" + +"But I do." + +"Alone?" + +"Unless Aunt Sallie will accompany me. I would rather she did not +to-day." + +"Bab, I don't know what you have in that little head of yours, but I do +know that is it important. You are not flighty, like myself. You need +not tell me what is it that is troubling you, but if you wish, I will go +to town with you." + +"Oh, will you really go with me, Ruth?" cried Bab, her face expressing +her relief at Ruth's declaration. "Then let's get ready at once." + +"You forget that we have Aunt Sallie to reckon with first, Bab," +reminded Ruth. + +Miss Sallie for a time gave promise of wholly defeating Barbara's plan +to go into the city to see Mr. Stuart. However, after Bab had taken Miss +Sallie into her confidence, the latter gave a reluctant consent. Ruth +knew her way about so well that there would be no possibility of getting +lost, and then they were going to her home, which made the journey seem +less undesirable than it might have under other circumstances. + +The result was that Ruth and Barbara took the nine o'clock train for +Chicago that morning amid loud protests from Olive, Mollie and Grace. +Ruth regretted that the man had not come out with Mr. A. Bubble that +morning. She hoped, however, that they might find the car at home. +Perhaps her father intended to drive out in the car that night. However, +Barbara's mission being so urgent, the best thing to do was to take a +train for Chicago at once. + +From the station in Chicago the girls proceeded quickly to the Stuart +home. Mr. Stuart was not at home. He had not been there, but had called +up on the telephone to say that he would try to be home for luncheon. +Ruth went to the telephone and called up her father's office. Mr. +Stuart's secretary, who had been called there to do some important work +that day, said his employer would be in in half an hour. Bab announced +her intention of going to the office, urging Ruth not to trouble to +accompany her, as her friend had several matters to attend to at home. + +"Very well," answered Ruth, after a moment's reflection, "I will call a +taxicab. I'll tell the driver exactly where to leave you. You must make +him wait for you, then you can come straight back here. I know you want +to see daddy alone, but I'm not a bit jealous," she added, giving Bab's +pink cheek a loving pinch. "Daddy will be surprised to see you. You +probably will be in time to take luncheon with him down town. I don't +believe he will be home for luncheon now, it's getting so late. It's too +bad that our Christmas dinner at Treasureholme had to be spoiled first +with father's going away, then you making up your mind to rush down to +Chicago. Tell me, dear, have you an idea in that little head of yours +that you can help father in his present difficulty?" questioned Ruth +earnestly. + +"Yes, I have," admitted Barbara, "But I would rather not tell you +anything about it. You might make fun of me and convince me that I was +foolish. I might be afraid to go to Mr. Stuart in that event, fearing he +might make fun of me, too, but----" + +"Not father! There is the taxicab. I'll go out and tell the driver what +I wish him to do." Ruth hurried out with her friend, giving the driver +such directions as she had decided upon. + +The drive to the building in which Mr. Stuart's office was located +occupied not more than fifteen minutes, for, this being a holiday, the +streets were reasonably clear of the heavier vehicles that usually +interfere with the traffic. Barbara knew the building, having been there +before. She therefore found no difficulty in making her way to the +office. The driver, acting upon Ruth's orders, waited below. + +But Bab again was fated to be disappointed. Mr. Stuart had not yet +returned, his secretary informed her. Barbara decided to wait awhile. +She inquired as to where she might find Mr. Stuart, but the secretary +could not say. He informed her that there were important business +conferences on for that day, though Mr. Stuart might be looked for at +any moment. + +Bab went down and dismissed the taxicab, then returned to the office to +wait. An hour went by, and still Mr. Stuart had not returned. So she +entered into conversation with the not unwilling secretary by asking him +if he knew Mr. Bonner, a Chicago broker. + +"Yes, I know him. Is he an acquaintance of yours?" he asked curiously. + +"I've met him. Where is his office?" + +The secretary told her, then added: + +"You're not going to see _him_, are you?" + +"I must see Mr. Stuart," replied Barbara evasively. "I'd better go, for +he may go home without returning to the office." + +"That may be," said the secretary. "If he comes in, whom shall I tell +him called?" + +"Miss Barbara Thurston," she answered, as she hurried away. + +Bab had some difficulty in getting past the clerks in the outer room, +but was finally ushered into Mr. Bonner's private office. + +Bonner looked pleased when he saw his visitor, but he evidently failed +to recognize her. + +"I'm Miss Thurston, the girl who saved your life perhaps in the wreck +some time ago," she announced boldly and according to her plan. + +"Of course! How stupid of me! I owe a great deal to you, Miss Thurston." + +"You can do a great deal, Mr. Bonner," put in the girl quickly. "I've +come to ask that you keep your promise to me." + +"Let me see, was it a box of bon-bons?" questioned Bonner lightly. + +Barbara ignored this and asked bluntly: + +"Why do you insist on ruining Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby?" + +"Please explain yourself," said Bonner harshly, taken off his guard and +flushing hotly. + +Barbara did so, in girlish fashion. + +"Young woman, did Robert Stuart send you to intercede for him?" + +"Oh, no! He would be displeased if he knew that I had come here to-day." + +"Miss Thurston, I admire your pluck. I, not being responsible for Mr. +Stuart's or for Mr. Presby's speculations, can of course do nothing for +you in this. If I could, I think my gratitude to you for saving my life +would take a personal form. This is business, and in that each man +fights for himself. By the way, how did you get the notion that I am in +any way responsible for Mr. Stuart's misjudgment on market conditions?" + +"I chanced to overhear your conversation with your friend 'Jim' on the +sleeper." + +"So you played eavesdropper! I would not have thought it of you, Miss +Thurston." + +"It was impossible not to hear; but when you mentioned Mr. Stuart's +name, I listened, call it what you please." + +"I presume you told Robert Stuart what you heard," he responded, again +flushing. + +"No, Mr. Bonner--not yet." + +With the words, Barbara rose and ran out of the office, slamming the +door behind her. Her face was aflame and she was trembling. + +When she reached the street she decided to walk for part of the +distance, so that she would have time to quiet her agitation before she +should reach the Stuarts' home. It was growing dark before she realized +that she would have to take a taxi or the Stuarts would be very much +worried about her. + +"Oh, Bab, where have you been? We've been frightfully worried," cried +Ruth. "Dad's home, and he said his secretary told him you'd left the +office about three o'clock." + +"I started to walk, and forgot how late it was, Ruth." + +Mr. Stuart, who had come into the hall in time to hear the conversation +and noting how tired Bab looked, said: + +"Come to dinner now, and Barbara can tell us things later." + +When dinner was over and they were seated around the library fire, +Barbara turned to Mr. Stuart and said: + +"I can tell you the name of the man who's fighting you and Mr. Presby, +Mr. Stuart. Will the knowledge do you any good?" + +"You, Barbara! How can you know this? It would have helped a month ago, +my girl; I fear it is too late now." + +Bab's heart sank. Was what she had done--and it had been hard for a girl +to do--in vain? + +"Why does Mr. Nathan Bonner hate you?" + +"Nathan Bonner started, a green boy, as a clerk in my office. I thought +him worthy and helped him, but finally found it necessary to dismiss +him." + +"Yes, he's crooked," said Barbara. Mr. Stuart started and looked at the +girl in amazement; so she settled back and told him the story of the +trip to Chicago in detail. "He mentioned your name, Mr. Stuart. He also +said that because I had saved his life, he would assist me if I ever +needed aid. To-day he refused." + +"To-day! Where did you see Bonner?" + +"Oh!" Only then did Barbara tell her host how she had spent the +afternoon. + +"My dear, you're a very imprudent girl. Nevertheless, you have done me a +service for which I can never give you adequate thanks," said Mr. +Stuart, his voice husky with emotion. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +CONCLUSION + + +THE next morning after breakfast, the girls, bundled in furs, left the +house for their ride to Treasureholme. Mr. Stuart had done what he could +by telephone, but had not yet gone downtown, for there was nothing +further to be accomplished until the opening of the market. Just before +he helped the girls into the car he thrust a finger into his vest pocket +and said: + +"I almost forgot. The men at the garage found this in the bottom of the +car. I think it's your lost memorandum, Barbara." + +"Oh, thank you! I'm so glad!" cried Bab. + +"Ruth," said Barbara, after the girls had reached the outskirts of the +city, "do you think there really is a hidden treasure and if we could +find it your father----" + +"I haven't much faith in the treasure, and if one should come to light, +it would be Mr. Presby's and not father's." + +"Mr. Presby would use it to help himself, and that would draw your +father out, too." + +"Bab, you ought to be on the Exchange; you'd make a good trader," +laughed Ruth. Then she went on: "No, Bab, I'm afraid we'll lose all we +have. I don't care for myself. I can be poor, just as daddy and my +mother were once. But I grieve for father." + +"Ruth, darling," whispered Bab. + +On their arrival at Treasureholme the girls found that Mr. Stuart had +telephoned to Miss Sallie about what Bab had tried to do for her two +hosts. The girls tried to make a heroine of her, but she steadfastly +refused to think she had done anything extraordinary. + +When Barbara was finally alone in her room she drew out of her pocket +the slip of yellow paper, spread it on her lap and regarded it intently. + +"'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'" she read. "What can that +mean?" + +She got up and paced the floor thinking deeply, trying to solve the +meaning. She at last went to a window and spread the paper on the pane +for the purpose of getting a better light on it. Her gaze, at first +careless, suddenly became keen. All at once she whirled about and dashed +from the room. + +"Girls, I have it!" she screamed, bursting in on the others, who were in +Ruth's room. "I've solved the mystery! I've found the key! We must get +Mr. Stevens! We mustn't lose a minute! Everything's at stake!" + +"What is it, Bab? Are you certain?" demanded Grace, springing to her +feet. + +"Oh, I can't tell you now! Let's get Mr. Stevens, can't we?" + +"Mr. A. Bubble!" cried Ruth, and flew from the room. + +The girls rushed pell-mell for the car, dragging Miss Stuart with them, +none knowing what Bab had in mind, but all eager and excited. Ruth drove +at top speed, and the girls burst in on Bob Stevens whom they found in +his shop. + +"See this!" cried Bab, holding the bit of paper out to the young man. +"Put it against the window." He did so wonderingly, then turned and +looked at the girls. "What did you see?" demanded Bab impatiently. + +Bob had seen a line drawn from the top of a toadstool extending to the +right. At the end of the line was the sign "60". + +"What do those little marks after the sixty mean?" demanded Bab. + +"On building plans they would mean inches. Expressing time, they would +indicate seconds." + +"You have it! If we face the woods and start to measure from the top of +the 'toadstool,' that undoubtedly represents the mound under which lies +the big chief, and measure off 'sixty seconds' which means sixty inches, +or five feet, we'll find the treasure." + +No one stopped to question the probability of Barbara's deductions. Bob +summoned a man who worked for him, sent a boy to get two more from +Treasureholme, and, taking picks, shovels, and a coil of rope, drove off +with the girls in Mr. A. Bubble as fast as they could go to the Indian +burying ground. It was nearly dark when they reached there and sprang +from the car, neither Bab nor Bob waiting for it to come to a full stop. + +"William, bring me something I can drive in here for a marker," Bob +called to his man who was hurrying toward them from the direction of the +woods. + +"There's a fellow over there in the woods," announced William. "He was +kind of hiding." + +"Never mind that. Let's get to work here." + +The two hands from Treasureholme arrived, and, the measurements having +been taken, the men set to digging. Lanterns had been brought and when +dark fell these were lighted and held by the girls. + +In an hour's time the men had opened a hole six feet deep, as broad at +the top, narrowing toward the bottom. + +"It begins to look dubious," said Bob. "Say, Barbara, we'll try another +way!" + +Following Bob's directions, Bab placed one end of the steel tape in the +middle of the big mound and again the exact distance was measured. Bob +took the stake that William had brought up to measure with and drove it +with the back of his shovel little by little down in the exact center of +the hole he had dug. He had forced the stake down about three feet when +he uttered an exclamation. + +"What is it?" cried the girls in chorus. + +"Maybe a stone. I hardly think it is," and he began to dig frantically. +In a few moments came the shout: "I've struck metal! There is something +here!" + +The girls danced with impatience, but a half hour went by before the men +unearthed an iron box with bands of the same material about it and the +cover soldered to the box to make it air tight. + +Bab put her arms about Ruth and whispered: + +"It will be all right now, Ruth. Oh, I'm so glad!" while the other girls +laughed and shouted in their excitement. + +It was the work of another half hour before the four men got a rope +around the heavy box and, by the aid of the automobile, drew it out of +the deep hole, after which, with great labor, it was got into the car. + +Once at the house, it was left to Mrs. Presby, as the representative of +the family, to say what should be done with the chest. + +"Open it," was the command. + +This was not easily done, but when the work was finally accomplished, +what a sight met their eyes! + +There was at least a bushel of gold coins. There was valuable family +plate. In a sealed receptacle they found a quantity of jewels and a +bundle of papers. The papers Mrs. Presby put away until her husband +should have an opportunity to go over them. + +"There's a fortune here. I think Treasureholme need not be lost now," +said Stevens. + +"It comes too late," said Mrs. Presby bitterly. "Mr. Presby telephoned +me after the close of the market that to-morrow would end all, as he and +Robert could not meet their obligations when it opened in the morning." + +"To-morrow morning!" exclaimed Bab. "Then we must get this treasure to +them to-night! We must do it some way!" + +"Impossible," said Olive. + +"No, it's not!" declared Ruth. "I'll take the chest to Chicago in the +car." + +"But it's nearly midnight, Ruth. You can't do it," protested Mrs. +Presby. + +There was little time for discussion and objection, and in the end the +chest was again loaded into the car and the four "Automobile Girls" and +Bob Stevens set off for Chicago, Miss Sallie promising to telephone to +Mr. Stuart that the girls were on their way. + +It was a wild midnight ride into Chicago. The girls became convinced +that they were being followed, but by turning off her lights and driving +into a private lane until the following car had flashed by and then +taking a longer but little-used road into the city, Ruth evaded the +pursuers, if such they were. Nor did they see the car again until they +drew up in front of the Stuart house in the brilliantly light street and +with a policeman in plain sight. + +Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby spent the night in making an inventory and the +morning before the opening of the market in calling up their bankers and +lawyers. They were tired and worn when the opening hour came, but the +day was saved, and while neither made the fortune he had anticipated, +each had added materially to his wealth. For this they gave credit to +Barbara Thurston, but she steadfastly refused the reward they offered +her. The money reward she refused, but she could not refuse the +admiration and love they gave her. + +They learned later that Nathan Bonner had had a private detective on the +grounds of Treasureholme, and it was he who had followed Mr. A. Bubble +into the city. Bonner lost heavily in the crash, but still retained +enough of his fortune to be a financial power. + +A week of pleasure followed the finding of the treasure. On the evening +before the departure of Bab and Mollie and Grace for Kingsbridge, Ruth +gave a large reception in honor of her guests. + +On the evening of the affair the four girls, when they repaired to their +rooms in the Stuart home to dress for the reception, found four +exquisite frocks, the gifts of Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby, who would not +be denied this method of showing their appreciation. The gowns were +white filmy chiffon over soft white silk. White shoes, white silk +chiffon hose, everything needed to complete their toilet that night lay +ready at hand. None of the three girls from Kingsbridge had dreamed that +they would ever possess such beautiful and exquisitely designed dresses. + +But this was not their only surprise. A great box of roses was delivered +to the house while the girls were dressing. It was addressed to Miss +Barbara Thurston. With it there was a note reading: + + "I always did love a fighter. What a trader you + would make! It was a fair fight, and you won. + NATHAN BONNER." + +"No, it wasn't a fair fight. It was distinctly an unfair one," declared +Barbara. "I think I shall send these flowers back." + +"I don't believe I would do that," advised Miss Sallie. "The flowers are +plainly intended as a tribute to you as a fighter, Bab, and the +acceptance of flowers is unlike the acceptance of any other gift." + +So Barbara kept the roses. + +The next day the "Automobile Girls'" party was broken up. The time for +Grace, Bab, and Mollie to return to Kingsbridge had arrived, to the keen +regret of both the young people and their elders. Mr. Stuart, with a +twinkle in his eyes, kept talking vaguely about "Easter," but what his +plans were, he would not say. + +The wonderful Easter vacation that these plans developed into may be +read about in a following volume entitled, "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM +BEACH; or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies," a vacation never +to be forgotten by the "Automobile Girls." + + +THE END + + + + +_And There Are Others!_ + + You will find other books listed on the three + following pages that will prove just as + interesting reading as this book. They can all be + procured at the same store where you got this + book. + + + + +THE ANNAPOLIS SERIES + + By H. IRVING HANCOCK + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +[Illustration] + +Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell proved their mettle at the U. S. Naval +Academy and gave promise of what might be expected of them in the great +war that was even at that moment hovering over the world. + + =1. DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Two + Plebe Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy.= + + =2. DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, + Two Midshipmen as Naval Academy "Youngsters."= + + =3. DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, + Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen.= + + =4. DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, + Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise.= + + + + +THE WEST POINT SERIES + + By H. IRVING HANCOCK + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are not human wonders, but a pair of +average bright American boys who had a hard enough time working their +way through West Point. Their experiences will inspire all other +American boys. + + =1. DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Two Chums in the Cadet Gray.= + + =2. DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life.= + + =3. DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Standing Firm for Flag and Honor.= + + =4. DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps.= + + + + +THE PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES + + By FRANK GEE PATCHIN + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +[Illustration] + +This unusual and popular series tells vividly the story of four +adventure-loving lads, who, with their guardian, spent their summer +vacations in the saddle in search of recreation and healthful adventure. +Long journeys over mountain, through the fastness of primitive forest +and across burning desert, lead them into the wild places of their +native land as well as into many strange and exciting experiences. There +is not a dull moment in the series. + + =1. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The + Secret of the Lost Claim.= + + =2. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; or, The Veiled + Riddle of the Plains.= + + =3. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; or, The + Mystery of the Old Custer Trail.= + + =4. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; or, The + Secret of Ruby Mountain.= + + =5. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; or, Finding + a Key to the Desert Maze.= + + =6. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; or, The End + of the Silver Trail.= + + =7. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; or, + The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch.= + + =8. THE PONY RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; + or, On the Trail of the Border Bandits.= + + =9. THE PONY RIDER BOYS ON THE BLUE RIDGE; or, A + Lucky Find in the Carolina Mountains.= + + =10. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW ENGLAND; or, An + Exciting Quest in the Maine Wilderness.= + + =11. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN LOUISIANA; or, + Following the Game Trails in the Canebrake.= + + =12. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA; or, The Gold + Diggers of Taku Pass.= + + + + +THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +[Illustration] + +The scenes, episodes, and adventures through which Grace Harlowe and her +intimate chums pass in the course of these stories are pictured with a +vivacity that at once takes the young feminine captive. + + =1. GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, + The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls.= + + =2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; + or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and + Athletics.= + + =3. GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; + or, Fast Friends in the Sororities.= + + =4. GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; + or, The Parting of the Ways.= + + + + +THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +Every school and college girl will recognize that the account of Grace +Harlowe's experiences at Overton College is true to life. + + =1. GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =3. GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =4. GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =5. GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS.= + + =6. GRACE HARLOWE'S PROBLEM.= + + =7. GRACE HARLOWE'S GOLDEN SUMMER.= + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. + +Page 145, "wierd" changed to "weird" (weird wail rose from) + +Page 187, "rasing" changed to "raising" (raising their sweet) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO*** + + +******* This file should be named 32437-8.txt or 32437-8.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/4/3/32437 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at <a href = "http://www.gutenberg.org">www.gutenberg.org</a></pre> +<p>Title: The Automobile Girls at Chicago</p> +<p> or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds</p> +<p>Author: Laura Dent Crane</p> +<p>Release Date: May 19, 2010 [eBook #32437]</p> +<p>Language: English</p> +<p>Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1</p> +<p>***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO***</p> +<p> </p> +<h3>E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Emmy,<br /> + and the Project Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team<br /> + (http://www.pgdp.net)</h3> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p> </p> + +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 313px;"> +<img src="images/cover.jpg" width="313" height="500" alt="Cover" title="" /> +</div> +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<div class="figcenter" style="width: 329px;"> +<img src="images/gs01.png" width="329" height="500" alt=""He's Here!" Cried Barbara. Frontispiece." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"He's Here!" Cried Barbara.<br /><small><i>Frontispiece.</i></small></span> +</div> + + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h1>The Automobile Girls<br />at Chicago</h1> + +<h3>OR</h3> + +<h2>Winning Out Against Heavy Odds</h2> + +<h3>By</h3> + +<h2>LAURA DENT CRANE</h2> + +<div class='copyright'> +Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls<br /> +in the Berkshires, The Automobile Girls<br /> +Along the Hudson, etc.<br /></div><div class='center'> +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +Illustrated<br /> +<br /><br /><br /><br /> +P H I L A D E L P H I A<br /> +<big>HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY</big><br /> +</div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> + +<div class='copyright'> +<span class="smcap">Copyright, 1912, by<br /> +Howard E. Altemus</span><br /> +<br /> +<span class="smcap">Printed in the<br /> +United States of America</span><br /> +</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CONTENTS</h2> + + + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="Contents"> +<tr><td align='left' colspan='2'><span class="smcap"><small>Chapter</small></span></td><td align='left'><span class="smcap"><small>Page</small></span></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>I. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Man in Section Thirteen</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_7">7</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>II. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Missing Passenger</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_19">19</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>III. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Dizzy Round of Pleasure</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_32">32</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Battle of the Bulls and Bears</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_45">45</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>V. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Embarrassing Moment</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_56">56</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Wreck of Mr. A. Bubble</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_68">68</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Mystery of the Iron Gates</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_75">75</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>VIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Exploring the Secret Passage</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_84">84</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>IX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">In an Indian Graveyard</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_96">96</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>X. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Meeting a Treasure Hunter</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_106">106</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Giving an Attic Party</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_116">116</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Curious Old Journal</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_127">127</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">The Mystery of the Attic</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_136">136</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Tommy Takes a Wild Ride</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_143">143</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XV. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">An Amazing Occurrence</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_154">154</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVI. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bob Solves Another Mystery</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_164">164</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Long-Remembered Christmas</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_178">178</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XVIII. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Bab's Exciting Discovery</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_187">187</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XIX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">A Bitter Disappointment</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_195">195</a></td></tr> +<tr><td align='right'>XX. </td><td align='left'><span class="smcap">Conclusion</span></td><td align='right'><a href="#Page_204">204</a></td></tr> +</table></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_7" id="Page_7">[7]</a></span></p> + +<h2>The Automobile Girls at Chicago</h2> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>CHAPTER I</h2> + +<h3>THE MAN IN SECTION THIRTEEN</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>BARBARA THURSTON awakened with a +violent start.</div> + +<p>"Wha—a-at is it?" she muttered, then +opened her eyes wide. In the darkness of the +Pullman berth she could see nothing at all save +a faint perpendicular line of light at the edges +of the curtains that enclosed the section.</p> + +<p>"I—I wonder what made me wake up so +suddenly?" Barbara put out a groping hand. +The hand came in contact with Mollie Thurston's +face. Mollie brushed it away, muttering +irritably in her sleep. Then all at once Barbara +discovered what had awakened her. Close +at hand she heard the voices of two men. They +were conversing in low, cautious tones.</p> + +<p>"I tell you I'll crush him! I'll crush them +both. I'll make beggars of them!" declared +one of the men in a slightly heightened tone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_8" id="Page_8">[8]</a></span></p> + +<p>The train had stopped, as Barbara realized +at that moment. Otherwise she might not have +been able to hear the words so plainly. The +girl shuddered at the tone of the speaker's voice +more than at the words themselves. She drew +the curtains aside a little and peered out. It was +then that she discovered by the light reflected +from the adjoining section that the berths next +to her had not been made up. Two men were +sitting in the double seat within a few inches of +where her head had lain. She was unable to +see the men, nor did Barbara recognize either +of the voices. Their conversation could be of +no possible interest to her, she told herself. Still +for some reason that she did not stop to analyze, +the girl lay back with half-closed eyes, listening. +She listened not because she wanted to hear, +but for the reason that she could not well help +overhearing the conversation in the adjoining +section.</p> + +<p>At Barbara's side Mollie Thurston lay sleeping +peacefully. As for Barbara, she was now +wholly awake, all thought of sleep having left +her.</p> + +<p>"You mean you will crush them financially?" +suggested the second speaker.</p> + +<p>"Body and soul!"</p> + +<p>"Do you mean to say that you would crush a +human being—perhaps drive him to do desperate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_9" id="Page_9">[9]</a></span> +things—merely to gratify your love of +money and power? Is that what you mean, +Nat?"</p> + +<p>"That is partly my meaning. Yes, I want +power. Already they call me the 'Young Napoleon +of Finance,' but that is not enough. +Those men must be driven to the wall, for in +crushing them I shall be increasing my own +power as well as taking theirs from them. I'd +crush them just the same if I knew it to be my +last conscious act on earth."</p> + +<p>Barbara Thurston gazed into the darkness +wide-eyed. She knew she was listening to the +resolve of a desperate man, though she had not +the slightest idea what might be his plans for +accomplishing his purpose.</p> + +<p>"Why do you hate them so?" questioned the +second voice. "What have they ever done to +you?"</p> + +<p>The first speaker paused a few seconds before +replying, then in a voice tense with suppressed +emotion he answered slowly:</p> + +<p>"Hate them? That isn't exactly the word, +but it will answer. I hate —— —— because he +turned me out when I was making my start. +Turned me out into the street, Jim. Do you +understand? Turned me out without a dollar +in my pocket when I was trying to make something +of myself. I hate the other man because<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_10" id="Page_10">[10]</a></span> +he is working with him. They are pulling together +and they must go down together. Let +them down me if they can. I'll make beggars +of both of them!"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Barbara Thurston in a tone +that plainly must have reached the two men.</p> + +<p>The terrible threat had struck her almost with +the effect of a blow. A name had been mentioned +that stirred her to instant alertness, a +name almost as familiar to the girl as her own.</p> + +<p>"What was that?" demanded the voice that +had uttered the terrible threats.</p> + +<p>"Someone dreaming."</p> + +<p>"Let them dream. As for me, I never sleep +these days. I leave that to others. Jim, you +watch me. I'll be a king of finance yet. I'll be +the Napoleon in reality before I have done. +And what is more, those men will never know +where their opposition comes from until after +the blow has fallen. I'll see to it that they know +then, however. Watch me, but keep silent. Not +a word, not a breath of what I have told you. +I've said too much, but I had to talk to some +one I could trust. Now I'm all right again."</p> + +<p>"Never fear, Nat."</p> + +<p>"And I'll give you a tip, boy. Buy wheat."</p> + +<p>Bab could not catch all of the sentence. She +caught the word "wheat," but a word ahead of +that she missed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_11" id="Page_11">[11]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thank you, I never gamble," replied the +second man. "I'm sure to lose if I do, so I +have always steered clear of speculation. But +I'm sorry for the Old Man if you are after him. +I'm sorry for anyone that you visit your displeasure +upon. I should hate to have you get +after my scalp."</p> + +<p>"What's—who's talking in this berth?" demanded +Mollie, sitting up suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Sh-h-h!" warned Barbara, laying a restraining +hand on her sister's lips. "It isn't in this +berth. It's in the next one. Go to sleep."</p> + +<p>"Is—is Grace asleep?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Be quiet."</p> + +<p>Grace Carter, the girls' companion, occupied +the berth above them. As no sound had been +heard from that quarter it was reasonable to +suppose that Grace had not been awakened +by the conversation of the two men.</p> + +<p>Barbara was trembling violently. She was +profoundly affected by what she had overheard. +Yet while she had heard a name mentioned and +a threat made against the owner of that name, +she was in the dark as to the meaning of the +threat—she did not understand what it was that +this man proposed to do. Her ears were now +strained to catch every word uttered on the +other side of the partition.</p> + +<p>"I shall watch the market with interest, Nat,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_12" id="Page_12">[12]</a></span> +the second speaker was saying. "I don't say +that I approve of your way of getting revenge, +but that is your own affair. Remember, however, +that people who play with fire are sooner +or later sure to be singed."</p> + +<p>The other man laughed.</p> + +<p>"My feathers were singed a long time ago, +Jim," he said.</p> + +<p>"Well, here's where I get off. Good luck, +old man, and good night."</p> + +<p>The train had moved forward slowly, halting +at a station a short distance from the last stop. +The man who had made the threats accompanied +his friend to the door of the car, then instead +of returning to the seat he had occupied with +his friend, he seated himself opposite the section +occupied by the girls.</p> + +<p>Bab, determined to know who the man was, +peered cautiously between the curtains.</p> + +<p>"It's the man in section thirteen!" she exclaimed. +Then she realized that she had expressed +her thought aloud.</p> + +<p>The man wheeled sharply, his face hardening, +his eyes narrowed to mere slits as he gazed questioningly +about him. He saw no one, for Barbara +had quickly withdrawn her head, holding +the curtains firmly so that he should observe no +movement of them. The girl had learned that +which she was so curious to know. She now knew<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_13" id="Page_13">[13]</a></span> +the man who had uttered the threats. He had occupied +the section opposite to her all during the +previous afternoon, though she did not recall +having heard him speak nor did she know his +name. The man across the aisle reached for +his bag, from which he selected a package of +papers. These he regarded thoughtfully for a +full minute, after which he opened the package, +taking several documents, returning the rest to +the bag. Then after drawing his cigar case from +the bag, he rose and strode rapidly toward the +rear of the car, where the smoking compartment +was located.</p> + +<p>"So that's the man. I'm glad I know what +I do, even though I do not know what it is all +about. I must ask Mr. Stuart about that man," +mused Barbara. Consulting her watch, she +found that it was nearly one o'clock in the morning. +The girl shivered, snuggled into her +blankets and fell asleep. It was December and +the air was chill. Barbara had not been asleep +long when she was awakened by a violent jolt, +then a bumping that shook her until her teeth +chattered. The sleeping car swayed giddily +from side to side as it moved slowly forward +with a grinding, crunching sound. Then the +car gave a lurch that hurled Bab violently +against her sister.</p> + +<p>Mollie uttered a little cry of alarm. Bab threw<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_14" id="Page_14">[14]</a></span> +her arms about her, hugging Mollie in a tight +embrace to save her sister from being thrown +against the side of the car. As yet Bab had +not had time to think of what was occurring +outside. But now she began vaguely to realize +that the Pullman car had left the rails. An +accident had occurred. Shouts and cries of +alarm from various parts of the car testified +to the terror of other passengers who were being +buffeted about by the rocking sleeper. All at +once the forward end of the car appeared to +plunge down head first, as it were. The two +girls were tumbled into one end of their berth +where for a few agonizing seconds both were +nearly standing on their heads.</p> + +<p>Mollie screamed again.</p> + +<p>"Don't!" commanded Barbara sharply in a +half-smothered voice, holding her sister even +more tightly than before.</p> + +<p>"We're going over!" cried Mollie.</p> + +<p>Barbara had managed to straighten out and +was now bracing herself with all her might. +She had thus far made no effort to get out into +the aisle. She was a girl quick to think and +act in an emergency. She had reasoned that +they would be safer in their berth than out of +it, for they could not be buffeted about so much +in the narrow berth as they might be in the +aisle where they could hear the thud of bags<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_15" id="Page_15">[15]</a></span> +and other articles falling from the various +berths or being hurled from one side to the other +of the car.</p> + +<p>The lights suddenly went out. Fortunately +the train had not been moving very fast when +the accident occurred. Now it gave a sudden, +sickening lurch and lay over on its side to the +accompaniment of crashing glass as the windows +were burst in and renewed cries of fear came +from the passengers.</p> + +<p>The broad windows of the Thurston girls' +berth burst in, sending a shower of glass over +them. Both received bruises as well as slight +cuts from the broken glass that had showered +over them, though Barbara had borne the brunt +of the shock, managing to keep her own body +between Mollie and danger.</p> + +<p>"Are we killed? Are we killed?" moaned +Mollie.</p> + +<p>"No. We are all right," soothed Bab with +a confidence that she did not feel. "Quick! Get +on your clothes if you can find them. Here, +put this on. Don't try to dress completely, but +just throw about you whatever you can find."</p> + +<p>While urging her sister to action, Bab was +hunting feverishly for their belongings. She +thrust the first clothing she could find into the +hands of the trembling Mollie, then wrapped the +younger girl in a blanket.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_16" id="Page_16">[16]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I want my shoes," cried Mollie.</p> + +<p>Barbara thrust two shoes into the girl's +hands. One was Mollie's shoe, the other Barbara's, +but she could not be particular under the +circumstances.</p> + +<p>Now a new danger threatened. Bab was certain +that she could smell smoke. She fairly +dragged Mollie from the berth into the aisle +that was now tilted at an angle.</p> + +<p>"Hurry! Get to the upper end of the car +as fast as you can. The other passengers are +out I do believe."</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't! Help me, Bab."</p> + +<p>"Help yourself. I must look after Grace."</p> + +<p>"Grace!" groaned Mollie, a sudden and new +fit of trembling seizing upon her until her legs +threatened to collapse under her.</p> + +<p>Barbara gave her a violent push.</p> + +<p>"Climb up the aisle. Support yourself by +the seats. You will be able to get through all +right. I'll follow you just as soon as I can +find Grace. She may have gotten out, but I +don't believe she has."</p> + +<p>"Is—is—do you think she is dead?" gasped +Mollie.</p> + +<p>"Hurry!" urged Barbara, as the smell of +smoke smote her nostrils more strongly than +before. "Grace!" she called, as soon as she +saw that Mollie had begun climbing.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_17" id="Page_17">[17]</a></span></p> + +<p>There was no answer. Barbara was hurrying +into such of her clothing as she was able to +find. The intense darkness of the car made any +systematic effort to dress impossible.</p> + +<p>"Grace! Oh, Grace!"</p> + +<p>Still no answer. Bab observed by the light +that now filtered through the broken windows +of section number thirteen on the opposite side +of the aisle, that that section was empty. The +car itself appeared to be empty. At least the +cries had died out, though outside the car there +was a great uproar. Barbara climbed into the +upper berth occupied by Grace Carter, who lay +silent, unheeding Barbara's voice.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Grace! Grace!" begged Barbara, +throwing her arms about her friend. "Answer +me."</p> + +<p>There was no response. A bar of moonlight +shone through the broken window of section +number thirteen, falling directly on the pallid +face of the unconscious girl. Barbara shook +her, calling upon her friend to answer, but Grace +neither spoke nor stirred.</p> + +<p>"Is there any one left in here?" called a voice +from the other end of the car.</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes; come here quickly and help me," +cried Barbara.</p> + +<p>Instead of coming to her assistance, the owner +of the voice appeared to turn back and go out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_18" id="Page_18">[18]</a></span> +again. Barbara was now chafing the hands and +face of the motionless girl in the upper berth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, she's dead, she's dead. What shall I +do?" gasped Bab.</p> + +<p>With a suddenly formed resolution, she +clasped her arms about Grace and with considerable +difficulty—for Grace was now a dead +weight—dragged the unconscious girl from her +berth into the aisle. Bab did not pause for an +instant. Handling her friend as tenderly as +possible, she began working her way up the +steep aisle, making but slow progress, one arm +about Grace Carter, the other pulling herself +and her heavy burden along by grasping the +backs of the seats and the partitions between +such of the berths as were made up.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_19" id="Page_19">[19]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER II</h2> + +<h3>THE MISSING PASSENGER</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>AN endless corridor it seemed to Barbara +Thurston as little by little she dragged +her drooping burden to the end of the +aisle. Reaching the narrow passage that led +past the staterooms, she was obliged to creep +on hands and knees along the slippery lower +side of the car.</div> + +<p>Suddenly she heard a groan.</p> + +<p>Bab glanced apprehensively at the curtains +that hung over the door of the smoking room. +The curtains now stood out at a sharp angle. +A thin cloud of smoke filtered out from the +smoking compartment.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's some one in there," exclaimed +the girl. But she had other work to do just +then. The young woman struggled on, at last +reaching the platform that now stood in the +air some feet above the track.</p> + +<p>"Jump! We'll catch you," called a voice.</p> + +<p>"I—I can't. Help me. My companion is +hurt."</p> + +<p>"She's got someone with her. Get up there," +commanded a sharp voice.</p> + +<p>Two trainmen clambered to the platform.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_20" id="Page_20">[20]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Is the girl dead?" demanded one.</p> + +<p>"I don't know. Oh, please hurry," begged +Barbara in an agonized tone.</p> + +<p>The men quickly lifted down Grace Carter's +limp form. Then they turned to assist Barbara, +but she already had swung down without assistance. +Mollie was kneeling beside Grace, +other passengers crowding about the unconscious +girl who lay stretched out on the ground +beside the track. Someone pushed through the +crowd to Grace and thrust a bottle of smelling +salts under her nose.</p> + +<p>This served to restore her to consciousness, +and she feebly brushed the bottle aside.</p> + +<p>"She's alive," screamed Mollie, almost beside +herself.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Barbara in an +ecstacy of joy.</p> + +<p>Grace Carter sat up dazedly.</p> + +<p>"Are you hurt, dear?" urged Bab.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know. I think not. Oh, it was +awful. I—I thought the world surely was coming +to an end. Was anyone—anyone killed?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered a voice from the crowd. +"Some of us got a fine shaking up, but the train +was running so slowly that the shock of the accident +was not very severe."</p> + +<p>"What was the matter?" asked Grace as Barbara +assisted the trembling girl to her feet.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_21" id="Page_21">[21]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The trainmen say it was a loose rail. +They've been putting in new rails at this point +and the train was running slowly on that account, +the work not yet being entirely finished."</p> + +<p>At this juncture the conductor came bustling +up, ordering the passengers to go to the cars +ahead, which had not left the track. The train +was to move on in a few minutes. A flagman +had been stationed some distance to the rear +to stop any following trains and the conductor +was anxious to reach the next station ahead to +telegraph for a wrecking train and report the +wreck of the sleepers. A pleasant-faced woman +whom Barbara had seen on the train the day +before, stepped up and offered to assist them, +which she did by placing an arm about Grace, +helping to support the latter in the walk to the +cars.</p> + +<p>"I am Miss Thompson, from Chicago," said +the woman. "My father is with me. I saw you +yesterday and wanted to speak to you. Are +you going to Chicago?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. You are very kind," answered Barbara.</p> + +<p>"I wonder if all the passengers were gotten +out of the sleeper?" asked Miss Thompson when +they had finally reached the cars up ahead and +Grace had been comfortably disposed of in another +sleeper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_22" id="Page_22">[22]</a></span></p> + +<p>Barbara started.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot. Conductor! There was a +man in the smoking compartment of our car."</p> + +<p>The porter who had followed them with the +other passengers and such luggage as he could +find, shook his head.</p> + +<p>"I know there was. I had forgotten all about +it," declared Bab. "I heard someone groan +in there as I passed the compartment with my +friend. Where is the man who occupied the +lower berth of section thirteen?"</p> + +<p>No one had seen him. All the other passengers +had been accounted for, but no one had +seen the tall, slim, sandy-haired man from section +number thirteen.</p> + +<p>"Then he is in that smoking compartment. +I saw him when he went there. The compartment +was on fire when I passed it," cried Barbara +Thurston, springing up, her face flushed, +her eyes large and troubled.</p> + +<p>"If there's anyone there the men will find +him. There was no fire in that car," said the +conductor, with which statement the porter +agreed.</p> + +<p>"There was smoke," declared Bab. "I don't +know about fire. I do know that I'm going +back to find out about that man," she announced.</p> + +<p>"Come back," called the conductor. "We're +going to start."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_23" id="Page_23">[23]</a></span></p> + +<p>Unheeding, Barbara ran for the door, and, +leaping from the platform, started on a run +back to the wrecked sleeper. The conductor +was determined to move his train, but the passengers +objected so strenuously that he reluctantly +decided to wait and make a further +hurried search of the wrecked sleeper.</p> + +<p>With a porter and half a dozen passengers +the conductor followed Barbara. She could +smell the smoke before she reached the car. +Hastily climbing to the platform, she crawled +in. By the time she had gotten into the corridor +a porter had also climbed up. The smoke +was so thick and suffocating that the girl choked +and coughed.</p> + +<p>"He's here," she cried, as a faint groan +reached her ears. "Hurry! Oh, do hurry!" +Then Bab's words were lost in the fit of coughing +that had seized her.</p> + +<p>Three men pushed their way into the smoking +compartment. They saw that the carpet +was smouldering. It had probably been set +on fire by a burning cigar or a lighted match. +There was no blaze, just a dull smoulder and +a lot of smoke. It did not seem possible that +one could live in that atmosphere for very long.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the porter stumbled over the form +of a man. It was the former occupant of section +number thirteen.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_24" id="Page_24">[24]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Young woman, get out of here at once," +commanded the conductor. "We will take care +of this man."</p> + +<p>Bab staggered out to the platform, where she +waited. A minute later the men came out +bearing the unconscious form of the stranger. +Barbara asked if he were dead. The men said +no, but that he was half suffocated from the +smoke he had inhaled. They carried the man +on ahead to the train and up to the dining car, +after which a doctor was hurriedly summoned +from one of the other cars. In the meantime +Barbara had returned to her companions, who +were anxiously awaiting her reappearance. +She told them of finding the man, and was +warmly commended by the passengers for her +bravery.</p> + +<p>"I do wish we could get word to Ruth Stuart +that we are all right," said Barbara, after she +had related the story of the finding of the man +from section thirteen.</p> + +<p>"Ruth Stuart?" questioned Miss Thompson. +"I wonder if by any chance she could be +related to Robert Stuart, a Chicago broker?"</p> + +<p>"Why, she is his daughter. Do you know +the Stuarts?" cried Barbara, a smile lighting +up her face still pale and somewhat drawn.</p> + +<p>"No, but my father wishes to know Mr. Stuart. +Only yesterday he was speaking of him. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_25" id="Page_25">[25]</a></span> +should not be surprised if he were to call on +Mr. Stuart soon to discuss a business matter +with him."</p> + +<p>"The world is small, after all, isn't it?" +smiled Bab. "We are on our way to Chicago +to visit the Stuarts. We are friends of Ruth +Stuart. We four are known to our friends as +the 'Automobile Girls.'"</p> + +<p>The readers of this series must undoubtedly +feel well acquainted with that quartette of sweet, +dainty, lovable girls, Ruth Stuart, Barbara and +Mollie Thurston and Grace Carter, who were +met with in the first volume of this series, "<span class="smcap">The +Automobile Girls at Newport</span>." Their acquaintance +really dated from the time Barbara +Thurston so pluckily stopped a team of runaway +horses driven by Ruth Stuart, a wealthy +western girl, then summering at Kingsbridge, +the home of the Thurstons. A warm friendship +sprang up almost at once between the two girls, +culminating in a long trip in Ruth's automobile, +during which journey Ruth, Bab and Mollie +Thurston, their friend Grace Carter, and their +chaperon, Aunt Sallie Stuart, met with many +exciting adventures. It was on this eventful +trip, as will be recalled, that Barbara distinguished +herself by causing the arrest of a society +jewel thief, at the same time heaping coals +of fire on the head of a girl cousin who had<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_26" id="Page_26">[26]</a></span> +treated Barbara and Mollie with scornful contempt.</p> + +<p>The girls were next heard from in "<span class="smcap">The +Automobile Girls in the Berkshires</span>," to which +region, chaperoned, as always, by Ruth's Aunt +Sallie, they had driven in Ruth's car for a +month's stay in a lonely cabin in the Berkshire +Hills. Their experiences with the "Ghost of +Lost Man's Trail" was not the least of their +exciting adventures there; in fact, their stay +in the mountains was filled with a succession of +strange happenings that thrilled the girls as +nothing in their lives ever had done before.</p> + +<p>By this time they considered themselves veteran +automobilists and seasoned travelers. As +related in "<span class="smcap">The Automobile Girls Along the +Hudson</span>," the now famous quartette showed +themselves fully equal to the more than ordinary +emergencies they met with from time +to time on a most eventful journey. From balking +highwaymen to fighting a forest fire that +for a time threatened the ancestral home of +Major Ten Eyck, whose guests they were at the +time, the "Automobile Girls" fully lived up +to the reputation they had earned for themselves.</p> + +<p>After their trip through the Sleepy Hollow +country, Ruth had returned to her home in Chicago, +while Mollie, Barbara and Grace had settled<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_27" id="Page_27">[27]</a></span> +down to their studies in the Kingsbridge +High School. But with the approach of the holidays +had come Ruth's cordial invitation to spend +Christmas with her in her own home, not forgetting +to mention "Mr. A. Bubble," who, she +promised, would do his part toward making +their visit a lively one. The three girls had set +out on their journey to the Windy City on the +Chicago Express, that journey having been interrupted +in a most unexpected manner, as +already related.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>The conductor sent off a message for them to +Ruth Stuart at the next stop. It was a characteristic +message from Barbara, reading:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"Train wrecked. 'Automobile Girls' safe. +Arrive some time.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +"<span class="smcap">Grace, Mollie, Bab.</span>"<br /> +</div></div> + +<p>This telegram for a time created no little excitement +in the Stuart home.</p> + +<p>Daylight was upon them by the time the train +started from the scene of the wreck. Grace said +she felt as though she had contracted a severe +cold, for she was aching in every muscle of her +body. Mollie declared that she was all right, +but Bab averred that she knew she hadn't been +in bed in a hundred years.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_28" id="Page_28">[28]</a></span></p> + +<p>The dining car was opened early, for all the +passengers felt the need of something more +sustaining than fright. When the girls came +back from the dining car they felt much better. +Grace had suffered no serious injuries, +but Bab's face was scratched from the particles +of broken glass that had showered over her +when the windows burst in.</p> + +<p>A young man was occupying Barbara's seat +when she entered the car they had occupied since +the accident. He was leaning back against the +high chair. His eyes were closed and a bandage +was bound about his head.</p> + +<p>"That's the man from number thirteen," +whispered Barbara over her shoulder to Mollie. +He glanced up, met Barbara's eyes and +smiled.</p> + +<p>"I am very glad to see that you weren't seriously +hurt," said Bab.</p> + +<p>The young man rose, supporting himself by +the back of the chair.</p> + +<p>"Are these your seats?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"Yes, but please do not disturb yourself," +urged Bab, taking a seat across the aisle. The +young man leaned toward her.</p> + +<p>"You are Miss Thurston, are you not?" he +asked.</p> + +<p>Barbara nodded, flushing a little.</p> + +<p>"I have been told that I practically owe my<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_29" id="Page_29">[29]</a></span> +life to you. The fire was nothing but a smoulder +of the carpet, but I was slowly being asphyxiated. +Thirty minutes more and it would have +been all up with me. Even had I been rescued +too late to get this train it would have been +serious for me. My presence in Chicago to-day +is imperative. I might say that it involves my +whole future. You see, my dear young lady, +you have done more for me than you perhaps +realize. You are going to Chicago?"</p> + +<p>"Yes; we are going on a visit to our friends, +Mr. Robert Stuart and his daughter."</p> + +<p>"Robert Stuart!" exclaimed the young man. +Then his face grew hard.</p> + +<p>Suddenly the conversation that she had overheard +the previous night flashed into the mind +of Barbara Thurston. The color left her face. +The young man's keen eyes observed her change +of expression. He shot a sharp glance of inquiry +at her.</p> + +<p>"I have a slight acquaintance with Mr. Stuart +and his daughter," he said coldly. "I also +know intimate friends of theirs, Mr. and Mrs. +Presby and their daughter. Therefore I may +have the pleasure of meeting you again. I think +perhaps I had better lie down and rest for the +remainder of the journey. By the way," he +continued, after a slight hesitation, "did you +perchance discover a bundle of papers when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_30" id="Page_30">[30]</a></span> +you found me in the compartment on the other +car?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I beg your pardon!" exclaimed Bab. +"I did find some papers. They are in my bag. +I picked them up from the floor of the car +thinking they might be of value to you."</p> + +<p>Slightly confused, Barbara opened her bag, +and after turning over its contents drew forth +a bundle of papers held together with rubber +bands. She handed the bundle to the young +man.</p> + +<p>The smile that lit up his face as he thanked +her changed his expression completely. It was +almost a gentle smile, and seemed strangely out +of place on that cold, calculating face.</p> + +<p>"Here is my card. I am rated as a cold, +heartless man. But, my dear Miss Thurston, +I have at least one virtue—gratitude. If ever +you are in need of assistance in any way do not +hesitate to call upon me," he said, extending +a hand to Barbara as he rose rather unsteadily +to his feet. Bab mechanically dropped the card +into her bag without looking at it, closing and +dropping the bag on the floor beside her before +accepting the hand. The touch of the cold +fingers of the man's hand sent a feeling of dislike +through her. It recalled to her mind more +vividly than ever the conversation she had overheard +in the sleeper.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_31" id="Page_31">[31]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I hope I never shall see him again," muttered +Barbara, just as Miss Thompson came +smiling up to them. But Barbara Thurston +was destined to see the man whom she had +rescued, though under circumstances that she +little dreamed of at the present moment.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_32" id="Page_32">[32]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER III</h2> + +<h3>A DIZZY ROUND OF PLEASURE</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>THE train stopped at Englewood for a moment +and then pulled out again for the +Union Station. The girls already knew +that they were in Chicago, and were feverishly +gathering up their wraps. Bab was drawing +on her overshoes when two warm hands were +suddenly pressed over her eyes.</div> + +<p>"Guess who it is?" cried Grace, after she +and Mollie had uttered little smothered exclamations +of delight.</p> + +<p>"It's my Ruth! Oh, Ruth, Ruth!" cried +Barbara, springing up and flinging both arms +about the neck of Ruth, fairly smothering her +friend with kisses. Ruth and her father had +gotten on at Englewood to welcome their young +friends.</p> + +<p>"You dear, dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried +Ruth, now clasping the three girls one after another +in a tight embrace.</p> + +<p>"Am I to be left out of this entirely?" questioned +Ruth's father in an aggrieved tone.</p> + +<p>The girls disengaged themselves from Ruth's +arms and fairly pounced upon Mr. Robert +Stuart.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_33" id="Page_33">[33]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, how is dear Aunt Sallie and Mr. A. +Bubble?" laughed Barbara, her eyes shining +with joy.</p> + +<p>"Aunt Sallie is waiting to greet you at our +home. Mr. A. Bubble is outside growling over +your delay in getting to Chicago," smiled Mr. +Stuart.</p> + +<p>"We received your telegram," said Mr. Stuart, +as they left the Union Station. "For a +time we were considerably upset. Later we saw +an account of the wreck in the morning paper. +We did not learn that anyone was injured."</p> + +<p>"What caused it? Wasn't it awful?" questioned +Ruth, gazing at her friends admiringly. +"And to think I wasn't there to share the honor +of being mixed up with a railroad wreck. Too +bad," she pouted.</p> + +<p>"It wasn't a wreck, it was a shake-up," answered +Grace.</p> + +<p>"I am glad you were not with us. Who knows +what might have occurred," answered Bab +soberly. "Oh, there is Mr. Bubble," she cried, +her serious expression changing to a happy +smile as she ran forward to the puffing red automobile +and patted it affectionately. A thin curl +of blue smoke was rising from the exhaust of +the motor car.</p> + +<p>"Hear him purr his delight," cried Mollie. +"He's just like a contented kitten for all the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_34" id="Page_34">[34]</a></span> +world," she laughed. "He isn't grumbling at +all."</p> + +<p>"He was grumbling loudly enough when we +left him," answered Mr. Stuart.</p> + +<p>"That's because he was cold. But we will +warm Mr. A. Bubble up on our way home," +declared Ruth. This she did, keeping a wary +eye out for traffic policemen who might claim +that she was exceeding the speed limit. But +Ruth knew fairly well where to look out for a +traffic man and where not to look for him. Up +Dearborn Street to Madison Street the car +whirled, the sharp air putting color in the faces +of the girls and making their eyes sparkle.</p> + +<p>Bab kept stealing perplexed glances at Mr. +Stuart. Something was on the young woman's +mind, but she did not give expression to the +thought. In the meantime the girls were chattering +at a rapid rate. Through Madison Street +they traveled and into Michigan Avenue, where +a gust of biting wind fresh from Lake Michigan +smote them in the face.</p> + +<p>"Oh, look at the river!" cried Mollie.</p> + +<p>"That's Lake Michigan, you goose," answered +Ruth, laughing merrily. "How insulting +to call our lake a river. But here we are."</p> + +<p>The car swung into a driveway, coming to a +halt before an imposing residence, four stories +high, overlooking the lake.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_35" id="Page_35">[35]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What is this great building?" questioned +Mollie.</p> + +<p>"This is where we live, dear," answered +Ruth. "This is my home."</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me, I thought it was the Chicago +public library," retorted Mollie.</p> + +<p>"Molliekins, what <i>are</i> we going to do with +you?" chided Ruth, laughing.</p> + +<p>The other girls were already running up the +broad stone steps. The doors swung open and +the next second Barbara, Mollie and Grace +threw themselves into the arms of Miss Sallie +Stuart. There was a volley of little screams of +delight and any number of resounding smacks. +Mr. Stuart had followed them in. He stood +with his back to the door, smiling contentedly on +the joyous scene. He had come to love the +three girls with a love that was not far behind +his affection for his own daughter Ruth.</p> + +<p>The girls having released Miss Sallie from +their embrace, Ruth dragged her friends upstairs. +They were first shown to their own +rooms, and wonderful rooms they were. None +of the three girls from Kingsbridge ever had +seen anything to compare with the beauty of +these handsome apartments. A few minutes +later they were in Ruth's private sitting room, +the walls of which were done in pale blue silk. +The furniture was of old mahogany and on a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_36" id="Page_36">[36]</a></span> +dainty writing desk the girls found paper and +envelopes bearing the monogram "A. G." Ruth +had had these prepared for the girls' use.</p> + +<p>"Now, girls," she said, "are you too fatigued +after your exciting experiences to go +out this evening?"</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," cried the three girls in chorus.</p> + +<p>"Then listen! Father has taken a box at +the opera for this evening. We are to hear +Romeo and Juliet——"</p> + +<p>"Oh, how perfectly lovely," bubbled Mollie.</p> + +<p>"That reminds me, Molliekins, that I received +a note from your 'lovely lady,' Mrs. Cartwright, +yesterday. She asked me to tell you to look +for a diamond butterfly at the opera to-night. +She thought that might help you to locate an +old friend."</p> + +<p>Mollie smiled happily. At this juncture there +came a light tap at the door and a well-known +gentle voice asked, "may I come in?"</p> + +<p>Miss Sallie was assisted into the room somewhat +faster than she considered dignified, but +there was no resisting her "Automobile Girls." +After getting her breath she sank into an easy +chair, the girls surrounding her.</p> + +<p>"I want to consult with you about our plans," +she said. "We wish to make this reunion one +that you will remember all the rest of your +lives. Our cousins, the Presbys, wish you to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_37" id="Page_37">[37]</a></span> +spend some time with them. Olive Presby, their +daughter, is especially desirous of having you +there. You will find her a charming girl and +I am sure you will all fall in love with her at +sight. What do you say?"</p> + +<p>"About the falling in love?" questioned Mollie +innocently.</p> + +<p>"No, no, Molliekins," rebuked Ruth. "About +the invitation, of course."</p> + +<p>"I am sure we shall be well pleased with +whatever arrangements have been made for +us," said Grace.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," added Barbara.</p> + +<p>"I am between fire and water," declared +Ruth laughingly, as she dropped into a chair +before the fireplace. "I want you to stay and +I want you to go to the Presbys. I have decided, +with your approval, that we shall divide +your time between our home and the Presbys' +place. First, we will do Chicago, after which +we will go to Cousin Jane and Cousin Richard +Presby. They have a grand old home and hundreds +of acres of grounds surrounding it."</p> + +<p>"Are they so very rich?" questioned Mollie.</p> + +<p>"On the contrary, they are extremely poor," +answered Aunt Sallie, whereat Mollie puckered +her brow in perplexity. "Their property is +heavily mortgaged. They are in a fair way +to lose it unless——"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_38" id="Page_38">[38]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Unless what, Aunt Sallie?" asked Bab +gently.</p> + +<p>"Unless perhaps they may in the meantime +find the buried treasure."</p> + +<p>The effect of this announcement on Mollie, +Barbara and Grace made Miss Sallie smile.</p> + +<p>"Buried treasure? Buried treasure! Oh, +oh, oh!" they cried in chorus.</p> + +<p>"Don't get excited, dears. There is no chance +for the 'Automobile Girls,'" interjected Ruth. +"I've stirred myself up so many times over that +old treasure that I have lost ever and ever so +many nights' sleep. Take my advice and forget +all about it," she admonished.</p> + +<p>"Oh, please tell us about it," urged Mollie.</p> + +<p>"A buried treasure? How perfectly delightful!" +sparkled Barbara.</p> + +<p>"I haven't time to tell you now. It is a long +story. This treasure was buried many years +ago by one of the Presbys' ancestors. They +will tell you all about it when you go out there, +and I am sure Cousin Richard can make the +story much more interesting than I could."</p> + +<p>This had to suffice for the present, though the +girls were burning to hear the story. Anything +that savored of adventure appealed to these +healthy, outdoor girls, and what could be more +adventurous than hunting for a treasure that +had been buried for years and years?<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_39" id="Page_39">[39]</a></span></p> + +<p>The girls' trunks had been brought up, and +while they were dressing for the evening, Bab +took advantage of the occasion to consult with +Ruth about her gown.</p> + +<p>Ruth ran forward, flinging her arms about +Barbara's neck the instant Bab came into her +room.</p> + +<p>"Dear, dear old Bab," she breathed, running +tender fingers over the shining brown hair of +her companion. "You can't know how I have +wanted you. It seems years since last I saw +you. Answer me truly, dear. How do you +think father is looking?"</p> + +<p>Barbara's face sobered instantly. Ruth noted +the quick change of expression.</p> + +<p>"You needn't tell me. I see by your expression +what you think," added Ruth quickly, +brushing a stray wisp of hair from her face.</p> + +<p>"That was what I wished to ask you about, +dear," said Barbara. "He looks so worn. What +is the trouble? Has your father been ill?"</p> + +<p>"No. Not in the sense you mean. Nevertheless, +we are greatly worried about him. He has +been speculating. We think he has lost a lot +of money. He does not speak of his business +affairs as he used to do, and that makes us all +the more certain that things are not going as +they should with him. However, I mustn't speak +of these matters now, as I wish you to have the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_40" id="Page_40">[40]</a></span> +happiest time of your life while you are with +us. Why, Barbara Thurston, what a lovely +frock!" exclaimed Ruth impulsively.</p> + +<p>Barbara flushed with pleasure at the compliment. +Her gown was of dark red crepe-de-chine, +trimmed in soft folds of liberty velvet. +Bab had tucked a single red rose in her hair. +Ruth never had seen Bab look more charming.</p> + +<p>"It is mother's Christmas present to me," +explained Bab, referring to the frock. "I think +it very pretty."</p> + +<p>"I wish I could look half so well in anything," +answered Ruth, but without a trace of +envy in her tone. "But I must hurry. If I +run on like this we'll never get to the opera."</p> + +<p>"I was just about to ask if you mind my running +down to chat with your father a few moments +before we go?"</p> + +<p>"Do, dear. It will do him good. You always +act like a tonic on father," smiled Ruth. "He's +in the library."</p> + +<p>Bab tripped away, holding up her skirts, +followed by the admiring eyes of her friend.</p> + +<p>"She's such a dear," mused Ruth, beginning +the finishing touches of her dressing.</p> + +<p>Bab was especially anxious to see Mr. Stuart +alone. She wanted to see if she could fathom +the cause of his distress. He looked even more +tired and careworn than when she had first<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_41" id="Page_41">[41]</a></span> +seen him. She entered the library rather diffidently +pausing before Mr. Stuart, who stood +near the fireplace.</p> + +<p>"Am I intruding?" asked Bab.</p> + +<p>"Intruding, my dear? You could not do that. +But how beautiful you are to-night."</p> + +<p>"Don't. Please don't," protested Bab with +well-feigned displeasure. "You will make me +a vain little creature. Ruth has just said the +same thing to me. At this rate I fear I shall +begin to believe something of the sort myself +very soon."</p> + +<p>"No," answered Mr. Stuart, gazing at her +approvingly. "You are far too sensible a young +woman to have your head turned so easily as +that. Tell me about your good mother. How +is she?"</p> + +<p>"Quite well, thank you," replied Bab simply.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry that she could not come with you. +We had hoped to have her with us."</p> + +<p>"Yes, we wanted mother to come. She asked +me to thank you very kindly for your invitation, +but said it would not be possible for her to go +so far away from home just now. Perhaps +later she may visit you."</p> + +<p>"Bab, a good mother like yours is a most +priceless treasure. Never forget to value your +treasure at its real worth," said Mr. Stuart +impressively.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_42" id="Page_42">[42]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I do and I trust I always shall, sir," answered +Barbara, and Robert Stuart smiled, for +he knew that she meant what she said.</p> + +<p>Ruth and the other two girls came in at this +juncture and the conversation turned on their +gowns and the pleasures that were before them +that evening. Barbara had not mentioned that +she thought Mr. Stuart was looking ill. She +would not have ventured to do so, although she +was more convinced than before that something +very, very serious had come into the life of +her friend's father. She wondered if she might +not be able to do something to relieve the distress +under which he was so plainly laboring.</p> + +<p>"There, now, what did I tell you, Bab?" demanded +Ruth, entering the library. "Didn't I +say you were always a tonic to father?"</p> + +<p>Barbara blushed.</p> + +<p>"She is indeed, daughter. So are you all. +But we must be going. Is your Aunt Sallie +ready?"</p> + +<p>"She is waiting for us in the reception +room," answered Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Then we will be off. Be sure that you girls +are well wrapped up. You are not used to +going out in this climate with such thin gowns. +Ruth, where is your cloak?"</p> + +<p>"Below, father. I will pick it up on my way +down."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_43" id="Page_43">[43]</a></span></p> + +<p>Then they started downstairs, Mr. Stuart +leading the way. They were joined by Miss +Sallie in the hallway and a few minutes later +were being borne away by Mr. A. Bubble, who, +for this evening at least, was on his best behavior. +Reaching the opera house, they were +conducted to the box reserved for them. Ruth +insisted on her guests occupying the front chairs. +How the heads of the three little Kingsbridge +girls did swim! Beautiful gowns, beautiful +women and dazzling jewels were to be seen wherever +the eye rested. It was a brilliant and animated +scene, such as none of the three girls +ever before had gazed upon, for this was their +first visit to the opera.</p> + +<p>"Isn't it all wonderful?" said Bab to Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Yes, indeed," responded Ruth warmly. +"There is nothing quite like an opera night, +and I have been particularly interested in grand +opera since we discovered Zerlina."</p> + +<p>"Oh, to be sure," exclaimed Bab. "Where +is Zerlina now?"</p> + +<p>"She is in Paris, studying under the best +teachers that can be procured for her," replied +Ruth. "She writes me regularly. Her teachers +give her great encouragement, and she expects +to be ready to sing important rôles within +the next two years. She adores José, and he is +delighted with having so talented a sister."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_44" id="Page_44">[44]</a></span></p> + +<p>"She is one of the most beautiful girls I have +ever seen," said Barbara. "What a wonderful +'Carmen' she will make."</p> + +<p>"Yes; won't she, though," responded Ruth +eagerly, "and that is the part that she particularly +looks forward to singing."</p> + +<p>The subject of Ruth's and Barbara's conversation +was a beautiful gypsy girl that they had +met during their trip along the Hudson. She +had become a protegé of Ruth, who had cherished +high hopes of sending Zerlina to a conservatory, +but had been forestalled by the appearance +on the scene of Zerlina's handsome +half-brother, José Martinez. On account of +family differences, José and Zerlina had been +separated for many years, but in the end Zerlina +was persuaded by him to place herself under +his protection. All of this has been fully narrated +in "<span class="smcap">The Automobile Girls Along the +Hudson</span>."</p> + +<p>"What do you think of it, Molliekins?" whispered +Ruth over Mollie's shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Think of it?" breathed the golden-haired +Mollie. "I'm so happy that I could scream +right out so everybody in the theatre would +hear me," answered Mollie. "I don't know +what I shall do when the music begins."</p> + +<p>A wave of laughter rippled over the box at +Mollie's quaint way of expressing her delight.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_45" id="Page_45">[45]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IV</h2> + +<h3>BATTLE OF THE BULLS AND BEARS</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>THAT evening at the opera was like a +dream to the little Kingsbridge girls. +Mrs. Cartwright visited them between +the acts, then they were introduced to Olive +Presby, who came to their box, accompanied +by a young man named Jack Howard, an artist +who had just returned from Paris. These two +had been chums since childhood.</div> + +<p>Bab thought Olive the most beautiful girl +she had ever seen. She could not keep her eyes +off of her, and Olive appeared to be equally +attracted to Barbara, though there was little +opportunity for conversation between them. +Olive was fully five years older than Barbara +with fair skin, black hair, and eyes of deep +gray, veiled with long, black lashes, making an +unusual and most attractive combination. +Olive Presby was a striking looking girl. All +through the second act Bab kept gazing across +at Olive, and it was with a deep sigh of regret +that Barbara finally turned her eyes away under +the teasing of Ruth and Grace. The glorious +evening came to a close all too soon for them.</p> + +<p>Reaching home, the girls lost little time in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_46" id="Page_46">[46]</a></span> +getting to their rooms, for the three travelers +had had little sleep in the past two nights.</p> + +<p>They fell asleep almost the instant their +heads touched their pillows, but in spite of their +late hours the four girls descended to the dining +room the following morning bright-eyed +and ready for whatever the day might bring +forth.</p> + +<p>Miss Sallie rustled in, dressed in her silk +morning gown a few moments after the others +had reached the dining room. The girls greeted +her enthusiastically, each girl giving her a +hearty hug and kiss, after which they seated +themselves at the breakfast table, and a lively +chattering ensued.</p> + +<p>"What do you think of Cousin Olive?" asked +Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I just love her," cried Bab enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>A cloud passed swiftly over the face of Ruth +Stewart.</p> + +<p>"I could love her almost to death. Is she +engaged to Mr. Howard?"</p> + +<p>"No indeed," said Miss Sallie with emphasis. +"Olive is devoted to her parents, especially now +that they are in such deep trouble. She is +their comfort in their distress and she knows +it."</p> + +<p>"Young ladies," interrupted Mr. Stuart,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_47" id="Page_47">[47]</a></span> +"do you feel equal to beginning your sight-seeing +to-day?"</p> + +<p>"We do," chorused the girls.</p> + +<p>"I have so planned my affairs as to have this +day free for you. Mr. A. Bubble also is at +your disposal. He has had a thorough going +over at the hands of his man this morning, and +I think you will find him in fine condition."</p> + +<p>"Olive Presby is coming to see you this morning, +you know," reminded Miss Sallie.</p> + +<p>Ruth's face clouded again. Bab's eyes +glowed, for she wished to see Olive even more +than to explore Chicago.</p> + +<p>"We might call her up on the telephone and +have her come over so she may go with us," +suggested Mr. Stuart.</p> + +<p>The girls seconded this proposal enthusiastically, +and this was done without delay, Olive +promising to come over as soon after breakfast +as possible.</p> + +<p>"I propose," announced Mr. Stuart, "to take +you over to the Board of Trade on La Salle +Street to show you the famous Pit."</p> + +<p>"Is it a very big hole?" questioned Mollie +innocently, whereat a merry laugh rippled all +the way around the table.</p> + +<p>"The Pit," explained Mr. Stuart, smilingly, +"is the place where men buy and sell grain-stuffs. +It's the same as stock speculation."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_48" id="Page_48">[48]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mollie thought stock speculation was trading +in cattle.</p> + +<p>"You ridiculous child," exclaimed Ruth. +"I'll explain it to you so you will understand it. +Now if you want to speculate you order your +brokers, for instance, to 'buy a thousand shares +of B. Sell five thousand shares of G and ten +thousand shares of C.' That's all. Next morning +you wake up to find yourself ten or fifteen +thousand dollars richer——"</p> + +<p>"Or poorer," added Mr. Stuart. "I must +say, Ruth, that your explanation is very lucid. +Take the girls down to my office, leaving here +at half past ten o'clock. I shall have my morning +mail disposed of by that time and my day's +orders issued, then my time will be at your disposal. +Sallie, are you going with the girls?"</p> + +<p>"No, thank you. Not this morning. I have +seen quite all of Chicago, I think. Besides, I +have no love for your horrid Board of Trade. +The automobile will be pretty well filled as it +is."</p> + +<p>"Oh, please come with us," urged Mollie.</p> + +<p>Aunt Sallie shook her head smilingly, so it +was arranged that the girls should go downtown +by themselves, there to be met by Mr. +Stuart. Olive bustled in shortly before ten +o'clock. She was dressed in a brown tailor-made +suit of broadcloth, with furs and hat of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_49" id="Page_49">[49]</a></span> +mink. She came running up the stairs to Ruth's +sitting room, bright and eager, her eyes sparkling +with anticipation.</p> + +<p>"Here I am," she cried gayly. "I'm going +to introduce myself all over again. I'm Olive, +girls. I'm a sort of adopted cousin of the 'Automobile +Girls.' So this is Bab," she sparkled, +giving Barbara's hand a friendly squeeze. +"This little yellow-haired girl is Mollie, and the +bigger, brown-haired one is Grace. Now I +think we are properly introduced. Now what +can I do to add to the pleasure of the 'Automobile +Girls' this fine morning?"</p> + +<p>"I would suggest that you first sit down and +compose yourself," replied Ruth with some +severity. "How you do run on, Olive."</p> + +<p>"Now, I call that downright mean," pouted +Miss Presby. "Don't you, Bab?" Olive suddenly +bent over Barbara, giving the little Kingsbridge +girl an impulsive hug.</p> + +<p>Ruth frowned. Bab looked embarrassed. +She felt that Ruth resented Olive's affectionate +demonstration. It caused the three Kingsbridge +girls, however, to lose their awe of Miss +Presby, whom they had before looked upon as +a superior grown-up person.</p> + +<p>"What are the plans for the day, dear?" +questioned Olive, turning to Ruth.</p> + +<p>"We are first to go to the office to pick up<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_50" id="Page_50">[50]</a></span> +father. He is to take us to the Pit. I don't +know where we shall go from there."</p> + +<p>About this time a maid came up to tell them +that the car was at the door. The girls hurried +down, laughing and chatting, Ruth's irritation +apparently having been banished from +her mind. It was a bright, sparkling day. The +lake glistened and the wind from it again blew +the color into the faces of the "Automobile +Girls."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart's office was in one of the tall office +buildings on La Salle Street, not far from the +Board of Trade. The girls were shot up to +the seventeenth floor on the elevator with a +speed that fairly took their breaths away. Mollie +uttered a chorus of subdued "ohs" all the +way up.</p> + +<p>Even in the staid business office the girls +found much to interest them. Mollie's attention +was first attracted to an energetic little machine +at one side of the room. This odd looking machine +ticked like a clock, but resembled one in +no other way, and from it at intervals spun a +narrow, ribbon-like strip of paper which curled +and coiled into an elongated waste-paper basket. +Mollie stood over the basket regarding the perplexing +letters and figures printed on the paper +ribbon.</p> + +<p>"Do—do you make ribbons on this?" she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_51" id="Page_51">[51]</a></span> +questioned, laying a finger on the glass globe +that covered the mechanism.</p> + +<p>"Not exactly, my dear," answered Mr. +Stuart. "But that little machine sometimes +helps us to buy ribbons for our families. That +is a ticker. It gives the market quotations. I +hardly think you will be interested in it."</p> + +<p>Mollie decided that she wasn't.</p> + +<p>"If you are ready, girls, we will go over to +the Board of Trade, where you will see the bulls +and bears engaged in a pitched battle. It is +to be a lively day on the floor of the Pit."</p> + +<p>Mollie was frowning perplexedly.</p> + +<p>"Are we really going to see a bull fight?" +she whispered to Ruth. "Do the bulls and the +bears really fight? I—I don't think I want to see +them if they do."</p> + +<p>"No, no, silly. Nothing of the sort. Oh, +girls!" laughed Ruth merrily.</p> + +<p>"Don't you dare tell them," admonished Mollie, +"I'll never forgive you if you do."</p> + +<p>"Never mind," called Ruth to the others, +"I'll explain, dear. Of course you know nothing +about these things. I wish I didn't. I wish +father did not, either," she added with a touch +of bitterness. "Bulls and bears are mere men. +The bulls are those who try to force up the +prices of wheat and other things, while the bears +are the ones who seek to keep the prices down.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_52" id="Page_52">[52]</a></span> +I—I never have been able to make up my mind +which of them is the most undesirable."</p> + +<p>"I am sure Mr. Stuart isn't a bear," muttered +Mollie.</p> + +<p>"Indeed he is not," laughed Ruth, once more +restored to good nature.</p> + +<p>Instead of taking Mr. A. Bubble, the girls +walked down from Mr. Stuart's office to the +big, gloomy building that housed the Board of +Trade. They were conducted to the gallery, +where Mr. Stuart left them to go down to the +brokers' rooms to consult with some of his +friends.</p> + +<p>It was a mad, wild scene that the little country +girls gazed upon. It was like nothing they ever +had seen before.</p> + +<p>"Goodness me, they <i>are</i> fighting!" cried Barbara +in alarm.</p> + +<p>Men were dashing about here and there. +Hats were smashed, paper was being torn by +nervous hands and hurled into the air, to fall +like miniature snow flurries over the heads of +the traders. Shouts and yells, hoarse calls were +heard from all parts of the floor. One man +threw up a hand with the fingers spread wide +apart. Instantly a dozen men hurled themselves +upon him. He staggered and fell. Willing +hands jerked him to his feet. It was then that +the "Automobile Girls" saw that the unfortunate<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_53" id="Page_53">[53]</a></span> +man's coat had been torn from him. His +collar flapped under his ears and a tiny red +mark was observable on one cheek.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" gasped the Kingsbridge girls.</p> + +<p>"Wha-a-at are they fighting about?" gasped +Mollie, her face pale with excitement, perhaps +mingled with a little fear.</p> + +<p>"They aren't fighting." Ruth had to place +her lips close to the ears of her companion to +make herself heard. "They are buying and +selling. That is the way business is done on +the floor of the Pit. See! There is father!"</p> + +<p>The girls gazed wide-eyed. Mr. Stuart had +projected himself into the maelstrom of excited +traders. He, like the rest, was waving his +arms and shouting. A group of excited men +instantly surrounded him. He was for the moment +the centre of attention, for Robert Stuart +was one of the largest and most successful traders +on the Chicago Board of Trade. The battle +waged furiously about him, while the "Automobile +Girls" gazed in fascinated awe upon the +strange, exciting scene.</p> + +<p>All at once a gong sounded. The tension +seemed to snap. Men who had been fighting +and shouting suddenly ceased their activities. +The bodies of some grew limp, as it were. Some +staggered. Others walked from the floor laughing +and chatting. Out of the crowds strode a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_54" id="Page_54">[54]</a></span> +man—a young man. What first attracted +the attention of the girls to him was a bandage +about his head. He was walking straight toward +them, though on the floor below. All at once +he glanced up. Only Bab was looking down +at him now. His gaze swept over the gallery. +His eyes rested for a moment on the face of +Barbara Thurston.</p> + +<p>"The man from section thirteen!" exclaimed +Bab under her breath. Then as she caught his +eyes, she gazed in trembling fascination. The +man's features were contorted. Barbara +thought it was the most frightful face she ever +had gazed upon. Anger, deadly passion and +desperate purpose were written there so +plainly that anyone could read. Looking her +fairly in the face, the man sneered. Whether +he recognized her or not, the girl did not know.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Bab, with a shudder.</p> + +<p>"What is it, dear?" questioned Ruth anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Oh, take me away from here. Please take +me away," almost sobbed Barbara. "I—I +can't stand it. It was awful."</p> + +<p>"Come, girls," urged Ruth. "Bab is upset. +I will confess that I have had enough of this +place of nightmares." Rising, she led her +friends down the stairs to the lower floor. Barbara +was still trembling when they saw Mr.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_55" id="Page_55">[55]</a></span> +Stuart coming toward them. His face was set +and stern. But the instant he caught sight of +the "Automobile Girls" the sternness drifted +slowly from his features, giving place to a +pleased smile.</p> + +<p>"Why, Barbara, how pale you are!" he exclaimed. +"What <i>is</i> the matter?"</p> + +<p>"She is upset," answered Ruth briefly.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart eyed her keenly.</p> + +<p>"Was the excitement too much for you, my +dear?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"I—I think so," replied Bab. Then as the +thought of that face and its dreadful expression +recurred to her mind, she trembled more +violently than before. Mr. Stuart linked his +arm in hers and led her away, followed by the +others of the party.</p> + +<p>"It really is no place for young girls," said +Mr. Stuart. "I should not have brought you +here. Girls, we will take the car and go home +at once. Barbara had better lie down for a +while before luncheon. She is completely unnerved."</p> + +<p>This Barbara knew to be true, but by great +effort she conquered her fit of trembling, and +before the Stuart's residence was reached she +had in a great measure regained her self-control.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_56" id="Page_56">[56]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER V</h2> + +<h3>AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>"OH, it is good to be back," declared +Bab, as they entered the broad, +cheerful hall of the Stuart mansion. +"I don't feel as though I ever wanted to leave +the house again."</div> + +<p>"I like it here just as well as you do," answered +Mollie. "But I shouldn't like to feel +that I had to stay inside the house always."</p> + +<p>Ruth had made good time on the return, now +and then "shaving the paint from the sides of +a street car," as Bab expressed it. Still, Ruth +Stuart was not nearly as careless a driver as +she appeared to be. She did take chances frequently, +but the guiding hand at the wheel was +sure and steady. She seldom used bad judgment. +Her father had such confidence in her +driving that he never interfered while riding +with her. As for the three Kingsbridge girls, +they were by this time so used to Ruth's driving +that they declined to get nervous even when she +had narrow escapes from collision.</p> + +<p>"Girls, I am glad you have returned," greeted +Miss Sallie, meeting them in the hallway as they +entered. "You have callers."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_57" id="Page_57">[57]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Pshaw!" muttered Ruth disgustedly. "Bab +wants to lie down and rest. She is all upset. +Can't we make our escape?"</p> + +<p>"I am all right now," protested Barbara. +"However, the company probably came to see +Ruth instead of the rest of us."</p> + +<p>"You are wrong," smiled Aunt Sallie.</p> + +<p>"Who is it?" questioned Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Cousin Richard, Cousin Jane and Tom +Presby. You don't mind them."</p> + +<p>"Oh, no indeed," laughed Ruth. "Come on, +girls, let's go upstairs and get rid of our wraps, +and remove some of this Chicago smoke from +our faces. If I look as dirty as I feel I must +be a sight."</p> + +<p>"Father and mother here? You don't mean +it?" exclaimed Olive in surprise. "I wonder +why they have come in. Girls, you needn't +worry about your appearance. Neither father +nor mother will notice it. They are well used +to the ways of healthy girls. As for Tom, well +he doesn't figure at all. He wouldn't know +whether our faces were clean or grimy. Come +right in. Are they in the library, Aunt Sallie?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear."</p> + +<p>"Not one step will I go until I have made +myself more beautiful," declared Ruth.</p> + +<p>"I don't think that would be possible," said +Bab in a tone calculated for Ruth's ears alone.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_58" id="Page_58">[58]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Don't," begged Ruth. "I shall think you +insincere if you don't stop talking that way. +And my face is so besmudged that I am not fit to +see anyone. You must come upstairs with me," +she added, linking an arm in Barbara's. "Please +tell them we shall be right down, Auntie."</p> + +<p>Olive went directly to the library to see her +parents. The other girls soon followed her. +The library was darkened, lighted only by the +snapping fire in the fireplace. Mr. Presby explained +that he had come into town to see Mr. +Stuart, who was at that moment welcoming him. +Mr. Stuart excused himself, promising that he +would return to his guests as soon as he had +telephoned certain necessary orders to his office. +Mr. Stuart had barely left the room when Bab +and Ruth entered. Olive came forward quickly. +She took Barbara's arm in hers, steering Bab +toward Mrs. Presby.</p> + +<p>"I want you to meet my mother. I know you +will love her, for she's a dear. Mama, this is +Barbara Thurston, of whom you have heard +so much. I can assure you that she has not been +overrated."</p> + +<p>Bab moved blushingly forward. The floor +was one of those slippery, hard-wood traps for +the unwary. Barbara was not used to polished +floors. She took a long step to keep up with +Olive, who was moving rapidly. Bab's foot<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_59" id="Page_59">[59]</a></span> +came in contact with a small rug, and together +the rug and foot slid over the slippery floor.</p> + +<p>Barbara Thurston's other foot followed the +first. Realizing that a fall was inevitable, Barbara +quickly released her arm from Miss +Presby's.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" exclaimed Bab, and sat down on the +floor with such force that it jarred her from +head to foot. There was a distinct vibration +from several articles in the room as though +they were moving out of sheer sympathy for +the unfortunate girl.</p> + +<p>Barbara struggled to her feet. Again she +stumbled over the rug that had caused her to +fall, and brought up heavily against a dark +object near by. The object uttered a deep +groan, as out of the shadows limped an elderly, +dignified man. Pain and anger were struggling +for the mastery of his facial expression. Barbara +had landed fairly on Mr. Richard Presby's +gouty foot.</p> + +<p>"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," pleaded the +girl. "I am so awkward and I did not see you +at all. Please forgive me, if you can," she +begged.</p> + +<p>Mr. Presby, however, merely grunted out +some unintelligible words. That he was not appeased +by her contrition was plain to be seen. +He had been in the act of rising to his feet to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_60" id="Page_60">[60]</a></span> +bow to the girls when Bab collided with him. +Grace, Mollie and Ruth, who had followed Barbara +into the room, suppressed their giggles +with no little effort.</p> + +<p>Barbara rushed toward the shadowy, far corner +of the room, where she sought to hide her +confusion. She flung herself into a great, easy +chair. Something under her moved and wriggled.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I say," exclaimed a voice from under +her. "Get up. Don't put me out of business, +too."</p> + +<p>Bab sprang to her feet, her face burning with +humiliation. She whirled about and peered +into the depths of the chair. There sat a boy +of twelve, grinning from ear to ear.</p> + +<p>"I'm Tom," he informed her. "Lucky for +me it wasn't I who stepped on the governor's +game foot."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Barbara.</p> + +<p>"I forgive you for sitting on me, but gracious, +you're heavy."</p> + +<p>Just at this moment Olive Presby, had hurried +across the room. There was deep sympathy +in her face as she extended a hand to the embarrassed +Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Don't mind it at all, dear. It is a thing +that occurs to all of us frequently. Polished +floors are such a nuisance," said Olive.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_61" id="Page_61">[61]</a></span></p> + +<p>The other girls had been introduced to Mrs. +Presby in the meantime. It was now Bab's turn, +but instead of being first, as Olive had intended, +she was last. Her face was still flushed and her +eyelids drooped as she was presented.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Presby pulled the girl's head down between +two warm hands and gazed into her eyes, +then kissed Barbara full on the lips.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, my dear," she said. "You +couldn't help it."</p> + +<p>"If I could have a good cry, I know I should +feel better," was Bab's plaintive rejoinder.</p> + +<p>"Richard, come here, please, and shake hands +with Miss Thurston," commanded Aunt Jane +in a slightly peremptory tone. Mr. Presby did +so, but with apparent reluctance. He had had +one experience with the brown-haired girl from +Kingsbridge.</p> + +<p>"My dears, we want you to come to Treasureholme +with us. We cannot spare Olive, so you +will have to come to us," smiled Mrs. Presby.</p> + +<p>"We want you to come out for Christmas," +interjected Mr. Presby rather grudgingly, and +as if he were reciting a line from memory.</p> + +<p>"Before Christmas," nodded Mrs. Presby. +"You must come out this week. Sallie, you will +come with them. We shall expect Robert also, +though I suppose he will be running away to +the city all the time."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_62" id="Page_62">[62]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I don't know whether Robert will wish to +spare the girls or not. He likes to have them +with him as much as possible," said Miss Sallie.</p> + +<p>"Treasureholme? What a beautiful name!" +breathed Barbara.</p> + +<p>"And such a romantic name too," added Mollie +soulfully. "I could love the place just on +account of its name."</p> + +<p>"We call the place 'Treasureholme' because +it is or has been supposed to hold a lost treasure. +But we have given up that idea. We gave it +up a long, long time ago. You will come, won't +you, girls? This, in all probability, will be our +last Christmas in the old home. We wish to +make it a bright and joyous occasion," said +Mrs. Presby, with a wan smile. "We have +planned to have a Christmas tree. Cousin Robert, +you and Sallie can have the gifts delivered +at our place just as well as at your home +here."</p> + +<p>"I shall have to leave it all to Robert," answered +Miss Sallie. "Robert's business, as you +know, is giving him no little concern these days. +He may not care to leave it, and I am certain +he would not consent to the girls going away +at this time unless it were possible for him to +spend at least part of the time with them."</p> + +<p>"Then I shall talk with Robert myself," announced +Mrs. Presby firmly. She did so then<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_63" id="Page_63">[63]</a></span> +and there. Rather, she went directly to Mr. +Stuart's own particular sanctum, where Robert +and Mr. Presby were then in consultation over +business matters. Mr. Stuart did object to the +girls going to Treasureholme to spend Christmas. +But Mrs. Presby pleaded with him to let +them come. She told him that before another +Christmas came Treasureholme would be in +other hands. She pleaded with Robert Stuart +to let nothing stand in the way of helping them +all to have a joyous holiday in the old home.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart finally gave a reluctant consent. +Mrs. Presby hurried back to the library to acquaint +the girls with his decision. A merry +chatter followed. Everyone talked at once, each +making suggestions as to what should be worn +and how the Christmas holiday should be spent +in the country. As for the "Automobile Girls" +from Kingsbridge, the idea of going to the country +appealed to them strongly. It would seem +almost like being home again. It must be confessed +that Bab and Mollie now and then suffered +the pangs of homesickness, even though +they found so little time for their own thoughts.</p> + +<p>It was finally decided that they were to +leave for Treasureholme, a distance of more +than thirty miles from the city, on the following +Monday, three days hence. Mrs. Presby consented +to Olive remaining with them until that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_64" id="Page_64">[64]</a></span> +time, and accompanying the girls to the country +in Ruth's motor car. That arrangement stood. +The guests declined an invitation to remain +to dinner and as soon as the two men had finished +their business talk, Mr. and Mrs. Presby +took their leave.</p> + +<p>Two of the following three days were given +up to a round of sight-seeing, paying and receiving +calls on friends of the Stuarts, during +which time the cylinders of Ruth's automobile +scarcely had time to grow cold. Mr. A. Bubble +was doing his full duty during these happy +days.</p> + +<p>Sunday was a day of rest. All were ready +for the rest, too. The Kingsbridge girls looked +a little more pale than usual, but their eyes +were bright and sparkling when Monday morning +arrived. It was a clear, frosty morning, +with a suggestion of snow in the air. Miss +Sallie had risen early, in order to have plenty +of time to make all arrangements for their trip. +She saw to it also that the girls' wardrobes were +properly selected for their stay in the country, +and suggested that they have the chauffeur drive +them out.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," objected Ruth. "I am not +wholly a fair-weather driver. I shall have my +heavy gloves. Therefore, my hands will be +warm and my feet will be so well occupied with<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_65" id="Page_65">[65]</a></span> +working the brake and control that they won't +have time to get cold. Girls, you won't have +anything to do, so wrap yourselves up. Auntie, +I'm going to get out some of father's heavy +coats. He won't need them."</p> + +<p>"A jolly good idea," agreed Mollie. "Always +provided that the master of the house doesn't +object," she added, smiling at Mr. Stuart.</p> + +<p>"My dear, if you had lived in this house as +long as I have, you would understand that it +would make little difference if the master of +the house did object," interjected Mr. Stuart.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dad," chided Ruth. "How can you say +such a thing? You know I am your dutiful +daughter."</p> + +<p>"You suit me," answered Mr. Stuart, giving +the protesting Ruth a quick embrace and a kiss +on the forehead. "Yes, take anything you can +find in the house. But leave the house. I may +need it before I get out of the woods."</p> + +<p>A shadow flitted across the face of Ruth +Stuart. Then she smiled and kissed her father +affectionately. A search for coats was made and +a thousand and one details attended to. It was +well into the afternoon before they were ready +to start, Bab wrapped in Mr. Stuart's long fur +coat, the other girls in cloth coats, with the exception +of Ruth, who wore her own sealskin +coat that reached down to her ankles. A fur<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_66" id="Page_66">[66]</a></span> +cap, silk lined and a pair of fur gloves that +looked, Barbara said, like the feet of a bear, +completed the outfit.</p> + +<p>Mr. A. Bubble was grumbling when the girls +emerged from the house. Their bags had been +strapped on behind. Inside the automobile +there were four foot warmers. Bab and Ruth +spurned theirs. With many urgings on the part +of Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie to be careful, +Ruth threw in the clutch, advanced the spark +and Mr. A. Bubble wheeled himself slowly away +from the house, out into the avenue, then +launched into a burst of speed that set at defiance +all the regulations of the Windy City.</p> + +<p>This was to be an eventful visit. It was to +be one full of excitement and adventure, a visit +that none of the girls ever would be likely to +forget.</p> + +<p>They rapidly rolled through the city and in +a little while were out in the country, where the +land flattened down into a rolling prairie, +broken here and there by groups of slender trees +and farm buildings.</p> + +<p>The snow began to sweep past them in flurries +shortly after they cleared the city limits. Ruth +stopped the automobile and called upon the girls +to assist her in putting on the storm curtains. +When they had finished the car was entirely enclosed, +a heavy curtain taking the place of the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_67" id="Page_67">[67]</a></span> +wind shield which the driver had turned down +at its middle.</p> + +<p>"Isn't this comfy?" chirped Mollie.</p> + +<p>It did not prove so "comfy" after all, the +way Ruth accelerated the speed, sending the +car careening ahead at a high rate.</p> + +<p>"Olive," said Bab, mustering courage to introduce +a subject that was near to her heart.</p> + +<p>"Yes, dear."</p> + +<p>"Would you—would you think me too personal +if I asked you to tell us the story of the +buried treasure of Treasureholme?" she asked +hesitatingly.</p> + +<p>"Not at all."</p> + +<p>"Oh, do tell us," urged Mollie and Grace in +one voice.</p> + +<p>"I've been just dying to hear about it ever +since I first learned there was such a place as +Treasureholme. Are there real ghosts there?" +questioned Mollie.</p> + +<p>"No; no ghosts. But there are memories. +Listen, girls, and I will tell you all I know about +it," said Olive, settling herself to relate the +tale that was to prove of such fascinating interest +to the "Automobile Girls."</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_68" id="Page_68">[68]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VI</h2> + +<h3>THE WRECK OF MR. A. BUBBLE</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>"BURIED treasures are such ravishing +mysteries," observed Mollie, while +Olive was mentally arranging her +facts. "I never thought I should actually be +face to face with one."</div> + +<p>"I am sure it must be a grand old place," +volunteered Barbara.</p> + +<p>"In reality, it is very big and bare," smiled +Olive. "But I love every foot of the old place +where I have lived all my life except when I +have been away to school and where my ancestors +have lived for oh, ever so many years."</p> + +<p>Olive's eyes filled with tears. Barbara stole +a groping hand under the robe and clasped one +of Olive's. The latter pulled herself sharply +together. She gave Bab a grateful look. The +sympathy in that gentle hand clasp had meant +more than words to her. Perhaps in that one +brief moment the two girls came to understand +each other better than in all the days that had +passed since their first meeting at the opera.</p> + +<p>"You know we fully expect to be obliged to +give up the place at an early day. Father's +business affairs have been going from bad to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_69" id="Page_69">[69]</a></span> +worse, until now there seems to be no hope of +our keeping Treasureholme."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps it may not be so bad as you imagine," +suggested Bab softly. "'Never give +up until you have to.' That is my motto."</p> + +<p>"You wouldn't be the Barbara I have heard +so much about if it weren't. But to come to the +story. Treasureholme has been in our family, +as I have already said, for many generations. +My ancestor who founded the old place was +one of the pioneers here. He was rich when +he came here, but he foresaw a great future +for what is now Chicago, so he brought his +family and all his worldly goods here. He said +confidently that a great city was certain to +spring up here some day. You see how true +was his prophecy. It was almost uncanny as +I look at it now."</p> + +<p>The girls nodded, but said nothing.</p> + +<p>"Gracious! Did you see that?" called Ruth, +with a trace of excitement in her tone.</p> + +<p>"No, no. What is it?" cried the girls.</p> + +<p>"Oh, nothing, only I ran down a cow," answered +the fair driver, trying to speak carelessly.</p> + +<p>"Ran down a cow!" exclaimed Bab, peering +through the curtain windows.</p> + +<p>"You needn't look for her. She is a mile or +more back now. I didn't run over her. She appeared<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_70" id="Page_70">[70]</a></span> +so suddenly out of the snow cloud that +I didn't see her until the car was almost on top +of her. I must have hit her only a glancing +blow, for I barely felt the jar. I hope I didn't +hurt the poor thing."</p> + +<p>"So long as we keep on four wheels, please +don't interrupt us," begged Miss Presby severely, +whereat there was a series of giggles +from the girls. "Where was I, girls?"</p> + +<p>"Still at Chicago," replied Mollie. "You +were speaking of your ancestor's prophecy."</p> + +<p>"Oh, yes. At the time they were living in +the garrison, at the first fort ever built on the +Chicago River. You know the Indians were +pretty thick hereabouts at that period."</p> + +<p>"Indians!" murmured Grace apprehensively.</p> + +<p>"Yes. After a time our ancestors built +Treasureholme. That is why it is so old-fashioned +now, though many changes necessarily +have been made in the house since then, +but the main part is practically as it was built +by my pioneer ancestor. The boards that were +used were laboriously sawed out and the timbers +hewn by hand. It must have taken years to +build the place. Outwardly it now has a more +modern appearance, each succeeding ancestor +adding and improving. But for a long time +after it was built there were Indians and bad +men hereabouts. This perhaps accounts for the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_71" id="Page_71">[71]</a></span> +secret passages and numerous hiding places in +the old house."</p> + +<p>"Glorious," said Mollie, her eyes dancing.</p> + +<p>"One day a message came that the Indians +were no longer friendly. My ancestor was +warned to hide his valuables and hasten to the +fort with his family for the safety afforded +there. It is believed that the treasure was +buried at that time."</p> + +<p>"Money?" asked Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Gold and plate and jewels that had been +brought from the old country when the family +first came to the new world from England. But, +alas, the garrison was wiped out by the Indians, +leaving not a living person who knew +the location of the treasure. Later on other +members of the family came here from the east +and took possession. The Presbys have been +living on the estate ever since."</p> + +<p>"Has no attempt been made to find the +treasure?" questioned Barbara.</p> + +<p>"So many attempts that I couldn't count +them. Someone always is nosing about the place +for clues. Father has spent a great deal of +money in looking for it himself, but I think he +has about given up hope of ever finding it. It +is my idea that some of the other early members +of the family found the hidden treasure, but +said nothing about it."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_72" id="Page_72">[72]</a></span></p> + +<p>Silence reigned in the automobile for some +moments.</p> + +<p>"Do you know," said Barbara, breaking the +silence, "I think this is an excellent opportunity +for the 'Automobile Girls' to distinguish themselves +further?"</p> + +<p>Olive shook her head smilingly.</p> + +<p>"It would be effort wasted. Besides, we shall +manage to keep your time so fully occupied +that you will have no opportunity to search for +buried treasure."</p> + +<p>"What about those secret passages that you +spoke of?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"You shall see them and explore them to your +hearts' content. Tom will show them to you. +What Tom doesn't know about the old place, +no one else does. And he knows a lot more about +it than any of the rest of the family. I suspect +that he has been making investigations on his +own hook. He, like the boy he is, still has hopes +of discovering the buried treasure."</p> + +<p>"Is the gate open?" called Ruth over her +shoulder.</p> + +<p>"Yes. It hasn't been closed this fall."</p> + +<p>"Then I'll drive in in style and make one of +my flying stops," answered Ruth. "We'll make +them think a train has left the C., B. & Q. track +and is going to smash the house down. I think +they will be surprised. I'll open up the exhaust<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_73" id="Page_73">[73]</a></span> +just as we get to the house, make a flying +stop and the noise will wake up Olive's +scalped ancestors."</p> + +<p>"Be careful that you don't hit the house in +reality," laughed Olive. "Remember it is old. +It might tumble down. I don't care so much +about the house, but I shouldn't like to see it +tumble down on father and mother."</p> + +<p>"Oh, it will not be quite as bad as that. We +shall simply be making a big noise."</p> + +<p>"I was only joking," replied Olive. "You +don't think I thought for a minute you would +run into the house, do you?"</p> + +<p>"That is exactly what I am going to do."</p> + +<p>"Ruth Stuart!" exclaimed Bab sternly.</p> + +<p>"After I have stopped the car," finished +Ruth, with a merry laugh. "But look here, +young ladies, if you keep on talking to me and +making me laugh, I am likely to pile you all in +the ditch right here."</p> + +<p>"Can you see the road?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Between snow flurries. I can't miss +the road. The turn into the grounds is enclosed +in stone fences, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"I'll pick it up all right. You girls look out +when I give the word. I am going to make the +turn wide and at full speed. Hold fast!" she +cried, giving the steering wheel a sharp turn.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_74" id="Page_74">[74]</a></span> +For one giddy moment Mr. A. Bubble appeared +to be uncertain whether to turn turtle or go on +the way he was headed. He decided upon the +latter course, and settling down on all four +wheels shot straight ahead. The light was uncertain, +but Ruth's eyes were on the road, all +her attention centred on her work. Suddenly +she uttered a sharp little cry. The emergency +brake went on with a shock. Then came a +mighty crash. To the girls in the car in their +brief instant of consciousness, it seemed as if +the universe were going to pieces.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_75" id="Page_75">[75]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VII</h2> + +<h3>THE MYSTERY OF THE IRON GATES</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>INSTEAD of running into the Presby home, +as she had laughingly threatened to do, +Ruth Stuart had dashed at almost full +speed into the closed heavy iron gates at the +entrance to the Treasureholme grounds. These +gates were supposed to be open. As Olive had +said, they had not been closed in some months. +Why should they be closed now when the "Automobile +Girls" car was looked for to arrive at +any moment?</div> + +<p>None of the girls was thinking of this at the +moment. None was in condition to think at all. +Ruth had discovered the obstruction in time to +throw on the emergency brake, but not quickly +enough to stop the headway of the automobile.</p> + +<p>The car crashed against the gates with great +force. The heavy iron bars of the gates buckled +under the impact, then with a great creaking +and rattling the hinges gave way, the old brick +columns to which the hinges had been attached +crumbled and fell in a cloud of dust and mortar. +Accompanying the crash was the sound of breaking +glass. But not a cry had been raised from +the interior of the car, save Ruth's warning.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_76" id="Page_76">[76]</a></span></p> + +<p>That cry of warning had set Barbara instantly +on the defensive. She threw both arms about +Mollie and Olive. Grace was on the front seat +with Ruth. Bab braced her feet with a mighty +effort. Then the crash came.</p> + +<p>It seemed to Barbara Thurston as though +her arms were being torn from their sockets. +Then the three girls on the rear seat were jerked +to their feet. They toppled over the back of the +seat ahead of them, plunging head first into +the forward part of the car, where the operating +mechanism was located.</p> + +<p>Ruth and Grace had been hurled against the +storm curtain, securely fastened down between +themselves and the glass wind shield. Fortunately +for them, the curtain held for a few seconds +until the shower of glass from the shield +had fallen into the roadway, then the curtain +gave way and the two girls tumbled out in the +wake of the glass.</p> + +<p>The automobile, after the first impact, had +recoiled several feet. It essayed to plunge forward +again, but the emergency brake held it +motionless while the motors began to race, making +a noise that was heard in the house, which +stood at some distance from the fallen gates.</p> + +<p>The "Automobile Girls" lay where they had +fallen, Ruth and Grace in the roadway, Bab, +Mollie and Olive in the forward end of the car.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_77" id="Page_77">[77]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There they come," cried Mrs. Presby. +"Why, what a frightful noise," she exclaimed, +starting for the door, followed by Mr. Presby, +with a painful limp.</p> + +<p>Tommy's face turned white when he heard +the crash. With a bound he passed his father +and mother, tore down the steps and off down +the drive.</p> + +<p>"Something has happened, Richard," cried +Mrs. Presby.</p> + +<p>"Something will happen to my gout, too, if +I have to remain out in this chill atmosphere," +declared Mr. Presby irritably.</p> + +<p>"Hurry, hurry!" wailed the distant voice of +Tommy.</p> + +<p>"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Presby, picking +up her skirts and running down the drive.</p> + +<p>"They're killed! They're killed!" howled +Tommy. "They've smashed into the gates. +Everything's done. Finished!"</p> + +<p>"Run, Richard! Quick! Get help! An accident +has occurred," begged Olive's mother.</p> + +<p>The woman was almost beside herself with +terror. Tommy's face was ghastly.</p> + +<p>"Here's Ruth," he said, almost brusquely, +lifting the girl by main strength and staggering +toward the house. He bore the burden only a +few feet, however, then hastily deposited it on +the ground. Ruth was senseless.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_78" id="Page_78">[78]</a></span></p> + +<p>A neighbor had witnessed the accident and +with rare forethought telephoned for a doctor. +By this time a general alarm had been sounded. +The old fire bell on Treasureholme had been +rung by Mr. Presby as the quickest method of +summoning assistance. Neighbors came on the +run. They were appalled when they first looked +upon the wreck of the old gates. The wreck at +first sight appeared to be much worse than it +really was. The automobile motors were still +racing, the exhaust emitting frequent explosions +that sounded like the discharge of a Gatling gun. +It was almost as though Mr. A. Bubble were +summoning assistance on his own responsibility.</p> + +<p>No time was lost, however, in attending to the +five girls. Ruth and Grace being nearest at +hand, were quickly lifted by strong arms and +borne to the house. The three girls still in the +automobile were tenderly lifted out and also +carried in. Each girl was placed in the room +that had been set aside for her. The doctor was +on hand almost by the time the girls had been +placed on their beds. He made a hasty diagnosis +of each case, announced that no bones had +been broken and, assisted by Mrs. Presby, administered +restoratives to the victims of the accident, +who soon recovered consciousness.</p> + +<p>No one had thought to send word to Mr. +Stuart. The household was too much upset to<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_79" id="Page_79">[79]</a></span> +think of anything save the accident that had +occurred.</p> + +<p>Grace and Ruth really had the front storm +curtain to thank for saving their lives. Had +they been hurled through the heavy glass wind +shield they undoubtedly would have been killed +instantly. Mollie and Olive no doubt were saved +by Barbara Thurston's presence of mind. But +Barbara by devoting her whole effort to saving +her companions had been badly bruised and +shaken.</p> + +<p>Someone in the meantime had shut off the +motors and pushed the car out of the way. The +wreckage of the gates was also cleared away +at the direction of Mr. Presby, so that no one +else should collide with it.</p> + +<p>The doctor remained at Treasureholme until +nine o'clock in the evening. Before taking his +departure, however, he gave strict orders that +none of his patients were to be allowed to leave +their beds until he called the next morning, and +pronounced them able to rise and dress.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Presby broke down and cried after she +learned that the girls were not seriously injured. +Tom went out in the woodshed and wailed so +loudly that he was heard in the rooms upstairs. +Mr. Presby hobbled about irritably. He did +not care to have those in the house know how +much affected he really was.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_80" id="Page_80">[80]</a></span></p> + +<p>Early the next morning he sent for one of +his men. The old gentleman was now in a fine +temper. Owing to the excitement caused by the +accident, and a particularly painful attack of +the gout, he had passed a sleepless night and +was therefore in a most unamiable frame of +mind.</p> + +<p>"Who closed those gates?" roared Mr. +Presby the instant the man appeared in the +doorway of the dining room, where the master +was hobbling back and forth.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know, sir."</p> + +<p>"You closed them!" thundered Richard +Presby.</p> + +<p>"I did not. They were open when I last saw +them."</p> + +<p>"When was that?"</p> + +<p>"About an hour before the accident occurred, +I think, sir."</p> + +<p>"If you didn't close them, who did? Answer +me that."</p> + +<p>Of course the man could not answer that question. +He made no answer at all, thinking +thereby not to further irritate his employer.</p> + +<p>"I suppose the gates were closed by some +of those rascally treasure hunters that are continually +tearing over my premises, digging holes +for the unwary to fall into and making general +nuisances of themselves in every other way.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_81" id="Page_81">[81]</a></span> +Drive them off. Pepper them with shot if you +can't get rid of them in any other way. I may +not be here for long, but while I am here, I'm +the master of Treasureholme. Do you understand?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, sir," answered the man humbly, his +face reflecting no expression at all.</p> + +<p>Mr. Presby thumped back and forth with his +cane for nearly an hour after that, despite the +fact that every step he took sent excruciating +pains through his gouty foot. Finally retiring +to the library, he went to sleep in his Morris +chair, with the troublesome foot propped up on +a stool.</p> + +<p>Early in the forenoon Mrs. Presby communicated +with Miss Sallie and Mr. Stuart, telling +them as much of the details of the accident as +was known. Ten minutes later Robert Stuart +and Miss Sallie were on their way to Treasureholme +as fast as an automobile could carry them. +The girls were asleep when they arrived. The +doctor, who had arrived in the meantime, would +not permit his patients to be disturbed. He +assured Mr. Stuart, however, that the girls had +providentially escaped with a few slight +scratches and bruises and that they would all +be up before the end of the day.</p> + +<p>But the mystery of the closed gates was disturbing +the entire household. It was inexplicable.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_82" id="Page_82">[82]</a></span> +Mr. Presby declared that it was the +work either of his enemies or of some treasure-seeker +who thought he was doing the owner a +service by closing his gates for him.</p> + +<p>Late that afternoon the five girls appeared +in the dining room little the worse for their +shaking up, although Barbara was far more +lame and sore than she would admit. A general +season of rejoicing ensued, and several neighbors +dropped in to congratulate the girls on their +miraculous escape from serious injury.</p> + +<p>On seeing her father, Ruth's first question +was, "What happened to A. Bubble?"</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart did not know. He promised to +find out, which he did an hour or so later. Mr. +A. Bubble, he told her, would be sent to a shop +for repairs the next day, as he intended going +back to Chicago that night and would attend +to it. The radiator had been badly bent, the +forward axle had buckled, guards were smashed, +the hood was damaged, in short, Mr. Bubble +presented a most disreputable appearance.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart told Ruth she was in a certain +degree responsible for the accident, still she +had no thought that the gates would be closed.</p> + +<p>"I'll know enough after this to keep my car +under control. I won't try to knock over any +more houses and things," Ruth retorted.</p> + +<p>By the afternoon of their second day at<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_83" id="Page_83">[83]</a></span> +Treasureholme the "Automobile Girls" had +practically gotten over the effects of their accident +and were cosily established in Olive's room +consuming hot chocolate and cakes while Olive, +at their urgent request, again recounted the +story of the buried treasure. Now that they +were face to face with the great mystery, they +were alive with curiosity. They were burning +to see with their own eyes the place that held +so much of mystery and perhaps a fortune that +was probably being trodden over by human feet +every hour of the day.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_84" id="Page_84">[84]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER VIII</h2> + +<h3>EXPLORING THE SECRET PASSAGE</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>"I CERTAINLY do adore this room!" exclaimed +Mollie Thurston, with glowing +eyes.</div> + +<p>The "Automobile Girls" and Olive were sitting +in the dining room of old Treasureholme. +It was a massive, but cheerful room, the ceiling +studded with great beams. A fireplace constructed +of boulders of varying shapes and sizes, +large enough to take a six-foot log, occupied +the greater part of one side of the room. Olive +Presby had been telling her guests various anecdotes +relating to Treasureholme and as usual +the conversation had turned to the tale of the +long-lost treasure.</p> + +<p>An old-fashioned bookcase, extending all the +way across one end of the room, was filled with +leather-bound books. Bab regarded them longingly. +She made up her mind to browse among +these old volumes at the first opportunity.</p> + +<p>"Help yourself any time you wish," smiled +Olive, who had observed Bab's eager glances at +the bookcase. Barbara blushed that her +thoughts should have been read so easily.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I should love to!" she answered simply.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_85" id="Page_85">[85]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mollie cast an apprehensive glance about her.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure there are no ghosts in this +old place?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"Of course not. What made you think of +that?" laughed Ruth.</p> + +<p>"In all the stories I ever read about buried +treasure there was sure to be a ghost to guard +it," replied Mollie. "Perhaps Treasureholme +has a ghost, too. At any rate, I feel spooky."</p> + +<p>"So do I," agreed Grace. "Did you hear +that noise?"</p> + +<p>"It sounds to me like rats or mice," ventured +Barbara. "Of course it is. I know the sound. +I hope they don't come out while I am here."</p> + +<p>A hush fell over the little party of "Automobile +Girls." A gentle scratching that seemed +to come from the left side of the fireplace was +audible to each of them. As they listened the +sound seemed to magnify. A draft through the +open door that led into the hallway smote Mollie +in the back of the neck. She sprang up, uttering +a little cry.</p> + +<p>"It's a ghost. I felt it blow on my neck," +she cried.</p> + +<p>"Nonsense! I'll soon show you the ghost," +offered Ruth, starting to her feet. "I know +this old place pretty well. May I, Olive?"</p> + +<p>Olive nodded smilingly. Ruth stepped to the +left side of the fireplace and, grasping a<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_86" id="Page_86">[86]</a></span> +knob that had escaped the observation of the +Kingsbridge girls, deliberately pulled out a +panel that was in reality a door.</p> + +<p>The girls uttered exclamations of amazement. +Then they saw something move in the dark recess +the door had revealed. It was Tom, sitting +in the hole in the wall, with his feet curled +up under him. He was grinning sardonically.</p> + +<p>"Here's your ghost," announced Ruth, taking +firm hold of the irrepressible Tom's collar +and assisting him out into the room. "You +ought to be ashamed of yourself, Thomas +Presby, frightening young women in that fashion."</p> + +<p>"Yes, Tom, I am ashamed of you," rebuked +Olive. But Tom was perfectly cheerful and +unabashed.</p> + +<p>"A secret passage?" gasped Mollie.</p> + +<p>"It's a sort of underground passage, built +to look like an old-fashioned Dutch oven," explained +Olive.</p> + +<p>"Per—perhaps the treasure is buried there," +suggested Bab scarcely above a whisper.</p> + +<p>Tom laughed derisively. Olive smiled tolerantly.</p> + +<p>"If it ever was hidden there, it was taken +out long, long ago. That passage has been +known for some generations, I believe," said +Olive.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_87" id="Page_87">[87]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How ever did you get in there?" demanded +Ruth, a sudden thought occurring to her.</p> + +<p>"Find out," grinned Tom.</p> + +<p>"There must be another entrance to it, isn't +there, Olive?"</p> + +<p>"Not that I know of. Is there, Tom?"</p> + +<p>"Maybe and maybe not."</p> + +<p>"Oh, please tell us. Can't you see we are +burning with curiosity?" begged Bab.</p> + +<p>"I'll show the place to any girl who's got the +sand to go in there with me," answered Tom +Presby.</p> + +<p>All the girls, except Barbara, drew back. She +was regarding the boy questioningly.</p> + +<p>"Will you show me?" she asked.</p> + +<p>"You bet I will if you've got the nerve."</p> + +<p>"Don't trust him," warned the girls.</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid of one small boy, especially +Tom," answered Bab, with a twinkle in her +eyes. "But, Master Tom, if you try to play +any tricks on me it will be a sorry day for you. +You can't play tricks on the 'Automobile Girls' +without getting into trouble, remember. Olive, +may I go?"</p> + +<p>"Of course, if you wish," smiled Miss +Presby. "I have been in there ever so many +times, and"—with a blush—"I have dug and +dug in there."</p> + +<p>The girls laughed merrily, all save Bab, who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_88" id="Page_88">[88]</a></span> +was thoughtful. The impression was strong +with her that somehow this passage was connected +directly or indirectly with the secret of +the lost treasure.</p> + +<p>"Take a light with you. I won't go in in the +dark," declared Barbara.</p> + +<p>Tom produced a candle and lighted it. Barbara +crawled into the dark hole after him. The +others crowded about, peering in wonderingly.</p> + +<p>"Close the door," commanded Tom.</p> + +<p>Barbara pretended to do so, but left a crack +through which the light from the dining room +filtered faintly.</p> + +<p>"Don't you girls dare to fasten the door," +she called. "I should die of fright if I thought +I was locked in this hole."</p> + +<p>"We'll come in by way of the front door," +called back Tom, as he began burrowing into +the hole. The place was inky black save for +the faint light shed by the candle. "Don't be +afraid. After we get out from under the house +you will be able to stand up."</p> + +<p>"Oh! Is the passage so long as that?" gasped +Bab. "I—I guess I don't want to go any +further. I'll explore with you to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"It won't be any lighter in the daytime," reminded +the boy. "It's always dark down here." +He was getting further and further away from +her.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_89" id="Page_89">[89]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Thomas Presby, you come right back here," +commanded Barbara. "I won't go another +step."</p> + +<p>"'Fraid cat!" jeered Thomas.</p> + +<p>"I'm not!" retorted Bab, starting forward. +She knew she could easily find her way back +again. She bumped her head against the roof +of the passage several times. The place smelled +stuffy and mouldy, though the girl realized that +a faint current of air was passing through the +tunnel. All at once she discovered that the passage +had grown larger. She was able to stand +up without difficulty. She then made a further +discovery. Tom and his light had disappeared.</p> + +<p>"Tom! Oh, Tom!" cried Barbara.</p> + +<p>There was no answer. The silence was so +deep that it made her ears ring. At first the +girl was panic stricken, then she reasoned out +her situation more calmly. She had only to retrace +her steps to return to the dining room. +Tom no doubt had eluded her and left the passage +through an exit known only to himself. +She would show him that she was as good as +any boy.</p> + +<p>"I'll go straight back," declared Barbara. +But somehow the "going back" was not accomplished +with the ease that she had hoped for. +The way seemed much longer than had been the +case when she was on her way in. Bab was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_90" id="Page_90">[90]</a></span> +peering ahead of her, expecting every moment +to catch sight of the light from the dining room. +She would have called out to her companions, +only she did not want them to know that she +was in trouble or that she was afraid.</p> + +<p>Barbara had been in the low-ceilinged passage +for some time when she came in contact with a +solid wall. She gave a glad little exclamation, +believing that she had reached the panel that +led into the dining room. She had now but +to rap and her companions would open the +panel. The wind must have blown the panel +shut. Barbara put out her hands and began +groping for the panel. To her horror, there +was no panel there. Her hands found nothing +but earth. Some moments had elapsed when +Barbara Thurston realized that she was in a +predicament.</p> + +<p>"I am lost!" she groaned. "Oh, what shall +I do?"</p> + +<p>The girl decided to call for assistance. There +seemed to be no other way. She raised her +voice and shouted, but, to her amazement, the +shout was merely a feeble call that could not +have been heard many feet away. The low +walls deadened the sound of her voice.</p> + +<p>A little investigation convinced her that she +had strayed into a short blind passage. Having +made this discovery, she began creeping back,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_91" id="Page_91">[91]</a></span> +hugging the right-hand wall of the passage, believing +that the main passage must begin on +the right-hand side. In this she was correct.</p> + +<p>Barbara had proceeded but a short distance +before she found the junction of the two passages. +She had not observed this shorter passage +when following Tom, and no doubt he had +known that she would be almost sure to lose +her way, just as she had done. But there was +no Tom present on whom to vent her displeasure. +Neither was Barbara yet out of the +tunnel. For all she knew she might be in a +wholly new passage. Before going ahead she +sat down to think over her situation carefully.</p> + +<p>"No, I can't be mistaken. I must be right. +But I ought to see the light from the dining +room from this point. However, I will go on +and trust to luck."</p> + +<p>Barbara started on at once, though she took +no chance of losing herself. Every foot of the +walls on either side was carefully groped over +by her hands as she made her way. The earth +felt cold and damp. To touch it made her +shiver. But Barbara was plucky. She continued +bravely on.</p> + +<p>"Oh, there's the light," she cried. "I'll call +to let them know I am coming. No, I won't. +I'll give them a scare. Lucky for me that I +kept my head. I might have been lost in that<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_92" id="Page_92">[92]</a></span> +short passage and never found again. How +terrible. But an 'Automobile Girl' never gives +up. I hear voices. The girls must be wondering +what has become of me. I think I hear Tom +in the dining room. I wonder what I had better +do to punish him for the trick he played on me? +I shall have to think it over. I——</p> + +<p>"Gracious! What would I do if the girls +should happen to have company in the old +dining room? I shouldn't dare to come out, +for I know I must look a fright." Bab soon +reached the panel, which was still as she had +left it upon entering the passage. Then as she +craned her neck forward and peered into the +dining room she uttered a smothered exclamation.</p> + +<p>Mr. and Mrs. Presby were sitting facing the +fire, talking. The girl in the passage drew back +as she saw Mr. Presby's eye fixed upon the +panel. He appeared to be looking straight at +her. A moment more and she was convinced +that he was not.</p> + +<p>Bab was in a quandary. She dared not show +herself. What would they think of her, their +daughter's guest, were she to be seen crawling +from a hole in the wall? Her first meeting with +Mr. Presby had been unfortunate enough. He +surely would not forgive her for this exploit. +Then the humor of the situation dawned upon<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_93" id="Page_93">[93]</a></span> +her. Bab stuffed her handkerchief into her +mouth so that they might not hear her giggles.</p> + +<p>All at once she ceased laughing and sat up +very straight.</p> + +<p>"Nathan Bonner called on me at my office +to-day. It was of that that I wished to speak +with you, and that is why I asked the girls to +leave the room." Mr. Presby was speaking.</p> + +<p>"Did he wish to help you?"</p> + +<p>"He intimated something of the sort. What +he did want was permission to call on Olive."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" The exclamation escaped Mrs. Presby +unwittingly.</p> + +<p>"And you told him——?"</p> + +<p>"No. Not with my permission. Bonner is a +very rich man, Jane—and an unscrupulous one +I am informed. I know little more about him, +except that he has come to be an important +figure on the Board of Trade. His rise has been +phenomenal. I don't care for the man, however. +I do not consider him the sort of man that Olive +would like."</p> + +<p>"You wish me to speak with her upon the +subject?" asked Aunt Jane.</p> + +<p>"No!" The word came out with explosive +force. "The incident is closed. I am not so +base as to consider for a moment the idea of my +daughter making a rich alliance some day for +the sake of retrieving our financial affairs. I<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_94" id="Page_94">[94]</a></span> +am simply confiding the facts to you, that you +may be governed accordingly."</p> + +<p>Jane Presby rose, and, going over to her husband, +kissed him tenderly on the forehead.</p> + +<p>"You are a noble man, Richard."</p> + +<p>"Has it taken you all these years to find that +out?" retorted Mr. Presby testily.</p> + +<p>"I have always known it," answered Mrs. +Presby simply.</p> + +<p>"What do you know about this Jack Howard's +attentions to Olive?" he demanded +sharply.</p> + +<p>"They are childhood friends. Olive is still +our baby, Richard. She has no thought of leaving +us, I am sure. At least not in a long, long +time."</p> + +<p>Barbara, realizing that she was listening to a +family conference, had suddenly shrunk back +further into the corridor. She still could hear +their voices. She retired further into the passage. +Now their voices reached her ears in a +confused murmur. The girl crouched down, +waiting. The words of Mr. Presby had not +made a very great impression on her, except +that he had objected to one Nathan Bonner +calling on his daughter. Who Nathan Bonner +was Bab did not know.</p> + +<p>Words, clear and distinct, spoken by Richard +Presby, now reached Barbara plainly. He was<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_95" id="Page_95">[95]</a></span> +speaking of another matter, one that was near +to the heart of the "Automobile Girl" crouching +there in the secret passage of the old mansion. +Barbara's face blanched as she heard and understood +what Mr. Presby was saying. She +was powerless to shut her ears to the words. +Mr. Presby's further remarks were brief. He +rose and stamped from the room, followed a few +seconds later by his wife.</p> + +<p>Barbara crept forward to the panel, peered +out cautiously to make sure that there was no +one there, then, throwing wide the panel, +stepped into the dining room, and, gathering her +skirts about her, fled to her room on the next +floor. She could hear the girls laughing and +talking in Olive Presby's room.</p> + +<p>Reaching her bedroom, Barbara Thurston +threw herself on the bed, and sobbed as though +her heart would break.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_96" id="Page_96">[96]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER IX</h2> + +<h3>IN AN INDIAN GRAVEYARD</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>IT was Olive who found Bab there. She +halted in the doorway, gazing in in amazement.</div> + +<p>"Why, Barbara Thurston! What can be the +matter with you?" cried Olive. "We thought +you were exploring the secret passages under +the old house, and here you are crying all by +your lonely little self. Where is Tom?" demanded +Miss Presby, with growing suspicion +in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know," confessed Barbara +weakly.</p> + +<p>"See here, Bab, did Tom play any tricks on +you?"</p> + +<p>"Nothing of any account. He went out by +some other exit. I returned the way I came. +I am going back there to-morrow, if you do +not object. I must solve the mystery of that +secret passage."</p> + +<p>"You are a dear!" exclaimed Olive, kissing +Bab affectionately.</p> + +<p>At this juncture Ruth Stuart came in, having +heard Bab's voice as she was passing through +the hall.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_97" id="Page_97">[97]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Bab! When did you get back?" exclaimed +Ruth. "Oh, I beg your pardon," she added, +laughingly, as she discovered Olive and Bab +engaged in serious conversation. "I see I am +intruding."</p> + +<p>"Come in, Ruth," answered Olive. "I found +Bab crying here. I think Tom must have played +pranks on her. Wait until I get my hands on +the young man. You say you haven't seen him +since you left the passage, Barbara?"</p> + +<p>Bab shook her head.</p> + +<p>"I shall find him at once," announced Olive, +rising and starting for the door.</p> + +<p>"Please, please don't scold him," begged +Bab. "Really, it isn't that that is the matter +with me." But Olive insisted and went on her +way in search of the irrepressible Tommy. +Ruth stepped over and sat on the edge of the +bed, gazing down at Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Now, tell me all about it," urged Ruth +gently.</p> + +<p>"There—there isn't anything to tell," murmured +Bab.</p> + +<p>"I know what the trouble is. You are homesick," +declared Ruth Stuart. "To-morrow we +have planned to give you an interesting day. +We are going to explore the old place and I +am going to take you to the Indian Cemetery. +Quite likely some of the same gentlemen who<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_98" id="Page_98">[98]</a></span> +scalped Olive's ancestors are buried out there. +Bab, do you love me just the same as you used +to?" asked the girl, bending a questioning gaze +on Barbara's tear-stained face.</p> + +<p>"You ought not to ask me that question, +dear," answered Bab. "You know I do. It +seems to me that I have known you for ever +and ever so many years. Perhaps our friendship +began in some other life. Sometimes I +think it must have. But you haven't acted quite +the same of late. It has seemed to me that you +didn't love me as dearly as you used to and +the thought has hurt me, oh, so much, Ruth."</p> + +<p>"Why, Bab Thurston, how can you say so?" +exclaimed Ruth. "I love you better than any +other girl I've ever known. You ought to know +that. The truth of the matter is that I am +worried, dear. I have not been quite myself +of late. I'm worried about father. Was—was +it that that made you cry, dear?"</p> + +<p>"Not exactly. I was crying because—because +I felt sorry for you and—and for——"</p> + +<p>"For whom?"</p> + +<p>Barbara shook her head and closed her lips +firmly.</p> + +<p>"I shan't say another word. Please don't +ask me. I want to think. If you don't mind, I +am going to bed. Must I go downstairs first?"</p> + +<p>"No, child. You tumble right in. I will tell<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_99" id="Page_99">[99]</a></span> +the folks you are not feeling quite well. I want +to speak to Olive before I go to bed, anyway."</p> + +<p>"Tell them that I am going to bed, please."</p> + +<p>"Yes."</p> + +<p>"Please also say good night to Mr. and Mrs. +Presby for me, won't you?"</p> + +<p>Ruth said she would do so, and hurried from +the room. She stopped in Olive's room to tell +the other "Automobile Girls" not to disturb +Bab, who had gone to bed feeling a little indisposed.</p> + +<p>On the following morning matters appeared +to have adjusted themselves to the satisfaction +of all, for the girls were in their brightest mood. +Bab now and then grew sober and thoughtful, +but strove to throw off the feeling of depression +that persisted in taking possession of her.</p> + +<p>"I have a note from father," announced +Ruth. "He says Mr. A. Bubble has entirely +recovered. There were some broken bones, but +these have been mended. Bubble is to be returned +to us to-day, and then we will have a +jolly ride."</p> + +<p>"I sincerely trust there will be no gates in +the way this time," observed Mrs. Presby, +smilingly.</p> + +<p>"Never fear. I have had my lesson," answered +Ruth, flushing a little. "I never thought +it would be possible for me to get into so much<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_100" id="Page_100">[100]</a></span> +trouble with a motor car. Shall we show the +girls the Indian burying ground this morning?"</p> + +<p>"You take them, Ruth, if you will, please," +answered Olive. "I must help mother with +some family matters. You know more about +the old cemetery than I do."</p> + +<p>They started out shortly after breakfast, full +of keen anticipation. Just outside the house +Tom joined them. He had with him Olive's +big setter dog, "General." Bab pinched Tommy's +ear playfully.</p> + +<p>"You were a naughty boy last night," she +said.</p> + +<p>"But you didn't find out where I got out, just +the same," jeered Tom.</p> + +<p>"No, but I am going to."</p> + +<p>"I'll bet you don't."</p> + +<p>"I shall. See if I don't. By the way, Tom, +have they found out yet who closed those gates +the night we ran into them?" asked Barbara +carelessly. She and Tom had fallen behind the +others.</p> + +<p>"No-o-o-o," answered the boy, giving her a +quick glance. Bab's face told him nothing.</p> + +<p>"I suppose you haven't the slightest idea who +could have done that?"</p> + +<p>"How should I know anything about it?"</p> + +<p>"I thought perhaps you might have done it; +you are such a very smart young man," observed<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_101" id="Page_101">[101]</a></span> +Barbara soberly. "Couldn't you even +guess?"</p> + +<p>"No. Could you?"</p> + +<p>"I don't have to guess."</p> + +<p>Tommy regarded her shrewdly.</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?"</p> + +<p>"I don't have to guess because I <i>know</i>. You +closed those gates, Tom Presby. You thought +it would be a good joke to fool Olive and Ruth +and the rest of us. I'm not sure but that you +thought you would be taking a proper revenge +on poor me for sitting down on you that night +at Stuarts' house. You came near causing the +death of five girls with what you thought only +a prank, young man," added Bab, in her most +severe tone. "I should think you would be +ashamed of yourself."</p> + +<p>Tommy's face grew very pale. Beads of perspiration +broke out on his forehead.</p> + +<p>"Don't tell father. Don't, please don't. +He'd skin me alive if he knew I did that. +How'd you find out?"</p> + +<p>"You told me," answered Bab, now with a +merry twinkle in her eyes. "I guessed it first, +then you admitted it just now."</p> + +<p>"That was a mean trick. Nobody but a girl +would take such a mean advantage of a fellow."</p> + +<p>"Nobody but a mischievous boy would intentionally +cause an automobile smash-up and endanger<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_102" id="Page_102">[102]</a></span> +the lives of five girls, including his sister," +rebuked Barbara. "What do you think +I ought to do with you?"</p> + +<p>"You aren't going to tell the governor? Oh, +don't say you are. I'll do anything for you! +Say, I like you better than all the rest, Bab. +Honest and true I do. I'll show you how I +got out of the hole last night if you won't give +it away. I'll show you everything I know about +the old place. You aren't going to squeal on a +fellow, are you?"</p> + +<p>"No, Tom, I'm not," answered Bab, laughing +heartily. "Nor am I going to ask you to +show me the exit from the secret passage. If +I can't find it out for myself, I don't want to +know."</p> + +<p>Tommy regarded her admiringly.</p> + +<p>"Say, you're a good sport, aren't you? I'll +show you anyhow, for that."</p> + +<p>About this time the setter dog, General, attracted +the attention of the girls by diving into +a hole in the base of a great tree that stood +some little distance from the house. Nothing +but his tail was visible. Tom soon had a firm +grip on this and was hauling the angry General +out to the accompaniment of merry shouts +from the girls.</p> + +<p>Ruth explained that this tree was an old landmark. +It had been there ever since the oldest<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_103" id="Page_103">[103]</a></span> +inhabitant could remember. It was known as +"Old Sentinel," having stood sentinel over +Treasureholme for at least a hundred years.</p> + +<p>"What is in that hole?" demanded Bab.</p> + +<p>"General's buried treasure," answered Tom +carelessly. "He hides his beef bones there."</p> + +<p>Now they moved on together, making an attractive +picture as they walked. Grace and +Ruth were the only ones of the party who wore +furs. Mollie wore her heavy dark-blue traveling +coat, with a gentian-blue scarf tied about +her throat. Bab, with a scarlet wing perched +at a jaunty angle in her brown cloth hat, reminded +one of a robin redbreast.</p> + +<p>"You don't think you will catch cold?" asked +Ruth solicitiously.</p> + +<p>Bab assured her that they would not, to which +Ruth made no reply, though she hugged a dark +Christmas secret closer to her heart and +chuckled inwardly.</p> + +<p>"There is the old burying ground," she announced +finally, pointing to a succession of hillocks +a short distance ahead of them. These +were of a mushroom shape, with the tops sloping +gently to the ground. The girls thought +them the most curious-looking graves they +ever had seen. They observed a very large +mound in the centre. Ruth explained that this +was supposed to be the grave of an Indian chief.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_104" id="Page_104">[104]</a></span></p> + +<p>"If that is true, his weapons and his faithful +dog are buried beside him," continued Ruth. +"These graves, I believe, are very old. No one +appears to know just how old they are. Do you +wish to see the rest of them?"</p> + +<p>The girls did. Mollie suggested that perhaps +if they remained there long enough they might +possibly meet the ghost of the old chief.</p> + +<p>"What would you do if we should?" questioned +Ruth whimsically.</p> + +<p>"I'd run," answered Mollie promptly.</p> + +<p>"I rather think the rest of us would not be +slow in following you," agreed Ruth.</p> + +<p>"I should think the Presbys would feel +spooky all the time with so many queer things +about them," observed Grace. "There's mystery +all over the old house, and there are goodness +knows how many dead Indians and things +on the outside."</p> + +<p>"Only girls are afraid," spoke up Tommy.</p> + +<p>"Only girls?" questioned Bab, with a significant +glance at the boy. Tommy subsided +instantly. Then all of a sudden General stiffened +his tail, uttered a low, menacing growl +and stood pointing his nose in the direction of +a mound that reached higher than any of the +others.</p> + +<p>"What is it, General?" asked Ruth, gazing +in the direction of the point.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_105" id="Page_105">[105]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He smells somebody," volunteered Tommy. +"Don't be afraid. I'm here," he added, swelling +out his chest.</p> + +<p>"It's a man!" cried Mollie. "He's there +hiding behind that mound. I saw him peer over +the top just now. Oh, let's run. Hurry, girls!"</p> + +<p>Tommy cast a withering look at Mollie and, +whistling to the dog to follow him, trudged +toward the mound in question. Bab promptly +followed him, with Ruth not far behind her.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_106" id="Page_106">[106]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER X</h2> + +<h3>MEETING A TREASURE HUNTER</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>GENERAL made a leap over the high +mound. There came a growl, then a +sharp bark.</div> + +<p>"Down, General!" commanded a manly voice.</p> + +<p>A young man wearing rough clothes and a +broad-brimmed soft hat, from under which +looked out a pleasant face, appeared, facing the +girls.</p> + +<p>"I beg your pardon," he said. "I thought +perhaps you might not see me. You are from +the house yonder. I know Miss Stuart by sight +and the General and myself are old friends."</p> + +<p>The young man stuffed some papers into his +pockets. As yet none of the party had spoken.</p> + +<p>"Hello, Bob. Is that you?" greeted Tommy.</p> + +<p>"Yes. You caught me this time."</p> + +<p>"You bet I did!"</p> + +<p>"Won't you introduce me to your friends, so +I may apologize to them for my peculiar actions?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, they're only girls," answered Tom +airily. "What are you doing here?"</p> + +<p>"I am Robert Stevens, young ladies. I live +near by. The Presbys are friends of mine."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_107" id="Page_107">[107]</a></span></p> + +<p>The girls were beginning to feel more at +ease. He was not a desperate character, after +all. Their adventure had ended in nothing more +than meeting a friendly neighbor. Ruth stepped +forward at this juncture.</p> + +<p>"I am on a treasure hunt," said Stevens, +smiling sheepishly.</p> + +<p>The girls were on the alert on the instant.</p> + +<p>"Treasure hunting!" exclaimed Barbara. +"Where are your pick and shovel?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, I haven't gotten that far yet," laughed +Bob.</p> + +<p>The girls decided that they liked Mr. Bob +Stevens, and what was more, they were keenly +interested in his statement that he was hunting +for the lost treasure.</p> + +<p>"I may as well be frank with you," he said, +flushing. "Ever since I was Tommy's age I +have hoped to find some day the fabled pot of +gold, or whatever the treasure may be. My +grandfather before he died gave me maps and +diagrams that he had made. He was as mad +on the subject of the buried treasure as the rest +of us," explained Stevens. "It was his idea +that it would be found not far from the lake. +He thought the Presbys had naturally planned +to return by water for the treasure in case they +had to flee from the fort. I have worked the +ground near the lake thoroughly. Now I am<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_108" id="Page_108">[108]</a></span> +trying this strip of woods, working out from +these Indian mounds."</p> + +<p>"Is the trail hot or cold?" questioned Bab.</p> + +<p>"Very cold. Almost colder than the atmosphere +to-day. Still, I have hopes."</p> + +<p>"If you were to find the treasure what would +you do with it?" demanded Ruth severely.</p> + +<p>"Do with it? Why, I should turn it over to +its rightful owner," answered Stevens. "It's +the sport of the search that interests me. You +did not think I would keep what doesn't belong +to me, did you?"</p> + +<p>The girls murmured their apologies.</p> + +<p>"Please tell Mr. Presby that you found me +here. Perhaps I had better go back with you. +May I?"</p> + +<p>"Come along, Bob. Father will be glad to +see you," said Tom, answering for them. The +girls offered no objections, so the young man +accompanied them, walking beside Tommy and +General.</p> + +<p>"You young ladies might be interested in +looking over those old maps and diagrams," +suggested their new acquaintance.</p> + +<p>"Indeed we would," agreed Barbara enthusiastically.</p> + +<p>"Another thing I'd like to say, if you will +permit me. Were I in your place, I wouldn't +go into the woods back there alone. There are<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_109" id="Page_109">[109]</a></span> +people hanging about this estate who are little +better than tramps."</p> + +<p>"What do you mean?" asked Grace.</p> + +<p>"The news has been circulated that the Presbys +are going to lose the old place. There are +a choice lot of gentlemen nosing about here hoping +to get a clue to the treasure before another +owner takes charge. I heard yesterday that +some fellow from the city is planning to put +men to work here systematically. I don't know +how true it is."</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't dare to dig for treasure on +another man's property," retorted Ruth indignantly.</p> + +<p>"They wouldn't have to dig until they had +located the treasure. Then they might dig it +up in the night and be off before anyone else +was the wiser."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe there is any danger in our +going where we please about these grounds. I +have been here a good many times, Mr. Stevens, +and you are the first stranger I have ever met +on the grounds," declared Ruth.</p> + +<p>"There are two men back there in the woods +now," answered Bob carelessly.</p> + +<p>The girls stopped short and stood gazing at +the forest that lay beyond the Indian burying +ground.</p> + +<p>"Are you sure of that?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_110" id="Page_110">[110]</a></span></p> + +<p>Stevens nodded.</p> + +<p>"I saw them," he replied, "watching you all +the time you were coming toward the mounds. +I was watching them, though they didn't know +that."</p> + +<p>"Why don't you speak to Mr. Presby and +have him put them off the premises?" demanded +Barbara.</p> + +<p>"It wouldn't do any good. The fellows would +take good care to keep off the place while a +search was being made for them. There's Miss +Olive waiting for you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Stevens? I am glad +you are with the girls," said Olive. "Father +was disturbed when he found they had gone +over to the Indian mounds alone. He said it +wasn't safe to do that. Have you met my +friends, Mr. Stevens?"</p> + +<p>"In a somewhat unceremonious fashion," +laughed Stevens.</p> + +<p>"Father wants to see you. I'll venture that +I can guess how you chanced to meet the girls," +smiled Olive. "Now confess that you were +treasure hunting."</p> + +<p>"I confess. Where may I find your father?"</p> + +<p>"In the library. Go right in."</p> + +<p>Bob Stevens promised the girls that he would +show them his diagrams after he had finished +his conference with Mr. Presby. Then, raising<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_111" id="Page_111">[111]</a></span> +his hat to them, he set off toward the house. +Mr. and Mrs. Presby were fond of Robert Stevens. +He was of good family, and well educated +for a country boy. His people were comfortably +situated and Robert's ambition was to help +his friends, the Presbys, find the treasure that +he never had doubted was hidden somewhere on +the estate.</p> + +<p>But the girls did not see him again that day. +Ruth's motor car had arrived by the time they +reached the house. The girls ate a hurried +luncheon and set off for a long ride before the +two men had finished their conference. It was +almost dinner time when they returned with +rosy cheeks and sparkling eyes, greatly invigorated +after their drive. A. Bubble had behaved +himself splendidly. Ruth said he worked much +better than before the accident. Bab suggested +that it might be an excellent idea to have him +collide with a pair of stout iron gates at regular +intervals.</p> + +<p>Bob Stevens had left his maps and diagrams +for the girls to look over, which they did after +dinner. They were unable to make anything +out of the lines and figures of the treasure +hunter. Mollie declared that the man who made +them must surely have been insane.</p> + +<p>For an hour after dinner the Presbys and +their guests chatted in what was called the drawing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_112" id="Page_112">[112]</a></span> +room, a long, low, barn-like apartment, +almost rustic in its fittings and furnishings. The +dining room being cleared, Olive called the girls +there. They found the room in darkness save +for the light shed by the fire in the fireplace +and five candles arranged on the sideboard.</p> + +<p>"One for each girl present," explained +Olive.</p> + +<p>"To light us to bed?" questioned Mollie.</p> + +<p>"No, indeed," smiled Olive. "Bedtime is +still a long way off. We are going to have a +feast by candle light."</p> + +<p>"I couldn't eat another mouthful after the +dinner we had to-night. It would be a physical +impossibility," declared Bab.</p> + +<p>"Don't make any rash assertions until you +see what I have provided for you in the way +of a feast," replied Olive, as she took a large, +flat tin box from the lower compartment of the +old-fashioned sideboard. "Ruth," she continued, +"if you will draw the rugs up close +to the fireplace we will lose no time in beginning +the festivities."</p> + +<p>Ruth Stuart did so, arranging the rugs in a +semi-circle. But the interest of the girls was +centred on the tin box, not on the rugs, just at +that time. Then Olive brought out five long, +slender white sticks, which she distributed +among the girls.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_113" id="Page_113">[113]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Aren't you going to open the box?" begged +Grace anxiously. "Can't you see we are dying +with curiosity to know what is inside?"</p> + +<p>"Bab, you may open the box."</p> + +<p>The cover was off almost before the words +had left Olive's lips.</p> + +<p>"Marshmallows!" cried the girls in chorus. +"Oh, isn't that simply glorious?"</p> + +<p>"And such a lot of them, too," added Grace +Carter.</p> + +<p>"Five pounds," Olive informed them. "We +are about to sit down to a marshmallow toast. +Eat all you wish, but for goodness sake do not +make yourselves sick."</p> + +<p>"She means you, Mollie," teased Ruth.</p> + +<p>"The coat doesn't fit me, however," retorted +Mollie. "But I do love marshmallows. Do +we toast them over the flames of the candles?"</p> + +<p>"No," replied Olive, as she placed the five-pound +box of sweets on the rug between them +and the fire. The girls sat down on the rug, +with their feet curled under them. Each +speared a marshmallow and thrust it close to +the fire. Little blue flames rose from the white +cubes and a tantalizing odor filled the air.</p> + +<p>"Oh, dear me. Mine's gone into the fire," +cried Mollie in distress. "It just melted away."</p> + +<p>"So did mine," answered Barbara, "but it +melted in my mouth."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_114" id="Page_114">[114]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How nice of you to think of this, Olive. +Thank you ever so much," glowed Grace Carter.</p> + +<p>"This isn't my treat. My part is to carry out +the little surprise. Mr. Stuart sent out the +marshmallows to me, asking me to give you +girls a toast. It is a real treat, isn't it?"</p> + +<p>"Glorious!" breathed the girls.</p> + +<p>"Did you children ever do fire-gazing?" asked +Olive after a moment of silence as the girls +helped themselves to the sweets.</p> + +<p>The "Automobile Girls" confessed their ignorance +of the game. Olive explained that each +girl was to gaze into the fire then describe what +forms or figures appeared to grow out of the +flames or coals.</p> + +<p>"I see a red automobile," cried Mollie, almost +as soon as she had fixed her gaze on the fire. +"And, oh, look at the man driving it! He is +all in red, wears a pointed beard and has a +cloven foot. Isn't he a frightful looking creature?"</p> + +<p>"Your imagination needs no encouragement," +declared Olive. "Let us hope that the +gentleman with the cloven foot may drive his +car up the chimney flue and fly away. What do +you see, Ruth?"</p> + +<p>"I see a fiery pit with a lot of imps dancing +about, hurling balls of fire at each other."</p> + +<p>"Your turn, Barbara."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_115" id="Page_115">[115]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bab was gazing at the fire in wrapt attention.</p> + +<p>"I see a black chest, but I can't see what it +holds, for the cover is down. There goes the +cover! Oh, look, girls! See the gold and the +sparkling jewels! See the golden coins glitter +in the light of the fire! Oh, oh, oh!"</p> + +<p>"Money? Money? Where?" cried Mollie. +"I want some of that money."</p> + +<p>The spell was broken in a merry laugh. Mollie +laughed, too, then turned her gaze toward +the window, for her eyes were smarting from +the heat. Suddenly her face took on a frightened +expression, the color fading from it.</p> + +<p>"Look! Oh, look!" she gasped, scarcely +above a whisper.</p> + +<p>What they saw made the "Automobile +Girls'" faces turn white with fear.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_116" id="Page_116">[116]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XI</h2> + +<h3>GIVING AN ATTIC PARTY</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>PEERING in at them was a hideous yellow +face with a nose that in the light +from the room seemed to be fiery red. +The face was pressed against the window pane. +Now a long-drawn, dismal groan sounded from +the other side of the window.</div> + +<p>"It's a ghost!" cried Grace.</p> + +<p>Barbara, however, had seen more than the +other girls, and, mustering up all her courage, +ran to the door.</p> + +<p>"Come back!" called the girls anxiously. +Bab kept on, unheeding their cries. As she +jerked the outside door open, they heard a +crash and the frightful face suddenly disappeared +from the window. Ruth and Olive +rushed to the door. Both girls remembered +that an old rain barrel had stood under that +window for a long time.</p> + +<p>"I've got the spook!" shouted Bab triumphantly. +"I picked it out of the rain barrel." +She came in, dragging by an ear the irrepressible +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Thomas Warrington Presby, what does this +mean?" demanded Olive sternly.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_117" id="Page_117">[117]</a></span></p> + +<p>"The—the rain barrel went to pieces," complained +Tom.</p> + +<p>"Oh! Was it you who scared us out of our +wits?" questioned Mollie.</p> + +<p>"I knew it was a false face almost the instant +I saw it," said Barbara. "Thomas, I fear I +shall have to turn you over to your father. +You have evidently forgotten some things."</p> + +<p>Tom wriggled, his face worked anxiously.</p> + +<p>"Please don't. Maul me, do anything you +want to punish me. I won't squeal, but don't +peach to father."</p> + +<p>"Girls, what shall we do with him?" asked +Bab.</p> + +<p>"I move we make him sit down on the rug +and eat marshmallows," suggested Ruth.</p> + +<p>"The very idea," agreed Mollie.</p> + +<p>"But we want them ourselves," objected +Grace.</p> + +<p>"I have another box," admitted Olive. +"Your father sent two boxes, though I did not +intend to tell you about the second one just yet."</p> + +<p>It was agreed that Tom's punishment should +be a sweet one. Tom grinned broadly.</p> + +<p>"Those things are for girls. I can swallow +a boxful without winking an eyelid," he declared. +"Gimme the box."</p> + +<p>"No, Thomas, you aren't going to eat them +that way. We are going to wait on you and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_118" id="Page_118">[118]</a></span> +help you to every mouthful," answered Barbara +sweetly. "It isn't every boy who has +five nice girls to wait on him when he eats. +Is it, Tommy?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered the boy in a doubtful tone. +He did not exactly like the look of things now. +Barbara placed a firm hand on his arm and +set him down on a rug in front of the fireplace. +Tommy was closer to the fire than was comfortable, +but there seemed to be no escape for him. +The five girls speared as many marshmallows, +toasted them and thrust them flaming at the +boy. Tommy gulped down the first one with +evident enjoyment. Four others went down +easily. Tommy decided that marshmallows +were pretty good stuff. He called for more, +and got them. There was always a stick with +a flaming cube on the end of it ready to be +thrust into his mouth. Tommy rolled his eyes +with satisfaction.</p> + +<p>"I could take punishment like this for a week +at a stretch. More!"</p> + +<p>Still the girls fed him. Even Olive was gentle +and considerate. Tommy did not recall ever +having seen her more so. All the girls were +very kind to him, but there was a mischievous +twinkle in their eyes that Tommy was not astute +enough to read.</p> + +<div class="figleft" style="width: 328px;"> +<img src="images/gs02.png" width="328" height="500" alt=""I've Got the Spook," Shouted Bab Triumphantly." title="" /> +<span class="caption">"I've Got the Spook," Shouted Bab Triumphantly.</span> +</div> + +<p>After a time the marshmallows began to take<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_121" id="Page_121">[121]</a></span> +on a bitter taste. He did not appear to be +eating them with the same relish as before.</p> + +<p>"That stuff's no good for men," he jeered.</p> + +<p>"Have another, Tommy," answered Bab, +thrusting a blue flame into the boy's face.</p> + +<p>"You needn't burn a fellow up," he rebuked, +then swallowed the marshmallow with a gulp.</p> + +<p>"Here, Tommy, is a nice, large one," added +Mollie.</p> + +<p>Tom's eyes were rolling. His face that had +appeared very red when he first sat down before +the fire, had grown several shades paler. +The girls continued to feed him with marshmallows, +forcing one after another upon him.</p> + +<p>"I won't take another——" Tom did not +finish what he had started to say. Olive thrust +a hot marshmallow into the boy's open mouth. +Tommy closed his mouth instantly, but not soon +enough. The hot sweet clung to the roof of his +mouth, bringing from Tommy a yell of pain.</p> + +<p>"I'll be even with you girls for this," he +howled, the tears starting from his eyes as he +bounded for the kitchen for a drink of water. +A shout of merry laughter followed him. +Tommy felt very sick and staggered off to bed, +where, half an hour later, his mother found him +groaning. In response to Mrs. Presby's anxious +inquiries, Tommy explained that he had an +"awful stomachache."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_122" id="Page_122">[122]</a></span></p> + +<p>"He deserved it," declared Olive. "He will +learn to let us girls alone, I hope. Nevertheless, +we got even with him this time."</p> + +<p>"Yes, revenge is sweet," observed Bab, +whereat the girls groaned dismally.</p> + +<hr style="width: 45%;" /> + +<p>It had been decided that the "Automobile +Girls" and Olive were to drive into Chicago on +the following morning to bring Miss Sallie and +Mr. Stuart also to Treasureholme, if he could +be induced to return with them. Ruth felt too +that Mr. A. Bubble had not been getting enough +exercise of late. Her companions agreed with +her. But the next morning dawned most disappointingly. +A great gale was blowing in from +Lake Michigan, accompanied by blinding flurries +of snow. It was not a cheerful outlook. The +day was dark and the wind bitter cold.</p> + +<p>Ruth was for starting out just the same, but +a telephone call from Miss Sallie while the girls +were at breakfast was to the effect that Mr. +Stuart had absolutely forbidden their starting +out in such a storm.</p> + +<p>"I am sorry, girls, but when dad puts it that +way he means what he says. I speak from long +experience," declared Ruth. "We shall have +to wait until to-morrow."</p> + +<p>"This storm is likely to last for some days," +announced Mr. Presby.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_123" id="Page_123">[123]</a></span></p> + +<p>Ruth made a wry face.</p> + +<p>"We will explore for the treasure if we have +to stay in the house all the time," said Bab. "A +day like this makes one feel mysterious."</p> + +<p>"And creepy," added Mollie. "Why, good +morning, Tommy. How are you to-day?" she +smiled, as Master Thomas Presby took his place +at the breakfast table. Tommy grunted out +some unintelligible reply. For some reason he +was not in the best of humor that morning.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Olive was trying to think +up some entertainment that would amuse the +girls on a stormy day.</p> + +<p>"I have it," she cried. "How would you +girls like an attic party?"</p> + +<p>They did not quite understand, never having +heard of an attic party.</p> + +<p>"What do we do at an attic party?" asked +Mollie. "Do we have luncheon in the attic?"</p> + +<p>"No. It is an entirely new idea with me. My +idea is that we go to the attic and rummage. +There are old chests and trunks up there, together +with all sorts of odds and ends, as is +usual with a family garret."</p> + +<p>The girls beamed on her.</p> + +<p>"That will be perfectly splendid," cried Mollie. +"Remember, Bab, how we used to rummage +in our garret on rainy days?"</p> + +<p>"It will be a great fun," answered Bab.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_124" id="Page_124">[124]</a></span></p> + +<p>"As we fear we may have to leave the old +place," continued Olive, "we wish to overhaul +everything up there, burning such stuff as we +have no use for, saving anything that may be +of use in the future. You girls can help me +clear out the place."</p> + +<p>"Am I in on this game?" interrupted Tom.</p> + +<p>"Yes, if you will behave yourself," replied +Olive, giving him a severe look.</p> + +<p>"I can carry out the stuff that you want +burned," he suggested.</p> + +<p>Such willingness on the part of Tommy was +unusual. Olive gave him a smile of approval.</p> + +<p>"You shall have some more marshmallows +for that," declared Ruth.</p> + +<p>A pained look appeared on the boy's face.</p> + +<p>"I don't want any marshmallows," he +growled. "No more girls' food for me."</p> + +<p>The "Automobile Girls" giggled. Mr. and +Mrs. Presby paid no attention to this conversation. +They were not in possession of the +secret. The girls were eager for the attic party. +There is always an element of mystery in an +old family garret. This was especially so at +Treasureholme. Everything about the old place +savored of mystery. Then there was the buried +treasure, which, even though it might be a myth, +lent an atmosphere of greater mystery than all +the rest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_125" id="Page_125">[125]</a></span></p> + +<p>Little time was lost in getting to the garret, +the girls first, however, putting on the oldest +skirts they possessed. Olive explained that the +place was full of dust and cobwebs.</p> + +<p>Tom hurried upstairs ahead of them. They +followed a winding, narrow stairway to the +upper floor. To their surprise, the ceiling was +high, the side walls were heavily wainscoted, +an unusual condition for a garret. A broad +chimney passing up through the centre of the +big room took the edge off the chill atmosphere +of the morning, although they could hear the +wind whistle and wail about the gables. There +were shadowy corners holding old-fashioned +trunks. Here and there were old family pictures +in faded, chipped frames, old clothes, curtains, +books, broken and old-fashioned furniture, +in short, a varied and ancient collection of odds +and ends that almost filled the place.</p> + +<p>"Oh, girls, isn't this jolly!" exclaimed Bab, +halting at the head of the stairs, taking in the +scene eagerly. "I know we shall have a perfectly +splendid time up here, and who knows +but that we may unearth some of your ancestors' +family skeletons, Olive?"</p> + +<p>"Tom will dispose of them promptly if you +find any," answered Olive.</p> + +<p>"I'll make their old bones rattle. You just +watch me," announced Tom.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_126" id="Page_126">[126]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Now, girls, go ahead and browse to your +heart's content. We are going to empty every +trunk and chest and box in the place. We may +find something exciting before we get through +up here."</p> + +<p>Olive's prophecy was a true one. They were +going to meet with exciting experiences in the +old garret, even more exciting than any of them +had dreamed possible. They began eagerly +to turn out the contents of trunks and boxes +upon the garret floor, first dragging the receptacles +up where the light from one or another +of the windows would shine down on their work.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_127" id="Page_127">[127]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XII</h2> + +<h3>A CURIOUS OLD JOURNAL</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>"OH, here's a bundle of letters, ever and +ever so old!" called Grace. Hers +was the first find of interest, +"Wouldn't it be splendid if I had unearthed +an old romance?"</div> + +<p>"Give them to Olive," suggested Bab. "We +have no right to read them."</p> + +<p>Grace promptly handed the packet to Olive, +who turned them over reflectively.</p> + +<p>"The writers of these have been dead for +many, many years. There can be no harm in +our reading the letters. However, let's defer +that pleasure until another time. Here, Tom, +you might carry out those old clothes. They +are so moth-eaten that they are likely to fall +apart before you can get them outside." Tom +reluctantly gathered up an armful and went +stamping down the garret stairs.</p> + +<p>Old clothes, trinkets, some of them of value, +recipes for cooking, written on the fly leaves +of books and on scraps of paper, a varied assortment +of everything, including early photographs +of forgotten persons, were discovered. Everything +was assorted and placed in piles for<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_128" id="Page_128">[128]</a></span> +future disposal. The girls' faces and hands +were covered with dust long before they had +gone through the contents of the first few trunks.</p> + +<p>Nothing of unusual interest had been discovered +after something more than an hour's +rummaging. Tom had made so many trips to +the back yard with rubbish that he was tired. +Finally he rebelled, declaring that he wouldn't +tramp up and down those stairs again for the +whole of Treasureholme.</p> + +<p>Ruth found a chest of books in very old bindings. +She called Bab over.</p> + +<p>"Here, dear. You are simply crazy over old +books. Here are some that will keep you busy +for the rest of the morning."</p> + +<p>Bab ran over, and with a little chuckle of +delight dropped down on her knees in front of +the open chest. She lifted out the ancient +bindings almost reverently, ran the pages +through her fingers, pausing here and there to +read a line or a page, or a faded notation in +pencil, then carefully piled the books by the +side of the chest. She was so wholly absorbed +in the contents of the chest that she failed to +hear the lively chatter going on about her.</p> + +<p>About half way down in the chest she found +a thin, leather-covered volume, showing indications +of long usage and much thumbing. On +the front page she read, "Journal of T. W. P."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_129" id="Page_129">[129]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Olive, who was 'T. W. P.'?"</p> + +<p>"'T. W. P.'? Why that's Tom's initials. +Wait! Did you find that in one of those old +books?"</p> + +<p>Bab nodded.</p> + +<p>"Then it must refer to Thomas Warrington +Presby. He is the gentleman who is supposed +to have been scalped by the Indians, the man +who buried the treasure that we have had all +the fuss and excitement about. What is the +book?"</p> + +<p>"It is his journal. His diary, I think we +would call it. May I read it?"</p> + +<p>"Of course. I hope you may find something +interesting in it."</p> + +<p>The reading of the diary was not easy. The +ink was faded and the writing was so peculiar +that Bab deciphered it with some difficulty. Bab +curled up on a pile of old clothes under a window +and buried her nose in the old diary. She +found it fascinating to read the diary of the +man who actually buried the treasure that had +made the name of Treasureholme well known in +all that part of the country.</p> + +<p>The entries in the diary dealt with the routine +affairs of the life of the owner. Then there were +other and more absorbing passages. One that +made the girl's pulses quicken was the following:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_130" id="Page_130">[130]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Rumors of Indian troubles are afloat. Jake +was wounded by an arrow to-day, shot from +somewhere in the forest back of the house. But +no Indians were seen. We shall soon have to +seek safety in the fort, I fear. What to do with +my worldly goods when we go is the question +that is troubling me now."</p> + +<p>"Oh!" breathed Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Does it blow hot or cold?" questioned Olive.</p> + +<p>"It seems to be getting warm," replied Bab. +"He is talking about the treasure."</p> + +<p>"What?" The girls were on their feet in an +instant. Barbara read the entry to them.</p> + +<p>"Oh, fiddle!" sniffed Mollie. "That doesn't +amount to anything. Don't arouse my curiosity +again unless you have something worth while."</p> + +<p>Barbara considered that she had found something +worth while, but she made no comment on +Mollie's remark. Instead, the girl returned to +her perusal of the old diary, reading each page +carefully, not knowing when a word or a sentence +might give a clue to the mystery all were seeking +to solve. The girls went on with their rummaging +and their lively chatter. Tom had gone +to sleep on a heap of bed spreads that were +yellow with age. The ghosts of the past did +not trouble this healthy young country boy. +Mollie crouched down beside him, gently tickling +his ear with a feather that she had found in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_131" id="Page_131">[131]</a></span> +a trunk. Mollie nearly exploded with merriment +to see Tommy fight an imaginary fly in his sleep. +The other girls were soon attracted to the game, +though Barbara was entirely oblivious of what +was going on. The girls gathered noiselessly +about Mollie and Tom, shaking with silent laughter, +taking care not to awaken the sleeping boy.</p> + +<p>Tom's face twitched nervously. After a little +one eye opened ever so little then closed +warily. The girls did not observe the movement +of the eyelid. Then all of a sudden things began +to happen. Tom, with incredible quickness, +leaped to his feet, and began laying about him +with a folded bed spread. Mollie was the first +to go down under the attack. The others tried +to get away from that sturdily wielded spread, +but were not quick enough, however. Tom did +considerable execution with his unwieldly +weapon before the girls finally threw themselves +upon him. Then Tom went down and out. The +girls dragged him to the stairway and started +him sliding down the stairs, feet first. With +faces flushed, eyes sparkling, brushing truant +wisps of hair from their foreheads, the girls +returned to their exploration of the old chests. +First Olive closed and locked the door that +opened onto the staircase.</p> + +<p>"There! I think we shall have peace now," +she announced.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_132" id="Page_132">[132]</a></span></p> + +<p>Suddenly Barbara uttered a sharp little cry.</p> + +<p>"Girls! Girls! Come here! Oh, come +here!"</p> + +<p>The girls with one accord rushed pell-mell +across the garret. Excitement reigned for a +few seconds.</p> + +<p>"I've found it! I've found it!" shouted Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Found the treasure?" cried a chorus of +voices.</p> + +<p>"It's here, here!" she exclaimed, waving the +little leather-bound journal above her head.</p> + +<p>"What have you found?" demanded Olive, +showing less excitement than her companions.</p> + +<p>"This entry. It means something. I don't +know just what, but I know it means something."</p> + +<p>"Read it, read it!" demanded the girls.</p> + +<p>"The item is a month later than the one I +found in the journal in which they were afraid +the Indians were going to make trouble. Listen +to this. If you don't think I have found something +you are not half so smart as I had +thought." Barbara hitched a little closer to +the window and with her back to the light read +from the journal the following entry:</p> + +<p>"'To My Heirs: I am fleeing with my family, +to the fort. The future looks dark. Should I +not return, others of my family one day will<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_133" id="Page_133">[133]</a></span> +come here and take possession, provided the +savages do not destroy the old place, which is +not probable, as the spirit of a long dead Indian +chief is said to make his home here.'"</p> + +<p>"I knew all the time there were ghosts here," +interrupted Mollie.</p> + +<p>"Wearing false faces," added Grace under +her breath.</p> + +<p>"There are further directions. 'Search and +you shall find. I cannot be more explicit save +to say that what is here is well worth years +of endeavor,'" Barbara read on. "'I have a +feeling that I shall see the old place no more. +Remember, that to every people its own dead +are sacred and be governed accordingly.'"</p> + +<p>Barbara glanced slowly up at the solemn faces +above her.</p> + +<p>"Is that all?" asked Olive.</p> + +<p>"Yes. That is the last entry in the journal, +showing that the former Mr. Presby did not +return, as you already have told us that he did +not."</p> + +<p>"What do you make of it, dear?" questioned +Olive thoughtfully.</p> + +<p>"It is a clue and a direction to the buried +treasure. There can be no doubt of that."</p> + +<p>"Yes, but we don't understand it," spoke up +Ruth. "I doubt if we ever shall."</p> + +<p>"It's my opinion that Mr. T. W. P. wasn't in<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_134" id="Page_134">[134]</a></span> +his right mind when he wrote that," declared +Mollie with emphasis. "I think the Indians +must have gone to his head."</p> + +<p>"This is no joking matter, Mollie," rebuked +Barbara. "Can't you be serious for once in +your life? We must study this."</p> + +<p>"What do you say if I send for Mr. Stevens, +girls?" cried Olive. "He has studied this mystery +more thoroughly than anyone else and he +will no doubt understand the veiled allusion to +the treasure. Suppose we copy it so we can read +it more easily. Wait! I'll get a pencil."</p> + +<p>Olive ran downstairs to her room, now not +a little excited.</p> + +<p>"I've sent Tom after Bob Stevens," she +called, as she burst into the attic on her return. +"Now read it to me and I will put it down."</p> + +<p>"Perhaps I had better do that," answered +Bab, reaching for the pencil. "I know the writing +better than you do and I want to make the +copy exactly like the original. There," she +added, after having carefully copied the extract +from the journal.</p> + +<p>Olive regarded it perplexedly, Grace, Mollie +and Ruth bending over her shoulder as she read +and reread the extract from the old Presby +diary.</p> + +<p>"I must show this to father and mother," +exclaimed Olive suddenly, as she whisked out<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_135" id="Page_135">[135]</a></span> +of the room with Ruth, Mollie and Grace racing +after her. Barbara, once more absorbed in the +journal over which she was bending with wrinkled +forehead, did not seem to realize that she +had been left alone.</p> + +<p>"Oh, if it should be true! If it should lead +us to the treasure! If we could save Treasureholme +for the Presbys it would be glorious." +Barbara got up and began pacing back and +forth. She saw nothing of the dingy garret +room. Her imagination was traveling at express-train +speed. Bab stood leaning back +against the heavy wainscoting, with her eyes +fixed on the ceiling, thinking.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Barbara!" called Ruth's voice from the +foot of the stairway.</p> + +<p>"Yes?"</p> + +<p>"Come down. Mercy! What was that?" A +mighty crash shook the old house to its foundations. +The shock seemed to come from above. +Ruth sped up the stairs on winged feet. Those +below stairs heard her utter a frightened scream.</p> + +<p>"Come! Oh, come quickly!" cried Ruth +Stuart in a voice of terror.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_136" id="Page_136">[136]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIII</h2> + +<h3>THE MYSTERY OF THE ATTIC</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>THE sound of running feet was heard on +the floor below following Ruth's cry for +help. Olive, Mollie and Grace had +heard it from the foot of the stairs on the +ground floor. Mr. and Mrs. Presby, sitting in +the dining room, had also heard the cry and +started for the stairs. Tom, who was down in +the cellar, heard the girls running, and started +up the stairs three steps at a time, instinctively +realizing that something was wrong. His first +thought was that the girls in the garret had +set the house on fire.</div> + +<p>The three girls fairly tore up the stairs to +the attic in response to Ruth's cry, getting in +each other's way on the narrow stairs as they +ran. Tom was close at their heels, while his +father and mother followed more slowly.</p> + +<p>At first they could distinguish nothing but +Ruth's figure dimly outlined in a haze of dust +that filled the air.</p> + +<p>"Fire!" cried Grace.</p> + +<p>"No!" roared Tom. "It's dust. Somebody's +been kicking up a fine smudge here. What's +the matter? Have you folks gone crazy?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_137" id="Page_137">[137]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Ruth! Ruth! What is it?" cried Olive.</p> + +<p>"It's Bab," moaned Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Bab?" cried the girls.</p> + +<p>For the first time since reaching the attic +their thoughts turned to Barbara Thurston. But +where was she? Nowhere in sight. Mr. Presby +came limping into the room, followed by his +wife very much out of breath.</p> + +<p>"Wha—wha—what is the cause of all this +uproar?" demanded Mr. Presby testily.</p> + +<p>"It's Bab! It's Bab, I tell you," almost +screamed Ruth. "Oh, what has happened?"</p> + +<p>"That's what we would like to know," retorted +Mr. Presby.</p> + +<p>"Where is Bab?" demanded Tom, who had +been nosing around the room like a terrier.</p> + +<p>"She—she's gone," moaned Ruth. Her face +was pale, her eyes wide with fright. Tom +rushed to the windows, which were tightly +closed.</p> + +<p>"What fell?" he questioned sharply, halting +in front of Ruth.</p> + +<p>"I—I don't know. I—I wasn't here. I was +at the foot of the garret stairs when I heard +that terrible crash."</p> + +<p>The dust, slowly settling, gave them a clearer +view of the attic. Barbara Thurston was not +in sight.</p> + +<p>"What has become of Bab? Why don't you<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_138" id="Page_138">[138]</a></span> +look behind the chests?" demanded Mollie, +gathering up her skirts, darting here and there, +kicking aside the heaps of old clothing that had +been turned out on the floor.</p> + +<p>Mollie paused with a dazed look in her eyes.</p> + +<p>"She's gone," whispered the girl.</p> + +<p>"Yes, she's gone, all right," answered Tom. +"I know what she has done. She's played a +trick on all of you. I know her. She is a sharp +one. She'd catch you napping when you were +looking right at her. She must have gone downstairs +after you did, and——"</p> + +<p>"No, no," protested Ruth excitedly. "She +never left this attic by the stairway."</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself, my dear," begged Mr. +Presby in a somewhat more gentle voice, at the +same time laying a hand on Ruth Stuart's +shoulder. "Now let us understand this affair. +You say Barbara was up here—she did not go +downstairs with you?"</p> + +<p>"No, no!" exclaimed Mollie. "She was reading +that old journal when we went down. We +left her sitting right there. Don't you remember, +you asked us to call Barbara downstairs? +You wanted to see the diary of old Mr. Presby, +and Ruth went upstairs to call her."</p> + +<p>"Yes, yes. Ruth, how do you know that Barbara +was here when you called to her?"</p> + +<p>"Because she answered me," replied Ruth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_139" id="Page_139">[139]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What next? Did her voice sound as if she +were here in the attic?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I know she was here."</p> + +<p>"Was that when you cried out?"</p> + +<p>"No. That awful crash came a few seconds +after she had answered me. I ran up here as +fast as my feet would carry me. At first the +dust was so thick I was unable to make out anything +clearly. I called to Bab but she did not +answer me. I then ran about the room in search +of her, thinking that she had fallen and hurt +herself. But she wasn't here," wailed Ruth. +"Oh, what shall I do?"</p> + +<p>"Calm yourself. That is the first thing to +be done. There is something mysterious about +this. I wish Bob Stevens were here."</p> + +<p>"I sent Tom for him. Did you see Mr. Stevens, +Tom?"</p> + +<p>"No. I sent word by one of the hired hands," +admitted Tom sheepishly. "I—I wanted to do +some work in the cellar."</p> + +<p>"Then go at once," commanded Mr. Presby +sternly.</p> + +<p>"Wait!" exclaimed Ruth. "I'll drive the car, +storm or no storm. The cold air will help me +to brace up. How far is it to Mr. Stevens' +house?"</p> + +<p>"Mile and a half," answered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Come with me, Tommy. We will be there<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_140" id="Page_140">[140]</a></span> +and back in twenty minutes. Do you know the +way?"</p> + +<p>"Yes, he knows the way. He knows too much +about everything in these parts," answered Mr. +Presby testily. "I will telephone to Mr. +Stuart."</p> + +<p>"Oh, don't, please. At least—not un—until +I get back. Per—perhaps Mr. Stevens may find +her."</p> + +<p>"He will, if anyone can," declared Olive. +Everyone in the room was overwhelmed with +the mystery of it all. That a person could disappear +so completely from a room that had only +one entrance and with that entrance guarded at +the moment passed all comprehension.</p> + +<p>Once more Mollie set herself to examining +every nook and corner of the room. She even +raised the lids of the closed trunks and chests, +thinking that possibly Barbara might have hidden +in one of them. There was no trace whatever +of the missing girl.</p> + +<p>"Has anyone found the diary?" questioned +Olive.</p> + +<p>"Could it be that she fell through a trap in +the floor?" queried Grace.</p> + +<p>"There are no traps in the floor," answered +Mr. Presby sharply.</p> + +<p>"If there were, and Bab had fallen in, she +would have dropped into one of our rooms,"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_141" id="Page_141">[141]</a></span> +explained Olive. "I believe I will go all over +the house," she decided as an afterthought.</p> + +<p>"We will go with you," declared Grace. +"Oh, Bab, Bab; where are you?" Grace broke +into a paroxysm of heart-breaking sobs. This +was too much for Mollie, who began sobbing +also.</p> + +<p>"Come, come, girls; this won't do," chided +Olive. "We must keep our heads clear. Something +has happened to Bab, but I'll venture to +say that she is all right, no matter where she +is."</p> + +<p>"But—but if she <i>is</i> all right, why doesn't she +call to us?" questioned Mollie, gazing at Olive +through her tears.</p> + +<p>Olive was unable to answer that question. +The same thought had occurred to her. Now +Mr. Presby began thumping the sides of the +room with his cane. They understood his purpose +and waited in breathless silence until he +had gone all the way around the room.</p> + +<p>"All sounds alike," he announced. "I didn't +know but there might be another of those secret +passages up here. I see, however, that it is not +possible. Come, there is nothing to be gained +by remaining here. Come, Mollie. Do not take +it too much to heart," soothed Mr. Presby.</p> + +<p>Mollie was now leaning against the wall with +head buried in her arms, crying softly. The<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_142" id="Page_142">[142]</a></span> +others had started for the stairway. A servant +came up the stairs and announced that Ruth +had telephoned from the Stevens place saying +that Bob Stevens had gone to Brightwaters, +and that she was going there to find him.</p> + +<p>"Good gracious! What was that?" screamed +Mrs. Presby, gripping her husband's arm with +both hands as a mighty crash shook the building. +A violent current of air smote them, another +cloud of suffocating dust filled the air.</p> + +<p>"Mollie's gone, too!" screamed Grace Carter.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_143" id="Page_143">[143]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIV</h2> + +<h3>TOMMY TAKES A WILD RIDE</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>FOR a moment the little group stood regarding +one another in horror-stricken +silence, then by common consent they +all made for the stairway. Mr. Presby was +half carrying, half dragging his wife, who was +in a state of collapse. All had lost their heads +completely. They did not know at what moment +that terrible mysterious force might whisk them +all out of existence. Instead of remaining +calmly to solve the reason for Mollie's disappearance +before their very eyes, all hands were +fleeing from the scene of the double disaster. +Mollie had not even cried out. She had simply +gone, followed by that mighty crash. That was +all they knew about it.</div> + +<p>They did not halt until they had reached +the ground floor, where Mr. Presby called a +servant to summon the neighbors and summon +them quickly. Fifteen minutes later the neighbors +began to arrive. With them were two +or three strangers, whose offers to join in the +search through the house Mr. Presby politely +declined, as he was suspicious of all strangers. +Those of the neighbors who were friends of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_144" id="Page_144">[144]</a></span> +long standing were given free rein to search +the house and grounds as thoroughly as they +wished. They took full advantage of the opportunity, +delving into every nook and corner.</p> + +<p>In the meantime Ruth Stuart with the shivering +Tommy by her side was driving her automobile +across the country. There was no storm +curtain in place now. Even the wind shield +had been turned down because the snow clouded +it so Ruth could not get a clear sight ahead. +As it was, she could see no more than a rod or +two in advance. She took the storm full on the +right side of her face. The girl's eyes and +nerves were steady now. Her touch on the +steering wheel was light, for at that speed a +heavy hand might have ditched the outfit.</p> + +<p>Country people on the road were startled +by a rush of wind and a shadowy monster shooting +past them with a snort, occasionally sending +their horses off the highway in frightened leaps. +But Ruth Stuart's eyes never wavered from the +straight path ahead. Evidently she had forgotten +her promise to herself to drive with her car +under more perfect control. Every ounce of +speed that Mr. A. Bubble possessed was being +used on the present run.</p> + +<p>Tommy's eyes were full of snow, his lips +were blue, his hands were gripping the cushions +until he had no feeling left in them.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_145" id="Page_145">[145]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Tell me when we get near to the place," +commanded Ruth in a sharp, incisive tone.</p> + +<p>"Ju-s-s-st around the nu-nu-next turn," chattered +Thomas. "He's at Martin's ranch."</p> + +<p>Ruth turned the air into her siren. A wild, +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'wierd'">weird</ins> wail rose from the horn. Tommy shivered +more than ever. That sound always did make +the hair rise right up on the crown of his head. +Ruth kept the siren going. Rounding the bend +at top speed, her siren wailing, she made enough +noise to be plainly heard above the storm. Taking +careful note of her position, she ran up the +drive into the yard, slowing down just as she +saw two men come from the house bare-headed.</p> + +<p>"Jump in, quick!" she cried to Bob Stevens. +"Trouble!"</p> + +<p>Bob was quick-witted. He understood that +something was wrong. He caught one of the +canopy braces and swung himself in over the +closed door.</p> + +<p>The car was still in motion. Without a word +of further explanation, Ruth advanced her +spark. When they rounded into the road the +snow from the skidding rear wheels flew up +into the air higher than the peak of Jud Martin's +hip-roofed barn. Stevens instinctively +gripped the automobile body.</p> + +<p>"Put a blanket over your head," called back +Ruth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_146" id="Page_146">[146]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can stand it bare-headed here, if you can +keep your seat in this cold wind up ahead," answered +Stevens calmly. "What is it?"</p> + +<p>"I'll tell you when you get there. I haven't +time now."</p> + +<p>Bob asked no further questions. They were +racing back to Treasureholme at a rate of speed +that would have left the Pacific Coast Limited +some distance to the rear in a very short time.</p> + +<p>Boom! A report like that of a cannon startled +Tommy. Boom! Another similar report and +Tom was on the verge of leaping from the car.</p> + +<p>"Tire's gone. Rear tire's down," called Stevens. +Ruth nodded, but he could not see that +she reduced the speed of the car in the slightest +degree. Bob Stevens never had had such a ride +as that, even on a railroad train, but he declined +to give in to his inclination to warn her to slow +down. If a young woman had the nerve to drive +a car at that speed he surely should have sufficient +pluck to ride behind her.</p> + +<p>Tommy had tightened his grip on the cushion. +His body was swaying from side to side, now +and then humping up into the air as the wheels +passed over a hummock.</p> + +<p>"I shall go on as long as the rims hold," flung +back Ruth in acknowledgment of his warning +about the tires.</p> + +<p>The young man knew very well that the rims<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_147" id="Page_147">[147]</a></span> +were likely to be crunched in like egg shells at +any second. That would mean the complete +wreck of the car and no doubt the instant death +of the passengers at the speed they were now +traveling. The soft, springy snow that covered +the ground protected the rims from the hard +road somewhat. He observed, however, that +in rounding sharp turns in the road, Ruth +steadied the car with her foot brake. She was +driving with great skill, even though the pace +was a reckless one. Bob gazed at the back of +her head, a great admiration for her pluck welling +up within him. But he felt sorry for +Tommy. It was plainly to be seen that Thomas +Warrington Presby was not having the happiest +ride imaginable.</p> + +<p>"Almost there," encouraged Ruth. "If anything +happens, never mind me, but run for the +house as fast as you can go."</p> + +<p>He did not answer, but he was thinking +deeply. Something of a very serious nature +must have occurred at Treasureholme to make +necessary all this haste. He did not know that +they had sent for him because of the great confidence +the Presbys reposed in him. It would +have made little difference to the resourceful +Bob Stevens if he had known.</p> + +<p>The car lurched into the drive, past the scene +of Ruth's previous disaster, where the broken<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_148" id="Page_148">[148]</a></span> +posts and twisted gates still lay at one side of +the drive. None of the occupants of the car +heeded these evidences of a former smash-up. +Ruth's eyes were on the drive. Bob's eyes were +on the house, while Tommy's eyes were so full +of snow that they weren't fixed on anything in +particular.</p> + +<p>The car came to a jolting stop in front of +the Presby home. At that instant the rear of +the car settled with a crunching sound.</p> + +<p>"There go the rims," said Ruth calmly. "But +I don't care now. Please hurry."</p> + +<p>Bob lifted Tommy to the ground, the boy +being on the side that Stevens had leaped from +just as the rims were going down. He then assisted +Ruth out. Tommy rubbed the snow from +his eyes, blinked rapidly and gazed at Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Never no more for mine," he declared, with +ungrammatical force.</p> + +<p>Ruth tried to run up the steps. She halted +suddenly. Her body swayed unsteadily. Stevens +thought she was going to collapse. He +took firm hold of her arm.</p> + +<p>"Let me assist you," he said politely.</p> + +<p>"I—I am all right," muttered Ruth. "Just +a little dizzy from watching the road so closely," +then she crumpled up on the steps of Treasureholme.</p> + +<p>Bob Stevens picked her up and carried the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_149" id="Page_149">[149]</a></span> +girl into the house, followed by Tom, still blinking. +Tom was choking a little, too. Everything +had been moving so rapidly that, active as was +his mind, he hadn't been able to follow matters +very clearly.</p> + +<p>The door swung open. Bob handed his +burden over to Mrs. Presby.</p> + +<p>"She's played out. Better put her to bed. +What's wrong?"</p> + +<p>"No, no, no!" protested Ruth. "Give me a +drink of something hot. I—I'm chilled +through." She staggered to one side of the +hall, waved assistance aside and leaned against +the wall with closed eyes for a few seconds. +Then Ruth straightened up suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Bab! Have they found her?" she cried.</p> + +<p>Mrs. Presby shook her head. Grace came running +down the hall. She threw herself into +Ruth's arms.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ruth! Mollie's gone, too!" she sobbed.</p> + +<p>"What's this?" demanded Stevens. "Tell +me quickly what has occurred."</p> + +<p>Mrs. Presby told him very briefly all that +she knew about the series of disasters that had +befallen them. The hall was fairly well filled +with neighbors, all more or less helpless. With +bulging eyes and open mouths, they were listening +and gaping without doing anything on their +own account.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_150" id="Page_150">[150]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bob dashed toward the stairs without asking +another question. Neighbors, the Presbys and +the three girls followed him. Mr. Presby was +the last in line. He thumped up the stairs with +the aid of his stick. Bob had halted near the +door of the attic, where he stood surveying the +room with critical eyes.</p> + +<p>"Get lights! It's dark here," he directed +sharply. "Now tell me just what occurred as +far as you know, please. Who discovered the +loss of Miss Thurston and her sister?"</p> + +<p>Ruth told him what she knew of Bab's disappearance. +Olive related the story of how Mollie +had suddenly vanished.</p> + +<p>"They certainly didn't vanish into thin air. +They are still in this house and I am going to +find them, even if I have to tear the house down, +with Mr. Presby's permission, of course."</p> + +<p>"Get the girls. Go as far as you like. Tear +down the old house if you must. I shall not +have use for it very much longer."</p> + +<p>Bob groped about on the floor. His hands +found a broken stove poker. With this he began +sounding the walls about waist high, thumping +and listening, listening and thumping. He +paused suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Where was Miss Mollie standing when you +last saw her?" he demanded, turning to the +group.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_151" id="Page_151">[151]</a></span></p> + +<p>"There on the south side," answered Olive.</p> + +<p>"Something has been there against the wall +for some time, hasn't there? I see a mark on +the wall."</p> + +<p>"I don't recall whether or not there was anything +there," answered Mr. Presby.</p> + +<p>"Yes, there was an old dresser there. I +moved it aside to-day to get some things that +had fallen behind it. We were cleaning out the +garret. That's the dresser over yonder," Olive +informed him.</p> + +<p>The young man did not look at the piece of +furniture indicated by Miss Presby. Instead, +he strode over to the point where the dresser +had stood for no one knew how long. It was +a dresser belonging to some of the Presby ancestors. +It never had been disturbed during +the present owner's occupancy.</p> + +<p>Stevens began thumping over every inch of +the wall at that point. He varied his investigations +finally by trying the wainscoting on +either side. The latter to his keen ears gave +out a different sound. He turned sharply.</p> + +<p>"Bring me a maul, if you have one."</p> + +<p>Mr. Presby directed one of the farm hands +to bring one from the woodshed. In the meantime +the others in the attic watched in breathless +silence as Stevens pursued his investigations.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_152" id="Page_152">[152]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You haven't heard them call or cry out?"</p> + +<p>"No," answered Olive.</p> + +<p>Ruth had said scarcely a word. She had appeared +to be crushed upon hearing of Mollie's +disappearance. She had answered questions +briefly and with apparent great effort. But +now her eyes were following every movement +of Bob Stevens.</p> + +<p>A commotion on the stairs caused Bob to +stride over to the door. It was the man with +the maul, a heavy tool used for driving fence +posts and other similar work. Bob took it from +him and started for the place where the dresser +had formerly stood. He halted just before +reaching his objective point. The others in +the chamber were crowding about him.</p> + +<p>"I would suggest that you people stand back," +he said. "We don't know what might happen. +I might loose my grip on the maul. I don't +want to injure anyone."</p> + +<p>The "people" shrank back out of the way.</p> + +<p>"I'm going to do some damage, Mr. Presby. +At least I think I am."</p> + +<p>Richard Presby nodded.</p> + +<p>Bob stepped close to the wall, moved back +three or four feet, then slowly swung the maul +in a circle and let drive with all the force at +his command against the side of the wall. The +maul landed with a tremendous report.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_153" id="Page_153">[153]</a></span></p> + +<p>A most remarkable thing followed, sending +the occupants of the room rushing for the +staircase, the women uttering cries of alarm. +Bob staggered backwards and sat down heavily +on the floor. His experiment had been attended +with greater success than he had even dreamed +were possible. It had been followed by a terrific +crash. A cloud of dust filled the room, the +structure vibrated as if from a slight earthquake +shock, then quiet once more settled over +the gloomy attic of Treasureholme.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_154" id="Page_154">[154]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XV</h2> + +<h3>AN AMAZING OCCURRENCE</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>BOB was on his feet again ere the dust had +settled in the room.</div> + +<p>"Don't be alarmed," he cried. +"There is no danger so long as you keep away +from that partition. That is where the trouble +lies."</p> + +<p>"Where—where is the hammer?" cried +Grace.</p> + +<p>Stevens stepped forward and looked for the +maul on the floor near the baseboard, but finally +glanced up with a perplexed expression in his +eyes.</p> + +<p>"The maul has disappeared, too," he said.</p> + +<p>There was a gasp following this announcement. +But the young man was not disturbed.</p> + +<p>"I understand a little of what all this means," +he said. "The maul has gone. If someone will +get me an axe I will chop down this partition +near where I struck it with the maul."</p> + +<p>"Is there some secret there?" whispered Mr. +Presby over Bob's shoulder. The young man +nodded.</p> + +<p>"Yes. I have an idea what it is. However, +we shall see."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_155" id="Page_155">[155]</a></span></p> + +<p>When the axe was brought he chose his location +with some care, then began chopping +away, swinging the axe in a manner that showed +him to be no novice at that sort of work. The +axe went through the partition soon after that. +Using the back of the tool, he began smashing +in the boards, here and there employing the +blade to cut through a scantling or a brace. +Soon after he had laid open a dark recess behind +the partition.</p> + +<p>Tom pushed forward and was about to crawl +in when the young man stopped him.</p> + +<p>"Better be careful, young man! That may +be a pitfall, and I suspect that it is."</p> + +<p>The others were too amazed to speak. Still +another secret in the old house had been revealed. +But the sudden disappearance of the +maul was still unexplained, though Stevens had +his own idea about this. He began cutting +further. A tremendous crash followed a moment +of chopping. He sprang back to await +developments. There were none.</p> + +<p>"There, I think I have drawn the monster's +teeth," he said, reaching for a lantern. "One +of you will please hold another lantern at the +entrance here. I may need help."</p> + +<p>Ruth Stuart snatched a lantern from one of +the countrymen and stepped promptly up beside +the young man. He nodded.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_156" id="Page_156">[156]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Do not try to follow me in here unless I +tell you to. I must first find out what is in +here."</p> + +<p>"Do you think they are there?" she asked in +a half whisper.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Probably below somewhere," he answered, +thrusting the lantern ahead of him and +crawling into the opening he had made.</p> + +<p>Bob found himself in a narrow chamber +formed by a gable that had been shut off and +enclosed by the partition. He did not trouble +himself at that moment to investigate the +strangeness of the disappearance of his maul. +Instead, he began going over the little room +cautiously. The light from his lantern soon +revealed a hole in the floor about a yard square.</p> + +<p>"Don't lean against that partition on your +life," he called. Those near the entrance to +the gable apartment drew back a little. They +gazed at the apparently solid wall to the left +of the hole, in respectful silence. Bob lowered +his lantern into the hole and peered in. It appeared +to extend down a long distance. A trap +door that evidently was intended to cover the +opening, lay to one side of the opening. As he +peered in he saw that the opening revealed a +bricked-in shaft.</p> + +<p>"A chimney, as I live!" he exclaimed. Then +he raised his voice in a long-drawn shout.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_157" id="Page_157">[157]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Hello-o-o down there!" There was no response. +Stevens called again. A faint wail +drifted up through the shaft. Ruth, at the +panel, hearing it, uttered a scream of joy.</p> + +<p>"They're there! They're there!" she cried.</p> + +<p>For the first time since his arrival at the +house, Bob Stevens showed traces of excitement +in his face, but his voice was calm when he spoke.</p> + +<p>"Get a rope, quickly. A long one," he commanded.</p> + +<p>Ruth, Olive and Tommy crowded into the narrow +opening, unable to restrain their impatience +longer.</p> + +<p>"Be careful," warned Bob. "This floor +doesn't seem to be very strong."</p> + +<p>The three held their ground, however.</p> + +<p>"Hello-o-o down there! Are you hurt?"</p> + +<p>They were unable to distinguish the words of +the reply, but it evidently was made by Barbara.</p> + +<p>"There's a ladder," exclaimed Tommy, starting +to go down it. Stevens hauled him back.</p> + +<p>"Keep out. It looks shaky. I am going down +there myself. That's why I sent for a rope. I +don't want to fall in, too. Men, I want you to +stand by to lend a hand on the rope. Keep it +fairly taut, but don't hold me back."</p> + +<p>When all the arrangements had been made, +Bob started down the ladder. He had gone not<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_158" id="Page_158">[158]</a></span> +more than four or five feet when he found that +the ladder extended no further. It appeared +to have been broken off. He called to the men +to lower away. Finally his feet reached something +soft. At first the horrified thought came +to him that it was the body of one of the girls +for whom he was in search. Instead, what he +had found proved to be a piece of an old mattress +with a bundle of old clothes heaped on it. +This was something like seven feet from the +opening through which he had descended.</p> + +<p>He heard a moan from beneath the heap of +old garments. He tore them feverishly aside. +Mollie lay before him, pale and with eyes closed. +Stevens uttered a shout.</p> + +<p>"I've got Miss Mollie. She is injured. Stand +by to pull her up when I give you the word," +he directed in a tone of excitement. Quickly +securing the rope under her arms, he bade +them haul away, he lifting the girl as high as +his arms would reach, then grasping her feet, +lending such assistance as possible in this way. +She was quickly in the arms of her friends, who +bore her downstairs to her own room and set +to work to revive her.</p> + +<p>Now came the next stage of Bob Stevens' +work. He could not imagine where Barbara +could be. Just at this point he discovered a +bend in the supposed chimney. This he decided<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_159" id="Page_159">[159]</a></span> +was in order to avoid some obstruction on the +second floor of the house. He found an opening +in the platform scarcely large enough to +admit his own broad shoulders. There, unmistakably +was a ladder, made of thin strips of +iron, bolted to the chimney itself.</p> + +<p>"I'm going further down," he shouted to +those above. "Don't pull unless I call upon +you to do so. Are you down there, Miss Barbara?"</p> + +<p>"Yes," came the answer. It sounded very far +away. Bob knew that the young woman must +be a great distance below him, or else there was +another bend in the chimney that shut off the +sound of her voice. Perhaps, too, there was +another landing. One might expect to meet with +anything in this house of mysteries.</p> + +<p>"The other one is all right," yelled the young +man to those above. "Keep up your courage, +Miss Barbara. I will be with you as soon as +I can get down. Can you climb up?"</p> + +<p>"No." He did not catch what followed. Bob +was climbing down the narrow ladder, prudently +keeping the rope about his waist in case the +ladder should give way. He carried the lantern +with him on his descent, which he made with +considerable caution. He feared that were he +to dislodge a brick or a section of the ladder, +it might fall on the girl below and seriously injure<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_160" id="Page_160">[160]</a></span> +her. Why she should be so far below the +narrow platform where he had found Mollie +Thurston he did not pause to ask himself. The +urgent work of the moment was to get Barbara +out as quickly as possible.</p> + +<p>"Is there no end to this?" muttered the young +man. He figured that he must be somewhere +in the vicinity of the cellar. Barbara's voice, +now strong and clear, halted him suddenly.</p> + +<p>"Be careful," she warned. "The ladder +doesn't reach all the way down. You will fall +if you don't step carefully."</p> + +<p>"Where are you?" he cried. "Goodness, I'm +glad to hear your voice! I feared you had been +killed."</p> + +<p>"I don't know how this happened. I am down +here. That is all I can tell you about it."</p> + +<p>Stevens had reached the end of the ladder by +this time. He lowered his lantern, directing her +to take it from the rope, then observing that +he was not more than half a dozen feet from +the bottom, he dropped lightly down beside her.</p> + +<p>"Did you fall down here?" he asked.</p> + +<p>"The last several feet I did," she answered. +Bab was pale, but her eyes were bright.</p> + +<p>"Then how did you get down this far? Didn't +the landing stop you?" questioned the young +man while looping the rope under Barbara's +arms.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_161" id="Page_161">[161]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Yes, the landing stopped me. I thought I +surely had been killed, but after a little I pulled +myself together and screamed for help. I guess +no one heard me."</p> + +<p>"They were excited. The house is in an uproar. +Your sister is in the hands of her friends. +I think she will be all right."</p> + +<p>"My sister?" questioned Bab, opening her +eyes wide.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Didn't you know she fell in, too?"</p> + +<p>"Tell me—was she—how did it happen?" demanded +Bab, all in one voice. "Oh, it was +awful! Mollie fell in, you say?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. I got her out with the help of the +others. You haven't answered my question. +Why did you come on down here?"</p> + +<p>"I thought there might be an opening at the +bottom. This chimney was intended to be used +for climbing. Hurry. I want to see Mollie."</p> + +<p>Barbara was in a fever of excitement. She +could not see why she shouldn't climb the rope. +Stevens advised her to calm herself, saying that +when she reached the ladder she might climb, +but not to cast off the rope.</p> + +<p>"When you reach the top tell them to lower +the rope again, so I can get out."</p> + +<p>Barbara suddenly collected herself.</p> + +<p>"Oh, forgive me for my thoughtlessness. +You go on up. I can come later."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_162" id="Page_162">[162]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bob Stevens merely smiled, then raised his +voice in a shout to the men to pull up. He +lifted Bab up with apparent ease, for he was +a muscular young man. The rope began to +move up slowly. He helped Barbara until she +had reached the ladder, then after seeing her +safely on her way, and when she was no longer +visible, the young man picked up his lantern +and began to look about him.</p> + +<p>The chimney reached clear to the bottom of +the pit in which he was standing. A short passage +underground led off from the pit. He followed +it for about thirty yards, when it ended +abruptly against a solid mound of earth. Investigation +showed that this earth had caved +in, thus blocking what had once been a long +passage. Little particles of dirt showered down +on his head as he stepped carefully about, indicating +that the rest of the roof might cave in +at any moment.</p> + +<p>"The silence of the tomb," muttered Bob. +"What a place in which to be buried alive! I +can imagine what that poor little girl must have +suffered in here without a light, not knowing +whether she ever would be found again. There's +pluck for you. I know I should have been +scared stiff. What a house of mystery this is! +If it were mine I would pull it to pieces to satisfy +my curiosity if for no other reason. But<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_163" id="Page_163">[163]</a></span> +the treasure? Can it be possible that we have +stumbled upon the hiding place of the real +treasure? I'm going to investigate this place +later on. Mr. Presby's ancestors must have +been regular woodchucks. At least they were +great burrowers. Hold on; there must have +been some sort of stream through here by the +looks of the ground. The tunnel was already +made. All it needed was covering and filling. +I begin to see. The families used it for getting +away when the Indians got too busy. But I +hear the rope. I want to examine that attic."</p> + +<p>Bob held up his lantern to look for the rope +when a ray from the lantern glinted on something +bright in a niche in the chimney near the +base, from where a brick had been pried out. +He held the lantern closer, his eyes grew large, +then the young man gave a whoop that was +heard far above him in the attic.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_164" id="Page_164">[164]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVI</h2> + +<h3>BOB SOLVES ANOTHER MYSTERY</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>"I'VE got it!" he cried. "I've found the—but +it can't be a very big treasure done +up in so small a package," he added in +a disappointed tone.</div> + +<p>That which had attracted his attention was +a metal box about six inches in length which +had been set into the chimney so skilfully that +a person passing would be unlikely to observe +it. The box fitted the niche so nicely that Stevens +was obliged to use his knife to pry it out. +The box was locked. He found no key and +was about to attempt to pry open the cover +with his knife when he paused.</p> + +<p>"No. I won't do it. That wouldn't be fair. +Miss Thurston is the real discoverer. She shall +open the box, or I will open it in her presence +unless Mr. Presby wishes to do so himself." +Saying which, Bob Stevens pocketed his curiosity +as well as the little metal box. The rope +now being at hand, he slipped the loop about +his waist, reached up and grasped the lower +rung of the ladder, drawing himself up easily +until the lower rung was beneath his feet. From +that point on he climbed rapidly to the platform.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_165" id="Page_165">[165]</a></span> +From there he was obliged to use the rope in +place of the missing section of the ladder. A +few seconds later he was standing in the garret.</p> + +<p>"How is Miss Mollie?" were his first words.</p> + +<p>"Just coming to," answered one of the hands. +"Miss Ruth was just up here to see if you had +gotten up yet. She wishes to see you."</p> + +<p>"Hold up the lantern. I want to look at this +wall a moment." Bob had found the maul lying +on the floor in the gable. He returned it to +the garret. He now recalled the crash that had +followed his final chopping. Since then the +young man had reasoned out what he thought +was the mechanism that had caused all the +trouble.</p> + +<p>Stevens pushed gently on the panel against +which he had originally struck so hard a blow. +To the amazement of the onlookers, the panel +fell into the gable with a mighty crash.</p> + +<p>"I thought so," he nodded. The others had +leaped to the far side of the room. Mr. Presby +came hobbling up, fearing that still another disaster +had fallen upon the house.</p> + +<p>"Please look here, Mr. Presby," called Bob. +"Here is the secret. See that narrow panel? +It is a little wider than a man's body. It is +hinged at the bottom. Attached to it were +ropes running over pulleys in wooden tunnels. +At the ends of these ropes are heavy weights.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_166" id="Page_166">[166]</a></span> +So nicely balanced were the weights that the +pressure of a few pounds from this side would +throw the panel inward. Any person leaning +against it on this side would be dumped into +the other room so quickly that unless he understood +the mechanism, he would not know +what had occurred."</p> + +<p>"Wonderful," breathed the owner.</p> + +<p>"It was evidently intended to afford a quick +get-away in case the occupants of the house +found it necessary to leave hurriedly. You will +find the remnants of an old mattress in the +gable there. I presume that was originally so +placed that the person going through would +slide from the smooth panel to the mattress +without the least danger of injury. The instant +his body left the panel the weights would +pull the panel into place with a great bang. +When the weights struck their foundation—the +floor—another crash would be heard. Were I +an Indian, I think I would run if I heard all +that crashing and smashing. However, I have +cut the ropes. You will have no recurrence of +to-day's accident. The trap was open and both +the young women fell into it while groping about +in the dark in there. Is Miss Mollie seriously +hurt?"</p> + +<p>"One wrist is sprained and she is somewhat +bruised. I do not believe it will prove to be<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_167" id="Page_167">[167]</a></span> +anything serious," answered Mr. Presby. +"Bob, I thank you," he added, giving the young +man's hand a hearty grip.</p> + +<p>"May I go down there now?" piped Tommy.</p> + +<p>"You may not, sir," returned his father +sternly. "You will keep away from that place +entirely. I shall have the opening nailed up +to-morrow. By the way, Robert, what did you +find at the bottom?" questioned the master +eagerly.</p> + +<p>"A caved-in passage. I also found this. I +intended to give it to you in the presence of +Miss Thurston. However, it belongs to you."</p> + +<p>Mr. Presby turned the metal box over in his +hand reflectively.</p> + +<p>"Open it, Robert. I decline to become excited."</p> + +<p>"May I call Miss Barbara?"</p> + +<p>"Certainly."</p> + +<p>Tommy fairly flew downstairs for Bab, who +returned with him on the run. Stevens showed +her the box. Her eyes glowed.</p> + +<p>"How is Miss Mollie?" asked the young man.</p> + +<p>"I don't think there is very much the matter +with her except the shock and the fright. She +must have been unconscious down there for quite +a time. Please open the box. I am dying of +curiosity."</p> + +<p>He broke open the box with the stove poker<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_168" id="Page_168">[168]</a></span> +with which he had sounded the walls. All necks +were craned to see what was in the box. To +their wonderment, not unmixed with disappointment, +Bob Stevens drew out a tarnished gold +watch, on the back of which had been cut the +letters "T. W. P." It was of English make and +very old.</p> + +<p>Mr. Presby regarded it solemnly.</p> + +<p>"That is my ancestor's watch. It can mean +but one thing, finding it as we have. He left +such of his worldly possessions as he could—this +watch. And to think we have dug up half +of the estate for a treasure that did not exist! +It was his silent message to us that this was all +he had to leave in case he did not return." Mr. +Presby's voice held a note of keen disappointment. +Even up to now he had not fully lost +hope that by some fortunate circumstance the +treasure might yet be found.</p> + +<p>"He may have returned and taken the rest +of it," reflected Bob. "But if that were so, +why should he have gone to all the pains of +leading us to believe there was more?"</p> + +<p>"How so?"</p> + +<p>"This find means more than appears on the +surface, sir."</p> + +<p>"May I look at it?" asked Barbara.</p> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 329px;"> +<img src="images/gs03.png" width="329" height="500" alt="A Slip Of Paper Fluttered To the Floor." title="" /> +<span class="caption">A Slip Of Paper Fluttered To the Floor.</span> +</div> + +<p>Mr. Presby handed the watch to her. She +opened the case and gazed long at the face of<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_171" id="Page_171">[171]</a></span> +the timepiece. She closed the case with a snap, +then turned to the back, first studying the +initials, next trying to open the back case. Bob +Stevens assisted her with his pocket knife. The +case came open suddenly. A slip of paper fluttered +to the floor at Bab's feet.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" she cried, snatching it up. She started +to unfold the paper, then flushing, handed it +to Mr. Presby. He shook his head.</p> + +<p>"Look at it, my dear. There need be no +secrets here."</p> + +<p>Barbara did so, her hands trembling with +excitement. A little furrow of perplexity appeared +between the eyebrows. What she saw +on the paper was a crude drawing of a toadstool +with a slight point rising from the centre +of the toadstool. In the background was what +appeared to be a forest, but so awkwardly drawn +that it was not possible to say positively that +a forest was what the artist had intended. Below +the picture of the toadstool was some writing. +Stevens held the lantern closer, at her suggestion. +"'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'" read +Barbara Thurston. "Now, what in the world does that mean?"</p> + +<p>"I think it was your little golden-haired sister +who expressed the opinion that my ancestor +was not in his right mind," said Mr. Presby. +"I am inclined to that belief myself. I wash<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_172" id="Page_172">[172]</a></span> +my hands of the whole affair! Come, let us +go below. This air here suffocates me."</p> + +<p>Bob Stevens took the paper and, holding the +lantern in the crook of his left arm, studied the +bit of paper on his way downstairs, but made +nothing out of it.</p> + +<p>"I am not certain that it means anything at +all, Miss Thurston," he said. "Perhaps the +girls may discover some meaning. As for myself, +I give it up."</p> + +<p>"Thank you," answered Barbara. "I will +show it to them. I know it must mean something, +unless—unless the original Mr. Presby +were crazy in fact."</p> + +<p>"I am beginning to think we are all crazy," +laughed Stevens.</p> + +<p>After having again inquired for Mollie, and +shaken hands with Barbara and Ruth, Bob went +home. Barbara had stuffed the slip of paper +into the pocket of her blouse on her way to +Mollie's room. Mollie now lay wide awake. +Her face was pale. There was a livid mark +on her forehead, where she had come violently +in contact with the chimney side on her tumble +into the hole in the gable floor.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Mollie, dear," soothed Bab, throwing +her arms about her sister. "It had to be you +who got the worst of the bump. Were you leaning +against the wall, too?"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_173" id="Page_173">[173]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mollie nodded weakly.</p> + +<p>"What happened?" she asked.</p> + +<p>Barbara explained as well as she could from +the brief description of the panel mechanism +that Mr. Stevens had given to her, to which Mollie +listened wide-eyed.</p> + +<p>"You dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried Ruth. +"Will you never stop picking up horseshoe nails +with all four tires?"</p> + +<p>"But we manage to wriggle our way through +the broken glass, don't we, Molliekins?"</p> + +<p>Mollie nodded and smiled. The wind was +still howling without. In the pause of conversation +the girls listened. Suddenly Ruth sprang +up.</p> + +<p>"I have forgotten two things," she exclaimed. +"I must go out and put the storm curtains on +Mr. A. Bubble and telephone father that Bubble +must go to the shop."</p> + +<p>"You didn't have another accident?" inquired +Barbara anxiously.</p> + +<p>"No. I blew up the two rear tires and came +in on the rims. Oh, girls, I wish you might +have been along. No, I don't, either. I'm +afraid the car wouldn't have stood up under that +additional weight. It was great!"</p> + +<p>"Did—did you go some?" questioned Mollie.</p> + +<p>"Did we? Ask Tom! I'll wager that young +man's head is whirling still. I never thought<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_174" id="Page_174">[174]</a></span> +we should make it, but I was bound not to set +back the spark a single notch until I either +turned turtle in the ditch or got Mr. Stevens +here to help find you, Bab. We made it, didn't +we, Tommy boy?" Tom had just entered the +room to see what was going on.</p> + +<p>"You bet we did," answered Tom.</p> + +<p>"Would you like to ride so fast as that another +time?" questioned Ruth merrily.</p> + +<p>"Well, maybe in a railroad train," answered +Tommy.</p> + +<p>"I'll take you out again when the car is repaired," +said Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Not when I'm awake you won't."</p> + +<p>"You say you came home on the rims?" +wondered Barbara. "I should have thought it +would have crushed them. Yours is a heavy +car, Ruth."</p> + +<p>"It would have crushed them, only the rims +didn't touch the ground till we got in the drive +here," observed Thomas wisely, whereat the +girls laughed merrily.</p> + +<p>Ruth started to go down and put on her storm +curtains. Bab ran after her to assist.</p> + +<p>"Oh!" cried Barbara, as an icy blast smote +her in the face the moment she stepped out into +the open.</p> + +<p>"You had better run back and put something +over your head," advised Ruth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_175" id="Page_175">[175]</a></span></p> + +<p>For answer, Barbara pulled out her handkerchief, +binding this over her head. The two +girls, after no little effort, succeeded in putting +the curtains up, though the wind made +their task doubly difficult. Finishing, they ran +into the house with benumbed fingers and cheeks +aflame. They rushed to the nearest fireplace, +to which they pressed closely until the odor of +scorching cloth warned them to beware. Olive +and Grace had come downstairs, for dinner was +on the table. A tray had been taken up to Mollie, +but she did not care to eat, and had soon +after fallen into a restful doze.</p> + +<p>"You haven't told us what you found in that +great, deep hole," urged Olive, after they had +been seated for some little time.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I forgot," answered Barbara. "Everything +has been moving so rapidly that I haven't +had time even to think. I found—I mean Mr. +Stevens found something. But I am afraid it +doesn't help us much."</p> + +<p>"Bob found something?" cried Olive. "Oh, +tell us about it."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he found a metal box in the chimney. +In it there was a watch that belonged to your +scalped ancestor—I beg your pardon. I +shouldn't have said that. Your father has the +watch. Well, inside the back case was a tiny +slip of paper with the funniest picture you ever<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_176" id="Page_176">[176]</a></span> +saw. There was some writing beneath the picture. +I'll show it to you. I believe it means +something, but I can't understand it at all."</p> + +<p>"All rubbish," observed Mr. Presby. The +master of the house already had shown the +watch to Mrs. Presby, and had explained the +manner of its finding by young Stevens.</p> + +<p>Bab was searching through her pocket for +the slip of paper. She had her handkerchief +in her hand, together with some other articles +that the pocket had held. Going clear to the +bottom, she groped with eager fingers. Her +face grew a shade paler.</p> + +<p>"You haven't lost it?" begged Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I am afraid I have!" gasped Barbara, +turning her pocket wrong side out. "I—I must +have dropped it in the garret. May I be excused +while I go up to look for it?"</p> + +<p>Receiving permission, the girl ran hurriedly +up the garret stairs, first having snatched up +one of the lanterns. She searched the garret +floor, paying especial attention to the spot where +they had been standing when discussing the find. +She found no trace of the missing slip. Next +Barbara examined every inch of the stairs, then +entered Mollie's room on tip-toe, but with no +better success. Every nook and corner where +she could remember to have been on both floors +was searched in vain.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_177" id="Page_177">[177]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I think I can tell you where you lost it," volunteered +Ruth Stuart "You took out your +handkerchief to put over your head when we +were outside covering the car. You must have +pulled the paper out with the handkerchief."</p> + +<p>"Then I must go outside and look for it," +wailed Bab. "I simply mustn't lose that paper. +It may mean everything to you all. Oh, I must +find it."</p> + +<p>"Silly! You won't find the paper if it has +been dropped out of doors. On a night like this +it has probably blown far away," interposed +Olive. "Don't worry. It isn't worth it. Hunting +for the Treasureholme treasure brings nothing +but tears. Forget it all and be your own +bright little self."</p> + +<p>Barbara Thurston struggled with her emotions +for a few heart-breaking seconds, then +burst into tears.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_178" id="Page_178">[178]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVII</h2> + +<h3>A LONG-REMEMBERED CHRISTMAS</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>THERE had been an air of new mystery +about Treasureholme for the last three +or four days. Packages large and small, +all addressed to Mrs. Presby had been delivered +from the city. Mysterious conferences were +being held between Mrs. Presby and this and +that girl. Each of the "Automobile Girls" appeared +to be bursting with the burden of the +secret she was carrying about with her.</div> + +<p>The explanation of all this mystery was that +it then lacked but two days to Christmas. Bab +had in a measure recovered from her disappointment +and chagrin at losing the slip of paper +found in the chimney, and strange to say +she had wholly forgotten the words that were +written on the little slip. All the information +that Robert Stevens could give her was that it +was something about a "minute." The excitement +under which all hands were laboring at +the time of the find, perhaps might be blamed +for their short memories. However, there was +no help for the disaster now. The coming holiday +served to take their minds from the subject +of the buried treasure, though now and<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_179" id="Page_179">[179]</a></span> +again Tom brought in reports of having seen +strange men in the grounds out near the woods. +One evening the girls had been frightened +almost to the verge of hysterics by discovering +a man peering through the window of Olive's +sitting room upstairs, while the girls were chatting +after the others below stairs had gone +to bed. A ladder found on the outside explained +how the man had gotten to the window. That +his spying had something to do with the mad +hunt for the treasure, they had no doubt. In +this instance their screams, aided perhaps by +the bottle of smelling salts that Olive had instantly +hurled through the window upon catching +sight of him, had driven him away.</p> + +<p>Christmas eve at last was at hand. The air +without was crisp and clear, within all was cheer +from the blazing fireplaces, with decorations of +holly festooned with ribbons in all the downstairs +rooms. The dining room had been cleared +as soon as possible after dinner, for it was +there that a Christmas tree was to be set up, +there that the presents were to be distributed +to the "Automobile Girls" and various members +of the family. Excitement ran high. Bob +Stevens had been invited to join in the festivities, +which included a molasses candy pull +and games appropriate to the occasion.</p> + +<p>Seven o'clock had just boomed out on the<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_180" id="Page_180">[180]</a></span> +grandfather's clock in the hall when there came +a ring at the door. The girls, with ears alert, +heard a familiar voice greeting Mr. and Mrs. +Presby. Down the stairs rushed the girls, with +Ruth in the lead, crying at the top of her voice:</p> + +<p>"It's my daddy! Oh, it's my dear daddy!" +Ruth flung herself into her father's arms. She +had not seem him in more than two weeks. The +rest of the girls rushed up to Mr. Stuart, each +giving him an affectionate hug, for to them he +seemed almost as much a father as he did to +Ruth.</p> + +<p>Barbara's heart sank as she stepped back to +take a good look at Mr. Stuart. His face was +positively haggard. Ruth had observed this +in the first glance and two great tears dropped +from her eyes to Mr. Stuart's shoulder as she +clung there.</p> + +<p>"Dear daddy. Don't take it so hard. You +have me," whispered Ruth. This brought a +momentary relaxation to the tense muscles of +the speculator's face.</p> + +<p>Barbara was shocked at his appearance. He +seemed to have added years to his age since last +she saw him. Mr. Stuart observed her inquiring +gaze fixed upon his face. He smiled reassuringly, +well understanding that she had noted +the change in him. Then, to divert Bab's +thoughts, he pinched Mollie's dimpled chin.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_181" id="Page_181">[181]</a></span></p> + +<p>"How is my little Molliekins since her adventure +in the lower regions of Treasureholme?" +he questioned.</p> + +<p>"My stock went down that day. It hasn't +come up yet," answered Mollie brightly.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid you are not alone in that experience," +laughed Mr. Stuart. "Am I right, +Richard?" addressing Mr. Presby. Mr. Presby +nodded solemnly. "By the way, Ruth, the +chauffeur will drive your car out in the morning. +I heard all about that last drive of yours from +the people of Brightwaters. I expect my little +girl will break her neck and at the same time +her dad's heart one of these days."</p> + +<p>"I am not afraid for the first, but I shouldn't +like to be responsible for the latter," answered +Ruth soberly.</p> + +<p>"To-night we won't think of serious subjects. +We are to make it a real holiday, eh, Richard?"</p> + +<p>"That is our plan. We want the 'Automobile +Girls' to enjoy themselves. It makes us +happy to see them so happy. I've never seen +Olive more happy than she is to-night."</p> + +<p>Olive was radiant. She, like her girl guests, +was dressed in white, with a sprig of holly +pinned to her waist. Faces were flushed, eyes +sparkling. They were a happy, joyous lot of +young women. Olive stole into the drawing +room that at her direction the servants already<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_182" id="Page_182">[182]</a></span> +had cleared of rugs, moving the furniture to +the sides of the room. The only light there was +from the blazing fireplace. Olive sat down at +the piano.</p> + +<p>"Come on, everybody!" she called, striking +up a lively two-step.</p> + +<p>The "Automobile Girls" ran for the drawing +room. With them went the older members of +the party. Ruth grabbed her father and led +him a giddy dance. Bob Stevens claimed a +dance with Bab. Mr. Presby's gouty foot would +not permit his joining in the frolic, so Bob +very thoughtfully cut short his dance with Barbara, +dancing a few minutes with each of the +other girls. Thomas Warrington Presby was +turning handsprings in a corner of the room, +and, being in the shadow, he was not disturbed +in his antics.</p> + +<p>Soon after this Mrs. Presby appeared at the +door.</p> + +<p>"Children," she called. "You are invited +to come to the dining room. I do not think a +second invitation will be necessary."</p> + +<p>It was not. There was a grand rush for the +dining room, followed by a chorus of "ahs" +and "ohs" as they caught sight of a real, old-fashioned +Christmas tree, all alight with candles, +glittering with spangles, many-hued balls and +yards and yards of sparkling frosted fringe.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_183" id="Page_183">[183]</a></span> +At its top and hovering over it, floated a cherub, +supported by an invisible wire suspended from +the ceiling. At the base of the tree were the +presents. There seemed to be a whole truck +load of them. Some very large packages excited +the curiosity of the girls, but what caused +the most merriment was a huge red automobile, +made of wire and red paper. The automobile +was filled with red roses, both being the gift to +the "Automobile Girls" from their friend, Mrs. +Cartwright.</p> + +<p>It fell to the lot of Mr. Stuart to distribute +the presents. There was a rifle for Tom, small +gifts for all the girls from Mrs. Thurston, Mrs. +Presby and Miss Sallie, who had come over +earlier in the day, having spent most of her +time thus far in getting the gifts ready for the +presentation. Bab and Mollie gave each of +their friends drawn-work handkerchiefs and +some small pieces of embroidery, all their own +work, to Miss Sallie and Mrs. Presby. As yet +the large packages that held so much of mystery +had not been opened.</p> + +<p>Ruth finally slipped over and whispered to +her father. He nodded. At that she hurried +to the tree, dragging the largest of the packages +out into the light. Mr. Stuart cut the +strings, Ruth being too impatient to untie them. +A great heap of tissue paper, that piled high<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_184" id="Page_184">[184]</a></span> +on the floor, gave promise of something good. +Ruth drew out a long, black object which she +ran over and placed in Barbara's arms.</p> + +<p>"There, you dear! That should keep you +warm," she said. "This is from father and +myself."</p> + +<p>Barbara stared at the object that lay across +her arms. It was a three-quarter length Persian +lamb coat. Barbara was too astonished +to catch the meaning of it all.</p> + +<p>Aunt Sallie took the coat from Barbara's +arms, turned the girl about and slipped the +coat on.</p> + +<p>"Oh-h-h!" gasped Bab, catching sight of herself +in a mirror. "No, no, I can't accept it. It +is—isn't right, Ruth—Mr. Stuart. Oh, you +shouldn't have done this! I didn't look for +anything but some simple little gift. But this +lovely coat. Oh, Mollie, Mollie." Bab's eyes +were swimming.</p> + +<p>"Never mind, Molliekins," twinkled Mr. +Stuart. "There is something in the other package +that I think will please you equally well. +Ruth, aren't you going to give my little golden-haired +girl her present?"</p> + +<p>Ruth flew to the second large package, the +strings of which had been cut by Mr. Stuart. +From this package Ruth drew forth a coat +exactly like Barbara's, for Mollie. Two caps<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_185" id="Page_185">[185]</a></span> +of the same material were placed on the heads +of the Thurston girls. Mollie needed no urging +to put her coat on. She slipped into it, then +began dancing about the floor, regardless of +whose toes she stepped on. Fortunately for her, +she missed Mr. Presby's gouty foot.</p> + +<p>"Now what do you think of yourselves, you +dears?" questioned Ruth.</p> + +<p>"Splendid!" cried Mollie.</p> + +<p>Barbara shook her head, though her flushed +face reflected the happiness she felt. She +glanced questioningly at Grace. The latter was +smiling with no trace of envy in her pleasant +face. Then came Grace's turn. She, too, received +a coat and cap, these being of gray squirrel. +Olive's surprise was a set of silver fox +furs, with a stole that reached almost to her +feet.</p> + +<p>Ruth was last. Mr. Stuart opened a velvet +case, then slipped a slender gold chain about +the neck of his daughter. From the chain was +suspended an exquisite pearl pendant. For +Bob Stevens there was a handsome scarf pin +from the Presbys. The girls' gifts to the +young man were gloves and ties, a silver-handled +pocket knife and other odds and ends +that caused Tommy to sniff disdainfully.</p> + +<p>"That's just like girls," he jeered. "Why +didn't you get him a rifle or an automobile or<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_186" id="Page_186">[186]</a></span> +something that he could do something with? +I'd rather have a pair of rubber boots than all +of that truck."</p> + +<p>But Bob Stevens was well pleased. He was +greatly surprised, for he had not looked for +presents. The candy pull had been forgotten. +The girls were too happy in their new possessions, +though Barbara Thurston was a little +troubled over the magnificence of the gifts for +herself and Mollie. She did not think Mr. +Stuart should have given them such expensive +gifts. In spite of the happiness of the day and +evening a shadow overhung the entire party +at Treasureholme. Perhaps Barbara Thurston +felt it more deeply than any of the other girls. +And instead of lightening the shadow was to +grow deeper before the night was ended.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_187" id="Page_187">[187]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XVIII</h2> + +<h3>BAB'S EXCITING DISCOVERY</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>A CHORUS of "Merry Christmas" was +heard as the clock in the hall struck +the hour of midnight. Olive was seated +at the piano. As the strokes of the old clock +ceased, she touched the keys softly, then began +to sing. The girls knew the song. They joined +with her, <ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'rasing'">raising</ins> their sweet, young voices in +the Christmas anthem:</div> + +<div class='poem'> +"Hark the herald angels sing<br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Glory to the new-born King!</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">Peace on earth, and mercy mild,</span><br /> +<span style="margin-left: 0.5em;">God and sinners reconciled!"</span><br /> +</div> + +<p>Ere the song ended, Ruth's father had +slipped away. He had been profoundly stirred. +Ruth saw him go. She stole away after him. +It was half an hour later that Barbara, on her +way to her own room, where Mollie already had +gone, saw Ruth's door slightly ajar. Bab +tapped lightly. Ruth's voice bade her enter. +But Bab shrank back when she saw Mr. Stuart +sitting there. His face was drawn and sad. +There were tears in Ruth's eyes. Barbara +could scarcely keep back her own tears, so +keenly did she feel for these two whom she<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_188" id="Page_188">[188]</a></span> +loved so well. The girl stammered an apology +and drew back.</p> + +<p>"Bab, dear, come in," called Mr. Stuart.</p> + +<p>"Yes, do. We need you. Perhaps you may +be able to make daddy smile. I can't, because +I have no smiles left in me."</p> + +<p>"I—I am afraid I haven't, either," answered +Barbara, with trembling lips. "Hadn't I better +go to my own room? Perhaps you wish to +talk undisturbed."</p> + +<p>"We want you here," answered Mr. Stuart. +"Please close the door and sit down." Bab +walked to the centre of the room, where she +stood leaning against a table gazing down on +them questioningly. Ruth nestled on her father's +knee with an arm thrown affectionately +about his neck.</p> + +<p>"My dear," he said, addressing Barbara, "I +have just been telling Ruth that this may be the +last Christmas that she will be able to have all +her heart craves. I mean in the way of luxuries. +My business affairs are in a very bad way. +You already know that Mr. Presby has no hopes +of being able to pull through. When he goes, I +go. We shall go down together. We have been +speculating in wheat. We have loaded up so +heavily that I see no possibility of getting out." +He paused reflectively while the lines of his +face grew haggard.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_189" id="Page_189">[189]</a></span></p> + +<p>"You mean you are going to lose all you +have?" almost whispered Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Yes. Instead of the price of wheat going +up, as it should have done at this season of the +year, wheat has been forced down and down +by a strong bear market. Behind it all there +is a powerful but mysterious force, a master +brain that is forcing the price down and seeking +to ruin us."</p> + +<p>"Have you no idea who is doing this—who +your enemy is?" asked Barbara.</p> + +<p>"Nothing more than a vague suspicion. You +see, the trading is done largely through others. +There is no one man, so far as we have been +able to discover, who is crowding us, forcing +us to load up and to hold at a frightful cost to +ourselves. We know, however, that there is an +individual force back of this movement. Richard +has mortgaged his property to the last cent. +After the first of the year, unless there be a +turn for better in his affairs, Treasureholme will +be taken away from him. After the first of the +year I shall be a ruined man financially."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Stuart," said Barbara in a steady voice, +"I felt that you should not have spent all that +money on those beautiful gifts for us. I feel +even more strongly about it now. Won't—won't +you please take them back? Oh, you understand +what I mean," cried Barbara, flushing<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_190" id="Page_190">[190]</a></span> +hotly as she saw his gaze fixed inquiringly upon +her.</p> + +<p>"Yes, my dear, I do. And I thank you. You +are a noble girl. But even such a sacrifice on +your part would do no good. A few hundred +dollars would make no difference. I wanted +Ruth and her friends to have a happy Christmas; +I wanted you all to be remembered as +you deserve. As it is, I have not done all that +I had wished to do."</p> + +<p>"Oh, you have done too much!" exclaimed +Barbara.</p> + +<p>"I wanted you as well as Ruth to understand +just how matters stand. I feel better for having +unburdened my mind."</p> + +<p>"Would it help you in the least if you were +to know who this man is who is driving you and +Mr. Presby to failure?" asked Bab.</p> + +<p>"It might help somewhat, thought it may be +too late. Had I known a month ago I might +have succeeded in turning the tide against him."</p> + +<p>"Oh, daddy, give it up! It's a dreadful business," +begged Ruth.</p> + +<p>"I am afraid I shall have to, whether or not +I wish to do so. I agree with you that it is a +dreadful business, and if I get out of the woods +this time, I am through with speculation. Now, +children run along. I wish to talk with Mr. +Presby. He awaits me downstairs."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_191" id="Page_191">[191]</a></span></p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart kissed both girls, but clung to +their hands a moment as he gazed into their +eyes. Then he released the hands and moved +toward the door. Ruth and Barbara stood +watching him until Mr. Stuart had passed +from their sight and they heard him descending +the stairs.</p> + +<p>"Good night, dear. I can't talk any more to-night," +said Ruth, controlling her voice with +an effort.</p> + +<p>"I—I am afraid I can't either," answered +Bab, with averted eyes.</p> + +<p>She left the room rather hurriedly, closing +the door behind her. For a long time after +Barbara had left Ruth Stuart's room, she lay +in her own bedroom on a lounge staring straight +up at the ceiling. Mollie was asleep, her golden +head barely visible above the tops of the covers. +"If I could only do something for these +good friends," murmured Bab. "But what can +a girl do? I wonder how much money it would +take to save them? It would take a lot, I know."</p> + +<p>After a time Barbara got up to get her handkerchief. +She had dropped hers in Ruth's room. +On the dresser lay Barbara's hand bag, the one +she had carried with her on her way from Kingsbridge. +She had not used it since, Ruth having +bought her a very handsome bag in Chicago +during one of their shopping expeditions. Bab<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_192" id="Page_192">[192]</a></span> +remembered that there was a handkerchief in +the bag.</p> + +<p>Opening the bag, she drew out the handkerchief +which lay under some other articles. As +she did so something white fluttered to the floor +a few feet from where she was standing. Barbara +wiped her eyes, then stood regarding herself +in the mirror. She saw that her own face +was troubled and that her eyes were red, as +though she had been weeping. Then she stepped +over, picking up the handsome coat that Mr. +Stuart and Ruth had given her for Christmas. +With a sigh Bab laid the coat down, smoothed +it out and began preparing for bed. She had +given no further thought to the little piece of +white cardboard that had slipped from her +handkerchief a few moments before. Bab was +in bed, snuggling down by Mollie, very shortly +afterwards, with the lights turned off. The girl +lay staring into the darkness until her weary +eyelids closed and she dropped off to sleep.</p> + +<p>When Barbara awoke the following morning +Mollie was still sleeping soundly. Bab, however, +rose at once, still rubbing her eyes and +trying to recall something that had been troubling +her when she went to sleep. Suddenly it +all came back to Bab in a flood of disagreeable +recollection.</p> + +<p>Barbara took her time at making her toilet,<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_193" id="Page_193">[193]</a></span> +thinking deeply as she brushed her thick, fine +hair before the mirror. The girl had half +turned to call Mollie when all at once she caught +sight of the bit of pasteboard lying on the floor.</p> + +<p>"I wonder what that is? I remember seeing +something fall from the bag last night."</p> + +<p>She picked up the card, glanced at it carelessly +and was about to toss it on the dresser +top when suddenly Bab uttered a little gasp. +Her hand trembled. She gazed with staring +eyes at the name on the card. "Mr. Nathan +Bonner," she read.</p> + +<p>For the moment Bab continued to stare.</p> + +<p>"The man in section thirteen," she murmured. +Bab tried to recall what had been said +about Nathan Bonner, but she could not remember. +She knew only that what she had +heard had left an unpleasant impression on her +mind. It was Nathan Bonner whom she had +seen in the Pit at the Board of Trade. She shuddered +as she recalled the almost demoniac expression +on that hard, cruel face. Then all at +once the conversation that she had overheard +while lying in her berth in the sleeping car on +that eventful night came before her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, oh, oh!" cried Barbara under her +breath.</p> + +<p>"What ever is the matter with you, Bab?" demanded +a voice from the bed.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_194" id="Page_194">[194]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Oh, Molliekins, I've made such an exciting +discovery. But I can't say a word about it. +I must find Mr. Stuart this very minute. I must +hurry. I haven't a moment to lose. Oh, I do +hope I am not too late!"</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_195" id="Page_195">[195]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XIX</h2> + +<h3>A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>BARBARA had slipped on a kimono and +was starting for the door.</div> + +<p>"Aren't you going to kiss me good +morning?" pouted Mollie.</p> + +<p>Bab ran back, throwing her arms about Mollie, +giving her sister a quick embrace and kiss; +then she hurried from the room, going straight +to Ruth's bedroom. To her surprise, she found +Ruth Stuart fully dressed. The girl was sitting +before a window staring out at the whitened +fields.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Ruth, I'm so glad I found you awake. +Do you know whether your father is up yet?"</p> + +<p>"Yes. Why, dear?"</p> + +<p>"I must see him at once. I have important +information for him. You will excuse me, won't +you, if I run down to see him? Is he downstairs?"</p> + +<p>Ruth shook her head sorrowfully. There was +no laughter in her eyes this morning. She +seemed very different from the bright, carefree +Ruth of old.</p> + +<p>"Father is not here, Bab."</p> + +<p>"No-ot here?" gasped Bab.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_196" id="Page_196">[196]</a></span></p> + +<p>"No; he left on the seven o'clock train for +Chicago this morning. After an all-night conference +between him and Mr. Presby, it was +decided that daddy must go into the city early +this morning to see that Mr. Thompson whom +you girls met at the wreck of the car on your +journey to Chicago. I don't know what it is all +about, but I suspect it is money," concluded +Ruth with a trace of bitterness in her tone. +"When I think how happy you girls are in your +little home without wealth, I sometimes wish I +had never known luxury. But what did you want +to see father about?" demanded Ruth suddenly.</p> + +<p>"I—I wanted to tell him something. Oh, +please don't ask me now, Ruth, dear. Is—is +he at home or at the office?"</p> + +<p>"At home, I think. The office will not be +open to-day, this being a holiday."</p> + +<p>"Then I am going to Chicago to see him," +declared Barbara firmly.</p> + +<p>Ruth gazed at her incredulously.</p> + +<p>"You can't mean that?"</p> + +<p>"But I do."</p> + +<p>"Alone?"</p> + +<p>"Unless Aunt Sallie will accompany me. I +would rather she did not to-day."</p> + +<p>"Bab, I don't know what you have in that +little head of yours, but I do know that is it +important. You are not flighty, like myself.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_197" id="Page_197">[197]</a></span> +You need not tell me what is it that is troubling +you, but if you wish, I will go to town with +you."</p> + +<p>"Oh, will you really go with me, Ruth?" +cried Bab, her face expressing her relief at +Ruth's declaration. "Then let's get ready at +once."</p> + +<p>"You forget that we have Aunt Sallie to +reckon with first, Bab," reminded Ruth.</p> + +<p>Miss Sallie for a time gave promise of wholly +defeating Barbara's plan to go into the city to +see Mr. Stuart. However, after Bab had taken +Miss Sallie into her confidence, the latter gave +a reluctant consent. Ruth knew her way about +so well that there would be no possibility of +getting lost, and then they were going to her +home, which made the journey seem less undesirable +than it might have under other circumstances.</p> + +<p>The result was that Ruth and Barbara took +the nine o'clock train for Chicago that morning +amid loud protests from Olive, Mollie and +Grace. Ruth regretted that the man had not +come out with Mr. A. Bubble that morning. She +hoped, however, that they might find the car +at home. Perhaps her father intended to drive +out in the car that night. However, Barbara's +mission being so urgent, the best thing to do +was to take a train for Chicago at once.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_198" id="Page_198">[198]</a></span></p> + +<p>From the station in Chicago the girls proceeded +quickly to the Stuart home. Mr. Stuart +was not at home. He had not been there, but +had called up on the telephone to say that he +would try to be home for luncheon. Ruth went +to the telephone and called up her father's office. +Mr. Stuart's secretary, who had been called +there to do some important work that day, said +his employer would be in in half an hour. Bab +announced her intention of going to the office, +urging Ruth not to trouble to accompany her, +as her friend had several matters to attend to +at home.</p> + +<p>"Very well," answered Ruth, after a moment's +reflection, "I will call a taxicab. I'll +tell the driver exactly where to leave you. You +must make him wait for you, then you can come +straight back here. I know you want to see +daddy alone, but I'm not a bit jealous," she +added, giving Bab's pink cheek a loving pinch. +"Daddy will be surprised to see you. You +probably will be in time to take luncheon with +him down town. I don't believe he will be home +for luncheon now, it's getting so late. It's too +bad that our Christmas dinner at Treasureholme +had to be spoiled first with father's going +away, then you making up your mind to rush +down to Chicago. Tell me, dear, have you an +idea in that little head of yours that you can<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_199" id="Page_199">[199]</a></span> +help father in his present difficulty?" questioned +Ruth earnestly.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I have," admitted Barbara, "But I +would rather not tell you anything about it. +You might make fun of me and convince me +that I was foolish. I might be afraid to go to +Mr. Stuart in that event, fearing he might make +fun of me, too, but——"</p> + +<p>"Not father! There is the taxicab. I'll go +out and tell the driver what I wish him to do." +Ruth hurried out with her friend, giving the +driver such directions as she had decided upon.</p> + +<p>The drive to the building in which Mr. +Stuart's office was located occupied not more +than fifteen minutes, for, this being a holiday, +the streets were reasonably clear of the heavier +vehicles that usually interfere with the traffic. +Barbara knew the building, having been there +before. She therefore found no difficulty in +making her way to the office. The driver, acting +upon Ruth's orders, waited below.</p> + +<p>But Bab again was fated to be disappointed. +Mr. Stuart had not yet returned, his secretary +informed her. Barbara decided to wait awhile. +She inquired as to where she might find Mr. +Stuart, but the secretary could not say. He informed +her that there were important business +conferences on for that day, though Mr. Stuart +might be looked for at any moment.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_200" id="Page_200">[200]</a></span></p> + +<p>Bab went down and dismissed the taxicab, +then returned to the office to wait. An hour +went by, and still Mr. Stuart had not returned. +So she entered into conversation with the not +unwilling secretary by asking him if he knew +Mr. Bonner, a Chicago broker.</p> + +<p>"Yes, I know him. Is he an acquaintance of +yours?" he asked curiously.</p> + +<p>"I've met him. Where is his office?"</p> + +<p>The secretary told her, then added:</p> + +<p>"You're not going to see <i>him</i>, are you?"</p> + +<p>"I must see Mr. Stuart," replied Barbara +evasively. "I'd better go, for he may go home +without returning to the office."</p> + +<p>"That may be," said the secretary. "If he +comes in, whom shall I tell him called?"</p> + +<p>"Miss Barbara Thurston," she answered, as +she hurried away.</p> + +<p>Bab had some difficulty in getting past the +clerks in the outer room, but was finally ushered +into Mr. Bonner's private office.</p> + +<p>Bonner looked pleased when he saw his visitor, +but he evidently failed to recognize her.</p> + +<p>"I'm Miss Thurston, the girl who saved your +life perhaps in the wreck some time ago," she +announced boldly and according to her plan.</p> + +<p>"Of course! How stupid of me! I owe a +great deal to you, Miss Thurston."</p> + +<p>"You can do a great deal, Mr. Bonner," put<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_201" id="Page_201">[201]</a></span> +in the girl quickly. "I've come to ask that you +keep your promise to me."</p> + +<p>"Let me see, was it a box of bon-bons?" +questioned Bonner lightly.</p> + +<p>Barbara ignored this and asked bluntly:</p> + +<p>"Why do you insist on ruining Mr. Stuart +and Mr. Presby?"</p> + +<p>"Please explain yourself," said Bonner +harshly, taken off his guard and flushing hotly.</p> + +<p>Barbara did so, in girlish fashion.</p> + +<p>"Young woman, did Robert Stuart send you +to intercede for him?"</p> + +<p>"Oh, no! He would be displeased if he knew +that I had come here to-day."</p> + +<p>"Miss Thurston, I admire your pluck. I, not +being responsible for Mr. Stuart's or for Mr. +Presby's speculations, can of course do nothing +for you in this. If I could, I think my gratitude +to you for saving my life would take a personal +form. This is business, and in that each man +fights for himself. By the way, how did you +get the notion that I am in any way responsible +for Mr. Stuart's misjudgment on market conditions?"</p> + +<p>"I chanced to overhear your conversation +with your friend 'Jim' on the sleeper."</p> + +<p>"So you played eavesdropper! I would not +have thought it of you, Miss Thurston."</p> + +<p>"It was impossible not to hear; but when<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_202" id="Page_202">[202]</a></span> +you mentioned Mr. Stuart's name, I listened, +call it what you please."</p> + +<p>"I presume you told Robert Stuart what you +heard," he responded, again flushing.</p> + +<p>"No, Mr. Bonner—not yet."</p> + +<p>With the words, Barbara rose and ran out of +the office, slamming the door behind her. Her +face was aflame and she was trembling.</p> + +<p>When she reached the street she decided to +walk for part of the distance, so that she would +have time to quiet her agitation before she +should reach the Stuarts' home. It was growing +dark before she realized that she would have +to take a taxi or the Stuarts would be very much +worried about her.</p> + +<p>"Oh, Bab, where have you been? We've +been frightfully worried," cried Ruth. "Dad's +home, and he said his secretary told him you'd +left the office about three o'clock."</p> + +<p>"I started to walk, and forgot how late it +was, Ruth."</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart, who had come into the hall in +time to hear the conversation and noting how +tired Bab looked, said:</p> + +<p>"Come to dinner now, and Barbara can tell +us things later."</p> + +<p>When dinner was over and they were seated +around the library fire, Barbara turned to Mr. +Stuart and said:<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_203" id="Page_203">[203]</a></span></p> + +<p>"I can tell you the name of the man who's +fighting you and Mr. Presby, Mr. Stuart. Will +the knowledge do you any good?"</p> + +<p>"You, Barbara! How can you know this? +It would have helped a month ago, my girl; I +fear it is too late now."</p> + +<p>Bab's heart sank. Was what she had done—and +it had been hard for a girl to do—in vain?</p> + +<p>"Why does Mr. Nathan Bonner hate you?"</p> + +<p>"Nathan Bonner started, a green boy, as a +clerk in my office. I thought him worthy and +helped him, but finally found it necessary to dismiss +him."</p> + +<p>"Yes, he's crooked," said Barbara. Mr. +Stuart started and looked at the girl in amazement; +so she settled back and told him the story +of the trip to Chicago in detail. "He mentioned +your name, Mr. Stuart. He also said +that because I had saved his life, he would assist +me if I ever needed aid. To-day he refused."</p> + +<p>"To-day! Where did you see Bonner?"</p> + +<p>"Oh!" Only then did Barbara tell her host +how she had spent the afternoon.</p> + +<p>"My dear, you're a very imprudent girl. +Nevertheless, you have done me a service for +which I can never give you adequate thanks," +said Mr. Stuart, his voice husky with emotion.</p> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_204" id="Page_204">[204]</a></span></p> +<h2>CHAPTER XX</h2> + +<h3>CONCLUSION</h3> + + +<div class='cap'>THE next morning after breakfast, the +girls, bundled in furs, left the house +for their ride to Treasureholme. Mr. +Stuart had done what he could by telephone, +but had not yet gone downtown, for there was +nothing further to be accomplished until the +opening of the market. Just before he helped +the girls into the car he thrust a finger into his +vest pocket and said:</div> + +<p>"I almost forgot. The men at the garage +found this in the bottom of the car. I think it's +your lost memorandum, Barbara."</p> + +<p>"Oh, thank you! I'm so glad!" cried Bab.</p> + +<p>"Ruth," said Barbara, after the girls had +reached the outskirts of the city, "do you think +there really is a hidden treasure and if we could +find it your father——"</p> + +<p>"I haven't much faith in the treasure, and +if one should come to light, it would be Mr. +Presby's and not father's."</p> + +<p>"Mr. Presby would use it to help himself, +and that would draw your father out, too."</p> + +<p>"Bab, you ought to be on the Exchange; +you'd make a good trader," laughed Ruth.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_205" id="Page_205">[205]</a></span> +Then she went on: "No, Bab, I'm afraid we'll +lose all we have. I don't care for myself. I +can be poor, just as daddy and my mother were +once. But I grieve for father."</p> + +<p>"Ruth, darling," whispered Bab.</p> + +<p>On their arrival at Treasureholme the girls +found that Mr. Stuart had telephoned to Miss +Sallie about what Bab had tried to do for her +two hosts. The girls tried to make a heroine of +her, but she steadfastly refused to think she +had done anything extraordinary.</p> + +<p>When Barbara was finally alone in her room +she drew out of her pocket the slip of yellow +paper, spread it on her lap and regarded it +intently.</p> + +<p>"'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'" +she read. "What can that mean?"</p> + +<p>She got up and paced the floor thinking +deeply, trying to solve the meaning. She at +last went to a window and spread the paper on +the pane for the purpose of getting a better +light on it. Her gaze, at first careless, suddenly +became keen. All at once she whirled about +and dashed from the room.</p> + +<p>"Girls, I have it!" she screamed, bursting in +on the others, who were in Ruth's room. "I've +solved the mystery! I've found the key! We +must get Mr. Stevens! We mustn't lose a minute! +Everything's at stake!"<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_206" id="Page_206">[206]</a></span></p> + +<p>"What is it, Bab? Are you certain?" demanded +Grace, springing to her feet.</p> + +<p>"Oh, I can't tell you now! Let's get Mr. +Stevens, can't we?"</p> + +<p>"Mr. A. Bubble!" cried Ruth, and flew from +the room.</p> + +<p>The girls rushed pell-mell for the car, dragging +Miss Stuart with them, none knowing what +Bab had in mind, but all eager and excited. +Ruth drove at top speed, and the girls burst in +on Bob Stevens whom they found in his shop.</p> + +<p>"See this!" cried Bab, holding the bit of +paper out to the young man. "Put it against +the window." He did so wonderingly, then +turned and looked at the girls. "What did you +see?" demanded Bab impatiently.</p> + +<p>Bob had seen a line drawn from the top of +a toadstool extending to the right. At the end +of the line was the sign "60".</p> + +<p>"What do those little marks after the sixty +mean?" demanded Bab.</p> + +<p>"On building plans they would mean inches. +Expressing time, they would indicate seconds."</p> + +<p>"You have it! If we face the woods and +start to measure from the top of the 'toadstool,' +that undoubtedly represents the mound +under which lies the big chief, and measure off +'sixty seconds' which means sixty inches, or +five feet, we'll find the treasure."<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_207" id="Page_207">[207]</a></span></p> + +<p>No one stopped to question the probability of +Barbara's deductions. Bob summoned a man +who worked for him, sent a boy to get two more +from Treasureholme, and, taking picks, shovels, +and a coil of rope, drove off with the girls in +Mr. A. Bubble as fast as they could go to the +Indian burying ground. It was nearly dark +when they reached there and sprang from the +car, neither Bab nor Bob waiting for it to come +to a full stop.</p> + +<p>"William, bring me something I can drive in +here for a marker," Bob called to his man who +was hurrying toward them from the direction +of the woods.</p> + +<p>"There's a fellow over there in the woods," +announced William. "He was kind of hiding."</p> + +<p>"Never mind that. Let's get to work here."</p> + +<p>The two hands from Treasureholme arrived, +and, the measurements having been taken, the +men set to digging. Lanterns had been brought +and when dark fell these were lighted and held +by the girls.</p> + +<p>In an hour's time the men had opened a hole +six feet deep, as broad at the top, narrowing +toward the bottom.</p> + +<p>"It begins to look dubious," said Bob. +"Say, Barbara, we'll try another way!"</p> + +<p>Following Bob's directions, Bab placed one +end of the steel tape in the middle of the big<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_208" id="Page_208">[208]</a></span> +mound and again the exact distance was measured. +Bob took the stake that William had +brought up to measure with and drove it with +the back of his shovel little by little down in +the exact center of the hole he had dug. He +had forced the stake down about three feet +when he uttered an exclamation.</p> + +<p>"What is it?" cried the girls in chorus.</p> + +<p>"Maybe a stone. I hardly think it is," and +he began to dig frantically. In a few moments +came the shout: "I've struck metal! There is +something here!"</p> + +<p>The girls danced with impatience, but a half +hour went by before the men unearthed an iron +box with bands of the same material about it +and the cover soldered to the box to make it air +tight.</p> + +<p>Bab put her arms about Ruth and whispered:</p> + +<p>"It will be all right now, Ruth. Oh, I'm so +glad!" while the other girls laughed and +shouted in their excitement.</p> + +<p>It was the work of another half hour before +the four men got a rope around the heavy box +and, by the aid of the automobile, drew it out +of the deep hole, after which, with great labor, +it was got into the car.</p> + +<p>Once at the house, it was left to Mrs. Presby, +as the representative of the family, to say what +should be done with the chest.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_209" id="Page_209">[209]</a></span></p> + +<p>"Open it," was the command.</p> + +<p>This was not easily done, but when the work +was finally accomplished, what a sight met their +eyes!</p> + +<p>There was at least a bushel of gold coins. +There was valuable family plate. In a sealed +receptacle they found a quantity of jewels and +a bundle of papers. The papers Mrs. Presby +put away until her husband should have an opportunity +to go over them.</p> + +<p>"There's a fortune here. I think Treasureholme +need not be lost now," said Stevens.</p> + +<p>"It comes too late," said Mrs. Presby bitterly. +"Mr. Presby telephoned me after the +close of the market that to-morrow would end +all, as he and Robert could not meet their +obligations when it opened in the morning."</p> + +<p>"To-morrow morning!" exclaimed Bab. +"Then we must get this treasure to them to-night! +We must do it some way!"</p> + +<p>"Impossible," said Olive.</p> + +<p>"No, it's not!" declared Ruth. "I'll take +the chest to Chicago in the car."</p> + +<p>"But it's nearly midnight, Ruth. You can't +do it," protested Mrs. Presby.</p> + +<p>There was little time for discussion and objection, +and in the end the chest was again +loaded into the car and the four "Automobile +Girls" and Bob Stevens set off for Chicago, Miss<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_210" id="Page_210">[210]</a></span> +Sallie promising to telephone to Mr. Stuart that +the girls were on their way.</p> + +<p>It was a wild midnight ride into Chicago. +The girls became convinced that they were being +followed, but by turning off her lights and +driving into a private lane until the following +car had flashed by and then taking a longer but +little-used road into the city, Ruth evaded the +pursuers, if such they were. Nor did they see +the car again until they drew up in front of the +Stuart house in the brilliantly light street and +with a policeman in plain sight.</p> + +<p>Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby spent the night +in making an inventory and the morning before +the opening of the market in calling up their +bankers and lawyers. They were tired and +worn when the opening hour came, but the day +was saved, and while neither made the fortune +he had anticipated, each had added materially +to his wealth. For this they gave credit to Barbara +Thurston, but she steadfastly refused the +reward they offered her. The money reward +she refused, but she could not refuse the admiration +and love they gave her.</p> + +<p>They learned later that Nathan Bonner had +had a private detective on the grounds of Treasureholme, +and it was he who had followed Mr. +A. Bubble into the city. Bonner lost heavily +in the crash, but still retained enough of his +fortune to be a financial power.<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_211" id="Page_211">[211]</a></span></p> + +<p>A week of pleasure followed the finding of +the treasure. On the evening before the departure +of Bab and Mollie and Grace for Kingsbridge, +Ruth gave a large reception in honor of +her guests.</p> + +<p>On the evening of the affair the four girls, +when they repaired to their rooms in the Stuart +home to dress for the reception, found four exquisite +frocks, the gifts of Mr. Stuart and Mr. +Presby, who would not be denied this method +of showing their appreciation. The gowns +were white filmy chiffon over soft white silk. +White shoes, white silk chiffon hose, everything +needed to complete their toilet that night +lay ready at hand. None of the three girls +from Kingsbridge had dreamed that they would +ever possess such beautiful and exquisitely designed +dresses.</p> + +<p>But this was not their only surprise. A +great box of roses was delivered to the house +while the girls were dressing. It was addressed +to Miss Barbara Thurston. With it +there was a note reading:</p> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>"I always did love a fighter. What a trader +you would make! It was a fair fight, and you +won.</p> + +<div class='sig'> +<span class="smcap">Nathan Bonner.</span>"<br /> +</div></div> + +<p>"No, it wasn't a fair fight. It was distinctly<span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_212" id="Page_212">[212]</a></span> +an unfair one," declared Barbara. "I think I +shall send these flowers back."</p> + +<p>"I don't believe I would do that," advised +Miss Sallie. "The flowers are plainly intended +as a tribute to you as a fighter, Bab, and the +acceptance of flowers is unlike the acceptance of +any other gift."</p> + +<p>So Barbara kept the roses.</p> + +<p>The next day the "Automobile Girls'" party +was broken up. The time for Grace, Bab, and +Mollie to return to Kingsbridge had arrived, to +the keen regret of both the young people and +their elders. Mr. Stuart, with a twinkle in his +eyes, kept talking vaguely about "Easter," but +what his plans were, he would not say.</p> + +<p>The wonderful Easter vacation that these +plans developed into may be read about in a +following volume entitled, "<span class="smcap">The Automobile +Girls at Palm Beach</span>; or, Proving Their Mettle +Under Southern Skies," a vacation never to be +forgotten by the "Automobile Girls".</p> + + +<div class='center'><br /><br />THE END</div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_213" id="Page_213">[213]</a></span></p> +<h2><i>And There Are Others!</i></h2> + +<div class="blockquot"><p>You will find other books +listed on the three following +pages that will prove just +as interesting reading as +this book. They can all be +procured at the same store +where you got this book.</p></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_214" id="Page_214">[214]</a></span></p> +<div class='tnote'><b>Transcriber's Note:</b> Clicking on the images of the books +will reveal a larger version of the image.</div> + + +<h2>THE ANNAPOLIS SERIES</h2> + +<div class='center'> +By H. IRVING HANCOCK<br /> +PRICE, $1.00 EACH<br /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 173px;"> +<a href="images/ad01-big.png"><img src="images/ad01.png" width="173" height="250" alt="Dave Darrin's First Year at Annapolis" title="" /></a> +</div> + +<p>Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell proved +their mettle at the U. S. Naval Academy +and gave promise of what might be expected +of them in the great war that +was even at that moment hovering over +the world.</p> + +<div class='hang1'><b>1. DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; +or, Two Plebe Midshipmen at +the U. S. Naval Academy.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>2. DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT +ANNAPOLIS; or, Two Midshipmen as +Naval Academy "Youngsters."</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>3. DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Leaders of +the Second Class Midshipmen.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>4. DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Headed +for Graduation and the Big Cruise.</b></div> + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE WEST POINT SERIES</h2> + +<div class='center'> +By H. IRVING HANCOCK<br /> +PRICE, $1.00 EACH<br /> +</div> + +<p>Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are not human wonders, +but a pair of average bright American boys who had a hard +enough time working their way through West Point. Their +experiences will inspire all other American boys.</p> + +<div class='hang1'><b>1. DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Two +Chums in the Cadet Gray.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>2. DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Finding +the Glory of the Soldier's Life.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>3. DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Standing +Firm for Flag and Honor.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>4. DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, Ready +to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps.</b></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_215" id="Page_215">[215]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES</h2> + +<div class='center'> +By FRANK GEE PATCHIN<br /> +PRICE, $1.00 EACH<br /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 176px;"> +<a href="images/ad02-big.png"><img src="images/ad02.png" width="176" height="250" alt="The Pony Riders in the Rockies" title="" /></a> +</div> + +<p>This unusual and popular series +tells vividly the story of four adventure-loving +lads, who, with their +guardian, spent their summer vacations +in the saddle in search of +recreation and healthful adventure. +Long journeys over mountain, +through the fastness of primitive +forest and across burning desert, +lead them into the wild places of +their native land as well as into +many strange and exciting experiences. +There is not a dull moment +in the series.</p> + +<div class='hang1'><b>1. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The Secret of +the Lost Claim.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>2. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; or, The Veiled Riddle of +the Plains.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>3. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; or, The Mystery of +the Old Custer Trail.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>4. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; or, The Secret of +Ruby Mountain.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>5. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; or, Finding a Key +to the Desert Maze.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>6. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; or, The End of +the Silver Trail.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>7. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; or, The +Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>8. THE PONY RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; or, +On the Trail of the Border Bandits.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>9. THE PONY RIDER BOYS ON THE BLUE RIDGE; or, A Lucky +Find in the Carolina Mountains.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>10. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW ENGLAND; or, An Exciting +Quest in the Maine Wilderness.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>11. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN LOUISIANA; or, Following the +Game Trails in the Canebrake.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>12. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA; or, The Gold Diggers of +Taku Pass.</b></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /><p><span class='pagenum'><a name="Page_216" id="Page_216">[216]</a></span></p> +<h2>THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES</h2> + +<div class='center'> +By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M.<br /> +PRICE, $1.00 EACH<br /> +</div> + +<div class="figright" style="width: 170px;"> +<a href="images/ad03-big.png"><img src="images/ad03.png" width="170" height="250" alt="Grace Harlowe's Plebe Year at High School" title="" /></a> +</div> + +<p>The scenes, episodes, and adventures +through which Grace Harlowe and her +intimate chums pass in the course of +these stories are pictured with a vivacity +that at once takes the young feminine +captive.</p> + +<div class='hang1'><b>1. GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and Athletics.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>3. GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, +Fast Friends in the Sororities.</b></div> + +<div class='hang1'><b>4. GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, +The Parting of the Ways.</b></div> + + + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<h2>THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES</h2> + +<div class='center'> +By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M.<br /> +PRICE, $1.00 EACH<br /> +</div> + +<p>Every school and college girl will recognize that the account +of Grace Harlowe's experiences at Overton College is +true to life.</p> + + +<div class='center'> +<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" summary="THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES"> +<tr><td align='left'><b>1. GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>3. GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>4. GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>5. GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>6. GRACE HARLOWE'S PROBLEM.</b></td></tr> +<tr><td align='left'><b>7. GRACE HARLOWE'S GOLDEN SUMMER.</b></td></tr> +</table></div> +<p> </p> + +<hr style="width: 65%;" /> +<p> </p> +<div class='tnote'><h3>Transcriber's Note:</h3> +<p>Obvious punctuation errors were corrected.</p> + +<p>The remaining corrections made are indicated by dotted lines under the corrections. +Scroll the mouse over the word and the original text will +<ins title="Transcriber's Note: original reads 'apprear'">appear</ins>.</p></div> + +<p> </p> +<p> </p> +<hr class="full" /> +<p>***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO***</p> +<p>******* This file should be named 32437-h.txt or 32437-h.zip *******</p> +<p>This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:<br /> +<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/4/3/32437">http://www.gutenberg.org/3/2/4/3/32437</a></p> +<p>Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed.</p> + +<p>Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + +Title: The Automobile Girls at Chicago + or, Winning Out Against Heavy Odds + + +Author: Laura Dent Crane + + + +Release Date: May 19, 2010 [eBook #32437] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-646-US (US-ASCII) + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO*** + + +E-text prepared by Suzanne Shell, Emmy, and the Project Gutenberg Online +Distributed Proofreading Team (http://www.pgdp.net) + + + +Note: Project Gutenberg also has an HTML version of this + file which includes the original illustrations. + See 32437-h.htm or 32437-h.zip: + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32437/32437-h/32437-h.htm) + or + (http://www.gutenberg.org/files/32437/32437-h.zip) + + +Transcriber's note: + + Text in bold face is enclosed by equal signs (=bold=). + + Text in italics is enclosed by underscores (_italics_). + + + + + +THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO + +Or + +Winning Out Against Heavy Odds + +by + +LAURA DENT CRANE + +Author of The Automobile Girls at Newport, The Automobile Girls +in the Berkshires, The Automobile Girls +Along the Hudson, etc. + +Illustrated + + + +[Illustration: "He's Here!" Cried Barbara. + +_Frontispiece._] + + + + + + + +Philadelphia +Henry Altemus Company + +Copyright, 1912, by +Howard E. Altemus + +Printed in the +United States of America + + + + +CONTENTS + + CHAPTER PAGE + I. THE MAN IN SECTION THIRTEEN 7 + II. THE MISSING PASSENGER 19 + III. A DIZZY ROUND OF PLEASURE 32 + IV. BATTLE OF THE BULLS AND BEARS 45 + V. AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT 56 + VI. THE WRECK OF MR. A. BUBBLE 68 + VII. THE MYSTERY OF THE IRON GATES 75 + VIII. EXPLORING THE SECRET PASSAGE 84 + IX. IN AN INDIAN GRAVEYARD 96 + X. MEETING A TREASURE HUNTER 106 + XI. GIVING AN ATTIC PARTY 116 + XII. A CURIOUS OLD JOURNAL 127 + XIII. THE MYSTERY OF THE ATTIC 136 + XIV. TOMMY TAKES A WILD RIDE 143 + XV. AN AMAZING OCCURRENCE 154 + XVI. BOB SOLVES ANOTHER MYSTERY 164 + XVII. A LONG-REMEMBERED CHRISTMAS 178 + XVIII. BAB'S EXCITING DISCOVERY 187 + XIX. A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT 195 + XX. CONCLUSION 204 + + + + +The Automobile Girls at Chicago + + + + +CHAPTER I + +THE MAN IN SECTION THIRTEEN + + +BARBARA THURSTON awakened with a violent start. + +"Wha--a-at is it?" she muttered, then opened her eyes wide. In the +darkness of the Pullman berth she could see nothing at all save a faint +perpendicular line of light at the edges of the curtains that enclosed +the section. + +"I--I wonder what made me wake up so suddenly?" Barbara put out a +groping hand. The hand came in contact with Mollie Thurston's face. +Mollie brushed it away, muttering irritably in her sleep. Then all at +once Barbara discovered what had awakened her. Close at hand she heard +the voices of two men. They were conversing in low, cautious tones. + +"I tell you I'll crush him! I'll crush them both. I'll make beggars of +them!" declared one of the men in a slightly heightened tone. + +The train had stopped, as Barbara realized at that moment. Otherwise she +might not have been able to hear the words so plainly. The girl +shuddered at the tone of the speaker's voice more than at the words +themselves. She drew the curtains aside a little and peered out. It was +then that she discovered by the light reflected from the adjoining +section that the berths next to her had not been made up. Two men were +sitting in the double seat within a few inches of where her head had +lain. She was unable to see the men, nor did Barbara recognize either of +the voices. Their conversation could be of no possible interest to her, +she told herself. Still for some reason that she did not stop to +analyze, the girl lay back with half-closed eyes, listening. She +listened not because she wanted to hear, but for the reason that she +could not well help overhearing the conversation in the adjoining +section. + +At Barbara's side Mollie Thurston lay sleeping peacefully. As for +Barbara, she was now wholly awake, all thought of sleep having left her. + +"You mean you will crush them financially?" suggested the second +speaker. + +"Body and soul!" + +"Do you mean to say that you would crush a human being--perhaps drive +him to do desperate things--merely to gratify your love of money and +power? Is that what you mean, Nat?" + +"That is partly my meaning. Yes, I want power. Already they call me the +'Young Napoleon of Finance,' but that is not enough. Those men must be +driven to the wall, for in crushing them I shall be increasing my own +power as well as taking theirs from them. I'd crush them just the same +if I knew it to be my last conscious act on earth." + +Barbara Thurston gazed into the darkness wide-eyed. She knew she was +listening to the resolve of a desperate man, though she had not the +slightest idea what might be his plans for accomplishing his purpose. + +"Why do you hate them so?" questioned the second voice. "What have they +ever done to you?" + +The first speaker paused a few seconds before replying, then in a voice +tense with suppressed emotion he answered slowly: + +"Hate them? That isn't exactly the word, but it will answer. I hate ---- +---- because he turned me out when I was making my start. Turned me out +into the street, Jim. Do you understand? Turned me out without a dollar +in my pocket when I was trying to make something of myself. I hate the +other man because he is working with him. They are pulling together and +they must go down together. Let them down me if they can. I'll make +beggars of both of them!" + +"Oh!" exclaimed Barbara Thurston in a tone that plainly must have +reached the two men. + +The terrible threat had struck her almost with the effect of a blow. A +name had been mentioned that stirred her to instant alertness, a name +almost as familiar to the girl as her own. + +"What was that?" demanded the voice that had uttered the terrible +threats. + +"Someone dreaming." + +"Let them dream. As for me, I never sleep these days. I leave that to +others. Jim, you watch me. I'll be a king of finance yet. I'll be the +Napoleon in reality before I have done. And what is more, those men will +never know where their opposition comes from until after the blow has +fallen. I'll see to it that they know then, however. Watch me, but keep +silent. Not a word, not a breath of what I have told you. I've said too +much, but I had to talk to some one I could trust. Now I'm all right +again." + +"Never fear, Nat." + +"And I'll give you a tip, boy. Buy wheat." + +Bab could not catch all of the sentence. She caught the word "wheat," +but a word ahead of that she missed. + +"Thank you, I never gamble," replied the second man. "I'm sure to lose +if I do, so I have always steered clear of speculation. But I'm sorry +for the Old Man if you are after him. I'm sorry for anyone that you +visit your displeasure upon. I should hate to have you get after my +scalp." + +"What's--who's talking in this berth?" demanded Mollie, sitting up +suddenly. + +"Sh-h-h!" warned Barbara, laying a restraining hand on her sister's +lips. "It isn't in this berth. It's in the next one. Go to sleep." + +"Is--is Grace asleep?" + +"Yes. Be quiet." + +Grace Carter, the girls' companion, occupied the berth above them. As no +sound had been heard from that quarter it was reasonable to suppose that +Grace had not been awakened by the conversation of the two men. + +Barbara was trembling violently. She was profoundly affected by what she +had overheard. Yet while she had heard a name mentioned and a threat +made against the owner of that name, she was in the dark as to the +meaning of the threat--she did not understand what it was that this man +proposed to do. Her ears were now strained to catch every word uttered +on the other side of the partition. + +"I shall watch the market with interest, Nat," the second speaker was +saying. "I don't say that I approve of your way of getting revenge, but +that is your own affair. Remember, however, that people who play with +fire are sooner or later sure to be singed." + +The other man laughed. + +"My feathers were singed a long time ago, Jim," he said. + +"Well, here's where I get off. Good luck, old man, and good night." + +The train had moved forward slowly, halting at a station a short +distance from the last stop. The man who had made the threats +accompanied his friend to the door of the car, then instead of returning +to the seat he had occupied with his friend, he seated himself opposite +the section occupied by the girls. + +Bab, determined to know who the man was, peered cautiously between the +curtains. + +"It's the man in section thirteen!" she exclaimed. Then she realized +that she had expressed her thought aloud. + +The man wheeled sharply, his face hardening, his eyes narrowed to mere +slits as he gazed questioningly about him. He saw no one, for Barbara +had quickly withdrawn her head, holding the curtains firmly so that he +should observe no movement of them. The girl had learned that which she +was so curious to know. She now knew the man who had uttered the +threats. He had occupied the section opposite to her all during the +previous afternoon, though she did not recall having heard him speak nor +did she know his name. The man across the aisle reached for his bag, +from which he selected a package of papers. These he regarded +thoughtfully for a full minute, after which he opened the package, +taking several documents, returning the rest to the bag. Then after +drawing his cigar case from the bag, he rose and strode rapidly toward +the rear of the car, where the smoking compartment was located. + +"So that's the man. I'm glad I know what I do, even though I do not know +what it is all about. I must ask Mr. Stuart about that man," mused +Barbara. Consulting her watch, she found that it was nearly one o'clock +in the morning. The girl shivered, snuggled into her blankets and fell +asleep. It was December and the air was chill. Barbara had not been +asleep long when she was awakened by a violent jolt, then a bumping that +shook her until her teeth chattered. The sleeping car swayed giddily +from side to side as it moved slowly forward with a grinding, crunching +sound. Then the car gave a lurch that hurled Bab violently against her +sister. + +Mollie uttered a little cry of alarm. Bab threw her arms about her, +hugging Mollie in a tight embrace to save her sister from being thrown +against the side of the car. As yet Bab had not had time to think of +what was occurring outside. But now she began vaguely to realize that +the Pullman car had left the rails. An accident had occurred. Shouts and +cries of alarm from various parts of the car testified to the terror of +other passengers who were being buffeted about by the rocking sleeper. +All at once the forward end of the car appeared to plunge down head +first, as it were. The two girls were tumbled into one end of their +berth where for a few agonizing seconds both were nearly standing on +their heads. + +Mollie screamed again. + +"Don't!" commanded Barbara sharply in a half-smothered voice, holding +her sister even more tightly than before. + +"We're going over!" cried Mollie. + +Barbara had managed to straighten out and was now bracing herself with +all her might. She had thus far made no effort to get out into the +aisle. She was a girl quick to think and act in an emergency. She had +reasoned that they would be safer in their berth than out of it, for +they could not be buffeted about so much in the narrow berth as they +might be in the aisle where they could hear the thud of bags and other +articles falling from the various berths or being hurled from one side +to the other of the car. + +The lights suddenly went out. Fortunately the train had not been moving +very fast when the accident occurred. Now it gave a sudden, sickening +lurch and lay over on its side to the accompaniment of crashing glass as +the windows were burst in and renewed cries of fear came from the +passengers. + +The broad windows of the Thurston girls' berth burst in, sending a +shower of glass over them. Both received bruises as well as slight cuts +from the broken glass that had showered over them, though Barbara had +borne the brunt of the shock, managing to keep her own body between +Mollie and danger. + +"Are we killed? Are we killed?" moaned Mollie. + +"No. We are all right," soothed Bab with a confidence that she did not +feel. "Quick! Get on your clothes if you can find them. Here, put this +on. Don't try to dress completely, but just throw about you whatever you +can find." + +While urging her sister to action, Bab was hunting feverishly for their +belongings. She thrust the first clothing she could find into the hands +of the trembling Mollie, then wrapped the younger girl in a blanket. + +"I want my shoes," cried Mollie. + +Barbara thrust two shoes into the girl's hands. One was Mollie's shoe, +the other Barbara's, but she could not be particular under the +circumstances. + +Now a new danger threatened. Bab was certain that she could smell smoke. +She fairly dragged Mollie from the berth into the aisle that was now +tilted at an angle. + +"Hurry! Get to the upper end of the car as fast as you can. The other +passengers are out I do believe." + +"Oh, I can't! Help me, Bab." + +"Help yourself. I must look after Grace." + +"Grace!" groaned Mollie, a sudden and new fit of trembling seizing upon +her until her legs threatened to collapse under her. + +Barbara gave her a violent push. + +"Climb up the aisle. Support yourself by the seats. You will be able to +get through all right. I'll follow you just as soon as I can find Grace. +She may have gotten out, but I don't believe she has." + +"Is--is--do you think she is dead?" gasped Mollie. + +"Hurry!" urged Barbara, as the smell of smoke smote her nostrils more +strongly than before. "Grace!" she called, as soon as she saw that +Mollie had begun climbing. + +There was no answer. Barbara was hurrying into such of her clothing as +she was able to find. The intense darkness of the car made any +systematic effort to dress impossible. + +"Grace! Oh, Grace!" + +Still no answer. Bab observed by the light that now filtered through the +broken windows of section number thirteen on the opposite side of the +aisle, that that section was empty. The car itself appeared to be empty. +At least the cries had died out, though outside the car there was a +great uproar. Barbara climbed into the upper berth occupied by Grace +Carter, who lay silent, unheeding Barbara's voice. + +"Oh, Grace! Grace!" begged Barbara, throwing her arms about her friend. +"Answer me." + +There was no response. A bar of moonlight shone through the broken +window of section number thirteen, falling directly on the pallid face +of the unconscious girl. Barbara shook her, calling upon her friend to +answer, but Grace neither spoke nor stirred. + +"Is there any one left in here?" called a voice from the other end of +the car. + +"Yes, yes; come here quickly and help me," cried Barbara. + +Instead of coming to her assistance, the owner of the voice appeared to +turn back and go out again. Barbara was now chafing the hands and face +of the motionless girl in the upper berth. + +"Oh, she's dead, she's dead. What shall I do?" gasped Bab. + +With a suddenly formed resolution, she clasped her arms about Grace and +with considerable difficulty--for Grace was now a dead weight--dragged +the unconscious girl from her berth into the aisle. Bab did not pause +for an instant. Handling her friend as tenderly as possible, she began +working her way up the steep aisle, making but slow progress, one arm +about Grace Carter, the other pulling herself and her heavy burden along +by grasping the backs of the seats and the partitions between such of +the berths as were made up. + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE MISSING PASSENGER + + +AN endless corridor it seemed to Barbara Thurston as little by little +she dragged her drooping burden to the end of the aisle. Reaching the +narrow passage that led past the staterooms, she was obliged to creep on +hands and knees along the slippery lower side of the car. + +Suddenly she heard a groan. + +Bab glanced apprehensively at the curtains that hung over the door of +the smoking room. The curtains now stood out at a sharp angle. A thin +cloud of smoke filtered out from the smoking compartment. + +"Oh, there's some one in there," exclaimed the girl. But she had other +work to do just then. The young woman struggled on, at last reaching the +platform that now stood in the air some feet above the track. + +"Jump! We'll catch you," called a voice. + +"I--I can't. Help me. My companion is hurt." + +"She's got someone with her. Get up there," commanded a sharp voice. + +Two trainmen clambered to the platform. + +"Is the girl dead?" demanded one. + +"I don't know. Oh, please hurry," begged Barbara in an agonized tone. + +The men quickly lifted down Grace Carter's limp form. Then they turned +to assist Barbara, but she already had swung down without assistance. +Mollie was kneeling beside Grace, other passengers crowding about the +unconscious girl who lay stretched out on the ground beside the track. +Someone pushed through the crowd to Grace and thrust a bottle of +smelling salts under her nose. + +This served to restore her to consciousness, and she feebly brushed the +bottle aside. + +"She's alive," screamed Mollie, almost beside herself. + +"Oh, I'm so glad!" cried Barbara in an ecstacy of joy. + +Grace Carter sat up dazedly. + +"Are you hurt, dear?" urged Bab. + +"I--I don't know. I think not. Oh, it was awful. I--I thought the world +surely was coming to an end. Was anyone--anyone killed?" + +"No," answered a voice from the crowd. "Some of us got a fine shaking +up, but the train was running so slowly that the shock of the accident +was not very severe." + +"What was the matter?" asked Grace as Barbara assisted the trembling +girl to her feet. + +"The trainmen say it was a loose rail. They've been putting in new rails +at this point and the train was running slowly on that account, the work +not yet being entirely finished." + +At this juncture the conductor came bustling up, ordering the passengers +to go to the cars ahead, which had not left the track. The train was to +move on in a few minutes. A flagman had been stationed some distance to +the rear to stop any following trains and the conductor was anxious to +reach the next station ahead to telegraph for a wrecking train and +report the wreck of the sleepers. A pleasant-faced woman whom Barbara +had seen on the train the day before, stepped up and offered to assist +them, which she did by placing an arm about Grace, helping to support +the latter in the walk to the cars. + +"I am Miss Thompson, from Chicago," said the woman. "My father is with +me. I saw you yesterday and wanted to speak to you. Are you going to +Chicago?" + +"Yes. You are very kind," answered Barbara. + +"I wonder if all the passengers were gotten out of the sleeper?" asked +Miss Thompson when they had finally reached the cars up ahead and Grace +had been comfortably disposed of in another sleeper. + +Barbara started. + +"Oh, I forgot. Conductor! There was a man in the smoking compartment of +our car." + +The porter who had followed them with the other passengers and such +luggage as he could find, shook his head. + +"I know there was. I had forgotten all about it," declared Bab. "I heard +someone groan in there as I passed the compartment with my friend. Where +is the man who occupied the lower berth of section thirteen?" + +No one had seen him. All the other passengers had been accounted for, +but no one had seen the tall, slim, sandy-haired man from section number +thirteen. + +"Then he is in that smoking compartment. I saw him when he went there. +The compartment was on fire when I passed it," cried Barbara Thurston, +springing up, her face flushed, her eyes large and troubled. + +"If there's anyone there the men will find him. There was no fire in +that car," said the conductor, with which statement the porter agreed. + +"There was smoke," declared Bab. "I don't know about fire. I do know +that I'm going back to find out about that man," she announced. + +"Come back," called the conductor. "We're going to start." + +Unheeding, Barbara ran for the door, and, leaping from the platform, +started on a run back to the wrecked sleeper. The conductor was +determined to move his train, but the passengers objected so strenuously +that he reluctantly decided to wait and make a further hurried search of +the wrecked sleeper. + +With a porter and half a dozen passengers the conductor followed +Barbara. She could smell the smoke before she reached the car. Hastily +climbing to the platform, she crawled in. By the time she had gotten +into the corridor a porter had also climbed up. The smoke was so thick +and suffocating that the girl choked and coughed. + +"He's here," she cried, as a faint groan reached her ears. "Hurry! Oh, +do hurry!" Then Bab's words were lost in the fit of coughing that had +seized her. + +Three men pushed their way into the smoking compartment. They saw that +the carpet was smouldering. It had probably been set on fire by a +burning cigar or a lighted match. There was no blaze, just a dull +smoulder and a lot of smoke. It did not seem possible that one could +live in that atmosphere for very long. + +Suddenly the porter stumbled over the form of a man. It was the former +occupant of section number thirteen. + +"Young woman, get out of here at once," commanded the conductor. "We +will take care of this man." + +Bab staggered out to the platform, where she waited. A minute later the +men came out bearing the unconscious form of the stranger. Barbara asked +if he were dead. The men said no, but that he was half suffocated from +the smoke he had inhaled. They carried the man on ahead to the train and +up to the dining car, after which a doctor was hurriedly summoned from +one of the other cars. In the meantime Barbara had returned to her +companions, who were anxiously awaiting her reappearance. She told them +of finding the man, and was warmly commended by the passengers for her +bravery. + +"I do wish we could get word to Ruth Stuart that we are all right," said +Barbara, after she had related the story of the finding of the man from +section thirteen. + +"Ruth Stuart?" questioned Miss Thompson. "I wonder if by any chance she +could be related to Robert Stuart, a Chicago broker?" + +"Why, she is his daughter. Do you know the Stuarts?" cried Barbara, a +smile lighting up her face still pale and somewhat drawn. + +"No, but my father wishes to know Mr. Stuart. Only yesterday he was +speaking of him. I should not be surprised if he were to call on Mr. +Stuart soon to discuss a business matter with him." + +"The world is small, after all, isn't it?" smiled Bab. "We are on our +way to Chicago to visit the Stuarts. We are friends of Ruth Stuart. We +four are known to our friends as the 'Automobile Girls.'" + +The readers of this series must undoubtedly feel well acquainted with +that quartette of sweet, dainty, lovable girls, Ruth Stuart, Barbara and +Mollie Thurston and Grace Carter, who were met with in the first volume +of this series, "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT NEWPORT." Their acquaintance +really dated from the time Barbara Thurston so pluckily stopped a team +of runaway horses driven by Ruth Stuart, a wealthy western girl, then +summering at Kingsbridge, the home of the Thurstons. A warm friendship +sprang up almost at once between the two girls, culminating in a long +trip in Ruth's automobile, during which journey Ruth, Bab and Mollie +Thurston, their friend Grace Carter, and their chaperon, Aunt Sallie +Stuart, met with many exciting adventures. It was on this eventful trip, +as will be recalled, that Barbara distinguished herself by causing the +arrest of a society jewel thief, at the same time heaping coals of fire +on the head of a girl cousin who had treated Barbara and Mollie with +scornful contempt. + +The girls were next heard from in "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS IN THE +BERKSHIRES," to which region, chaperoned, as always, by Ruth's Aunt +Sallie, they had driven in Ruth's car for a month's stay in a lonely +cabin in the Berkshire Hills. Their experiences with the "Ghost of Lost +Man's Trail" was not the least of their exciting adventures there; in +fact, their stay in the mountains was filled with a succession of +strange happenings that thrilled the girls as nothing in their lives +ever had done before. + +By this time they considered themselves veteran automobilists and +seasoned travelers. As related in "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE +HUDSON," the now famous quartette showed themselves fully equal to the +more than ordinary emergencies they met with from time to time on a most +eventful journey. From balking highwaymen to fighting a forest fire that +for a time threatened the ancestral home of Major Ten Eyck, whose guests +they were at the time, the "Automobile Girls" fully lived up to the +reputation they had earned for themselves. + +After their trip through the Sleepy Hollow country, Ruth had returned to +her home in Chicago, while Mollie, Barbara and Grace had settled down +to their studies in the Kingsbridge High School. But with the approach +of the holidays had come Ruth's cordial invitation to spend Christmas +with her in her own home, not forgetting to mention "Mr. A. Bubble," +who, she promised, would do his part toward making their visit a lively +one. The three girls had set out on their journey to the Windy City on +the Chicago Express, that journey having been interrupted in a most +unexpected manner, as already related. + + * * * * * + +The conductor sent off a message for them to Ruth Stuart at the next +stop. It was a characteristic message from Barbara, reading: + + "Train wrecked. 'Automobile Girls' safe. Arrive + some time. + + "GRACE, MOLLIE, BAB." + +This telegram for a time created no little excitement in the Stuart +home. + +Daylight was upon them by the time the train started from the scene of +the wreck. Grace said she felt as though she had contracted a severe +cold, for she was aching in every muscle of her body. Mollie declared +that she was all right, but Bab averred that she knew she hadn't been in +bed in a hundred years. + +The dining car was opened early, for all the passengers felt the need of +something more sustaining than fright. When the girls came back from the +dining car they felt much better. Grace had suffered no serious +injuries, but Bab's face was scratched from the particles of broken +glass that had showered over her when the windows burst in. + +A young man was occupying Barbara's seat when she entered the car they +had occupied since the accident. He was leaning back against the high +chair. His eyes were closed and a bandage was bound about his head. + +"That's the man from number thirteen," whispered Barbara over her +shoulder to Mollie. He glanced up, met Barbara's eyes and smiled. + +"I am very glad to see that you weren't seriously hurt," said Bab. + +The young man rose, supporting himself by the back of the chair. + +"Are these your seats?" he asked. + +"Yes, but please do not disturb yourself," urged Bab, taking a seat +across the aisle. The young man leaned toward her. + +"You are Miss Thurston, are you not?" he asked. + +Barbara nodded, flushing a little. + +"I have been told that I practically owe my life to you. The fire was +nothing but a smoulder of the carpet, but I was slowly being +asphyxiated. Thirty minutes more and it would have been all up with me. +Even had I been rescued too late to get this train it would have been +serious for me. My presence in Chicago to-day is imperative. I might say +that it involves my whole future. You see, my dear young lady, you have +done more for me than you perhaps realize. You are going to Chicago?" + +"Yes; we are going on a visit to our friends, Mr. Robert Stuart and his +daughter." + +"Robert Stuart!" exclaimed the young man. Then his face grew hard. + +Suddenly the conversation that she had overheard the previous night +flashed into the mind of Barbara Thurston. The color left her face. The +young man's keen eyes observed her change of expression. He shot a sharp +glance of inquiry at her. + +"I have a slight acquaintance with Mr. Stuart and his daughter," he said +coldly. "I also know intimate friends of theirs, Mr. and Mrs. Presby and +their daughter. Therefore I may have the pleasure of meeting you again. +I think perhaps I had better lie down and rest for the remainder of the +journey. By the way," he continued, after a slight hesitation, "did you +perchance discover a bundle of papers when you found me in the +compartment on the other car?" + +"Oh, I beg your pardon!" exclaimed Bab. "I did find some papers. They +are in my bag. I picked them up from the floor of the car thinking they +might be of value to you." + +Slightly confused, Barbara opened her bag, and after turning over its +contents drew forth a bundle of papers held together with rubber bands. +She handed the bundle to the young man. + +The smile that lit up his face as he thanked her changed his expression +completely. It was almost a gentle smile, and seemed strangely out of +place on that cold, calculating face. + +"Here is my card. I am rated as a cold, heartless man. But, my dear Miss +Thurston, I have at least one virtue--gratitude. If ever you are in need +of assistance in any way do not hesitate to call upon me," he said, +extending a hand to Barbara as he rose rather unsteadily to his feet. +Bab mechanically dropped the card into her bag without looking at it, +closing and dropping the bag on the floor beside her before accepting +the hand. The touch of the cold fingers of the man's hand sent a feeling +of dislike through her. It recalled to her mind more vividly than ever +the conversation she had overheard in the sleeper. + +"I hope I never shall see him again," muttered Barbara, just as Miss +Thompson came smiling up to them. But Barbara Thurston was destined to +see the man whom she had rescued, though under circumstances that she +little dreamed of at the present moment. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +A DIZZY ROUND OF PLEASURE + + +THE train stopped at Englewood for a moment and then pulled out again +for the Union Station. The girls already knew that they were in Chicago, +and were feverishly gathering up their wraps. Bab was drawing on her +overshoes when two warm hands were suddenly pressed over her eyes. + +"Guess who it is?" cried Grace, after she and Mollie had uttered little +smothered exclamations of delight. + +"It's my Ruth! Oh, Ruth, Ruth!" cried Barbara, springing up and flinging +both arms about the neck of Ruth, fairly smothering her friend with +kisses. Ruth and her father had gotten on at Englewood to welcome their +young friends. + +"You dear, dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried Ruth, now clasping the three +girls one after another in a tight embrace. + +"Am I to be left out of this entirely?" questioned Ruth's father in an +aggrieved tone. + +The girls disengaged themselves from Ruth's arms and fairly pounced upon +Mr. Robert Stuart. + +"Oh, how is dear Aunt Sallie and Mr. A. Bubble?" laughed Barbara, her +eyes shining with joy. + +"Aunt Sallie is waiting to greet you at our home. Mr. A. Bubble is +outside growling over your delay in getting to Chicago," smiled Mr. +Stuart. + +"We received your telegram," said Mr. Stuart, as they left the Union +Station. "For a time we were considerably upset. Later we saw an account +of the wreck in the morning paper. We did not learn that anyone was +injured." + +"What caused it? Wasn't it awful?" questioned Ruth, gazing at her +friends admiringly. "And to think I wasn't there to share the honor of +being mixed up with a railroad wreck. Too bad," she pouted. + +"It wasn't a wreck, it was a shake-up," answered Grace. + +"I am glad you were not with us. Who knows what might have occurred," +answered Bab soberly. "Oh, there is Mr. Bubble," she cried, her serious +expression changing to a happy smile as she ran forward to the puffing +red automobile and patted it affectionately. A thin curl of blue smoke +was rising from the exhaust of the motor car. + +"Hear him purr his delight," cried Mollie. "He's just like a contented +kitten for all the world," she laughed. "He isn't grumbling at all." + +"He was grumbling loudly enough when we left him," answered Mr. Stuart. + +"That's because he was cold. But we will warm Mr. A. Bubble up on our +way home," declared Ruth. This she did, keeping a wary eye out for +traffic policemen who might claim that she was exceeding the speed +limit. But Ruth knew fairly well where to look out for a traffic man and +where not to look for him. Up Dearborn Street to Madison Street the car +whirled, the sharp air putting color in the faces of the girls and +making their eyes sparkle. + +Bab kept stealing perplexed glances at Mr. Stuart. Something was on the +young woman's mind, but she did not give expression to the thought. In +the meantime the girls were chattering at a rapid rate. Through Madison +Street they traveled and into Michigan Avenue, where a gust of biting +wind fresh from Lake Michigan smote them in the face. + +"Oh, look at the river!" cried Mollie. + +"That's Lake Michigan, you goose," answered Ruth, laughing merrily. "How +insulting to call our lake a river. But here we are." + +The car swung into a driveway, coming to a halt before an imposing +residence, four stories high, overlooking the lake. + +"What is this great building?" questioned Mollie. + +"This is where we live, dear," answered Ruth. "This is my home." + +"Oh, dear me, I thought it was the Chicago public library," retorted +Mollie. + +"Molliekins, what _are_ we going to do with you?" chided Ruth, laughing. + +The other girls were already running up the broad stone steps. The doors +swung open and the next second Barbara, Mollie and Grace threw +themselves into the arms of Miss Sallie Stuart. There was a volley of +little screams of delight and any number of resounding smacks. Mr. +Stuart had followed them in. He stood with his back to the door, smiling +contentedly on the joyous scene. He had come to love the three girls +with a love that was not far behind his affection for his own daughter +Ruth. + +The girls having released Miss Sallie from their embrace, Ruth dragged +her friends upstairs. They were first shown to their own rooms, and +wonderful rooms they were. None of the three girls from Kingsbridge ever +had seen anything to compare with the beauty of these handsome +apartments. A few minutes later they were in Ruth's private sitting +room, the walls of which were done in pale blue silk. The furniture was +of old mahogany and on a dainty writing desk the girls found paper and +envelopes bearing the monogram "A. G." Ruth had had these prepared for +the girls' use. + +"Now, girls," she said, "are you too fatigued after your exciting +experiences to go out this evening?" + +"No, indeed," cried the three girls in chorus. + +"Then listen! Father has taken a box at the opera for this evening. We +are to hear Romeo and Juliet----" + +"Oh, how perfectly lovely," bubbled Mollie. + +"That reminds me, Molliekins, that I received a note from your 'lovely +lady,' Mrs. Cartwright, yesterday. She asked me to tell you to look for +a diamond butterfly at the opera to-night. She thought that might help +you to locate an old friend." + +Mollie smiled happily. At this juncture there came a light tap at the +door and a well-known gentle voice asked, "may I come in?" + +Miss Sallie was assisted into the room somewhat faster than she +considered dignified, but there was no resisting her "Automobile Girls." +After getting her breath she sank into an easy chair, the girls +surrounding her. + +"I want to consult with you about our plans," she said. "We wish to make +this reunion one that you will remember all the rest of your lives. Our +cousins, the Presbys, wish you to spend some time with them. Olive +Presby, their daughter, is especially desirous of having you there. You +will find her a charming girl and I am sure you will all fall in love +with her at sight. What do you say?" + +"About the falling in love?" questioned Mollie innocently. + +"No, no, Molliekins," rebuked Ruth. "About the invitation, of course." + +"I am sure we shall be well pleased with whatever arrangements have been +made for us," said Grace. + +"Yes, indeed," added Barbara. + +"I am between fire and water," declared Ruth laughingly, as she dropped +into a chair before the fireplace. "I want you to stay and I want you to +go to the Presbys. I have decided, with your approval, that we shall +divide your time between our home and the Presbys' place. First, we will +do Chicago, after which we will go to Cousin Jane and Cousin Richard +Presby. They have a grand old home and hundreds of acres of grounds +surrounding it." + +"Are they so very rich?" questioned Mollie. + +"On the contrary, they are extremely poor," answered Aunt Sallie, +whereat Mollie puckered her brow in perplexity. "Their property is +heavily mortgaged. They are in a fair way to lose it unless----" + +"Unless what, Aunt Sallie?" asked Bab gently. + +"Unless perhaps they may in the meantime find the buried treasure." + +The effect of this announcement on Mollie, Barbara and Grace made Miss +Sallie smile. + +"Buried treasure? Buried treasure! Oh, oh, oh!" they cried in chorus. + +"Don't get excited, dears. There is no chance for the 'Automobile +Girls,'" interjected Ruth. "I've stirred myself up so many times over +that old treasure that I have lost ever and ever so many nights' sleep. +Take my advice and forget all about it," she admonished. + +"Oh, please tell us about it," urged Mollie. + +"A buried treasure? How perfectly delightful!" sparkled Barbara. + +"I haven't time to tell you now. It is a long story. This treasure was +buried many years ago by one of the Presbys' ancestors. They will tell +you all about it when you go out there, and I am sure Cousin Richard can +make the story much more interesting than I could." + +This had to suffice for the present, though the girls were burning to +hear the story. Anything that savored of adventure appealed to these +healthy, outdoor girls, and what could be more adventurous than hunting +for a treasure that had been buried for years and years? + +The girls' trunks had been brought up, and while they were dressing for +the evening, Bab took advantage of the occasion to consult with Ruth +about her gown. + +Ruth ran forward, flinging her arms about Barbara's neck the instant Bab +came into her room. + +"Dear, dear old Bab," she breathed, running tender fingers over the +shining brown hair of her companion. "You can't know how I have wanted +you. It seems years since last I saw you. Answer me truly, dear. How do +you think father is looking?" + +Barbara's face sobered instantly. Ruth noted the quick change of +expression. + +"You needn't tell me. I see by your expression what you think," added +Ruth quickly, brushing a stray wisp of hair from her face. + +"That was what I wished to ask you about, dear," said Barbara. "He looks +so worn. What is the trouble? Has your father been ill?" + +"No. Not in the sense you mean. Nevertheless, we are greatly worried +about him. He has been speculating. We think he has lost a lot of money. +He does not speak of his business affairs as he used to do, and that +makes us all the more certain that things are not going as they should +with him. However, I mustn't speak of these matters now, as I wish you +to have the happiest time of your life while you are with us. Why, +Barbara Thurston, what a lovely frock!" exclaimed Ruth impulsively. + +Barbara flushed with pleasure at the compliment. Her gown was of dark +red crepe-de-chine, trimmed in soft folds of liberty velvet. Bab had +tucked a single red rose in her hair. Ruth never had seen Bab look more +charming. + +"It is mother's Christmas present to me," explained Bab, referring to +the frock. "I think it very pretty." + +"I wish I could look half so well in anything," answered Ruth, but +without a trace of envy in her tone. "But I must hurry. If I run on like +this we'll never get to the opera." + +"I was just about to ask if you mind my running down to chat with your +father a few moments before we go?" + +"Do, dear. It will do him good. You always act like a tonic on father," +smiled Ruth. "He's in the library." + +Bab tripped away, holding up her skirts, followed by the admiring eyes +of her friend. + +"She's such a dear," mused Ruth, beginning the finishing touches of her +dressing. + +Bab was especially anxious to see Mr. Stuart alone. She wanted to see if +she could fathom the cause of his distress. He looked even more tired +and careworn than when she had first seen him. She entered the library +rather diffidently pausing before Mr. Stuart, who stood near the +fireplace. + +"Am I intruding?" asked Bab. + +"Intruding, my dear? You could not do that. But how beautiful you are +to-night." + +"Don't. Please don't," protested Bab with well-feigned displeasure. "You +will make me a vain little creature. Ruth has just said the same thing +to me. At this rate I fear I shall begin to believe something of the +sort myself very soon." + +"No," answered Mr. Stuart, gazing at her approvingly. "You are far too +sensible a young woman to have your head turned so easily as that. Tell +me about your good mother. How is she?" + +"Quite well, thank you," replied Bab simply. + +"I am sorry that she could not come with you. We had hoped to have her +with us." + +"Yes, we wanted mother to come. She asked me to thank you very kindly +for your invitation, but said it would not be possible for her to go so +far away from home just now. Perhaps later she may visit you." + +"Bab, a good mother like yours is a most priceless treasure. Never +forget to value your treasure at its real worth," said Mr. Stuart +impressively. + +"I do and I trust I always shall, sir," answered Barbara, and Robert +Stuart smiled, for he knew that she meant what she said. + +Ruth and the other two girls came in at this juncture and the +conversation turned on their gowns and the pleasures that were before +them that evening. Barbara had not mentioned that she thought Mr. Stuart +was looking ill. She would not have ventured to do so, although she was +more convinced than before that something very, very serious had come +into the life of her friend's father. She wondered if she might not be +able to do something to relieve the distress under which he was so +plainly laboring. + +"There, now, what did I tell you, Bab?" demanded Ruth, entering the +library. "Didn't I say you were always a tonic to father?" + +Barbara blushed. + +"She is indeed, daughter. So are you all. But we must be going. Is your +Aunt Sallie ready?" + +"She is waiting for us in the reception room," answered Ruth. + +"Then we will be off. Be sure that you girls are well wrapped up. You +are not used to going out in this climate with such thin gowns. Ruth, +where is your cloak?" + +"Below, father. I will pick it up on my way down." + +Then they started downstairs, Mr. Stuart leading the way. They were +joined by Miss Sallie in the hallway and a few minutes later were being +borne away by Mr. A. Bubble, who, for this evening at least, was on his +best behavior. Reaching the opera house, they were conducted to the box +reserved for them. Ruth insisted on her guests occupying the front +chairs. How the heads of the three little Kingsbridge girls did swim! +Beautiful gowns, beautiful women and dazzling jewels were to be seen +wherever the eye rested. It was a brilliant and animated scene, such as +none of the three girls ever before had gazed upon, for this was their +first visit to the opera. + +"Isn't it all wonderful?" said Bab to Ruth. + +"Yes, indeed," responded Ruth warmly. "There is nothing quite like an +opera night, and I have been particularly interested in grand opera +since we discovered Zerlina." + +"Oh, to be sure," exclaimed Bab. "Where is Zerlina now?" + +"She is in Paris, studying under the best teachers that can be procured +for her," replied Ruth. "She writes me regularly. Her teachers give her +great encouragement, and she expects to be ready to sing important roles +within the next two years. She adores Jose, and he is delighted with +having so talented a sister." + +"She is one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen," said Barbara. +"What a wonderful 'Carmen' she will make." + +"Yes; won't she, though," responded Ruth eagerly, "and that is the part +that she particularly looks forward to singing." + +The subject of Ruth's and Barbara's conversation was a beautiful gypsy +girl that they had met during their trip along the Hudson. She had +become a protege of Ruth, who had cherished high hopes of sending +Zerlina to a conservatory, but had been forestalled by the appearance on +the scene of Zerlina's handsome half-brother, Jose Martinez. On account +of family differences, Jose and Zerlina had been separated for many +years, but in the end Zerlina was persuaded by him to place herself +under his protection. All of this has been fully narrated in "THE +AUTOMOBILE GIRLS ALONG THE HUDSON." + +"What do you think of it, Molliekins?" whispered Ruth over Mollie's +shoulder. + +"Think of it?" breathed the golden-haired Mollie. "I'm so happy that I +could scream right out so everybody in the theatre would hear me," +answered Mollie. "I don't know what I shall do when the music begins." + +A wave of laughter rippled over the box at Mollie's quaint way of +expressing her delight. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +BATTLE OF THE BULLS AND BEARS + + +THAT evening at the opera was like a dream to the little Kingsbridge +girls. Mrs. Cartwright visited them between the acts, then they were +introduced to Olive Presby, who came to their box, accompanied by a +young man named Jack Howard, an artist who had just returned from Paris. +These two had been chums since childhood. + +Bab thought Olive the most beautiful girl she had ever seen. She could +not keep her eyes off of her, and Olive appeared to be equally attracted +to Barbara, though there was little opportunity for conversation between +them. Olive was fully five years older than Barbara with fair skin, +black hair, and eyes of deep gray, veiled with long, black lashes, +making an unusual and most attractive combination. Olive Presby was a +striking looking girl. All through the second act Bab kept gazing across +at Olive, and it was with a deep sigh of regret that Barbara finally +turned her eyes away under the teasing of Ruth and Grace. The glorious +evening came to a close all too soon for them. + +Reaching home, the girls lost little time in getting to their rooms, +for the three travelers had had little sleep in the past two nights. + +They fell asleep almost the instant their heads touched their pillows, +but in spite of their late hours the four girls descended to the dining +room the following morning bright-eyed and ready for whatever the day +might bring forth. + +Miss Sallie rustled in, dressed in her silk morning gown a few moments +after the others had reached the dining room. The girls greeted her +enthusiastically, each girl giving her a hearty hug and kiss, after +which they seated themselves at the breakfast table, and a lively +chattering ensued. + +"What do you think of Cousin Olive?" asked Ruth. + +"Oh, I just love her," cried Bab enthusiastically. + +A cloud passed swiftly over the face of Ruth Stewart. + +"I could love her almost to death. Is she engaged to Mr. Howard?" + +"No indeed," said Miss Sallie with emphasis. "Olive is devoted to her +parents, especially now that they are in such deep trouble. She is their +comfort in their distress and she knows it." + +"Young ladies," interrupted Mr. Stuart, "do you feel equal to beginning +your sight-seeing to-day?" + +"We do," chorused the girls. + +"I have so planned my affairs as to have this day free for you. Mr. A. +Bubble also is at your disposal. He has had a thorough going over at the +hands of his man this morning, and I think you will find him in fine +condition." + +"Olive Presby is coming to see you this morning, you know," reminded +Miss Sallie. + +Ruth's face clouded again. Bab's eyes glowed, for she wished to see +Olive even more than to explore Chicago. + +"We might call her up on the telephone and have her come over so she may +go with us," suggested Mr. Stuart. + +The girls seconded this proposal enthusiastically, and this was done +without delay, Olive promising to come over as soon after breakfast as +possible. + +"I propose," announced Mr. Stuart, "to take you over to the Board of +Trade on La Salle Street to show you the famous Pit." + +"Is it a very big hole?" questioned Mollie innocently, whereat a merry +laugh rippled all the way around the table. + +"The Pit," explained Mr. Stuart, smilingly, "is the place where men buy +and sell grain-stuffs. It's the same as stock speculation." + +Mollie thought stock speculation was trading in cattle. + +"You ridiculous child," exclaimed Ruth. "I'll explain it to you so you +will understand it. Now if you want to speculate you order your brokers, +for instance, to 'buy a thousand shares of B. Sell five thousand shares +of G and ten thousand shares of C.' That's all. Next morning you wake up +to find yourself ten or fifteen thousand dollars richer----" + +"Or poorer," added Mr. Stuart. "I must say, Ruth, that your explanation +is very lucid. Take the girls down to my office, leaving here at half +past ten o'clock. I shall have my morning mail disposed of by that time +and my day's orders issued, then my time will be at your disposal. +Sallie, are you going with the girls?" + +"No, thank you. Not this morning. I have seen quite all of Chicago, I +think. Besides, I have no love for your horrid Board of Trade. The +automobile will be pretty well filled as it is." + +"Oh, please come with us," urged Mollie. + +Aunt Sallie shook her head smilingly, so it was arranged that the girls +should go downtown by themselves, there to be met by Mr. Stuart. Olive +bustled in shortly before ten o'clock. She was dressed in a brown +tailor-made suit of broadcloth, with furs and hat of mink. She came +running up the stairs to Ruth's sitting room, bright and eager, her eyes +sparkling with anticipation. + +"Here I am," she cried gayly. "I'm going to introduce myself all over +again. I'm Olive, girls. I'm a sort of adopted cousin of the 'Automobile +Girls.' So this is Bab," she sparkled, giving Barbara's hand a friendly +squeeze. "This little yellow-haired girl is Mollie, and the bigger, +brown-haired one is Grace. Now I think we are properly introduced. Now +what can I do to add to the pleasure of the 'Automobile Girls' this fine +morning?" + +"I would suggest that you first sit down and compose yourself," replied +Ruth with some severity. "How you do run on, Olive." + +"Now, I call that downright mean," pouted Miss Presby. "Don't you, Bab?" +Olive suddenly bent over Barbara, giving the little Kingsbridge girl an +impulsive hug. + +Ruth frowned. Bab looked embarrassed. She felt that Ruth resented +Olive's affectionate demonstration. It caused the three Kingsbridge +girls, however, to lose their awe of Miss Presby, whom they had before +looked upon as a superior grown-up person. + +"What are the plans for the day, dear?" questioned Olive, turning to +Ruth. + +"We are first to go to the office to pick up father. He is to take us +to the Pit. I don't know where we shall go from there." + +About this time a maid came up to tell them that the car was at the +door. The girls hurried down, laughing and chatting, Ruth's irritation +apparently having been banished from her mind. It was a bright, +sparkling day. The lake glistened and the wind from it again blew the +color into the faces of the "Automobile Girls." + +Mr. Stuart's office was in one of the tall office buildings on La Salle +Street, not far from the Board of Trade. The girls were shot up to the +seventeenth floor on the elevator with a speed that fairly took their +breaths away. Mollie uttered a chorus of subdued "ohs" all the way up. + +Even in the staid business office the girls found much to interest them. +Mollie's attention was first attracted to an energetic little machine at +one side of the room. This odd looking machine ticked like a clock, but +resembled one in no other way, and from it at intervals spun a narrow, +ribbon-like strip of paper which curled and coiled into an elongated +waste-paper basket. Mollie stood over the basket regarding the +perplexing letters and figures printed on the paper ribbon. + +"Do--do you make ribbons on this?" she questioned, laying a finger on +the glass globe that covered the mechanism. + +"Not exactly, my dear," answered Mr. Stuart. "But that little machine +sometimes helps us to buy ribbons for our families. That is a ticker. It +gives the market quotations. I hardly think you will be interested in +it." + +Mollie decided that she wasn't. + +"If you are ready, girls, we will go over to the Board of Trade, where +you will see the bulls and bears engaged in a pitched battle. It is to +be a lively day on the floor of the Pit." + +Mollie was frowning perplexedly. + +"Are we really going to see a bull fight?" she whispered to Ruth. "Do +the bulls and the bears really fight? I--I don't think I want to see +them if they do." + +"No, no, silly. Nothing of the sort. Oh, girls!" laughed Ruth merrily. + +"Don't you dare tell them," admonished Mollie, "I'll never forgive you +if you do." + +"Never mind," called Ruth to the others, "I'll explain, dear. Of course +you know nothing about these things. I wish I didn't. I wish father did +not, either," she added with a touch of bitterness. "Bulls and bears are +mere men. The bulls are those who try to force up the prices of wheat +and other things, while the bears are the ones who seek to keep the +prices down. I--I never have been able to make up my mind which of them +is the most undesirable." + +"I am sure Mr. Stuart isn't a bear," muttered Mollie. + +"Indeed he is not," laughed Ruth, once more restored to good nature. + +Instead of taking Mr. A. Bubble, the girls walked down from Mr. Stuart's +office to the big, gloomy building that housed the Board of Trade. They +were conducted to the gallery, where Mr. Stuart left them to go down to +the brokers' rooms to consult with some of his friends. + +It was a mad, wild scene that the little country girls gazed upon. It +was like nothing they ever had seen before. + +"Goodness me, they _are_ fighting!" cried Barbara in alarm. + +Men were dashing about here and there. Hats were smashed, paper was +being torn by nervous hands and hurled into the air, to fall like +miniature snow flurries over the heads of the traders. Shouts and yells, +hoarse calls were heard from all parts of the floor. One man threw up a +hand with the fingers spread wide apart. Instantly a dozen men hurled +themselves upon him. He staggered and fell. Willing hands jerked him to +his feet. It was then that the "Automobile Girls" saw that the +unfortunate man's coat had been torn from him. His collar flapped under +his ears and a tiny red mark was observable on one cheek. + +"Oh!" gasped the Kingsbridge girls. + +"Wha-a-at are they fighting about?" gasped Mollie, her face pale with +excitement, perhaps mingled with a little fear. + +"They aren't fighting." Ruth had to place her lips close to the ears of +her companion to make herself heard. "They are buying and selling. That +is the way business is done on the floor of the Pit. See! There is +father!" + +The girls gazed wide-eyed. Mr. Stuart had projected himself into the +maelstrom of excited traders. He, like the rest, was waving his arms and +shouting. A group of excited men instantly surrounded him. He was for +the moment the centre of attention, for Robert Stuart was one of the +largest and most successful traders on the Chicago Board of Trade. The +battle waged furiously about him, while the "Automobile Girls" gazed in +fascinated awe upon the strange, exciting scene. + +All at once a gong sounded. The tension seemed to snap. Men who had been +fighting and shouting suddenly ceased their activities. The bodies of +some grew limp, as it were. Some staggered. Others walked from the floor +laughing and chatting. Out of the crowds strode a man--a young man. +What first attracted the attention of the girls to him was a bandage +about his head. He was walking straight toward them, though on the floor +below. All at once he glanced up. Only Bab was looking down at him now. +His gaze swept over the gallery. His eyes rested for a moment on the +face of Barbara Thurston. + +"The man from section thirteen!" exclaimed Bab under her breath. Then as +she caught his eyes, she gazed in trembling fascination. The man's +features were contorted. Barbara thought it was the most frightful face +she ever had gazed upon. Anger, deadly passion and desperate purpose +were written there so plainly that anyone could read. Looking her fairly +in the face, the man sneered. Whether he recognized her or not, the girl +did not know. + +"Oh!" cried Bab, with a shudder. + +"What is it, dear?" questioned Ruth anxiously. + +"Oh, take me away from here. Please take me away," almost sobbed +Barbara. "I--I can't stand it. It was awful." + +"Come, girls," urged Ruth. "Bab is upset. I will confess that I have had +enough of this place of nightmares." Rising, she led her friends down +the stairs to the lower floor. Barbara was still trembling when they saw +Mr. Stuart coming toward them. His face was set and stern. But the +instant he caught sight of the "Automobile Girls" the sternness drifted +slowly from his features, giving place to a pleased smile. + +"Why, Barbara, how pale you are!" he exclaimed. "What _is_ the matter?" + +"She is upset," answered Ruth briefly. + +Mr. Stuart eyed her keenly. + +"Was the excitement too much for you, my dear?" he asked. + +"I--I think so," replied Bab. Then as the thought of that face and its +dreadful expression recurred to her mind, she trembled more violently +than before. Mr. Stuart linked his arm in hers and led her away, +followed by the others of the party. + +"It really is no place for young girls," said Mr. Stuart. "I should not +have brought you here. Girls, we will take the car and go home at once. +Barbara had better lie down for a while before luncheon. She is +completely unnerved." + +This Barbara knew to be true, but by great effort she conquered her fit +of trembling, and before the Stuart's residence was reached she had in a +great measure regained her self-control. + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AN EMBARRASSING MOMENT + + +"OH, it is good to be back," declared Bab, as they entered the broad, +cheerful hall of the Stuart mansion. "I don't feel as though I ever +wanted to leave the house again." + +"I like it here just as well as you do," answered Mollie. "But I +shouldn't like to feel that I had to stay inside the house always." + +Ruth had made good time on the return, now and then "shaving the paint +from the sides of a street car," as Bab expressed it. Still, Ruth Stuart +was not nearly as careless a driver as she appeared to be. She did take +chances frequently, but the guiding hand at the wheel was sure and +steady. She seldom used bad judgment. Her father had such confidence in +her driving that he never interfered while riding with her. As for the +three Kingsbridge girls, they were by this time so used to Ruth's +driving that they declined to get nervous even when she had narrow +escapes from collision. + +"Girls, I am glad you have returned," greeted Miss Sallie, meeting them +in the hallway as they entered. "You have callers." + +"Pshaw!" muttered Ruth disgustedly. "Bab wants to lie down and rest. She +is all upset. Can't we make our escape?" + +"I am all right now," protested Barbara. "However, the company probably +came to see Ruth instead of the rest of us." + +"You are wrong," smiled Aunt Sallie. + +"Who is it?" questioned Ruth. + +"Cousin Richard, Cousin Jane and Tom Presby. You don't mind them." + +"Oh, no indeed," laughed Ruth. "Come on, girls, let's go upstairs and +get rid of our wraps, and remove some of this Chicago smoke from our +faces. If I look as dirty as I feel I must be a sight." + +"Father and mother here? You don't mean it?" exclaimed Olive in +surprise. "I wonder why they have come in. Girls, you needn't worry +about your appearance. Neither father nor mother will notice it. They +are well used to the ways of healthy girls. As for Tom, well he doesn't +figure at all. He wouldn't know whether our faces were clean or grimy. +Come right in. Are they in the library, Aunt Sallie?" + +"Yes, dear." + +"Not one step will I go until I have made myself more beautiful," +declared Ruth. + +"I don't think that would be possible," said Bab in a tone calculated +for Ruth's ears alone. + +"Don't," begged Ruth. "I shall think you insincere if you don't stop +talking that way. And my face is so besmudged that I am not fit to see +anyone. You must come upstairs with me," she added, linking an arm in +Barbara's. "Please tell them we shall be right down, Auntie." + +Olive went directly to the library to see her parents. The other girls +soon followed her. The library was darkened, lighted only by the +snapping fire in the fireplace. Mr. Presby explained that he had come +into town to see Mr. Stuart, who was at that moment welcoming him. Mr. +Stuart excused himself, promising that he would return to his guests as +soon as he had telephoned certain necessary orders to his office. Mr. +Stuart had barely left the room when Bab and Ruth entered. Olive came +forward quickly. She took Barbara's arm in hers, steering Bab toward +Mrs. Presby. + +"I want you to meet my mother. I know you will love her, for she's a +dear. Mama, this is Barbara Thurston, of whom you have heard so much. I +can assure you that she has not been overrated." + +Bab moved blushingly forward. The floor was one of those slippery, +hard-wood traps for the unwary. Barbara was not used to polished floors. +She took a long step to keep up with Olive, who was moving rapidly. +Bab's foot came in contact with a small rug, and together the rug and +foot slid over the slippery floor. + +Barbara Thurston's other foot followed the first. Realizing that a fall +was inevitable, Barbara quickly released her arm from Miss Presby's. + +"Oh!" exclaimed Bab, and sat down on the floor with such force that it +jarred her from head to foot. There was a distinct vibration from +several articles in the room as though they were moving out of sheer +sympathy for the unfortunate girl. + +Barbara struggled to her feet. Again she stumbled over the rug that had +caused her to fall, and brought up heavily against a dark object near +by. The object uttered a deep groan, as out of the shadows limped an +elderly, dignified man. Pain and anger were struggling for the mastery +of his facial expression. Barbara had landed fairly on Mr. Richard +Presby's gouty foot. + +"I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry," pleaded the girl. "I am so awkward and I +did not see you at all. Please forgive me, if you can," she begged. + +Mr. Presby, however, merely grunted out some unintelligible words. That +he was not appeased by her contrition was plain to be seen. He had been +in the act of rising to his feet to bow to the girls when Bab collided +with him. Grace, Mollie and Ruth, who had followed Barbara into the +room, suppressed their giggles with no little effort. + +Barbara rushed toward the shadowy, far corner of the room, where she +sought to hide her confusion. She flung herself into a great, easy +chair. Something under her moved and wriggled. + +"Oh, I say," exclaimed a voice from under her. "Get up. Don't put me out +of business, too." + +Bab sprang to her feet, her face burning with humiliation. She whirled +about and peered into the depths of the chair. There sat a boy of +twelve, grinning from ear to ear. + +"I'm Tom," he informed her. "Lucky for me it wasn't I who stepped on the +governor's game foot." + +"Oh!" cried Barbara. + +"I forgive you for sitting on me, but gracious, you're heavy." + +Just at this moment Olive Presby, had hurried across the room. There was +deep sympathy in her face as she extended a hand to the embarrassed +Barbara. + +"Don't mind it at all, dear. It is a thing that occurs to all of us +frequently. Polished floors are such a nuisance," said Olive. + +The other girls had been introduced to Mrs. Presby in the meantime. It +was now Bab's turn, but instead of being first, as Olive had intended, +she was last. Her face was still flushed and her eyelids drooped as she +was presented. + +Mrs. Presby pulled the girl's head down between two warm hands and gazed +into her eyes, then kissed Barbara full on the lips. + +"Never mind, my dear," she said. "You couldn't help it." + +"If I could have a good cry, I know I should feel better," was Bab's +plaintive rejoinder. + +"Richard, come here, please, and shake hands with Miss Thurston," +commanded Aunt Jane in a slightly peremptory tone. Mr. Presby did so, +but with apparent reluctance. He had had one experience with the +brown-haired girl from Kingsbridge. + +"My dears, we want you to come to Treasureholme with us. We cannot spare +Olive, so you will have to come to us," smiled Mrs. Presby. + +"We want you to come out for Christmas," interjected Mr. Presby rather +grudgingly, and as if he were reciting a line from memory. + +"Before Christmas," nodded Mrs. Presby. "You must come out this week. +Sallie, you will come with them. We shall expect Robert also, though I +suppose he will be running away to the city all the time." + +"I don't know whether Robert will wish to spare the girls or not. He +likes to have them with him as much as possible," said Miss Sallie. + +"Treasureholme? What a beautiful name!" breathed Barbara. + +"And such a romantic name too," added Mollie soulfully. "I could love +the place just on account of its name." + +"We call the place 'Treasureholme' because it is or has been supposed to +hold a lost treasure. But we have given up that idea. We gave it up a +long, long time ago. You will come, won't you, girls? This, in all +probability, will be our last Christmas in the old home. We wish to make +it a bright and joyous occasion," said Mrs. Presby, with a wan smile. +"We have planned to have a Christmas tree. Cousin Robert, you and Sallie +can have the gifts delivered at our place just as well as at your home +here." + +"I shall have to leave it all to Robert," answered Miss Sallie. +"Robert's business, as you know, is giving him no little concern these +days. He may not care to leave it, and I am certain he would not consent +to the girls going away at this time unless it were possible for him to +spend at least part of the time with them." + +"Then I shall talk with Robert myself," announced Mrs. Presby firmly. +She did so then and there. Rather, she went directly to Mr. Stuart's +own particular sanctum, where Robert and Mr. Presby were then in +consultation over business matters. Mr. Stuart did object to the girls +going to Treasureholme to spend Christmas. But Mrs. Presby pleaded with +him to let them come. She told him that before another Christmas came +Treasureholme would be in other hands. She pleaded with Robert Stuart to +let nothing stand in the way of helping them all to have a joyous +holiday in the old home. + +Mr. Stuart finally gave a reluctant consent. Mrs. Presby hurried back to +the library to acquaint the girls with his decision. A merry chatter +followed. Everyone talked at once, each making suggestions as to what +should be worn and how the Christmas holiday should be spent in the +country. As for the "Automobile Girls" from Kingsbridge, the idea of +going to the country appealed to them strongly. It would seem almost +like being home again. It must be confessed that Bab and Mollie now and +then suffered the pangs of homesickness, even though they found so +little time for their own thoughts. + +It was finally decided that they were to leave for Treasureholme, a +distance of more than thirty miles from the city, on the following +Monday, three days hence. Mrs. Presby consented to Olive remaining with +them until that time, and accompanying the girls to the country in +Ruth's motor car. That arrangement stood. The guests declined an +invitation to remain to dinner and as soon as the two men had finished +their business talk, Mr. and Mrs. Presby took their leave. + +Two of the following three days were given up to a round of +sight-seeing, paying and receiving calls on friends of the Stuarts, +during which time the cylinders of Ruth's automobile scarcely had time +to grow cold. Mr. A. Bubble was doing his full duty during these happy +days. + +Sunday was a day of rest. All were ready for the rest, too. The +Kingsbridge girls looked a little more pale than usual, but their eyes +were bright and sparkling when Monday morning arrived. It was a clear, +frosty morning, with a suggestion of snow in the air. Miss Sallie had +risen early, in order to have plenty of time to make all arrangements +for their trip. She saw to it also that the girls' wardrobes were +properly selected for their stay in the country, and suggested that they +have the chauffeur drive them out. + +"No, indeed," objected Ruth. "I am not wholly a fair-weather driver. I +shall have my heavy gloves. Therefore, my hands will be warm and my feet +will be so well occupied with working the brake and control that they +won't have time to get cold. Girls, you won't have anything to do, so +wrap yourselves up. Auntie, I'm going to get out some of father's heavy +coats. He won't need them." + +"A jolly good idea," agreed Mollie. "Always provided that the master of +the house doesn't object," she added, smiling at Mr. Stuart. + +"My dear, if you had lived in this house as long as I have, you would +understand that it would make little difference if the master of the +house did object," interjected Mr. Stuart. + +"Oh, dad," chided Ruth. "How can you say such a thing? You know I am +your dutiful daughter." + +"You suit me," answered Mr. Stuart, giving the protesting Ruth a quick +embrace and a kiss on the forehead. "Yes, take anything you can find in +the house. But leave the house. I may need it before I get out of the +woods." + +A shadow flitted across the face of Ruth Stuart. Then she smiled and +kissed her father affectionately. A search for coats was made and a +thousand and one details attended to. It was well into the afternoon +before they were ready to start, Bab wrapped in Mr. Stuart's long fur +coat, the other girls in cloth coats, with the exception of Ruth, who +wore her own sealskin coat that reached down to her ankles. A fur cap, +silk lined and a pair of fur gloves that looked, Barbara said, like the +feet of a bear, completed the outfit. + +Mr. A. Bubble was grumbling when the girls emerged from the house. Their +bags had been strapped on behind. Inside the automobile there were four +foot warmers. Bab and Ruth spurned theirs. With many urgings on the part +of Mr. Stuart and Aunt Sallie to be careful, Ruth threw in the clutch, +advanced the spark and Mr. A. Bubble wheeled himself slowly away from +the house, out into the avenue, then launched into a burst of speed that +set at defiance all the regulations of the Windy City. + +This was to be an eventful visit. It was to be one full of excitement +and adventure, a visit that none of the girls ever would be likely to +forget. + +They rapidly rolled through the city and in a little while were out in +the country, where the land flattened down into a rolling prairie, +broken here and there by groups of slender trees and farm buildings. + +The snow began to sweep past them in flurries shortly after they cleared +the city limits. Ruth stopped the automobile and called upon the girls +to assist her in putting on the storm curtains. When they had finished +the car was entirely enclosed, a heavy curtain taking the place of the +wind shield which the driver had turned down at its middle. + +"Isn't this comfy?" chirped Mollie. + +It did not prove so "comfy" after all, the way Ruth accelerated the +speed, sending the car careening ahead at a high rate. + +"Olive," said Bab, mustering courage to introduce a subject that was +near to her heart. + +"Yes, dear." + +"Would you--would you think me too personal if I asked you to tell us +the story of the buried treasure of Treasureholme?" she asked +hesitatingly. + +"Not at all." + +"Oh, do tell us," urged Mollie and Grace in one voice. + +"I've been just dying to hear about it ever since I first learned there +was such a place as Treasureholme. Are there real ghosts there?" +questioned Mollie. + +"No; no ghosts. But there are memories. Listen, girls, and I will tell +you all I know about it," said Olive, settling herself to relate the +tale that was to prove of such fascinating interest to the "Automobile +Girls." + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE WRECK OF MR. A. BUBBLE + + +"BURIED treasures are such ravishing mysteries," observed Mollie, while +Olive was mentally arranging her facts. "I never thought I should +actually be face to face with one." + +"I am sure it must be a grand old place," volunteered Barbara. + +"In reality, it is very big and bare," smiled Olive. "But I love every +foot of the old place where I have lived all my life except when I have +been away to school and where my ancestors have lived for oh, ever so +many years." + +Olive's eyes filled with tears. Barbara stole a groping hand under the +robe and clasped one of Olive's. The latter pulled herself sharply +together. She gave Bab a grateful look. The sympathy in that gentle hand +clasp had meant more than words to her. Perhaps in that one brief moment +the two girls came to understand each other better than in all the days +that had passed since their first meeting at the opera. + +"You know we fully expect to be obliged to give up the place at an early +day. Father's business affairs have been going from bad to worse, until +now there seems to be no hope of our keeping Treasureholme." + +"Perhaps it may not be so bad as you imagine," suggested Bab softly. +"'Never give up until you have to.' That is my motto." + +"You wouldn't be the Barbara I have heard so much about if it weren't. +But to come to the story. Treasureholme has been in our family, as I +have already said, for many generations. My ancestor who founded the old +place was one of the pioneers here. He was rich when he came here, but +he foresaw a great future for what is now Chicago, so he brought his +family and all his worldly goods here. He said confidently that a great +city was certain to spring up here some day. You see how true was his +prophecy. It was almost uncanny as I look at it now." + +The girls nodded, but said nothing. + +"Gracious! Did you see that?" called Ruth, with a trace of excitement in +her tone. + +"No, no. What is it?" cried the girls. + +"Oh, nothing, only I ran down a cow," answered the fair driver, trying +to speak carelessly. + +"Ran down a cow!" exclaimed Bab, peering through the curtain windows. + +"You needn't look for her. She is a mile or more back now. I didn't run +over her. She appeared so suddenly out of the snow cloud that I didn't +see her until the car was almost on top of her. I must have hit her only +a glancing blow, for I barely felt the jar. I hope I didn't hurt the +poor thing." + +"So long as we keep on four wheels, please don't interrupt us," begged +Miss Presby severely, whereat there was a series of giggles from the +girls. "Where was I, girls?" + +"Still at Chicago," replied Mollie. "You were speaking of your +ancestor's prophecy." + +"Oh, yes. At the time they were living in the garrison, at the first +fort ever built on the Chicago River. You know the Indians were pretty +thick hereabouts at that period." + +"Indians!" murmured Grace apprehensively. + +"Yes. After a time our ancestors built Treasureholme. That is why it is +so old-fashioned now, though many changes necessarily have been made in +the house since then, but the main part is practically as it was built +by my pioneer ancestor. The boards that were used were laboriously sawed +out and the timbers hewn by hand. It must have taken years to build the +place. Outwardly it now has a more modern appearance, each succeeding +ancestor adding and improving. But for a long time after it was built +there were Indians and bad men hereabouts. This perhaps accounts for +the secret passages and numerous hiding places in the old house." + +"Glorious," said Mollie, her eyes dancing. + +"One day a message came that the Indians were no longer friendly. My +ancestor was warned to hide his valuables and hasten to the fort with +his family for the safety afforded there. It is believed that the +treasure was buried at that time." + +"Money?" asked Barbara. + +"Gold and plate and jewels that had been brought from the old country +when the family first came to the new world from England. But, alas, the +garrison was wiped out by the Indians, leaving not a living person who +knew the location of the treasure. Later on other members of the family +came here from the east and took possession. The Presbys have been +living on the estate ever since." + +"Has no attempt been made to find the treasure?" questioned Barbara. + +"So many attempts that I couldn't count them. Someone always is nosing +about the place for clues. Father has spent a great deal of money in +looking for it himself, but I think he has about given up hope of ever +finding it. It is my idea that some of the other early members of the +family found the hidden treasure, but said nothing about it." + +Silence reigned in the automobile for some moments. + +"Do you know," said Barbara, breaking the silence, "I think this is an +excellent opportunity for the 'Automobile Girls' to distinguish +themselves further?" + +Olive shook her head smilingly. + +"It would be effort wasted. Besides, we shall manage to keep your time +so fully occupied that you will have no opportunity to search for buried +treasure." + +"What about those secret passages that you spoke of?" asked Grace. + +"You shall see them and explore them to your hearts' content. Tom will +show them to you. What Tom doesn't know about the old place, no one else +does. And he knows a lot more about it than any of the rest of the +family. I suspect that he has been making investigations on his own +hook. He, like the boy he is, still has hopes of discovering the buried +treasure." + +"Is the gate open?" called Ruth over her shoulder. + +"Yes. It hasn't been closed this fall." + +"Then I'll drive in in style and make one of my flying stops," answered +Ruth. "We'll make them think a train has left the C., B. & Q. track and +is going to smash the house down. I think they will be surprised. I'll +open up the exhaust just as we get to the house, make a flying stop and +the noise will wake up Olive's scalped ancestors." + +"Be careful that you don't hit the house in reality," laughed Olive. +"Remember it is old. It might tumble down. I don't care so much about +the house, but I shouldn't like to see it tumble down on father and +mother." + +"Oh, it will not be quite as bad as that. We shall simply be making a +big noise." + +"I was only joking," replied Olive. "You don't think I thought for a +minute you would run into the house, do you?" + +"That is exactly what I am going to do." + +"Ruth Stuart!" exclaimed Bab sternly. + +"After I have stopped the car," finished Ruth, with a merry laugh. "But +look here, young ladies, if you keep on talking to me and making me +laugh, I am likely to pile you all in the ditch right here." + +"Can you see the road?" + +"Yes. Between snow flurries. I can't miss the road. The turn into the +grounds is enclosed in stone fences, isn't it?" + +"Yes." + +"I'll pick it up all right. You girls look out when I give the word. I +am going to make the turn wide and at full speed. Hold fast!" she cried, +giving the steering wheel a sharp turn. For one giddy moment Mr. A. +Bubble appeared to be uncertain whether to turn turtle or go on the way +he was headed. He decided upon the latter course, and settling down on +all four wheels shot straight ahead. The light was uncertain, but Ruth's +eyes were on the road, all her attention centred on her work. Suddenly +she uttered a sharp little cry. The emergency brake went on with a +shock. Then came a mighty crash. To the girls in the car in their brief +instant of consciousness, it seemed as if the universe were going to +pieces. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +THE MYSTERY OF THE IRON GATES + + +INSTEAD of running into the Presby home, as she had laughingly +threatened to do, Ruth Stuart had dashed at almost full speed into the +closed heavy iron gates at the entrance to the Treasureholme grounds. +These gates were supposed to be open. As Olive had said, they had not +been closed in some months. Why should they be closed now when the +"Automobile Girls" car was looked for to arrive at any moment? + +None of the girls was thinking of this at the moment. None was in +condition to think at all. Ruth had discovered the obstruction in time +to throw on the emergency brake, but not quickly enough to stop the +headway of the automobile. + +The car crashed against the gates with great force. The heavy iron bars +of the gates buckled under the impact, then with a great creaking and +rattling the hinges gave way, the old brick columns to which the hinges +had been attached crumbled and fell in a cloud of dust and mortar. +Accompanying the crash was the sound of breaking glass. But not a cry +had been raised from the interior of the car, save Ruth's warning. + +That cry of warning had set Barbara instantly on the defensive. She +threw both arms about Mollie and Olive. Grace was on the front seat with +Ruth. Bab braced her feet with a mighty effort. Then the crash came. + +It seemed to Barbara Thurston as though her arms were being torn from +their sockets. Then the three girls on the rear seat were jerked to +their feet. They toppled over the back of the seat ahead of them, +plunging head first into the forward part of the car, where the +operating mechanism was located. + +Ruth and Grace had been hurled against the storm curtain, securely +fastened down between themselves and the glass wind shield. Fortunately +for them, the curtain held for a few seconds until the shower of glass +from the shield had fallen into the roadway, then the curtain gave way +and the two girls tumbled out in the wake of the glass. + +The automobile, after the first impact, had recoiled several feet. It +essayed to plunge forward again, but the emergency brake held it +motionless while the motors began to race, making a noise that was heard +in the house, which stood at some distance from the fallen gates. + +The "Automobile Girls" lay where they had fallen, Ruth and Grace in the +roadway, Bab, Mollie and Olive in the forward end of the car. + +"There they come," cried Mrs. Presby. "Why, what a frightful noise," she +exclaimed, starting for the door, followed by Mr. Presby, with a painful +limp. + +Tommy's face turned white when he heard the crash. With a bound he +passed his father and mother, tore down the steps and off down the +drive. + +"Something has happened, Richard," cried Mrs. Presby. + +"Something will happen to my gout, too, if I have to remain out in this +chill atmosphere," declared Mr. Presby irritably. + +"Hurry, hurry!" wailed the distant voice of Tommy. + +"Oh, what is it?" cried Mrs. Presby, picking up her skirts and running +down the drive. + +"They're killed! They're killed!" howled Tommy. "They've smashed into +the gates. Everything's done. Finished!" + +"Run, Richard! Quick! Get help! An accident has occurred," begged +Olive's mother. + +The woman was almost beside herself with terror. Tommy's face was +ghastly. + +"Here's Ruth," he said, almost brusquely, lifting the girl by main +strength and staggering toward the house. He bore the burden only a few +feet, however, then hastily deposited it on the ground. Ruth was +senseless. + +A neighbor had witnessed the accident and with rare forethought +telephoned for a doctor. By this time a general alarm had been sounded. +The old fire bell on Treasureholme had been rung by Mr. Presby as the +quickest method of summoning assistance. Neighbors came on the run. They +were appalled when they first looked upon the wreck of the old gates. +The wreck at first sight appeared to be much worse than it really was. +The automobile motors were still racing, the exhaust emitting frequent +explosions that sounded like the discharge of a Gatling gun. It was +almost as though Mr. A. Bubble were summoning assistance on his own +responsibility. + +No time was lost, however, in attending to the five girls. Ruth and +Grace being nearest at hand, were quickly lifted by strong arms and +borne to the house. The three girls still in the automobile were +tenderly lifted out and also carried in. Each girl was placed in the +room that had been set aside for her. The doctor was on hand almost by +the time the girls had been placed on their beds. He made a hasty +diagnosis of each case, announced that no bones had been broken and, +assisted by Mrs. Presby, administered restoratives to the victims of the +accident, who soon recovered consciousness. + +No one had thought to send word to Mr. Stuart. The household was too +much upset to think of anything save the accident that had occurred. + +Grace and Ruth really had the front storm curtain to thank for saving +their lives. Had they been hurled through the heavy glass wind shield +they undoubtedly would have been killed instantly. Mollie and Olive no +doubt were saved by Barbara Thurston's presence of mind. But Barbara by +devoting her whole effort to saving her companions had been badly +bruised and shaken. + +Someone in the meantime had shut off the motors and pushed the car out +of the way. The wreckage of the gates was also cleared away at the +direction of Mr. Presby, so that no one else should collide with it. + +The doctor remained at Treasureholme until nine o'clock in the evening. +Before taking his departure, however, he gave strict orders that none of +his patients were to be allowed to leave their beds until he called the +next morning, and pronounced them able to rise and dress. + +Mrs. Presby broke down and cried after she learned that the girls were +not seriously injured. Tom went out in the woodshed and wailed so loudly +that he was heard in the rooms upstairs. Mr. Presby hobbled about +irritably. He did not care to have those in the house know how much +affected he really was. + +Early the next morning he sent for one of his men. The old gentleman was +now in a fine temper. Owing to the excitement caused by the accident, +and a particularly painful attack of the gout, he had passed a sleepless +night and was therefore in a most unamiable frame of mind. + +"Who closed those gates?" roared Mr. Presby the instant the man appeared +in the doorway of the dining room, where the master was hobbling back +and forth. + +"I--I don't know, sir." + +"You closed them!" thundered Richard Presby. + +"I did not. They were open when I last saw them." + +"When was that?" + +"About an hour before the accident occurred, I think, sir." + +"If you didn't close them, who did? Answer me that." + +Of course the man could not answer that question. He made no answer at +all, thinking thereby not to further irritate his employer. + +"I suppose the gates were closed by some of those rascally treasure +hunters that are continually tearing over my premises, digging holes for +the unwary to fall into and making general nuisances of themselves in +every other way. Drive them off. Pepper them with shot if you can't get +rid of them in any other way. I may not be here for long, but while I am +here, I'm the master of Treasureholme. Do you understand?" + +"Yes, sir," answered the man humbly, his face reflecting no expression +at all. + +Mr. Presby thumped back and forth with his cane for nearly an hour after +that, despite the fact that every step he took sent excruciating pains +through his gouty foot. Finally retiring to the library, he went to +sleep in his Morris chair, with the troublesome foot propped up on a +stool. + +Early in the forenoon Mrs. Presby communicated with Miss Sallie and Mr. +Stuart, telling them as much of the details of the accident as was +known. Ten minutes later Robert Stuart and Miss Sallie were on their way +to Treasureholme as fast as an automobile could carry them. The girls +were asleep when they arrived. The doctor, who had arrived in the +meantime, would not permit his patients to be disturbed. He assured Mr. +Stuart, however, that the girls had providentially escaped with a few +slight scratches and bruises and that they would all be up before the +end of the day. + +But the mystery of the closed gates was disturbing the entire household. +It was inexplicable. Mr. Presby declared that it was the work either of +his enemies or of some treasure-seeker who thought he was doing the +owner a service by closing his gates for him. + +Late that afternoon the five girls appeared in the dining room little +the worse for their shaking up, although Barbara was far more lame and +sore than she would admit. A general season of rejoicing ensued, and +several neighbors dropped in to congratulate the girls on their +miraculous escape from serious injury. + +On seeing her father, Ruth's first question was, "What happened to A. +Bubble?" + +Mr. Stuart did not know. He promised to find out, which he did an hour +or so later. Mr. A. Bubble, he told her, would be sent to a shop for +repairs the next day, as he intended going back to Chicago that night +and would attend to it. The radiator had been badly bent, the forward +axle had buckled, guards were smashed, the hood was damaged, in short, +Mr. Bubble presented a most disreputable appearance. + +Mr. Stuart told Ruth she was in a certain degree responsible for the +accident, still she had no thought that the gates would be closed. + +"I'll know enough after this to keep my car under control. I won't try +to knock over any more houses and things," Ruth retorted. + +By the afternoon of their second day at Treasureholme the "Automobile +Girls" had practically gotten over the effects of their accident and +were cosily established in Olive's room consuming hot chocolate and +cakes while Olive, at their urgent request, again recounted the story of +the buried treasure. Now that they were face to face with the great +mystery, they were alive with curiosity. They were burning to see with +their own eyes the place that held so much of mystery and perhaps a +fortune that was probably being trodden over by human feet every hour of +the day. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +EXPLORING THE SECRET PASSAGE + + +"I CERTAINLY do adore this room!" exclaimed Mollie Thurston, with +glowing eyes. + +The "Automobile Girls" and Olive were sitting in the dining room of old +Treasureholme. It was a massive, but cheerful room, the ceiling studded +with great beams. A fireplace constructed of boulders of varying shapes +and sizes, large enough to take a six-foot log, occupied the greater +part of one side of the room. Olive Presby had been telling her guests +various anecdotes relating to Treasureholme and as usual the +conversation had turned to the tale of the long-lost treasure. + +An old-fashioned bookcase, extending all the way across one end of the +room, was filled with leather-bound books. Bab regarded them longingly. +She made up her mind to browse among these old volumes at the first +opportunity. + +"Help yourself any time you wish," smiled Olive, who had observed Bab's +eager glances at the bookcase. Barbara blushed that her thoughts should +have been read so easily. + +"Oh, I should love to!" she answered simply. + +Mollie cast an apprehensive glance about her. + +"Are you sure there are no ghosts in this old place?" she asked. + +"Of course not. What made you think of that?" laughed Ruth. + +"In all the stories I ever read about buried treasure there was sure to +be a ghost to guard it," replied Mollie. "Perhaps Treasureholme has a +ghost, too. At any rate, I feel spooky." + +"So do I," agreed Grace. "Did you hear that noise?" + +"It sounds to me like rats or mice," ventured Barbara. "Of course it is. +I know the sound. I hope they don't come out while I am here." + +A hush fell over the little party of "Automobile Girls." A gentle +scratching that seemed to come from the left side of the fireplace was +audible to each of them. As they listened the sound seemed to magnify. A +draft through the open door that led into the hallway smote Mollie in +the back of the neck. She sprang up, uttering a little cry. + +"It's a ghost. I felt it blow on my neck," she cried. + +"Nonsense! I'll soon show you the ghost," offered Ruth, starting to her +feet. "I know this old place pretty well. May I, Olive?" + +Olive nodded smilingly. Ruth stepped to the left side of the fireplace +and, grasping a knob that had escaped the observation of the +Kingsbridge girls, deliberately pulled out a panel that was in reality a +door. + +The girls uttered exclamations of amazement. Then they saw something +move in the dark recess the door had revealed. It was Tom, sitting in +the hole in the wall, with his feet curled up under him. He was grinning +sardonically. + +"Here's your ghost," announced Ruth, taking firm hold of the +irrepressible Tom's collar and assisting him out into the room. "You +ought to be ashamed of yourself, Thomas Presby, frightening young women +in that fashion." + +"Yes, Tom, I am ashamed of you," rebuked Olive. But Tom was perfectly +cheerful and unabashed. + +"A secret passage?" gasped Mollie. + +"It's a sort of underground passage, built to look like an old-fashioned +Dutch oven," explained Olive. + +"Per--perhaps the treasure is buried there," suggested Bab scarcely +above a whisper. + +Tom laughed derisively. Olive smiled tolerantly. + +"If it ever was hidden there, it was taken out long, long ago. That +passage has been known for some generations, I believe," said Olive. + +"How ever did you get in there?" demanded Ruth, a sudden thought +occurring to her. + +"Find out," grinned Tom. + +"There must be another entrance to it, isn't there, Olive?" + +"Not that I know of. Is there, Tom?" + +"Maybe and maybe not." + +"Oh, please tell us. Can't you see we are burning with curiosity?" +begged Bab. + +"I'll show the place to any girl who's got the sand to go in there with +me," answered Tom Presby. + +All the girls, except Barbara, drew back. She was regarding the boy +questioningly. + +"Will you show me?" she asked. + +"You bet I will if you've got the nerve." + +"Don't trust him," warned the girls. + +"I am not afraid of one small boy, especially Tom," answered Bab, with a +twinkle in her eyes. "But, Master Tom, if you try to play any tricks on +me it will be a sorry day for you. You can't play tricks on the +'Automobile Girls' without getting into trouble, remember. Olive, may I +go?" + +"Of course, if you wish," smiled Miss Presby. "I have been in there ever +so many times, and"--with a blush--"I have dug and dug in there." + +The girls laughed merrily, all save Bab, who was thoughtful. The +impression was strong with her that somehow this passage was connected +directly or indirectly with the secret of the lost treasure. + +"Take a light with you. I won't go in in the dark," declared Barbara. + +Tom produced a candle and lighted it. Barbara crawled into the dark hole +after him. The others crowded about, peering in wonderingly. + +"Close the door," commanded Tom. + +Barbara pretended to do so, but left a crack through which the light +from the dining room filtered faintly. + +"Don't you girls dare to fasten the door," she called. "I should die of +fright if I thought I was locked in this hole." + +"We'll come in by way of the front door," called back Tom, as he began +burrowing into the hole. The place was inky black save for the faint +light shed by the candle. "Don't be afraid. After we get out from under +the house you will be able to stand up." + +"Oh! Is the passage so long as that?" gasped Bab. "I--I guess I don't +want to go any further. I'll explore with you to-morrow." + +"It won't be any lighter in the daytime," reminded the boy. "It's always +dark down here." He was getting further and further away from her. + +"Thomas Presby, you come right back here," commanded Barbara. "I won't +go another step." + +"'Fraid cat!" jeered Thomas. + +"I'm not!" retorted Bab, starting forward. She knew she could easily +find her way back again. She bumped her head against the roof of the +passage several times. The place smelled stuffy and mouldy, though the +girl realized that a faint current of air was passing through the +tunnel. All at once she discovered that the passage had grown larger. +She was able to stand up without difficulty. She then made a further +discovery. Tom and his light had disappeared. + +"Tom! Oh, Tom!" cried Barbara. + +There was no answer. The silence was so deep that it made her ears ring. +At first the girl was panic stricken, then she reasoned out her +situation more calmly. She had only to retrace her steps to return to +the dining room. Tom no doubt had eluded her and left the passage +through an exit known only to himself. She would show him that she was +as good as any boy. + +"I'll go straight back," declared Barbara. But somehow the "going back" +was not accomplished with the ease that she had hoped for. The way +seemed much longer than had been the case when she was on her way in. +Bab was peering ahead of her, expecting every moment to catch sight of +the light from the dining room. She would have called out to her +companions, only she did not want them to know that she was in trouble +or that she was afraid. + +Barbara had been in the low-ceilinged passage for some time when she +came in contact with a solid wall. She gave a glad little exclamation, +believing that she had reached the panel that led into the dining room. +She had now but to rap and her companions would open the panel. The wind +must have blown the panel shut. Barbara put out her hands and began +groping for the panel. To her horror, there was no panel there. Her +hands found nothing but earth. Some moments had elapsed when Barbara +Thurston realized that she was in a predicament. + +"I am lost!" she groaned. "Oh, what shall I do?" + +The girl decided to call for assistance. There seemed to be no other +way. She raised her voice and shouted, but, to her amazement, the shout +was merely a feeble call that could not have been heard many feet away. +The low walls deadened the sound of her voice. + +A little investigation convinced her that she had strayed into a short +blind passage. Having made this discovery, she began creeping back, +hugging the right-hand wall of the passage, believing that the main +passage must begin on the right-hand side. In this she was correct. + +Barbara had proceeded but a short distance before she found the junction +of the two passages. She had not observed this shorter passage when +following Tom, and no doubt he had known that she would be almost sure +to lose her way, just as she had done. But there was no Tom present on +whom to vent her displeasure. Neither was Barbara yet out of the tunnel. +For all she knew she might be in a wholly new passage. Before going +ahead she sat down to think over her situation carefully. + +"No, I can't be mistaken. I must be right. But I ought to see the light +from the dining room from this point. However, I will go on and trust to +luck." + +Barbara started on at once, though she took no chance of losing herself. +Every foot of the walls on either side was carefully groped over by her +hands as she made her way. The earth felt cold and damp. To touch it +made her shiver. But Barbara was plucky. She continued bravely on. + +"Oh, there's the light," she cried. "I'll call to let them know I am +coming. No, I won't. I'll give them a scare. Lucky for me that I kept my +head. I might have been lost in that short passage and never found +again. How terrible. But an 'Automobile Girl' never gives up. I hear +voices. The girls must be wondering what has become of me. I think I +hear Tom in the dining room. I wonder what I had better do to punish him +for the trick he played on me? I shall have to think it over. I---- + +"Gracious! What would I do if the girls should happen to have company in +the old dining room? I shouldn't dare to come out, for I know I must +look a fright." Bab soon reached the panel, which was still as she had +left it upon entering the passage. Then as she craned her neck forward +and peered into the dining room she uttered a smothered exclamation. + +Mr. and Mrs. Presby were sitting facing the fire, talking. The girl in +the passage drew back as she saw Mr. Presby's eye fixed upon the panel. +He appeared to be looking straight at her. A moment more and she was +convinced that he was not. + +Bab was in a quandary. She dared not show herself. What would they think +of her, their daughter's guest, were she to be seen crawling from a hole +in the wall? Her first meeting with Mr. Presby had been unfortunate +enough. He surely would not forgive her for this exploit. Then the humor +of the situation dawned upon her. Bab stuffed her handkerchief into her +mouth so that they might not hear her giggles. + +All at once she ceased laughing and sat up very straight. + +"Nathan Bonner called on me at my office to-day. It was of that that I +wished to speak with you, and that is why I asked the girls to leave the +room." Mr. Presby was speaking. + +"Did he wish to help you?" + +"He intimated something of the sort. What he did want was permission to +call on Olive." + +"Oh!" The exclamation escaped Mrs. Presby unwittingly. + +"And you told him----?" + +"No. Not with my permission. Bonner is a very rich man, Jane--and an +unscrupulous one I am informed. I know little more about him, except +that he has come to be an important figure on the Board of Trade. His +rise has been phenomenal. I don't care for the man, however. I do not +consider him the sort of man that Olive would like." + +"You wish me to speak with her upon the subject?" asked Aunt Jane. + +"No!" The word came out with explosive force. "The incident is closed. I +am not so base as to consider for a moment the idea of my daughter +making a rich alliance some day for the sake of retrieving our financial +affairs. I am simply confiding the facts to you, that you may be +governed accordingly." + +Jane Presby rose, and, going over to her husband, kissed him tenderly on +the forehead. + +"You are a noble man, Richard." + +"Has it taken you all these years to find that out?" retorted Mr. Presby +testily. + +"I have always known it," answered Mrs. Presby simply. + +"What do you know about this Jack Howard's attentions to Olive?" he +demanded sharply. + +"They are childhood friends. Olive is still our baby, Richard. She has +no thought of leaving us, I am sure. At least not in a long, long time." + +Barbara, realizing that she was listening to a family conference, had +suddenly shrunk back further into the corridor. She still could hear +their voices. She retired further into the passage. Now their voices +reached her ears in a confused murmur. The girl crouched down, waiting. +The words of Mr. Presby had not made a very great impression on her, +except that he had objected to one Nathan Bonner calling on his +daughter. Who Nathan Bonner was Bab did not know. + +Words, clear and distinct, spoken by Richard Presby, now reached Barbara +plainly. He was speaking of another matter, one that was near to the +heart of the "Automobile Girl" crouching there in the secret passage of +the old mansion. Barbara's face blanched as she heard and understood +what Mr. Presby was saying. She was powerless to shut her ears to the +words. Mr. Presby's further remarks were brief. He rose and stamped from +the room, followed a few seconds later by his wife. + +Barbara crept forward to the panel, peered out cautiously to make sure +that there was no one there, then, throwing wide the panel, stepped into +the dining room, and, gathering her skirts about her, fled to her room +on the next floor. She could hear the girls laughing and talking in +Olive Presby's room. + +Reaching her bedroom, Barbara Thurston threw herself on the bed, and +sobbed as though her heart would break. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +IN AN INDIAN GRAVEYARD + + +IT was Olive who found Bab there. She halted in the doorway, gazing in +in amazement. + +"Why, Barbara Thurston! What can be the matter with you?" cried Olive. +"We thought you were exploring the secret passages under the old house, +and here you are crying all by your lonely little self. Where is Tom?" +demanded Miss Presby, with growing suspicion in her eyes. + +"I--I don't know," confessed Barbara weakly. + +"See here, Bab, did Tom play any tricks on you?" + +"Nothing of any account. He went out by some other exit. I returned the +way I came. I am going back there to-morrow, if you do not object. I +must solve the mystery of that secret passage." + +"You are a dear!" exclaimed Olive, kissing Bab affectionately. + +At this juncture Ruth Stuart came in, having heard Bab's voice as she +was passing through the hall. + +"Bab! When did you get back?" exclaimed Ruth. "Oh, I beg your pardon," +she added, laughingly, as she discovered Olive and Bab engaged in +serious conversation. "I see I am intruding." + +"Come in, Ruth," answered Olive. "I found Bab crying here. I think Tom +must have played pranks on her. Wait until I get my hands on the young +man. You say you haven't seen him since you left the passage, Barbara?" + +Bab shook her head. + +"I shall find him at once," announced Olive, rising and starting for the +door. + +"Please, please don't scold him," begged Bab. "Really, it isn't that +that is the matter with me." But Olive insisted and went on her way in +search of the irrepressible Tommy. Ruth stepped over and sat on the edge +of the bed, gazing down at Barbara. + +"Now, tell me all about it," urged Ruth gently. + +"There--there isn't anything to tell," murmured Bab. + +"I know what the trouble is. You are homesick," declared Ruth Stuart. +"To-morrow we have planned to give you an interesting day. We are going +to explore the old place and I am going to take you to the Indian +Cemetery. Quite likely some of the same gentlemen who scalped Olive's +ancestors are buried out there. Bab, do you love me just the same as you +used to?" asked the girl, bending a questioning gaze on Barbara's +tear-stained face. + +"You ought not to ask me that question, dear," answered Bab. "You know I +do. It seems to me that I have known you for ever and ever so many +years. Perhaps our friendship began in some other life. Sometimes I +think it must have. But you haven't acted quite the same of late. It has +seemed to me that you didn't love me as dearly as you used to and the +thought has hurt me, oh, so much, Ruth." + +"Why, Bab Thurston, how can you say so?" exclaimed Ruth. "I love you +better than any other girl I've ever known. You ought to know that. The +truth of the matter is that I am worried, dear. I have not been quite +myself of late. I'm worried about father. Was--was it that that made you +cry, dear?" + +"Not exactly. I was crying because--because I felt sorry for you +and--and for----" + +"For whom?" + +Barbara shook her head and closed her lips firmly. + +"I shan't say another word. Please don't ask me. I want to think. If you +don't mind, I am going to bed. Must I go downstairs first?" + +"No, child. You tumble right in. I will tell the folks you are not +feeling quite well. I want to speak to Olive before I go to bed, +anyway." + +"Tell them that I am going to bed, please." + +"Yes." + +"Please also say good night to Mr. and Mrs. Presby for me, won't you?" + +Ruth said she would do so, and hurried from the room. She stopped in +Olive's room to tell the other "Automobile Girls" not to disturb Bab, +who had gone to bed feeling a little indisposed. + +On the following morning matters appeared to have adjusted themselves to +the satisfaction of all, for the girls were in their brightest mood. Bab +now and then grew sober and thoughtful, but strove to throw off the +feeling of depression that persisted in taking possession of her. + +"I have a note from father," announced Ruth. "He says Mr. A. Bubble has +entirely recovered. There were some broken bones, but these have been +mended. Bubble is to be returned to us to-day, and then we will have a +jolly ride." + +"I sincerely trust there will be no gates in the way this time," +observed Mrs. Presby, smilingly. + +"Never fear. I have had my lesson," answered Ruth, flushing a little. "I +never thought it would be possible for me to get into so much trouble +with a motor car. Shall we show the girls the Indian burying ground this +morning?" + +"You take them, Ruth, if you will, please," answered Olive. "I must help +mother with some family matters. You know more about the old cemetery +than I do." + +They started out shortly after breakfast, full of keen anticipation. +Just outside the house Tom joined them. He had with him Olive's big +setter dog, "General." Bab pinched Tommy's ear playfully. + +"You were a naughty boy last night," she said. + +"But you didn't find out where I got out, just the same," jeered Tom. + +"No, but I am going to." + +"I'll bet you don't." + +"I shall. See if I don't. By the way, Tom, have they found out yet who +closed those gates the night we ran into them?" asked Barbara +carelessly. She and Tom had fallen behind the others. + +"No-o-o-o," answered the boy, giving her a quick glance. Bab's face told +him nothing. + +"I suppose you haven't the slightest idea who could have done that?" + +"How should I know anything about it?" + +"I thought perhaps you might have done it; you are such a very smart +young man," observed Barbara soberly. "Couldn't you even guess?" + +"No. Could you?" + +"I don't have to guess." + +Tommy regarded her shrewdly. + +"What do you mean?" + +"I don't have to guess because I _know_. You closed those gates, Tom +Presby. You thought it would be a good joke to fool Olive and Ruth and +the rest of us. I'm not sure but that you thought you would be taking a +proper revenge on poor me for sitting down on you that night at Stuarts' +house. You came near causing the death of five girls with what you +thought only a prank, young man," added Bab, in her most severe tone. "I +should think you would be ashamed of yourself." + +Tommy's face grew very pale. Beads of perspiration broke out on his +forehead. + +"Don't tell father. Don't, please don't. He'd skin me alive if he knew I +did that. How'd you find out?" + +"You told me," answered Bab, now with a merry twinkle in her eyes. "I +guessed it first, then you admitted it just now." + +"That was a mean trick. Nobody but a girl would take such a mean +advantage of a fellow." + +"Nobody but a mischievous boy would intentionally cause an automobile +smash-up and endanger the lives of five girls, including his sister," +rebuked Barbara. "What do you think I ought to do with you?" + +"You aren't going to tell the governor? Oh, don't say you are. I'll do +anything for you! Say, I like you better than all the rest, Bab. Honest +and true I do. I'll show you how I got out of the hole last night if you +won't give it away. I'll show you everything I know about the old place. +You aren't going to squeal on a fellow, are you?" + +"No, Tom, I'm not," answered Bab, laughing heartily. "Nor am I going to +ask you to show me the exit from the secret passage. If I can't find it +out for myself, I don't want to know." + +Tommy regarded her admiringly. + +"Say, you're a good sport, aren't you? I'll show you anyhow, for that." + +About this time the setter dog, General, attracted the attention of the +girls by diving into a hole in the base of a great tree that stood some +little distance from the house. Nothing but his tail was visible. Tom +soon had a firm grip on this and was hauling the angry General out to +the accompaniment of merry shouts from the girls. + +Ruth explained that this tree was an old landmark. It had been there +ever since the oldest inhabitant could remember. It was known as "Old +Sentinel," having stood sentinel over Treasureholme for at least a +hundred years. + +"What is in that hole?" demanded Bab. + +"General's buried treasure," answered Tom carelessly. "He hides his beef +bones there." + +Now they moved on together, making an attractive picture as they walked. +Grace and Ruth were the only ones of the party who wore furs. Mollie +wore her heavy dark-blue traveling coat, with a gentian-blue scarf tied +about her throat. Bab, with a scarlet wing perched at a jaunty angle in +her brown cloth hat, reminded one of a robin redbreast. + +"You don't think you will catch cold?" asked Ruth solicitiously. + +Bab assured her that they would not, to which Ruth made no reply, though +she hugged a dark Christmas secret closer to her heart and chuckled +inwardly. + +"There is the old burying ground," she announced finally, pointing to a +succession of hillocks a short distance ahead of them. These were of a +mushroom shape, with the tops sloping gently to the ground. The girls +thought them the most curious-looking graves they ever had seen. They +observed a very large mound in the centre. Ruth explained that this was +supposed to be the grave of an Indian chief. + +"If that is true, his weapons and his faithful dog are buried beside +him," continued Ruth. "These graves, I believe, are very old. No one +appears to know just how old they are. Do you wish to see the rest of +them?" + +The girls did. Mollie suggested that perhaps if they remained there long +enough they might possibly meet the ghost of the old chief. + +"What would you do if we should?" questioned Ruth whimsically. + +"I'd run," answered Mollie promptly. + +"I rather think the rest of us would not be slow in following you," +agreed Ruth. + +"I should think the Presbys would feel spooky all the time with so many +queer things about them," observed Grace. "There's mystery all over the +old house, and there are goodness knows how many dead Indians and things +on the outside." + +"Only girls are afraid," spoke up Tommy. + +"Only girls?" questioned Bab, with a significant glance at the boy. +Tommy subsided instantly. Then all of a sudden General stiffened his +tail, uttered a low, menacing growl and stood pointing his nose in the +direction of a mound that reached higher than any of the others. + +"What is it, General?" asked Ruth, gazing in the direction of the +point. + +"He smells somebody," volunteered Tommy. "Don't be afraid. I'm here," he +added, swelling out his chest. + +"It's a man!" cried Mollie. "He's there hiding behind that mound. I saw +him peer over the top just now. Oh, let's run. Hurry, girls!" + +Tommy cast a withering look at Mollie and, whistling to the dog to +follow him, trudged toward the mound in question. Bab promptly followed +him, with Ruth not far behind her. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +MEETING A TREASURE HUNTER + + +GENERAL made a leap over the high mound. There came a growl, then a +sharp bark. + +"Down, General!" commanded a manly voice. + +A young man wearing rough clothes and a broad-brimmed soft hat, from +under which looked out a pleasant face, appeared, facing the girls. + +"I beg your pardon," he said. "I thought perhaps you might not see me. +You are from the house yonder. I know Miss Stuart by sight and the +General and myself are old friends." + +The young man stuffed some papers into his pockets. As yet none of the +party had spoken. + +"Hello, Bob. Is that you?" greeted Tommy. + +"Yes. You caught me this time." + +"You bet I did!" + +"Won't you introduce me to your friends, so I may apologize to them for +my peculiar actions?" + +"Oh, they're only girls," answered Tom airily. "What are you doing +here?" + +"I am Robert Stevens, young ladies. I live near by. The Presbys are +friends of mine." + +The girls were beginning to feel more at ease. He was not a desperate +character, after all. Their adventure had ended in nothing more than +meeting a friendly neighbor. Ruth stepped forward at this juncture. + +"I am on a treasure hunt," said Stevens, smiling sheepishly. + +The girls were on the alert on the instant. + +"Treasure hunting!" exclaimed Barbara. "Where are your pick and shovel?" + +"Oh, I haven't gotten that far yet," laughed Bob. + +The girls decided that they liked Mr. Bob Stevens, and what was more, +they were keenly interested in his statement that he was hunting for the +lost treasure. + +"I may as well be frank with you," he said, flushing. "Ever since I was +Tommy's age I have hoped to find some day the fabled pot of gold, or +whatever the treasure may be. My grandfather before he died gave me maps +and diagrams that he had made. He was as mad on the subject of the +buried treasure as the rest of us," explained Stevens. "It was his idea +that it would be found not far from the lake. He thought the Presbys had +naturally planned to return by water for the treasure in case they had +to flee from the fort. I have worked the ground near the lake +thoroughly. Now I am trying this strip of woods, working out from these +Indian mounds." + +"Is the trail hot or cold?" questioned Bab. + +"Very cold. Almost colder than the atmosphere to-day. Still, I have +hopes." + +"If you were to find the treasure what would you do with it?" demanded +Ruth severely. + +"Do with it? Why, I should turn it over to its rightful owner," answered +Stevens. "It's the sport of the search that interests me. You did not +think I would keep what doesn't belong to me, did you?" + +The girls murmured their apologies. + +"Please tell Mr. Presby that you found me here. Perhaps I had better go +back with you. May I?" + +"Come along, Bob. Father will be glad to see you," said Tom, answering +for them. The girls offered no objections, so the young man accompanied +them, walking beside Tommy and General. + +"You young ladies might be interested in looking over those old maps and +diagrams," suggested their new acquaintance. + +"Indeed we would," agreed Barbara enthusiastically. + +"Another thing I'd like to say, if you will permit me. Were I in your +place, I wouldn't go into the woods back there alone. There are people +hanging about this estate who are little better than tramps." + +"What do you mean?" asked Grace. + +"The news has been circulated that the Presbys are going to lose the old +place. There are a choice lot of gentlemen nosing about here hoping to +get a clue to the treasure before another owner takes charge. I heard +yesterday that some fellow from the city is planning to put men to work +here systematically. I don't know how true it is." + +"They wouldn't dare to dig for treasure on another man's property," +retorted Ruth indignantly. + +"They wouldn't have to dig until they had located the treasure. Then +they might dig it up in the night and be off before anyone else was the +wiser." + +"I don't believe there is any danger in our going where we please about +these grounds. I have been here a good many times, Mr. Stevens, and you +are the first stranger I have ever met on the grounds," declared Ruth. + +"There are two men back there in the woods now," answered Bob +carelessly. + +The girls stopped short and stood gazing at the forest that lay beyond +the Indian burying ground. + +"Are you sure of that?" + +Stevens nodded. + +"I saw them," he replied, "watching you all the time you were coming +toward the mounds. I was watching them, though they didn't know that." + +"Why don't you speak to Mr. Presby and have him put them off the +premises?" demanded Barbara. + +"It wouldn't do any good. The fellows would take good care to keep off +the place while a search was being made for them. There's Miss Olive +waiting for you." + +"Oh, how do you do, Mr. Stevens? I am glad you are with the girls," said +Olive. "Father was disturbed when he found they had gone over to the +Indian mounds alone. He said it wasn't safe to do that. Have you met my +friends, Mr. Stevens?" + +"In a somewhat unceremonious fashion," laughed Stevens. + +"Father wants to see you. I'll venture that I can guess how you chanced +to meet the girls," smiled Olive. "Now confess that you were treasure +hunting." + +"I confess. Where may I find your father?" + +"In the library. Go right in." + +Bob Stevens promised the girls that he would show them his diagrams +after he had finished his conference with Mr. Presby. Then, raising his +hat to them, he set off toward the house. Mr. and Mrs. Presby were fond +of Robert Stevens. He was of good family, and well educated for a +country boy. His people were comfortably situated and Robert's ambition +was to help his friends, the Presbys, find the treasure that he never +had doubted was hidden somewhere on the estate. + +But the girls did not see him again that day. Ruth's motor car had +arrived by the time they reached the house. The girls ate a hurried +luncheon and set off for a long ride before the two men had finished +their conference. It was almost dinner time when they returned with rosy +cheeks and sparkling eyes, greatly invigorated after their drive. A. +Bubble had behaved himself splendidly. Ruth said he worked much better +than before the accident. Bab suggested that it might be an excellent +idea to have him collide with a pair of stout iron gates at regular +intervals. + +Bob Stevens had left his maps and diagrams for the girls to look over, +which they did after dinner. They were unable to make anything out of +the lines and figures of the treasure hunter. Mollie declared that the +man who made them must surely have been insane. + +For an hour after dinner the Presbys and their guests chatted in what +was called the drawing room, a long, low, barn-like apartment, almost +rustic in its fittings and furnishings. The dining room being cleared, +Olive called the girls there. They found the room in darkness save for +the light shed by the fire in the fireplace and five candles arranged on +the sideboard. + +"One for each girl present," explained Olive. + +"To light us to bed?" questioned Mollie. + +"No, indeed," smiled Olive. "Bedtime is still a long way off. We are +going to have a feast by candle light." + +"I couldn't eat another mouthful after the dinner we had to-night. It +would be a physical impossibility," declared Bab. + +"Don't make any rash assertions until you see what I have provided for +you in the way of a feast," replied Olive, as she took a large, flat tin +box from the lower compartment of the old-fashioned sideboard. "Ruth," +she continued, "if you will draw the rugs up close to the fireplace we +will lose no time in beginning the festivities." + +Ruth Stuart did so, arranging the rugs in a semi-circle. But the +interest of the girls was centred on the tin box, not on the rugs, just +at that time. Then Olive brought out five long, slender white sticks, +which she distributed among the girls. + +"Aren't you going to open the box?" begged Grace anxiously. "Can't you +see we are dying with curiosity to know what is inside?" + +"Bab, you may open the box." + +The cover was off almost before the words had left Olive's lips. + +"Marshmallows!" cried the girls in chorus. "Oh, isn't that simply +glorious?" + +"And such a lot of them, too," added Grace Carter. + +"Five pounds," Olive informed them. "We are about to sit down to a +marshmallow toast. Eat all you wish, but for goodness sake do not make +yourselves sick." + +"She means you, Mollie," teased Ruth. + +"The coat doesn't fit me, however," retorted Mollie. "But I do love +marshmallows. Do we toast them over the flames of the candles?" + +"No," replied Olive, as she placed the five-pound box of sweets on the +rug between them and the fire. The girls sat down on the rug, with their +feet curled under them. Each speared a marshmallow and thrust it close +to the fire. Little blue flames rose from the white cubes and a +tantalizing odor filled the air. + +"Oh, dear me. Mine's gone into the fire," cried Mollie in distress. "It +just melted away." + +"So did mine," answered Barbara, "but it melted in my mouth." + +"How nice of you to think of this, Olive. Thank you ever so much," +glowed Grace Carter. + +"This isn't my treat. My part is to carry out the little surprise. Mr. +Stuart sent out the marshmallows to me, asking me to give you girls a +toast. It is a real treat, isn't it?" + +"Glorious!" breathed the girls. + +"Did you children ever do fire-gazing?" asked Olive after a moment of +silence as the girls helped themselves to the sweets. + +The "Automobile Girls" confessed their ignorance of the game. Olive +explained that each girl was to gaze into the fire then describe what +forms or figures appeared to grow out of the flames or coals. + +"I see a red automobile," cried Mollie, almost as soon as she had fixed +her gaze on the fire. "And, oh, look at the man driving it! He is all in +red, wears a pointed beard and has a cloven foot. Isn't he a frightful +looking creature?" + +"Your imagination needs no encouragement," declared Olive. "Let us hope +that the gentleman with the cloven foot may drive his car up the chimney +flue and fly away. What do you see, Ruth?" + +"I see a fiery pit with a lot of imps dancing about, hurling balls of +fire at each other." + +"Your turn, Barbara." + +Bab was gazing at the fire in wrapt attention. + +"I see a black chest, but I can't see what it holds, for the cover is +down. There goes the cover! Oh, look, girls! See the gold and the +sparkling jewels! See the golden coins glitter in the light of the fire! +Oh, oh, oh!" + +"Money? Money? Where?" cried Mollie. "I want some of that money." + +The spell was broken in a merry laugh. Mollie laughed, too, then turned +her gaze toward the window, for her eyes were smarting from the heat. +Suddenly her face took on a frightened expression, the color fading from +it. + +"Look! Oh, look!" she gasped, scarcely above a whisper. + +What they saw made the "Automobile Girls'" faces turn white with fear. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +GIVING AN ATTIC PARTY + + +PEERING in at them was a hideous yellow face with a nose that in the +light from the room seemed to be fiery red. The face was pressed against +the window pane. Now a long-drawn, dismal groan sounded from the other +side of the window. + +"It's a ghost!" cried Grace. + +Barbara, however, had seen more than the other girls, and, mustering up +all her courage, ran to the door. + +"Come back!" called the girls anxiously. Bab kept on, unheeding their +cries. As she jerked the outside door open, they heard a crash and the +frightful face suddenly disappeared from the window. Ruth and Olive +rushed to the door. Both girls remembered that an old rain barrel had +stood under that window for a long time. + +"I've got the spook!" shouted Bab triumphantly. "I picked it out of the +rain barrel." She came in, dragging by an ear the irrepressible Tom. + +"Thomas Warrington Presby, what does this mean?" demanded Olive +sternly. + +"The--the rain barrel went to pieces," complained Tom. + +"Oh! Was it you who scared us out of our wits?" questioned Mollie. + +"I knew it was a false face almost the instant I saw it," said Barbara. +"Thomas, I fear I shall have to turn you over to your father. You have +evidently forgotten some things." + +Tom wriggled, his face worked anxiously. + +"Please don't. Maul me, do anything you want to punish me. I won't +squeal, but don't peach to father." + +"Girls, what shall we do with him?" asked Bab. + +"I move we make him sit down on the rug and eat marshmallows," suggested +Ruth. + +"The very idea," agreed Mollie. + +"But we want them ourselves," objected Grace. + +"I have another box," admitted Olive. "Your father sent two boxes, +though I did not intend to tell you about the second one just yet." + +It was agreed that Tom's punishment should be a sweet one. Tom grinned +broadly. + +"Those things are for girls. I can swallow a boxful without winking an +eyelid," he declared. "Gimme the box." + +"No, Thomas, you aren't going to eat them that way. We are going to wait +on you and help you to every mouthful," answered Barbara sweetly. "It +isn't every boy who has five nice girls to wait on him when he eats. Is +it, Tommy?" + +"No," answered the boy in a doubtful tone. He did not exactly like the +look of things now. Barbara placed a firm hand on his arm and set him +down on a rug in front of the fireplace. Tommy was closer to the fire +than was comfortable, but there seemed to be no escape for him. The five +girls speared as many marshmallows, toasted them and thrust them flaming +at the boy. Tommy gulped down the first one with evident enjoyment. Four +others went down easily. Tommy decided that marshmallows were pretty +good stuff. He called for more, and got them. There was always a stick +with a flaming cube on the end of it ready to be thrust into his mouth. +Tommy rolled his eyes with satisfaction. + +"I could take punishment like this for a week at a stretch. More!" + +Still the girls fed him. Even Olive was gentle and considerate. Tommy +did not recall ever having seen her more so. All the girls were very +kind to him, but there was a mischievous twinkle in their eyes that +Tommy was not astute enough to read. + +[Illustration: "I've Got the Spook," Shouted Bab Triumphantly.] + +After a time the marshmallows began to take on a bitter taste. He did +not appear to be eating them with the same relish as before. + +"That stuff's no good for men," he jeered. + +"Have another, Tommy," answered Bab, thrusting a blue flame into the +boy's face. + +"You needn't burn a fellow up," he rebuked, then swallowed the +marshmallow with a gulp. + +"Here, Tommy, is a nice, large one," added Mollie. + +Tom's eyes were rolling. His face that had appeared very red when he +first sat down before the fire, had grown several shades paler. The +girls continued to feed him with marshmallows, forcing one after another +upon him. + +"I won't take another----" Tom did not finish what he had started to +say. Olive thrust a hot marshmallow into the boy's open mouth. Tommy +closed his mouth instantly, but not soon enough. The hot sweet clung to +the roof of his mouth, bringing from Tommy a yell of pain. + +"I'll be even with you girls for this," he howled, the tears starting +from his eyes as he bounded for the kitchen for a drink of water. A +shout of merry laughter followed him. Tommy felt very sick and staggered +off to bed, where, half an hour later, his mother found him groaning. In +response to Mrs. Presby's anxious inquiries, Tommy explained that he had +an "awful stomachache." + +"He deserved it," declared Olive. "He will learn to let us girls alone, +I hope. Nevertheless, we got even with him this time." + +"Yes, revenge is sweet," observed Bab, whereat the girls groaned +dismally. + + * * * * * + +It had been decided that the "Automobile Girls" and Olive were to drive +into Chicago on the following morning to bring Miss Sallie and Mr. +Stuart also to Treasureholme, if he could be induced to return with +them. Ruth felt too that Mr. A. Bubble had not been getting enough +exercise of late. Her companions agreed with her. But the next morning +dawned most disappointingly. A great gale was blowing in from Lake +Michigan, accompanied by blinding flurries of snow. It was not a +cheerful outlook. The day was dark and the wind bitter cold. + +Ruth was for starting out just the same, but a telephone call from Miss +Sallie while the girls were at breakfast was to the effect that Mr. +Stuart had absolutely forbidden their starting out in such a storm. + +"I am sorry, girls, but when dad puts it that way he means what he says. +I speak from long experience," declared Ruth. "We shall have to wait +until to-morrow." + +"This storm is likely to last for some days," announced Mr. Presby. + +Ruth made a wry face. + +"We will explore for the treasure if we have to stay in the house all +the time," said Bab. "A day like this makes one feel mysterious." + +"And creepy," added Mollie. "Why, good morning, Tommy. How are you +to-day?" she smiled, as Master Thomas Presby took his place at the +breakfast table. Tommy grunted out some unintelligible reply. For some +reason he was not in the best of humor that morning. + +In the meantime Olive was trying to think up some entertainment that +would amuse the girls on a stormy day. + +"I have it," she cried. "How would you girls like an attic party?" + +They did not quite understand, never having heard of an attic party. + +"What do we do at an attic party?" asked Mollie. "Do we have luncheon in +the attic?" + +"No. It is an entirely new idea with me. My idea is that we go to the +attic and rummage. There are old chests and trunks up there, together +with all sorts of odds and ends, as is usual with a family garret." + +The girls beamed on her. + +"That will be perfectly splendid," cried Mollie. "Remember, Bab, how we +used to rummage in our garret on rainy days?" + +"It will be a great fun," answered Bab. + +"As we fear we may have to leave the old place," continued Olive, "we +wish to overhaul everything up there, burning such stuff as we have no +use for, saving anything that may be of use in the future. You girls can +help me clear out the place." + +"Am I in on this game?" interrupted Tom. + +"Yes, if you will behave yourself," replied Olive, giving him a severe +look. + +"I can carry out the stuff that you want burned," he suggested. + +Such willingness on the part of Tommy was unusual. Olive gave him a +smile of approval. + +"You shall have some more marshmallows for that," declared Ruth. + +A pained look appeared on the boy's face. + +"I don't want any marshmallows," he growled. "No more girls' food for +me." + +The "Automobile Girls" giggled. Mr. and Mrs. Presby paid no attention to +this conversation. They were not in possession of the secret. The girls +were eager for the attic party. There is always an element of mystery in +an old family garret. This was especially so at Treasureholme. +Everything about the old place savored of mystery. Then there was the +buried treasure, which, even though it might be a myth, lent an +atmosphere of greater mystery than all the rest. + +Little time was lost in getting to the garret, the girls first, however, +putting on the oldest skirts they possessed. Olive explained that the +place was full of dust and cobwebs. + +Tom hurried upstairs ahead of them. They followed a winding, narrow +stairway to the upper floor. To their surprise, the ceiling was high, +the side walls were heavily wainscoted, an unusual condition for a +garret. A broad chimney passing up through the centre of the big room +took the edge off the chill atmosphere of the morning, although they +could hear the wind whistle and wail about the gables. There were +shadowy corners holding old-fashioned trunks. Here and there were old +family pictures in faded, chipped frames, old clothes, curtains, books, +broken and old-fashioned furniture, in short, a varied and ancient +collection of odds and ends that almost filled the place. + +"Oh, girls, isn't this jolly!" exclaimed Bab, halting at the head of the +stairs, taking in the scene eagerly. "I know we shall have a perfectly +splendid time up here, and who knows but that we may unearth some of +your ancestors' family skeletons, Olive?" + +"Tom will dispose of them promptly if you find any," answered Olive. + +"I'll make their old bones rattle. You just watch me," announced Tom. + +"Now, girls, go ahead and browse to your heart's content. We are going +to empty every trunk and chest and box in the place. We may find +something exciting before we get through up here." + +Olive's prophecy was a true one. They were going to meet with exciting +experiences in the old garret, even more exciting than any of them had +dreamed possible. They began eagerly to turn out the contents of trunks +and boxes upon the garret floor, first dragging the receptacles up where +the light from one or another of the windows would shine down on their +work. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +A CURIOUS OLD JOURNAL + + +"OH, here's a bundle of letters, ever and ever so old!" called Grace. +Hers was the first find of interest, "Wouldn't it be splendid if I had +unearthed an old romance?" + +"Give them to Olive," suggested Bab. "We have no right to read them." + +Grace promptly handed the packet to Olive, who turned them over +reflectively. + +"The writers of these have been dead for many, many years. There can be +no harm in our reading the letters. However, let's defer that pleasure +until another time. Here, Tom, you might carry out those old clothes. +They are so moth-eaten that they are likely to fall apart before you can +get them outside." Tom reluctantly gathered up an armful and went +stamping down the garret stairs. + +Old clothes, trinkets, some of them of value, recipes for cooking, +written on the fly leaves of books and on scraps of paper, a varied +assortment of everything, including early photographs of forgotten +persons, were discovered. Everything was assorted and placed in piles +for future disposal. The girls' faces and hands were covered with dust +long before they had gone through the contents of the first few trunks. + +Nothing of unusual interest had been discovered after something more +than an hour's rummaging. Tom had made so many trips to the back yard +with rubbish that he was tired. Finally he rebelled, declaring that he +wouldn't tramp up and down those stairs again for the whole of +Treasureholme. + +Ruth found a chest of books in very old bindings. She called Bab over. + +"Here, dear. You are simply crazy over old books. Here are some that +will keep you busy for the rest of the morning." + +Bab ran over, and with a little chuckle of delight dropped down on her +knees in front of the open chest. She lifted out the ancient bindings +almost reverently, ran the pages through her fingers, pausing here and +there to read a line or a page, or a faded notation in pencil, then +carefully piled the books by the side of the chest. She was so wholly +absorbed in the contents of the chest that she failed to hear the lively +chatter going on about her. + +About half way down in the chest she found a thin, leather-covered +volume, showing indications of long usage and much thumbing. On the +front page she read, "Journal of T. W. P." + +"Olive, who was 'T. W. P.'?" + +"'T. W. P.'? Why that's Tom's initials. Wait! Did you find that in one +of those old books?" + +Bab nodded. + +"Then it must refer to Thomas Warrington Presby. He is the gentleman who +is supposed to have been scalped by the Indians, the man who buried the +treasure that we have had all the fuss and excitement about. What is the +book?" + +"It is his journal. His diary, I think we would call it. May I read it?" + +"Of course. I hope you may find something interesting in it." + +The reading of the diary was not easy. The ink was faded and the writing +was so peculiar that Bab deciphered it with some difficulty. Bab curled +up on a pile of old clothes under a window and buried her nose in the +old diary. She found it fascinating to read the diary of the man who +actually buried the treasure that had made the name of Treasureholme +well known in all that part of the country. + +The entries in the diary dealt with the routine affairs of the life of +the owner. Then there were other and more absorbing passages. One that +made the girl's pulses quicken was the following: + +"Rumors of Indian troubles are afloat. Jake was wounded by an arrow +to-day, shot from somewhere in the forest back of the house. But no +Indians were seen. We shall soon have to seek safety in the fort, I +fear. What to do with my worldly goods when we go is the question that +is troubling me now." + +"Oh!" breathed Barbara. + +"Does it blow hot or cold?" questioned Olive. + +"It seems to be getting warm," replied Bab. "He is talking about the +treasure." + +"What?" The girls were on their feet in an instant. Barbara read the +entry to them. + +"Oh, fiddle!" sniffed Mollie. "That doesn't amount to anything. Don't +arouse my curiosity again unless you have something worth while." + +Barbara considered that she had found something worth while, but she +made no comment on Mollie's remark. Instead, the girl returned to her +perusal of the old diary, reading each page carefully, not knowing when +a word or a sentence might give a clue to the mystery all were seeking +to solve. The girls went on with their rummaging and their lively +chatter. Tom had gone to sleep on a heap of bed spreads that were yellow +with age. The ghosts of the past did not trouble this healthy young +country boy. Mollie crouched down beside him, gently tickling his ear +with a feather that she had found in a trunk. Mollie nearly exploded +with merriment to see Tommy fight an imaginary fly in his sleep. The +other girls were soon attracted to the game, though Barbara was entirely +oblivious of what was going on. The girls gathered noiselessly about +Mollie and Tom, shaking with silent laughter, taking care not to awaken +the sleeping boy. + +Tom's face twitched nervously. After a little one eye opened ever so +little then closed warily. The girls did not observe the movement of the +eyelid. Then all of a sudden things began to happen. Tom, with +incredible quickness, leaped to his feet, and began laying about him +with a folded bed spread. Mollie was the first to go down under the +attack. The others tried to get away from that sturdily wielded spread, +but were not quick enough, however. Tom did considerable execution with +his unwieldly weapon before the girls finally threw themselves upon him. +Then Tom went down and out. The girls dragged him to the stairway and +started him sliding down the stairs, feet first. With faces flushed, +eyes sparkling, brushing truant wisps of hair from their foreheads, the +girls returned to their exploration of the old chests. First Olive +closed and locked the door that opened onto the staircase. + +"There! I think we shall have peace now," she announced. + +Suddenly Barbara uttered a sharp little cry. + +"Girls! Girls! Come here! Oh, come here!" + +The girls with one accord rushed pell-mell across the garret. Excitement +reigned for a few seconds. + +"I've found it! I've found it!" shouted Barbara. + +"Found the treasure?" cried a chorus of voices. + +"It's here, here!" she exclaimed, waving the little leather-bound +journal above her head. + +"What have you found?" demanded Olive, showing less excitement than her +companions. + +"This entry. It means something. I don't know just what, but I know it +means something." + +"Read it, read it!" demanded the girls. + +"The item is a month later than the one I found in the journal in which +they were afraid the Indians were going to make trouble. Listen to this. +If you don't think I have found something you are not half so smart as I +had thought." Barbara hitched a little closer to the window and with her +back to the light read from the journal the following entry: + +"'To My Heirs: I am fleeing with my family, to the fort. The future +looks dark. Should I not return, others of my family one day will come +here and take possession, provided the savages do not destroy the old +place, which is not probable, as the spirit of a long dead Indian chief +is said to make his home here.'" + +"I knew all the time there were ghosts here," interrupted Mollie. + +"Wearing false faces," added Grace under her breath. + +"There are further directions. 'Search and you shall find. I cannot be +more explicit save to say that what is here is well worth years of +endeavor,'" Barbara read on. "'I have a feeling that I shall see the old +place no more. Remember, that to every people its own dead are sacred +and be governed accordingly.'" + +Barbara glanced slowly up at the solemn faces above her. + +"Is that all?" asked Olive. + +"Yes. That is the last entry in the journal, showing that the former Mr. +Presby did not return, as you already have told us that he did not." + +"What do you make of it, dear?" questioned Olive thoughtfully. + +"It is a clue and a direction to the buried treasure. There can be no +doubt of that." + +"Yes, but we don't understand it," spoke up Ruth. "I doubt if we ever +shall." + +"It's my opinion that Mr. T. W. P. wasn't in his right mind when he +wrote that," declared Mollie with emphasis. "I think the Indians must +have gone to his head." + +"This is no joking matter, Mollie," rebuked Barbara. "Can't you be +serious for once in your life? We must study this." + +"What do you say if I send for Mr. Stevens, girls?" cried Olive. "He has +studied this mystery more thoroughly than anyone else and he will no +doubt understand the veiled allusion to the treasure. Suppose we copy it +so we can read it more easily. Wait! I'll get a pencil." + +Olive ran downstairs to her room, now not a little excited. + +"I've sent Tom after Bob Stevens," she called, as she burst into the +attic on her return. "Now read it to me and I will put it down." + +"Perhaps I had better do that," answered Bab, reaching for the pencil. +"I know the writing better than you do and I want to make the copy +exactly like the original. There," she added, after having carefully +copied the extract from the journal. + +Olive regarded it perplexedly, Grace, Mollie and Ruth bending over her +shoulder as she read and reread the extract from the old Presby diary. + +"I must show this to father and mother," exclaimed Olive suddenly, as +she whisked out of the room with Ruth, Mollie and Grace racing after +her. Barbara, once more absorbed in the journal over which she was +bending with wrinkled forehead, did not seem to realize that she had +been left alone. + +"Oh, if it should be true! If it should lead us to the treasure! If we +could save Treasureholme for the Presbys it would be glorious." Barbara +got up and began pacing back and forth. She saw nothing of the dingy +garret room. Her imagination was traveling at express-train speed. Bab +stood leaning back against the heavy wainscoting, with her eyes fixed on +the ceiling, thinking. + +"Oh, Barbara!" called Ruth's voice from the foot of the stairway. + +"Yes?" + +"Come down. Mercy! What was that?" A mighty crash shook the old house to +its foundations. The shock seemed to come from above. Ruth sped up the +stairs on winged feet. Those below stairs heard her utter a frightened +scream. + +"Come! Oh, come quickly!" cried Ruth Stuart in a voice of terror. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MYSTERY OF THE ATTIC + + +THE sound of running feet was heard on the floor below following Ruth's +cry for help. Olive, Mollie and Grace had heard it from the foot of the +stairs on the ground floor. Mr. and Mrs. Presby, sitting in the dining +room, had also heard the cry and started for the stairs. Tom, who was +down in the cellar, heard the girls running, and started up the stairs +three steps at a time, instinctively realizing that something was wrong. +His first thought was that the girls in the garret had set the house on +fire. + +The three girls fairly tore up the stairs to the attic in response to +Ruth's cry, getting in each other's way on the narrow stairs as they +ran. Tom was close at their heels, while his father and mother followed +more slowly. + +At first they could distinguish nothing but Ruth's figure dimly outlined +in a haze of dust that filled the air. + +"Fire!" cried Grace. + +"No!" roared Tom. "It's dust. Somebody's been kicking up a fine smudge +here. What's the matter? Have you folks gone crazy?" + +"Ruth! Ruth! What is it?" cried Olive. + +"It's Bab," moaned Ruth. + +"Bab?" cried the girls. + +For the first time since reaching the attic their thoughts turned to +Barbara Thurston. But where was she? Nowhere in sight. Mr. Presby came +limping into the room, followed by his wife very much out of breath. + +"Wha--wha--what is the cause of all this uproar?" demanded Mr. Presby +testily. + +"It's Bab! It's Bab, I tell you," almost screamed Ruth. "Oh, what has +happened?" + +"That's what we would like to know," retorted Mr. Presby. + +"Where is Bab?" demanded Tom, who had been nosing around the room like a +terrier. + +"She--she's gone," moaned Ruth. Her face was pale, her eyes wide with +fright. Tom rushed to the windows, which were tightly closed. + +"What fell?" he questioned sharply, halting in front of Ruth. + +"I--I don't know. I--I wasn't here. I was at the foot of the garret +stairs when I heard that terrible crash." + +The dust, slowly settling, gave them a clearer view of the attic. +Barbara Thurston was not in sight. + +"What has become of Bab? Why don't you look behind the chests?" +demanded Mollie, gathering up her skirts, darting here and there, +kicking aside the heaps of old clothing that had been turned out on the +floor. + +Mollie paused with a dazed look in her eyes. + +"She's gone," whispered the girl. + +"Yes, she's gone, all right," answered Tom. "I know what she has done. +She's played a trick on all of you. I know her. She is a sharp one. +She'd catch you napping when you were looking right at her. She must +have gone downstairs after you did, and----" + +"No, no," protested Ruth excitedly. "She never left this attic by the +stairway." + +"Calm yourself, my dear," begged Mr. Presby in a somewhat more gentle +voice, at the same time laying a hand on Ruth Stuart's shoulder. "Now +let us understand this affair. You say Barbara was up here--she did not +go downstairs with you?" + +"No, no!" exclaimed Mollie. "She was reading that old journal when we +went down. We left her sitting right there. Don't you remember, you +asked us to call Barbara downstairs? You wanted to see the diary of old +Mr. Presby, and Ruth went upstairs to call her." + +"Yes, yes. Ruth, how do you know that Barbara was here when you called +to her?" + +"Because she answered me," replied Ruth. + +"What next? Did her voice sound as if she were here in the attic?" + +"Yes. I know she was here." + +"Was that when you cried out?" + +"No. That awful crash came a few seconds after she had answered me. I +ran up here as fast as my feet would carry me. At first the dust was so +thick I was unable to make out anything clearly. I called to Bab but she +did not answer me. I then ran about the room in search of her, thinking +that she had fallen and hurt herself. But she wasn't here," wailed Ruth. +"Oh, what shall I do?" + +"Calm yourself. That is the first thing to be done. There is something +mysterious about this. I wish Bob Stevens were here." + +"I sent Tom for him. Did you see Mr. Stevens, Tom?" + +"No. I sent word by one of the hired hands," admitted Tom sheepishly. +"I--I wanted to do some work in the cellar." + +"Then go at once," commanded Mr. Presby sternly. + +"Wait!" exclaimed Ruth. "I'll drive the car, storm or no storm. The cold +air will help me to brace up. How far is it to Mr. Stevens' house?" + +"Mile and a half," answered Tom. + +"Come with me, Tommy. We will be there and back in twenty minutes. Do +you know the way?" + +"Yes, he knows the way. He knows too much about everything in these +parts," answered Mr. Presby testily. "I will telephone to Mr. Stuart." + +"Oh, don't, please. At least--not un--until I get back. Per--perhaps Mr. +Stevens may find her." + +"He will, if anyone can," declared Olive. Everyone in the room was +overwhelmed with the mystery of it all. That a person could disappear so +completely from a room that had only one entrance and with that entrance +guarded at the moment passed all comprehension. + +Once more Mollie set herself to examining every nook and corner of the +room. She even raised the lids of the closed trunks and chests, thinking +that possibly Barbara might have hidden in one of them. There was no +trace whatever of the missing girl. + +"Has anyone found the diary?" questioned Olive. + +"Could it be that she fell through a trap in the floor?" queried Grace. + +"There are no traps in the floor," answered Mr. Presby sharply. + +"If there were, and Bab had fallen in, she would have dropped into one +of our rooms," explained Olive. "I believe I will go all over the +house," she decided as an afterthought. + +"We will go with you," declared Grace. "Oh, Bab, Bab; where are you?" +Grace broke into a paroxysm of heart-breaking sobs. This was too much +for Mollie, who began sobbing also. + +"Come, come, girls; this won't do," chided Olive. "We must keep our +heads clear. Something has happened to Bab, but I'll venture to say that +she is all right, no matter where she is." + +"But--but if she _is_ all right, why doesn't she call to us?" questioned +Mollie, gazing at Olive through her tears. + +Olive was unable to answer that question. The same thought had occurred +to her. Now Mr. Presby began thumping the sides of the room with his +cane. They understood his purpose and waited in breathless silence until +he had gone all the way around the room. + +"All sounds alike," he announced. "I didn't know but there might be +another of those secret passages up here. I see, however, that it is not +possible. Come, there is nothing to be gained by remaining here. Come, +Mollie. Do not take it too much to heart," soothed Mr. Presby. + +Mollie was now leaning against the wall with head buried in her arms, +crying softly. The others had started for the stairway. A servant came +up the stairs and announced that Ruth had telephoned from the Stevens +place saying that Bob Stevens had gone to Brightwaters, and that she was +going there to find him. + +"Good gracious! What was that?" screamed Mrs. Presby, gripping her +husband's arm with both hands as a mighty crash shook the building. A +violent current of air smote them, another cloud of suffocating dust +filled the air. + +"Mollie's gone, too!" screamed Grace Carter. + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +TOMMY TAKES A WILD RIDE + + +FOR a moment the little group stood regarding one another in +horror-stricken silence, then by common consent they all made for the +stairway. Mr. Presby was half carrying, half dragging his wife, who was +in a state of collapse. All had lost their heads completely. They did +not know at what moment that terrible mysterious force might whisk them +all out of existence. Instead of remaining calmly to solve the reason +for Mollie's disappearance before their very eyes, all hands were +fleeing from the scene of the double disaster. Mollie had not even cried +out. She had simply gone, followed by that mighty crash. That was all +they knew about it. + +They did not halt until they had reached the ground floor, where Mr. +Presby called a servant to summon the neighbors and summon them quickly. +Fifteen minutes later the neighbors began to arrive. With them were two +or three strangers, whose offers to join in the search through the house +Mr. Presby politely declined, as he was suspicious of all strangers. +Those of the neighbors who were friends of long standing were given +free rein to search the house and grounds as thoroughly as they wished. +They took full advantage of the opportunity, delving into every nook and +corner. + +In the meantime Ruth Stuart with the shivering Tommy by her side was +driving her automobile across the country. There was no storm curtain in +place now. Even the wind shield had been turned down because the snow +clouded it so Ruth could not get a clear sight ahead. As it was, she +could see no more than a rod or two in advance. She took the storm full +on the right side of her face. The girl's eyes and nerves were steady +now. Her touch on the steering wheel was light, for at that speed a +heavy hand might have ditched the outfit. + +Country people on the road were startled by a rush of wind and a shadowy +monster shooting past them with a snort, occasionally sending their +horses off the highway in frightened leaps. But Ruth Stuart's eyes never +wavered from the straight path ahead. Evidently she had forgotten her +promise to herself to drive with her car under more perfect control. +Every ounce of speed that Mr. A. Bubble possessed was being used on the +present run. + +Tommy's eyes were full of snow, his lips were blue, his hands were +gripping the cushions until he had no feeling left in them. + +"Tell me when we get near to the place," commanded Ruth in a sharp, +incisive tone. + +"Ju-s-s-st around the nu-nu-next turn," chattered Thomas. "He's at +Martin's ranch." + +Ruth turned the air into her siren. A wild, weird wail rose from the +horn. Tommy shivered more than ever. That sound always did make the hair +rise right up on the crown of his head. Ruth kept the siren going. +Rounding the bend at top speed, her siren wailing, she made enough noise +to be plainly heard above the storm. Taking careful note of her +position, she ran up the drive into the yard, slowing down just as she +saw two men come from the house bare-headed. + +"Jump in, quick!" she cried to Bob Stevens. "Trouble!" + +Bob was quick-witted. He understood that something was wrong. He caught +one of the canopy braces and swung himself in over the closed door. + +The car was still in motion. Without a word of further explanation, Ruth +advanced her spark. When they rounded into the road the snow from the +skidding rear wheels flew up into the air higher than the peak of Jud +Martin's hip-roofed barn. Stevens instinctively gripped the automobile +body. + +"Put a blanket over your head," called back Ruth. + +"I can stand it bare-headed here, if you can keep your seat in this cold +wind up ahead," answered Stevens calmly. "What is it?" + +"I'll tell you when you get there. I haven't time now." + +Bob asked no further questions. They were racing back to Treasureholme +at a rate of speed that would have left the Pacific Coast Limited some +distance to the rear in a very short time. + +Boom! A report like that of a cannon startled Tommy. Boom! Another +similar report and Tom was on the verge of leaping from the car. + +"Tire's gone. Rear tire's down," called Stevens. Ruth nodded, but he +could not see that she reduced the speed of the car in the slightest +degree. Bob Stevens never had had such a ride as that, even on a +railroad train, but he declined to give in to his inclination to warn +her to slow down. If a young woman had the nerve to drive a car at that +speed he surely should have sufficient pluck to ride behind her. + +Tommy had tightened his grip on the cushion. His body was swaying from +side to side, now and then humping up into the air as the wheels passed +over a hummock. + +"I shall go on as long as the rims hold," flung back Ruth in +acknowledgment of his warning about the tires. + +The young man knew very well that the rims were likely to be crunched +in like egg shells at any second. That would mean the complete wreck of +the car and no doubt the instant death of the passengers at the speed +they were now traveling. The soft, springy snow that covered the ground +protected the rims from the hard road somewhat. He observed, however, +that in rounding sharp turns in the road, Ruth steadied the car with her +foot brake. She was driving with great skill, even though the pace was a +reckless one. Bob gazed at the back of her head, a great admiration for +her pluck welling up within him. But he felt sorry for Tommy. It was +plainly to be seen that Thomas Warrington Presby was not having the +happiest ride imaginable. + +"Almost there," encouraged Ruth. "If anything happens, never mind me, +but run for the house as fast as you can go." + +He did not answer, but he was thinking deeply. Something of a very +serious nature must have occurred at Treasureholme to make necessary all +this haste. He did not know that they had sent for him because of the +great confidence the Presbys reposed in him. It would have made little +difference to the resourceful Bob Stevens if he had known. + +The car lurched into the drive, past the scene of Ruth's previous +disaster, where the broken posts and twisted gates still lay at one +side of the drive. None of the occupants of the car heeded these +evidences of a former smash-up. Ruth's eyes were on the drive. Bob's +eyes were on the house, while Tommy's eyes were so full of snow that +they weren't fixed on anything in particular. + +The car came to a jolting stop in front of the Presby home. At that +instant the rear of the car settled with a crunching sound. + +"There go the rims," said Ruth calmly. "But I don't care now. Please +hurry." + +Bob lifted Tommy to the ground, the boy being on the side that Stevens +had leaped from just as the rims were going down. He then assisted Ruth +out. Tommy rubbed the snow from his eyes, blinked rapidly and gazed at +Ruth. + +"Never no more for mine," he declared, with ungrammatical force. + +Ruth tried to run up the steps. She halted suddenly. Her body swayed +unsteadily. Stevens thought she was going to collapse. He took firm hold +of her arm. + +"Let me assist you," he said politely. + +"I--I am all right," muttered Ruth. "Just a little dizzy from watching +the road so closely," then she crumpled up on the steps of +Treasureholme. + +Bob Stevens picked her up and carried the girl into the house, followed +by Tom, still blinking. Tom was choking a little, too. Everything had +been moving so rapidly that, active as was his mind, he hadn't been able +to follow matters very clearly. + +The door swung open. Bob handed his burden over to Mrs. Presby. + +"She's played out. Better put her to bed. What's wrong?" + +"No, no, no!" protested Ruth. "Give me a drink of something hot. I--I'm +chilled through." She staggered to one side of the hall, waved +assistance aside and leaned against the wall with closed eyes for a few +seconds. Then Ruth straightened up suddenly. + +"Bab! Have they found her?" she cried. + +Mrs. Presby shook her head. Grace came running down the hall. She threw +herself into Ruth's arms. + +"Oh, Ruth! Mollie's gone, too!" she sobbed. + +"What's this?" demanded Stevens. "Tell me quickly what has occurred." + +Mrs. Presby told him very briefly all that she knew about the series of +disasters that had befallen them. The hall was fairly well filled with +neighbors, all more or less helpless. With bulging eyes and open mouths, +they were listening and gaping without doing anything on their own +account. + +Bob dashed toward the stairs without asking another question. Neighbors, +the Presbys and the three girls followed him. Mr. Presby was the last in +line. He thumped up the stairs with the aid of his stick. Bob had halted +near the door of the attic, where he stood surveying the room with +critical eyes. + +"Get lights! It's dark here," he directed sharply. "Now tell me just +what occurred as far as you know, please. Who discovered the loss of +Miss Thurston and her sister?" + +Ruth told him what she knew of Bab's disappearance. Olive related the +story of how Mollie had suddenly vanished. + +"They certainly didn't vanish into thin air. They are still in this +house and I am going to find them, even if I have to tear the house +down, with Mr. Presby's permission, of course." + +"Get the girls. Go as far as you like. Tear down the old house if you +must. I shall not have use for it very much longer." + +Bob groped about on the floor. His hands found a broken stove poker. +With this he began sounding the walls about waist high, thumping and +listening, listening and thumping. He paused suddenly. + +"Where was Miss Mollie standing when you last saw her?" he demanded, +turning to the group. + +"There on the south side," answered Olive. + +"Something has been there against the wall for some time, hasn't there? +I see a mark on the wall." + +"I don't recall whether or not there was anything there," answered Mr. +Presby. + +"Yes, there was an old dresser there. I moved it aside to-day to get +some things that had fallen behind it. We were cleaning out the garret. +That's the dresser over yonder," Olive informed him. + +The young man did not look at the piece of furniture indicated by Miss +Presby. Instead, he strode over to the point where the dresser had stood +for no one knew how long. It was a dresser belonging to some of the +Presby ancestors. It never had been disturbed during the present owner's +occupancy. + +Stevens began thumping over every inch of the wall at that point. He +varied his investigations finally by trying the wainscoting on either +side. The latter to his keen ears gave out a different sound. He turned +sharply. + +"Bring me a maul, if you have one." + +Mr. Presby directed one of the farm hands to bring one from the +woodshed. In the meantime the others in the attic watched in breathless +silence as Stevens pursued his investigations. + +"You haven't heard them call or cry out?" + +"No," answered Olive. + +Ruth had said scarcely a word. She had appeared to be crushed upon +hearing of Mollie's disappearance. She had answered questions briefly +and with apparent great effort. But now her eyes were following every +movement of Bob Stevens. + +A commotion on the stairs caused Bob to stride over to the door. It was +the man with the maul, a heavy tool used for driving fence posts and +other similar work. Bob took it from him and started for the place where +the dresser had formerly stood. He halted just before reaching his +objective point. The others in the chamber were crowding about him. + +"I would suggest that you people stand back," he said. "We don't know +what might happen. I might loose my grip on the maul. I don't want to +injure anyone." + +The "people" shrank back out of the way. + +"I'm going to do some damage, Mr. Presby. At least I think I am." + +Richard Presby nodded. + +Bob stepped close to the wall, moved back three or four feet, then +slowly swung the maul in a circle and let drive with all the force at +his command against the side of the wall. The maul landed with a +tremendous report. + +A most remarkable thing followed, sending the occupants of the room +rushing for the staircase, the women uttering cries of alarm. Bob +staggered backwards and sat down heavily on the floor. His experiment +had been attended with greater success than he had even dreamed were +possible. It had been followed by a terrific crash. A cloud of dust +filled the room, the structure vibrated as if from a slight earthquake +shock, then quiet once more settled over the gloomy attic of +Treasureholme. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +AN AMAZING OCCURRENCE + + +BOB was on his feet again ere the dust had settled in the room. + +"Don't be alarmed," he cried. "There is no danger so long as you keep +away from that partition. That is where the trouble lies." + +"Where--where is the hammer?" cried Grace. + +Stevens stepped forward and looked for the maul on the floor near the +baseboard, but finally glanced up with a perplexed expression in his +eyes. + +"The maul has disappeared, too," he said. + +There was a gasp following this announcement. But the young man was not +disturbed. + +"I understand a little of what all this means," he said. "The maul has +gone. If someone will get me an axe I will chop down this partition near +where I struck it with the maul." + +"Is there some secret there?" whispered Mr. Presby over Bob's shoulder. +The young man nodded. + +"Yes. I have an idea what it is. However, we shall see." + +When the axe was brought he chose his location with some care, then +began chopping away, swinging the axe in a manner that showed him to be +no novice at that sort of work. The axe went through the partition soon +after that. Using the back of the tool, he began smashing in the boards, +here and there employing the blade to cut through a scantling or a +brace. Soon after he had laid open a dark recess behind the partition. + +Tom pushed forward and was about to crawl in when the young man stopped +him. + +"Better be careful, young man! That may be a pitfall, and I suspect that +it is." + +The others were too amazed to speak. Still another secret in the old +house had been revealed. But the sudden disappearance of the maul was +still unexplained, though Stevens had his own idea about this. He began +cutting further. A tremendous crash followed a moment of chopping. He +sprang back to await developments. There were none. + +"There, I think I have drawn the monster's teeth," he said, reaching for +a lantern. "One of you will please hold another lantern at the entrance +here. I may need help." + +Ruth Stuart snatched a lantern from one of the countrymen and stepped +promptly up beside the young man. He nodded. + +"Do not try to follow me in here unless I tell you to. I must first find +out what is in here." + +"Do you think they are there?" she asked in a half whisper. + +"Yes. Probably below somewhere," he answered, thrusting the lantern +ahead of him and crawling into the opening he had made. + +Bob found himself in a narrow chamber formed by a gable that had been +shut off and enclosed by the partition. He did not trouble himself at +that moment to investigate the strangeness of the disappearance of his +maul. Instead, he began going over the little room cautiously. The light +from his lantern soon revealed a hole in the floor about a yard square. + +"Don't lean against that partition on your life," he called. Those near +the entrance to the gable apartment drew back a little. They gazed at +the apparently solid wall to the left of the hole, in respectful +silence. Bob lowered his lantern into the hole and peered in. It +appeared to extend down a long distance. A trap door that evidently was +intended to cover the opening, lay to one side of the opening. As he +peered in he saw that the opening revealed a bricked-in shaft. + +"A chimney, as I live!" he exclaimed. Then he raised his voice in a +long-drawn shout. + +"Hello-o-o down there!" There was no response. Stevens called again. A +faint wail drifted up through the shaft. Ruth, at the panel, hearing it, +uttered a scream of joy. + +"They're there! They're there!" she cried. + +For the first time since his arrival at the house, Bob Stevens showed +traces of excitement in his face, but his voice was calm when he spoke. + +"Get a rope, quickly. A long one," he commanded. + +Ruth, Olive and Tommy crowded into the narrow opening, unable to +restrain their impatience longer. + +"Be careful," warned Bob. "This floor doesn't seem to be very strong." + +The three held their ground, however. + +"Hello-o-o down there! Are you hurt?" + +They were unable to distinguish the words of the reply, but it evidently +was made by Barbara. + +"There's a ladder," exclaimed Tommy, starting to go down it. Stevens +hauled him back. + +"Keep out. It looks shaky. I am going down there myself. That's why I +sent for a rope. I don't want to fall in, too. Men, I want you to stand +by to lend a hand on the rope. Keep it fairly taut, but don't hold me +back." + +When all the arrangements had been made, Bob started down the ladder. He +had gone not more than four or five feet when he found that the ladder +extended no further. It appeared to have been broken off. He called to +the men to lower away. Finally his feet reached something soft. At first +the horrified thought came to him that it was the body of one of the +girls for whom he was in search. Instead, what he had found proved to be +a piece of an old mattress with a bundle of old clothes heaped on it. +This was something like seven feet from the opening through which he had +descended. + +He heard a moan from beneath the heap of old garments. He tore them +feverishly aside. Mollie lay before him, pale and with eyes closed. +Stevens uttered a shout. + +"I've got Miss Mollie. She is injured. Stand by to pull her up when I +give you the word," he directed in a tone of excitement. Quickly +securing the rope under her arms, he bade them haul away, he lifting the +girl as high as his arms would reach, then grasping her feet, lending +such assistance as possible in this way. She was quickly in the arms of +her friends, who bore her downstairs to her own room and set to work to +revive her. + +Now came the next stage of Bob Stevens' work. He could not imagine where +Barbara could be. Just at this point he discovered a bend in the +supposed chimney. This he decided was in order to avoid some +obstruction on the second floor of the house. He found an opening in the +platform scarcely large enough to admit his own broad shoulders. There, +unmistakably was a ladder, made of thin strips of iron, bolted to the +chimney itself. + +"I'm going further down," he shouted to those above. "Don't pull unless +I call upon you to do so. Are you down there, Miss Barbara?" + +"Yes," came the answer. It sounded very far away. Bob knew that the +young woman must be a great distance below him, or else there was +another bend in the chimney that shut off the sound of her voice. +Perhaps, too, there was another landing. One might expect to meet with +anything in this house of mysteries. + +"The other one is all right," yelled the young man to those above. "Keep +up your courage, Miss Barbara. I will be with you as soon as I can get +down. Can you climb up?" + +"No." He did not catch what followed. Bob was climbing down the narrow +ladder, prudently keeping the rope about his waist in case the ladder +should give way. He carried the lantern with him on his descent, which +he made with considerable caution. He feared that were he to dislodge a +brick or a section of the ladder, it might fall on the girl below and +seriously injure her. Why she should be so far below the narrow +platform where he had found Mollie Thurston he did not pause to ask +himself. The urgent work of the moment was to get Barbara out as quickly +as possible. + +"Is there no end to this?" muttered the young man. He figured that he +must be somewhere in the vicinity of the cellar. Barbara's voice, now +strong and clear, halted him suddenly. + +"Be careful," she warned. "The ladder doesn't reach all the way down. +You will fall if you don't step carefully." + +"Where are you?" he cried. "Goodness, I'm glad to hear your voice! I +feared you had been killed." + +"I don't know how this happened. I am down here. That is all I can tell +you about it." + +Stevens had reached the end of the ladder by this time. He lowered his +lantern, directing her to take it from the rope, then observing that he +was not more than half a dozen feet from the bottom, he dropped lightly +down beside her. + +"Did you fall down here?" he asked. + +"The last several feet I did," she answered. Bab was pale, but her eyes +were bright. + +"Then how did you get down this far? Didn't the landing stop you?" +questioned the young man while looping the rope under Barbara's arms. + +"Yes, the landing stopped me. I thought I surely had been killed, but +after a little I pulled myself together and screamed for help. I guess +no one heard me." + +"They were excited. The house is in an uproar. Your sister is in the +hands of her friends. I think she will be all right." + +"My sister?" questioned Bab, opening her eyes wide. + +"Yes. Didn't you know she fell in, too?" + +"Tell me--was she--how did it happen?" demanded Bab, all in one voice. +"Oh, it was awful! Mollie fell in, you say?" + +"Yes. I got her out with the help of the others. You haven't answered my +question. Why did you come on down here?" + +"I thought there might be an opening at the bottom. This chimney was +intended to be used for climbing. Hurry. I want to see Mollie." + +Barbara was in a fever of excitement. She could not see why she +shouldn't climb the rope. Stevens advised her to calm herself, saying +that when she reached the ladder she might climb, but not to cast off +the rope. + +"When you reach the top tell them to lower the rope again, so I can get +out." + +Barbara suddenly collected herself. + +"Oh, forgive me for my thoughtlessness. You go on up. I can come +later." + +Bob Stevens merely smiled, then raised his voice in a shout to the men +to pull up. He lifted Bab up with apparent ease, for he was a muscular +young man. The rope began to move up slowly. He helped Barbara until she +had reached the ladder, then after seeing her safely on her way, and +when she was no longer visible, the young man picked up his lantern and +began to look about him. + +The chimney reached clear to the bottom of the pit in which he was +standing. A short passage underground led off from the pit. He followed +it for about thirty yards, when it ended abruptly against a solid mound +of earth. Investigation showed that this earth had caved in, thus +blocking what had once been a long passage. Little particles of dirt +showered down on his head as he stepped carefully about, indicating that +the rest of the roof might cave in at any moment. + +"The silence of the tomb," muttered Bob. "What a place in which to be +buried alive! I can imagine what that poor little girl must have +suffered in here without a light, not knowing whether she ever would be +found again. There's pluck for you. I know I should have been scared +stiff. What a house of mystery this is! If it were mine I would pull it +to pieces to satisfy my curiosity if for no other reason. But the +treasure? Can it be possible that we have stumbled upon the hiding place +of the real treasure? I'm going to investigate this place later on. Mr. +Presby's ancestors must have been regular woodchucks. At least they were +great burrowers. Hold on; there must have been some sort of stream +through here by the looks of the ground. The tunnel was already made. +All it needed was covering and filling. I begin to see. The families +used it for getting away when the Indians got too busy. But I hear the +rope. I want to examine that attic." + +Bob held up his lantern to look for the rope when a ray from the lantern +glinted on something bright in a niche in the chimney near the base, +from where a brick had been pried out. He held the lantern closer, his +eyes grew large, then the young man gave a whoop that was heard far +above him in the attic. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +BOB SOLVES ANOTHER MYSTERY + + +"I'VE got it!" he cried. "I've found the--but it can't be a very big +treasure done up in so small a package," he added in a disappointed +tone. + +That which had attracted his attention was a metal box about six inches +in length which had been set into the chimney so skilfully that a person +passing would be unlikely to observe it. The box fitted the niche so +nicely that Stevens was obliged to use his knife to pry it out. The box +was locked. He found no key and was about to attempt to pry open the +cover with his knife when he paused. + +"No. I won't do it. That wouldn't be fair. Miss Thurston is the real +discoverer. She shall open the box, or I will open it in her presence +unless Mr. Presby wishes to do so himself." Saying which, Bob Stevens +pocketed his curiosity as well as the little metal box. The rope now +being at hand, he slipped the loop about his waist, reached up and +grasped the lower rung of the ladder, drawing himself up easily until +the lower rung was beneath his feet. From that point on he climbed +rapidly to the platform. From there he was obliged to use the rope in +place of the missing section of the ladder. A few seconds later he was +standing in the garret. + +"How is Miss Mollie?" were his first words. + +"Just coming to," answered one of the hands. "Miss Ruth was just up here +to see if you had gotten up yet. She wishes to see you." + +"Hold up the lantern. I want to look at this wall a moment." Bob had +found the maul lying on the floor in the gable. He returned it to the +garret. He now recalled the crash that had followed his final chopping. +Since then the young man had reasoned out what he thought was the +mechanism that had caused all the trouble. + +Stevens pushed gently on the panel against which he had originally +struck so hard a blow. To the amazement of the onlookers, the panel fell +into the gable with a mighty crash. + +"I thought so," he nodded. The others had leaped to the far side of the +room. Mr. Presby came hobbling up, fearing that still another disaster +had fallen upon the house. + +"Please look here, Mr. Presby," called Bob. "Here is the secret. See +that narrow panel? It is a little wider than a man's body. It is hinged +at the bottom. Attached to it were ropes running over pulleys in wooden +tunnels. At the ends of these ropes are heavy weights. So nicely +balanced were the weights that the pressure of a few pounds from this +side would throw the panel inward. Any person leaning against it on this +side would be dumped into the other room so quickly that unless he +understood the mechanism, he would not know what had occurred." + +"Wonderful," breathed the owner. + +"It was evidently intended to afford a quick get-away in case the +occupants of the house found it necessary to leave hurriedly. You will +find the remnants of an old mattress in the gable there. I presume that +was originally so placed that the person going through would slide from +the smooth panel to the mattress without the least danger of injury. The +instant his body left the panel the weights would pull the panel into +place with a great bang. When the weights struck their foundation--the +floor--another crash would be heard. Were I an Indian, I think I would +run if I heard all that crashing and smashing. However, I have cut the +ropes. You will have no recurrence of to-day's accident. The trap was +open and both the young women fell into it while groping about in the +dark in there. Is Miss Mollie seriously hurt?" + +"One wrist is sprained and she is somewhat bruised. I do not believe it +will prove to be anything serious," answered Mr. Presby. "Bob, I thank +you," he added, giving the young man's hand a hearty grip. + +"May I go down there now?" piped Tommy. + +"You may not, sir," returned his father sternly. "You will keep away +from that place entirely. I shall have the opening nailed up to-morrow. +By the way, Robert, what did you find at the bottom?" questioned the +master eagerly. + +"A caved-in passage. I also found this. I intended to give it to you in +the presence of Miss Thurston. However, it belongs to you." + +Mr. Presby turned the metal box over in his hand reflectively. + +"Open it, Robert. I decline to become excited." + +"May I call Miss Barbara?" + +"Certainly." + +Tommy fairly flew downstairs for Bab, who returned with him on the run. +Stevens showed her the box. Her eyes glowed. + +"How is Miss Mollie?" asked the young man. + +"I don't think there is very much the matter with her except the shock +and the fright. She must have been unconscious down there for quite a +time. Please open the box. I am dying of curiosity." + +He broke open the box with the stove poker with which he had sounded +the walls. All necks were craned to see what was in the box. To their +wonderment, not unmixed with disappointment, Bob Stevens drew out a +tarnished gold watch, on the back of which had been cut the letters "T. +W. P." It was of English make and very old. + +Mr. Presby regarded it solemnly. + +"That is my ancestor's watch. It can mean but one thing, finding it as +we have. He left such of his worldly possessions as he could--this +watch. And to think we have dug up half of the estate for a treasure +that did not exist! It was his silent message to us that this was all he +had to leave in case he did not return." Mr. Presby's voice held a note +of keen disappointment. Even up to now he had not fully lost hope that +by some fortunate circumstance the treasure might yet be found. + +"He may have returned and taken the rest of it," reflected Bob. "But if +that were so, why should he have gone to all the pains of leading us to +believe there was more?" + +"How so?" + +"This find means more than appears on the surface, sir." + +"May I look at it?" asked Barbara. + +[Illustration: A Slip Of Paper Fluttered To the Floor.] + +Mr. Presby handed the watch to her. She opened the case and gazed long +at the face of the timepiece. She closed the case with a snap, then +turned to the back, first studying the initials, next trying to open the +back case. Bob Stevens assisted her with his pocket knife. The case came +open suddenly. A slip of paper fluttered to the floor at Bab's feet. + +"Oh!" she cried, snatching it up. She started to unfold the paper, then +flushing, handed it to Mr. Presby. He shook his head. + +"Look at it, my dear. There need be no secrets here." + +Barbara did so, her hands trembling with excitement. A little furrow of +perplexity appeared between the eyebrows. What she saw on the paper was +a crude drawing of a toadstool with a slight point rising from the +centre of the toadstool. In the background was what appeared to be a +forest, but so awkwardly drawn that it was not possible to say +positively that a forest was what the artist had intended. Below the +picture of the toadstool was some writing. Stevens held the lantern +closer, at her suggestion. "'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'" +read Barbara Thurston. "Now, what in the world does that mean?" + +"I think it was your little golden-haired sister who expressed the +opinion that my ancestor was not in his right mind," said Mr. Presby. "I +am inclined to that belief myself. I wash my hands of the whole affair! +Come, let us go below. This air here suffocates me." + +Bob Stevens took the paper and, holding the lantern in the crook of his +left arm, studied the bit of paper on his way downstairs, but made +nothing out of it. + +"I am not certain that it means anything at all, Miss Thurston," he +said. "Perhaps the girls may discover some meaning. As for myself, I +give it up." + +"Thank you," answered Barbara. "I will show it to them. I know it must +mean something, unless--unless the original Mr. Presby were crazy in +fact." + +"I am beginning to think we are all crazy," laughed Stevens. + +After having again inquired for Mollie, and shaken hands with Barbara +and Ruth, Bob went home. Barbara had stuffed the slip of paper into the +pocket of her blouse on her way to Mollie's room. Mollie now lay wide +awake. Her face was pale. There was a livid mark on her forehead, where +she had come violently in contact with the chimney side on her tumble +into the hole in the gable floor. + +"Oh, Mollie, dear," soothed Bab, throwing her arms about her sister. "It +had to be you who got the worst of the bump. Were you leaning against +the wall, too?" + +Mollie nodded weakly. + +"What happened?" she asked. + +Barbara explained as well as she could from the brief description of the +panel mechanism that Mr. Stevens had given to her, to which Mollie +listened wide-eyed. + +"You dear 'Automobile Girls,'" cried Ruth. "Will you never stop picking +up horseshoe nails with all four tires?" + +"But we manage to wriggle our way through the broken glass, don't we, +Molliekins?" + +Mollie nodded and smiled. The wind was still howling without. In the +pause of conversation the girls listened. Suddenly Ruth sprang up. + +"I have forgotten two things," she exclaimed. "I must go out and put the +storm curtains on Mr. A. Bubble and telephone father that Bubble must go +to the shop." + +"You didn't have another accident?" inquired Barbara anxiously. + +"No. I blew up the two rear tires and came in on the rims. Oh, girls, I +wish you might have been along. No, I don't, either. I'm afraid the car +wouldn't have stood up under that additional weight. It was great!" + +"Did--did you go some?" questioned Mollie. + +"Did we? Ask Tom! I'll wager that young man's head is whirling still. I +never thought we should make it, but I was bound not to set back the +spark a single notch until I either turned turtle in the ditch or got +Mr. Stevens here to help find you, Bab. We made it, didn't we, Tommy +boy?" Tom had just entered the room to see what was going on. + +"You bet we did," answered Tom. + +"Would you like to ride so fast as that another time?" questioned Ruth +merrily. + +"Well, maybe in a railroad train," answered Tommy. + +"I'll take you out again when the car is repaired," said Ruth. + +"Not when I'm awake you won't." + +"You say you came home on the rims?" wondered Barbara. "I should have +thought it would have crushed them. Yours is a heavy car, Ruth." + +"It would have crushed them, only the rims didn't touch the ground till +we got in the drive here," observed Thomas wisely, whereat the girls +laughed merrily. + +Ruth started to go down and put on her storm curtains. Bab ran after her +to assist. + +"Oh!" cried Barbara, as an icy blast smote her in the face the moment +she stepped out into the open. + +"You had better run back and put something over your head," advised +Ruth. + +For answer, Barbara pulled out her handkerchief, binding this over her +head. The two girls, after no little effort, succeeded in putting the +curtains up, though the wind made their task doubly difficult. +Finishing, they ran into the house with benumbed fingers and cheeks +aflame. They rushed to the nearest fireplace, to which they pressed +closely until the odor of scorching cloth warned them to beware. Olive +and Grace had come downstairs, for dinner was on the table. A tray had +been taken up to Mollie, but she did not care to eat, and had soon after +fallen into a restful doze. + +"You haven't told us what you found in that great, deep hole," urged +Olive, after they had been seated for some little time. + +"Oh, I forgot," answered Barbara. "Everything has been moving so rapidly +that I haven't had time even to think. I found--I mean Mr. Stevens found +something. But I am afraid it doesn't help us much." + +"Bob found something?" cried Olive. "Oh, tell us about it." + +"Yes, he found a metal box in the chimney. In it there was a watch that +belonged to your scalped ancestor--I beg your pardon. I shouldn't have +said that. Your father has the watch. Well, inside the back case was a +tiny slip of paper with the funniest picture you ever saw. There was +some writing beneath the picture. I'll show it to you. I believe it +means something, but I can't understand it at all." + +"All rubbish," observed Mr. Presby. The master of the house already had +shown the watch to Mrs. Presby, and had explained the manner of its +finding by young Stevens. + +Bab was searching through her pocket for the slip of paper. She had her +handkerchief in her hand, together with some other articles that the +pocket had held. Going clear to the bottom, she groped with eager +fingers. Her face grew a shade paler. + +"You haven't lost it?" begged Ruth. + +"Oh, I am afraid I have!" gasped Barbara, turning her pocket wrong side +out. "I--I must have dropped it in the garret. May I be excused while I +go up to look for it?" + +Receiving permission, the girl ran hurriedly up the garret stairs, first +having snatched up one of the lanterns. She searched the garret floor, +paying especial attention to the spot where they had been standing when +discussing the find. She found no trace of the missing slip. Next +Barbara examined every inch of the stairs, then entered Mollie's room on +tip-toe, but with no better success. Every nook and corner where she +could remember to have been on both floors was searched in vain. + +"I think I can tell you where you lost it," volunteered Ruth Stuart "You +took out your handkerchief to put over your head when we were outside +covering the car. You must have pulled the paper out with the +handkerchief." + +"Then I must go outside and look for it," wailed Bab. "I simply mustn't +lose that paper. It may mean everything to you all. Oh, I must find it." + +"Silly! You won't find the paper if it has been dropped out of doors. On +a night like this it has probably blown far away," interposed Olive. +"Don't worry. It isn't worth it. Hunting for the Treasureholme treasure +brings nothing but tears. Forget it all and be your own bright little +self." + +Barbara Thurston struggled with her emotions for a few heart-breaking +seconds, then burst into tears. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +A LONG-REMEMBERED CHRISTMAS + + +THERE had been an air of new mystery about Treasureholme for the last +three or four days. Packages large and small, all addressed to Mrs. +Presby had been delivered from the city. Mysterious conferences were +being held between Mrs. Presby and this and that girl. Each of the +"Automobile Girls" appeared to be bursting with the burden of the secret +she was carrying about with her. + +The explanation of all this mystery was that it then lacked but two days +to Christmas. Bab had in a measure recovered from her disappointment and +chagrin at losing the slip of paper found in the chimney, and strange to +say she had wholly forgotten the words that were written on the little +slip. All the information that Robert Stevens could give her was that it +was something about a "minute." The excitement under which all hands +were laboring at the time of the find, perhaps might be blamed for their +short memories. However, there was no help for the disaster now. The +coming holiday served to take their minds from the subject of the buried +treasure, though now and again Tom brought in reports of having seen +strange men in the grounds out near the woods. One evening the girls had +been frightened almost to the verge of hysterics by discovering a man +peering through the window of Olive's sitting room upstairs, while the +girls were chatting after the others below stairs had gone to bed. A +ladder found on the outside explained how the man had gotten to the +window. That his spying had something to do with the mad hunt for the +treasure, they had no doubt. In this instance their screams, aided +perhaps by the bottle of smelling salts that Olive had instantly hurled +through the window upon catching sight of him, had driven him away. + +Christmas eve at last was at hand. The air without was crisp and clear, +within all was cheer from the blazing fireplaces, with decorations of +holly festooned with ribbons in all the downstairs rooms. The dining +room had been cleared as soon as possible after dinner, for it was there +that a Christmas tree was to be set up, there that the presents were to +be distributed to the "Automobile Girls" and various members of the +family. Excitement ran high. Bob Stevens had been invited to join in the +festivities, which included a molasses candy pull and games appropriate +to the occasion. + +Seven o'clock had just boomed out on the grandfather's clock in the +hall when there came a ring at the door. The girls, with ears alert, +heard a familiar voice greeting Mr. and Mrs. Presby. Down the stairs +rushed the girls, with Ruth in the lead, crying at the top of her voice: + +"It's my daddy! Oh, it's my dear daddy!" Ruth flung herself into her +father's arms. She had not seem him in more than two weeks. The rest of +the girls rushed up to Mr. Stuart, each giving him an affectionate hug, +for to them he seemed almost as much a father as he did to Ruth. + +Barbara's heart sank as she stepped back to take a good look at Mr. +Stuart. His face was positively haggard. Ruth had observed this in the +first glance and two great tears dropped from her eyes to Mr. Stuart's +shoulder as she clung there. + +"Dear daddy. Don't take it so hard. You have me," whispered Ruth. This +brought a momentary relaxation to the tense muscles of the speculator's +face. + +Barbara was shocked at his appearance. He seemed to have added years to +his age since last she saw him. Mr. Stuart observed her inquiring gaze +fixed upon his face. He smiled reassuringly, well understanding that she +had noted the change in him. Then, to divert Bab's thoughts, he pinched +Mollie's dimpled chin. + +"How is my little Molliekins since her adventure in the lower regions of +Treasureholme?" he questioned. + +"My stock went down that day. It hasn't come up yet," answered Mollie +brightly. + +"I am afraid you are not alone in that experience," laughed Mr. Stuart. +"Am I right, Richard?" addressing Mr. Presby. Mr. Presby nodded +solemnly. "By the way, Ruth, the chauffeur will drive your car out in +the morning. I heard all about that last drive of yours from the people +of Brightwaters. I expect my little girl will break her neck and at the +same time her dad's heart one of these days." + +"I am not afraid for the first, but I shouldn't like to be responsible +for the latter," answered Ruth soberly. + +"To-night we won't think of serious subjects. We are to make it a real +holiday, eh, Richard?" + +"That is our plan. We want the 'Automobile Girls' to enjoy themselves. +It makes us happy to see them so happy. I've never seen Olive more happy +than she is to-night." + +Olive was radiant. She, like her girl guests, was dressed in white, with +a sprig of holly pinned to her waist. Faces were flushed, eyes +sparkling. They were a happy, joyous lot of young women. Olive stole +into the drawing room that at her direction the servants already had +cleared of rugs, moving the furniture to the sides of the room. The only +light there was from the blazing fireplace. Olive sat down at the piano. + +"Come on, everybody!" she called, striking up a lively two-step. + +The "Automobile Girls" ran for the drawing room. With them went the +older members of the party. Ruth grabbed her father and led him a giddy +dance. Bob Stevens claimed a dance with Bab. Mr. Presby's gouty foot +would not permit his joining in the frolic, so Bob very thoughtfully cut +short his dance with Barbara, dancing a few minutes with each of the +other girls. Thomas Warrington Presby was turning handsprings in a +corner of the room, and, being in the shadow, he was not disturbed in +his antics. + +Soon after this Mrs. Presby appeared at the door. + +"Children," she called. "You are invited to come to the dining room. I +do not think a second invitation will be necessary." + +It was not. There was a grand rush for the dining room, followed by a +chorus of "ahs" and "ohs" as they caught sight of a real, old-fashioned +Christmas tree, all alight with candles, glittering with spangles, +many-hued balls and yards and yards of sparkling frosted fringe. At its +top and hovering over it, floated a cherub, supported by an invisible +wire suspended from the ceiling. At the base of the tree were the +presents. There seemed to be a whole truck load of them. Some very large +packages excited the curiosity of the girls, but what caused the most +merriment was a huge red automobile, made of wire and red paper. The +automobile was filled with red roses, both being the gift to the +"Automobile Girls" from their friend, Mrs. Cartwright. + +It fell to the lot of Mr. Stuart to distribute the presents. There was a +rifle for Tom, small gifts for all the girls from Mrs. Thurston, Mrs. +Presby and Miss Sallie, who had come over earlier in the day, having +spent most of her time thus far in getting the gifts ready for the +presentation. Bab and Mollie gave each of their friends drawn-work +handkerchiefs and some small pieces of embroidery, all their own work, +to Miss Sallie and Mrs. Presby. As yet the large packages that held so +much of mystery had not been opened. + +Ruth finally slipped over and whispered to her father. He nodded. At +that she hurried to the tree, dragging the largest of the packages out +into the light. Mr. Stuart cut the strings, Ruth being too impatient to +untie them. A great heap of tissue paper, that piled high on the floor, +gave promise of something good. Ruth drew out a long, black object which +she ran over and placed in Barbara's arms. + +"There, you dear! That should keep you warm," she said. "This is from +father and myself." + +Barbara stared at the object that lay across her arms. It was a +three-quarter length Persian lamb coat. Barbara was too astonished to +catch the meaning of it all. + +Aunt Sallie took the coat from Barbara's arms, turned the girl about and +slipped the coat on. + +"Oh-h-h!" gasped Bab, catching sight of herself in a mirror. "No, no, I +can't accept it. It is--isn't right, Ruth--Mr. Stuart. Oh, you shouldn't +have done this! I didn't look for anything but some simple little gift. +But this lovely coat. Oh, Mollie, Mollie." Bab's eyes were swimming. + +"Never mind, Molliekins," twinkled Mr. Stuart. "There is something in +the other package that I think will please you equally well. Ruth, +aren't you going to give my little golden-haired girl her present?" + +Ruth flew to the second large package, the strings of which had been cut +by Mr. Stuart. From this package Ruth drew forth a coat exactly like +Barbara's, for Mollie. Two caps of the same material were placed on the +heads of the Thurston girls. Mollie needed no urging to put her coat on. +She slipped into it, then began dancing about the floor, regardless of +whose toes she stepped on. Fortunately for her, she missed Mr. Presby's +gouty foot. + +"Now what do you think of yourselves, you dears?" questioned Ruth. + +"Splendid!" cried Mollie. + +Barbara shook her head, though her flushed face reflected the happiness +she felt. She glanced questioningly at Grace. The latter was smiling +with no trace of envy in her pleasant face. Then came Grace's turn. She, +too, received a coat and cap, these being of gray squirrel. Olive's +surprise was a set of silver fox furs, with a stole that reached almost +to her feet. + +Ruth was last. Mr. Stuart opened a velvet case, then slipped a slender +gold chain about the neck of his daughter. From the chain was suspended +an exquisite pearl pendant. For Bob Stevens there was a handsome scarf +pin from the Presbys. The girls' gifts to the young man were gloves and +ties, a silver-handled pocket knife and other odds and ends that caused +Tommy to sniff disdainfully. + +"That's just like girls," he jeered. "Why didn't you get him a rifle or +an automobile or something that he could do something with? I'd rather +have a pair of rubber boots than all of that truck." + +But Bob Stevens was well pleased. He was greatly surprised, for he had +not looked for presents. The candy pull had been forgotten. The girls +were too happy in their new possessions, though Barbara Thurston was a +little troubled over the magnificence of the gifts for herself and +Mollie. She did not think Mr. Stuart should have given them such +expensive gifts. In spite of the happiness of the day and evening a +shadow overhung the entire party at Treasureholme. Perhaps Barbara +Thurston felt it more deeply than any of the other girls. And instead of +lightening the shadow was to grow deeper before the night was ended. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +BAB'S EXCITING DISCOVERY + + +A CHORUS of "Merry Christmas" was heard as the clock in the hall struck +the hour of midnight. Olive was seated at the piano. As the strokes of +the old clock ceased, she touched the keys softly, then began to sing. +The girls knew the song. They joined with her, raising their sweet, +young voices in the Christmas anthem: + + "Hark the herald angels sing + Glory to the new-born King! + Peace on earth, and mercy mild, + God and sinners reconciled!" + +Ere the song ended, Ruth's father had slipped away. He had been +profoundly stirred. Ruth saw him go. She stole away after him. It was +half an hour later that Barbara, on her way to her own room, where +Mollie already had gone, saw Ruth's door slightly ajar. Bab tapped +lightly. Ruth's voice bade her enter. But Bab shrank back when she saw +Mr. Stuart sitting there. His face was drawn and sad. There were tears +in Ruth's eyes. Barbara could scarcely keep back her own tears, so +keenly did she feel for these two whom she loved so well. The girl +stammered an apology and drew back. + +"Bab, dear, come in," called Mr. Stuart. + +"Yes, do. We need you. Perhaps you may be able to make daddy smile. I +can't, because I have no smiles left in me." + +"I--I am afraid I haven't, either," answered Barbara, with trembling +lips. "Hadn't I better go to my own room? Perhaps you wish to talk +undisturbed." + +"We want you here," answered Mr. Stuart. "Please close the door and sit +down." Bab walked to the centre of the room, where she stood leaning +against a table gazing down on them questioningly. Ruth nestled on her +father's knee with an arm thrown affectionately about his neck. + +"My dear," he said, addressing Barbara, "I have just been telling Ruth +that this may be the last Christmas that she will be able to have all +her heart craves. I mean in the way of luxuries. My business affairs are +in a very bad way. You already know that Mr. Presby has no hopes of +being able to pull through. When he goes, I go. We shall go down +together. We have been speculating in wheat. We have loaded up so +heavily that I see no possibility of getting out." He paused +reflectively while the lines of his face grew haggard. + +"You mean you are going to lose all you have?" almost whispered Barbara. + +"Yes. Instead of the price of wheat going up, as it should have done at +this season of the year, wheat has been forced down and down by a strong +bear market. Behind it all there is a powerful but mysterious force, a +master brain that is forcing the price down and seeking to ruin us." + +"Have you no idea who is doing this--who your enemy is?" asked Barbara. + +"Nothing more than a vague suspicion. You see, the trading is done +largely through others. There is no one man, so far as we have been able +to discover, who is crowding us, forcing us to load up and to hold at a +frightful cost to ourselves. We know, however, that there is an +individual force back of this movement. Richard has mortgaged his +property to the last cent. After the first of the year, unless there be +a turn for better in his affairs, Treasureholme will be taken away from +him. After the first of the year I shall be a ruined man financially." + +"Mr. Stuart," said Barbara in a steady voice, "I felt that you should +not have spent all that money on those beautiful gifts for us. I feel +even more strongly about it now. Won't--won't you please take them back? +Oh, you understand what I mean," cried Barbara, flushing hotly as she +saw his gaze fixed inquiringly upon her. + +"Yes, my dear, I do. And I thank you. You are a noble girl. But even +such a sacrifice on your part would do no good. A few hundred dollars +would make no difference. I wanted Ruth and her friends to have a happy +Christmas; I wanted you all to be remembered as you deserve. As it is, I +have not done all that I had wished to do." + +"Oh, you have done too much!" exclaimed Barbara. + +"I wanted you as well as Ruth to understand just how matters stand. I +feel better for having unburdened my mind." + +"Would it help you in the least if you were to know who this man is who +is driving you and Mr. Presby to failure?" asked Bab. + +"It might help somewhat, thought it may be too late. Had I known a month +ago I might have succeeded in turning the tide against him." + +"Oh, daddy, give it up! It's a dreadful business," begged Ruth. + +"I am afraid I shall have to, whether or not I wish to do so. I agree +with you that it is a dreadful business, and if I get out of the woods +this time, I am through with speculation. Now, children run along. I +wish to talk with Mr. Presby. He awaits me downstairs." + +Mr. Stuart kissed both girls, but clung to their hands a moment as he +gazed into their eyes. Then he released the hands and moved toward the +door. Ruth and Barbara stood watching him until Mr. Stuart had passed +from their sight and they heard him descending the stairs. + +"Good night, dear. I can't talk any more to-night," said Ruth, +controlling her voice with an effort. + +"I--I am afraid I can't either," answered Bab, with averted eyes. + +She left the room rather hurriedly, closing the door behind her. For a +long time after Barbara had left Ruth Stuart's room, she lay in her own +bedroom on a lounge staring straight up at the ceiling. Mollie was +asleep, her golden head barely visible above the tops of the covers. "If +I could only do something for these good friends," murmured Bab. "But +what can a girl do? I wonder how much money it would take to save them? +It would take a lot, I know." + +After a time Barbara got up to get her handkerchief. She had dropped +hers in Ruth's room. On the dresser lay Barbara's hand bag, the one she +had carried with her on her way from Kingsbridge. She had not used it +since, Ruth having bought her a very handsome bag in Chicago during one +of their shopping expeditions. Bab remembered that there was a +handkerchief in the bag. + +Opening the bag, she drew out the handkerchief which lay under some +other articles. As she did so something white fluttered to the floor a +few feet from where she was standing. Barbara wiped her eyes, then stood +regarding herself in the mirror. She saw that her own face was troubled +and that her eyes were red, as though she had been weeping. Then she +stepped over, picking up the handsome coat that Mr. Stuart and Ruth had +given her for Christmas. With a sigh Bab laid the coat down, smoothed it +out and began preparing for bed. She had given no further thought to the +little piece of white cardboard that had slipped from her handkerchief a +few moments before. Bab was in bed, snuggling down by Mollie, very +shortly afterwards, with the lights turned off. The girl lay staring +into the darkness until her weary eyelids closed and she dropped off to +sleep. + +When Barbara awoke the following morning Mollie was still sleeping +soundly. Bab, however, rose at once, still rubbing her eyes and trying +to recall something that had been troubling her when she went to sleep. +Suddenly it all came back to Bab in a flood of disagreeable +recollection. + +Barbara took her time at making her toilet, thinking deeply as she +brushed her thick, fine hair before the mirror. The girl had half turned +to call Mollie when all at once she caught sight of the bit of +pasteboard lying on the floor. + +"I wonder what that is? I remember seeing something fall from the bag +last night." + +She picked up the card, glanced at it carelessly and was about to toss +it on the dresser top when suddenly Bab uttered a little gasp. Her hand +trembled. She gazed with staring eyes at the name on the card. "Mr. +Nathan Bonner," she read. + +For the moment Bab continued to stare. + +"The man in section thirteen," she murmured. Bab tried to recall what +had been said about Nathan Bonner, but she could not remember. She knew +only that what she had heard had left an unpleasant impression on her +mind. It was Nathan Bonner whom she had seen in the Pit at the Board of +Trade. She shuddered as she recalled the almost demoniac expression on +that hard, cruel face. Then all at once the conversation that she had +overheard while lying in her berth in the sleeping car on that eventful +night came before her. + +"Oh, oh, oh!" cried Barbara under her breath. + +"What ever is the matter with you, Bab?" demanded a voice from the bed. + +"Oh, Molliekins, I've made such an exciting discovery. But I can't say a +word about it. I must find Mr. Stuart this very minute. I must hurry. I +haven't a moment to lose. Oh, I do hope I am not too late!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A BITTER DISAPPOINTMENT + + +BARBARA had slipped on a kimono and was starting for the door. + +"Aren't you going to kiss me good morning?" pouted Mollie. + +Bab ran back, throwing her arms about Mollie, giving her sister a quick +embrace and kiss; then she hurried from the room, going straight to +Ruth's bedroom. To her surprise, she found Ruth Stuart fully dressed. +The girl was sitting before a window staring out at the whitened fields. + +"Oh, Ruth, I'm so glad I found you awake. Do you know whether your +father is up yet?" + +"Yes. Why, dear?" + +"I must see him at once. I have important information for him. You will +excuse me, won't you, if I run down to see him? Is he downstairs?" + +Ruth shook her head sorrowfully. There was no laughter in her eyes this +morning. She seemed very different from the bright, carefree Ruth of +old. + +"Father is not here, Bab." + +"No-ot here?" gasped Bab. + +"No; he left on the seven o'clock train for Chicago this morning. After +an all-night conference between him and Mr. Presby, it was decided that +daddy must go into the city early this morning to see that Mr. Thompson +whom you girls met at the wreck of the car on your journey to Chicago. I +don't know what it is all about, but I suspect it is money," concluded +Ruth with a trace of bitterness in her tone. "When I think how happy you +girls are in your little home without wealth, I sometimes wish I had +never known luxury. But what did you want to see father about?" demanded +Ruth suddenly. + +"I--I wanted to tell him something. Oh, please don't ask me now, Ruth, +dear. Is--is he at home or at the office?" + +"At home, I think. The office will not be open to-day, this being a +holiday." + +"Then I am going to Chicago to see him," declared Barbara firmly. + +Ruth gazed at her incredulously. + +"You can't mean that?" + +"But I do." + +"Alone?" + +"Unless Aunt Sallie will accompany me. I would rather she did not +to-day." + +"Bab, I don't know what you have in that little head of yours, but I do +know that is it important. You are not flighty, like myself. You need +not tell me what is it that is troubling you, but if you wish, I will go +to town with you." + +"Oh, will you really go with me, Ruth?" cried Bab, her face expressing +her relief at Ruth's declaration. "Then let's get ready at once." + +"You forget that we have Aunt Sallie to reckon with first, Bab," +reminded Ruth. + +Miss Sallie for a time gave promise of wholly defeating Barbara's plan +to go into the city to see Mr. Stuart. However, after Bab had taken Miss +Sallie into her confidence, the latter gave a reluctant consent. Ruth +knew her way about so well that there would be no possibility of getting +lost, and then they were going to her home, which made the journey seem +less undesirable than it might have under other circumstances. + +The result was that Ruth and Barbara took the nine o'clock train for +Chicago that morning amid loud protests from Olive, Mollie and Grace. +Ruth regretted that the man had not come out with Mr. A. Bubble that +morning. She hoped, however, that they might find the car at home. +Perhaps her father intended to drive out in the car that night. However, +Barbara's mission being so urgent, the best thing to do was to take a +train for Chicago at once. + +From the station in Chicago the girls proceeded quickly to the Stuart +home. Mr. Stuart was not at home. He had not been there, but had called +up on the telephone to say that he would try to be home for luncheon. +Ruth went to the telephone and called up her father's office. Mr. +Stuart's secretary, who had been called there to do some important work +that day, said his employer would be in in half an hour. Bab announced +her intention of going to the office, urging Ruth not to trouble to +accompany her, as her friend had several matters to attend to at home. + +"Very well," answered Ruth, after a moment's reflection, "I will call a +taxicab. I'll tell the driver exactly where to leave you. You must make +him wait for you, then you can come straight back here. I know you want +to see daddy alone, but I'm not a bit jealous," she added, giving Bab's +pink cheek a loving pinch. "Daddy will be surprised to see you. You +probably will be in time to take luncheon with him down town. I don't +believe he will be home for luncheon now, it's getting so late. It's too +bad that our Christmas dinner at Treasureholme had to be spoiled first +with father's going away, then you making up your mind to rush down to +Chicago. Tell me, dear, have you an idea in that little head of yours +that you can help father in his present difficulty?" questioned Ruth +earnestly. + +"Yes, I have," admitted Barbara, "But I would rather not tell you +anything about it. You might make fun of me and convince me that I was +foolish. I might be afraid to go to Mr. Stuart in that event, fearing he +might make fun of me, too, but----" + +"Not father! There is the taxicab. I'll go out and tell the driver what +I wish him to do." Ruth hurried out with her friend, giving the driver +such directions as she had decided upon. + +The drive to the building in which Mr. Stuart's office was located +occupied not more than fifteen minutes, for, this being a holiday, the +streets were reasonably clear of the heavier vehicles that usually +interfere with the traffic. Barbara knew the building, having been there +before. She therefore found no difficulty in making her way to the +office. The driver, acting upon Ruth's orders, waited below. + +But Bab again was fated to be disappointed. Mr. Stuart had not yet +returned, his secretary informed her. Barbara decided to wait awhile. +She inquired as to where she might find Mr. Stuart, but the secretary +could not say. He informed her that there were important business +conferences on for that day, though Mr. Stuart might be looked for at +any moment. + +Bab went down and dismissed the taxicab, then returned to the office to +wait. An hour went by, and still Mr. Stuart had not returned. So she +entered into conversation with the not unwilling secretary by asking him +if he knew Mr. Bonner, a Chicago broker. + +"Yes, I know him. Is he an acquaintance of yours?" he asked curiously. + +"I've met him. Where is his office?" + +The secretary told her, then added: + +"You're not going to see _him_, are you?" + +"I must see Mr. Stuart," replied Barbara evasively. "I'd better go, for +he may go home without returning to the office." + +"That may be," said the secretary. "If he comes in, whom shall I tell +him called?" + +"Miss Barbara Thurston," she answered, as she hurried away. + +Bab had some difficulty in getting past the clerks in the outer room, +but was finally ushered into Mr. Bonner's private office. + +Bonner looked pleased when he saw his visitor, but he evidently failed +to recognize her. + +"I'm Miss Thurston, the girl who saved your life perhaps in the wreck +some time ago," she announced boldly and according to her plan. + +"Of course! How stupid of me! I owe a great deal to you, Miss Thurston." + +"You can do a great deal, Mr. Bonner," put in the girl quickly. "I've +come to ask that you keep your promise to me." + +"Let me see, was it a box of bon-bons?" questioned Bonner lightly. + +Barbara ignored this and asked bluntly: + +"Why do you insist on ruining Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby?" + +"Please explain yourself," said Bonner harshly, taken off his guard and +flushing hotly. + +Barbara did so, in girlish fashion. + +"Young woman, did Robert Stuart send you to intercede for him?" + +"Oh, no! He would be displeased if he knew that I had come here to-day." + +"Miss Thurston, I admire your pluck. I, not being responsible for Mr. +Stuart's or for Mr. Presby's speculations, can of course do nothing for +you in this. If I could, I think my gratitude to you for saving my life +would take a personal form. This is business, and in that each man +fights for himself. By the way, how did you get the notion that I am in +any way responsible for Mr. Stuart's misjudgment on market conditions?" + +"I chanced to overhear your conversation with your friend 'Jim' on the +sleeper." + +"So you played eavesdropper! I would not have thought it of you, Miss +Thurston." + +"It was impossible not to hear; but when you mentioned Mr. Stuart's +name, I listened, call it what you please." + +"I presume you told Robert Stuart what you heard," he responded, again +flushing. + +"No, Mr. Bonner--not yet." + +With the words, Barbara rose and ran out of the office, slamming the +door behind her. Her face was aflame and she was trembling. + +When she reached the street she decided to walk for part of the +distance, so that she would have time to quiet her agitation before she +should reach the Stuarts' home. It was growing dark before she realized +that she would have to take a taxi or the Stuarts would be very much +worried about her. + +"Oh, Bab, where have you been? We've been frightfully worried," cried +Ruth. "Dad's home, and he said his secretary told him you'd left the +office about three o'clock." + +"I started to walk, and forgot how late it was, Ruth." + +Mr. Stuart, who had come into the hall in time to hear the conversation +and noting how tired Bab looked, said: + +"Come to dinner now, and Barbara can tell us things later." + +When dinner was over and they were seated around the library fire, +Barbara turned to Mr. Stuart and said: + +"I can tell you the name of the man who's fighting you and Mr. Presby, +Mr. Stuart. Will the knowledge do you any good?" + +"You, Barbara! How can you know this? It would have helped a month ago, +my girl; I fear it is too late now." + +Bab's heart sank. Was what she had done--and it had been hard for a girl +to do--in vain? + +"Why does Mr. Nathan Bonner hate you?" + +"Nathan Bonner started, a green boy, as a clerk in my office. I thought +him worthy and helped him, but finally found it necessary to dismiss +him." + +"Yes, he's crooked," said Barbara. Mr. Stuart started and looked at the +girl in amazement; so she settled back and told him the story of the +trip to Chicago in detail. "He mentioned your name, Mr. Stuart. He also +said that because I had saved his life, he would assist me if I ever +needed aid. To-day he refused." + +"To-day! Where did you see Bonner?" + +"Oh!" Only then did Barbara tell her host how she had spent the +afternoon. + +"My dear, you're a very imprudent girl. Nevertheless, you have done me a +service for which I can never give you adequate thanks," said Mr. +Stuart, his voice husky with emotion. + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +CONCLUSION + + +THE next morning after breakfast, the girls, bundled in furs, left the +house for their ride to Treasureholme. Mr. Stuart had done what he could +by telephone, but had not yet gone downtown, for there was nothing +further to be accomplished until the opening of the market. Just before +he helped the girls into the car he thrust a finger into his vest pocket +and said: + +"I almost forgot. The men at the garage found this in the bottom of the +car. I think it's your lost memorandum, Barbara." + +"Oh, thank you! I'm so glad!" cried Bab. + +"Ruth," said Barbara, after the girls had reached the outskirts of the +city, "do you think there really is a hidden treasure and if we could +find it your father----" + +"I haven't much faith in the treasure, and if one should come to light, +it would be Mr. Presby's and not father's." + +"Mr. Presby would use it to help himself, and that would draw your +father out, too." + +"Bab, you ought to be on the Exchange; you'd make a good trader," +laughed Ruth. Then she went on: "No, Bab, I'm afraid we'll lose all we +have. I don't care for myself. I can be poor, just as daddy and my +mother were once. But I grieve for father." + +"Ruth, darling," whispered Bab. + +On their arrival at Treasureholme the girls found that Mr. Stuart had +telephoned to Miss Sallie about what Bab had tried to do for her two +hosts. The girls tried to make a heroine of her, but she steadfastly +refused to think she had done anything extraordinary. + +When Barbara was finally alone in her room she drew out of her pocket +the slip of yellow paper, spread it on her lap and regarded it intently. + +"'The span of a minute is sixty seconds,'" she read. "What can that +mean?" + +She got up and paced the floor thinking deeply, trying to solve the +meaning. She at last went to a window and spread the paper on the pane +for the purpose of getting a better light on it. Her gaze, at first +careless, suddenly became keen. All at once she whirled about and dashed +from the room. + +"Girls, I have it!" she screamed, bursting in on the others, who were in +Ruth's room. "I've solved the mystery! I've found the key! We must get +Mr. Stevens! We mustn't lose a minute! Everything's at stake!" + +"What is it, Bab? Are you certain?" demanded Grace, springing to her +feet. + +"Oh, I can't tell you now! Let's get Mr. Stevens, can't we?" + +"Mr. A. Bubble!" cried Ruth, and flew from the room. + +The girls rushed pell-mell for the car, dragging Miss Stuart with them, +none knowing what Bab had in mind, but all eager and excited. Ruth drove +at top speed, and the girls burst in on Bob Stevens whom they found in +his shop. + +"See this!" cried Bab, holding the bit of paper out to the young man. +"Put it against the window." He did so wonderingly, then turned and +looked at the girls. "What did you see?" demanded Bab impatiently. + +Bob had seen a line drawn from the top of a toadstool extending to the +right. At the end of the line was the sign "60". + +"What do those little marks after the sixty mean?" demanded Bab. + +"On building plans they would mean inches. Expressing time, they would +indicate seconds." + +"You have it! If we face the woods and start to measure from the top of +the 'toadstool,' that undoubtedly represents the mound under which lies +the big chief, and measure off 'sixty seconds' which means sixty inches, +or five feet, we'll find the treasure." + +No one stopped to question the probability of Barbara's deductions. Bob +summoned a man who worked for him, sent a boy to get two more from +Treasureholme, and, taking picks, shovels, and a coil of rope, drove off +with the girls in Mr. A. Bubble as fast as they could go to the Indian +burying ground. It was nearly dark when they reached there and sprang +from the car, neither Bab nor Bob waiting for it to come to a full stop. + +"William, bring me something I can drive in here for a marker," Bob +called to his man who was hurrying toward them from the direction of the +woods. + +"There's a fellow over there in the woods," announced William. "He was +kind of hiding." + +"Never mind that. Let's get to work here." + +The two hands from Treasureholme arrived, and, the measurements having +been taken, the men set to digging. Lanterns had been brought and when +dark fell these were lighted and held by the girls. + +In an hour's time the men had opened a hole six feet deep, as broad at +the top, narrowing toward the bottom. + +"It begins to look dubious," said Bob. "Say, Barbara, we'll try another +way!" + +Following Bob's directions, Bab placed one end of the steel tape in the +middle of the big mound and again the exact distance was measured. Bob +took the stake that William had brought up to measure with and drove it +with the back of his shovel little by little down in the exact center of +the hole he had dug. He had forced the stake down about three feet when +he uttered an exclamation. + +"What is it?" cried the girls in chorus. + +"Maybe a stone. I hardly think it is," and he began to dig frantically. +In a few moments came the shout: "I've struck metal! There is something +here!" + +The girls danced with impatience, but a half hour went by before the men +unearthed an iron box with bands of the same material about it and the +cover soldered to the box to make it air tight. + +Bab put her arms about Ruth and whispered: + +"It will be all right now, Ruth. Oh, I'm so glad!" while the other girls +laughed and shouted in their excitement. + +It was the work of another half hour before the four men got a rope +around the heavy box and, by the aid of the automobile, drew it out of +the deep hole, after which, with great labor, it was got into the car. + +Once at the house, it was left to Mrs. Presby, as the representative of +the family, to say what should be done with the chest. + +"Open it," was the command. + +This was not easily done, but when the work was finally accomplished, +what a sight met their eyes! + +There was at least a bushel of gold coins. There was valuable family +plate. In a sealed receptacle they found a quantity of jewels and a +bundle of papers. The papers Mrs. Presby put away until her husband +should have an opportunity to go over them. + +"There's a fortune here. I think Treasureholme need not be lost now," +said Stevens. + +"It comes too late," said Mrs. Presby bitterly. "Mr. Presby telephoned +me after the close of the market that to-morrow would end all, as he and +Robert could not meet their obligations when it opened in the morning." + +"To-morrow morning!" exclaimed Bab. "Then we must get this treasure to +them to-night! We must do it some way!" + +"Impossible," said Olive. + +"No, it's not!" declared Ruth. "I'll take the chest to Chicago in the +car." + +"But it's nearly midnight, Ruth. You can't do it," protested Mrs. +Presby. + +There was little time for discussion and objection, and in the end the +chest was again loaded into the car and the four "Automobile Girls" and +Bob Stevens set off for Chicago, Miss Sallie promising to telephone to +Mr. Stuart that the girls were on their way. + +It was a wild midnight ride into Chicago. The girls became convinced +that they were being followed, but by turning off her lights and driving +into a private lane until the following car had flashed by and then +taking a longer but little-used road into the city, Ruth evaded the +pursuers, if such they were. Nor did they see the car again until they +drew up in front of the Stuart house in the brilliantly light street and +with a policeman in plain sight. + +Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby spent the night in making an inventory and the +morning before the opening of the market in calling up their bankers and +lawyers. They were tired and worn when the opening hour came, but the +day was saved, and while neither made the fortune he had anticipated, +each had added materially to his wealth. For this they gave credit to +Barbara Thurston, but she steadfastly refused the reward they offered +her. The money reward she refused, but she could not refuse the +admiration and love they gave her. + +They learned later that Nathan Bonner had had a private detective on the +grounds of Treasureholme, and it was he who had followed Mr. A. Bubble +into the city. Bonner lost heavily in the crash, but still retained +enough of his fortune to be a financial power. + +A week of pleasure followed the finding of the treasure. On the evening +before the departure of Bab and Mollie and Grace for Kingsbridge, Ruth +gave a large reception in honor of her guests. + +On the evening of the affair the four girls, when they repaired to their +rooms in the Stuart home to dress for the reception, found four +exquisite frocks, the gifts of Mr. Stuart and Mr. Presby, who would not +be denied this method of showing their appreciation. The gowns were +white filmy chiffon over soft white silk. White shoes, white silk +chiffon hose, everything needed to complete their toilet that night lay +ready at hand. None of the three girls from Kingsbridge had dreamed that +they would ever possess such beautiful and exquisitely designed dresses. + +But this was not their only surprise. A great box of roses was delivered +to the house while the girls were dressing. It was addressed to Miss +Barbara Thurston. With it there was a note reading: + + "I always did love a fighter. What a trader you + would make! It was a fair fight, and you won. + NATHAN BONNER." + +"No, it wasn't a fair fight. It was distinctly an unfair one," declared +Barbara. "I think I shall send these flowers back." + +"I don't believe I would do that," advised Miss Sallie. "The flowers are +plainly intended as a tribute to you as a fighter, Bab, and the +acceptance of flowers is unlike the acceptance of any other gift." + +So Barbara kept the roses. + +The next day the "Automobile Girls'" party was broken up. The time for +Grace, Bab, and Mollie to return to Kingsbridge had arrived, to the keen +regret of both the young people and their elders. Mr. Stuart, with a +twinkle in his eyes, kept talking vaguely about "Easter," but what his +plans were, he would not say. + +The wonderful Easter vacation that these plans developed into may be +read about in a following volume entitled, "THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT PALM +BEACH; or, Proving Their Mettle Under Southern Skies," a vacation never +to be forgotten by the "Automobile Girls." + + +THE END + + + + +_And There Are Others!_ + + You will find other books listed on the three + following pages that will prove just as + interesting reading as this book. They can all be + procured at the same store where you got this + book. + + + + +THE ANNAPOLIS SERIES + + By H. IRVING HANCOCK + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +[Illustration] + +Dave Darrin and Dan Dalzell proved their mettle at the U. S. Naval +Academy and gave promise of what might be expected of them in the great +war that was even at that moment hovering over the world. + + =1. DAVE DARRIN'S FIRST YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, Two + Plebe Midshipmen at the U. S. Naval Academy.= + + =2. DAVE DARRIN'S SECOND YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, + Two Midshipmen as Naval Academy "Youngsters."= + + =3. DAVE DARRIN'S THIRD YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, + Leaders of the Second Class Midshipmen.= + + =4. DAVE DARRIN'S FOURTH YEAR AT ANNAPOLIS; or, + Headed for Graduation and the Big Cruise.= + + + + +THE WEST POINT SERIES + + By H. IRVING HANCOCK + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +Dick Prescott and Greg Holmes are not human wonders, but a pair of +average bright American boys who had a hard enough time working their +way through West Point. Their experiences will inspire all other +American boys. + + =1. DICK PRESCOTT'S FIRST YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Two Chums in the Cadet Gray.= + + =2. DICK PRESCOTT'S SECOND YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Finding the Glory of the Soldier's Life.= + + =3. DICK PRESCOTT'S THIRD YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Standing Firm for Flag and Honor.= + + =4. DICK PRESCOTT'S FOURTH YEAR AT WEST POINT; or, + Ready to Drop the Gray for Shoulder Straps.= + + + + +THE PONY RIDER BOYS SERIES + + By FRANK GEE PATCHIN + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +[Illustration] + +This unusual and popular series tells vividly the story of four +adventure-loving lads, who, with their guardian, spent their summer +vacations in the saddle in search of recreation and healthful adventure. +Long journeys over mountain, through the fastness of primitive forest +and across burning desert, lead them into the wild places of their +native land as well as into many strange and exciting experiences. There +is not a dull moment in the series. + + =1. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ROCKIES; or, The + Secret of the Lost Claim.= + + =2. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN TEXAS; or, The Veiled + Riddle of the Plains.= + + =3. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN MONTANA; or, The + Mystery of the Old Custer Trail.= + + =4. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE OZARKS; or, The + Secret of Ruby Mountain.= + + =5. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE ALKALI; or, Finding + a Key to the Desert Maze.= + + =6. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW MEXICO; or, The End + of the Silver Trail.= + + =7. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN THE GRAND CANYON; or, + The Mystery of Bright Angel Gulch.= + + =8. THE PONY RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS; + or, On the Trail of the Border Bandits.= + + =9. THE PONY RIDER BOYS ON THE BLUE RIDGE; or, A + Lucky Find in the Carolina Mountains.= + + =10. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN NEW ENGLAND; or, An + Exciting Quest in the Maine Wilderness.= + + =11. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN LOUISIANA; or, + Following the Game Trails in the Canebrake.= + + =12. THE PONY RIDER BOYS IN ALASKA; or, The Gold + Diggers of Taku Pass.= + + + + +THE HIGH SCHOOL GIRLS SERIES + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +[Illustration] + +The scenes, episodes, and adventures through which Grace Harlowe and her +intimate chums pass in the course of these stories are pictured with a +vivacity that at once takes the young feminine captive. + + =1. GRACE HARLOWE'S PLEBE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; or, + The Merry Doings of the Oakdale Freshmen Girls.= + + =2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SOPHOMORE YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; + or, The Record of the Girl Chums in Work and + Athletics.= + + =3. GRACE HARLOWE'S JUNIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; + or, Fast Friends in the Sororities.= + + =4. GRACE HARLOWE'S SENIOR YEAR AT HIGH SCHOOL; + or, The Parting of the Ways.= + + + + +THE COLLEGE GIRLS SERIES + + By JESSIE GRAHAM FLOWER, A. M. + PRICE, $1.00 EACH + +Every school and college girl will recognize that the account of Grace +Harlowe's experiences at Overton College is true to life. + + =1. GRACE HARLOWE'S FIRST YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =2. GRACE HARLOWE'S SECOND YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =3. GRACE HARLOWE'S THIRD YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =4. GRACE HARLOWE'S FOURTH YEAR AT OVERTON COLLEGE.= + + =5. GRACE HARLOWE'S RETURN TO OVERTON CAMPUS.= + + =6. GRACE HARLOWE'S PROBLEM.= + + =7. GRACE HARLOWE'S GOLDEN SUMMER.= + + + + + * * * * * + + + + +Transcriber's note: + +Obvious punctuation errors were corrected. + +Page 145, "wierd" changed to "weird" (weird wail rose from) + +Page 187, "rasing" changed to "raising" (raising their sweet) + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE AUTOMOBILE GIRLS AT CHICAGO*** + + +******* This file should be named 32437.txt or 32437.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +http://www.gutenberg.org/dirs/3/2/4/3/32437 + + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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