Mountain Top Mystery by Gertrude Warner

Author:Gertrude Warner
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: ebook, book
Publisher: Albert Whitman & Company
Published: 2010-08-06T04:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 8

The First Find

Couldn’t we go up that ladder,” asked Benny, “and look in the hole?”

“Not yet, young man,” said Dr. Osgood. He pushed up his glasses. “We don’t want any more accidents. When we get the staging done, it will be safe for any of you to get up to the cave.”

Mr. Alden said, “Percy, the old Indian woman Lovan told us that her great-great-grandfather hid that leather bag in a cave. Now suppose this was the cave. Would that be near this door or near the opening in the other side, do you think?”

“I should say he crawled in and hid it as far back as he could,” said Dr. Osgood.

Benny said, “That would mean the leather bag could be right under our noses! I hope they will get that staging done fast. I can hardly wait! Can you, Mr. Carter?”

Mr. Carter said, “No, I can hardly wait, either. But right now I am hungry. Aren’t you all hungry?”

“Always!” said Henry and Jessie together.

“Well, then, how about a bit of lunch?” said John Carter. “You’ve had a three-hour climb, and we all need food. And you should see the lunch!”

“Oh, we’ll never eat all this food!” Jessie said as she watched the lunch being unpacked.

“Don’t forget, it is for the workmen, too,” said Dr. Osgood. “And me!”

Then Henry noticed that Benny was sitting still and saying nothing.

“What’s the matter, Ben?”

“Well, I simply can’t decide which sandwiches I like best!” said Benny. “I like them all best.”

“Shut your eyes and point, then,” said Mr. Carter.

Benny did so. He was pointing at the cheeseburgers.

“That’s exactly what I do like best, really!” he cried. “Cheeseburgers!”

“I thought you didn’t know,” laughed Violet.

“Yes, I thought so, too,” said Benny. “And I just love to dunk hard-boiled eggs!” He opened his salt and pepper and “dunked” his egg in the salt as he spoke. Then he bit off a huge bite.

“Delicious!” he said.

Everyone agreed. The piles of sandwiches went down very fast. But there were plenty for the workmen when Mr. Alden called them to lunch. When the workmen sat down, the Alden family waited on them. Henry gave them hot coffee. Violet passed the pickles. Mr. Carter got out the cold drinks. Jessie gave each one an egg and salt. Benny sat down with them and had another sandwich. He said, “You haven’t really got very far on the staging, have you?”

“No,” said the head man. “It takes three days. You see a staging must not fall. And it has to rest somewhere. It takes time to make a place to hold it.”

“Don’t you keep wishing that you could take time off and look in the cave?” asked Benny.

“Yes,” said a man. “But if we do, the staging has to wait, and it takes that much longer to finish it. Dr. Percy has had a look. That’s enough for me. He thinks it is worth while, so I’m not wasting my time.”

Henry said to Dr. Osgood, “What do you think could be in the lost bag? A French nobleman expected to sell whatever it was for enough money to live here.

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