THE MONEY BOX
"What did he say?"
"Who was he?"
"What was his object?"
These, and a dozen other questions like them, were showered on Sandy
Apgar when he arrived at the farm, some little time later, after
having seen the mysterious man safely locked up in the town jail.
"Now there's no use askin' me who he is, or what he wants," declared
the young farmer. "All I know is that I caught him. He won't talk."
"You did a good piece of work," declared Mr. Pertell, "and a day or
so of jail food may make the fellow change his mind. Well, it's too
late to do any moving pictures to-day. We'll put off the barn-burning
until to-morrow."
"Well, there's one thing we can't put off until to-morrow and that is
looking after that dog," remarked Sandy. "The poor fellow may be
frantic by now."
"May we go with you?" asked Alice.
"Surely," answered Sandy.
"Come along, Ruth--and anybody else who wants to," she added.
"Count me in!" exclaimed Paul.
"The same here," laughed Russ.
So the five set off for the lonely cabin.
"I can't understand how the dog came to be there, though," mused
Russ, as they walked on through the woods. "That fellow wasn't at the
cabin the last time we looked."
"But that was several days ago," Paul reminded him. "He may have been
staying there ever since, thinking we had given up going there.
That's very likely it."
And this proved to be the case. The man had apparently moved back
into the cabin. The room was arranged about as it had been the day
the girls took shelter in the place, but there was this change--that
a fine collie dog was chained near the big fireplace.
And if ever a dog was glad to see anyone it was that same collie. He
jumped about, barking joyfully, but was held back by a strong chain,
fastened to his collar.
"Poor fellow!" exclaimed Sandy kindly, and the dog wagged his tail
in friendly greeting.
"Oh, I wish we could keep him!" exclaimed Alice, who loved animals.
"I guess we'll have to--until that feller gits out of jail," spoke
the young farmer. "They won't allow no animals in the lockup. We'll
take him to the farm."
The dog made friends at once, and seemed particularly fond of Alice.
She was patting him, when she happened to turn his collar around. A
brass plate came into view and as the girl read something on it she
uttered a cry of surprise.
"Look!" she exclaimed. "This is the lost dog!"
"What lost dog?" asked Russ.
"Don't you remember--the one Mrs. Delamont lost when we were in the
wreck, coming up here. See, there is his name--Rex III. We have found
him for her. How glad she will be!"
"You're right!" exclaimed Paul, after examining the collar. "Here are
the initials 'H. A. D.' Weren't those hers?" he asked of Ruth.
"Yes, I have her name and address," replied the girl. "We must send
her word at once."
"I don't understand how the man got the dog," observed Russ.
"He might have been at the scene of the wreck, and when he saw the
chance he slipped into the baggage car and took Rex," explained
Paul. "I suppose he'll tell about that, if he ever confesses. It's a
queer business all around."
The fine dog seemed to like his new friends, and skipped and frisked
about them as they went back to Oak Farm. And there the dog made his
home, though it would not be for long, since Mrs. Delamont would be
sure to send for her prize pet when she learned where he was.
"Oh, but I shall hate to let you go!" cried Alice, as she put her
arms about the neck of Rex.
"Well, I hope there won't be no more interruptions or delays,"
remarked Mr. Pertell the next day. "We must get that barn-burning
film sure, for I have some other plans to carry out, with winter
coming on."
"You don't mean to say you're going to keep on in this moving picture
business all winter, do you?" asked Mr. Sneed.
"I certainly do," remarked the manager.
"Well, all I've got to say is that we'll freeze to death," went on
the "grouch" in gloomy tones. "You can count me out of it," he added.
"I'm not going to freeze for anybody."
"No one asked you to," replied the manager. "Come now, everyone get
ready for the fire scene. We'll go over it once more, to be sure
we're all right for the final. The roof will be cut and then we'll
touch off the place.
"Sandy, see to it that there are plenty of pails of water for the
bucket brigade. Mr. Bunn, you're to be one of that crowd, you
remember."
"Yes," responded the actor, with a heavy sigh. "I suppose I must
lower my art to the level of the movies. Oh, why did I ever get into
this wretched business?"
Ruth, Alice and the others went out to the old barn. All was in
readiness for the big scene. The ladder for the rescue of the moving
picture girls was in readiness, and Paul and Mr. Sneed made sure that
it was safe.
"Now then, carpenter, up on the roof with you, and cut out that
section so there won't be any doubt but what it will come loose
readily when Paul chops at it with his axe," ordered the manager.
The carpenter began his work. He ascended to the roof by the ladder,
and was soon cutting and sawing away. The others watched him, half
idly, little prepared for the dramatic scene that was to follow. Mr.
and Mrs. Apgar had come out to witness the making of the fire film.
"I'll sort of hate to see the old barn go, useless as it is," said
the farmer. "It was one of the first buildin's on the farm, and Uncle
Isaac used to be terrible fond of stayin' out here. In fact before
he died he spent a lot of time out here after th' accident, sittin'
all by himself, and sometimes talking a lot of nonsense. His mind was
goin' then, I reckon, only none of us knowed it. Yes, poor Uncle
Isaac was terrible fond of this old barn, and I sure will hate to see
it go up in smoke."
"I wish Uncle Isaac had been fonder of business, an' had left some
word where his money went--and ours, too," observed Sandy. "I don't
want to blame him for what he couldn't help, but it sure is hard for
us!"
The carpenter was chopping away, taking off a section of the roof, to
afford easy egress for Ruth and Alice when the time should come.
Suddenly he uttered a cry of surprise.
"What's the matter--cut yourself?" called Sandy.
"No, but I've cut into something queer. Better come up here and see
what it is--I don't want to touch it."
"I hope it isn't a hornet's nest!" exclaimed Sandy.
"No, it isn't that."
The others wondered what the queer find might be, as Sandy and Russ
hurried up the ladder.
As they reached the roof, which at this point was nearly flat, they
saw that the carpenter, in taking off a section, had uncovered what
proved to be a small secret room. It was built into the barn in such
a manner, between false walls, that its existence had never in the
past been suspected.
It was a small place, just large enough to contain a table and a
chair, and there were no openings or windows on the sides. It must
have been a dark place, but there was an old lantern on the table,
showing that the occupant, whoever he had been, was not left in the
gloom.
But there was something else on the table besides the lantern. This
was a large tin box, the sort that valuable papers are usually kept
in, and at the sight of it, as Sandy gazed down into the secret room,
through the hole in the roof, the young farmer cried:
"There it is! There's Uncle Isaac's money box! The lost is found, and
now, if there's only the money and papers in it we'll not lose our
farm after all! The Lord be praised! If only the money is there!"
"You can soon tell!" remarked Russ. "Drop down in there and take a
look."
"What is it? What have you found?" called Mr. Pertell from the
ground. "We want to get the pictures."
"Wait a minute!" Sandy begged. "We've found----"
"Wait, don't tell them yet," suggested Russ. "It won't do to raise
the hopes of the old people, and then disappoint them. The box may be
empty."
"That's right," agreed Sandy. "I'll soon know, though." He hung by
his hands to the edge of the opening, and then dropped down into the
secret room, so strangely revealed.
"The box is locked!" he cried.
"Here's my hatchet--break it open," suggested the carpenter.
"Guess I might as well--no telling where the key would be," said
Sandy. With the hatchet he soon had lifted the cover of the box. Then
he gave a joyful cry.
"It's here!" he shouted. "It was Uncle Isaac's box, all right, and
the money's here--quite a lot of it, and some valuable papers worth
more. Hurray! The farm is saved, after all! Tell pop and mom!"
"No, we'll let you tell them," said Russ. "Come and tell them
yourself."
"How'm I goin' t' git up?" asked Sandy, trembling with excitement and
new hope, as he fingered the dusty bills that would mean so much to
him and his parents.
"Here's a rope," suggested the carpenter, for he had been using one
at his work. "We'll drop it down to you, and you can tie it to the
box. Then you can come up on the rope yourself."
This was soon done, and a little later Sandy was standing beside his
aged parents, showing them the find.
"It's money--real money!" he cried. "The money Uncle Isaac owes us.
Now we can pay off the mortgage on the farm. You won't have t' move
off th' farm!--Pop--Mom! You can stay here!"
"Praise the Lord!" cried the farmer, reverently. "My prayer has been
granted; I can die on the old place!"
"Why, Pa, don't talk about dyin' now!" protested Mrs. Apgar, through
her tears. "We're goin' t' live--live on th' old place!"
"That's what we be!" he cried.
A close examination of the contents of the box disclosed the fact
that it contained considerable wealth. There were some bonds and
stocks, as well as a large sum in cash. At least five thousand
dollars of this belonged to the Apgars, representing the loan they
had made to Uncle Isaac. And as he left no other heirs, eventually
the entire wealth would come to the farmer.
"This has been a lucky day for us!" exclaimed Sandy, as he put the
wealth in a secure place in the house.
"Well, it will be an unlucky one for us, if we don't get this fire
film," remarked Mr. Pertell, half humorously.
"Just so," returned Russ.
There was much discussion over the find, and then an examination was
made of the secret room. From within the sliding panel door, by which
entrance was gained, could easily be seen. But outside, it was so
well hidden that it is doubtful if anyone but one who knew the trick
could have found it.
Mr. Apgar recalled that the barn stood on the farm when he had
purchased the estate years before. It had belonged to an eccentric
man, and there was little doubt that he had built the secret room for
his own use--though what it was could only be guessed.
"And Uncle Isaac must have discovered the hidden door when he was out
here in the barn so much," said Sandy. "Lunatics are cunning,
sometimes, I've heard. He probably found th' place and kept it to
himself, as a good place to hide his valuables.
"That's why he spent so much time out here. I used to wonder
sometimes, at having him appear from inside the old barn, when I
never suspected he was on hand. He was in this room, all right."
"It certainly was a good hiding place," agreed Mr. Pertell. "It was
lucky he did not shut himself up and die in here, or you would never
have known where to look for him. He must have left his money box
here one day, closed the place up and then came his unfortunate loss
of mind, after he was hurt. He forgot all about where he had left the
wealth, and of course he couldn't tell anyone. Well, I'm glad you've
got it back."
"So am I!" chuckled Sandy. "Now if we only had some explanation as to
why that queer chap was always hanging about this farm we'd be all
right."
"Maybe he knew your Uncle Isaac," suggested Ruth.
"No, that man's a stranger around here," declared Sandy.
After some little further talk about the queer find, Mr. Pertell
again suggested that the taking of the picture be resumed.
Sandy seemed to hang back and the manager asked him:
"Do you want to give up your part in it, now that you have your money
again? Don't you want the barn burned?"
"Oh, yes; it ain't that!" the young farmer hastened to assure the
manager. "It's a good thing we didn't burn the barn before we found
the money. I was only wishin' I could send word of it to Squire
Blasdell, so he could call off the foreclosure. I hate to see them
signs up."
"Then you go and tell him the good news," suggested the manager,
generously. "We've had so many delays on this thing that a little
more won't hurt. Go tell the squire."
So Sandy went off, and the players had an unexpected rest.