THE MISSING DIAMOND BRACELET
There were three lads who had entered the Darewell High School so
mysteriously at midnight, and, had any one seen them, who was acquainted
with them, he would have at once asked:
"Where is the fourth member of the quartette? Where is Stumpy Masterson?"
For there were four lads in the town of Darewell who were so inseparable
that they had come to be known as "The Darewell Chums." Their names you
are already familiar with, and some of my readers have met them before in
the previous books of this series.
In the first volume, entitled, "The Heroes of the School," there was
related how the four friends took part in a strange mystery, and how
they got at the bottom of it. At one time they went up in a balloon, and
were captured by some men who were their enemies, so that, for a time,
it looked dubious for the lads. But our heroes were wide-awake, and
resourceful, and managed to take care of themselves.
Their home, as I have said, was in the town of Darewell, which was
located on the Still River, a stream that flowed into Lake Erie. Living
not far from that great body of water, the four chums often made trips
to it, though more frequently they went swimming in or sailing on the
river, in summer, and skated on it in winter.
In the second volume of the series, called "Ned Wilding's Disappearance,"
a story was told of how Ned tried to become a millionaire on his own
account. He speculated in stocks, and to do this he had to go to New
York. There he became mixed up in some peculiar transactions, and he
thought it was necessary for him to disappear to avoid arrest. His chums,
who followed him to the city, tried for some time in vain to find him,
and poor Ned suffered many hardships before the affair was finally
straightened out.
"Frank Roscoe's Secret" was the title of the third volume. There always
seemed to be a mystery about Frank Roscoe, and his chums could never
penetrate it. At times he was moody and distraught, and he seemed to
have some secret that worried him. He made no confidant of any one and
succeeded in avoiding all inquiries.
The four lads went camping, and it was hoped that Frank would forget his
troubles, but, instead, he seemed to get right into the thick of them.
Frank, for some years, had believed his father dead, but it transpired
that he was not. Mr. Roscoe was kept in a private insane asylum, though
he had full possession of his reason, only he was made ill by drugs
constantly administered to him by men who had an interest in keeping him
out of the way. How he was rescued, and the perils the boys ran in
saving him after they had released him from the institution, you will
find set down in the third book.
In the fourth book, called "Fenn Masterson's Discovery," there was
related the details of a long trip the chums took on the Great Lakes.
They were aboard a vessel commanded by Captain Wiggs, and almost from
the start the boys were involved in a mystery. They were pursued by
strange men, when they landed to witness a large grain elevator on fire,
and eventually they succeeded in causing the breaking up of a gang of
Chinese smugglers, and a band of scoundrels who were secretly taking
valuable minerals from a cave, under land owned by a man whom the boys
had once befriended. It was not until after some strenuous happenings
that these events had come to pass, and, more than once, our friends
were in danger. But Fenn Masterson succeeded in getting on the trail of
the mystery, through an odd discovery he had made, and, though he was
captured by the enemy, he used his eyes and ears to good advantage, so
that when his friends came he could lead them to the secret cave.
Following the exciting events of their cruise on the Great Lakes, the
boys had returned to Darewell, and had resumed their studies at the High
School, where they were great favorites with the other pupils. At the
time this story opens the fall term was well under way, and football was
the chief sport, our heroes playing on the first team of the school.
The reason for the midnight visit of Bart, Frank and Ned to the school
was this: Stumpy, the missing member of the quartette, was an odd sort
of lad, always making collections of one thing or another. Sometimes it
was postage stamps, or postmarks, and again minerals, or jackknives, or
butterflies.
The day of the midnight visit, when the Darewell Chums, together with
Bart's sister Alice (who wanted to be a trained nurse) and her chum,
Jennie Smith, were in a drug store getting soda and cream, Fenn had
pulled from his pocket, together with his handkerchief, a small mud
turtle. There had been a wild scramble on the part of the girls, and
some ladies in the store, before Fenn recaptured the reptile.
"What's that for?" Bart had asked.
"Oh, nothing," Fenn had answered, as casually as possible.
"It certainly _is_ something," Ned had insisted, and they had badgered
Fenn until he finally admitted that he was now collecting mud turtles,
and had a number of them in a pen at home.
This had at once given Bart his cue for playing a joke, and it might be
mentioned that the fun-loving youth never let go by a chance to play a
trick. A little later, that same afternoon, after Fenn had been
sufficiently "rigged" over his new fad, Bart Keene might have been seen
whispering cautiously to Ned and Frank.
His proposal was that the three of them should pay a surreptitious visit
to the school that Friday night, and, from the room of Professor Long,
the science teacher, take a number of turtles, snakes and small
alligators which the instructor kept for the use of his class in
biology. The three conspirators planned to remove the reptiles, take
them to Fenn's house, slyly put them in with his collection of turtles,
and then see what their chum would say when he found his number of
reptiles so unexpectedly increased.
The plan found favor on the part of Ned and Frank. They had met at
Bart's home after supper, and started off, leaving word with Alice, that
if Fenn accidentally came, he was to be detained, entertained, or
something done to him, to prevent him from becoming suspicious over the
absence of the three lads.
But Fenn, or Stumpy, which he was more frequently called, had no
suspicions, and did not leave his house that night. Meanwhile, as told
in the first chapter, Bart and the others had gone to the school, had
suffered a momentary alarm at the sight of the mysterious man, and had
finally gained an entrance through the front door, unexpectedly found
open.
"Well, we're in here, what's next on the program?" asked Ned, of Bart.
"Go ahead up stairs, and don't make any more noise than you have to."
Long familiarity with the interior arrangements of the High School
enabled the three lads to ascend the stairs without the aid of a light.
Bart, as a precaution, however, had brought along a pocket electric
flash lamp, to use when they reached the case of live reptiles.
They got to the room where Professor Long gave instruction, and when
Bart sent out little flashes of light, all gazed quickly around.
"No traces of any burglar here," observed Frank.
"Guess you're right," admitted Bart. "But we surely saw some one up here
with a light."
"Might have been one of Riggs' friends," commented Ned. "Anyhow he isn't
here now. Come on, and let's finish. It's getting late. The cabinet of
turtles, alligators and snakes is over here," and he led the way across
the almost dark room, for the electric lamp only gave light in a small
circle.
Professor Long was more enthusiastic over science than are most teachers,
and he used live animals to illustrate points in biology, evolution and
kindred studies. Hence he had quite a collection of reptiles, which were
kept in a case especially constructed for them, where they could be fed
and watched, and live under conditions as nearly approaching those of
nature as possible.
The three conspirators proposed "borrowing" a few specimens, smuggling
them into Stumpy's collection, which was kept in a shack in his back
yard, and, after witnessing his surprise, they would take Professor
Long's reptiles back to the school. The interval between the closing of
the school Friday night and the Monday morning opening gave them time
for this.
"Get some of the toads, lizards, alligators and snakes, besides the mud
turtles," advised Bart, "and take care that the beggars don't bite you.
I don't want to get blood poison, even if my sister is studying to be a
trained nurse. Here, I'll hold the light, and you fellows can put the
creatures in the bags."
"Yes, you will!" exclaimed Frank, somewhat indignantly. "You want us to
run all the risks! No, sir, you put the lamp down and pitch in yourself.
If we get bit, so do you."
"But the lamp won't give any light unless I press the spring," explained
Bart, for the electric switch was thus operated.
"I'll show you how to make it," volunteered Ned. "I can fasten the spring
with a match," which he proceeded to do, the light glowing without any
one touching the spring. Bart had no further excuse, and assisted his
chums in transferring to the bags he had brought a large part of
Professor Long's collection. The reptiles made little resistance, though
one of the large turtles did nip Frank slightly.
"Never mind, Alice will put on some carbolic salve or peroxide," said
Bart, cheerfully. "I guess we've got enough now. Look out, there's a
snake going to get away!" He grabbed the lively reptile just in time,
and stuffed it into his bag.
The three conspirators hurried away from the school, and made their way
to the back yard of Fenn's house. The shack was fastened with a simple
catch, which Bart had no difficulty in loosening. Then, working quickly
and silently, the three chums made a large addition to Fenn's collection.
The snakes, turtles, lizards and frogs from the school cabinet were put
in the boxes with Fenn's pets, and the small doors fastened. Then the hut
was closed.
"Now we must be on hand here early to-morrow morning," said Bart, as
they sneaked away.
"Sure. We'll pretend to Fenn that we are anxious to see his collection,"
said Ned. "He'll be only too glad to take us out here, and then we can
see his expression, when he catches sight of the visitors. Oh, we'll be
on hand all right!" and then the trio went to their homes.
Early the next morning, Bart, Ned and Frank called on Fenn. He had not
been in evidence the night before, so they felt sure their trick had not
been discovered. He came to the door in response to their whistles.
"Say, you fellows are on the job early, aren't you?" inquired Stumpy,
with just a shade of suspicion in his tones.
"We want to have a little football practice," answered Bart. "And we
came to see if you'd show us your collection of turtles."
"Hey? What's that?" asked Fenn, quickly.
"That's straight, Stumpy," added Ned. "We won't hurt 'em, will we,
fellows?"
"Sure not," agreed Frank.
His suspicions lulled to rest, Fenn led the way to the shack in the back
yard.
"I haven't fed 'em yet," he remarked. "I was just going to when you
chaps came along. I haven't had my breakfast yet."
"Oh, it's awful to have to pay these social calls on young ladies!"
mocked Bart, pretending to yawn. "It keeps you up so late, and morning
comes too soon."
"Aw, cut it out," advised Fenn, with an injured air, but he blushed.
"Now, no poking the turtles," he stipulated, as he opened the shack
door.
"Visitors are politely requested not to feed or annoy the animals,"
quoted Bart, from some menagerie sign. "Do they eat much?" he asked of
Fenn.
"Oh, not much, especially in cool weather. They're sort of sluggish
then. I haven't got many yet, but I expect to--"
By this time Fenn had the door open, and the sight that met his eyes
almost bereft him of speech.
For, to his small collection had been added nearly all the reptiles from
the High School. Snakes reared up their heads and hissed at him. From
the corner of one cage a large mud turtle stuck out its leathery neck.
A fat toad, one of many, squatted on the box of worms Fenn kept for his
"pets," and two alligators, like twins, waved their long tails to and
fro.
"For the love of Mike, what have you here?" cried Bart, pretending to be
frightened.
"Good land! You never said you had so many!" added Ned.
"Is it safe to go in? Let me hide behind you, Stumpy. You're so fat and
juicy that they'd grab you first," said Frank.
For a moment Fenn did not speak. Then he understood the joke that had
been played.
"You fellows think you're awful smart; don't you?" he demanded. "Well,
all I've got to say is----"
"That you're stung! Eh, Stumpy, my lad?" cried Bart good naturedly,
clapping his chum on the back. "Take your medicine like a man. You're
stung good and proper. We thought your animals would be lonesome, so we
added a few for luck. Pretty, aren't they?" and, at the sight of Fenn's
bewildered face, Bart went off in a paroxysm of mirth, finally lying
down on the ground outside the shack, and rolling over and over.
Frank and Ned joined him, and their howls brought Mrs. Masterson to the
back door to see what was the matter. As soon as she saw the four chums
she knew, without being told, that it was some joke.
"It wouldn't be them, if they weren't up to something," she observed, as
she went on getting breakfast.
Fenn was not long proof against the infectious laughter of his chums.
The frown faded from his face, and a smile replaced it. Soon, he too,
was laughing heartily at the joke played on him.
"All I've got to say," he remarked, "is that you fellows went to a lot
of work to get a laugh. You must have brought nearly all the school
collection," for he recognized the professor's specimens.
"We did," admitted Bart, "but it was worth it all; eh, fellows?"
The boys paused to admire Fenn's "pets" as well as to take a more
careful view of the reptiles they had "borrowed" from the school. Then
Bart and his two chums put back into the bags the snakes, lizards,
turtles, toads and alligators belonging to the professor, and hurried
back with them to the school. They were lucky in escaping observation by
the janitor, and soon the science-cabinet cages held their former
tenants.
There was a football game that afternoon, in which the four chums took
part, playing hard and well, their team winning the contest by a narrow
margin. They took a short walk, Sunday, discussing the game, and talking
rather vaguely of the possibility of going to a winter camp that year.
"I think it would be just the cheese, fellows," observed Bart.
"It would, and the crackers, too," conceded Ned. "But I don't see how we
can manage it."
"Maybe we can," declared Frank indefinitely.
When the four chums went to school the following Monday morning they
were made aware that something unusual had taken place. It was not so
much in what was said, as in an indefinable air of expectancy on the
part of several members of the faculty. After the usual opening morning
services, Principal McCloud advanced to the edge of the platform in the
assembly hall, and remarked:
"Young gentlemen, I have something to say to you. After I have finished,
Mr. Long, the science teacher, has a few words to add."
At once Bart cast apprehensive looks at his chums. Had the "borrowing"
of the specimens been discovered? It looked so.
"Some time between Friday night and this morning," went on the principal,
"this school was entered, and some objects were taken from the science
cabinets."
There was no doubt about it. The blow had fallen. Bart, Ned and Frank
prepared to "take their medicine."
"It has been discovered," continued Mr. McCloud, "that several specimens
of snakes, lizards, toads and alligators were surreptitiously removed
from Professor Long's cabinet. This would not have been so serious, for,
whoever took them, brought them all back again--that is all save one. I
regret to report that one of the finest and largest specimens of mud
turtles is missing. Now Professor Long has a word to say."
Mr. Long, who was a small man, with a bustling, nervous manner, came
briskly to the edge of the platform.
"I can only confirm what Professor McCloud has said," he began. "While I
regret exceedingly that any persons, least of all pupils of this school,
whom I may say we suspect, could so far forget themselves as to run the
risk of damaging my collection of reptiles, that is not the worst I have
to speak about. The loss of the mud turtle is serious, for it was a rare
kind, but there is something else missing. It is a valuable diamond
bracelet, belonging to my wife. She gave it to me, as she was going away
on a little trip, to take to the jewelers to have the setting of some of
the stones tightened, and I placed it in the cabinet with the reptiles
for safe keeping, until school should be closed, Friday. I forgot all
about it until this morning, and when I went to look for it, I discovered
that my collection had been disturbed.
"It was easy to see," went on Mr. Long, "that some one had taken the
reptiles out, and placed them back, for they were not in their proper
cages. It was also easy to see that my wife's diamond bracelet was
missing. It is valued at over a thousand dollars, and I presume was
taken by accident, or, perhaps, for a joke. In either case I shall be
glad to have it back.
"I might add that I have certain clews as to who were the midnight
visitors to the school, for one of them dropped his knife, and it has
his name on it."
Bart frantically felt in his pocket, and then, conscious that many eyes
were on him, sat still, but a guilty flush suffused his face.
"If the bracelet is returned to me," went on Mr. Long, "all will be well.
If not, I must take--" he hesitated a moment--"strenuous measures," he
added. "I will await in the principal's office, any one who may wish to
see me," he concluded significantly, after a pause.
"You are dismissed to your classes," said Principal McCloud. "Any one
who wishes to see Professor Long has permission to do so."
The boys arose, and filed from the assembly hall; the girls were on the
floor below. Bart looked at Frank and Ned. Then Fenn whispered:
"Maybe the missing turtle is in with mine."
"Maybe," Bart whispered back. "But what of the diamond bracelet? We
never took it!"
"The man--the stranger--who was in the school just before us?" replied
Ned. "Fellows, I guess we'd better make a clean breast of it to Mr.
Long!"