FALCON BOOKS
_Penny Allen and the Mystery of the Hidden Treasure_
When the Allens--Philip, Jimmy, Penny and Marjorie--opened their
Michigan Lodge as a summer hotel, they decided to track down the rumor
of buried treasure. Other people, however, had the same idea, and
before the Allens could solve the baffling clues they discovered, they
found themselves in real danger. How they found the treasure, and how
Penny and Philip found romance with it, make an exciting and romantic
adventure everyone will enjoy.
_Other Falcon Books for Girls_:
PENNY ALLEN AND THE MYSTERY OF THE HAUNTED HOUSE
PATTY AND JO, DETECTIVES
JEAN CRAIG GROWS UP
JEAN CRAIG IN NEW YORK
JEAN CRAIG FINDS ROMANCE
JEAN CRAIG, NURSE
JEAN CRAIG, GRADUATE NURSE
CHAMPION’S CHOICE
[Illustration: “It looks like the note in the bottle!”]
_Penny Allen_
AND THE
Mystery of the Hidden Treasure
BY JEAN MCKECHNIE
[Illustration]
THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY
CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK
Falcon Books
_are published by_ THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY
2231 WEST 110 STREET • CLEVELAND 2 • OHIO
W1
COPYRIGHT 1950 BY THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY
MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
_Contents_
1. A New Adventure 9
2. An Anonymous Letter 23
3. The Abandoned Well 40
4. A Night Prowler 53
5. Another Threat 68
6. Clues in a Bottle 85
7. The Map 98
8. Peter Is Worried 109
9. Camping Out 121
10. Jimmy to the Rescue 133
11. The Missing Fragment 151
12. Setting the Trap 166
13. Philip Traps a Thief 179
14. Forgotten Treasure 197
15. Happy Ending 216
_Penny Allen_
AND THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE
CHAPTER 1
A NEW ADVENTURE
A warm June breeze was blowing in from Lake Superior. It caught a
strand of Penny Allen’s blonde hair and blew it across her dark blue
eyes.
Penny was out in the clearing behind the Lodge hanging blankets on
the line. “Help,” she called to her brother, Philip, who was working
nearby. “Help, I can’t see what I’m doing, and my arms are full of
blankets.”
Philip, his clear, blue-gray eyes sparkling with laughter, hurried to
the rescue. He extricated Penny from the mound of blankets she was
carrying and helped her hang them on the line.
As they worked together, fighting the capricious breeze that threatened
every minute to blow the blankets away, Penny said excitedly:
“I can’t believe it, Phil. We’re practically ready to open the Lodge
for guests!”
“Well, not quite,” Philip said soberly. He was twenty, a year older
than Penny, and usually wore a rather serious air. This was partly due
to his responsibilities as the head of the Allen family.
Their Uncle John Allen had died suddenly a year ago leaving the four
orphans, Penny, Philip, Jimmy and Marjorie, to shift for themselves. He
had left the Lodge to Philip and a beautiful yacht, the _Penny Allen_,
to Penny.
Recently, Philip had decided to turn his inheritance into a business
venture. The lovely house, situated in the Michigan woods near Lake
Superior, would make an ideal summer hotel. Ever since the first of
June they had all been busy helping to get it ready for many of their
old friends who planned to spend the summer there.
“Don’t look so serious, Phil,” Penny cried. “We _are_ just about ready.”
Philip’s eyes, under their straight, dark eyebrows, were thoughtful.
“We’re not even organized yet, Penny,” he said. “The winter just seemed
to go like lightning.” A quick smile dispelled his seriousness. “I
guess we spent too much of the holidays enjoying the winter sports.”
“Pooh,” Penny said impulsively. “We were all together and we had fun.
We deserved that.”
Orphans since thirteen-year-old Marjorie, the youngest, had been a
baby, the Allens had hardly known one another, for they had all gone
to different schools and summer camps. But in spite of that, they had
managed to maintain a merry and cheerful household.
And now they were all bound and determined to make a success of their
summer hotel. “We’ve got plenty of time to get organized in,” Penny
argued. She pushed her light brown hair out of her eyes with one hand
and tucked the last clothespin in place with the other. “Here come
Marjorie and Jimmy. You can organize us all right now.”
“Hi,” Jimmy called, striding toward them. He was the darkest member of
the family, contrasting sharply with Marjorie.
She was very fair, with light golden hair and light-blue eyes. Her
slight figure and small delicate hands gave her an almost elfin grace
to which was added a delightfully mischievous quality. “She looks
delicate,” Jimmy often said. “But the kid’s as tough as nails.”
Jimmy’s current aim in life was to reach at least six feet before he
stopped growing. Almost daily the slender, seventeen-year-old boy
insisted that Philip stand back to back with him in order to determine
whether or not he had finally become the tallest member of the family.
Judging by the quantities of food he packed away, Penny felt sure that
he would never stop growing. Moreover, it seemed to her that he was
quite tall enough now. What he needed to do was to gain a little weight.
“A summer here, spent mostly outdoors,” she said to Philip, “will do
both Marjorie and Jimmy a world of good. I hope they each gain a few
pounds before they go back to school.”
Marjorie, who had been trailing behind Jimmy, called out then: “Now
that the blankets are airing, Penny, can’t we go through the stuff in
the storage room?” She broke into a run and arrived by the clothesline
almost out of breath. “I can’t wait to see what’s in those old trunks.”
“Probably nothing but junk,” Jimmy said. “You know what Uncle John
always called this place.”
When they had first come to the Michigan house early in the fall they
had expected to find a shack because their Uncle John had always
referred to it as the “Michigan Shack.” But in spite of its name, it
had turned out to be a very pretentious log structure evidently built
for just such a purpose as they were planning to put it to now.
Allen Lodge was imposing with its wide front and its two-story porches.
The spacious living room was two stories high with the bedrooms opening
off a balcony which extended around three sides of the room. The large
dining room, kitchen and pantry, were on the Lake side. There were
great fireplaces in many of the rooms and Philip said that it must
have been planned as a summer hotel or a hunting lodge because the
arrangement was ideal for large numbers of people.
The interior, with its lovely hand-hewn rafters and paneled walls was
a delight to the eye, and even better, it was easy to take care of.
Allen Lodge suggested nothing but comfort. No one knew of its secret
room except the Allens and their newly made friend.
They had heard when they first came here that the house was haunted,
but it had not taken them long to discover that the ghost was only
Adra Prentice, a very nice girl whom they had discovered hiding in
the secret room. Adra, who was eighteen years old, had “haunted”
the Allen’s house when she had run away from her kidnappers. Their
adventures and the way they solved the mystery is told in _Penny Allen
and the Mystery of the Haunted House_. The four Allens were now ready
for a new adventure and they felt that their own house was the best
place to find it.
“Those old trunks aren’t filled with junk,” Marjorie was saying to
Jimmy. “Penny and I looked into one of them and it’s positively
overflowing with fascinating old dresses that would be wonderful if we
give a masquerade. And there’s an old jewelry box--”
“Filled to the brim,” Penny finished, smiling, “with costume jewelry
not worth a cent.”
“See?” Jimmy demanded, grinning at Marjorie. “Junk.” He turned to Phil.
“Pat asked me to plant some beans in his garden behind the cabin the
Donahues are going to occupy. If you don’t need me, I’ll go do it now.”
“Go ahead,” Phil said. “It won’t take long.”
Pat Ryan, who had been Uncle John’s guide and the caretaker of the
Lodge, had just married Ann Mary. He and his new wife had voluntarily
taken over the responsibility of helping the Allens. Philip and Penny
realized they would be lost without the Ryans in this undertaking. As
Philip said, “They’ve completely spoiled us. I wouldn’t think of doing
anything without first consulting Pat. He seems to know everything
about everything and as luck would have it, we know next to nothing
about anything. Fate must have brought us together, or better yet,
Uncle John must have had us in mind when he first got Pat to work for
him.”
Penny agreed wholeheartedly with Phil.
“Pat’s orders,” she told Jimmy before he started off to plant beans,
“must always be obeyed.” She pointed gaily to the blankets that were
swaying and billowing in the sunny June breeze. “See what I’ve done
with our household chattels! To think I might have gone through life
only knowing about readin’, writin’ and ’rithmetic if Ann Mary hadn’t
taken me in hand and shown me how to run a house.”
“Don’t feel so cocky, Sis,” said Jimmy, an impish grin on his face.
“You probably have lots more to learn. All I can say is, you’d better
hurry up and acquire the missing knowledge before Peter gets here.”
Penny blushed at the mention of Peter Wyland’s name. Even though he
was an old friend and the Allens had known him for years, he had just
recently shown his preference for Penny’s company and Penny was still
not used to being teased about it.
Phil shrewdly guessed that Penny had been in love with Peter ever since
last winter. That was when they had discovered that Peter was a secret
service man in the employ of Mr. Prentice. Phil had not talked to Penny
about Peter even when he noticed that she seemed to get letters from
Wyland quite regularly. Philip’s mind these days was much preoccupied
with thoughts of Adra Prentice. He seemed unable to get her out of his
mind, and he found that no matter what he was doing, his thoughts would
always go back to Adra.
Both Phil and Penny knew that Jimmy and Marjorie would never stop
teasing them about their feelings, so, contrary to their usual method
of discussing everything among themselves, they had not said anything
about this. Nevertheless, it seemed to be more or less understood, and
although Penny couldn’t help blushing, she pretended to ignore Jimmy’s
teasing remark.
“Get along with you,” Phil said to his younger brother. “If you don’t
plant those beans soon they’ll sprout in your pocket.”
Jimmy departed, laughing. “Come on, lazy-bones,” he called over his
shoulder to Marjorie. “I’ll let you help me for a change. Even _you_
can’t botch up a job as simple as planting beans.”
“Thank you, no,” Marjorie said with dignity. “I weeded all day
yesterday while you were fishing.” Marjorie had not missed Penny’s
blush, and couldn’t resist a chance for teasing her older sister. “Why
are your cheeks so pink, Penny?” she asked carelessly.
“She’s getting sunburned,” Phil said, quickly coming to Penny’s rescue.
“If you spent more time looking in the mirror, Marjorie, you’d see that
your own nose is as red as a beet.”
Just then an old Ford drew up in front of the house. Pat Ryan got out,
followed by the new summer help. Theresa, who was Pat’s sister and
lived in the nearby village, had a smile on her broad Irish face. The
Allens loved her Irish brogue and her tremendous bulk. Marjorie said
she was worth her weight in gold.
“It’s glad I am to be here working for the Allens,” she said.
Penny welcomed her and said, “It’s we who are glad you could come,
Theresa, and the rest of you too. We’d never be able to swing this
experiment if it weren’t for the Ryans and you, and we think you’re
bricks to do this on a co-operative basis, because right now we don’t
know if we’ll make a profit, or lose money.”
“Don’t you go worrying about a little thing like that,” answered
Theresa, and with a wink at Pat she added, “Anybody that finds out
about Ann Mary’s cooking will gladly pay double the fee you’re
charging, if Pat isn’t going to be too jealous to let anybody else
taste that good food.”
“Okay with me,” said Pat good-naturedly. “Providing I get my share.”
Slowly following behind Theresa were two people the Allens had never
met. Penny and Phil shook their hands as Theresa introduced them.
“This is Mr. and Mrs. Mal Donahue, Ann Mary’s cousins. Mrs. Donahue
was Kathleen Doherty and we always call her Kitty. It’s a cinch your
help will all be getting along fine together since we’re all Irish and
all related. Seems as though all the Irish are related to each other,
doesn’t it?”
This brought forth gales of laughter from Jimmy who had interrupted his
work in the garden to greet the new arrivals.
“I hope you like your cabin,” he said to the Donahues. “All of our
vegetables are growing right in your back yard, so whenever you get
hungry all you have to do is reach out the window and pick some pole
beans.”
They smiled at him while Philip said, “We hope you will be happy with
us, Mal and Kitty.”
Mal Donahue cleared his throat. “We’d like the job, sir, uh--er,” and
he hesitated. “We were--ahem--curious, you see. We heard the house was
haunted last winter, and some people say there’s hidden treasure around
here. We hope it’s just a plain ordinary house. Kitty and I don’t like
surprises.” This speech was made with some effort and once again Jimmy
couldn’t control his amusement.
He laughed and slapped Mal on the back. “If there’s any treasure, old
man, you and I will find it together.” This seemed to reassure Mal.
When Philip and Penny walked toward the Lodge later, she said, “I think
we are lucky, Phil, to get these young folks. I like their looks, don’t
you?”
“I certainly do,” Philip agreed. “And Pat and Ann Mary will need all
the extra help they can get. If things work out the way we hope they
will, we’ll have to hire more people from the village.”
Penny nodded. “I’m very pleased with Kitty. She looks like a dear, and
she’ll make a nice appearance waiting on the table.” She sighed. “It’s
too bad anyone as attractive as Ann Mary must stay in the kitchen most
of the time.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Phil said with a laugh. “I’m sure all our
guests will want to go back and tell her how good her food is and
they’ll get to know her that way. Besides,” he went on, “she won’t stay
in the kitchen all the time. Even if she’s supposed to do nothing but
cook, you know Ann Mary will pitch in and help the others whenever she
has any spare time.”
“That’s true,” Penny said thoughtfully. “And I’m beginning to see
what you mean about our getting organized. We really should all work
according to some sort of schedule so we won’t be getting in each
other’s way.”
“Exactly,” Philip said. “We must have a serious meeting this evening
and assign definite tasks to each one of us.”
“Right after dinner,” Penny agreed. “Now, before we go back to work in
the house, let’s read the mail the postman left on the porch a while
ago. I--I,” she confided, “I’m sort of hoping I’ll hear from Peter
Wyland. He’s not sure he can take a vacation from his job until the end
of summer.”
“Cheer up, Sis,” Phil said encouragingly. “Maybe there’ll be a letter
from him saying he can come sooner.”
They hurried up the steps to the porch where a stack of letters was
waiting for them.