“Jessie, Violet, wake up,” said Benny.
Violet opened her eyes and sat up. “What time is it?”
“Five-thirty,” said Benny.
“Ugh,” said Violet, falling back onto her pillow.
Benny had set his little alarm clock for five-thirty to give them time to get dressed and get to the Quad by six. He and Henry had already put on their clothes.
Jessie sprang out of bed. “Come on, Violet! Let’s go find the treasure!”
The children reached the Quad a few minutes before six. They walked past the building under construction, with its wooden frame and piles of dirt. When they had reached the lawn in between McGraw and Morrill Halls, they stopped and looked around.
“I feel as if we should be looking for something,” Violet said, “but I’m not sure what.”
“I know what you mean,” Jessie agreed.
Then they heard the clock strike. Ding, ding, ding, it began. The children looked around. Ding, ding, it continued. Ding. The last chime hung in the air.
“Well?” Benny asked. “The clock has struck six. Now what?”
“I don’t know,” said Henry.
“Let’s look at the letter again,” suggested Violet.
“I’m hot,” said Benny. It was an unusually hot day and he had run straight up the hill to the Quad because he was so excited. “Let’s sit down in the shade while we read it.” He walked over and sat down in the shadow of the tower, which cut across the Quad in a long line.
As they all sat down, Violet pulled out the letter. “It says, ‘The tower will point the way.’ What does that mean?”
Suddenly Jessie said, “That’s it! Look at the tower’s shadow!”
The shadow was a long thin rectangle, with a point at the top because of the pointed roof.
“Oh, my goodness!” Violet exclaimed. “It looks like a giant arrow.”
“It really is pointing the way!” Benny said.
“It looks like it’s pointing to a spot right here,” Henry said, marking the ground with his foot.
“That must be where it’s buried!” said Jessie.
“And that would explain why we had to be here at six on a summer morning—the tower’s shadow would be different at different times of the year and different times of the day,” Henry pointed out.
The children looked at one another, their faces glowing with excitement.
“What are we waiting for?” Benny cried. “Let’s start digging!”
“I don’t think we can just start digging up the middle of the Quad,” Violet said uncertainly.
“No, I don’t think so, either,” said Henry.
“But we can’t just do nothing!” Benny said. “There’s a treasure down there.”
“There might be a treasure,” Jessie reminded him. “Someone might already have found it.”
“We need to ask someone if it’s okay to dig,” Henry said.
“Look at that truck.” Violet pointed off to the side of the Quad, where some men in green jumpsuits were trimming bushes. “It says ‘Goldwin University Grounds Crew’ on the side. They might be good people to ask.”
The children ran over to where the men were working. Jessie noticed that one of the men had a walkie-talkie and a clipboard. He seemed to be in charge. When she got closer she saw his jumpsuit had the words HEAD GROUNDSKEEPER embroidered over the left breast pocket.
“Excuse me,” she said to the man. “We have a question to ask you.”
“What can I do for you, young lady?” he asked.
“I know this is going to sound strange, but we’d like to dig a hole in the Quad, over there where the tower’s shadow ends.” Jessie turned and pointed. “Would that be okay?”
“What are you doing, searching for buried treasure?” the man asked, chuckling. “Normally I’d say no, but they’re going to be digging up this area anyway this week, to put in a water line for the new construction. So it’s fine with me!”
“Thank you!” Jessie said.
“You can even borrow our shovels, if you like,” he said, motioning to some shovels in the back of the truck.
Jessie looked around at the others.
“That would be great,” Henry said as he and Jessie each took two large shovels out of the truck. “We’ll bring them back in a little while.”
The four children walked back to the spot between Morrill and McGraw, carrying the shovels. When they got to the spot where the shadow seemed to be pointing, they started digging. Henry pushed his shovel in first, pulling up a big pile of dirt. The others joined in.
All of a sudden Benny stopped shoveling.
“What’s the matter, Benny?” Jessie asked as she lifted a shovelful of dirt and dumped it in the growing pile.
“I was just thinking about Professor Meyer’s glasses,” Benny said, going back to his digging.
“Why were you thinking about that?” Henry asked.
“Remember last night I said her glasses were the same as Mrs. McGregor’s?” Benny said.
The other children nodded.
“I just realized something. That’s not why they looked familiar. It’s because they’re the same glasses we found up in the clock tower,” he said.
“Really?” Jessie asked. “That would mean Professor Meyer has been up in the tower at night. Maybe she dropped the letter!”
“Remember when we showed her the letter?” Violet asked. “She said, ‘So that’s what happened to it.’ ”
“And she wears sneakers,” Benny said excitedly. “That would explain that muddy footprint.”
“Maybe this is the ‘special project’ she’d said she was working on,” Henry said. “Remember—she said she was always hoping to make a little more money. Finding a treasure would certainly do that!”
“But she seems so nice,” Jessie said. “I can’t believe she would be up to no good.”
“And how could she find a treasure if she can’t even find her own glasses?” Benny asked.
“Maybe that’s just an act,” said Henry. “Maybe she just pretends to be nice and sweet and forgetful, when she really knows exactly what she’s doing.”
By now they had dug a hole about a foot deep. But there was no sign of a treasure.
“What if this isn’t the right spot?” Benny asked, taking a break and leaning on his shovel. It was hard work, and the children were all getting tired and sweaty.
“Or what if the treasure is already gone?” asked Violet.
“Let’s dig a little while longer before we give up,” Henry suggested.
“Okay,” the others agreed.
A moment later, Jessie’s shovel hit something hard. “I think there’s something down here,” she said excitedly. The others began digging in that spot as quickly as they could.
“Yes, there’s definitely something hard here!” Violet said.
But when they’d pushed the dirt away, all they found was a large rock.
“Oh, no!” Benny said. “All that work for nothing. I bet it’s not here.”
Refusing to stop, Henry pushed his shovel into the ground one more time. The children all heard a loud clanging sound.
“What was that?” asked Benny.
“I don’t know, but it didn’t sound like dirt, and it didn’t sound like a rock,” said Henry.
Jessie, Violet, and Benny all came over and helped dig. At last they could see what Henry’s shovel had hit. It was the top of a large metal box!
“The treasure!” Benny cried.
“I don’t believe it,” said Jessie. “It’s really here!”
Getting down on their hands and knees, the children used their hands to clear the dirt away from the top and sides of the metal box. Then they dug more around the sides, until at last they had found the bottom corners of the box. After a little more digging, Henry and Jessie were able to reach down and put their arms around the big box, and put their hands underneath. “It’s heavy,” Henry said as he and Jessie slowly lifted.
“Yeah,” Jessie gasped. Slowly the two lifted the large metal box out of the hole.
“Wow, look at that,” said Violet.
The front of the box had a large heavy lock on it. “It’s a good thing we have the key,” said Benny.
“Let’s hope it fits,” Violet said, pulling it from her pocket.
She slipped the key into the old lock and turned. The lock clicked open.
The children looked at one another with anticipation. What would they find inside?
“Here goes,” Henry said. He and Jessie stood on either side of the box and slowly lifted the heavy lid.
Inside the box they found several bundles wrapped in cloth. Henry bent down and began unwrapping one. Inside was an antique silver teapot. He unwrapped another bundle and found a collection of silverware. A large cloth bag was filled with heavy gold and silver coins and jewelry.
The children just stood and stared, too stunned to speak. They had known they were on a treasure hunt, but they had never imagined they’d really find a treasure.
“I don’t believe it!” said Jessie.
“A real treasure,” said Benny.
“But it’s not ours,” Violet pointed out.
“No, we’ll have to return it to Joshua Chambers’s family,” said Henry.
“But still, I can’t believe we found a real treasure,” said Benny.
“You sure did,” said a voice behind them. “And you beat me to it!”
The children turned to see Julia Meyer standing behind them.
“Professor Meyer!” said Henry.
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