At breakfast they talked about the two boats and the two men.
“It’s time to ring the bell,” said Benny. “I have to go.”
But Benny really had something else in mind. He wanted to look around the schoolhouse. He wanted to see where the hole went in George Washington’s coat button.
Benny unlocked the schoolroom door and went at once into the back hall. The wood for the winter was there, piled high. There was the back door, a window, and the big chimney. He rattled the window. It was unlocked. The lock was very old and looked as if it hadn’t been locked for a long time. Benny tried it. The lock was broken. It certainly had been broken for years.
Benny looked at the floor under the window and saw some flakes of dry white paint just exactly like the dry paint on the windowsill.
“I bet someone came through this window last night,” he thought. “But why? I like to do things by myself, but this time I wish I could tell John Carter who works for Grandfather. After all, he used to be an F.B.I. man.”
Benny looked around again. Only the big chimney was left, and the broom closet next to it. He opened the small door. Just a broom closet. There was a broom in it.
At recess Benny got word to his family to wait after the children had gone home at noon. When they were alone in the school yard, Jessie said, “Well, Benny, what’s all this?”
“The back hall,” said Benny. “Come and see.”
The four Aldens all went into the tiny back hall.
“See that old dry paint on the floor?” said Benny.
“Yes, old man,” said Henry. He bent over to look. “You are clever! This hasn’t been here long. Somebody must have come in through the window. Maybe this is where Freddy slept last night.”
“This broom closet is just a broom closet,” said Benny. He opened the door beside the huge chimney. “See, there’s a broom in it.”
“Wait!” said Henry. “See those wood planks this closet is made of? If we could only pry them off—”
Henry opened his knife and pried away at one board. It was loose and came off easily. And there was a little brick room in the chimney!
“I thought this chimney was awfully big,” said Henry. “And it has a queer shape. This is the reason, of course. Somebody wanted to make a place to hide in.”
“Who?” asked Benny.
“Well, I don’t know. It was made that way when the schoolhouse was built, and that was a long time ago. I do know that a lot of New England people built their houses with a hiding place in the chimney. I’m sure this is one of them. A perfect place!”
“It is a perfect place for us, too,” said Benny, “if we want to watch what is going on in the schoolroom.”
“What’s the idea, Benny?” asked Violet. “Why would we ever want to watch the children?”
“Not the children, Violet!” said Benny. “Not in the daytime, either. At night! We can watch Freddy Willet if he ever comes in here, and I think he does.”
“I think so, too, Ben,” said Henry. “He must have some place to hide his things.”
They put the planks back, locked the front door, and went home to lunch. They told Mr. Alden all about the room in the chimney. After lunch, Grandfather said, “I know something you don’t know!”
The children laughed. “What is it?” asked Violet.
Then Mr. Alden told them about the Gray Library and the old books. When Benny heard it, he pushed back his bench. “That’s where I’m going,” he said. “Maybe I can find some pictures for my class.”
“I don’t think you will, Benny,” said Mr. Alden. “Mr. Fenton said the books were all old.”
“Well, maybe there’s an old picture of George Washington,” said Benny. “Anyway I want to see the library.”
Benny took a notebook, and off he went. Sure enough, the door of the library was not locked. Benny gave it a push and went right in. He found himself in a room just the size of the building. There were bookcases all around the room and one tall one down the middle.
“Well, here goes!” said Benny out loud. He began to whistle. He went to the first bookcase. He looked at the dusty books on the top shelves. Then he dropped to his knees to look at the books near the floor. All at once he had a queer feeling that someone was in the room. He listened, but he didn’t hear a sound.
“This is nonsense,” he thought. “Mr. Fenton says nobody ever comes here.”
Then he heard a very, very soft noise. “What is that?” he thought. “Somebody is certainly in here!” But he did not get up or turn around. He listened. Then he heard the noise again. It was behind the middle bookcase. Benny knew that he couldn’t see over it if he did turn around. Then there was a soft thud and then another. Benny rushed around the bookcase just in time to see the fingers of a hand disappear from the sill of the open window.
“Well, well, Mr. Willet!” said Benny out loud. He rushed to the window and looked out. Nobody was in sight.
“Freddy is hiding, that’s sure,” said Benny to himself. “He hasn’t had time to get anywhere. But I know what I’m going to do.” He ran up the cliff walk to the mansion!
Benny smiled as he rang the bell because he saw Eva peeking at him. In a minute Miss Gray herself opened the door.
“Sorry, Miss Gray,” said Benny, very fast, “I think someone just stole some books out of the library. I thought I ought to tell you first. Maybe those books are valuable.”
Eva’s eyes grew big and round as Miss Gray said, “Thank you, Benny. I’ll look myself. Nobody else knows the books. You come, too, Eva.”
The three people went quickly down the cliff. Miss Gray went into the library and straight over to the last rows of books. There was the empty space exactly where she thought it would be. She knew which were the most valuable books, and so did Mr. Willet.
“There are four books gone here,” she said. “They were a set. I never had an idea they would be stolen. And over here! Yes, some more are missing. Mr. Willet must have been here before.”
She went around the room and found empty spaces everywhere. “Oh, dear!” said Miss Gray. “He has taken the very best books! He can sell them for a lot of money.”
“But look here, Miss Gray,” said Benny. “See this sign? It says you can borrow anything you want and sign your name. And here is Freddy Willet’s name!”
“I don’t think he will bring them back,” said Miss Gray. “How foolish I was not to lock the door!”
“I don’t think so,” said Benny. “Freddy would have climbed in the window. Windows and doors don’t stop our Freddy. That’s why I think he is a thief. Don’t worry too much, Miss Gray. My grandfather has Freddy on his mind. And my grandfather doesn’t slip up very often.” |