The following day, Grandfather drove the family station wagon up a long, winding gravel driveway. Ahead, the Aldens could see a very large brick house with white shutters.
A maid met them at the door. She led them to a comfortable living room with a large bay window overlooking a rose garden. A kind-looking gentleman greeted them.
“I’m so happy you came.” Mr. Withington shook Grandfather’s hand warmly. “Rob told me so much about your family.”
Mr. Withington turned to Henry, Jessie, Violet, Benny, and Aunt Jane. “I can’t thank you enough for finding my coin collection. It really means so much to me.” He beamed at all the Aldens.
Benny was busy looking at a large tray with a chocolate layer cake and strawberries on it. Suddenly, the doorbell rang again. A moment later, the maid came in with Rob.
After greeting everyone, Rob helped himself to some tea from the silver tea set on the piano. Mr. Withington sat in a comfortable armchair by the fireplace. The others settled themselves around him.
Rob reached in his jacket and brought out the leather pouch of coins. “Here they are,” he said, handing them to Mr. Withington.
Mr. Withington accepted the coins gratefully, but he looked a little sad just the same. “I still can’t really believe Eliza and Matt were responsible for all of this.”
“Yes, unfortunately they were.” Rob looked sad, too. “They planned this robbery long before they started working here.They’re both wanted for burglary in other states.”
“I wonder why they left the coins in the woods in the first place,” Jessie said as she helped herself to some lemonade the maid brought.
“They wanted to hide them until all the publicity had died down a bit,” Rob explained.
“If Angela knew where the coins were, why didn’t she just take them out of their hiding place in the woods after Matt and she broke up?” Henry asked.
“It’s almost impossible to travel to Timberwolf Lake in the winter,” Rob explained. Mr. Withington nodded. “They had to wait until the spring before they could go and get the coins.
“Besides, Angela is the type of person who likes to play games. She liked the idea of scaring Matt almost as much as she wanted the coins,” Rob said.
“She sure did a good job scaring us, too,” Benny mentioned. He took the big glass ofmilk the maid handed him. His glass had little red canoes all over it.
Mr. Withington opened the pouch of coins and spread them out on the coffee table in front of him. Violet picked up a pretty silver coin with a willow tree on it and held it up to the light.
“That was one of the first coins to be minted in the colonies,” Mr. Withington explained to her.
Violet smiled at him. “You know,” she said, turning to Rob, “I still don’t understand how Angela had time to steal all our canoe equipment at the bunkhouse.”
“She moved very quickly. She saw you arrive in the canoe and stole everything before she even went to the bunkhouse to meet you.” Rob had picked up a large gold doubloon and was examining it.
“She must have thought her job was over with Matt and Bill off the trail,” Mr. Withington remarked.
“Yes, she never dreamed she’d have so many people to scare off, this early in the canoeing season. That was the trouble. She had no time to take the coins out of their hiding place. She never thought some children would be able to find them.” Rob smiled at the Aldens.
“What about the attempted robbery in the local museum?” Grandfather wondered. He poured more milk into his tea.
“Oh, Angela did that, too,” Rob said. “She thought they might have some rare colonial coins that would add to the value of Mr. Withington’s collection.”
“Goodness, she thought of almost everything,” Mr. Withington said.
“Yes, she even knew where Matt and Bill were. We picked them up this morning. They’re still itching from their poison ivy,” Rob chuckled.
“Will we ever get our camping equipment back?” Benny asked.
“I’m afraid it sank with Angela’s canoe,” Rob said.
Mr. Withington cleared his throat. “I’m planning to replace the equipment you lost,” he said. “It’s the least I could do.”
“Thank you, Mr. Withington.” Violet beamed.
“Ernie will thank you, too,” Henry said, smiling.
“Now, why don’t you all have something to eat, if you’re hungry,” Mr. Withington said.
“Oh, I’m always hungry,” Benny said. He helped himself to some chocolate cake and took a big bite. “You know, the hot dogs on the trail were good,” he said. “But this is much better!”
Everyone laughed. |