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Ebook has 1059 lines and 41930 words, and 22 pages

FALCON BOOKS

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.

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

AND THE

Mystery of the Hidden Treasure

BY JEAN MCKECHNIE

THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY CLEVELAND AND NEW YORK

COPYRIGHT 1950 BY THE WORLD PUBLISHING COMPANY

MANUFACTURED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA

AND THE MYSTERY OF THE HIDDEN TREASURE

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.

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.

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.

"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."

"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."

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