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119 pages

English

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The Wistmore children -- John, Desire, Priscilla and Rene -- live in Nova Scotia. After losing both of their parents within the span of a few months, they are penniless and unsure what to do. But when a strange encoded message written on a piece of paper comes into their lives, it opens up a path they never thought possible.

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Children's

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Publié par	The Floating Press
Date de parution	01 octobre 2015
Nombre de lectures	1
EAN13	9781776591770
Langue	English

Informations légales : prix de location à la page 0,0134€. Cette information est donnée uniquement à titre indicatif conformément à la législation en vigueur.

Extrait

FINDING THE LOST TREASURE
* * *
HELEN M. PERSONS

*
Finding the Lost Treasure First published in 1933 Epub ISBN 978-1-77659-177-0 Also available: PDF ISBN 978-1-77659-178-7 © 2013 The Floating Press and its licensors. All rights reserved. While every effort has been used to ensure the accuracy and reliability of the information contained in The Floating Press edition of this book, The Floating Press does not assume liability or responsibility for any errors or omissions in this book. The Floating Press does not accept responsibility for loss suffered as a result of reliance upon the accuracy or currency of information contained in this book. Do not use while operating a motor vehicle or heavy equipment. Many suitcases look alike. Visit www.thefloatingpress.com
Contents
*
Chapter I - A Mysterious Paper Chapter II - Desiré's Inspirations Chapter III - Two Callers Chapter IV - Out to Sea Chapter V - A Midnight Walk Chapter VI - The Pie Social Chapter VII - A Fright Chapter VIII - A Fight Chapter IX - In Camp Chapter X - A Night Prowler Chapter XI - The Blue-Covered Book Chapter XII - A Search for René Chapter XIII - Indians and Strawberries Chapter XIV - Two Mishaps Chapter XV - The Old Godet House Chapter XVI - A New Friend Chapter XVII - An Old Enemy Chapter XVIII - A Collision Chapter XIX - Poor Dolly! Chapter XX - Good Samaritans Chapter XXI - A Surprise Chapter XXII - Caught by Storm Chapter XXIII - Shelter Chapter XXIV - Back to Yarmouth Chapter XXV - Lobster Pots Chapter XXVI - Hands Off! Chapter XXVII - Jack's Jobs Chapter XXVIII - A Find Chapter XXIX - W-17 55 —15x12—6754 Endnotes
Chapter I - A Mysterious Paper
*
"W-17 55 -15x12-6754," read Desiré slowly. "What does it mean?"
"What does what mean, Dissy?" asked her younger sister, who was rolling aball across the floor to little René.
"Just some figures on an old paper I found, dear. I must tell Jack aboutthem. Do you know where he is?"
"Out there somewhere, I guess," replied the child, with a vague gestureindicating the front yard.
Desiré flung back her short dark curls and crossed the room to a windowwhere sturdy geraniums raised their scarlet clusters to the very top ofthe panes. It was the custom in that part of Nova Scotia to make aregular screen of blossoming plants in all front windows, sometimes evenin those of the cellar. Peering between two thick stems, she could seeher older brother sitting on the doorstep, gazing out across St. Mary'sBay which lay like a blue, blue flag along the shore.
Crossing the narrow hall and opening the outside door, Desiré droppeddown beside the boy and thrust a time-yellowed slip of paper into hishands.
"Did you ever see this?"
"Yes," he replied slowly. "A few days before he died, nôtre père wentover the contents of his tin box with me to make sure that I understoodall about the bills, and the mortgage on the farm and—"
"Mortgage!" exclaimed Desiré in shocked tones. "I never knew we had one."
"I, either, until that day. You see nôtre mère was sick so long thatall our little savings were used up, and ready money was an absolutenecessity."
"And what did he tell you about this?" continued the girl, after athoughtful pause, running her finger along the line of tantalizingcharacters.
"Nothing very definite. He said it was a memorandum of some kind that hadbeen handed down in our family for generations. The name of its writer,and its meaning, have been lost in the past; but each father passed it onto his eldest son, with a warning to preserve it most carefully, for itwas valuable."
"And now it belongs to you," concluded Desiré, half sadly, half proudly.
Jack nodded, and for several moments neither spoke.
John Wistmore, aged 18, Desiré, 14, Priscilla, 9, and René, 5, weredirect descendants of John Alden and Priscilla Mullins, whose story thepoet Longfellow tells in The Courtship of Miles Standish .
The little town of Sissiboo, an Indian corruption of SixHiboux [1] where they lived, is one of those settled bythe Acadians upon their return to the land of their birth some yearsafter the expulsion. So closely, so ramblingly are the villages strungalong the shores of St. Mary's Bay on the northwest coast of Nova Scotiathat it is hard to tell where one ends and the next begins. Theirinhabitants live exactly as did their ancestors, speaking French andpreserving with care all the old habits and customs.
The lives of the children had been simple, happy ones, until the recentdeath of their father and mother, hardly three months apart. JohnWistmore, in whose veins flowed the blood of men of culture and ambition,had been anxious to give his children greater educational advantages thanSissiboo afforded. Jack, therefore, had been sent to Wolfville to school,and was now ready for college; while Desiré was looking forward to highschool in the autumn. Now all was changed. Without relatives, withoutmoney, and without prospects, they faced the problem of supporting thetwo younger children and themselves.
"Where did you find this?" asked Jack, rousing himself.
"On the floor in front of the cupboard."
"It must have slipped from the box when I took out the mortgage. I wentover it with Nicolas Bouchard this morning."
"Oh, does he hold it?"
"Yes—and—"
"He wants his money?"
Jack nodded.
"But what can we do? We can't possibly pay him."
"Nothing, I guess, dear, except let him foreclose."
"Would we get any money at all, then?"
"Very little. Not enough to live on, certainly."
"I wish I knew what these mean," she sighed wistfully, touching the paperstill between her brother's fingers. "If we could only find out, maybewe'd get enough money to pay Nicolas."
Jack laughed in spite of his anxiety. "I'm afraid we'd all starve beforethey could be interpreted. Too bad, as things have gone, that I didn'tfarm as soon as I was old enough—"
"Don't say that! We'll hope and plan for your college course—"
"Desiré, dear," protested her brother, gently but firmly, "it isabsolutely out of the question, even to think of such a thing."
"But, Jack, every one should have some special goal in life, as anincentive if nothing else; and I'm not going to give up planning forour education. One never knows when good fortune is waiting just aroundthe next corner to complete one's own efforts."
"I guess our goal will be to provide food and clothing for thechildren. I'm afraid it will be a hard pull for you and me to keep thefamily together—"
"Oh, but we must stay together, Jack," she cried, grasping his arm.
"As far as I can see," he continued slowly, "the only thing to be done isto move to Halifax or Yarmouth, where I could get work of some kind.Should you mind very much?"
"Whatever you decide, I'll be willing to do," replied the girl bravely.
"If it will make you any happier," continued Jack, giving her one of hisgrave, sweet smiles, "we'll place higher education among our day dreams."
"If you folks ain't hungry, we are!" announced Priscilla, opening thedoor behind them so suddenly that both jumped.
"You see?" laughed Jack, as he pulled Desiré up from the low step.
"I've just had a wonderful inspiration though," she whispered as theyentered the hall.
Chapter II - Desiré's Inspirations
*
It was a quaint old room in which they settled down after supper had beeneaten and the children put to bed. The woodwork was painted a deep blue,known as Acadian blue, and the floor was bare except for a couple of ovalbraided rugs in which the same color predominated. In the center of theroom stood a hutch table, one that can be changed to a chest by reversingits hinged top. Around it were half a dozen high-backed chairs, theirseats made of strips of deerskin woven in and out like the paper matsmade in kindergartens. A spinning wheel stood beside the fireplace,before which sat Jack and Desiré, with no other light except that of thedancing flames.
"Now Dissy," said the boy, laying his hand affectionately over hers,"let's have the inspiration."
"It's this: that we stay on here as tenants. Nicolas can't live in thishouse and his own too!"
"But one trouble with that plan is that Nicolas wants to sell theproperty and get his money out."
"Who'd buy it? Nobody ever moves into or out of this town."
"He has a customer now. André Comeau's prospective father-in-law wants tomove here after the wedding. He can't bear to have Marie live so far awayfrom him. Sorry to spoil your inspiration, dear."
Desiré made no reply; for she was very close to tears, and she hated toact like a baby instead of the good pal her brother had always calledher.
"We're going to work on André's house again tomorrow," observed Jackpresently. "The roof's on, the floors laid, and by Saturday we should beable to start the barn."
In New Acadia all the relatives, friends, and neighbors of a man who isabout to be married join in building a new house for him. They clear apiece of land, haul materials, and labor for weeks on the construction ofhouse, barn, and sheds. When these are finished, the garden is prepared,the fields ploughed and planted, and the buildings furnished. Thebride-to-be contributes linens, and her people stock the farm withanimals. Some morning the whole countryside walks to church to see thecouple wedded, returning to the home of the bride's mother, where the dayis spent in feasting and merry-making. If the groom can afford it, hethen takes his bride to Yarmouth to spend a few days at the Grand Hotel.That is the greatest ambition of every rustic pair.
Jack talked on quietly about the house raising until he saw that hissister had recovered her composure. She was smiling bravely as he kissedher goodnight, but her sleep was broken by feverish dreams of the wornslip of paper, and a long journey.
When Jack returned at dusk the following evening, after a long day's workon André's house, he found Desiré waiting for him with sparkling eyes,flushed face, and such an air of repressed excitement that he wonderedwhat had happened while he had been away.
It was necessary to