The Mystery of the Deserted Village

The Mystery of the Deserted Village
by Elbert M. Hoppenstedt
Franklin Watts, Inc. 575 Lexington Avenue · New York 22
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number : 60-11186
© 1960 by Franklin Watts, Inc. Printed in the United States of America
FIRST PRINTING
For Richard
The Mystery of the Deserted Village
Ronnie was in the hayloft sliding down the piles of newly-stacked hay when he heard the car drive up into the yard and come to a stop. Spitting a mouthful of hayseeds from his lips and tongue, he ran over to the open doors and peered down into the yard.
The car was shiny and new, a big black sedan with white-walled tires. A man in a business suit carrying a briefcase climbed out of the driver’s seat and headed briskly for the front door of the house.
Ronnie knew who he was and why he was here, and his heart sank. Why did the St. Lawrence Seaway need a piece of the Rorth farm land, and why did it have to be just that part where the deserted village lay?
Of course he really knew the answers to his questions. What he meant was—why did it have to happen that way? Why did the land have to be so low that when the dam was built and the waters of the St. Lawrence River began to pile up behind it, the deserted village would be flooded?