“But we must tell you,” interrupted Phyllis, eagerly, “that we aren’t going to sail under any false colors! We found that little box,—or rather, Rags here found it—and we didn’t have a notion, of course, to whom it could belong and we were just wild to get it open and see what was in it. When we couldn’t manage that, we hid it away in the safest place we could think of, to wait for what would happen. I’m afraid we didn’t make any very desperate hunt for the owner, and when we suspected that Eileen might have something to do with it, I’m ashamed to say that we wouldn’t give it up to her—at first—because we were annoyed at the way she acted. We didn’t understand, of course, but that doesn’t excuse it!”
“All that you say may be true,” smiled Mr. Ramsay, “but that does not alter the fact that you delivered it up the moment you discovered the rightful owner. And Miss Phyllis’s clever little ruse of burying the false box probably saved Geoffrey a bad time. For if those fellows hadn’t found something there that night, they would certainly have made it hot for him. As it was, it gained us so much time that Detective Barnes had a chance to get my man out of their clutches before they had done him any damage, though they were furious at being duped. They’re all safely in jail now, and there is nothing more to fear from them. Of course, the principal who hired them is safe, over in China, but he didn’t gain his point,—and that’s the main thing! As for the letters, I concluded that, after all, my ideas as to how to keep them safely were out of date, and they have long since been forwarded to Washington, in care of Barnes, and are now in the hands of my country’s representative there. I shall not concern myself any further about their security.”
He put his hands in his pocket and drew out the little bronze casket. Then he went on,—
“This little box has had some strange adventures in its day, but nothing stranger than the one it has just passed through. It has, however, something else in it, that I thought might be of interest to you, and so I have brought it along and will explain about it.” He opened the box in the same way as Eileen had done and revealed to their curious gaze the fragile old bits of paper they had seen on that eventful night. He took them out, fingered them thoughtfully, and handed one to each of the four young folks.
“There is a strange little adventure connected with these that perhaps you may be interested to hear,” he continued. “It happened when I was passing through the city of Peking, some years ago, during their revolution. There was a good deal of lawlessness rife at the time, and bands of natives were running about, pillaging and looting anything they thought it safe to tamper with. One day, in one of the open places of the city, I happened along just in time to see ten or a dozen lawless natives pulling from its pedestal a great bronze idol, hideous as they make ’em, that had stood there probably for uncounted centuries. When they got it to the ground, they found it to be hollow inside, as most of the really ancient ones are, and filled with all manner of articles representing the sacrifices that had been made to it, through the ages, and placed inside it by their priests. These articles included everything from real jewels of undoubted value to papier-mâché imitations of food—a device the Chinese often use in sacrificing to the idols.
“Of course, the mob made an immediate grab for the jewels, but it had begun to make my blood boil to see them making off with so much unlawful booty. So, almost without thinking, I snatched out my revolver, placed myself in front of the pile, and shouted to them that I would shoot the first one who laid a finger on the stuff. And in the same breath I sent Geoffrey hurrying to find some of the city authorities to come and rescue what would probably be some thousands of dollars’ worth of gems.
“Fortunately, I was armed with an effective weapon and they were not. So I managed to hold the fort till Geoffrey returned with the authorities, and on seeing them, the mob promptly melted away. The mandarin wanted to present me with some of the jewels, in gratitude for my services, but I had no wish for them and only asked permission to take with me a few of these little scraps of paper, which had been among the medley of articles in the idol’s interior. Of course they assented, deeming me, no doubt, a very stupid ‘foreign devil’ to be so easily satisfied! I have carried them about with me for several years, and now I am going to give them to you young folks—one to each of you, as a little token of my gratitude for your invaluable help!”
He sat back in his chair, smiling benignly, while he watched the bewilderment on all their faces. Ted, Phyllis, and Leslie were striving to hide this, under a polite assumption of intense gratitude, though they were a bit puzzled as to why he should choose them, of all people, who had no very great interest in such things, as recipients of this special gift. But his own granddaughter was under less compulsion to assume what she did not feel.
“This is awfully good of you, Granddaddy!” she cried, “but I don’t honestly see what the big idea is! I think that story of yours was ripping, but I don’t exactly know what to do with this little bit of paper. It seems so old and frail, too, that I’m almost afraid a breath will blow it to pieces. I really think it will be safer in your care.”
He was still smiling indulgently. “I suspected that the outspoken Eileen would voice the general opinion of this gift! I don’t mind it in the least, and I don’t blame you a bit for feeling a trifle bewildered about the matter. But I haven’t told you the whole story yet. To continue! As I said before, I carried these bits of paper around with me for a number of years, simply because they reminded me of my little adventure. Then, one day early this past summer, on the steamer coming across the Pacific, I chanced to meet a man connected with the British Museum whom I soon discovered to be one of the principal experts on Chinese antiquities. And it occurred to me to show him these bits of paper and ask if he could imagine what they were. He examined them carefully and then came to me in great delight, declaring that they certainly were, beyond a shadow of doubt, the oldest existing specimens of Chinese paper money!