"But tell us more about the plot!" cried Margaret. "That's the main thing, after all. How did they intend to kill Washington?"
"Madame Mortier warned Allison that she wasn't to have any
communication with the rebels"
"Why, I read in one book that some one was to put poison in a dish of peas, but somehow Washington was warned about it ahead of time and didn't eat them, of course. But he learned all about the plot, and he had a lot of the conspirators arrested. One of them was courtmartialed and hanged, as a proof that such performances didn't pay. I'm glad somebody was punished for trying to do such an abominable thing, anyway!"
"Well, one thing I'm convinced of!" declared Bess. "That wicked old steward had a lot to do with the scheme. Don't you think so?"
"He certainly must have," agreed Corinne. "But what do you suppose he was doing down there in the cellar when Alison saw him that night, and why did he hide things in that place in the beam? And what part did Alison take in the plot, anyway? Isn't it simply distracting that her journal is torn off right there! And where can the rest of it be, and why was it torn at all? And why was this part saved so carefully? And what became of the sapphire signet? Seems to me as though I'd go crazy with all these unanswered questions pounding away in my brain!"
Nobody having any solutions to offer, again they all sat quietly for a while, till Margaret's eye happened to light on the pile of books that Corinne had laid on the floor.
"What are those, Corinne?"
"Oh, they are some books on New York City history that I got out of the library to read up. Each one has something about Richmond Hill in it. And this one even has a picture of the house. See! here it is."
They all crowded around her to look. "What a fine-looking place!" was the general comment. And Bess added: