Then he came scrambling down into the fireplace again. His hands and face were black with soot, his clothes were ruined, but he bore in his hands an object that brought shouts of delight from the boys.
“The rosewood box!” declared Joe.
Frank nodded.
“Elroy Jefferson’s stamp collection!”
The others crowded around him. Frank held the box up. It was a beautiful object, and although it had been hidden in the chimney for many years, its rosewood surface was almost as lustrous as on the day it was first concealed. Great excitement prevailed. The mystery of the chimney had been solved. The boys all talked at once. All clamored that the box be opened.
Frank undid the catch. They looked inside.
There, neatly arranged on sheets, were the rare stamps that had been Elroy Jefferson’s pride—the stamps that were worth a fortune!
“Hurrah!” shouted Biff. Chet and Joe did a dance of joy. Frank closed the lid of the rosewood box.
“I found it right at the place mentioned in the cipher,” he said. “We didn’t discover it before, because the box had been hidden in a hollow right in the middle of one of the stones, and it had been mortared up when they were building the chimney. The shaking-up the chimney got a little while ago had broken the mortar and dislodged the stone. When I turned the flashlight on it I could plainly see the hollow and I knew something was hidden there. I dusted away the mortar, pried the stone up a little—and there was the box!”
A harsh voice interrupted him.