With fingers fumbling in her haste Jo Ann was already untying the string about the box. Her eyes shining, she turned its contents upon a chair in front of Dr. Blackwell. Under the bright lights the jewels sparkled far more brilliantly than they had in the tunnel.
In the silence that followed, the three girls waited breathlessly. What would Dr. Blackwell and the Señor say about their discovery? Would they be forgiven now for the anxiety they had caused?
After a long pause Dr. Blackwell gently pulled Florence down on the arm of his chair. “They’re beautiful,” he said, “but I shudder to think of the risks you three took to get them—of what might have happened to you. No one would ever have known where you were. I’m so thankful to have you all back safe and sound. You’re far more precious to me than these jewels.”
“Oh, but, doctor, it wasn’t as dangerous as it sounds,” put in Jo Ann eagerly. “We were very careful.” Recalling some of her moments of anxiety in the past few hours, she hesitated and added a little less confidently, “Perhaps it was more dangerous than we realized, but we’re all right now, and we wanted so badly to solve the mystery of that window and to surprise you.”
A smile passed over Dr. Blackwell’s face. “You surprised me all right.”
Encouraged by this change of expression on the doctor’s face, Jo Ann went on, “I’m sorry you were worried. We thought we’d get back before you discovered we were gone. You’ll forgive us, won’t you?”
“Yes,” Dr. Blackwell replied slowly, “provided you all promise never to risk your precious lives that way again.”
“Oh, we’ll promise that, won’t we, girls?”
Florence and Peggy nodded an emphatic assent.
With a wave of her hand toward the jewels Jo Ann added, “Now that we’ve explored that tunnel and found all these, we’re satisfied.” She turned then and handed Señor Rodriguez the old yellowed papers. “I’m sure you’ll be interested in these papers. They look like old records.”