“Ha!” cried Phil. “More burglars!”
“Yes; come join us,” replied Penny, unwrapping some brick ice cream.
“Delighted,” returned her brother. “We need to celebrate. Adra and I have just reached a momentous decision and this Lodge can hardly contain me, big as it is.”
“Honest? Oh, Adra, you perfect dear!” and Penny dropped the ice cream to hug Adra with enthusiasm. And Peter, who had caught the ice cream on his plate, shook hands with Philip after carefully setting down his burden.
“You know,” said Peter slyly, “Philip was going to tell us what Mr. Taggart said when he confessed, but I guess Adra has made him completely forget it.”
“That she has,” answered Philip. “Anything else that happened tonight is very unimportant by comparison with this. After all, that’s over. Exciting enough while it lasted, but not nearly as interesting as plans for my future life with Adra.”
“Listen to the hero make little out of his great adventure,” cried Penny. “Phil, I can’t stand it another minute. Begin at the beginning and tell us every word Mr. Taggart said when he confessed. How did he know there was a secret drawer in the safe, and what was in the drawer?”
For answer, Peter led the way to the porch. “Wake up, Sleepy Heads,” he said, nudging Marjorie and Jimmy. “Wake up and hear a bedtime story about hidden treasure!”
“Hidden treasure,” Marjorie repeated, instantly wide awake. “Phil! You’ve been keeping something important from us.”
“I told you it was a family matter,” Phil said, putting his arm around Adra. “And before I told the tale I wanted to be sure that Adra as well as Peter will soon be members of our family.”