“You certainly were,” Jimmy said. “And let me tell you, Sis, I thought I’d go nuts until we finally heard your voice.”
“Me, too,” Marjorie chimed in. “Gosh, Penny, it was just about the most awful few minutes of my life!”
“Well, let’s not talk about it any more,” Penny said. “The subject I want to discuss is the bottom of the well. I can’t really—”
“Gee,” Jimmy interrupted, “wouldn’t it be neat if we get to the bottom of the well and find pieces of gold. We’ll be on easy street the rest of our lives.” He added, more to himself than the others, “The first thing I’ll do is get a sailboat. I’ve found out already that I don’t know enough about naval architecture to build one.”
“Ha, you don’t get on easy street that easily,” said Penny. “Besides, I don’t remember feeling anything beneath my feet but slime, and if all you want is a sailboat, you’d better work for it!”
“I like that!” exclaimed Jimmy. “And what do you call digging away at that well? If that isn’t work, I’d like to know what you’d call it.”
“Oh, it’s work all right,” Penny said with a laugh. “But I think it’s work without any purpose.”
“So do I, in a way,” Phil said. “But the kids will never be happy until we get to the bottom and prove that there isn’t any treasure buried there.”
“You just wait until tomorrow,” Marjorie said stubbornly. “When we come running up to you, Penny, with our hands dripping with pieces of eight, then you and Phil will eat those words.” She raised her voice. “I know there’s something valuable hidden around here, and I, for one, am never going to give up until I’ve gone over every inch of the place with a fine-tooth comb!”
“You don’t have to shout about it,” Jimmy said. “If there is something valuable around here, let’s not encourage every Tom, Dick and Harry in the village to come out and try to find it first. Although,” he went on in a more sympathetic tone of voice, “I know how you feel, Marjorie. When Alf and Brook get here, and we haven’t found any gold by then, they’ll want to dig up the whole place, too.”