“Magazines!” questioned Corene. They were all inspecting the danger sign half hidden in the grass.
“Yes. You know they sometimes bury explosives under the ground. Then they build a little mound above it and call it a magazine.”
“No mounds around here,” declared Julia, glancing critically over the flat surface between the hill and the springs.
“But here’s something,” observed Cleo, who had wandered off a short distance. “Looks like pieces of gray stone.” She stooped to pick up a sample and then hesitated. “See how they grow,” she remarked, “in a sort of star.”
Her companions gathered around to observe the curious formation, and Miss Mackin came closer.
“Those have been arranged that way,” she said. “See, someone has placed the little flat stones in the shape of a star. The boys really must have been up here,” she concluded.
The girls dropped on their knees and peered closely. Brushing back the grass it was now quite evident that star had been carefully formed, but it was hidden in a little pocket of deep grass, between two slopes that curved up to the rocky hills.
“And see how deep the pieces are buried,” commented Corene. She was prying up a sample with a small sharp stick.
“Some sort of clue, surely,” insisted Grace. “What kind of stone is it?”
“I wouldn’t disturb it,” suggested Miss Mackin. “Suppose we just mark the spot so we can find it again, if we want to?”