After asking a few questions, the girls went on upstairs to the attic. It was a large, roomy affair with only one small window high above their heads.
“Ug!” Cara emitted as she brushed against a cobweb. “I don’t care for this place.”
She became more enthusiastic as she noted an interesting array of boxes, old chests, and discarded furniture. It was fun to dig into things. Madge discovered a Paisley shawl which she insisted was a treasure and Cara found a beautiful woven coverlet stored away with old clothing. But there was not so much as a clue to the whereabouts of the Swenster pearls.
At last, grimy and tired, the girls returned to the living room, bearing their plunder.
“I had even forgotten I owned such things,” Miss Swenster declared when they showed her the shawl and the coverlet. “My grandmother wove that spread herself. And the shawl was brought over to this country so many years back that I’ve forgotten the exact date. Dear me, how I shall hate to dispose of them.”
“Must you?” Madge asked.
“I can’t very well keep them. I have saved out so many treasures now that I’ll not have places to store them. I know! You girls must accept them as gifts! I’ll give Madge the shawl and Cara the coverlet.”
Miss Swenster refused to listen to their protests. In the end they thanked her profusely for the generous gifts, promising they would take good care of them. Both were proud to own such treasures. They were eager to return home to display their prizes, but first they insisted upon doing the dusting which they had started hours before.
Miss Swenster again assured them it was unnecessary. Nevertheless, they went about it in business-like fashion, working vigorously. Soon only the study remained.
“Shall we dust in there?” Madge inquired, not wishing to repeat the mistake previously made.