Madge made a silent resolution that she would never give up until the pearls were found. Surely, the old diary would furnish the clue she needed!
The girls helped with the dishes. The instant they had stacked them away, they hurried back to the study, burying themselves again in the diary.
“We’re nearly at the end,” Madge warned. “Hold your breath and hope.”
She turned several blank pages, and then in an awed voice read aloud:
“‘It was unfair of my father to will the pearls to Rose, though the action did not surprise me greatly. I am determined she never shall wear them! If I cannot have them myself, then I shall hide them where they never will be found.’”
“Oh!” Cara breathed. “How mean!”
“Listen!” Madge commanded, reading on: “‘I have taken only old Uncle George into my confidence and he has sworn that he will never tell. Last night, when everyone was abed we hid the pearls in the—’”
“Go on! Go on!”
“That’s the end of the page.”
In her eagerness, Madge fumbled the sheets. At last she managed to get the page turned over, but as she stared down, she uttered a startled gasp.