“There’s no question about it,” Penny declared as they set off for Rose Acres. “Mrs. Marborough sold her beautiful things to Mr. Butterworth.”
“He can’t appreciate their value or he never would offer them at such low prices,” Louise added. “Anyone who buys those things will obtain wonderful bargains.”
Penny nodded soberly. Lost in thought, she had little to say until the girls drew near Rose Acres.
“Don’t let on to Mrs. Marborough that we’ve learned about the furniture,” she warned. “It’s really none of our affair if she sells her belongings.”
The widow had been expecting the girls and had everything in readiness to explore the tunnel. While they searched it from end to end, she waited hopefully at the wishing well.
“Have you found anything?” she called several times.
“Not yet,” Penny would reply patiently.
She and Louise laboriously examined every inch of the bricked passageway but with fading hope. The walls were firm, giving no indication that anything ever had been hidden behind or within them. To have excavated the hard-packed dirt flooring was a task not to be considered at the moment.
“There’s nothing here,” Penny whispered to her chum. “I doubt that the pearls ever were hidden in this tunnel.”
“Mrs. Marborough will be terribly disappointed,” Louise replied in an undertone. “What shall we tell her?”