“Imagine finding a tunnel leading from the old wishing well to the house!” Rhoda cried in delight. “Take me through it! Show me everything!”
“Perhaps you can find the pearls,” Penny laughed. “So far Louise and I have failed.”
“They’re supposed to be hidden somewhere near the old wishing well,” Louise contributed. “That’s the only real clue we have.”
“I suppose you looked under the flagstones?”
“I did that many days ago,” answered Mrs. Marborough. “In fact, I don’t think there’s a single place I haven’t searched.”
“The roof of the well?” Rhoda suggested.
“We never once thought of that place!” Louise exclaimed. “But how could the necklace be secreted there?” She frowned as she stared at the steep-pitched, shingled covering which formed a protection over the well.
“It’s worth looking at anyhow!” Penny declared. “I’ll get a ladder if I can find one.”
“In the woodshed,” directed Mrs. Marborough.
Penny soon returned carrying a dust-laden step-ladder which had not seen service in many years. Bracing it against the well, she mounted and began to inspect the roof.