Before the widow could reply, the three were startled by heavy footsteps on the veranda. Turning, the girls saw that Jay Franklin had approached without being observed. Politely, he doffed his hat.
“Excuse me, I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation,” he said, bowing again to Mrs. Marborough. “You were saying something about a rock which bears writing?”
“We found it on the hillside near here,” Penny explained. “It has a date—1599.”
“Then it must be a mate to the stone discovered by Mr. Gleason!”
“I’m sure it is.”
“Will you take me to the spot where you found it?” Mr. Franklin requested. “I am tremendously interested.”
“Of course,” Penny agreed, but her voice lacked enthusiasm.
She glanced toward Louise, noticing that her chum did not look particularly elated either. Neither could have explained the feeling, but Jay Franklin’s arrival detracted from the pleasure of their discovery. Although ashamed of their suspicions, they were afraid that the man might try to take credit for finding the stone.
CHAPTER
8
A MOVING LIGHT
As if to confirm the thought of the two girls, Jay Franklin remarked that should the newly discovered stone prove similar to the one found at the Gleason farm, he would immediately have it hauled to the Riverview museum.