Louise pried again at the lid of the charm. It gave suddenly.
Inside the tiny cavity was a folded piece of paper. While Louise stared in delighted awe, Penny gained possession. With nervous haste she unfolded the paper. She gazed at it a moment and her face fell.
“Why, I can’t make anything of the writing!” she declared in disappointment. “The words don’t make sense.”
“Just a mess of letters,” Louise agreed, peering over her shoulder.
The girls were decidedly let-down for they had gone to much trouble and risk to obtain the jade ornament. But Penny’s disappointment did not last long. As she stared at the paper, its significance dawned upon her.
“Why, this is important, Lou!” she cried. “Maybe we’ve stumbled into something big!”
“How do you mean?”
“Don’t you see?” Penny demanded triumphantly. “The letters, of this message must comprise a secret code! If only we can break it down we may learn all we need to know about Mrs. Deline and her strange friends!”
CHAPTER
21
THE CARDBOARD BOX
While Penny and Louise were puzzling over the strange writing found inside the jade charm, Mrs. Deline appeared in the doorway of the bath house. Barely in time to escape detection, the girls hid the tiny elephant and the paper in the sand.