Gerald Merryweather uttered a yell of delight. "Destiny!" he shouted.
"My fate cries out. Quits, Mrs. Cook, quits! Come to my arms!"
And Margaret, peeping fearfully down through the trap-door, beheld her guest waving one hand, a crimson one, in the air, and with the other embracing the ample form of Frances the cook; while behind them the grave Elizabeth looked wide-eyed, shading her candle with her hand.
"For shame, sir!" said Frances. "Do behave, now, Mr. Gerald! I never see such a bold boy since born I was."
"No, no! not bold; don"t say bold, Mrs. Cook! Witness my blushing eyes, my tearful cheek, my stammering nose! Hush, listen, there"s a good soul.
Your doughnuts are food for the G.o.ds; also for Jerry. Poor Jerry; never had enough doughnuts in his life. You weep for him; let him dry the starting tear!"
Drawing out his pocket-handkerchief, he gravely applied it to Frances"s eyes and went on. "We are looking for the Lost Casket, Miss Montfort and I. If you can help us to it, Mrs. Cook,--
"I"ll dress thee all in pongo silk, And crown thee with a bowl of milk; And hail thee, till my last breath pa.s.ses, The queen of sugar and mola.s.ses.
A poet, as you observe. Nothing to what I can do, give me time and a yard measure. Now tell me--"
Margaret"s voice from above interrupted him.
"Mr. Merryweather, there is a loose brick here. I can pull it quite out; and--yes--there is a s.p.a.ce behind it, and--oh, can you bring the light?"
To s.n.a.t.c.h the lamp from Frances"s hand, blow her a kiss, and scramble up the steps again, was the work of an instant with Gerald. He found Margaret pale, with shining eyes, holding something in her hands.
"No!" cried Gerald. "I say, you haven"t--you have! eccentric Jiminy, you have found it!"
"I think I have!" said Margaret, who was fairly trembling with excitement. "Look! the letters on the lid! oh, Mr. Merryweather!"
The object she held was a box some eight inches square, of ebony or some other dark wood, banded with silver. On the lid were inlaid, also in silver, the letters C. M.
"Christina Montfort!" said Margaret. "Oh, to think of my being the one to find it!"
"I should like to know who else had the right to find it!" said Gerald.
"Punch their--I mean, of course, if they were fellows; I beg your pardon, Miss Montfort."
"It is locked," said Margaret. "We must wait, and try some of Uncle John"s keys."
"Take care!" exclaimed Gerald. "The bottom is dropping out. Hold your hand under it!"
As he spoke, the bottom of the box, which was of some soft wood and had rotted through, dropped, and something rolled out and fell into Margaret"s hand. She held it up to the light. It was a hawk"s egg, neatly blown.
CHAPTER XII.
THE EGG OF COLUMBUS
"Why, yes!" said Mr. Montfort. "It is my egg, certainly."
"Oh, Uncle John!"
"Well, sir, then--"
"Then you know all the--"
"Was it--"
"Did you--"
"Tell am what--"
Mr. Montfort put his hands resolutely over his ears, and shut his eyes.
"When you are still," he said, "I will tell you all about it; till then I am a blind deaf-mute, with no benefit of modern instruction."
A swift rustle, followed by dead silence. Cautiously opening his eyes, Mr. Montfort saw the whole company seated on the floor around his chair, gazing at him with imploring eyes, but motionless and mute. He laughed heartily, and threw himself back in his chair.
"I promised you a merry game," he said. "Have you had it?"
The young people nodded like mandarins, but uttered no sound.
"I promised you nothing more. In fact, I warned you not to expect anything more. On your own heads be egg and emptiness.
"Well, well!" he added, "since you are so good and dutiful, you shall have the whole truth. I found the box some forty years ago, when I first stumbled on that closet. My dear mother was timid, and had a great dread of the Mysteries of Fernley, imagining a secret staircase in every wall, and an oubliette under every floor. Somebody had frightened her when she came here as a child, by showing her I forget what dark pa.s.sage or closet. So we were never officially told of the various pleasant places devised by the eccentric old ancestor, Peter, who, I have always believed, was a smuggler before he was a patriot, and hid kegs as well as commanders in his smoke-closet. You know the story of General Blankley and the hams, Hugh? Remind me to tell you some day. Well, this being so, of course we youngsters were keen set on discovery; and we formed a league, called the Hovering Hawks. Each of us had his private totem or sign; and when he made a discovery, he left a totem to tell that he had been there. Jim"s was an oyster-sh.e.l.l, because he considered the world his oyster; d.i.c.k"s was a ship, because he always meant to be a sailor; Roger"s was a book, of course, for obvious reasons; and mine was an egg, Columbus"s egg, because I meant to find things out. You see there was no overstock of modesty among us, more than there is among most healthy boys. We were ready for anything and everything. I dare say some of you may have found oyster-sh.e.l.ls about, in various inaccessible places?"
Grace started, and blushed; then hung her head. "I--I found one," she admitted. "It was in a cubbyhole in the parapet of the roof. I thought of bringing it away, but it seemed as if some one had wanted to leave it there, so I didn"t touch it."
"Jim"s Retreat," said Mr. Montfort. "He stayed up there two days once, in a fit of sulks, and frightened my poor dear mother almost into an illness. Father Montfort was away from home the first day; the second day he came home, and went up after Master James. He was a powerful man, Father Montfort, and an excellent climber. Yes, poor old Jim! he did not climb again for several days. Well, as I was saying, after all this very egotistical digression, I found the box in question some forty years ago. I withdrew the--a--contents--and subst.i.tuted for them my totem. The contents I put--elsewhere."
He looked round the circle, smiling. Margaret, gazing earnestly at him, saw his face, for the second time since she had known him, change from that of a grave, thoughtful man into that of a mischievous boy, the eager eyes alight with fun, the lips twitching with laughter.
"Wouldn"t--you--like--to--know?" he began slowly, his eyes turning from one to the other. Suddenly he broke off.
"There! the play is over, children. Margaret, you found the casket, you shall find the--run your hand along the back of my chair here, my dear; where it feels cold, press downward."
Margaret obeyed. A long narrow box or drawer shot out from the rolling back of the great mahogany chair. Obeying Mr. Montfort"s gesture, Margaret lifted out of the nest of silky cotton something that sparkled and glittered in the firelight. There was a long-drawn sigh from the girls, a grunt of surprise from the men, but still no one spoke.
"The pearls are for you, Margaret. I always meant them for you, my dear.
I have taken them out every birthday and Christmas and looked at them, but there was always something else I wanted to give you just then, so I put the pretty playthings back again. Peggy, these pink topazes were made expressly for you, even if they have been waiting some time. No earrings, thank heaven! I could not see my girls in earrings. The diamonds I sent to Rita as a wedding present; you remember them, Margaret. Deceitful, was I, not to tell you their history? My child, I said they were family jewels, and so they were. The turquoises must be Jean"s; put them on at once, little girl! Very pretty; very becoming.
Now,--any more? It seems to me I remember one more article--ah!"
Margaret drew out a long, delicate, glittering chain. At sight of it, Grace uttered a low cry of delight. "What is it?" she said. "I never saw anything so beautiful. Water and moonlight? What are the stones, Mr.
Montfort, please?"
"Aquamarine," said Mr. Montfort. "They are beautiful, though not of great value. Now what shall I do with this last trinket, I wonder?"
"There is only one person who can possibly wear it," said Hugh, under his breath. His uncle heard him, and shot a keen, quizzical glance at him, which caused the philosopher to retire suddenly behind the shadow of the curtain. Margaret glided to her uncle"s side, and whispered in his ear. Mr. Montfort nodded, smiling. "Just what I was thinking, Margaret," he said. "You read my thoughts accurately. My dear Miss Grace--by the way, isn"t it time for me to leave off the "Miss,"
considering my age, and how well we know each other? "Miss Grace"
suggests "disgrace," which can have no possible connection with you. My dear Grace, then, as Margaret and others have said, there is only one person present who ought to wear this chain, and that person is yourself. Will you accept it as a little gift from Margaret and me, and from Cousin Christina?"