"That's what your grandfather
was going to say the time he stopped so quick. Your mother didn't want
him to speak of them. But I'm sure the tramps took the blue stones
from Trouble's castle."
"What would they do with 'em?" Ted demanded.
"There's gold in 'em!" whispered Hal, more excited than ever now.
"There's gold in those blue stones, and the tramps know it. That's
what they've been looking for, and when Trouble had 'em all in a nice
pile made into a playhouse, the tramps came along in the night and
took 'em away."
"Oh, do you s'pose it could happen that way, really?" asked Jan, her
eyes big with wonder.
"Course it could!" said Hal, growing more excited all the while. "I
remember now, gold doesn't always look yellow when you find it, the
way it does in a watch or a ring. Sometimes gold is inside stones and
they have to melt 'em in the fire to get the gold out. My nurse at the
Crippled Home read me about it. And there was gold in the blue stones.
That's why the tramps came and got 'em--I mean _them_," and he
corrected himself. "They told me not to say 'em,'" he added with a
smile.
"Do you really think the blue stones had gold in 'em--them?" asked
Ted.
"Yes, I do! Else why would the tramps want them? They came last night
and took Trouble's castle--every stone, and now they've hid the gold
away."
"Where?" asked Jan, as excited as the boys.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163