The Yellow House Mystery by Gertrude Warner Read Free Book Online Page A

drawer, hunting for a secret drawer. They found nothing but dust.
    “Ho-hum,” said Benny. “What shall we do now, Jessie?”
    “Oh, I’m sure I don’t know,” cried Jessie. Everyone looked at her.
    “You’re not cross, are you, Jessie?” asked Benny.
    Jessie laughed a little. “Maybe I am,” she said. “I did hope we would find the money in that chest. But we tapped every drawer. There is no secret drawer there. Let’s go outdoors and sit on the steps.”
    The family went outdoors slowly and sat down on the steps. Nobody said a word. Jessie was not often cross.
    Pretty soon Benny said, “I wonder where the toad is? I suppose he stays under the steps.”
    Alice smiled at Benny, but nobody felt like answering him.
    Benny went on. “Does a toad have a house? What kind of a house does he live in, Jessie?”
    “Oh, Benny! I don’t know! I’m so tired! You want to know everything! Why do you want to ask about toads now, when we want to find a tin box!” She almost laughed.
    “Never mind, Jessie,” said Benny quickly. “I’ll look for myself.”
    The little boy got down on his hands and knees. Soon he was lying on the ground looking under the steps with one eye.
    “I can see him. He’s just sitting there. He winked at me.”
    Benny picked up a long stick.
    “Don’t hurt the toad, Benny,” said Joe.
    “Oh, no. I’m just going to see how big his room is.” Benny began to move the stick from one side to the other. Then he crawled quietly to the back of the steps where there was a big hole under the house. The toad jumped through the hole, and Benny followed him. Everyone had to smile. They knew that Benny was crawling under the house.

    Soon they heard him talking to himself. “Here’s a pretty white stone,” he was saying, “and here’s an old tin can. Here’s a screwdriver. Not a bad screwdriver.”
    Then he was silent.
    But the others could hear him crawling around under the house.
    “Never mind, Jessie,” said Joe with a smile. “He’s having fun. Children forget things very soon, you know.”
    Then they heard Benny say, “Well, here’s the toad! Hello, Toad! Where do you live?”
    “He seems to be having quite a talk with a toad,” said Henry, laughing.
    Benny went on, “Do you live in that old wooden box under the house? That’s funny. It’s open in the back instead of the front. Do you go in the back door? Why do you do that? Well, well. Ho-hum-HENRY! There’s a tin box here!”
    “What?” shouted Henry, almost falling down the steps.
    “I’ve found it!” yelled Benny. “A tin box sitting right in a wooden box!”
    The whole family was down on the grass looking under the steps.
    “You come out, Benny!” shouted Joe. “Bring the box. We can see better out here.”
    “I was coming, anyway,” said Benny. He came crawling as fast as he could through the hole. He pushed the tin box ahead of him, and came out from under the steps.
    “Sure enough!” cried Jessie. “It is a tin box. I can hardly believe it. Now I only hope there is something in it.”
    “There is,” said Benny. “I shook it.”
    The excited children sat back and looked at the box. “You open it, Henry,” said Benny. “It’s too hard for me.”
    Henry’s hands shook as he pulled the box open. There before their eyes were piles of green bills.
    “Dollar bills!” Benny whispered.
    “No, Benny, they are one-hundred dollar bills!” said Henry. “I never saw one before.”
    “Let’s count them,” cried Benny.
    “You count, Benny. You found them,” said Jessie in a kind voice.
    Benny was so excited he could hardly count straight. At last he said, “That’s forty, and that’s all. How much is forty one-hundred dollar bills, Henry?”
    “Four thousand dollars, young fellow,” said Henry. “Isn’t that what two race horses would be worth, Joe?”
    “Just about,” said Joe.
    “Boy, oh boy!” cried Benny. He was all tired out with excitement.
    They all looked at each other. Then they looked