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

at the tin box and the pile of green bills.
    “Well, Joe,” said Henry at last, “where do we go from here?”
    “I think,” answered Joe, “that when we get rested, we’d better go and see the hermit.”
    “The hermit is Dave Hunter. And Dave Hunter is Bill,” said Benny.
    “I think so, too,” said Joe with a smile. “But even now, maybe he won’t talk.”
    Jessie put her arm around her little brother.
    “I’m awfully sorry I was cross, Benny,” she said. “It’s lucky you do want to know everything. If you hadn’t looked in the toad’s house, we would never have found the tin box.”

CHAPTER 14
    The Hermit
    R ight away, the children wanted to go to see Rita again. Leaving the money in the tin box in the kitchen cupboard, the whole family almost ran up the road.
    “We want to go into the woods again, Rita,” Jessie called. “We want to talk with Dave Hunter. Do you think we could find our way alone?”
    “Of course you can,” said Rita. “But Dave won’t talk.”
    “Maybe he will talk to Benny,” said Jessie.
    “Well, maybe,” said Rita. “He did before.”
    The family started down the path through the woods. When they came to the cabin, they saw the hermit walking towards his house with a pail of water. He stopped when he saw the visitors. Then he went right on again.
    “Dave!” called Henry kindly. But the hermit started to go up the steps to his cabin.
    Then Benny called out in his loudest voice, “Bill!”
    The pail went rolling down the steps as the old man stopped. He sat down and put his head in his hands.
    But Benny seemed to know just what to do, and nobody stopped him. He ran over and sat down beside the old man and put his hand on his arm. “Oh, Bill,” he said, “don’t worry. We’ve come to take you home.”
    “Home?” said Bill. He lifted his head and looked at Benny. “I can never go home, little boy.” He looked at the others as they waited on the path.
    “Oh, yes, you can, Bill,” cried Benny. “Grandfather wants you to come home, and so does Mrs. McGregor.”
    “Mrs. McGregor!” said Bill in a whisper.
    Then nobody could believe what happened next. Violet went quickly over to the steps and took the old man’s hand. “He means Margaret,” she said.
    He looked down at the pretty little girl. “Margaret is dead,” said Bill.
    “No, Margaret is alive,” said Violet.
    “They told me she was dead,” said Bill. “They said there was a fire, and the barn burned and Margaret died trying to save the horses.”
    “Oh, that isn’t true at all, Bill,” cried Benny. “We lived in that barn all last summer, and Mrs. McGregor is the housekeeper at my grandfather’s house.”
    “I can’t go home,” said Bill quietly. “I can’t find the money. I took Mr. Alden’s money.”
    “We found the money,” said Violet gently.
    “Where?” asked the old man.
    “In a tin box under the steps of the house,” answered Violet.
    “In a tin box—that’s right,” Bill said. “Oh dear, oh dear!”
    Then Joe came up to the steps. He said, “Mr. McGregor, everything will be all right again, believe me. Your wife is alive and wants to see you. We just found the money today.” Then he turned to the children.
    “I’m afraid Bill is getting very tired,” he said to them. “He is having too much excitement after forty years. Do you think you can walk to Old Village, Mr. McGregor?”
    The old man looked at Joe’s kind face. “Yes, I can, if all this story is true.”
    “I promise you it is,” said Joe. Then he said to the children, “Don’t ask him anything more until we get him home. But he is Bill all right.”
    Benny would not let go of Bill’s hand. He led him carefully along the path, stopping to show him every stone.
    “I’ve seen every stone on this path for many years, little boy,” said Bill. But they all knew that he liked to have Benny help him.
    They took him to the little house that he had built himself. Alice made him lie down on one of the