walking softly larry approached closer to where the men were at work. he could not see what they were doing, except that they were making a hole in the ground. one man stood a little distance back from the others and held what seemed to be a small box in his arms.
“maybe there’s been a murder committed and they’re burying the corpse,” thought larry. then he laughed at his thought. the box the man had would hardly hold a dead cat.
the men were working fast now, and seemed anxious to get through.
“that’s deep enough,” said one. “get a flat stone to put on top.”
in his curiosity larry forgot the caution he had hitherto used. his foot touched a piece of wood, dislodged it, and rattled it against a stone. it made quite a noise.
“what’s that?” exclaimed the man with the box.
“someone’s coming,” replied the one with the pick.
223 “i’ll see what it is,” the third man said, as he started toward larry. but the boy did not wait to note what would happen when the man got to him. he sped off softly through the darkness, and when he saw a part of a wall just ahead of him he dropped down behind it. the man passed him on the run, but did not think of looking behind the masonry. after looking about him, as well as he could in the darkness, the man returned.
“what was it?” asked his companions.
“a cat or a dog, i guess,” was the reply. “nobody after us, anyhow. go ahead and bury the stuff or, first thing we know, someone will spot us, and that would never do.”
“they evidently don’t want whatever they are doing known,” thought larry in his hiding place.
the men worked a little while longer, and then the boy could hear them throwing back the dirt and packing it down. soon they finished and then, blowing out the light, they departed. waiting a few minutes to be sure they were out of the way larry crept cautiously over to where he judged the men had been digging.
but, in the darkness he could not find the place. it would have done him little good if he had, he thought, as he had nothing with which to throw out the dirt again.
he resolved, however, to come back the first chance he had next day, and see if there was anything mysterious in the actions of the three men.224 in order to better locate the spot larry took his handkerchief and weighted it down on the ground by a stone.
“this is somewhere near the place,” the boy thought. “i guess i can easily find it in the daytime.”
then he went home. his mother and the others in the family had gone to bed, and larry was glad of it, for he did not want to be questioned as to why he was so late coming from night school.
larry hardly slept for wondering what the men had buried. he thought they might be hiding the evidences of some crime, and then again he reasoned that perhaps, after all, it might turn out to be nothing more than a pet dog or bird that had died.
“i’ll find out though,” larry thought. “don’t i wish it was a big treasure like gold or diamonds! but it’s foolish to think such things as that.”
larry thought the next day would never come to an end. though he was very busy at his duties in the leader office he kept watching the clock, for he had determined upon a plan of action.
he made up his mind he would go home as usual to supper, and prepare to go to his night class. on his way there he would purchase a small shovel at a nearby hardware store. this225 he could conceal under his coat until he got to the lot, and he could then hide it under the fence. he also got a small lantern that burned a candle, and this he intended hiding with the shovel.
once these two important things were hidden away larry meant to walk across the lot just at dusk, before going to school, and see if he could not locate the place where the men had dug. if he could he would mark the spot more accurately with his handkerchief and then, coming home from his class, he could dig in the darkness and no one would be likely to observe him, as the spot was lonesome and people seldom went there except in daylight.
larry’s plan worked out well. he got the shovel and lantern and hid them under a fallen wall, in a convenient place. then he strolled across the big field, just at nightfall, when it was difficult to distinguish forms fifty feet away. there was no moon and the sky was cloudy.
larry pretended to be idly walking across the lot. occasionally he would stoop, pick up a stone and cast it into the air, as boys have a habit of doing. he thought if anyone noticed him, they would not attach any importance to his presence.
he found his handkerchief where he had left it, but it was not near any place where the earth seemed to have been recently dug up.
“i guess i must be a little off the track,” the boy thought. “let’s see. if i can find the wall i226 hid behind, i think i can locate the place where the men were.”
after looking about a little larry found the fallen wall. he recalled that, as he had stooped down behind it he had seen, over the top, the spire of a church. and he recalled that the three men were in a direct line between the stone and the church steeple.
“then if i walk out in a straight line from the stone, toward the church, i ought to come across the place,” said larry to himself.
taking an observation from behind the stone he located the church spire. then, walking as straight as possible, he passed out from the fallen wall.
“it ought to be about here,” he said. as he spoke his foot sank down into a soft spot in the ground. larry lighted the candle and flashed his lantern on the place.
“i’ll bet this is it,” he remarked. “anyway, i’ll mark it.”
he had prepared a short stake with a piece of white cloth on it as a guide, and this he stuck in the earth. then he hurried from the lot to go to school.
at the bottom he could see, in the dim light of the lantern, a small black box
from office boy to reporterpage 228
227
it would have been better for larry’s lessons if he had not been thinking so much of what was buried in the lot. he did not pay proper attention to what was going on in the class. when he answered questions with statements such as that columbus was president of the united states, that balboa discovered the hudson river and that new york was the capital of indian territory, the teacher remarked:
“well, larry, i guess you are still dreaming. you had better wake up.”
the class laughed and larry with an effort took his mind from what he was about to do. then he made a better record in his studies for that evening.
when school was dismissed larry did not stop, as he sometimes was in the habit of doing, to chat with his acquaintances. he hurried off to the lot. as he approached it he took a careful observation. there was no one in the big field, which seemed dark, gloomy, and lonesome to the boy.
he had half a mind to give the whole thing up. he was afraid he would discover nothing and would have his trouble for his pains. then, too, he thought, if there should be something buried there, and the men came along and discovered him, they might harm him.
“well, there’s nothing like trying,” he reasoned.
then he crawled under the fence, got his spade and lantern, and walked to where he had placed the marking stake. it had not been disturbed. larry lighted the candle in the lantern, and, placing it where it would throw an illumination on the spot to be dug up, and would not be likely to228 be seen from the street, the boy stuck the spade into the ground.
it was not easy digging, and before he had gone down two feet his back began to ache. the men had packed the lower layers of dirt in quite hard, and there were many small stones encountered.
with a strong shove from his foot larry sent the spade down quite a distance. the sharp edge struck something unyielding and stopped. pushing with all his force, larry could not get it beyond the obstruction.
“maybe that’s the stone they put on top of whatever they buried,” the boy thought. “i must be getting close now.”
he enlarged the hole, so as to get his spade under the edge of the obstruction. when he had done this he placed a corner of his shovel under the edge of the stone, and pried upward with all his strength.
slowly the flat stone began to move. it pried the dirt up with it, and the boy was almost trembling in his eagerness. then, with a suddenness that sent him sprawling on his back, the stone flew out of the hole, and a shower of dirt fell on larry.
he scrambled to his feet and looked into the hole. at the bottom he could see, in the dim light of the lantern, a small black box. he grabbed it up, and, only stopping to blow out the229 candle, he ran at top speed, leaving the lantern and spade behind him. he wanted to get home as quickly as possible, and cast aside everything that could hinder him.
he never remembered how he passed through the various streets leading to the apartment. he seemed to be treading on air. now and then a sickening dread would come to him that, perhaps after all, the box contained nothing of value.
“is that you, larry?” his mother asked from her bedroom as he entered.
“yes, mother,” he replied, in so strange a voice that mrs. dexter came out in a hurry to see what had happened. when she saw larry, covered with dirt, his face pale, and holding in his arms the black box, she exclaimed:
“are you hurt, larry?”
“no,” he answered, much excited. “but i want to find out what’s in this box.”
it was tied with several stout cords, which larry cut with his knife. then he wrenched off the cover. as he did so he almost leaped back in astonishment.
there, in the box, was a blazing pile of jewels. diamonds there were, nearly a score, some loose, some set in rings, and, most beautiful, a large necklace of the sparkling stones. then there were rubies, sapphires, and other precious jewels.
“larry! where in the world did you get them?” gasped his mother.
230 “i found them!” cried larry, hardly able to speak, so great was his emotion. “some men buried them in a lot and i dug them up!”
“but whose are they?”
“i’m not sure,” replied the boy, “but i think they are part of the jewels stolen from mr. reynolds’s house. if they are i’ll get a reward of one thousand dollars!”
“oh, larry!”
by this time lucy, who had been awakened from her sleep, had slipped on a dressing gown and entered the room.
“those are the reynolds diamonds!” she exclaimed. “that necklace is just like the one the paper had a picture of.” she caught up the string of jewels that sparkled like fire in the lamplight.
“what are you going to do with them?” asked mrs. dexter.
“i think i’ll let mr. newton know,” said larry. “he’ll be able to advise me.”
“how can you reach him?” asked larry’s mother.
“i can call him up on the telephone. he has one in his house. i’ll ask him to come right over. this will be a big story for the paper.”
mr. newton was somewhat surprised when larry called him on the wire. he wanted to know what it was all about, but larry did not think it wise to tell them over the ’phone.
231 “you’ll see when you get here,” he said. “it’s a good story.”
“then i’ll come at once,” replied the reporter.
he was soon at larry’s house, and to say that he was surprised at the sight of the diamonds is putting it mildly.
“what will you do next, youngster?” he asked of larry, with a laugh. “this is the biggest thing yet. every detective in the city is wearing his eyes out looking for these, and here you stumble across them. well, i should say it was a story!”
the reporter agreed to take charge of the jewels over night, as he had a safe at home.
“i suppose we ought to return them at once,” he said, “but if we do the morning papers will have the story ahead of us, and that would never do. we must get a beat out of this.”
and they did. the next day the leader had a big story of the find, giving larry due credit. it did not mention, however, that the boy was working for the paper. the story was held back until the last edition, and none of the other afternoon sheets had a line about it.
the jewels were taken to mr. reynolds, who, true to his promise, made out a check for one thousand dollars, which was given to larry. it was a long while before the thieves were caught, and their capture was brought about in a peculiar manner.
232 “what will i ever do with the money?” larry asked.
“put it in the bank as the start for another thousand,” said mr. newton.
“i have a better plan than that,” replied the boy.
