Mystery of the Stolen Sword Read Free

throat. “The fact is, someone is stealing our antiques — not the furniture, but smaller things like my stamp collection and some old family letters.”
    “Oh, no, Seymour,” Grandfather said. “Your stamp collection was very valuable.”
    Seymour put down his fork. “It was,” he agreed. “And so were some of those letters — at least to me. A lot of them dated from the Civil War.”
    “Were there any letters from the ghost?” asked Benny.
    Seymour looked puzzled, but only for a moment. “Oh, you mean Joshua,” he said, chuckling a little. “I see your grandfather has told you all the family history.”
    “Everyone for miles around knows about Joshua’s ghost,” Mike reminded the farmer.
    “I suppose they do,” Seymour agreed as he stirred his coffee. “But to answer your question, Benny, yes, some letters from Joshua were taken, along with Gideon’s diary. Gideon was one of my ancestors, the one who built this farm,” the farmer added, looking at the Aldens.
    “Oh, we know about Gideon,” Benny said.
    Seymour looked at Grandfather and raised his eyebrows. “I can see you prepared your grandchildren well for this visit,” he said.
    “But we should be glad you didn’t lose all of Gideon’s letters,” Rose reminded her husband as she handed him a piece of homemade apple pie for dessert.
    “No, I have a few left. There are plenty of old letters in this house, some I haven’t even read yet,” Seymour remarked.
    “Seymour, why didn’t you tell us about this? When did these robberies take place?” Jeff wanted to know.
    Seymour looked at his farmhand. “I didn’t notice the missing letters until last night,” he said. “And as for the stamp collection, well, I think it disappeared maybe a week ago.”
    “You should have told us,” Jeff persisted.
    Seymour looked down at his hands. “Well, the truth is, I, uh, had to make sure those things really were missing. You know how forgetful I can be in my old age.”
    Jeff nodded, but he looked troubled. “Did you call the police?” he asked.
    “I did. They came over to check things out.”
    “They told us there had been some other robberies nearby, in Chassell,” Rose said. “Chassell is the nearest big town,” she explained to the Aldens. “The thieves only took small items — old photographs, paintings, antique jewelry, things like that.”
    “So these thieves want antiques,” Jeff said.
    “Apparently so.” Seymour sounded grim. “I just worry they’ll take some of the old swords. But I think they’re safe enough in the secret passageway.”
    “Are you sure?” Jeff asked, looking doubtful. “Everyone who’s ever worked on the farm knows about the secret passageway. I wouldn’t be surprised if most of the town knew about it, too.”
    “That’s true,” said Seymour, frowning. “But only the farm workers and some of my relatives know how to get inside it.”
    Benny perked up. “You mean the passageway has a secret entrance?”
    Seymour nodded. “It has two secret entrances in fact.”
    “And all the people who work on the farm know how to get inside the passageway?” Henry asked.
    “Yes, they would,” Seymour answered. “The only other people who know are my children and grandchildren, and they’re sworn to secrecy. The entrance to the passageway has always been a farm secret.”
    “I guess you can’t be too careful,” said Jeff as he rose from his seat to stretch his arms. “I’m really sorry this happened, Seymour. Let me know if there’s anything I can do to help.”
    “I will, Jeff, thank you.”
    “Well, Mike and I should be getting back to work. There’s still a lot of clearing and pruning to do.”
    Mike looked at his hands. He had grown even more quiet during dessert and seemed very upset about the robberies. At last he sighed and rose, thanking the Curtises for lunch.
    “Oh, you’re welcome, Mike,” Rose said.
    Mike merely nodded and followed Jeff out the door.
    Seymour watched them leave,