Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1924-08-24
Sight Unseen
LEDYARD NJ.
Arvilla and Her Quest for Hidden Treasure.

gage room. How do my heirs and
assigns get hold of it,
They don't" groWled tho G.. +. a.
I'VE sold il for storage charges long
ago"
The @. =. A. did not waste polite
ness on men he liked, and he liked
Crickmay.
Got description OF the trunk >"
he added, marks or anything 10 iden-
tify it7'
Crickmay quoted what little the
full particulars had contained.
The G.. Z. A. grunted again. Prob
ably half a dozen like it, he said.
But we are supposed to keep IA
record of the stuff sold and the pur-
chasers' addresses. Half the time
they lie about il, second hand dealers
mostly. I'll telephone Grant and have
him send his record up to your office.
and you see what you can dig out
Of it,
SHORTLY after o'clock that after
~ noon C'rickmay tried the door of
Arvilla's millinery shop. 1t WAS
locked, quite conclusively SO. And
there was no response to his knocks,
nor to his punching of the bel. but
stairs. A big Maltese cat strolled
from the dim rear OF the shop and
stared at him unwinkingly through
the show window, but did not offer
to open up. The youth at the drug
store soda fountain next door had
vanished hair, and nothing under it.
He knew less than Crickmay did con-
corning ArViila's whereabouts.
According to the station agent
which might very we'll be the trunk,
his heavy shoulders and walked
slowly back to his car.
Five days late" he muttered Gym
ically.
Still. that cat had not acted as If
it was hungry or even lonesome.
One of the incest things about Ar
villa was that she never grew up.
She locked her door behind the eX-
pressman who delivered the trunk
and sat down fiat on the floor in front
of it, her trim feet tucked under her
and a bunch of trunk keys in her
hand. 1t was an ordinary little trunk,
but it had an uncommon lock. Ar
villa tried her keys one after the
other. She was in no hurry. The
suspense was delicious. Finally she
had to get up and find the hammer
and a heavy old chisel and force the
lock. She thrilled as the lid went up.
The contents did not look especially
interesting at first. There was a
tumble of hastily packed mems cloth
ing, some of it good and expensive;
silk shirts and underwear, a tweed
suit, a pair of riding boots. Arvilk
was systematic. She sorted the stuff
as she went along. putting the sala BILE
a n hV 10
would get her money back on this
gamble at any rate. Presently she
came upon a folding photograph case
of handworked leather, heavily or
namented with silver. There were
two photographs. One showed a
sweetfaced mother with her arm
about a handsome boy of 10, both
dressed in the fashion OF 20 years
ago. to Arvilla's knowing eye, but
obviously people of quality. The
other, taken not long since, showed
the worn but still attractive face of
the same wovan-a woman OF wealth
and position and of many bitter dis
appointments. At least Arvilla
thought so, but Arvilla was roman
tically inclined.
Sitting there, fiat upon her floor
with these photographs looking up
from her lap, Arvilla's eyes filled with
tears. She did not quite know why.
AS she folded the case her fingers
the crinkly feel of paper in
side the leather and, examining il
carefully, she drew out from behind
the second Photograph two sheets of
heavy linen note paper. AS she read
this letter she knew why the tears
had come to her eyes. ITO my poor
prodigal in his far country" 1t began,
and ended, Your father is gone, my
dear, but his door and mine is always
open to you. My heart runs to meet
the very thought Of your coming"
Arvilla sat there and cried over it.
She wondered what manner Of man
this prodigal could be and what had
become of him.
At last she laid the photographs
and letter away carefully and opened
a small but heavy oblong package
wrapped hurriedly in newspaper and
tied with common string.
X X r X
TT has been said that Arvilla had
never grown up. Nevertheless, it
must not be assumed that she was
afflicted with that justly celebrated
l4-year-old intelligence. When she
saw her lap filled with crisp, folded
papers, wonderfully engraved in yell
low and green, each guaranteeing, in
the name of a great railroad system,
to pay to the bearer $4,000, she knew
just what had happened to her.
Thirty of them-a hundred and fifty
thousand dollars! Hidden treasure.
She sat perfectly still while the IA
miliar room and its furnishings circled
dizzily about her. A hundred and fifty
thousand dollars, here, in her lap!
Footsteps on the stairs! She
har
it with her skirt, and held her
breath. Only the druggist coming up
to his rooms, but she could not keep it
here. She looked at the clock. Seven
teen minutes past four. The safe de-