儿童英语读物 The Mystery of the Star Ruby CHAPTER 6 Jessie’s Treasure

“Let’s go look at the place where we saw that person last night,” Benny said the next morning.



“Before breakfast?” Violet asked, teasing her brother. “I thought you’d be starving, like always.”



“A new mystery is more important,” Benny declared.



“It’ll only take a few minutes,” Henry said, leading the way down the trail.



At the flume, Jessie stopped and looked down. “Somebody was digging, all right. See the shovel 1 marks?”



Benny nudged the pile of loose dirt with the toe of his sneaker.



“Isn’t this where Donald Hodge dumped his buckets the other day?” he asked.



“You’re right!” Violet said. “He threw his ore away and complained he couldn’t find anything.”



“But that doesn’t answer who would come back after dark,” Henry said. “What was that person looking for?”



“This is a tougher case than I thought,” Benny said. “We definitely can’t solve it before breakfast.”



Jessie laughed. “Is that a hint? Okay, let’s go eat!”



After breakfast, the Aldens went to the entry booth. Grandfather bought everyone a large bucket of native stone.



Donald, Jonathan, and Sybil each ordered one as well. With only a few more days in the contest, everyone was eager to pan as many buckets as possible.



“I want to see my buckets being filled,” Donald said to the woman at the entry booth.



“I’m sorry, sir,” she said, hefting his buckets onto the wheelbarrow. “We’re too busy for that today. Everyone is buying special buckets. A lot of them were filled last night.”



“How do I know I’m not being cheated?” Donald said.



The woman looked worried. “I’ll ask Mr. Knight 2 to come down and you can talk to him.”



“Never mind!” Donald pushed the wheelbarrow to the flume.



“I don’t know why Donald is so suspicious,” Sybil said as they all found places along the flume. “Cecil would never sell native-stone buckets that weren’t filled with ore from his mine.”



Henry wondered if Donald might not have reason to be suspicious. A lot of mysterious things had already happened at Ruby 3 Hollow.



It was another hot day. The Aldens were glad the flume was shaded.



“These are good buckets,” Jonathan remarked, as he worked next to Jessie. “I’ve found three rubies 4 already.”



The others were doing well, too. Everyone had stones in their plastic containers. Everyone except Jessie.



She rinsed 5 the stubborn North Carolina ore thoroughly 6 and carefully sorted through the rocks left behind, but couldn’t find a single gemstone.



“I’ll buy you another bucket,” Grandfather told her.



“I still have a little more left in this one,” she said, dumping the remaining ore into her tray.



As soon as she rinsed the tray in the rushing water, she saw a large rock in one corner. She picked it up and rubbed the dirt off with her fingers. Then she rinsed it again.



She held the huge, reddish, glossy 8 rock up to the light.



Jonathan gasped 9. “Jessie! That’s the biggest ruby I’ve ever seen!”



Jessie was so startled, she nearly dropped her stone. “You’re kidding!”



Sybil left her place in the line and came over. She whistled at the size of Jessie’s stone.



“Take it to the grading window,” Sybil advised.



All the Aldens went with Jessie to the jewelry 10 shop. No one else was at the grading window.



Jessie handed her rock to the man at the counter. “Jonathan said this is a ruby.”



The man’s eyes widened. “Young lady—not only is this an enormous ruby, it’s a star ruby!”



“I found a ‘Goldilocks’?” Jessie couldn’t believe it.



The gem 7 inspector 11 was on the phone, dialing. “Mr. Knight needs to see this.”



Cecil Knight came down from the main office immediately. He examined Jessie’s ruby through a jeweler’s loupe, a special lens that fit over one eye. After a moment, he looked up at the Aldens with a surprised grin on his face.



“Great day in the morning!” he exclaimed. “That’s the biggest star ruby that’s ever been found in this mine, at least since my family took it over.”



“Is Jessie rich?” Benny wanted to know.



“Your sister could be very rich,” Mr. Knight told him. “And famous as well.”



Jessie blushed. “I don’t want to be famous. And we have enough money.”



“Some people believe that rubies bring the wearer health, wealth, and wisdom,” Mr. Knight said to her. He winked 12 at Grandfather. “But I think your granddaughter is already wise.”



“She’s the levelheaded one in the family,” Grandfather agreed proudly.



Cecil Knight gave the stone back to Jessie. “If you should decide to make this into a ring—and it’ll be a doozy!—wear it on your left hand. According to tradition, you won’t have any enemies.” Then he added, “If you decide to sell the stone, I’d love to have it in my museum.”



Jessie wrapped the ruby in a piece of tissue that the man at the grading window gave her and put it in her plastic container. She slid the container carefully into the pocket of her backpack.



“Jessie, do you want me to keep your stone?” offered Grandfather. “It might be safer with me.”



“I’d like to look at it more,” she told him. “I won’t let my pack out of my sight. I promise.”



“Are you ready for lunch?” Grandfather asked the children.



Benny answered for all of them. “Yes!”



The dining room was nearly filled when the Aldens walked in. Many people stood up and cheered.



“Why is everyone clapping?” Violet asked Grandfather.



“I think it’s because of Jessie’s incredible find,” he replied.



“How does it feel to discover a treasure?” Jonathan asked Jessie.



She sat down, embarrassed at all the attention. “It could have been any of us. The ruby just happened to be in my bucket—it was just luck.”



“What are you going to do with it?” Sybil asked, passing the basket of Italian bread. Today was spaghetti day.



“I was thinking, suppose we sell the stone and buy books for that library that was struck by lightning,” Jessie suggested. “But it’s a family decision.”



“That’s a great idea!” Benny said. “Let’s do it!”



The others agreed.



“Jessie’s stone is bigger than yours,” Sybil said to Donald. “And it’s a star ruby. Unless somebody finds a bigger star ruby than Jessie’s, she will win the contest.”



“It isn’t over until it’s over,” Donald said levelly.



After lunch, the kids went hiking again. When the afternoon shadows grew long, they headed back to the cabins.



Violet unlocked the door to her and Jessie’s cabin. She immediately spotted 13 a white envelope lying on the rug just inside the door.



“This has your name on it,” she said, handing it to Jessie.



“It must be from Grandfather,” Jessie said absently as she opened the envelope. Then she gasped.



“What is it?” Violet asked.



Wordlessly, Jessie showed the note to Violet.



WISE UP AND GO HOME—OR ELSE! read the crudely lettered message. It was unsigned.



“I guess Mr. Knight was wrong about the ruby protecting me,” Jessie said in a worried voice. “I have made an enemy, after all.”



Then another thought occurred to her.



What if the ruby I found has put us all in danger?



The girls told the boys about the note on their way to dinner.



“Let’s not mention it to Grandfather,” said Violet. “It would just worry him.”



“We can solve this case ourselves,” Henry said confidently. “We’ve figured out lots of mysteries before.”



In the dining room, everyone was excitedly chatting about the contest. There was only one more day left.



“I sure wish that star ruby had been in my bucket,” Sybil said wistfully. “I’ve been coming here for years and have never found one.”



“Maybe you will tomorrow,” said Benny. “Maybe we’ll all find star rubies!”



The others laughed as they ate hamburgers and fries.



It was too dark and cool to linger outside after dinner. Even though the days were hot, late-summer nights in the mountains were chilly 14.



The Alden children went back to Violet and Jessie’s cabin to discuss the mystery.



They passed Jessie’s note around.



Henry noticed something about the paper.



“It’s been ripped from a notebook,” he said. “One of those little ones with three rings.”



“Jonathan carries a notebook like that,” Benny remembered. “He keeps his lists in it.”



“That’s right,” Violet said, nodding. “But why would he send us a threatening note? He seems so nice.”



“We can’t rule out anyone as a suspect,” said Jessie.



Just then there was a shout outside.



Henry ran to the door. “It’s Mr. Knight!”



“Hey, everybody!” Cecil Knight called. “Come see this!”



Doors to all the cabins were flung open and guests streamed out onto the lawn. The Aldens ran out, too.



Strange globes of light hovered 15 in the sky over the mountain. Everyone oohed and aahed.



“Those are the same lights we saw our first night here!” Benny exclaimed.



“They do look like flying saucers,” Sybil remarked, tipping her head back.



“Now that I’ve seen them better,” Jonathan muttered, “I think the lights are a trick of the atmosphere.”



Seen them better? Violet wondered. When had Jonathan seen the lights before?



Just as suddenly as the lights appeared, they vanished behind the crest 16 of the mountain. The show over, the guests filed back inside their cabins.



When Jessie walked into their cabin, she sensed something was wrong.



Her backpack was on the floor where she had left it.



But the outer pocket was unzipped.



She dug through it frantically 17.



“Violet!” she cried. “The ruby is gone!”