The Mystery of the Emeralds

strangers.”
    “That is true,” he replied, “and I’ve been waiting for the time when I could welcome you to Green Trees. Suppose I take you through the house, and then I’ll let Trixie bring you up to date on our latest discoveries.”
    “A splendid idea!” Mr. Lynch answered. “If I weren’t so anxious to see these beautiful rooms, I’m afraid my curiosity about what those six have been up to would get the better of me.”
    “We’ll meet you later, back in the music room,” Trixie said. “We have several things to do, so take your time.”
    Once back at the entrance to the circular staircase Trixie, wanting to be perfectly fair about who should go first, repeated the old counting-out rhyme her mother had taught her years before.
    “Intry, mintry, cutry, corn. Apple seed and apple thorn. Wire, briar, limber, lock. Six geese in a flock. One flew east, one flew west, and one flew over the cuckoo’s nest.”
    When it worked out that Di was to go first, she drew back timidly.
    “Honestly, Trix,” she said, “I’m scared to death to go down there alone. Can’t Mart come with me?”
    “Well, the stairs are too narrow for more than one to go down at a time,” Trixie answered understandingly, “but Mart can go first and wait for you in the tunnel. There’s more room once you get in there.”
    Mart was only too glad to have the chance to see the secret passage, and Di, her courage now fortified by his presence, followed him through the open panel. It wasn’t long before they were back, however, a disquieting look on their faces.
    “What’s the matter, Di?” Trixie asked. “You look as though you’d seen a ghost.”
    “And, Mart, you look a little green, too,” Brian added. “What happened?”
    “Remember what Mr. Carver said about the Green Trees ghost?” Mart asked. “Well, we didn’t see it, but we sure heard it!”
    “Yes,” Di continued breathlessly. “We were just a little way inside the tunnel when we heard something tap-tap-tapping, just the way Mr. Carver said the stonemason’s ghost did. I don’t think we ought to go one step further with this crazy hunt, do you?” She looked anxiously from one to the other of the Bob-Whites.
    “Oh, come on!” Trixie cried. “You don’t really think that was a ghost, do you?”
    “It wasn’t just an ordinary ghost,” Mart said, his eyes bright with excitement. “It was an honest-to-goodness poltergeist! That’s what it was!”
    “A what?” Honey asked.
    “A poltergeist!” Mart repeated. “That’s a ghost who makes a lot of noise to call attention to himself, and I’ve read of any number of cases where people have heard them.”
    “Well, poltergeist or just plain ghost, I, for one, don’t take any stock in them,” Trixie said positively. “I’m going back into that tunnel and see if I can find out what it was you heard, because I have a feeling you did hear something.”
    “You’re not going in there alone, ghosts or no ghosts!” Jim said. “I’ll come along. In fact, this time I insist on going first, Miss Belden.”
    Trixie didn’t argue. Seeming a little relieved at Jim’s decision, she handed him the flashlight that Mart had given her when he and Di returned.
    “Be absolutely quiet, Jim,” she whispered as they reached the entrance to the tunnel and started making their way through it.
    There wasn’t a sound to be heard for some time, and then Trixie tapped Jim on the shoulder and said under her breath, “Listen!”
    They could hear definite sounds of a rapping, then a grating noise, such as a trowel might make on stone, but there was no sign of life or light ahead of them.
    “Keep going,” Trixie whispered tensely, pushing Jim ahead of her down the passageway.
    They proceeded, inch by inch, for some time, until suddenly the flashlight revealed an obstruction in their path. It turned out to be a pile of dirt and bricks, completely blocking the passage. They could go no farther. Something, sometime, had caused this part of the tunnel to cave in. Again they listened in silence, and again they heard the same noises from the other side of the rubble.
    At a sign from Trixie, they started to retrace their steps. When they had gone partway, Trixie whispered to Jim, “Now I know that ghost! It’s Jenkins, digging on the other side! Let’s get out of here as fast as we can! We’ve got work to do!”
    When they returned to the music room, they found Mr. and Mrs. Lynch and Mr. Carver waiting for them. Di’s