Read Online The Mandie Collection by Lois Gladys Leppard - Free Book Online Page A

so many things, but I don’t have anyone else to ask,” the girl said.
    â€œNo, no—is all right. You one of us. Cherokee keep watch over Papoose. I promise Jim Shaw. Anything you ask, I do,” Ned reminded her. “You Cherokee, too.”
    â€œIsn’t that wonderful, Uncle Ned? That I have such people, people who will always look out for me. Tell all the Cherokees I am grateful. I’m happy that I’m one of you and I long for the day when I can visit my people.”
    Not only was Mandie planning to check up on Bayne Locke, but Mr. Bond had immediately sent a messenger to Lawyer Wilson’s office, requesting information concerning the young man.
    Later that night when he thought everyone was sound asleep, Mr. Bond climbed the stairs to the third story in a determined effort to locate John Shaw’s will and settle the matter once and for all as far as Bayne Locke was concerned.
    John Shaw’s library was directly over the room that Mandie and Polly occupied on the second floor and he tried to be very quiet, but despite his efforts, he stumbled into a chair in the darkness.
    â€œPolly, did you hear that?” Mandie shook her sleeping friend.
    â€œYes,” Polly said, sitting straight up in the bed.
    â€œA ghost!” Mandie whispered.
    â€œIn Uncle John’s library. Let’s go see what it is,” Polly said, jumping from the bed.
    â€œThis time of night?” Mandie was leery of such adventures.
    â€œGhosts only walk at night. Didn’t you know that?” Polly informed her. “I read a book about ghosts once. They can’t do youany harm. So why be afraid? We’re more powerful than they are. Want to go see what one really looks like?”
    â€œOh, Polly, you aren’t afraid of anything, are you?” Mandie reached for her slippers. “Let’s go, if you insist.”
    Polly led the way up the dark stairs while Mandie carried the oil lamp from her room. They crept along the hall and found the door open to Uncle John’s library. As they cautiously peeped in, Mandie began to laugh.
    â€œSome ghost that is!”
    Mr. Bond turned at the sound of her voice. “Why, what are you two doing up this time of night?”
    â€œWe heard a noise, so we came up to see who it was,” Polly answered. “We had kinda hoped it was a ghost.”
    â€œWell, I’m not a ghost,” Mr. Bond chuckled. “But I’d advise you two to be quiet and not disturb the rest of the house. I don’t want that Mr. Locke poking his nose in here.”
    â€œNo, that wouldn’t do,” Mandie agreed. “He might find the will before we do. Can we do anything to help?”
    â€œWell, start at the comer there and look through every book on the shelves. If you find any piece of paper at all, or any handwriting in the books, let me see it,” Jason Bond told them.
    So the real work began on the search for the important paper.

CHAPTER SEVEN
    SEARCH FOR THE WILL
    The search for the will was more involved than anyone had dreamed. Jason Bond and the two girls covered every inch of the house—except the tunnel. The missing key had not been found either, after it had disappeared from Mandie’s bureau.
    Mandie spoke to Mr. Bond about it, “I’ve asked Aunt Lou, Liza, Jenny, and even Abraham, and nobody has seen a key of any kind.”
    â€œCould be that Mr. Bayne Locke has been in your room, Mandie, but don’t ask him about it. We don’t want him involved in what we’re doing around here. The less he knows the better,” Jason Bond told her. “You two girls just keep your eyes peeled. Maybe it’ll turn up somewhere.”
    No one had been able to find the entrance to the tunnel from the inside of the house, and with the key lost, the door could not be opened from the outside.
    Mr. Bond was leaving the dining room after breakfast one morning, when there was a knock on the front door. He went