Part 8

The room where Vevi had left her jacket was dark. What, the Brownies wondered, could she be doing so long without a light?

“Hurry up Vevi!” Jane called.

There was no answer from the darkened cloak room.

“She’s holding us up on purpose!” Jane fumed. “Let’s leave without her. It would serve her right for being such a slow poke.”

Miss Gordon, however, would not allow the Brownies to depart without Vevi.

“I’ll see what is keeping her,” she offered.

However, before the Brownie Scout leader could enter the darkened room, Vevi appeared in the doorway.

“Why, you don’t have your jacket even now!” Jane exclaimed. “Vevi McGuire! You’re the limit!”

“We’ve waited an age,” added Rosemary.

Vevi had a strange expression on her face.

“What’s wrong?” Connie asked her quickly. “Have you lost something? Your pocketbook?”

Vevi shook her head. “I want to show you something--”

“Oh, Vevi, we’re in a hurry!” Jane exclaimed indignantly. “You’re always holding us up.”

“This is important. Someone is digging in the Brownie tulip bed.”

“WHAT?” cried the Brownies almost as one person.

“Come and see for yourselves,” invited Vevi. “You can watch from the window. All the tulip bulbs are being scattered on the ground!”

_Chapter 18_

MAGIC WAYS

Now Miss Mohr and Miss Gordon had not known that tulip bulbs were planted in the Brownie Scout flower bed. Vevi, Connie and Jane had been so busy with the show that they had neglected to mention the planting.

Therefore, everyone was surprised to hear that the bulbs were being dug up.

“What do you mean?” demanded Jane in great excitement. “Who is wrecking our flower bed?”

“A woman,” Vevi informed the group. “I can’t see her too plainly from the window. Come quick!”

The Brownie Scouts needed no further urging. With the librarian and their leader, they followed Vevi into the darkened room overlooking the lawn.

“See, down there!” the little girl declared, pointing out the window.

The Brownies jostled each other in their eagerness to learn what was going on in the yard.

A shadowy figure could be seen on hands and knees, industriously digging up the tulip bulbs. Already many of them were scattered helter-skelter over the grass.

“Well, of all the nerve!” cried Vevi indignantly.

“It looks like Mrs. Gabriel,” declared Connie. “At least she has a tall feather on her hat, just like one Mrs. Gabriel has.”

“Let’s stop her!” exclaimed Vevi, starting for the door.

Miss Gordon grasped her hand, holding her back.

“Wait, Vevi.”

“Wait? But Miss Gordon, our tulip bed is nearly ruined now! She’s wrecking everything!”

“And we worked so hard planting those bulbs,” Jane wailed. “It’s the meanest trick yet.”

Miss Gordon spoke quietly.

“Mrs. Gabriel, I think, is after something more vital than tulip bulbs.”

“I think so too,” agreed Miss Mohr quickly. “Peter has told me of his suspicions that a ring may be operating--”

Now the Brownies were quite bewildered by the talk, not understanding what the two young women meant.

“Must we let that dreadful Mrs. Gabriel ruin our flower bed?” demanded Jane.

“No, indeed,” replied Miss Mohr. “I intend to call Peter Van Der Lann and the police.”

“The police?” gasped Vevi. She had not thought of having Mrs. Gabriel arrested.

“We must hurry,” urged Miss Gordon, peering out the window again.

While the teacher and the Brownie Scouts kept watch, Miss Mohr telephoned the police station. Then she called Hanny’s uncle at Windmill Farm.

“Peter is coming as quickly as he can drive here!” the librarian told the group tensely. “He says we must hold Mrs. Gabriel whatever happens. He is certain--”

“Mrs. Gabriel has her flashlight turned on now!” Connie reported from the window. “She’s examining something she has dug up!”

“It’s not a tulip bulb either,” added Rosemary.

“Let’s go down there right now!” Vevi urged, again starting for the door.

“No, Vevi!” Miss Gordon checked her once more. “It would only frighten her away. We must wait for the police.”

“They’ll never come,” complained Sunny. “It’s been ages now.”

“Only a minute or two,” corrected Miss Mohr. “Patience.”

“The police will come,” added the Brownie Scout leader.

She was right too. In less than ten minutes, the girls heard the high pitched, whining whistle of a siren.

“There they come!” cried Vevi. “I’m going down there now!”

Without even stopping to put on her cap or jacket she darted out the door. The other Brownies followed after her, in their excitement stumbling on the stairs.

Just as the group reached the street, the police car halted at the curb.

Mrs. Gabriel straightened up and then started hastily away. But the police did not let her escape.

Quickly they overtook her, grasping her firmly by the arm.

While one officer held Mrs. Gabriel, another questioned Miss Mohr and Miss Gordon as to the nature of their complaint.

“This woman has been destroying library property,” declared Miss Mohr.

“We saw her digging up the Brownie Scout tulip bed,” added Vevi. “I think she has some of our bulbs in her pocket now.”

“Ridiculous!” snapped Mrs. Gabriel. “I suppose it does seem unusual for me to be found here digging up tulip bulbs. Nevertheless, I can explain.”

“Please do,” invited Miss Mohr.

“I bought a large order of tulips, especially valuable stock, from Mr. Mattox. Unfortunately, in driving home, I offered one of these children a ride.”

“Me,” interposed Vevi.

“She had a bag of worthless bulbs with her--”

“Not worthless,” corrected Vevi. “They may have been culls but they were Golden Beauties. Those are the best and most valuable kind on the market now that Mr. Van Der Lann has won the blue ribbon!”

“If you’ll keep quiet for a moment, I’ll explain,” said Mrs. Gabriel, glaring at Vevi. “The child either deliberately or possibly by mistake, exchanged a bag of my good bulbs for her trash. So tonight I thought to recover my stock.”

The two police officers seemed half inclined to believe the woman’s story.

“If it were only tulip bulbs you wanted, why didn’t you come to Miss Mohr or me?” questioned the Brownie Scout leader.

“I realize I should have asked permission to dig up the bed,” replied Mrs. Gabriel glibly. “I hesitated to do so because I didn’t want to cause trouble.”

“You set great store by those tulip bulbs,” remarked Miss Mohr.

As she spoke, she glanced about the ground. The bulbs had been scattered everywhere. In her haste to dig them up. Mrs. Gabriel had broken many and chopped others in two with her sharp tool.

“If you valued your tulips so much, why did you dump all the other bags of bulbs along the roadside?” Vevi demanded.

Mrs. Gabriel ignored the pointed question, so the little girl asked it again.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” the woman finally replied. “If you found any bulbs along the road, they must have belonged to someone else.”

The police officers had been listening to the talk. Now one of the men had a question of his own.

“Lady,” he said, “are you sure it was tulip bulbs you were after?”

“Of course! What else?”

“Sorry,” said the policeman, “but I’m afraid we’ll have to take you to the station for a complete search.”

“The idea!” Mrs. Gabriel snapped. “You may look in my purse now if you like. You’ll find nothing.”

She offered her pocketbook, which the policeman thoroughly examined. Inside were toilet articles, a billfold containing nearly two hundred dollars, a handkerchief and a set of car keys.

“I saw her put something in her outside coat pocket while she was digging,” Connie reported.

One of the officers reached into Mrs. Gabriel’s pocket. He brought out nothing but an old theater program.

In the other coat pocket was an old handkerchief. One corner had been tied into a knot to hold several small objects.

“What’s this?” commented the policeman, untying the handkerchief.

The cloth contained four dark-colored pellets.

“Our fertilizer!” exclaimed Vevi. “Well, what do you know! She was after our fertilizer, not the tulip bulbs!”

Carefully the policeman examined the pellets. He rolled them between his fingers.

“You see, they are nothing!” said Mrs. Gabriel. “Now will you let me go? I’ve had quite enough of Rosedale and Brownie Scouts. I assure you I’ll leave town promptly and not come back.”

Before the officers could decide what to do, a car pulled up at the curb.

“There’s Peter!” exclaimed Miss Mohr in relief.

The nurseryman leaped out of his car and came over to the flower bed. Miss Mohr told him what had happened before his arrival. The policeman showed him the pellets taken from Mrs. Gabriel.

“Just as I thought!” Mr. Van Der Lann exclaimed. “These pellets are uncut commercial diamonds. They were smuggled to this country from Holland in a shipment of imported tulip bulbs.”

“Then we planted diamonds, thinking it was fertilizer!” gasped Jane.

Mr. Van Der Lann’s disclosure amazed everyone except Miss Mohr. She was not surprised because the nurseryman earlier had told her of his suspicion that Mrs. Gabriel was not an honest person.

Now that Mr. Van Der Lann had revealed that the pellets were uncut diamonds, the Brownie Scouts became highly excited. Vevi was especially so, for she knew that Mrs. Gabriel had not had time to dig up all of the stones.

“Almost every tulip bulb has a pellet with it,” she revealed. “Why, this old flower bed is full of diamonds!”

“I’m going to dig them up!” cried Jane, reaching for Mrs. Gabriel’s trowel.

The police, however, would not permit any of the children or the adults to touch the flower bed. They said they would assign men to sift the earth and make certain that every uncut stone was recovered.

Mrs. Gabriel realized by this time that it was useless to deny her guilt.

“All right, I did smuggle the diamonds in with a shipment of bulbs,” she acknowledged. “I wasn’t alone in the deal though. If you arrest me, how about the Mattox couple?”

“We’ll take care of them, never fear,” the policeman assured her.

Mrs. Gabriel was taken away to the police station and other men came to sift the flower bed soil. All the Brownies, Mr. Van Der Lann, the librarian and Miss Gordon stood by, watching the work. Soon a fairly large crowd gathered.

“So Mr. and Mrs. Mattox are mixed up in this smuggling affair,” remarked a businessman who paused to observe. “Well, that will finish the flower show.”

“How do you mean?” inquired Miss Gordon.

“The Mattox couple contributed heavily for the affair. If they are arrested, they will not pay their assessment. Mr. Piff may as well call it quits.”

As the digging went on, police talked at length with Mr. Van Der Lann. He was asked to relate everything he knew about Mrs. Gabriel and her smuggling activities.

“I met the woman for the first time a few weeks ago,” the nurseryman revealed. “She came to Windmill Farm and proposed that I go in with her on her crooked scheme. At the time I needed money badly, but I refused.”

“Uncle Peter ordered her to stay away from our place,” added Hanny, who stood beside the nurseryman, watching the digging work.

“That is true,” agreed Mr. Van Der Lann. “When she learned she could not do business with me, she took up with Mr. and Mrs. Mattox. As to their part in the affair, I can only guess. My suspicion is that they cooperated with Mrs. Gabriel fully in importing bulbs which they knew were only a cover for a shipment of priceless commercial stones.”

“You and Mr. Mattox have never been good friends,” commented one of the policemen.

“That is so,” agreed the nurseryman. “Always Mr. and Mrs. Mattox have considered me as a business rival. They sought to add my farm to their own. Of late they have been especially eager to get me out of the community, fearing no doubt that I would expose their association with Mrs. Gabriel.”

“They will make you no more trouble,” the policeman promised. “The sheriff has been asked to arrest the couple for questioning. Very shortly they will be taken to jail.”

The digging work went on. Within an hour every diamond had been recovered.

However, the flower bed was completely ruined. Dirt had been scattered everywhere and only a few of the tulip bulbs were worth saving.

“Vevi, whatever possessed you girls to plant tulip bulbs at this time of year?” Miss Gordon questioned. “They should be planted in the fall, you know, for spring blooms.”

“We didn’t want spring flowers though,” Vevi explained. “We wanted tulips right now.”

“While the flower show is on,” declared Jane.

Miss Gordon regretfully told the Brownies that seeds or plants would have to be used if the troop were to have a flower bed that year. Even if they went to work at once, the bed would not be in bloom for several weeks.

The information made all the Brownies unhappy, especially Vevi.

“I did so want tulips,” she said. “They are the most beautiful flower in the world. Now I’ve even lost my Golden Beauty culls.”

“Don’t worry about that,” said Mr. Van Der Lann. “Next Spring I will give you some choice stock.”

Vevi thanked the nurseryman, but continued to look unhappy. “I wanted a tulip bed so badly,” she murmured.

“So did I,” said Jane. “It was fun catching Mrs. Gabriel and saving the diamonds, but I’d rather have had a beautiful bed of flowers.”

“Do all the Brownies feel the same way about tulips?” inquired Mr. Van Der Lann. “Would they rather have them than any other flower?”

“Oh, yes!” cried Vevi. “But it is impossible. We will have to wait until next year.”

“And that is a million years away,” sighed Sunny.

“Perhaps not,” said Mr. Van Der Lann. He smiled in a most mysterious sort of way.

“What do you mean?” questioned Vevi alertly.

“Just you wait!” he advised. “Not a year either.”

Now the Brownie Scouts sensed immediately that their friend had something special in mind. They teased him to tell what it was.

Mr. Van Der Lann only smiled and shook his head.

“I can guess!” laughed Hanny.

“Tell us,” pleaded the other Brownies.

Hanny grinned and would not answer. “It’s a secret,” she chuckled. “Nurserymen sometimes have magic ways. Just you wait!”

_Chapter 19_

AN ANNOUNCEMENT

Vevi awoke late the next morning, feeling tired in every bone and muscle. Pulling herself slowly up in bed, she peered out the window. It was raining hard.

“Oh, dear,” she thought. “I did so hope for a nice day.”

Vevi dressed and went downstairs for a belated breakfast.

“Mother,” she said, seating herself at the table by the kitchen window. “Is it really true that Mrs. Gabriel was caught digging up the Brownie Scout flower bed last night? Or did I dream it?”

Mrs. McGuire handed her the morning paper.

“It was true, Vevi. See, the story of what happened is on the front page. The Brownies are mentioned too.”

Vevi read every word of the story for herself. The item told of Mrs. Gabriel’s arrest and confinement in jail. Related also, was the part the Brownies had played in the capture.

“Oh, by the way,” Mrs. McGuire said after the little girl had finished her breakfast. “Miss Mohr telephoned a few minutes ago. All the Brownies are to meet at the library directly after lunch. She said something about an extra special surprise.”

“But the Brownies had a meeting last night, Mother. Why are we meeting again so soon?”

“She didn’t say, dear.”

“Maybe it is about our flower bed,” Vevi speculated. “I think that must be it.”

The little girl helped her mother with the housework. She dusted the furniture and wiped dishes. Time seemed to pass very slowly. All the while, she kept speculating upon why Miss Mohr would call a special meeting of the Brownie troop.

As soon as luncheon was over, Vevi changed into her Brownie uniform. Carrying her red umbrella, she splashed along the sloppy streets toward the library. It was not raining much now, but the gutters ran deep with muddy water.

Vevi had not gone many blocks when she had to wait at an intersection for a traffic light.

As she stood there, a taxi came up very fast. The light changed and the cab halted with a screech of brakes. It stopped so suddenly beside Vevi, that she felt her legs being splashed with dirty water.

She jumped back, very much annoyed at the driver.

“Sorry,” apologized the cab man, leaning out of the taxi window. “I shouldn’t have tried to make the light, but my customer is in a big rush to catch a train.”

Vevi glanced into the back of the cab and was surprised to see that the passenger was Mr. Piff.

“Why, are you leaving Rosedale?” she asked.

“Am I?” he replied. “The flower show is washed up--finished. This rain was the last straw. I’m getting out of this hick town for good.”

“Rosedale is nice,” Vevi answered. “It’s not a hick town--”

She had no chance to say more. Just then the light changed to green again. The cab sped on, disappearing down the street.

Crossing the street, Vevi went on to the library. She glanced quickly toward the flower bed.

To her disappointment, it appeared exactly as it had the previous night. Dirt was scattered everywhere on the grass and so were the broken tulip bulbs.

“I guess Peter Van Der Lann was joking about magic,” she thought. “Nothing is changed.”

All of the Brownies except Hanny had arrived at the library ahead of Vevi. As soon as she came into the story room, Miss Gordon and Miss Mohr signaled for silence.

“Girls,” the librarian announced, “we have all been invited to Peter’s--I mean to Mr. Van Der Lann’s home for a little outing. This rain has rather spoiled our plans, but I’m sure we’ll have a fine time in any event.”

“Will we have to walk?” Rosemary asked, rather dismayed. “I didn’t bring my umbrella or a raincoat.”

Miss Mohr assured the girls that the nurseryman would come for them in his truck. He was expected at any moment.

“He’s here now,” reported Connie a moment later. She had been watching from the window. “He’s driving up in front.”

“Come girls,” urged Miss Gordon. “We mustn’t keep him waiting.”

The Brownies put on their coats and went outside.

“Why, it’s stopped raining!” cried Jane, holding up her hand to see if she could catch any drops. “The sun is trying to peek through a cloud.”

“We’ll have a fine day yet!” exclaimed Sunny. “Hurrah for Windmill Farm!”

Mr. Van Der Lann helped the children into the truck. Miss Mohr and the Brownie leader rode up front.

During the ride to the farm, the nurseryman was in very high spirits. He declared that everything had gone extremely well for him and for Hanny.

“Now that I have won first prize for the Golden Beauty tulip, nearly everyone wants to buy my stock of bulbs,” he said. “I have arranged to sell them all to one eastern dealer at a very high price.”

“I will get to stay in America,” added Hanny happily.

Mr. Van Der Lann had arranged a pleasant afternoon for the Brownies at Windmill Farm. He told the girls they might pick all the tulips they liked, ride in the dog cart and even in the boat.

“Not the boat,” laughed Vevi. “It leaks.”

“Oh, I repaired it yesterday,” the nurseryman assured her. “Mr. and Mrs. Mattox will not annoy you either, should you drift past their place. The sheriff took them to jail today for questioning.”

“Then it has been established that they aided Mrs. Gabriel?” questioned Miss Gordon.

“Yes, they worked with her in smuggling gems into this country from Holland. I long suspected it, but could prove nothing and so remained quiet.”

“I guess the Brownies were pretty smart to catch Mrs. Gabriel digging up the tulips!” Vevi chuckled.

At Windmill Farm, the Brownies found Hanny and the housekeeper busy in the spic and span kitchen. The room was fragrant with the smell of baking. Little cakes had been taken from the oven and now were being beautifully frosted.

“Why, we must be having a party!” laughed Connie.

Now the Brownies could not imagine why everyone seemed so happy at Windmill Farm. Nor could they understand the reason Mr. Van Der Lann had gone to so much trouble just for them.

“I think someone is keeping a secret from us,” guessed Connie. “Isn’t that right?”

“It could be,” admitted Miss Mohr.

“Tell us!” pleaded Rosemary.

“Later--”

“Right now!” teased the Brownies.

“Shall we tell them?” Miss Mohr asked, turning to Hanny’s uncle.

“Why keep them in suspense?” he replied. “Let the news be known.”

“I want to pass the little cakes!” cried Hanny in excitement.

She made everyone sit in the living room. Then she passed the refreshments, giving every Brownie one of the delicately frosted cakes.

Now the girls were not very hungry, having finished their lunches only a short while before. Being polite, however, they did not mention this.

Vevi was the first to break open her little cake.

“Why, there’s a piece of paper in mine!” she exclaimed.

“Read it,” urged Hanny. “I already know the good news.”

Vevi spread out the strip of paper. Two names had been printed on it. She read them aloud.

“Peter Van Der Lann and Miss Mohr!” she exclaimed, not understanding why the names had been baked into the cake.

“Peter and I are to be married in a few days,” the librarian announced. “We decided to have the wedding so soon because Peter must go to New York with his tulip bulbs. We’ll call it our honeymoon.”

Now the Brownies were delighted to hear that Miss Mohr was to wed. They were especially glad that Hanny would have someone as nice as the librarian to look after her.

“If you are to be married right away, I don’t suppose there will be a big wedding,” Vevi remarked.

“Oh, we couldn’t omit that,” smiled the librarian. “We plan a wonderful church wedding. Hanny is to be the ring bearer. I want all the Brownies to be there.”

“As bridesmaids?” Vevi asked quickly.

Miss Mohr explained that Miss Gordon and some of her older friends would act as maids. She promised though that the Brownies would have a special pew in the church.

After refreshments had been enjoyed, the Brownies went outside to play. Never had Windmill Farm looked so beautiful. The rain had made the grass fresh and green. Tulips were bent over and heavy with water, but the bright sun was reviving them.

“I want to ride in the boat!” declared Connie quickly.

“I’m going to pick tulips,” announced Rosemary. “A bouquet of nothing but bright pink ones.”

“I want to pick flowers too,” declared Jane. “My bouquet will be purple.”

Sunny announced that she intended to watch the windmill for awhile and then ride with Connie in the boat.

“What will you do, Vevi?” asked Hanny.

Vevi had been thinking over her choice very carefully.

“I will ride in the dog cart,” she announced. “I want that old Bruno to know who is boss!”

While the others went toward the tulip fields, Hanny and Vevi ran to the barn to find the dog. They hitched him to the cart. Vevi climbed in and picked up the reins.

“Now start him easy,” Hanny instructed. “If he tries to run away again, I will punish him.”

The big dog however, seemed to know that with Hanny there, he could not play tricks. When Vevi said “Giddap!” he moved off at a very slow walk.

After a minute or two, the little girl wished that he would go faster. Bruno though, did not feel like trotting or running. He ambled lazily toward the cheese house and then on past the little house where Mr. Van Der Lann had stored his Golden Beauty tulip bulbs.

Vevi noticed that the door no longer was locked.

“I guess your uncle has moved his bulbs somewhere else,” she remarked to Hanny who was walking along beside the cart.

“What?” inquired Hanny, not understanding.

Vevi repeated what she had said, and pointed to the open door.

Hanny stopped short, staring at it.

“That door shouldn’t be open!” she cried. “I’m sure Uncle Peter hasn’t moved the bulbs. We have always kept them there.”

Hanny ran over to the little house. Vevi dropped the reins and scrambled out of the dog cart. Thus released, Bruno trotted off toward the canal. Neither of the girls noticed.

Hanny had reached the open door. She pushed it back so she could look at the padlock.

“It has been broken!” she exclaimed. “Oh, Vevi!”

Hanny darted into the room where the precious Golden Beauty tulip bulbs had been stored. Vevi kept close behind.