Dan Carter And The Haunted Castle Part 27

Mr. Holloway, Mr. Hatfield and the Cubs followed the bank man to the door.

Without being noticed, Dan and Brad held back. Both were unwilling to leave the Castle without investigating the chimney niche themselves.

Dan ran his hand up the wall, groping carefully about.

"Nothing there?" Brad demanded impatiently.

"Not a thing," the younger boy replied in disgust. "Mr. Kain was right.

Say-wait!"

As Dan spoke, his hand brushed against a tiny object far back in the niche.

In an attempt to grasp it, he succeeded in pus.h.i.+ng it farther back, almost beyond reach.

"What have you found?" Brad asked eagerly.

"Don't know yet," Dan grunted. "My fingers touched something. Then whatever it was slipped away from me."

At the outside door, Mr. Kain and the Cubs were waiting.

"Come on, Dan!" Midge called.

Paying no heed, the boy groped again in the chimney niche.

This time he was able to fasten his fingers about the object.

He could feel its soft covering, and something hard inside.

Aware that Dan had made a discovery, the other Cubs quickly returned to the living room.

As they gathered about the hearth, the boy brought the object to light.

Held tightly in his hand was a small leather pouch with a drawstring.

"It seems Robin Hood's Strong Box does have something for us after all!"

he declared triumphantly.

The leather bag evidently had not been long in the niche for it was only slightly soiled.

On either side were stamped strange red and black symbols.

"Gos.h.!.+ What do you suppose it contains?" Fred demanded. "Treasure, I bet!

Open it quick, Dan, and pour out the gold."

CHAPTER 17 A Valuable Collection

Dan loosened the draw string of the leather bag.

As Mr. Kain, the Cubs and their leaders gathered close about, he spilled the contents out into his outstretched hand.

For a moment no one spoke.

The bag contained perhaps fifteen coins of foreign make. Nearly all were of silver and apparently quite old.

"Oh, shoot!" exclaimed Midge in disappointment. "I thought we might find a real treasure. Just a few old coins."

"At least it's better than nothing," Dan said, fingering one of the coins. "Even if we can't spend them, they're worth saving."

"Let me see that coin," Mr. Kain requested suddenly.

Surprised by the bank employee's tone, Dan handed it over.

Immediately the man became very excited.

"I should say these are worth saving!" he said emphatically.

"They're valuable old coins?" inquired Mr. Hatfield.

"That would be my opinion. This one, I'm sure, is a very old carlino."

"What's that?" asked Red blankly.

"Weren't carlinos minted in Italy?" Mr. Holloway inquired.

"Formerly they were used in Naples, Sicily and Rome," Mr. Kain said. "The coin obtained its name from the emperor Charles VI in whose time the coin first was issued."

"And is this coin a real old one?" Fred asked in awe.

"I'm not an expert on such matters," Mr. Kain admitted. "This silver piece though, very much resembles a similar coin in the British Museum."

"Then it should be worth a lot!" exclaimed Midge.

"Off hand, I should be inclined to agree. I can't make out the date," the bank employee said, studying the reverse side of the coin. "It looks as if it might be 1740 or 1730. I know the coins were made as early as 1730."

"Gosh, we have found ourselves something!" Fred murmured in awe. "Pa.s.s those other coins around, Dan. Let's see what they are."

Before Dan could do so, Mr. Kain seized upon another battered coin in the collection.

"This is a very old gold coin!" he exclaimed. "If I'm not mistaken it's one they call an 'angel.'"

"What is an angel?" questioned Fred, who never had heard of a coin by such a name.

"It was an English gold coin, originally of the value of 6s. 8d.

sterling. Such coins first were struck off by Edward IV in 1465 and I believe were made until 1634."