The Mandie Collection (30 page)

“Ned proud, Papoose,” the old Indian replied.

“I did not know anything about this,” Sallie said.

“Ned remember something about stone for Father of Country, but not know this what for!” He gestured, indicating the tall monument they were in.

“That's really great, Mandie,” Joe said. “You three must be very proud.”

Mandie turned and hugged her two Cherokee Indian friends together. Uncle Ned nodded and smiled.

Sallie squeezed Mandie's hand. “We are glad you are one of us,” she said.

Mandie beamed. “I wonder if President McKinley made a special point of sending us here, hoping we would find this,” she commented.

“I don't know,” Joe answered, “but I can tell it means a lot to you, so even if the President didn't plan it, I'm sure he would be happy to hear your reaction.”

“Let's hurry and find Grandmother so we can tell her,” Mandie said, starting down the stairs again. Paying little attention to the other inscribed stones, the young people and Uncle Ned made their way quickly down the remaining steps and hurried outside.

Mr. Adamson was pleased to see Mandie so excited about the Cherokee stone, and Mrs. Taft gave her granddaughter a knowing hug. After they all climbed back into the coach, Mandie and her companions told Mrs. Taft and Mr. Adamson about some of the rest of the stones they had seen, including the one from North Carolina.

Stopping for their noon meal at the Willard Hotel, they met several senators and cabinet officials whom Mr. Adamson knew, and Mandie swelled with pride each time she was introduced.

Then they stopped at the Smithsonian Institution, a red sandstone building that looked like a castle with nine towers.

Mr. Adamson helped Mandie and her grandmother out of the coach again. “Having seen your reaction to the stone donated by the Cherokees for the Washington Monument, I think there's something about this place you might be interested in,” he said.

“What's that?” Mandie asked.

“Well, this institution is here today because of an eccentric British chemist named James Smithson,” the President's assistant explained. “In 1829 he left as his legacy to the United States of America 105 bags containing over 100,000 gold sovereigns.”

“Bags of gold?” Mandie asked in disbelief. “Like Joe and Sallie and I found in the cave?”

“Yes,” Mr. Adamson replied with a grin. “And like you, Miss Amanda, he wanted the gold to be used for a noble purpose. He said it was to finance the founding of an institution to increase man's knowledge. So after the government took its time making up its mind how to do that, they built the Smithsonian Institution.”

Mr. Adamson opened the door for them to enter the large building.

After spending a couple of hours looking at the inventions and scientific exhibits there, they entered the President's coach to return to the White House.

Mr. Adamson pulled the door closed behind him and sat opposite Mandie's grandmother. “Mrs. Taft, would you care to preside over tea in the President's parlor this afternoon?” he asked as the Negro driver urged the horses on. “Mrs. McKinley is not well enough to leave her room.”

Mrs. Taft blinked her eyes several times. “Me? Preside over tea in the President's parlor?” she asked incredulously. “Why . . . yes . . . uh . . . I suppose I could.”

Mr. Adamson smiled. “Thank you so much, ma'am,” he said. “There will only be one more guest besides you people, and that will be Senator Morton. Perhaps you've heard of him. He's from Florida, and he's a close friend of the McKinleys. He should be arriving in town before teatime, and he will also be staying at the White House. In fact, the senator will be in the room on the other side of yours, Mrs. Taft.”

Mandie leaned forward. “Will his wife be coming with him? Does he have any children?” she asked.

“No, Miss Amanda,” Mr. Adamson replied. “His wife died about three years ago, and they had no children. The senator is all alone now.”

Mandie cast a quick glance at Joe. She couldn't help but want to play matchmaker.
I wonder what this man is like
, she thought.

Sallie touched Mandie's arm and gave her a cautious, knowing smile.

When they arrived at the White House, Uncle Ned and Mr. Adamson got out first to help the others down from the coach. Mr. Adamson closed the coach door. “There is a parlor near your rooms that you might want to use until teatime,” he suggested. “In fact, feel free to use it whenever you wish while you're here. I'll ask Antoinette to show you where it is.”

After the maid had taken them to the parlor, Mrs. Taft decided to rest until time to serve tea, and Uncle Ned went outside for some fresh air. Mandie hurried to her room to get Snowball; then the young people relaxed in the parlor.

Mandie cuddled her kitten to her and wandered around the room, examining the large urns, vases, and other furnishings. “This room sure is full of old things, isn't it?” she commented.

“Well, really, the whole White House is an antique,” Joe reminded her. “Remember, it was finished enough for John Adams to move in, in 1800, and that's over a hundred years ago.”

“Why don't we go look around the rest of the White House?” Mandie suggested.

“Do you think it would be all right?” Sallie asked.

“No,” Joe said emphatically.

“I don't see why not,” Mandie argued. She walked to the door. “Come on, Sallie. Go with me.”

Sallie stood up uncertainly. “Where are you going?”

Joe got up and stood in front of the warm fire in the fireplace. “Mandie, you'd better stay here,” he warned.

“I just want to walk down some of the hallways and look in the unoccupied rooms,” she said to Sallie, ignoring Joe's remark. “After all, we've been all over Washington, D.C., but we haven't even had a tour of the place where we're staying yet,” she argued.

As Sallie started toward the door, Mandie turned to Joe. “Are you coming?” she asked. “If you're not, I'll leave Snowball in here with you.”

“Oh, no, you don't,” Joe protested. He strode across the room to join the girls. “I suppose I'll go with you, but I'm warning you, you'd better not stir up any trouble.”

Mandie led the way, and they roamed through the hallways of the White House, smiling at everyone they met and stopping to inspect the many pieces of furniture, vases, and bric-a-brac lining the walls. There was no sound coming from any of the rooms. No one seemed to be around except for the employees who occasionally passed them in the halls.

Then Joe found an elevator near the President's private quarters. “This is great!” he exclaimed. “It looks like one of those that works on water pressure. I've read about these things in a book my father gave me.” But when he tried to operate the elevator, he couldn't get it to move. “Must be broken,” he said, wiping his dusty hands on his pants.

The young people headed down the hallway. Mandie especially wanted to see the other rooms named for colors that her teacher had told her about. In a short time they found the Green Room and then the Blue Room with all their magnificent furnishings of matching colors.

Mandie's favorite was the Blue Room, where the walls were covered with blue silk the color of a robin's egg and patterned with leaves and little roses of a darker blue. The upholstery also had a rich-looking blue figured pattern. Above the windows, large panels of blue glass were decorated with gold scrollwork.

Mandie stared up at the ceiling, admiring the brass and nickel-plated crystal chandelier that hung from the center of the room. Dozens of electric light bulbs sparkled through the small hanging pieces of cut glass.

Joe said he liked the feel underfoot of the soft simple-patterned carpeting that extended from wall to wall.

As they continued down hallways, they found a room with heavy, ornately carved double doors. They stopped to look. Mandie heard something and set Snowball down, motioning for the others to listen. But suddenly the voices rose angrily.

“This has gone far enough,” boomed a deep voice from within the closed room. “It is time to do something!”

“Yes, I say we approach the President about it,” a higher pitched male voice agreed.

The three young people looked at each other in alarm.

“Humph! What good will it do to approach the President?” mumbled a gravelly voice. “I say we get on with it and kill them all!”

The young people gasped and reached for each other in fright. Who could be saying such things? Mandie touched her finger to her lips in warning, then quietly grasped the doorknob in front of them. With all her strength she tried to turn it, but it wouldn't budge.

The voices argued on.

“Kill them all!” the first voice shouted.

“Traitors, that's what they are!” cried the second.

“Worse than traitors,” grumbled the third.

“Let's get on with it, then,” the first voice urged. “We will meet right here at sundown. Now let's go home!”

The young people frantically scrambled for a hiding place. Mandie tried another door and pushed it open. Holding it for the other two to enter, she kept an eye on the hallway to see if anyone was coming.

Sallie surveyed the room lined with shelves and shelves of books. “This must be the library,” she said. “Look at all these books!”

Mandie pulled the door closed, leaving it open just a crack. “Shhh!” she hushed the others. “Let's see who comes down the hallway!”

Joe and Sallie crept over to stand behind Mandie. They all watched but no one came. Then they heard heavy footsteps retreating in the opposite direction.

“Aw, shucks,” Mandie said. “They've gone the other way. It's too late to see them.” Pushing the door open, she looked in the direction of the double doors, but the hallway turned at that point.

The young people went back into the library and sat down in some comfortable chairs by a window.

Sallie looked worried. “What are we going to do?” she asked. “Those men are going to kill some people.”

Mandie shook her head slowly. “If we tell anybody, they won't believe us,” she said.

“Besides,” Joe added, “it's none of our business. We shouldn't have been eavesdropping.”

“You are right, Joe,” Sallie agreed. “We did not have permission to wander off.”

“But is that as important as the fact that those men are planning to kill somebody?” Mandie argued. “I wonder why they had the doors locked.”

“To keep meddlers like us out,” Joe said tartly.

“Evidently, they did not want anyone to hear what they were saying,” Sallie agreed.

Suddenly Mandie looked around the room and jumped up. “Snowball!” she exclaimed. “Where is Snowball?”

Joe glanced around in exasperation. “I knew that cat would run off somewhere,” he groaned.

Sallie rose and looked under the chairs. “We had better look for him,” she said. “This house is so large, he could be lost for days.”

“Come on,” Mandie said, rushing to the door.

But as they ran out into the hallway, they almost bumped into Isabelle carrying Snowball.

“Your kitten was lost,” the young maid said, handing Snowball to Mandie. “I came looking for you to go to tea.”

“Thank you, Isabelle,” Mandie replied with a sigh. “I just now missed him.” She scowled at the kitten and gave him a good scolding.

Following the maid to the President's parlor, they found Mrs. Taft already there waiting. There was also a handsome older man with silvery gray hair sitting on the settee opposite her. He rose as they entered the room.

Senator Morton
, Mandie thought. Then she whispered quickly under her breath, “Let's not tell anybody anything about those men.”

Mrs. Taft introduced the gentleman to the young people, and Mandie instantly liked him. He would make a good match for her grandmother, she decided. And her grandmother needed a husband.

As Mrs. Taft poured the tea, Mandie's mind drifted back to the voices they had heard. At the earliest possible moment, they would have to go back to that room and see what was inside.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

MYSTERY IN THE NIGHT

The activities of the rest of the day kept the young people busy, so they didn't have time to go back to the room where they had heard voices. That night there was a dinner with about fifty guests in the formal dining room.

President McKinley had seated the young people near him, and Mandie enjoyed talking with him. Mrs. McKinley still wasn't feeling well, he had told them, but he thought she would be able to attend the ceremonies the next day if she rested now.

Just before dinner was to be served, the President tapped on his glass for attention. “Ladies and gentlemen,” he said, raising his bushy eyebrows, “as you know, the occasion of this dinner is to honor these three young people for their good work.”

Mandie, Sallie, and Joe looked at each other in dismay. They had not known this would happen. Mandie felt embarrassed, and she sensed her friends felt the same. Mandie caught sight of Uncle Ned near the far end of the table. He smiled and clasped his hands for her to see as the President continued.

“Now I'm sure you'd all like to hear from the young people themselves exactly what happened.” President McKinley turned to Mandie. “Miss Amanda, would you please tell these people how you came
to find the gold? And then maybe you can tell us what happened afterward.”

Mandie could feel the color rushing to her cheeks as she looked up at the President. “But, President McKinley, sir,” Mandie began softly, “we just found the gold in a cave in the Nantahala Mountains.”

The President smiled. “Please, dear, won't you stand up so everyone can hear you?” he urged.

Mandie slowly rose on shaky legs and looked around the table. She looked over at her grandmother sitting beside Senator Morton. She smiled to herself. President McKinley must have had the same idea for matchmaking to seat them together like that.