The Secret of the Soldier's Gold Read Online Free PDF Page A

it to me yesterday.” She paused for several seconds, turned to stare at the fireplace, then turned back to look at the Hardys. “Her father buried it in a park, but there are so many parks in Lisbon that it would be impossible to dig them all up.” She smiled. “Did she perhaps tell you in which park we—I mean, you —should look?”
    The question took Joe by surprise. He glanced over at Frank, who was still looking at Senhora de Feira. “Well, no, she didn’t,” he said. “I think—”
    â€œAs a matter of fact,” Frank interrupted him, “wewere sort of hoping that you might have an idea about which park we should check out.”
    Senhora de Feira’s face sagged noticeably. It was obvious to Joe that she had been hoping to find out that information from them.
    For several minutes she said nothing, alternately staring at the fireplace and the two boys.
    All of a sudden she rose from her chair. “It just occurred to me that I was supposed to call a friend of mine about dinner tomorrow,” she said. “Please excuse me. I shan’t be long.” With that Senhora de Feira left the room.
    â€œWhat do you think?” Joe whispered to Frank.
    â€œI don’t feel good about any of this,” Frank replied.
    â€œMe neither,” Joe said. “But what are we going to do?”
    Frank shrugged. “Did you notice when I mentioned the problems that Frau Rilke’s family is having, Senhora de Feira didn’t even respond?” he asked. “All she seemed concerned about was the gold.”
    Joe nodded. “She said she could remember the story very well,” he said, “but I think she remembers it because it’s been on her mind all these years.”
    â€œI think you’re right, and that bothers me,” Frank agreed. “She almost seemed, well, greedy about it.”
    â€œWe did learn one thing,” Joe said. “Senhorade Feira doesn’t know that the gold is buried in the backyard across the street. She really does think it’s buried in one of Lisbon’s parks. Do you think we should tell her that it’s not?”
    Frank thought for a minute. “If we put ourselves in her place, maybe we’d want some of the gold too.” He looked around. “At first I thought this place was really elegant, but now I think it’s probably seen better days. It’s beginning to look kind of shabby.”
    â€œThat could be the reason why it’s so dark in here,” Joe said. “Maybe Senhora de Feira is ashamed of how the house looks.”
    â€œThat has to be it, Joe—that’s why she’s so interested in the gold. Her family probably needs money too,” Frank said. “But what choice do we have? We can’t just go back across the street and start digging in Senhora Bragança’s backyard. We could show Senhora de Feira the map and ask her advice on how we could . . .”
    Before he could finish his sentence, however, Senhora de Feira returned to the room. “I’m glad that’s taken care of,” she said, sitting back down in her chair. “I’m getting so forgetful these days. Now where were we?”
    â€œYou were a very special friend of Frau Rilke’s,” Joe said. “She trusted you so much that she told you about the gold—so we thought that perhapsyou could help us find it and, once we recover it, get it back to the United States.”
    Senhora de Feira laughed. “You must not have been listening when I was talking to you earlier,” she said. “We have no way of knowing in which park the gold is buried.”
    â€œActually, Frau Rilke gave us a map that shows the location,” Joe said.
    Senhora de Feira gasped and clutched at her throat. “Oh, please let me see it!” she managed to say.
    Just as Joe started to reach inside his coat pocket three young men came into the room. They