This was to be an eventful visit. It was to be one full of excitement and adventure, a visit that none of the girls ever would be likely to forget.

They rapidly rolled through the city and in a little while were out in the country, where the land flattened down into a rolling prairie, broken here and there by groups of slender trees and farm buildings.

The snow began to sweep past them in flurries shortly after they cleared the city limits. Ruth stopped the automobile and called upon the girls to a.s.sist her in putting on the storm curtains. When they had finished the car was entirely enclosed, a heavy curtain taking the place of the wind shield which the driver had turned down at its middle.

"Isn't this comfy?" chirped Mollie.

It did not prove so "comfy" after all, the way Ruth accelerated the speed, sending the car careening ahead at a high rate.

"Olive," said Bab, mustering courage to introduce a subject that was near to her heart.

"Yes, dear."

"Would you--would you think me too personal if I asked you to tell us the story of the buried treasure of Treasureholme?" she asked hesitatingly.

"Not at all."

"Oh, do tell us," urged Mollie and Grace in one voice.

"I've been just dying to hear about it ever since I first learned there was such a place as Treasureholme. Are there real ghosts there?"

questioned Mollie.

"No; no ghosts. But there are memories. Listen, girls, and I will tell you all I know about it," said Olive, settling herself to relate the tale that was to prove of such fascinating interest to the "Automobile Girls."

CHAPTER VI

THE WRECK OF MR. A. BUBBLE

"BURIED treasures are such ravishing mysteries," observed Mollie, while Olive was mentally arranging her facts. "I never thought I should actually be face to face with one."

"I am sure it must be a grand old place," volunteered Barbara.

"In reality, it is very big and bare," smiled Olive. "But I love every foot of the old place where I have lived all my life except when I have been away to school and where my ancestors have lived for oh, ever so many years."

Olive's eyes filled with tears. Barbara stole a groping hand under the robe and clasped one of Olive's. The latter pulled herself sharply together. She gave Bab a grateful look. The sympathy in that gentle hand clasp had meant more than words to her. Perhaps in that one brief moment the two girls came to understand each other better than in all the days that had pa.s.sed since their first meeting at the opera.

"You know we fully expect to be obliged to give up the place at an early day. Father's business affairs have been going from bad to worse, until now there seems to be no hope of our keeping Treasureholme."

"Perhaps it may not be so bad as you imagine," suggested Bab softly.

"'Never give up until you have to.' That is my motto."

"You wouldn't be the Barbara I have heard so much about if it weren't.

But to come to the story. Treasureholme has been in our family, as I have already said, for many generations. My ancestor who founded the old place was one of the pioneers here. He was rich when he came here, but he foresaw a great future for what is now Chicago, so he brought his family and all his worldly goods here. He said confidently that a great city was certain to spring up here some day. You see how true was his prophecy. It was almost uncanny as I look at it now."

The girls nodded, but said nothing.

"Gracious! Did you see that?" called Ruth, with a trace of excitement in her tone.

"No, no. What is it?" cried the girls.

"Oh, nothing, only I ran down a cow," answered the fair driver, trying to speak carelessly.

"Ran down a cow!" exclaimed Bab, peering through the curtain windows.

"You needn't look for her. She is a mile or more back now. I didn't run over her. She appeared so suddenly out of the snow cloud that I didn't see her until the car was almost on top of her. I must have hit her only a glancing blow, for I barely felt the jar. I hope I didn't hurt the poor thing."

"So long as we keep on four wheels, please don't interrupt us," begged Miss Presby severely, whereat there was a series of giggles from the girls. "Where was I, girls?"

"Still at Chicago," replied Mollie. "You were speaking of your ancestor's prophecy."

"Oh, yes. At the time they were living in the garrison, at the first fort ever built on the Chicago River. You know the Indians were pretty thick hereabouts at that period."

"Indians!" murmured Grace apprehensively.

"Yes. After a time our ancestors built Treasureholme. That is why it is so old-fashioned now, though many changes necessarily have been made in the house since then, but the main part is practically as it was built by my pioneer ancestor. The boards that were used were laboriously sawed out and the timbers hewn by hand. It must have taken years to build the place. Outwardly it now has a more modern appearance, each succeeding ancestor adding and improving. But for a long time after it was built there were Indians and bad men hereabouts. This perhaps accounts for the secret pa.s.sages and numerous hiding places in the old house."

"Glorious," said Mollie, her eyes dancing.

"One day a message came that the Indians were no longer friendly. My ancestor was warned to hide his valuables and hasten to the fort with his family for the safety afforded there. It is believed that the treasure was buried at that time."

"Money?" asked Barbara.

"Gold and plate and jewels that had been brought from the old country when the family first came to the new world from England. But, alas, the garrison was wiped out by the Indians, leaving not a living person who knew the location of the treasure. Later on other members of the family came here from the east and took possession. The Presbys have been living on the estate ever since."

"Has no attempt been made to find the treasure?" questioned Barbara.

"So many attempts that I couldn't count them. Someone always is nosing about the place for clues. Father has spent a great deal of money in looking for it himself, but I think he has about given up hope of ever finding it. It is my idea that some of the other early members of the family found the hidden treasure, but said nothing about it."

Silence reigned in the automobile for some moments.

"Do you know," said Barbara, breaking the silence, "I think this is an excellent opportunity for the 'Automobile Girls' to distinguish themselves further?"

Olive shook her head smilingly.

"It would be effort wasted. Besides, we shall manage to keep your time so fully occupied that you will have no opportunity to search for buried treasure."

"What about those secret pa.s.sages that you spoke of?" asked Grace.

"You shall see them and explore them to your hearts' content. Tom will show them to you. What Tom doesn't know about the old place, no one else does. And he knows a lot more about it than any of the rest of the family. I suspect that he has been making investigations on his own hook. He, like the boy he is, still has hopes of discovering the buried treasure."

"Is the gate open?" called Ruth over her shoulder.

"Yes. It hasn't been closed this fall."