Mystery Behind the Wall by Gertrude Warner Page A

always did things at once, or not at all.
    Mrs. McGregor gave Grandfather the telephone number. Soon he said, “How do you do. Is this Mrs. Beaton?”
    Benny could not hear Mrs. Beaton’s reply, but he knew his grandfather was pleased. That must mean Rory could come.
    Mr. Alden said, “Just as soon as you receive his airplane fare, send Rory along. We will meet him at the airport. Yes, Mrs. McGregor is fine. In fact, she was the one who thought of this plan.”
    When Mr. Alden put the phone down, he said, “You must remember that the boy comes from Canada and he will not talk exactly the way we do. You will have to be careful about that.”
    “Oh, we will be,” said Violet, “no matter how he talks.”
    “How soon do you think he’ll get here?” Benny asked.
    “Three or four days, perhaps,” his grandfather answered. “The Beatons will let us know when to expect him.”
    “Let’s get things ready right now,” Benny said.
    So everyone, even Henry, ran upstairs to fix a room for their Canadian visitor.
    “If Rory has the room next to mine,” Benny said, “we can rap on the wall for signals.” He was making big plans already for his guest.
    They opened the door and looked in. “Not much of a room for a boy,” said Jessie.
    “Not much of a guest room, either,” added Violet. “Look at the old-fashioned wallpaper with roses all over it.” She pulled up the shades at the windows and the sun shone in.
    “That wallpaper has been here for ages,” Jessie said. “It was here when we came to live with Grandfather, and it was old then.”
    Henry said, “I haven’t looked around in here for a long time. I think that this was once a girl’s room.”
    Violet nodded. “I have a funny feeling about this room. It seems so sad to me. I don’t know why. I guess perhaps it’s because it is usually shut up.”
    Benny was looking at a picture hanging on the wall near the bed. He said, “Look at this old photograph! It’s a girl and her family on the front walk of a house.”
    “Let me look,” Henry said. “Why, Benny! It’s this house—look, you can see the front door and the steps.”
    “Yes, but—” Benny said. “Our house is much bigger and it has another part over at the side. And the trees and bushes are bigger.”
    “That picture was taken years ago,” Henry said.
    Jessie said, “Let’s ask Grandfather about it. Maybe the house was changed after this picture was taken.”
    Violet looked at the picture and the girl. Then she stared at one of the windows in the picture. She saw something no one else had noticed. There was a poster in the window.
    “Look!” she said. “There’s a poster that says ‘Coolidge for President.’ Now when was that?”
    Henry said, “Well, President Coolidge was elected, let me think, before 1929.”
    “So that little girl must be pretty old now,” Benny said. “I wonder what became of her.”
    Just then Mrs. McGregor came in with the red bedspread and everyone forgot about the photograph.
    Mrs. McGregor said, “Here. Rory will like this, I think.”
    Jessie said, “That’s right. It will make this look more like a boy’s room. But Mrs. McGregor, do you remember when Grandfather bought this house?”
    “Well, he had it for a short time before I came to work here. I was just a girl myself. I can hardly believe it, but it must have been forty years ago.”
    Mrs. McGregor shook her head and added, “Time goes by fast when you’re busy.”
    “And slowly when you’re waiting for someone,” Benny said.
    Everyone laughed. Benny and Grandfather were alike—neither of them liked to wait.

CHAPTER 2
    A Hole in the Wall
    T he four Aldens went to the airport to meet Rory. Their grandfather and Mrs. McGregor went along, too. Everyone was excited, wondering what Rory would be like.
    “There he is!” exclaimed Benny, waving. “He sees us!”
    “My, he’s bigger than I thought he would be,” Mrs. McGregor said.
    Rory proved to be a sturdy boy of about ten and