the wax was melting rapidly.
The boy was glad to be out in the fresh air. The soily sludge around the wax had dissolved and sunk. He could
see the thing lying in the clear melted wax. It was not a ring; Amy had only glimpsed the rim.
It was a cup made from gold, an altar chalice!
The old seaman fished it out with two pieces of twig, then took the cloth from Will and carefully cleaned it off.
"Well, I never, look what a marvelous thing Saint Luke sent us!"
The chalice looked as new as the day it was made. Beautifully crafted in solid gold, covered in intricate
carvings, with four pigeon-egg rubies set in its solid gold base.
Amy picked the chalice up reverently and held it high, letting the sunlight glint off the gold and rubies.
"The first reward, but what was it doing halfway down a wellshaft?"
Ben shrugged. "Who knows. I'd better go and get Miz Winn. She'll want to see this. It must be worth a great for-
tune."
Eileen came up with a good suggestion. "Let's make it a surprise for her. I'll make dinner for us all tonight, Ben.
You tell Miz Winn she's invited. My Will can call at the house this evenin' to pick you both up. Ma ain't seen Winnie
for ages, have you, Ma?"
Will's mother bustled back to the farmhouse, calling out, "I'd like to see Winnie. Better get the place cleaned up,
though. Have to sprinkle some lilac water 'round, to get rid of that ole tallow smell."
Ned was waiting anxiously for Ben when he got back. Ben patted his friend's head. "Where've you been, mate?
You missed cream tea and scones up at Drummond's farm. Oh, I've got something to tell you."
The black Lab allowed himself to be stroked as he passed on a thought. "I've got something to tell you first, Ben.
I went up to Smithers's house and heard Wilf plotting with his gang. I was by the back hedge when I heard them
talking on the lawn. Listen to this. They're terrified of Jon. Had some trouble with him. Call him the Mad Professor.
But they don't know that you've met him. Wilf is going to dare you to go inside the almshouse at midnight. He
reckons Jon will eat you alive, or whatevers it is that Mad Professors do to whoever goes into their almshouses. Just
thought you'd like to know."
Ben shook his head and grinned. "Then I'll just have to look sufficiently frightened when he dares me. Wait'll I
tell Jon. Now, let me tell you what I found today...."
28.
MRS. WINN PUT ASIDE HER WORRIES temporarily. She was delighted to be asked out to dinner despite
more signs having been tacked to every public building in the village. She knew the Drummond family well, and had
not been up to the farm since Captain Winn had passed away. She became quite excited when Ben hinted that an
important clue had been found, but even though she pressed him, he would say no more. Whistling up his dog, Ben
went off down the driveway. He wanted to discuss the coming night's events with Jon. The old lady watched the pair,
suddenly glad that she had taken in the boy from the sea and his black dog. She had a feeling events were starting to
move along, things were about to happen. Mrs. Winn allowed herself a brief shudder of anticipation.
The rest of her afternoon was spent rummaging out her wardrobe for something pretty to wear at dinner.
The old lady was putting the finishing touches to her hairpins when Will drove Delia to the gate. Alex and Amy
were with him. The Labrador loped out and met Delia, decided immediately that they would be friends, and stayed by
the horse's side. The old seaman came striding jauntily up, his beard combed and a fresh red kerehief bound around
his neck. He helped Mrs. Winn up into the gig and they were off.
The dinner was a success, thanks to Eileen and Will's mother: roast beef and potatoes with all the trimmings,
followed by fresh strawberries and cream. Will and Jon cleared the table whilst the ladies sipped glasses of
elderflower wine, which Amy and Alex's mother had sent along. Little Willum dozed off on the sofa, and Ben poured
lemonade for his two young friends. Jon and the dairyman came in from the kitchen, carrying a glass of beer apiece.
After supper Will produced the chalice from behind his back and set it on the mantelpiece. It was filled with
water and had six white roses in it. Mrs. Winn stared at it, enraptured. "Oh, it's so beautiful! Does it belong in your
family, Sarah?"
Will's ma smiled. "No, it belongs in your family, Winnie!"
While Eileen and Will's ma excitedly related the tale of the discovery, Will showed something to the others.
"Miz Winn ain't the only one gettin' a surprise this evenin'. Look what I found when I was emptyin' the wax
from that pot." He placed a flat piece of wood, about eight inches long by an inch wide, upon the table. It was dark,
greasy, and well preserved from the tallow that had encased it.
Ben turned it over, running his thumbnail over the wood. "There's some carving on it—hard to make out,
though."
Alex produced a pencil stub from his pocket. "Let me try."
They held the lamp close as he ran the pencil lead inside the carved grooves.
His sister studied the results. "It looks like the letter U carved alongside itself eight times, with some sort of
stickleg creature at each end, very roughly drawn. Looks like two dogs to me."
The big Lab sniffed disdainfully and pawed at Ben's hand. "Dogs: indeed? If I were a dog and I looked like that,
I'd drown myself. I'd say it looks more like two horses. You tell her, pal, go on, defend your friend the dog!" Ben did,
and Will and Jon were inclined to agree with him.
At the other end of the table Mrs. Winn held the chalice lovingly. "Thank you, all of you, this is the most
marvelous discovery. I don't want to sound ungrateful, but I wish that it had been something less beautiful and more
practical, like the deeds to Chapelvale. That's what I really need."
The farmer's normally cheerful face darkened. "Aye, that rogue Smithers ain't even made us an offer for
Hillside Farm yet. I wouldn't let him over the pasture fence. Still, if they started a quarry an' a factory, we'd be forced
to leave. A man can't dairy farm with all kinds o' blastin' an' machinery chug-gin' night 'n' day. My business'd be
ruined. It ain't right, I tell you, it just ain't right!"
Eileen lifted the sleeping baby from the couch. "We know that, m'dear, but they got the law an' big-business
friends in London, aye, an' plenty o' money, too. All we got is good intentions an' time that's gettin' shorter by the
day."
The blue-eyed boy interrupted. "But we've got the golden chalice and this carved stick, which has got to be
some kind of clue. We can't give up. Who knows, the next thing we turn up may be the deeds. With the value of that
chalice and the deeds to the land, we'd soon have the upper hand!"
Jon stared hard at the stick, scratching his beard. "But where do we look? There may be a clue to the carvings
on this stick, but there's no words, no rhyme, no riddle. Maybe the carvings are describing someplace, eight letter Us
and what we think is a horse ... where's that?"
Will's ma spoke up. "Would a map of the area help ye?" Ben felt a tremor of anticipation. "Have you got one?"
Without a word, Sarah Drummond went off to her bedroom. She returned with a framed picture. It was a child's
picture of St. Peter's church on the hilltop, drawn in lead pencil and colored neatly in with colored wax crayons.
Will flushed to the roots of his hair. "Oh, Ma, you ain't goin' to show 'em that ole thing, I was but ten years old