Mystery Behind the Wall by Gertrude Warner

you thought of some place new to look?” Rory asked. “Do you think you know where the coins are?”
    “We’ll find out,” Benny said, and he climbed up the stairs ahead of Rory. He ran into Rory’s room.
    “Here in my room?” Rory asked. “Where?”
    Benny didn’t say a thing. He walked over to the wall by Rory’s bed. He took down the framed photograph of the house, the one made when Stephanie lived there.
    “What are you going to do with that?” Rory asked. “We looked at that picture and took it down the first day I was here. I remember that.”
    “That’s right,” Benny said. “We looked at the picture. But remember what Stephanie said, ‘Look on the back of the house.’” As he said this, Benny turned the picture over.
    “‘Don’t break the glass,’” Rory said. “Benny, do you think she meant the glass on the front of the picture?”
    “I do!” said Benny. “Look—there’s cardboard on the back. We looked before and saw these little nails that hold the cardboard in place. I’m going to take them out.”
    Rory held his breath while Benny tried to pull the small nails loose. But they were rusty and would not come out. His fingers weren’t strong enough.
    “I’ll get the pliers,” Rory said. “What do you expect to find? Another clue?”
    Benny shook his head. “I have another idea. You get the pliers. I’ll wait.”
    Benny shook the picture gently. Nothing rattled. But Benny did not look disappointed. He waited, and Rory ran into the room with the pliers.
    Violet followed Rory. She said, “I heard you boys come in. What is it?”
    “I have an idea,” Benny said. “Perhaps I understand what Stephanie was telling her father.”
    He took the pliers. He pulled out the rusty nails as fast as he could. They came out easily.
    “Lift out the cardboard, Ben,” Rory said. “Be careful. It’s very old.”
    Benny pried off the cardboard. It was not easy to get out. As he lifted it up he caught his breath. There was something under the cardboard.
    Benny, Violet, and Rory saw what was behind the cardboard at the same time. “Oh, oh!” they exclaimed. “There they are!”
    Nobody moved. They sat and gazed at the back of the photograph as if they were stunned.
    The back of the photograph was covered with the same blue cloth as the coin case. The coins were stuck on the cloth in neat rows of five, glued in place.
    As soon as they were over the first surprise, Rory said, “They are on the back of the house! And we didn’t have to break the glass!”
    “How did you ever think of looking there?” Violet asked.
    Benny laughed and said, “You’ll never guess. I got the idea in the Jenny Wren Shop.”
    “Tell me,” Violet begged.
    “Well, there were buttons like coins sewed on cards,” Benny said. “We’d been thinking about the coins stacked in a little box or something. We never thought how easy it would be to spread them out—just like this.”
    Rory nodded. “They don’t take up much room. Nobody ever guessed they were in the picture frame. How many are there?”
    Benny counted. There were five rows and ten coins in each row. That made fifty coins altogether. Big ones, little ones, gold ones, and copper ones.
    This was the old Blue Collection that Stephanie Shaw had made so many years ago!
    Violet was the first to speak. She said, “Of course the first thing to do is to show them to Grandfather. I know he hoped we would find them.”
    Benny said, “Here, Violet, you carry the coins. They are sure to drop off if I try it.”
    Violet lifted the picture very slowly and the three children went down the stairs to Mr. Alden’s home office.
    As they were almost at the foot of the stairs, Benny called out, “Found! Found! We have found the coins, Grandfather!”
    Henry and Jessie heard Benny. Henry called, “Ben! You found them? I can’t believe it!”
    “You don’t mean the Blue Collection? The whole of it?” demanded Mr. Alden. He got up quickly from his desk.
    “I think