Chapter 20 SURPRISE!

THOROUGHLY alarmed, Vevi and Hanny ran as fast as they could to the house to relate what had happened.

“Uncle Peter! Uncle Peter!” Hanny shouted, bursting into the house. “Come quick!”

“Why, what is wrong?” he inquired. Startled, he rose quickly to his feet, fearing that one of the Brownies had been hurt.

“Our tulip bulbs!” Hanny cried. “Did you move them from the little house?”

“No, Hanny, I did not.”

“Then they have been stolen!” Hanny was so excited that she began to speak in Dutch, telling her uncle of the discovery she and Vevi had made.

Mr. Van Der Lann ran to the storehouse to see for himself.

“Gone!” he groaned as he too beheld the empty shelves.

“Maybe it was Mr. Evans who took the bulbs,” guessed Vevi, remembering that she had seen the man examining the padlock a few days earlier.

“No! No! It could not have been he,” insisted the nurseryman. “Mr. Evans is a federal agent. He was sent here to try to catch the smugglers. I talked to him only last night and he now has left Rosedale.”

“Mr. Piff is going away too,” remarked Vevi.

“Mr. Piff!” exclaimed the nurseryman. “When did you last see him?”

“Only a minute or two before we came out here in your truck. He was in a taxi cab.”

“What made you think he was leaving Rosedale, Vevi?”

“He said so. He said the show had failed, and he was going away. The taxi was taking him to a train.”

“The show was a failure all right,” declared Mr. Van Der Lann. “But Mr. Piff has no call to go away without making a full accounting to the townspeople who contributed to his flower fund. He has run up many debts. Besides, I suspect he may be the one who took my bulbs!”

“Not Mr. Piff?” echoed Miss Gordon. “How could he do such a thing?”

“He has been here several times during the last few days,” the nurseryman revealed. “When he saw that his show would fail, he sought a means of making quick money. He wanted to sell my bulbs for me, but I turned him down.”

“Did he know where you kept them, Peter?” asked Miss Mohr.

“Yes, and he was here this morning while I was at the library. The housekeeper told me so.”

“Can’t we stop him from leaving Rosedale?” Miss Gordon asked. She looked at her wristwatch, and added:

“His train may have gone by this time. There is a chance, though, that we can intercept him.”

“I will try,” said Mr. Van Der Lann grimly.

He ran to get his truck. By this time, Connie and Sunny had run up from the canal. Jane and Rosemary, their arms laden with tulips, raced in from the fields to see what was happening.

“Everyone into the truck!” ordered Mr. Van Der Lann.

The Brownies scrambled in, fairly tumbling over one another in their haste.

“Those bulbs represent my entire fortune,” Mr. Van Der Lann declared, starting off very fast. “I must get them back.”

Rosedale had only one union station. The nurseryman drove directly there. Passengers could be seen waiting on the platform. Luggage had been piled up on a dolly-truck ready to be hauled to the train when it came in.

Even as the Brownies leaped from Mr. Van Der Lann’s truck, they heard the whistle of the approaching engine.

“Hurry! Hurry!” urged Vevi. “It’s coming now.”

Passengers were gathering up their hand luggage. The children did not see Mr. Piff anywhere.

“He must have taken an earlier train,” declared Miss Gordon anxiously. “I’m afraid we have missed him.”

“I’ll look in the depot,” offered Vevi.

“You don’t need to!” cried Connie excitedly. “There he comes now!”

Mr. Piff had left the building and was walking directly toward the group.

Suddenly he saw the Brownies with Mr. Van Der Lann, and stopped short. He turned as if to move in the opposite direction.

“Wait!” called the nurseryman.

Mr. Piff reluctantly obeyed the command.

“Well?” he demanded. “What do you want?”

The train now was very close. Mr. Van Der Lann knew he would have to talk fast.

“You cannot leave Rosedale without making an accounting of the flower show funds!” he told the promoter. “Debts are not paid and you have all the money.”

“Try to stop me,” said Mr. Piff unpleasantly. “I’m fed up with this town. I’m leaving.”

“Oh, no, you are not,” corrected the nurseryman. He spoke quietly but with firmness.

By this time the train had pulled into the station. Most of the passengers already had boarded their cars.

“Get out of my way!” Mr. Piff said furiously.

He tried to push past the nurseryman. Mr. Van Der Lann grasped him by the arm, making the promoter drop one of the bags he carried.

Vevi snatched it up. Before anyone could stop her, she had opened it.

Inside were two sacks of tulip bulbs. Vevi knew at once that they were the Golden Beauties.

“So!” exclaimed Mr. Van Der Lann. “I thought as much.”

“Now see here,” said Mr. Piff, still trying to pull away. “I can explain. It’s true I intended to sell the bulbs to a dealer I know. But you would have received the full amount, minus a small commission. I can get you a much better price than you can arrange for yourself.”

Mr. Van Der Lann paid no attention. He went through the promoter’s luggage, taking all the bulbs that were his.

Then he made Mr. Piff turn over all the money he had collected for his flower show from Rosedale townspeople.

“Now get on that train and never come back here!” the nurseryman said, shoving him toward his car.

“You’re not having me arrested?” Mr. Piff muttered.

“Get on your train,” the nurseryman ordered again. “And let this be a lesson to you.”

Mr. Piff grabbed up his luggage, including the empty handbag, and ran for the train. He swung aboard. The cars began to move, slowly at first and then faster and faster.

“Goodbye, Mr. Piff!” laughed Sunny.

Mr. Van Der Lann pocketed the money he had taken from the promoter. He told Miss Mohr and the Brownie Scout leader that he doubted it would be enough to pay all of the flower show debts.

“It will cover most of the expense though,” he assured the women. “I will turn all of this money over to Mrs. Langley or the Chamber of Commerce president.”

Now the Brownies were happy indeed that the nurseryman had recovered the Golden Beauty tulip bulbs. Mr. Van Der Lann assured them that he would ship the bulbs east that very day so that there would be no risk of having them stolen again.

For the troop members, the day had been a thrilling one. During the next week they had many wonderful times too, going often to Windmill Farm.

Miss Mohr especially, was kept very busy, planning her approaching wedding. Often the Brownies went with her to the stores to help her buy finery. Time was very short, and it seemed there were a million things to do.

Then finally, the important day was at hand.

All the Brownies, dressed in fresh Scout uniforms, arrived early at the church. An usher escorted them to their seats, a special roped-off pew at the front.

“I hope everything goes off well,” Vevi whispered nervously to Connie. “Wouldn’t it be awful if Hanny should drop the ring?”

“Sh!” Connie warned severely. “The ceremony is starting.”

An expectant hush had fallen upon the church throng. The organist began to play a solemn wedding march.

“Here they come!” whispered Rosemary, twisting around to see. “Oh, how lovely!”

Hanny led the stately procession down the carpeted aisle. She was dressed in white, and carried a basket of flower petals which she dropped one by one ahead of the bride.

Miss Mohr wore a white satin gown with long train and a veil. Her flowers were Golden Beauty tulips. She had never been more lovely.

“Doesn’t Miss Gordon look nice too?” murmured Connie.

The Brownie Scout leader was dressed in pink, with a large picture hat. She and the other bridesmaids carried bouquets of tulips also.

At the proper moment in the ceremony, the ring was produced. Then the minister spoke the words which made Miss Mohr and Mr. Van Der Lann man and wife.

“There! It’s over!” Vevi whispered. “Now we can throw our rice!”

As soon as the procession had passed out of the church, the Brownie Scouts hastened to the exit.

They were in time to see the bridal party getting into cars.

“Now for the rice!” chuckled Vevi.

Each Brownie Scout had brought a small bag filled with rice grains. Laughing and shouting, they hurled it at the bridal couple.

Miss Mohr leaned out of the car to speak to the girls.

“Peter and I will soon return from our honeymoon,” she said. “When we do, we want you all to come often to visit us at Windmill Farm.”

“We will,” promised Connie, speaking for all the Brownies.

“One more thing,” said Miss Mohr. “I have a special request.”

“What is it, Miss Mohr—I mean Mrs. Van Der Lann?” inquired Vevi politely.

“I want all the Brownies to walk past the library when they leave the church.”

Now Vevi thought this a most strange request indeed.

“Past the library?” she repeated, thinking that possibly the librarian had made a slip of tongue.

“Yes, dear, it’s a surprise. From Peter.”

Vevi and the other Brownies were more mystified than ever. Before they could ask a single question, the cars began to move away.

Mr. Van Der Lann opened a paper sack. He began to toss cellophane-wrapped candies to the children.

“Suikers,” he explained with a smile. “Sugar plums. It’s an old Dutch custom to throw them at every wedding.”

The Brownies caught most of the sugar plums. Jane, who was agile, picked up four, and Vevi captured three. The other girls had at least one or two apiece.

The bridal cars rounded a corner and were gone. For just a minute, the Brownie Scouts felt lonesome.

“What shall we do now?” asked Sunny. “Go home?”

“We must walk past the library,” Connie said, recalling Miss Mohr’s final instructions. “I wonder why she asked us to do it?”

“It is out of my way to go that direction,” declared Rosemary. “Do you think it would matter if I walk past some other time?”

“No, we must all go now—together,” Vevi insisted. “Miss Mohr said it was important.”

“That’s right,” agreed Connie. “She spoke of a surprise. One from Peter.”

The girls started off, walking in pairs. Vevi and Connie were ahead, followed by the others.

“What surprise could Peter have left for us?” Vevi speculated.

“A package of books perhaps,” Rosemary guessed.

“He may have given the troop a piece of his fine Delft ware,” Sunny declared. “I would like that for a gift.”

Thinking of various possibilities, the girls began to walk faster. Soon they came within view of the library.

“How will we know about the surprise?” Jane asked in perplexity. “Are we supposed to go into the building and ask one of the librarians?”

“Well, if we aren’t dopes!” suddenly cried Vevi.

She stopped short and began to laugh.

“What’s wrong with you?” demanded Jane.

“The surprise!” cried Vevi. “One can see it a mile away! It’s a wonderful one too!”

The other Brownies were bewildered by the little girl’s words. But only for a moment.

“Oh, I see it too!” exclaimed Connie.

She and Vevi both began to run toward the library.

Then Jane, Rosemary and Sunny joined the race.

The surprise, everyone now knew, was a beautiful flower bed!

As the girls approached closer, they could see it plainly.

The circular bed which Miss Mohr had given to the Brownie Scouts for their very own, now was a mass of blooms.

Yellow and gold and brown tulips blazed in the sunlight. The Brownies never had seen a more gorgeous sight.

“Oh, it’s wonderful!” cried Vevi, dancing about the bed. “Just what I wanted!”

“It’s our very own too!” added Sunny.

“Look at the center of the bed,” directed Connie.

Mr. Van Der Lann had so arranged the tulips that they resembled the clover-shaped Scout emblem.

The letters “G. S.” were spelled out in bright yellow tulips.

“That stands for Girl Scouts,” commented Jane. “I do wish Mr. Van Der Lann had made a ‘B’ to stand for Brownie.”

“All Brownie Scouts fly up to become Girl Scouts when they’re old enough,” declared Connie. “I like our flower bed just as he made it.”

“So do I,” agreed Rosemary. “I think this is the nicest surprise our troop ever had.”

“The very best,” echoed Sunny.

“How do you suppose Mr. Van Der Lann made the tulips grow so fast?” speculated Jane. “Why, it’s almost miraculous!”

“He couldn’t have planted bulbs, that’s certain,” replied Connie. “I know! He must have brought potted plants from Windmill Farm!”

“However he did it, I guess it proves the Brownie Story,” asserted Vevi.

The other girls asked her what she meant.

Vevi grinned happily and bent down to sniff the fragrance of a big yellow tulip. Then with twinkling eyes, she replied:

“Don’t you see? It’s magic, pure magic!”

“It does seem almost like it,” admitted Connie.

“This wonderful surprise proves that elves are still at work,” Vevi said with a laugh. “They live in Rosedale and everywhere in the world. And best of all, they serve the Brownies!”

THE END