The Indian Mound Mystery

One of the sets of original Mildred Wirt Benson documents that I purchased was the outline for a book called The Indian Mound Mystery. While I have not read every single one of Mildred Wirt Benson's published works, I feel like I can safely rule out the very few that I have not read. For the record, the only ones I have not read are Sky Racers, Carolina Castle, Courageous Wings, Linda, Connie Carl at Rainbow Ranch, and the Honey Bunch books.

Here are the characters, as described in the outline:

Rance and 'Rene Caldwell, children who are visiting their uncle,

John Spranger, a bachelor....a writer of historical novels.

Jean Romanes, an orphan who runs a quick lunch room. She is a direct descendant of Eugene Romanes.

Jack Hardley, Jean's cousin.

Robert Quittance, a lawyer, who has a fine collection of antiques. He is interested in adding to his collection by fair means or foul.

Judge Van Wenter, a kindly man who assists John Spranger in his research work.

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The Eagle or Jewel of the Cincinnati. ....The order was formed by the officers, French, Polish and American, who fought together during the Revolution. George Washington was its first president. The eldest son of a dead officer could step into his father's place in the organization.

I like the description of the Jean's cafe as a "quick lunch room."

I'm going to give a short rundown of the plot. The outline has no dialogue. This would have been fleshed out as the book was written. I have tried to rephrase everything so as to use only my own words, and I have left out some of the plot.

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The children's names are Ranceford and Irene Caldwell, and their nicknames are Rance and Rene. Their parents have gone away on a trip, and the two children must stay with their uncle, John Spranger, who is reluctant to take care of them. He is afraid they will distract him from his writing. Additionally, Uncle John's housekeeper, Truda Hausfenger, is displeased about the extra guests. Hmm...a housekeeper with a foreign-sounding name. It sounds like one of the famous ethnic stereotypes of old series fiction!

The children are asked to help remove some old wallpaper in Uncle John's house. As they finish the job, the children find a hidden door to a closet which contains an old chest. In the chest, the children find two diaries, one belonging to Robert Spranger. The diary contains a letter written by Eugene des Romanes.

The children visit the nearby Indian mounds. While there, Rance looks around while Rene reads the diary. She finds mention of some missing object and a partial clue to its whereabouts. The children return home to find that Uncle John is going on a trip to do research for a new book. The children go with him to an Ohio river town.

Soon after arriving in the town, the children meet Robert Quittance and Jean Romanes. From Jean, the children learn of a missing pay chest. Jean tells them that she has some papers in a trunk which may be of interest to their uncle. Jean is not able to get to the papers at the present moment.

The children meet Jack Hardley, Jean's cousin, and find him to be very unpleasant. Rene had brought the old diaries with her on the trip and left them in a briefcase. During the night, an intruder, who is later found to be Jack Hardley, tries to steal the diaries. He does not succeed.

Jean goes to retrieve her papers from the trunk and learns that some of them are missing. The Eagle of the Cincinnati, which is kind of like a locket, is on display at the library and Jean, Rene, and Rance go to look at it. They find a clue inside, and the words seem to fit with the words in the diary.

Rene learns that Judge Van Wenter had given Mr. Quittance a map of the Indian mounds. The judge draws a map from memory for Rene. Meanwhile, Jean learns that her cousin and Quittance are in collusion to find the pay chest. The two were seen driving in the direction of the Indian mounds.

The children arrive at the mounds in time to see Jack and Quittance discover the chest. They leave to get help, but the police will not believe them. Fortunately, Uncle John arrives in time to lend assistance. The chest is opened in court, and the judge determines that the money belongs to the government. Quittance is discredited in the eyes of the townspeople, and Jean returns east with Rene and Rance.

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The outline was good, and I feel like this story could have made a good book. The outline is five pages long in single-spaced type. In its present form, it makes for a good short story, though lacking in dialogue.