The Adventurous Allens' Treasure Hunt

The Adventurous Allens' Treasure Hunt begins with the Allens' return to their Michigan lodge after spending many months marooned on an uncharted island. The Allens plan to take in many guests this summer as a means for raising money so that they can keep the lodge, the ship, and many other possessions which they inherited from their uncle.

The Allens take out advertisements in newspapers to let people know about the lodge.

The reply to their advertisement had been surprising. "Exclusive, references, families, no young children, rates reasonable but not low, cruiser and boats," and some other catch-words had been prominent in the notice which they had sent to several papers on their way to New York from Miami.

The Allens advertise in multiple newspapers around the country, and they think the response is "surprising." What did they expect? Of course they are going to get people if they advertise everywhere!

Not only do the Allens get guests from their advertisements, they invite everybody they know. What I cannot figure out is whether all of their friends are also paying guests like the people who responded to the advertisements.

The Allens have so many people staying at their lodge that it is impossible to keep track of them. I have to wonder exactly how big this lodge is. Grove never describes the size other than stating that it has two stories. How large is it? Grove also never states how many people are at the lodge, but I gather that they have at least two dozen guests. The lodge must be some kind of mansion if the Allens can entertain so many guests comfortably.

Like the last book, this book was also excessively boring for large portions of the text. I did not find it that interesting to follow Nancy around as she performs mundane chores and makes plans for her guests.

Not too long into the story, a prowler is chased off soon after he begins digging a hole in the Allens' garage. The Allens wonder whether he might have been digging for something valuable. They park their vehicle over the hole so that the prowler cannot come back to dig. The Allens fail to think about the hole again and seem to have no curiosity about it. Hey, if someone were to come dig a hole in my yard in the middle of the night for no reason and then run off when spotted, I'd be a bit concerned about it. Wouldn't you?

The last 50 or so pages of the book was the most interesting part of the story. A treasure is finally found, but with no effort on the part of the Allens. It is kind of like the Allens' rescue from the island in the previous book. By no means can the content of this book be described as a "treasure hunt" as the title states. The title of this book should have been The Adventurous Allens' Vacation Resort.