"Don't be a silly little girl," was all he said as he gave her a push back towards the centre of the room.

Next they showed Mrs. Warrender and the Mortons the other papers and Uncle Charles' letter, and it was while his mother was reading this that Jon turned to Mr. Morton.

"But the clue isn't fair, sir," he said. "That earthen vessel we found might have been hidden anywhere within a hundred miles. How could the holder of the clue possibly know where to look?"

"I told you before that I believe you've only got half the clue. Where did you find it?"

"In the Bible. Pinned to the letter Mother is reading now. The letter written to me by Great-Uncle Charles."

"Then let's look in the Bible again. Mary, my lass, bring it over to the window if you can lift it!... And may I look at the letter or is it too private?"

Mrs. Warrender came over with the letter in her hand.

"I heard what you were saying, Mr. Morton. Jon, did you realize that old Uncle Charles says that clues, not a clue, were attached to his letter? Are you sure there was only one piece of paper?"

Jon was sure of that and then Mary took the big Bible by the edges of the two covers, turned it upside down and with great difficulty shook the pages. Several things fell out - a pressed flower, an old envelope which contained a baby's curl of hair and a small piece of parchment.

"Got it!" Jon said triumphantly as he pounced on the latter. "Well done, Mother and Mr. Morton.

"Penny! David!" Jon called. "Look what we've found. I bet this paper would fit the one the others took."

The message on the parchment was very brief:

Jon polished his glasses.

"Gosh," he said. "What does this mean? The other, which I s'pose was written above this before it was torn, said 'nt 8 April 7."

"And it was the 'nt' which set us off on the right track," Penny said. "It's only because we guessed 'nt' meant New Testament. Try it again, Jon! It might work. Find the fifteenth book of the New Testament."

Jon took the great book on his knee and turned the pages.

"Timothy I," he said after a lot of turning of pages and counting... "Now Chapter 6... I see what you mean. I've got it... I've got it! This must be it. Verse 10 starts: 'For the love of money is the root of all evil.'... Root is the clue, I suppose? Don't you think so, sir?"

Mr. Morton laughed. "Very ingenious! I suppose everyone who used the Dolphin much would know the withy tree, and all the smugglers who used the secret passage would know about the roots, of course. Earthen vessels... and then the root of all evil is possible."