proud of them. They have been in my family over a hundred years. But
there is a sad story about it--a very sad story about the old Pompret
china." And the lady's face clouded.

"Did somebody break it?" asked Bert. Once he had broken a plate of which
his mother was very proud, and he remembered how sad she felt.

"No, my china wasn't broken," said Miss Pompret. "In fact, there is a
sort of mystery about it."

"Oh, please tell me!" begged Nan. "I like nice dishes and I like
stories."

She and Bert looked at the closet of choice china dishes. Children
though they were, they could see that the plates, cups, saucers and
other dishes were not like the kind set on their table every day.

What could Miss Pompret mean about a "mystery" connected with her set of
china?



CHAPTER V

"WHAT A LOT OF MONEY!"

Bert and Nan sat up very straight on the chairs in Miss Pompret's dining
room, and looked first at her and then at the china closet with its
shiny, glass doors. Miss Pompret sat up very straight, too, in her
chair, and she, also, looked first from Nan and Bert to the wonderful