“Alice and I are in the airbladder race tomorrow, only something has happened that might cause them to pull her off the team. To put it generally, she has to return something that was lost to the school. I’m giving this to you., but I don’t want you to say who it from. Is that clear?”

“Very clear, o mysterious and unknown stranger.” I said.

“Take it.”

He held out a small bag to me. The bag was very heavy.

“Gold, by any chance?” I asked.

“So you know?”

“I know.”

“It is.”

“I trust it was come by legitimately.”

“Of course it was! What do you think I am? I got it while camping in the mountains. Well, good bye.”

I hadn’t yet managed to reach my seat when the door bell rang again. I found two small girls on our doorstep.

“Hello.” They said in chorus. “We’re from the first grade. Take this for Alice.”

They handed me two individual purses and ran off. In one purse lay four gold coins, very old coins from someone’s collection. In another, three tea spoons. The tea spoons it turned out were not, in fact, gold; they were platinum. Yet another piece of gold arrived in a box in the evening mail from another unknown wellwisher. Then Leva Zvansky dropped by and tried to foist on me a small casket with diamonds. After he left an member of the 8th Grade class came by; he brought along three tiny gold nuggets.

“I collected them back when I was a kid.” He said.

Alice returned toward evening. She shouted happily from the door:

“Papa! There’s nothing to worry about. Everything worked out. I can go with you on the expedition.”

“Why such a change.” I asked.

“Because I found a replacement.” Alice was scarcely able to drag the Mother Load of gold ore out of her bag. It appeared to be about six or seven kilograms.

“I went to see Captain Poloskov. I told him the problem and he called around to everyone he knew. He also fed me supper, so I’m not hungry.”