Free The Mystery of the Soccer Snitch by Gertrude Chandler Warner

where the groundbreaking will be held tomorrow morning before the big game.”
    â€œGroundbreaking?” said Benny. “Why would anyone want to break the ground?”
    â€œIt’s okay, Benny,” said Henry, the oldest of the Alden children. “A groundbreaking ceremony is what people do when a new building is going to be built.”
    â€œAnd don’t worry,” said Jessie, “nothing is going to be broken. All that’s going to happen is a hole will be dug, just like when you dig in the sand at the beach.”
    Grandfather Alden parked the car in a parking lot near where Alden Library would stand. Alden Library was the reason for the family’s visit. Grandfather had donated money to help build the new library. The professors and other leaders of the university were so thankful that they planned to name the building for him.
    The Alden children climbed out of the car to stretch their legs and look around. Next to the empty field stood a very tall, very old building with high walls made of dark stone and high, arching windows.
    â€œWow!” said Benny. “Is that a castle?”
    â€œIt’s not a castle,” said a woman’s voice, “though it looks a bit like one. This is Goldwin Library.”
    A tall, thin woman stood outside the doors of the old building. “James Alden,” she said, “you must be here for the big ceremony.” The children always found it funny to hear someone call their grandfather by his first name.
    â€œChildren,” said Grandfather Alden, “this is Miss Hollenberg, the head librarian at Goldwin University. She began working at the library back when I was a student.”
    â€œAnd what a student your grandfather was,” Miss Hollenberg said, straightening her glasses and smiling. “He spent a lot of time reading and studying in the library in order to do well in his classes.”
    â€œI only spent four years at Goldwin University, but Miss Hollenberg has spent her entire career working in this old building,” said Grandfather Alden. “Because she has worked here so long, she can find information on anything a student-or anyone else-might want to learn about. And it has been her job to take care of the library.”
    â€œOf course I’ve had a little bit of help from the grinning gargoyles,” Miss Hollenberg said.
    â€œGargoyles?” asked Violet. “Who are they?”
    Miss Hollenberg pointed to the top of the old library building, past the arches and other decorations that covered its rock walls. There, at each corner of the roof, hunched the statue of a strange creature. Each statue had small, beady eyes, a pair of wings, long claws, and a smiling mouth full of sharp, stone teeth.
    The Alden children craned their necks to look up at the statues.
    â€œThose look like monsters!” said Benny. “Or dragons! They’re kind of scary.”
    â€œThey are scary looking, even if they’re just stone statues,” said Jessie. “But how could a statue protect the library?”
    â€œThis is a little-known fact Miss Hollenberg told me back when I was a student,” Grandfather said. “As you can see from their open mouths, gargoyle statues were added to buildings to act as rain spouts—carrying rain water away like the gutters on our house. Without such protection, water would eat away at the stone.”
    â€œBut some people believe that gargoyles are more than just statues,” Miss Hollenberg said. “Legend has it that gargoyles guard the buildings they call home. And here at Goldwin, students have long believed that these grinning gargoyles won’t be so happy if their home—the library—isn’t treated right. Gargoyles are mythical creatures, of course—no such thing as a real one. But for years, troublemakers and good-for-nothings have spread rumors of running into living, breathing gargoyles. It’s all balderdash, if you