"Hey Davy Baby! What's happening, man?" exclaimed Micky when he saw Davy holding a letter. "It says here my Uncle Alfred has invited us to his Manor in England. He needs our help with something, but he won't say what with, until we arrive." Davy explained. "Should we agree to go?" Micky thought about it for a moment then replied, "What if he wants us to clean, or serve his guests or something worse?" "He wouldn't do that! My Uncle's a groovy guy! He must want us to play at a special dance or something." Davy insisted. "It's the "or something" that worries me!" retorted Micky.
"Wow! These are great seats! I've never had seats this nice on an airplane before! Your Uncle Alfred must be a great guy!" exclaimed Peter. "Yeah! Peter just wait until you see first class. It's a dream!" commented Mike. "He is a great guy! He's my Great-Uncle! Get it? Huh? Great guy?" laughed Davy. "yeah, sure Davy." replied Micky to Davy's joke.
"This is a manor Davy? It looks more like a hen house!" complained Micky as they approached the front door. "Never you mind it. I'm sure it's a groovy pad inside. Let's go!" warned Davy. They knocked at the door and an old gray haired man answered it. "Uncle Alfred?" Davy inquired. "Yes, and you must be Davy! I haven't seen you since you were a boy!" replied the man. "I still am!" Davy said quickly tucking his hair behind his ears. Ignoring Davy's remark, Uncle Alfred continued, "And these must be your friends, the Monkees!" "Yes, we must be or Davy's been putting us on for some time!" answered Mike. "Um, do come in." the man requested, "You must be wondering why I've asked you to come. Take a seat." They looked around and saw five chairs surrounding a broken table.
"Man! He's worse off than us!" Mike whispered to Peter, who nodded. When they were all seated, Uncle Alfred began. "I have a serious problem and I need you young boys to help me. It all started back when my Great- Great- Grandfather was a boy. His father was a sailor. He was working aboard the royal ship carrying gold from France to England. On the way back to England, they were attacked by pirates, who stole the gold. Rather than return home empty-handed he chased the pirates for months. He finally caught them and attacked. He and his crew won and brought back more gold than they started out with. He was given half of the extra gold..." "What happened to it?" interrupted Davy. "I was just getting to that." he explained. "The pirates attacked him again, but couldn't find the gold. He hid it first and gave a message to my Great- Great- Grandfather, who also didn't find it, but I know what he meant! I know where it is! I need you to get it!" the old man stated excitedly. "Will you?" "Of course we will man!" Davy cried. "Wow! My first pirate treasure hunt." Micky noted.
"Um, guys? I hate to burst your bubble, but what do we know about treasure hunting?" inquired Mike. Uncle Alfred quickly replied, "What's to know? I have the exact location marked on this map! All you have to do is dig it up!" Davy who was only too happy to please his Uncle, said they'd agree to do it. "Great! You'll go tomorrow. Now, make yourselves at home. I'm going to the market to get something for dinner." With that Uncle Alfred left. Davy got up. "I'[m going to look around the yard. I'll be back later." he said.
Micky leaned back in his chair. "Careful, man! Do you know how old these chairs are?" Mike warned. Micky sat properly. "Mick, I'm worried. How do we know this guy's telling the truth? That story sounded pretty fishy!" Mike confided. Peter looked up. "Mike. Calm down. He's Davy's Uncle!" Mike replied, "How do we know for sure? Davy hasn't seen him in years! For all we know he's a crook, who's just using us!" Peter answered, "Davy sent a Christmas card to this address last Christmas. He also got one from here." Micky shrugged, "Who cares? It sounds like fun." and he left to find Davy.
The next morning, everyone woke up early and prepared for the journey. It wasn't too far, but the land was rough by those parts. It remained a thick forested area lining the coast. Everyone piled the equipment and themselves into Uncle Alfred's beat up car. Mike was going to drive. As he turned the key, Peter yelled, "Stop! I have to use the bathroom before we go!" and he grinned sheepishly. After he'd finished finding his way to the bathroom, he opened the door. To his surprise, he'd entered the wrong room. All that was in the room was an old trunk with a key in the lock. Peter began to close the door, but stopped. He was curious. "I wonder if that chest has any old pictures or heirlooms from Davy's family." he said to himself.
He quietly went in and unlocked the trunk. He gasped in delight when he saw he'd been right. There were pictures in frames all in the chest. He looked at a few and found one that he thought must have been Davy's father or another uncle. He slid it out of the frame and looked at the back to be sure. It said "Alfred, 1963." "That's not Davy's Uncle Alfred! He has gray hair not black! And he has a tattoo on his hand! The guy in the picture doesn't!" Peter thought quickly. He put the picture back and left everything the way he found it.
Mike tired of waiting pounded on the horn. Peter rushed out and hopped into the car. Uncle Alfred sat in the front with Mike and Davy sat on one side of the back seat, with Micky in the middle and Peter on the other side. Peter whispered to Micky, "That's not Davy's Uncle! I found a picture! He really is a crook!"
Micky opened his eyes wide. They were trapped in the car with him! What if he had a gun! Their thoughts were interrupted by the stopping of the car. Everyone climbed out. Davy and his Uncle walked on ahead talking, while Mike, Micky and Peter were left to carry the equipment. Peter and Micky pulled Mike aside. They told him what Peter had found. He had been suspicious from the start. "How are we going to tell Davy?" Peter asked, "He'll be crushed! He thinks he's a great guy!" They shook their heads. It was going to be tough, but they had to stop that crook!
They found the spot Alfred said the treasure would be. Mike spoke up, "Hey! Why don't Davy and I take the first shift, digging then Peter and Micky can take over?" Alfred nodded and headed for a shady tree a little ways off. As they began to dig, Mike whispered, "Hey Davy! We have to get help! That's not your Uncle! He's an impostor after the money!" Davy stopped shoveling. He said, "Mike, what are you talking about? You've been jealous all along! You don't want my family to be successful and famous!" With that he dropped the shovel and walked towards the forest. Mike sighed. Peter and Micky came over. "What will we do now?" asked Peter. "There's nothing we can do, but dig." replied Mike.
He forced the boys into the hole and began to shovel dirt in on top of them. Just then, they heard a yell and a thud. Davy popped his head into the hole and told them to get out. He'd managed to sneak up behind Uncle Alfred and hit him with a stick. "I'm sorry I didn't believe you at first, Mike. I thought about it and I knew you wouldn't lie to me." Davy said. "Thanks pal. Now lets tie him up and get back to the house. Then we can call the police!" Mike exclaimed.
On the way back, Peter asked "If he's not Uncle Alfred, then where is the real Uncle Alfred?" They all thought for a minute, then Micky stated, "Well, he wouldn't take him too far. He could be in the house somewhere locked up!" Davy shook his head, "I've been through the whole house! Not a trace of him! Wait a minute! When we first arrived I went into yard, remember? I saw a tool shed, but it was all locked up. What if he's in there?" Mike put the pedal down more. They raced back.
When the got back to the house they raced to the shed. Micky kicked the door open. Slouched in a corner was the real Uncle Alfred! They brought him back to the house. Mike called the police. When they arrived, Uncle Alfred was feeling better and was able to talk. He explained that for years the imposter, who was named, Charles McLaughnin, had been pressuring him into giving Charles all his money. He threatened to kill him, and Davy, and his entire family! That's why he was forced to live in the dingy old shack. Charles had gambled most of the money away. When he found out about the treasure he invited Davy and his friends over to get it and so that Alfred couldn't do anything about it because Charles would have killed Davy.
After they heard the story, they policemen remarked, "At least now you have your treasure!" Alfred replied "Not really. My grandfather found that trunk, but it was empty. Except for a note, saying something like 'Double vision in the sun, causing burning eyes and chests' yes, that was it." Micky puzzled, "Double vision? Burning Chests? Double chests! It's in the matching one you had all along!" They rushed to the room where Peter had found the chest. Alfred had never seen the chest before. He thought Charles must have brought it down from the attic of the old mansion. He must have wanted it to hide the pictures in. They opened it and took all the pictures out. The bottom was bare! Mike lifted the chest to look at the back. It was very heavy! Too heavy!
The other one was much lighter and they were both empty! Davy noticed the one they found was much deeper. They tore out the bottom and there lay the missing gold bars! They found the treasure! "Now Uncle Alfred, you can go back to your manor! You're rich!" Davy cheered. "Thank you boys! I hope you'll come visit me often, when I'm back at my old house, the manor." Uncle Alfred cried. And here's a token of my appreciation. Take it! No buts! And he handed them a bar of solid gold.