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+Project Gutenberg's The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, by Hildegard G. Frey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House
+       or, The Magic Garden
+
+Author: Hildegard G. Frey
+
+Release Date: July 24, 2011 [EBook #36833]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: UTF-8
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Roger Frank, Dave Morgan
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GLADYS TURNED THE CAR INTO THE FIELD AND STARTED AFTER
+THE BULL AT FULL SPEED.]
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+                          The Camp Fire Girls
+                            At Onoway House
+
+                                   OR
+
+                            The Magic Garden
+
+                          By HILDEGARD G. FREY
+
+                               AUTHOR OF
+
+          “The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods,” “The Camp
+                 Fire Girls at School,” “The Camp Fire
+                          Girls Go Motoring.”
+
+                           A. L. BURT COMPANY
+
+                          Publishers—New York
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+                            Copyright, 1916
+                         By A. L. Burt Company
+
+                  THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+
+
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.—ONOWAY HOUSE.
+
+
+“What a lovely quiet summer we’re going to have, we two,” exclaimed
+Migwan to Hinpoha, as they stood looking out of the window of their room
+into the garden, filled with rows of young growing things and bordered
+by a shallow stony river. Migwan, we remember, had come to spend the
+summer on the little farm owned by the Bartletts and earn enough money
+to go to college by selling vegetables. The house in the city had been
+rented for three months, and her mother, Mrs. Gardiner, and her brother
+Tom and sister Betty had come to the country with her. Hinpoha was
+temporarily without a home, her aunt being away on her wedding trip with
+the Doctor, and she was to stay all summer with Migwan.
+
+“Yes, it will be lovely,” agreed Hinpoha. “I’ve never lived in such a
+quiet place before. And I’ve never had you to myself for so long.”
+Migwan replied with a hug, in schoolgirl rapture. She felt a little
+closer to Hinpoha than she did to the other Winnebagos. As they stood
+there looking out of the window together they heard the honk of an
+automobile horn and the sound of a car driving into the yard, and ran
+out to see who the guests were.
+
+“Gladys Evans!” exclaimed Migwan, spying the new comers. “And Nyoda!
+Welcome to our city!”
+
+“Please mum,” said Gladys, making a long face, “could ye take in a poor
+lone orphan what’s got no home to her back?”
+
+“What’s up?” asked Migwan, laughing at Gladys’s tone.
+
+“Mother and father started for Seattle to-day,” replied Gladys, “and
+from there they are going to Alaska, where they will spend the summer. I
+hinted that I was a good traveling companion, but they decided that
+three was a crowd on this trip, and as I had done so well for myself
+last summer they informed me that it was their intention to put me out
+to seek my own fortune once more. So, hearing that there were pleasant
+country places along this road, one in particular, I am looking for a
+place to board for the summer.”
+
+“Well, of all things!” exclaimed Migwan. “To think that we are to have
+you with us this vacation after all, after thinking that you were going
+to disport yourself in California! The guest chamber stands ready; ‘will
+you walk into my parlor?’ said the Spider to the Fly.”
+
+At this point “Nyoda,” Guardian of the Winnebago Camp Fire group,
+formally known as Miss Kent, also advanced with a long face, holding her
+handkerchief to her eyes. “Could you take in a poor shipwrecked sailor,”
+she sobbed, “one whose ship went right down under her feet and left her
+nothing to stand on at all?”
+
+“It might even be arranged,” replied Migwan. “What is your tale of woe,
+my ancient mariner?”
+
+“My cherished landlady’s gone to the Exposition,” said Nyoda, with a
+fresh burst of grief, “and I can’t live with her and be her boarder this
+summer! It’s a cruel world! And me so young and tender!”
+
+“Two flies in the guest chamber,” said Migwan, hospitably. “Thomas, my
+good man, carry the boarders’ bags up to their room, for I see they have
+brought them right with them.”
+
+“Save the trouble of going back after them,” said Nyoda and Gladys, in
+chorus. “We knew you couldn’t refuse to take us in.”
+
+“If ever a maiden had a look on her face which said, ‘Come, come to this
+bosom, my own stricken dear,’” continued Nyoda, “it’s yon poet who is
+going to seed.”
+
+“Going to seed!” exclaimed Migwan, “and this after I have just opened my
+hospitable doors to you!”
+
+“By going to seed, my innocent maid, I only meant to express in a veiled
+and delicate way the fact that you were turning into a farmer,” said
+Nyoda.
+
+In spite of the fact that Migwan and Hinpoha had just expressed such
+great pleasure at the prospect of being alone together for the summer,
+they rejoiced in the arrival of Nyoda and Gladys as only two Winnebagos
+could at the thought of having two more of their own circle under the
+same roof with them, and their hearts beat high with anticipation of the
+coming larks.
+
+Supper was a merry meal indeed that night, eaten out on the screened-in
+back porch. “We are seven!” exclaimed Nyoda, counting noses at the
+table. “The mystic number as well as the poetic one. ‘Seven Little
+Sisters;’ ‘The Seven Little Kids;’ ‘the seventh son of a seventh son.’
+All mysterious things take place on the seventh of the month, and
+something always happens when the clock strikes seven.” As she paused to
+take breath the old-fashioned clock in the kitchen slowly struck seven.
+The last stroke was still vibrating when there came a ring at the
+doorbell. “What did I tell you?” said Nyoda. “Enter the villain.”
+
+The villain proved to be Sahwah. She looked rather astonished to see
+Nyoda and Gladys at the table with the family. “Oh, Migwan,” she said,
+“could you possibly take me in for the summer? Mother got a telegram
+to-day saying that Aunt Mary, that’s her sister in Pennsylvania, had
+fallen down-stairs and broken both her shoulder blades. Mother packed up
+and went right away to take care of her and the children. She hasn’t any
+idea how long she’ll be gone. Father started for a long business trip
+out west this week and Jim is camping with the Boy Scouts. If you have
+room——” A shout of laughter interrupted her tale.
+
+“Always room for one more,” said Migwan. “You’re the third weary pilgrim
+to arrive.”
+
+Sahwah looked at Nyoda and Gladys in astonishment. “You don’t mean that
+you’re here for the summer, too?” When she heard that this was the truth
+she twinkled with delight. “It’s going to be almost as much fun as going
+camping together was last year,” she said, burying her nose in the mug
+of milk which Migwan hospitably set before her.
+
+“What do you call this house by the side of the road?” asked Nyoda after
+supper, when they were all sitting on the porch. Mrs. Gardiner sat
+placidly rocking herself, undisturbed by the unexpected addition of
+three members to her family. This whole summer venture was in Migwan’s
+hands, and she washed hers of the whole affair. Tom sat on the top step
+of the porch, unnaturally quiet, with the air of a boy lost among a
+whole crowd of girls. Betty, fascinated by Nyoda, sat at her feet and
+watched her as she talked.
+
+“It has no name,” said Migwan, in answer to Nyoda’s question.
+
+“Then we must find one immediately,” said Nyoda. “I refuse to sleep in a
+nameless place.”
+
+“Did the place where you used to live have a name?” asked Hinpoha,
+banteringly.
+
+“It certainly did ‘have a name,’” replied Nyoda, with a twinkle in her
+eye. Gladys caught her eye and laughed. She was more in Nyoda’s
+confidence than the rest of the girls.
+
+“What was the name?” asked Betty.
+
+“It was Peacock Plaza,” said Nyoda, “painted on a gold sign over the
+door, where all who read could run.”
+
+“That wasn’t what you called it,” said Gladys.
+
+“No, my beloved,” returned Nyoda, “from the character and appearance of
+most of the inmates of the Widder Higgins’ establishment, I have been
+moved to refer to it as ‘The Rookery.’”
+
+“Now,” said Gladys sternly, when the laughter over this title had
+subsided, “tell the ladies the real reason why you had to seek a new
+boarding place so abruptly.”
+
+“I told you before,” said Nyoda, “that my venturesome landlady went to
+the Exposition and left me out in the cold.”
+
+“That’s not the real reason,” said Gladys, severely. “If you don’t tell
+it immediately, I will!”
+
+“I’ll tell it,” said Nyoda submissively, alarmed at this threat. “You
+see, it was this way,” she began in a pained, plaintive voice. “This
+Gladys woman over here came up to take supper with me last night—only
+she smelled the supper cooking in the kitchen and turned up her nose,
+whereupon I was moved with compassion to cook supper for her in my
+chafing-dish unbeknownst to the landlady, who has been known to frown on
+any attempts to compete with her table d’hôte.”
+
+“I never!” murmured Gladys. “She invited me to a chafing-dish supper in
+the first place.”
+
+“Well, as I was saying,” continued Nyoda, not heeding this interruption,
+“to save her from starvation I dragged out my chafing-dish and made
+shrimp wiggle and creamed peas, and we had a dinner fit for a king, if I
+do say it as shouldn’t. The crowning glory of the feast was a big onion
+which Gladys’s delicate appetite required as a stimulant. All went merry
+as a marriage bell until it came to the disposal of that onion after the
+feast was over, as there was more than half of it left. We didn’t dare
+take it down to the kitchen for fear the Widder would pounce on us for
+cooking in our rooms, and even my stout heart quailed at the thought of
+sleeping ferninst that fragrant vegetable. Suddenly I had an
+inspiration.” Here Nyoda paused dramatically.
+
+“Yes,” broke in Gladys, impatient at her pause, “and she calmly chucked
+it out of the second story window into the street!”
+
+“All would still have been mild and melodious,” continued Nyoda, in a
+solemn tone which enthralled her hearers, “if it hadn’t been for the
+fact that the fates had their fingers crossed at me last night. How
+otherwise could it have happened that at the exact moment when the onion
+descended the old bachelor missionary should have been prancing up the
+walk, coming to call on the Widder Higgins? Who but fate could have
+brought it about that that onion should bounce first on his hat, then on
+his nose, and then on his manly bosom?”
+
+“And he never waited to see what hit him!” put in Gladys, for whom the
+recital was not going fast enough. “He ran as if he thought somebody had
+thrown a bomb at him.”
+
+“And the Widder Higgins was standing behind the lace curtain watching
+his approach with maidenly reserve,” resumed Nyoda, “and so had a box
+seat view of the tragedy, and the last act of the drama was a moving
+one, I can assure you.”
+
+“Oh, Nyoda,” cried Hinpoha and Sahwah and Migwan, pointing their fingers
+at her, “a nice person you are to be Guardian of the Winnebagos! Fine
+example you are setting your youthful flock! You need a guardian worse
+than any of us!”
+
+“Do as you like with me,” said Nyoda, covering her face with her hands
+in mock shame, whereupon Hinpoha and Migwan and Gladys fell upon her
+neck with one accord.
+
+“But we haven’t named this house yet,” said Nyoda, uncovering her face
+and smoothing out her black hair.
+
+“I thought of a name while you were telling about the onion,” said
+Migwan. “It’s Onoway House.”
+
+“What does that mean?” asked Nyoda.
+
+“It’s a symbolic word, like Wohelo,” said Migwan. “It’s made from the
+words, Only One Way. You see there was only one way of getting that
+money to go to college and that was by coming here.”
+
+“I think that is a very good name,” said Nyoda. “It is clever as well as
+pretty. It sounds like the song, ‘Onaway, awake beloved,’ from
+Hiawatha’s Wedding Feast.”
+
+“It sounds like the water going over the stones in the river,” said
+romantic Hinpoha.
+
+And so Onoway House was named.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.—NEIGHBORS.
+
+
+Onoway House stood on the Centerville Road, on a farm of about four
+acres. All of the land was not worked, just the part that was laid out
+as a garden and a small orchard of peach trees. The rest was open meadow
+running down to the river. It had originally been a much larger farm—Old
+Deacon Waterhouse’s place—but after his death it had been divided up and
+sold in sections. Onoway House was the original home built by the deacon
+when he bought the farm as a young man. It was a very old place, large
+and rambling, and full of queer corners and passageways, and a big
+echoing cobwebby attic, crowded with old furniture and trunks. The house
+had been sold with all its furnishings at the Deacon’s death, and the
+old things were still in the rooms when the Bartletts bought it
+twenty-five years later. This made it unnecessary for the Gardiners,
+when they came, to bring any of their own furniture. The Bartletts had
+never lived on the place, hiring a caretaker to work the garden, and it
+was the sudden departure of this man that had given Migwan her chance.
+
+On either side of Onoway House was a farm of much larger proportions. To
+the right there stood a big, homelike looking farmhouse painted white,
+with porches and vines and a lawn in front running down to the road; on
+the left was a smaller house, painted dark red, with a vegetable bed in
+front. The garden at Onoway House had been given a good start and the
+strawberries and asparagus and sundry other vegetables were ready to
+market when Migwan took possession. The Winnebagos looked on the
+gardening as a grand lark and pitched in with a will to help Migwan make
+her fortune from the ground.
+
+“Did you ever see anything half so delicate as this little new
+pea-vine?” asked Migwan, puttering happily over one of the long beds.
+
+“Or anything half so indelicate as this plantain bush?” asked Nyoda,
+busily grubbing weeds. “‘Scarce reared above the parent earth thy tender
+form,’” she quoted, “‘and yet with a root three times as long as the
+hair of Claire de Lorme!’”
+
+“Burns would relish hearing that line of his applied to weeds,” said
+Migwan, laughing. “I wonder what he would have written if he had turned
+up a plantain weed with his plough instead of a mountain daisy.”
+
+“He wouldn’t have turned up a plantain weed,” said Nyoda, with a vicious
+thrust of the long knife with which she was weeding, “it would have
+turned him up.”
+
+Migwan rose from the ground slowly and painfully. “Oh dear,” she sighed,
+“I wonder if Burns ever got as stiff in the joints from close contact
+with Nature as I am?”
+
+“He certainly must have,” observed Nyoda, straining her muscles to
+uproot the weedy homesteader, “haven’t you ever heard the slogan, ‘Omega
+Oil for Burns?’”
+
+Migwan laughed as she straightened up and held her aching back. “Earth
+gets its price for what earth gives us,” she quoted, with a mixture of
+ruefulness and humor.
+
+“Listen to the poetry floating around on the breeze,” cried Sahwah,
+passing them as she ran the wheel hoe up and down between the rows of
+plants.
+
+  “Come and trip it as you go
+  On the light fantastic _hoe_,”
+
+she sang. “Oh, I say,” she called over her shoulder, “do I have to hoe
+up the surface of the river around the watercress, too?”
+
+“You certainly do,” said Nyoda gravely, “and while you’re at it just
+loosen up the air around that air fern of Mrs. Gardiner’s.” Sahwah made
+a grimace and trundled off with her wheel hoe.
+
+“Are you looking for any field hands?” called a cheery voice. The girls
+looked up to see a white-haired, pleasant-faced old man of about seventy
+years standing in the garden. “My name’s Landsdowne, Farmer Landsdowne,”
+he said by way of introduction, with a friendly smile, which included
+all the girls at once, “and I’ve come to have a look at the new
+caretaker.”
+
+“I’m the one,” said Migwan, stepping forward. “My name is Gardiner, and
+I _am_ a gardener just now.”
+
+“And are all these your sisters?” asked Farmer Landsdowne, quizzically.
+Migwan laughed and introduced the girls in turn. They all liked Farmer
+Landsdowne immediately. He walked up and down among the rows of
+vegetables, and gave Migwan quantities of advice about soil cultivation,
+insects and diseases and various other things pertaining to gardening,
+for which she thanked him heartily. “Come over and see us,” he said
+hospitably, as he took his departure, “I live there,” and he pointed to
+the friendly looking white house on the right of Onoway House.
+
+“Isn’t he a dear?” said Gladys, when he was gone. “I’m glad he’s our
+next door neighbor. What do you suppose the people on the other side are
+like?”
+
+“Red isn’t nearly so pretty as white,” said Hinpoha, squinting at the
+bare looking house to the left of them. As they looked a man came along
+the edge of the land on which the red house stood. When he reached the
+fence which separated the two farms he stood still for a few minutes
+looking hard at Onoway House; then, seeing that the girls were looking
+in his direction he turned and went back to the house.
+
+The strawberries were ready to pick the first week that the girls were
+at Onoway House, and Migwan had an idea about marketing them. She gave
+each picker two baskets with instructions to put only the largest and
+finest in one and the medium-sized and small ones in the other.
+
+“What are you going to take them to town in?” asked Gladys. Although
+there was a large barn on the place there were no horses, for Mr.
+Mitchell, the last caretaker, had owned his own horse and taken it away
+with him when he left.
+
+“I’ll have to hire one from some of the neighbors,” said Migwan. Mr.
+Landsdowne, when interviewed, would have been extremely glad to let them
+take a horse and wagon, but this was a busy time and one of his teams
+was sick so none could be spared. Feeling considerably more shy than she
+had when she went to Mr. Landsdowne, Migwan went over to the red house.
+As she went around the path to the back door she heard sounds of loud
+talking in a man’s voice, which ceased as she came up on the porch. A
+red faced man, (he almost matched the house, thought Migwan) came to the
+door. “I am your new neighbor, Elsie Gardiner,” said Migwan, “and I
+wonder if I could hire a horse and wagon from you three times a week to
+take my vegetables to town.”
+
+“So you’ve come to live on the place, have you?” said the man. “How long
+are you going to stay?”
+
+“All summer,” replied Migwan. She was not drawn to this man as she was
+to Farmer Landsdowne. There was something about him that seemed to repel
+her, although she could not have told what it was.
+
+“Yes, I can let you have a horse and wagon,” he said, after a moment.
+“When do you want it?”
+
+“In about an hour,” said Migwan.
+
+“I’ll send it over,” said the master of the red house. “My name’s
+Smalley, Abner Smalley,” he said, as she took her leave.
+
+In an hour the horse was at the door. It was brought over by a
+pleasant-faced, light-haired lad of about seventeen, who introduced
+himself as Calvin Smalley.
+
+“You don’t look a bit like your father,” said Migwan.
+
+“That’s not my father,” said Calvin, “that’s my uncle. My father’s dead.
+He was Uncle Abner’s brother. I live with Uncle Abner and Aunt Maggie.
+But the farm’s really mine,” he said proudly, as though he did not want
+anyone to think he was living on charity even though he was an orphan,
+“for Grandfather willed it to Father. Uncle Abner’s holding it in trust
+for me until I’m of age.”
+
+There was something so frank and manly about him that the girls liked
+him at once. But if Calvin Smalley made such a good impression, the
+horse which he had brought over for the girls to drive to town was less
+fortunate. He was a hoary, moth-eaten looking creature that might easily
+have been the first white horse born west of the Mississippi. In looking
+at him you would be left with a lingering doubt in your mind as to
+whether he had originally been white or had turned white with age. He
+tottered so that each step threatened to be his last The wagon to which
+he was fastened with a patched and rotten harness had probably been on
+the scene some years before he was born. Migwan was much taken aback
+when she inspected him. “I wouldn’t dare attempt to drive that beast all
+the way to town,” she thought to herself. “He’d never get beyond the
+first bend in the road. And if he did make it he’d go so slowly that my
+berries would be out of season before I got to my customers.”
+
+“Isn’t he rather—old?” she said, aloud. “I’m afraid he isn’t able to
+work much.”
+
+Calvin blushed fiery red and his eyes sought the ground in distress.
+“It’s a shame,” he said, fiercely, “to try to hire out such a horse. I
+don’t blame you for not wanting it.” Without another word he climbed
+into the wagon and urged the feeble horse back to his home pasture.
+
+“Didn’t you feel sorry for that poor boy?” said Migwan. “He felt ashamed
+clear down to his shoes at having to bring that old wreck of a horse
+over. I should have died if I had been in his place. He’s such a nice
+looking boy, too. I suppose his uncle is one of those stingy, grasping
+farmers who work everybody to death on the place. Anybody who plants
+vegetables in his front yard must be stingy. That horse probably
+couldn’t work on the farm any more so he thought he would make some
+money out of it by hiring it to us. He must have thought girls didn’t
+know a horse when they saw one. I didn’t exactly fall in love with Mr.
+Smalley when I went over. He wasn’t a bit friendly like Mr. Landsdowne.”
+
+“I foresee where we will have little to do with our neighbors in the Red
+House,” said Sahwah. “I’m sorry, because I like to have lots of people
+to visit, and like to have them running in at odd times, the way Mr.
+Landsdowne appeared.”
+
+“Let’s not have any hard feelings against Calvin Smalley, though,” said
+Migwan. “He isn’t to blame for his uncle’s stinginess. I dare say he
+isn’t very happy over there. Let’s have him over as often as we can.”
+
+“Spoken like a true Winnebago,” said Nyoda, approvingly.
+
+“But in the meantime,” said Migwan, in perplexity, “what are we going to
+do for a horse and wagon to take our things to town?”
+
+“Why not use our car?” said Gladys. The machine she had come in was
+still in the barn at Onoway House. “It’s a good thing I learned to run
+the big one—father said I might use it all summer if I would be a good
+girl and stay at home when they went out west.”
+
+“Could we get everything in?” asked Migwan.
+
+“I think so,” said Gladys, “if we arrange them carefully.” The berries
+and asparagus were loaded into the back of the machine and Gladys and
+Migwan drove off.
+
+“What shall we do now, Nyoda?” asked Hinpoha, after the two girls were
+gone.
+
+“I know what I’m going to do,” said Nyoda, moving in the direction of
+her bedroom. “Now,” she said, as she threw herself on the bed with a
+great yawn and stretch, “if anyone asks you what kind of a farmer I am
+you may tell them that I’m a retired one!” Nyoda had been up since four
+o’clock that morning, and was unused to such early rising. Hinpoha drew
+down the shade to shut out the strong sunlight and tiptoed from the
+room.
+
+Gladys and Migwan stopped first at a large grocery store to inquire the
+prices of strawberries and asparagus. The proprietor offered to buy the
+whole load, but they would not sell, as they could get more for them by
+peddling them at retail prices. Migwan examined the berries in the
+store, and mentally fixed her middle grade berries at the same price
+with them, and her finest grade ones at three cents higher.
+
+“I’ve an idea,” said Gladys, “that some of mother’s friends would take
+the berries at our own price.” Thus it was that Mrs. Davis, whose
+speculations about the financial standing of the Evans family had
+resulted in Gladys’s mother giving her such an elaborate party the
+winter before, was surprised by a call from Gladys at ten o’clock in the
+morning.
+
+“Ah, good morning, my dear,” she said effusively, seating Gladys in the
+parlor, “you have come to spend the day, I hope? Caroline is not up
+yet—she was out late last night—but I shall make her get up right away.”
+
+“Please don’t call Caroline,” said Gladys, “it’s you I came to see.”
+
+“Oh, yes,” purred Mrs. Davis, “a message from your mother, I see.”
+
+Gladys came to the point directly. “Have you canned your strawberries
+yet, Mrs. Davis?”
+
+“No,” replied Mrs. Davis, a little puzzled by the question.
+
+“Would you like to buy some extra fine ones?” continued Gladys.
+
+“Why, yes, I suppose so,” said Mrs. Davis, “who has any for sale?”
+
+“I have,” said Gladys, “right out here in the machine.” Mrs. Davis
+bought the whole eight quarts of large berries, paying fifteen cents a
+quart straight, and ordered another eight quarts as soon as they should
+be ripe. She also took two bunches of asparagus.
+
+“Whatever are you doing, Gladys Evans?” she asked, curiously. “Peddling
+berries?”
+
+Gladys laughed at her evident mystification, and tingled with a desire
+to keep her guessing. “We decided that I had better work this summer,”
+she said, gravely, “so I am peddling berries for a friend of ours who is
+a farmer. We will have to go on a farm ourselves, father said, if things
+to eat get much dearer, so I am getting the practice. Wouldn’t you like
+to be a regular customer, and have me bring you fresh vegetables and
+fruit three times a week all through the summer?”
+
+“Why, yes,” stammered Mrs. Davis in a daze, “of course, certainly.”
+
+“All right, then,” said Gladys, “I’ll put you down.” She drove off in
+high glee, and Mrs. Davis went into the house with a knowing smile on
+her face. So the Evanses were losing money after all, and Gladys was
+working this summer instead of traveling. Poor Gladys! She flew
+up-stairs to communicate the news to her energetic daughter Caroline who
+was just beginning to think about getting up. “I do feel so sorry for
+poor Gladys,” she said. “You must be very kind to her whenever you meet
+her.”
+
+The rest of the berries and vegetables were disposed of to other friends
+of Gladys’s and Migwan’s, all for topnotch prices, and there were at
+least half a dozen names in the little note book when they started
+homeward, of people who wanted to be supplied regularly. To some of her
+friends Gladys told frankly whose fruit she was selling, and enlisted
+their sympathies in the enterprise, while to others, like the Davises
+and the Joneses, who were thorough snobs, she could not resist
+pretending that she was actually working for a farmer to earn money. She
+could not remember when she had enjoyed anything so much as the
+expressions on the various faces when she made her little speech at the
+door and offered her basket of fruit for inspection. “Wait until I tell
+dad about it,” she chuckled to Migwan.
+
+When they returned to Onoway House they found that during their absence
+the girls, with the help of Mr. Landsdowne, had constructed a raft about
+seven feet square, which they were setting afloat on the river. “Oh,
+what fun!” cried Migwan when she saw it. “We needed another rapid vessel
+to go boating in. There’s only one rowboat and we could never all go out
+at once. What shall we call it?”
+
+“Let’s name it the Tortoise,” said Hinpoha, “and call the rowboat the
+Hare.”
+
+“Oh, no,” said Sahwah, “let’s call it the Crab, because it travels sort
+of sidewise.” Hinpoha held out for her name and Sahwah would not yield
+hers.
+
+“Contest of arms!” cried Nyoda. “Decide the question by a test of
+physical prowess. Whichever one of you can pole the raft straight across
+the river and back again without mishap in the shortest time may have
+the privilege of naming it. Is that fair?”
+
+“It is!” cried all the girls. Hinpoha and Sahwah, dressed in their
+bathing-suits, prepared for the contest. Hinpoha had the first trial
+because she had spoken first. Getting onto the raft and seizing the
+stout pole, she pushed off from the shore. It was difficult to keep the
+unwieldy craft going toward the opposite bank, because it had a strong
+inclination to be carried down-stream with the current. Halfway across
+she grounded on a rock and stood marooned. Sahwah watched the moments
+tick off on Nyoda’s watch with ill-concealed delight while Hinpoha
+pushed and strained on the pole to set the raft free. Finally she leaned
+all her weight, which was no small item, on the pole and shoved with her
+feet against the raft. It freed itself and glided away under her feet,
+leaving her clinging to the pole in the middle of the river, while her
+solid footing of a few moments ago swung into the current and floated
+off beyond her reach. She looked so comical clinging to the pole, which
+was fast losing its upright position under her weight, that the girls
+were unable to help her for laughter, and a minute later she plunged
+into the river with a mighty splash and swam disgustedly to shore.
+
+“Our new boat will not be called the TORTOISE, it seems,” said Nyoda.
+“Cheer up, Hinpoha, you have made yourself more immortal by the picture
+you presented hanging over the water than you would have by naming the
+raft. As Hinpoha, the Polehanger, you will have your portrait in the
+Winnebago Hall of Fame. Now then, Sahwah, show her how it should be
+done.”
+
+Sahwah, ever more skilful in watercraft than Hinpoha, poled the raft
+neatly across the stream to the opposite shore, paused a moment to see
+that the feat was properly registered by the judges, and then started
+back. Unlike Hinpoha, who forged blindly ahead, she felt carefully with
+her pole to locate the points of the rocks and then avoided them. “Here
+I come,” she hailed, when she was nearly back to the starting point, “on
+my new raft, the CRAB.” Striking a heroic attitude with arms crossed and
+one foot out ahead of the other she stepped to the edge of the raft,
+when the floating floor tipped under her weight and she lost her balance
+and fell head first into the water. The raft, released from her guiding
+hand, went off with the current as it had done before. The look of
+stupefaction on her face when she came up out of the water was even
+funnier than the sight of Hinpoha marooned on the pole.
+
+“The raft will not be named the CRAB, either, it seems,” said Nyoda.
+
+“I don’t care what it’s called,” said Sahwah, her temper up, “I’m going
+to pole that raft across the river.”
+
+“So’m I,” said Hinpoha, her eye gleaming with resolution.
+
+“Let’s do it together,” said Sahwah.
+
+Thanks to Sahwah’s skill with the pole and Hinpoha’s judicious balancing
+of the raft at the right places, they made the trip over and back
+without mishap.
+
+“Two heads are better than one,” said Sahwah, as they landed, “what
+neither of us could do alone we can do in combination.”
+
+“Then why not combine the names?” said Nyoda. “You have each won equal
+rights in the contest.”
+
+“Good idea,” said Sahwah. “We couldn’t find a better one than the
+Tortoise-Crab.” So the name was painted across the floor of the raft,
+this being the only space big enough.
+
+Delighted with their new sport, the girls spent the whole evening on the
+river, all five Winnebagos and Betty and Tom on the raft at once,
+floating down-stream with the current and being towed up again by the
+rowboat. It was bright moonlight, and the air was full of romance. At
+one place along the riverbank there stood a high rock, grey on the
+moonlit side and black on the other. “It reminds me of the Lorelei
+Rock,” said Nyoda.
+
+“Let’s play Lorelei,” said Sahwah.
+
+“What do you mean?” asked Nyoda.
+
+“Why,” answered Sahwah, “let Hinpoha climb up on the rock and comb her
+hair and sing, and we come along on the raft and listen to her song and
+run into the rock and upset. We want to go swimming before we go to bed
+anyhow.”
+
+“I can’t sing,” objected Hinpoha.
+
+“That doesn’t make any difference,” said Sahwah, “sing anyway.”
+
+So Hinpoha mounted the moonlit rock and shook her long, red hair down
+over her shoulders, combing it out with her sidecomb and singing “Fairy
+Moonlight,” while the raft floated lazily down-stream toward the base of
+the cliff, its passengers sitting in attitudes of enraptured listening,
+and pointing ecstatically to the figure silhouetted against the moon.
+Sahwah adroitly steered the raft toward the rock and it struck with a
+great jar. It disobligingly kept its balance, however, and refused to
+upset. Sahwah deliberately rolled off the edge, tipping it as she did
+so, and the rest went off on all sides, giggling and splashing in the
+water. Hinpoha on the rock above wrung her hands in mock horror at the
+effect of her song. That instant a figure came running at top speed
+along the river bank. “I’ll save you, girls,” he shouted, jumping into
+the water with all his clothes on. Catching hold of Migwan, who was
+hanging on to the raft, he pulled her out of the water and set her on
+the shore. It was Calvin Smalley, their neighbor from the Red House.
+
+“Oh,” gasped Migwan, trying not to laugh at him, “I thank you ever so
+much, but we’re not really drowning. We upset the raft on purpose.”
+
+“Upset it on purpose!” said Calvin, in astonishment.
+
+“Yes,” answered Migwan, “we were playing Lorelei, you know.”
+
+Then Calvin noticed for the first time that the victims of the upset
+were all dressed in bathing-suits, and that they seemed to be very much
+at home in the water. “It looked like a dreadful smashup,” he said, “and
+I forgot that the river isn’t very deep here. Do you generally play such
+quiet games?”
+
+“Sometimes we play much more quiet ones,” said Sahwah meaningly.
+
+“It was too bad to frighten you so,” said Nyoda. “We’ll have to warn
+spectators the next time we do anything. We’ll have to have a flag that
+says ‘Stunt coming; look out for the splash!’ and whoever runs may
+read.” At this moment Hinpoha jumped from the rock, out into the middle
+of the stream, where it was deep, swam under water toward the bank, and
+came up suddenly beside Calvin so that he was quite startled.
+
+“Say,” he said, looking around at the group of girls who were doing
+various astonishing things, “do you belong to the circus?”
+
+The girls laughed at this inquiry. “Oh, no,” said Migwan, “we are only
+Camp Fire Girls.”
+
+“Camp Fire Girls?” said Calvin. “I’ve heard of them, but I never knew
+any. Is that why you call each other by such funny names?”
+
+“Yes,” answered Migwan, and she told him their names and their meanings.
+
+“It must be great fun to be a Camp Fire Girl,” said Calvin thoughtfully.
+
+“Come for a ride on the raft with us,” said Migwan, “we are going back
+now. We aren’t going to upset again,” she added reassuringly, “and if we
+did you couldn’t get any wetter.” Calvin smiled at the pleasantry, but
+said he must be going in. He was on his way home when he saw the raft
+upset. The Lorelei Rock was just on the other side of the Smalley farm.
+He bade them a friendly good-night, promising to come over to Onoway
+House soon, and took his way home across the fields.
+
+“What a nice boy he is,” said Migwan. “He wasn’t a bit cross when he
+found that the joke was on him, as some would have been.”
+
+Migwan woke up in the night and could not go to sleep again immediately.
+As she lay smiling to herself about the fun they had had with the raft
+that evening, she heard a sound as of something dropped on the attic
+floor above her room, followed by a faint creaking as of someone walking
+over bare boards. She clutched Hinpoha’s arm and woke her up. “There’s
+someone in the attic,” she whispered. Hinpoha yawned.
+
+“I don’t hear anything,” she said.
+
+“There it is again,” said Migwan, “listen.” Again there came a faint
+creak, accompanied by a far-away rustle as of crinkling paper.
+
+“It’s mice,” said Hinpoha, “or maybe rats. They get between the walls
+and make noises that way.”
+
+Migwan breathed a sigh of relief and composed herself to slumber again.
+“I suppose these dreadfully old houses are just overrun with things of
+that kind,” she said. “But for a moment it did give me a scare.”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.—OPHELIA.
+
+
+“They’ve come! They’ve come!” shrieked Migwan, running into the
+dining-room where the rest of the family were peacefully finishing their
+breakfast.
+
+“Who’ve come?” said Nyoda, excitedly, “the Mexicans?”
+
+“The bean weevils,” said Migwan, tragically. “Mr. Landsdowne said to
+watch out for them, although they were hardly ever found up north, but
+they’re here. He just found a bush with them on.”
+
+“To arms!” cried Sahwah, springing up. “The Flying Column to the rescue!
+
+  “Forward the Bug Brigade,
+  Is there a leaf unsprayed?”——
+
+Here she tripped over the carpet and her Amazonian shout came to an
+abrupt end.
+
+“Where are the weevils?” she asked, when they had all gathered around
+the bean patch.
+
+“On here,” said Migwan, indicating a hill of beans.
+
+“Oh,” said Sahwah, in a disappointed tone.
+
+“Where did you think they were?” asked Migwan.
+
+“From the noise you were making,” said Sahwah, “I expected to find them
+drawn up in battle lines, waiting to charge the garden with fixed
+bayonets.”
+
+“They’ll do just as much damage as if they had bayonets,” remarked
+Farmer Landsdowne.
+
+“Do be cautious in approaching such deadly foes,” said Sahwah in a tone
+of mock anxiety, as Migwan came along with the sprayer, “take careful
+aim, and don’t fire until you see the whites of their eyes.”
+
+“I’ll spray you in a minute if you don’t keep still,” said Migwan.
+
+“What must it feel like to be a weevil,” said Gladys, musingly, “and be
+hunted down remorselessly wherever you went?”
+
+“Gladys has gone over to the side of the enemy,” said Sahwah, teasingly.
+“There is the subject for your next book, Migwan, ‘Won by a Weevil’, by
+the author of ‘Enthralled by a Thrip’! It must have been weevils
+Tennyson meant when he wrote ‘The Lotus Eaters.’”
+
+“Battle over?” asked Hinpoha, as Migwan laid down the sprayer. “Then
+let’s celebrate the victory. Cheer the bean crop.” To the tune of “We
+will, We will Cheer,” they sang,
+
+  “Weevil, weevil, weevil, weevil,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil, weevil, weevil, weevil,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop, O!”
+
+“Don’t crow too soon,” said Farmer Landsdowne, picking up his sprayer
+preparatory to taking his departure, “there may be twice as many on
+to-morrow.”
+
+“I flatly refuse to worry about to-morrow,” said Nyoda, “‘sufficient
+unto the day is the weevil thereof!’”
+
+Calvin Smalley, working in the vegetable patch in front of the Red
+House, heard that cheer and paused in his work to look over at the other
+garden. He was wondering what was so funny about gardening. “I wish,” he
+sighed, as he turned back to his endless task, “that those girls were my
+sisters!”
+
+Gladys went into town alone when the last of the strawberries were ripe,
+for none of the other girls could be spared that day. The squash bugs
+had descended on the garden and all hands were required on deck to save
+the squash and melon vines from being eaten alive. On the way she passed
+Mr. Smalley, driving the identical wreck of a horse he had tried to hire
+out to the girls. He had a heavy load of vegetables, and the poor,
+broken down creature would hardly move it from the spot. He started
+nervously as the machine passed him on the narrow road, and Mr. Smalley
+pulled him up sharply and brought the whip down on his back with a heavy
+cut. “Ain’t you used to automobiles yet, you stupid brute?” he growled.
+
+Gladys delivered the eight quarts of extra large berries to Mrs. Davis
+first. “Wouldn’t you like to stay in town and have lunch with us and go
+to the theatre afterward?” Mrs. Davis said in such a patronizing tone
+that Gladys quite started, and then laughed inwardly.
+
+“I’m sorry, but I haven’t sold all of my berries yet,” she answered
+soberly, “and I have to hurry back and help pick bugs.”
+
+“Pick bugs?” exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in a horrified tone.
+
+“Yes,” said Gladys, with a relish, “nice juicy, striped bugs that crunch
+beautifully when you step on them.”
+
+“Oh, oh,” said Mrs. Davis, putting her hands over her ears. “Give my
+love to your poor, dear mamma,” she said gushingly, when Gladys was
+departing. “Tell her she has my fullest sympathy.” As Gladys’s poor,
+dear mamma was, at that moment, seated on the observation platform of a
+luxurious railway coach, speeding through the mountains of Washington
+while Mrs. Davis was obliged to stay in town for the time being, she was
+not really in as much need of Mrs. Davis’s sympathy as that lady fondly
+imagined.
+
+Gladys disposed of the remaining berries to other amused or patronizing
+friends, and then decided to look up a laundress she knew of and get her
+to come out to Onoway House once in a while to do the heavy washing. The
+street where the laundress lived was narrow and crowded with children
+playing in the middle of the road, and progress was rather slow. One
+little girl in particular made Gladys extremely nervous by running
+across the street right in front of the machine and daring her to run
+over her, shaking her fists at her and making horrible grimaces. She got
+across the street once in safety and then started back again. Just then
+a small child sprang up from the ground right under the very wheels of
+the machine and Gladys turned sharply to one side. The fender struck the
+saucy little girl who was daring her to run over her and she rolled
+under the car, screaming. Gladys jammed down the emergency brake with a
+jerk that almost wrenched the machinery of the automobile asunder. White
+as a sheet she jumped out and picked the girl up. In an instant an angry
+crowd of women and children had surrounded the machine. “Darn yer!”
+cried the child shrilly, shaking a dirty fist in Gladys’s face, while
+the other arm hung limp. “I thought yer didn’t dast run into me.”
+
+“Get into the car,” said Gladys, terrified, “and I’ll take you home.”
+
+“I dassent go home,” shrieked the child, “Old Grady’ll lick the tar out
+of me if I go home without sellin’ me papers.”
+
+“Then let me take you to the hospital, or somewhere,” said Gladys,
+anxious to get away from the threatening crowd.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked one voice after another, as the tenements
+poured their human contents into the street.
+
+“Ophelia’s run over,” explained a powerful Irish woman, with a shawl
+over her head, who kept her hand on the handle of the car door. “Lady
+speedin’ run her down like a dog.” An angry murmur rose from the crowd.
+Gladys shook in her shoes and wondered if she dared start the car with
+all those children hanging on the front of it. She looked around
+helplessly for someone who would help her out of her difficulty. Just
+then a policeman turned into the street, attracted by the crowd.
+
+“Cheese it, de cop!” screamed a ragged gamin, who stood on the step of
+the car, and the women and children began to slink into the doorways.
+Gladys waited until he came up, and then explained the whole matter and
+asked where the nearest hospital was.
+
+“Can’t blame you for hitting that brat,” said the policeman, “she’s the
+terror of drivers for two blocks.” Ophelia stuck out her tongue at him.
+Gladys drove her to the hospital where it was discovered that the left
+arm was broken below the elbow. Painful as the setting may have been
+there was “never a whang out of her,” as the doctor remarked, although
+she hung on tightly to Gladys’s white sleeve with her dirty hand. Her
+waist was taken off to find the extent of the damage, and Gladys was
+frightened to see that the other arm was fearfully bruised and
+scratched, and there was a ring of purple and green blotches around her
+neck like a collar.
+
+“She must have been thrown down harder than I thought,” said Gladys to
+the nurse.
+
+“Thrown down nothin’,” answered Ophelia, “Old Grady did that the other
+day when I threw a stone through the winder.” And she held up the
+mottled arm where all might see.
+
+“Oh,” said Gladys, with a shudder, “cover it up.” Putting Ophelia into
+the machine again she drove back to the scene of the accident and
+entered the squalid tenement in which the child said she lived.
+
+“Won’t Old Grady beat me up though, when she finds I’ve busted me wing,”
+said Ophelia, as they mounted the rickety stairs. Hardly had she spoken
+when the door at the head of the stairs flew open and a large,
+red-faced, coarse-looking woman strode out and shook her fist over the
+banisters.
+
+“I’ll fix ye fer stayin’ out afther I tell ye ter come in, ye little
+devil,” she shouted. “I’ll break every bone in yer body. Gimme the money
+for the papers first.”
+
+“Go chase yerself,” said Ophelia, standing still on the stairs with a
+spiteful gleam in her eye, “there ain’t no money. I ain’t had time ter
+peddle this afternoon.”
+
+“What yer mean, no money?” screamed the woman. “Just wait till I get me
+hands on yer!”
+
+Gladys shrank back against the wall in terror, then collecting herself
+she thrust Ophelia behind her and faced the angry woman. “Ophelia has
+had an accident,” she explained. “I ran over her with my machine and
+broke her arm.” The woman brushed past her and grabbed Ophelia by the
+shoulder. Overcome with fury at the thought that her household drudge
+would be of no use to her for several weeks, she boxed her ears again
+and again, calling her every name she could think of. Finally she let go
+of her with a push that sent Ophelia stumbling down half a dozen stairs.
+
+“Get out o’ my sight!” she shrieked. “Do yer think I’m going ter house
+an’ feed a worthless brat that ain’t doin’ nothin’ fer her keep? Get out
+an’ live in the streets yer like ter play in so well!” With a final
+exclamation she strode back into the room and slammed the door after
+her. Ophelia picked herself up from the step, shaking her one useful
+fist at the closed door at the head of the stairs.
+
+Gladys was inexpressibly shocked at this heartless treatment of an
+injured child. “Come—come home with me,” she said faintly. Seated beside
+her in the big car, Ophelia ran out her tongue and made faces at the
+jeering children who watched her ride away.
+
+“This is the life!” she exclaimed, as she settled herself comfortably in
+the cushioned seat. People in the streets turned to stare at the dirty
+little ragamuffin riding beside the daintily gowned young girl, shouting
+saucily at the passers-by, or making jeering remarks in a voice audible
+above the noise of traffic.
+
+The girls were all out in front watching for her as Gladys drove up. It
+was past supper time and they were wondering what had become of her.
+What a chorus of surprised exclamations arose when Ophelia was set down
+in their midst! Gladys explained the situation briefly and asked Migwan
+if they could not keep her there awhile. Migwan consented hospitably and
+went off to find a place for her to sleep, while Gladys proceeded to
+wash the accumulated layers of dirt from Ophelia’s face and divest her
+of her spotted rags. She came to the table in a kimono of Gladys’s, for
+there were no clothes in the house that would fit her. She was nine
+years old, she said, but small and thin for her age, with arms and legs
+like pipe-stems which fairly made one shiver to look at. She had a
+little, pinched, sharp featured face, cunning with the knowledge of the
+world gained from her life on the streets, big grey-green eyes filled
+with dancing lights, and black hair that tumbled around her face in
+tangled curls, which Gladys was not able to smooth out in her hasty
+going over before supper.
+
+Not in the least shy in her new surroundings, nor complaining of
+discomfort from the broken arm, she sat at the table and kept up a
+cheerful stream of talk, racy with slang and the idiom of the streets.
+Hinpoha was instantly dubbed “Firetop.” “Is it red inside of yer head?”
+she asked, after gazing steadfastly at Hinpoha’s hair for several
+minutes. To all questions about her father and mother she shrugged her
+shoulders. “Ain’t never had any,” she replied. “I was born in the Orphan
+Asylum. Old Grady got me there.” Here a spasm of rage distorted her face
+at the remembrance of Old Grady’s ministrations, followed by a wicked
+chuckle when she thought how that tender guardian’s plan for turning her
+out homeless into the street had been frustrated by this lucky stroke of
+fate. What her last name was she did not know. “I guess I never had
+one,” she said cheerfully. “I’m just Ophelia.” Gladys was much
+distressed because she would not drink milk. “No,” she said, shoving it
+away, “that’s for the babies. Gimme coffee or nothin’.” Disdaining the
+aid of fork or spoon, she conveyed her food to her mouth with her
+fingers. “Say,” she said, after staring fixedly at Nyoda in a
+disconcerting way she had, “are yer teeth false?”
+
+“Certainly not!” said Nyoda indignantly. “What made you think so?”
+
+“They’re so white and even,” said Ophelia. “Nobody ever had such teeth
+of their own.”
+
+“Did you bleach yer hair?” she asked next, turning her attention to
+Gladys’s pale gold locks. Gladys merely laughed.
+
+Ophelia waxed more loquacious as she filled up on the good things on the
+table. “Did yer husband leave yer?” she inquired sociably of Mrs.
+Gardiner. Gladys rose hastily and bore Ophelia away to her room, where a
+cot had been set up for her.
+
+“Three flies in the spider’s parlor,” said Migwan.
+
+“And one in the ointment, or my prophetic soul has its signals crossed,”
+said Nyoda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.—THE MEDICINE LODGE.
+
+
+Nyoda’s prophetic soul proved to be a true prophet, and there were
+trying times to follow the establishment of Ophelia at Onoway House.
+That very first night Nyoda woke with a strangling sensation to find
+Ophelia sitting on her chest. “I want ter sleep in the bed wid yer,” she
+said, in answer to Nyoda’s startled inquiry. “I’m afraid ter sleep
+alone.” She had been trying to creep in between Nyoda and Gladys and
+lost her balance, which accounted for her position when Nyoda woke up.
+
+“But there’s nothing in the room to hurt you,” Nyoda said, reassuringly.
+
+“It’s them hop-toads,” she wailed, stopping her ears against the pillow,
+“they give me th’ pip with their everlastin’ screechin’. They sound
+right under the bed.” Gladys woke up in time to hear her and offered to
+take the cot herself and let Ophelia sleep with Nyoda.
+
+The next morning Gladys made a hurried trip to town to buy Ophelia some
+clothes, while Nyoda washed her hair, much to Ophelia’s disgust. The
+curls were so matted that it was impossible to comb them out and there
+was nothing left to do but cut them short. When all the foreign coloring
+matter had been removed and the hair had begun to dry in the warm wind,
+Nyoda stopped beside her in bewildered astonishment. On the top of her
+head, just about in the center, there was a circular patch of light hair
+about three inches in diameter. All the rest was black. “Ophelia,” said
+Nyoda, looking her straight in the eyes, “how did you bleach the top of
+your hair?”
+
+“It’s a fib,” said Ophelia, politely, “I never bleached it.”
+
+“Then somebody did,” said Nyoda.
+
+“Didn’t neither,” contradicted Ophelia.
+
+“We’ll see whether they did or not,” said Nyoda, “when the hair grows
+out from the roots.”
+
+Dressed in the pretty clothes Gladys bought for her she was not at all a
+bad looking child, but her language and her knowledge of evil absolutely
+appalled the dwellers at Onoway House. “Did yer old man beat yer up?”
+she asked sympathetically of Mrs. Landsdowne, when that gentle lady came
+to call. Mrs. Landsdowne had run into the barn door the day before and
+had a bruise on her forehead.
+
+Ophelia’s sins in the garden were too numerous to chronicle. When set to
+weeding she pulled weeds and plants impartially, working such havoc in a
+short time that she was forbidden to touch a single growing thing. Her
+ignorance of everything pertaining to the country was only equalled by
+her curiosity.
+
+“What would happen to the cow if you didn’t milk her?” she demanded of
+Farmer Landsdowne, as she watched him milking one day. “She’d bust, I
+suppose,” she went on, answering her own question while Farmer
+Landsdowne was scratching his head for a reply. “Say, are yer whiskers
+fireproof?” she asked, scrutinizing his white beard with interest.
+“Because if they ain’t yer don’t dast smoke that pipe. The Santa Claus
+in Lefkovitz’s window told me so. Say, what do you do when they get
+dirty?”
+
+Leaving her alone in the barn for a few moments he heard a mighty
+squawking and cackling and hastened to investigate. He found the old
+setting hen running distractedly around one of the empty horse stalls,
+frantically trying to get out, while Ophelia was holding the big rooster
+on the nest with her one hand, in spite of the fact that he was flapping
+his wings and pecking at her furiously. “He ought to do some of the
+settin’,” she remarked, when taken to task for her act, “he ain’t doin’
+nothin’ fer a livin’.”
+
+The squash bugs had descended once more, and were making hay of the
+squash bed while the sun shone, and the girls worked a whole, long weary
+afternoon clearing the vines. As the bugs were picked off they were put
+into tin cans to be destroyed. Tired to death and heartily sick of
+handling the disagreeable insects the girls quit the job at sundown,
+having just about cleared the patch. They gathered in Migwan’s big room
+before supper to make some plans for the Winnebago Ceremonial Meeting
+which was to be held at Onoway House on the Fourth of July. Ophelia
+promptly followed them and demanded admittance. “You can’t come in,”
+said Migwan rather crossly, for there were secrets being told which they
+did not want her to hear.
+
+Ophelia wandered off in search of amusement. Mr. Bob had fled at her
+approach and was hiding under the porch, and Betty had been admitted to
+the council of the Winnebagos, for Migwan and Nyoda had decided at the
+beginning of the summer that if there was to be any peace with her she
+would have to be a party to all their doings, and as she was to be put
+into a Camp Fire Group in the fall she was given this opportunity of
+learning to qualify for the various honors by watching the intimate
+workings of the Winnebago group. Tom was over at the Landsdowne’s and
+Mrs. Gardiner was getting supper and invited Ophelia to stay out of the
+kitchen when she came down to see if there was any fun to be had there.
+Ophelia had been allowed to help once or twice and had broken so many
+dishes with her one-handed way of doing things that Mrs. Gardiner lost
+all patience and refused to have her around.
+
+Strolling out into the garden in her quest for something to do she came
+upon the big tin pail containing all the squash bugs, which Migwan
+intended taking over to Farmer Landsdowne for disposal. A mischievous
+impulse seized her, and taking off the cover she emptied the bugs back
+into the bed, where they crawled eagerly back to their interrupted feast
+of tender leaves. When the prank was discovered Migwan sank wearily down
+beside the patch she had tried so hard to save from destruction.
+“Whatever possessed you?” said Nyoda, seizing Ophelia with the firm
+determination of boxing her ears. But Ophelia shrank back with such
+evident expectation of a blow that Nyoda loosened her hold.
+
+“Well, ain’t yer goin’ ter punish me?” asked Ophelia, still eyeing her
+warily for an unexpected attack, with the attitude of an animal at bay.
+To her surprise there were no blows forthcoming, but she was ordered to
+pick off all the squash bugs again, and before the job was done she had
+plenty of time to regret her rash act. All that beautiful long summer
+evening, when the girls were on the front porch playing games and
+shouting with laughter, she sat in the squash bed, undoing the mischief
+she had done. When bed time came she was told to sleep in the cot by
+herself, and Gladys and Nyoda took no notice of her at all, whispering
+secrets to each other in bed with never a word to her. The next morning
+she was awakened at four o’clock and set to work again, and so missed
+the merry breakfast with the family. Gladys had promised to take her to
+town in the machine that day, but, of course, this pleasure was
+forfeited, as the beetles were not yet all picked off. The family was
+all invited over to the Landsdowne’s for supper that night, but by four
+o’clock Ophelia realized with a pang of disappointment that she would
+not even be through by five. Accustomed as she was to brutal treatment,
+this was the worst punishment she had ever experienced, but she realized
+that she deserved it and was gamely paying the price without a murmur.
+When Migwan came out shortly after four and helped her so that she would
+be done in time to go to Farmer Landsdowne’s with the others her
+penitence was complete.
+
+Preparations for the big Fourth of July Council meeting were going
+forward apace. It was to be a house party, they decided, and the other
+three Winnebagos, Nakwisi, Chapa and Medmangi, were to be invited to
+spend the night. Sleeping quarters caused some debate, when Sahwah had a
+brilliant idea. “Let’s build a tepee,” she said, “and all sleep on the
+ground inside of it with our feet toward the center. Then we can hold
+the Council Fire in there and dance a war dance around the fire and make
+shadows on the sides to scare the natives.” No sooner said than begun.
+The front lawn was chosen as the site of the tepee, as that was the only
+spot big enough. Dick, Tom and Mr. Landsdowne set the poles in a circle
+to make the supporting framework, and the girls made the covering of
+heavy sail cloth, which fitted snugly over the poles and had an opening
+in the center of the top, and another one lower down for the entrance.
+When done it would easily accommodate fifteen or sixteen persons. An
+iron kettle was sunk into the ground in the center of the tepee. This
+would hold sticks of wood soaked in kerosene, which is the secret of a
+quickly lighted council fire, and also the alcohol and salt mixture
+which is an indispensable part of all ghost story telling parties. The
+grass around the kettle was pulled up, leaving a ring of bare earth,
+which would prevent accident from the fire spreading.
+
+The whole thing was completed two days before the Fourth. A big sign,
+WINNEBAGO MEDICINE LODGE, was hung over the entrance. Underneath it a
+sign in smaller letters proclaimed that at the Fourth Sundown of the
+Thunder Moon the big medicine man Face-Toward-the-Mountain would “make
+medicine” in the lodge for the benefit of the Winnebago tribe and their
+paleface friends. The “paleface friends” referred to were Mrs. Gardiner,
+Betty and Tom and Ophelia, Mr. and Mrs. Landsdowne and Calvin Smalley,
+who were invited to see the show.
+
+“It’s a shame Aunt Phœbe and the Doctor have to miss it,” said Hinpoha.
+
+It was rumored that a real Indian princess would be present at the
+medicine making, i.e., Sahwah in her Indian dress that Mr. Evans had
+sent her from Canada, and excitement ran high among the invited guests
+as hint after hint trickled out as to the elaborateness of the
+ceremonial, which was to eclipse anything yet attempted in that line by
+the Winnebagos, which was saying a great deal. Migwan had been seen
+doing a great deal of surreptitious writing of late and at bed time the
+Winnebagos had taken to congregating in the big, back bedroom and
+locking the doors, and soon there would issue forth sounds of much
+talking and laughter, so that a really experienced listener would almost
+suspect there was a play in process of rehearsal. “Let’s reh—you know,”
+said Migwan to Gladys, when the last touches had been put on the tepee,
+suddenly cutting her words short and making a hand sign to finish her
+sentence.
+
+“Do you mind if I don’t just now,” answered Gladys, “I have such a bad
+headache I think I will lie down for a while. It must have been the sun
+glaring on the white canvas.”
+
+“I have one too,” said Hinpoha, “it must have been the sun. I’ll come
+later when Gladys does,” she said to Migwan, with an aggravatingly
+mysterious hand sign.
+
+At supper time Ophelia refused to eat and moped in a manner quite
+foreign to her. Her eyes were red and it looked as though she had been
+crying. After supper she still sat by herself in a corner of the porch
+and made no effort to trap the girls into telling their plans for the
+Fourth as she had been doing all day. “Come and play Blind-Man’s-Buff on
+the lawn,” called Migwan. Ophelia raised her head and looked at her
+listlessly, but made no effort to join in the merry game.
+
+“Don’t you feel well?” asked Nyoda, noting her languid manner. “Child,
+what makes your eyes so red?” she said, turning Ophelia’s face toward
+the light.
+
+“I don’t know,” said Ophelia, wriggling out of her grasp, and putting
+her head down on her knee.
+
+“Come, let me put you to bed,” said Nyoda. “I’m afraid you’re going to
+be sick.” In the morning Ophelia’s face was all broken out and Nyoda
+groaned when she realized the truth. Ophelia had the measles. All
+preparations for the Fourth of July Ceremonial had to be called off, and
+the three girls in town telephoned not to come out. The sight of the
+tepee and all the plans it suggested called out a wail of despair every
+time the girls went out in the yard. On the morning of the Glorious
+Fourth Gladys woke to find herself spotted like a leopard.
+
+“That must be the reason why I had such a fearful headache the other
+day,” she said, as she took her place with the other sick one, half
+amused and wholly disgusted at herself for having fallen a victim.
+
+“I had a headache too,” said Hinpoha, in alarm, “I hope I’m not coming
+down with them. I’ve had them once.”
+
+“That doesn’t help much,” said Nyoda, “for I had them three times.”
+Hinpoha’s fears were realized, and by night there was a third case
+developed. And so, instead of a grand council on the Fourth of July
+there was real medicine making at Onoway House. None of the sufferers
+were very ill, although they must remain prisoners, and they had such a
+jolly time in the “contagious disease ward” that Migwan and Sahwah, who
+were finding things rather dull on the outside, wished fervently that
+they had taken the measles too.
+
+As soon as the three invalids were pronounced entirely well there was a
+celebration held in honor of the occasion in the tepee. At sundown Nyoda
+went around beating on a tin pan covered with a cloth in lieu of a
+tom-tom, which was always the signal for the tribe to come together.
+Tom, as runner, was dispatched to fetch the Landsdownes and Calvin
+Smalley. When the tribe came trooping in answer to the call, followed by
+the guests, they were marched in solemn file around the lawn and into
+the tepee. Inside there was a fire kindled in the center, with a circle
+of ponchos and blankets spread around it on the ground. “Bless my soul,
+but this is cozy,” said Farmer Landsdowne, dropping down on a poncho and
+stretching himself comfortably.
+
+“Now, what shall we do?” asked Nyoda, who was mistress of ceremonies,
+“play games or tell stories?”
+
+“Tell stories,” begged Migwan, “we haven’t ‘wound the yarn’ for an age.”
+
+“All right,” agreed Nyoda, “shall we do it the way several of the Indian
+tribes do?”
+
+“How do they do it?” asked Migwan.
+
+“Well,” said Nyoda, “there is a tradition among certain tribes that if
+anyone refuses to tell a story when he is asked he will grow a tail like
+a donkey. Sometimes, however, they do not wait for Nature to perform
+this miracle, but fasten a tail themselves onto the one who will not
+entertain the crowd when he is bidden, and he must wear it until he
+tells a story. Their way of asking one of their number to tell one is to
+remark ‘There is a tail to you,’ as a delicate way of expressing the
+fate that will be his if he refuses.”
+
+“Oh, what fun!” cried Sahwah.
+
+“And now Gladys,” said Nyoda, “‘there is a tail to you.’”
+
+Gladys placed more wood on the fire, which was burning low, and returned
+to her seat on the blanket. “Did I ever tell you,” she began, “about my
+Aunt Beatrice? She and my Uncle Lynn were visiting here from the West
+with my little cousin Beatrice, who was only six months old. They were
+staying in a big hotel downtown. One night they went to a party, leaving
+Beatrice in their room at the hotel in the care of her nurse. At the
+party there was a fortune teller who amused the guests by reading their
+palms. When it came my aunt’s turn the woman said to her, ‘You have had
+one child, who is dead.’ Everybody laughed because they knew Aunt
+Beatrice had never lost a baby, and little Beatrice was safe and sound
+in the hotel that very minute. But it worried my aunt almost to death,
+and she couldn’t enjoy herself the rest of the evening.
+
+“Finally she said to my uncle, ‘I can’t stand it any longer, I must go
+home,’ so they left the party just as the guests were sitting down to a
+midnight supper, and everybody made fun of her for being such a fussy
+young mother. When they got downtown they found the hotel in flames and
+the streets blocked for a long distance around. Aunt Beatrice finally
+broke through the fire lines and ran right past the firemen who tried to
+keep her out, into the burning building, and fought her way up-stairs
+through the smoke to her room, where she could hear a baby crying. She
+was blind from the smoke and could hardly see where she was going, but
+she picked up a rug from the floor, wrapped it around the baby and
+carried her out in safety. When she got outside they found it was not
+little Beatrice at all that she had saved, it was a strange baby. She
+had mistaken the room up-stairs in the smoke and carried out someone
+else’s child. The building collapsed right after she came out and no one
+could go in any more. Beatrice and her nurse were lost in the fire.” A
+murmur of horrified sympathy went around the circle in the tepee. “And,”
+continued Gladys, “my Aunt Beatrice has never been herself since. She
+can’t bear even to see a baby.”
+
+“Is that the reason you wouldn’t let me bring Marian Simpson’s baby over
+the day she left it with me to take care of?” asked Hinpoha. “I remember
+you said your aunt was visiting you.”
+
+“Yes, that was why,” said Gladys. “And now, Mr. Landsdowne,” she added,
+“‘there is a tail to you!’”
+
+Farmer Landsdowne stared thoughtfully into the fire for a moment, and
+then a reminiscent smile began to wrinkle the corners of his eyes.
+“Would you like to hear a story about the old house?” he asked.
+
+“You mean Onoway House?” asked Migwan.
+
+Mr. Landsdowne nodded. “Only it seems strange to be calling it ‘Onoway
+House.’ It has always been known as ‘Waterhouse’s Place,’ because old
+Deacon Waterhouse built it. Well, like most old houses, there are
+different stories told about it, but whether they are true or not, no
+one knows. People are so apt to believe anything they want to believe.
+Well, I started out to tell you the story about the gas well. But before
+I tell you about the gas well I suppose I ought to tell you about the
+Deacon’s son. Mind you, the things I am telling you are only what I have
+heard from the folks around here; I never knew Deacon Waterhouse. He was
+dead and the house empty before the farm was split up, and it wasn’t
+until the part that I now own was offered for sale that I ever came into
+this neighborhood. Well, to return to the Deacon’s son. They say that
+there never was a finer looking young fellow than Charley Waterhouse. He
+was a regular prince among the country boys. But he didn’t care a rap
+about farming. All he wanted to do was read; that and take the horse and
+buggy and drive to town. The old Deacon was terribly disappointed, of
+course, for Charley was his only son, and he couldn’t see that the boy
+wasn’t cut out to be a farmer. He railed about his love of books and
+wouldn’t give him money for schooling. Charley stood it until he was
+eighteen and then he ran away, after forging the Deacon’s name to a
+check. The folks around here never saw him again. Mrs. Waterhouse died
+of a broken heart, they say. They also say,” he added with a twinkle in
+his eye, “that she died before she had her attic cleaned, and that her
+ghost comes back at night and sets the old furniture straight up there.”
+Migwan and Hinpoha exchanged glances.
+
+“Now about the gas well,” resumed Mr. Landsdowne. “The Deacon was
+digging for water on the farm. The old well had dried up during a long,
+hot spell and he was bound to go deep enough this time. Down they
+went—two, three hundred feet, and still no good water. The ground had
+turned into slate and shale. The well digger lit a match down in the
+hole when suddenly there was a terrific explosion which caved in the
+sides of the well and all the dirt which was piled around the outside
+slid in again, completely filling it up. A vein of gas had been struck.
+That very day the Deacon received word that his son was in San
+Francisco, dying, and wanted to see him. He forgot his anger over
+Charley’s disgrace and started west that very night. He never came back.
+He stayed in San Francisco a whole year and then died out there. While
+he was there he mentioned the gas well to several people, or they say he
+did, and that’s how the story got round. But if such a thing did happen,
+there was never any trace of it afterward. Personally I do not believe
+it ever happened. But superstitious folks around here say they can still
+hear the buried well digger striking with his pick against the earth
+that covers him.”
+
+“Two ghosts at Onoway House!” said Nyoda, “we are uncommonly well
+supplied,” and the girls shivered and drew near together in mock fear.
+Thus, with various stories the evening wore away, until Farmer
+Landsdowne, looking at his big, old-fashioned silver watch with a start,
+remarked that he should have been in bed an hour ago, whereupon the
+company broke up. Calvin Smalley went home reluctantly. That evening
+spent by the fire in the tepee had been a sort of wonderland to him,
+unused as he was to family festivities of any kind.
+
+Nyoda lingered after the rest had gone to see that the fire in the tepee
+was properly extinguished. As she watched the glowing embers turn black
+one by one she became aware of a figure standing in the doorway. The
+moonlight fell directly on it and she could see that it was robed in
+flowing white, and instead of a face there was a hideous death’s head.
+Horribly startled at first she recovered her composure when she
+remembered that she was living in a household which were given to
+playing jokes on each other. Flinging up her hands in mock terror, she
+recited dramatically,
+
+“Art thou some angel, some devil, or some ghost?” The figure in the
+doorway never moved. Nyoda picked up the thick stick with which she had
+stirred the fire and rushed upon the ghost as if she intended to beat it
+to a pulp. It flung out its arm, covered with the flowing drapery, and
+Nyoda dropped her weapon and staggered back against the side of the
+tepee, sneezing with terrible violence, her eyes smarting and watering
+horribly. When the force of the paroxysm had spent itself and she could
+open her eyes again the ghost had vanished. Blind and choking, she made
+her way back to the house, intent on finding out who the ghost was, who
+had thrown red pepper into her eyes. That it was none of the dwellers at
+Onoway House was clear. The girls were already partly undressed, Ophelia
+was in bed, and Tom was taking a foot-bath in the kitchen under the
+watchful supervision of his mother to see that he got himself clean. A
+chorus of indignation rose on every side at the outrage, when Nyoda had
+told her tale.
+
+“Could it have been Calvin Smalley?” somebody asked. But this no one
+would believe. The boy was too gentle and manly, and too evidently
+delighted with his new neighbors to have done such a dastardly deed.
+Then who had dressed up as a ghost and thrown red pepper at Nyoda in the
+tepee?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.—SAHWAH MAKES A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+As there was no one of their acquaintance whom they could suspect of
+being the ghost, the trick was laid at the door of some unknown dweller
+along the road with a fondness for horseplay. The girls spent the
+morning working quietly in the garden, and in the afternoon they went to
+the city in Gladys’s automobile, all but Sahwah, who wanted to work on a
+waist she was making. Then, after the automobile was out of sight she
+discovered that she did not have the right kind of thread and could not
+work on it after all. With the prospect of a whole afternoon to herself,
+she decided to take a long walk. The Bartlett farm was not very large
+and she was soon at its boundary, and over on the Smalley property. In
+contrast to their little orchard and garden and meadow, the Smalley farm
+stretched out as far as she could see, with great corn and wheat fields,
+and acres of timber land. Somewhere on the place Calvin Smalley was
+working, and Sahwah made up her mind to find him and ask him over to
+Onoway House that night. But the extent of the Smalley farm was
+ninety-seven acres, and it was not so easy to find a person on it when
+one had no definite knowledge of that person’s whereabouts. Sahwah
+walked and walked and walked, up one field and down another, shading her
+eyes with her hand to catch sight of the figure she was looking for. But
+Calvin was somewhere near the center of the cornfield, stooping near the
+ground, and the high stalks waved over his head and concealed him
+completely. Sahwah passed by without discovering him and crossed an open
+field that was lying fallow. Beyond this was a strip of marsh land which
+was practically impassable. Under ordinary circumstances Sahwah would
+have turned back, but being badly in want of something better to do she
+tried to cross it. She had seen two boards lying in the field, and
+securing these she laid them down on the treacherous mud, and by
+standing on one and laying the other down in front of her and then
+advancing to that one she actually got across in safety.
+
+On the other side of the bog she spied a little clump of trees and
+headed toward them, for the sun was very hot in the open and the thought
+of a rest in the shade was attractive. When she came nearer she saw that
+this little copse sheltered a cottage, old and weatherbeaten and
+evidently deserted. Weeds grew around it, higher than the steps and the
+floor of the porch, and the crumbling chimney, which ran up on the
+outside of the house, was covered with a thick growth of Japanese ivy.
+“It’s a regular House in the Woods,” said Sahwah to herself, “only there
+are no dwarfs. I wonder what it’s like inside,” she went on in her
+thoughts. “Maybe we could come here sometime and build a fire—there must
+be a fireplace somewhere because there’s a chimney—and have a Ceremonial
+Meeting or a picnic. How delightfully private it is!” The trees hid the
+house from view until one almost stumbled upon it, and then the marsh
+and the broad vacant field stretched between it and the farm, and behind
+it was the river, its banks hidden by a thick growth of willows and
+alders, so that the cottage was not visible to a person coming along the
+river in a boat. There was not a sound to be heard anywhere except the
+zig-a-zig of the grasshoppers in the field and the swish of the hidden
+water as it flowed over the stones. “A grand place to have a secret
+meeting of the Winnebagos,” said Sahwah to herself, “where we wouldn’t
+always be interrupted by Ophelia pounding on the door and wanting to
+come in. I wonder if it’s open?”
+
+She stepped up on the porch and tried the door. It was locked. She
+peered into the window. The room she saw was absolutely empty. She could
+not see whether there was a fireplace or not. She was seized with a
+desire to enter that cottage. It was deserted and tumble down and
+fascinating. Whoever owned it—if anyone did, for she was not sure
+whether it stood on the Smalley property or not—had evidently abandoned
+it to the elements. There was no harm at all in trying to get in. She
+pushed on the window. It apparently was also locked. But she pushed
+again and this time she heard a crack. The rotten wood was splitting
+away from the rusty catch. She pushed again and the window slid up. She
+stepped over the sill into the room.
+
+The window was so thick with dirt that the light seemed dim inside. At
+one end of the room there was an open fireplace, long unused, with the
+mortar falling out between the bricks. There was another door in the
+wall opposite the front door, so evidently there was another room
+beyond. This door was also locked, but the key was in the lock and it
+turned readily under her hand and the door swung open. Sahwah stood
+still in surprise. This room was as full of furniture as the other had
+been empty. Around all four walls stood cabinets and bookcases, and
+besides these there was a couch, a desk, a table and several chairs. The
+table was covered with screws, little wheels and the works of clocks,
+and before it sat an old man, busily working with them. He had on a
+long, shabby grey dressing-gown and a high silk hat on his head. He did
+not look up as she opened the door, but went right on working,
+apparently oblivious to her presence. She stared at him in amazement for
+a moment, and then, remembering her manners, realized that she had
+deliberately walked into a gentleman’s room without knocking.
+
+“I beg your pardon,” she said, in embarrassment, “I didn’t know there
+was anyone here.”
+
+The old man looked up and saw her standing in the doorway. “Come in,
+come in,” he said, affably, in a deep voice. Sahwah took a step into the
+room. The old man went back to his wheels and rods and took no more
+notice of her.
+
+“What is that you’re making?” asked Sahwah, curiously.
+
+“It’s a long story,” said the man, taking off his hat, pulling a
+handkerchief out of it and putting it back on his head, and then falling
+to work again.
+
+“Must be a genius,” thought Sahwah, “that’s what makes him act so
+queerly.” She waited a few minutes in silence and then curiosity got the
+better of her. “Is it too long to tell?” she asked.
+
+“Eh? What’s that?” asked the man, turning toward her. He took off his
+hat, put his handkerchief back in again and then put the hat back on his
+head.
+
+“I asked you,” said Sahwah, politely, “if the story of what you are
+making is too long to tell.”
+
+“Not at all, not at all,” said the man, and resumed his work without
+another word.
+
+“How impolite!” thought Sahwah. “To urge me to stay and then refuse to
+answer my questions.” Her eyes strayed around the room at the bookcases
+and cabinets. Every cabinet was filled with clocks or parts of clocks.
+The books as far as she could see were all about machinery. One was a
+book of such astounding width of binding that she leaned over to read
+the title. The letters were so faded that they were hardly visible. “L,”
+she read, “E, F, E——”
+
+“It’s a machine for saving time,” said the man at the table, so suddenly
+that Sahwah jumped.
+
+“How interesting!” she said. “How does it work?”
+
+The man fitted a rod into a wheel and apparently forgot her existence.
+She sat silent a few minutes more and then decided she had better go
+home. She rose softly to her feet. “It’s something like a clock,” said
+the man, without looking up from his work.
+
+“It’s coming after all,” she thought, and sat down again.
+
+After a silence of about five minutes the man spoke again. “It measures
+the time just like any clock,” he explained, “only, as the minutes are
+ticked off, they are thrown into a little compartment at the side,—this
+thing,” he said, holding up a little metal box. He lapsed into silence
+again and after an interval resumed where he had left off. “This
+compartment,” he said, “holds just an hour, and when it is full a bell
+rings and the compartment opens automatically, throwing the block of
+time, carefully wrapped to prevent leakage of seconds, out into this
+basket.” He took off his hat, brought out his handkerchief, polished a
+bit of glass with it, put it carefully back into the crown and replaced
+the hat on his head.
+
+It suddenly came over Sahwah that her ingenious host was not quite right
+in his mind, so rising abruptly she hastened out of the room. The man
+took no notice of her departure. She locked the door carefully after
+her, and went out by the window whence she had entered the house,
+pulling it shut from the outside. She did not undertake to cross the
+marsh again, but made a wide detour around it. When she was once more in
+the fallow field she looked back, but the house was invisible among the
+trees and bushes which surrounded it. As she sped past the rows of
+standing corn on her way home, Abner Smalley, bending low among them,
+saw her and straightened up with a suspicious look in his eyes. He
+glanced in the direction from which she had come. On one side was the
+empty field bordered by the marsh and the woody copse, and on the other
+was the path from the river which went in the direction of Onoway House.
+He breathed a sigh of relief. The girl had come from the direction of
+Onoway House, of course. The next day he put his bull to graze in the
+empty field before the copse. Then, in different places along the rail
+fence which enclosed this field he put signs reading: BEWARE THE BULL.
+HE IS UGLY.
+
+When the girls came back from town Sahwah told her discovery. “Nyoda,”
+said Gladys, suddenly, “do you suppose it could have been this man who
+threw the pepper at you?”
+
+“Perhaps,” said Nyoda, and all the girls shuddered at the thought.
+Before Sahwah’s discovery they had agreed among themselves to say
+nothing about the ghost episode to anyone outside the family, so that
+the perpetrator of the joke, if he were one of the farmer boys living
+near, would not have the satisfaction of knowing that they were wrought
+up about it. In the meantime they would send Tom to get acquainted with
+all the boys on the road and try to find out something about it from
+them.
+
+Calvin Smalley was over that evening and something was said about
+Sahwah’s adventure of the afternoon. “Calvin,” said Nyoda, directly,
+“who is the old man who lives in that house?”
+
+Calvin looked very much distressed, and frightened too, it must be
+admitted. Then he laughed, although to Nyoda his laugh seemed a trifle
+forced, and said in his usual straightforward manner, “The man in the
+old house among the trees? That is my great uncle Peter, grandfather’s
+brother. He was something of an inventer and invented a time clock, but
+the patent was stolen by another and he never got the credit for
+inventing it. He worried about it until his mind became unbalanced. For
+years he has worked around with wheels and things, making strange
+contrivances for clocks. He is perfectly harmless and wouldn’t hurt a
+fly. He will not live in a house with people and he will not leave the
+cottage he lives in even for an hour, he is so afraid something will
+happen to his machine while he is away. We don’t like to have people
+know that he is there because they would say we ought to send him away,
+but Uncle Abner won’t do that because Uncle Peter hates to be with folks
+and he might not be allowed to play with his machine in an institution
+the way he can here. So as long as he is happy what is the difference?
+But you know how country people talk. So would it be asking a great deal
+to request you not to say anything about this to anyone, not even the
+Landsdownes? If Uncle Abner ever found out you knew he would be very
+angry, and would sure think I told you. I don’t see how you ever got in,
+anyway; the door is usually kept locked, and to all appearances the
+house is empty.” Sahwah looked decidedly uncomfortable as she met the
+eyes of several of the girls, but no one mentioned the manner in which
+she had gained entrance. Inasmuch as she had pried into this secret she
+felt it was no more than right to promise to keep it.
+
+“All right, we won’t say anything,” she said, reassuringly. All the
+others gave an equally solemn promise, and were glad that Ophelia had
+heard none of the talk about the matter, for she had been over at the
+Landsdowne’s since before Sahwah told her adventure. Little pitchers
+have wide mouths as well as big ears.
+
+The girls all looked at each other when Calvin asserted that his Uncle
+Peter never left the house even for an hour. Clearly then, he had not
+been the ghost.
+
+Migwan had bad dreams that night. Just before going to bed she had been
+reading a volume of Poe, which is not the most sleep producing
+literature known. She dreamed that she was lying awake in her bed,
+looking at a big square of moonlight on the floor, when suddenly a black
+shadow fell across it, and the figure of a monkey appeared on the
+windowsill, stood there a moment and then jumped into the room.
+Shuddering with fright she woke up, and could hardly rid herself of the
+impression of the dream, it had seemed so real. There was a big square
+of moonlight on the floor. “I must have seen it in my sleep,” she
+thought, “it’s exactly like the one in my dream.” She lay wondering if
+it were possible to see things with your eyes closed, when all of a
+sudden her heart began to thump madly. Into the moonlight there was
+creeping a black shadow. It remained still for a few seconds, a
+grotesque-shaped thing with a long tail, and then something came
+hurtling through the window and landed on the floor beside the bed.
+Migwan gave a scream that roused the house. Hinpoha, starting up wildly,
+jumped from bed and landed squarely on the black specter on the floor.
+The form struggled and squirmed and sent forth a long wailing ME-OW-W-W.
+
+“What is the matter?” cried Nyoda and Gladys and Betty and Sahwah,
+running to the rescue.
+
+“It’s a cat!” said Migwan, faintly. “I thought it was a monkey!”
+
+“Moral: Don’t read Poe before going to bed,” said Nyoda, while the rest
+shouted with laughter at the cause of Migwan’s fright.
+
+“It must have jumped in from the tree,” said Hinpoha. “I see our screen
+has fallen out.”
+
+There was little sleep in the house the rest of the night. During the
+time when the screen was out of the window the room had filled with
+mosquitoes, which soon found their way to the rest of the rooms. “If you
+offered me the choice of sleeping in a room with a monkey or a swarm of
+mosquitoes, I believe I’d take the monkey,” said Nyoda, slapping
+viciously. Altogether it was a heavy-eyed group that came down to
+breakfast the next morning.
+
+“What are we going to do to-day?” asked Gladys.
+
+“The usual thing,” said Migwan, “pull weeds. That is, I am. You girls
+don’t need to help all the time. I don’t want you to think of my garden
+as merely a lot of weeds to be forever pulled. I want you to remember
+only the beautiful part of it.”
+
+“We don’t mind pulling weeds,” cried the girls, stoutly, “it’s fun when
+we all do it together,” and they fell to work with a will.
+
+“I declare,” said Migwan, “I have become so zealous in the pursuit of
+weeds that I mechanically start to pull them along the roadside. I
+actually believe that if a weed grew on my grave I’d rise up and
+eradicate it. I little thought when I proudly won an honor last summer
+for identifying ten different weeds that they’d get to haunting my
+dreams the way they do now. Now I know what people mean when they say
+‘meaner than pusley.’ It’s the meanest thing I’ve ever dealt with. I cut
+off and pull up every trace of it one day and the next day there it is
+again, just as flourishing as ever.”
+
+“I don’t call that meanness,” said Nyoda, “that’s just cheerful
+persistence. Think what a success we’d all be in life if we got ahead in
+the face of obstacles in that way. If I didn’t already have a perfectly
+good symbol I’d take pusley for mine. If it were edible I think I’d use
+it as an exclusive article of diet for a time and see if I couldn’t
+absorb some of its characteristics.”
+
+While she was talking Ophelia came along with a frog on a shovel, which
+she proceeded to throw over the fence. “Come back with that frog,” said
+Migwan, “I need him in my business. Don’t you know that frogs eat the
+insects off the plants and we have that many less to kill?” Ophelia was
+standing in the strong sunlight, and Nyoda noticed that the circle of
+light hair on her head was still golden clear to the roots, although the
+ringlets were visibly growing.
+
+“It must be a freak of Nature,” she concluded, “for it certainly isn’t
+bleached.”
+
+Rest at Onoway House was again doomed to be broken that night. Nyoda had
+been peacefully sleeping for some time when she woke up at the touch of
+something cold upon her face. She started up and the feeling
+disappeared. She went to sleep again, thinking she had been dreaming.
+Soon the feeling came again, as of something cold lying on her forehead.
+She put up her hand and encountered a cold and knobby object. At her
+touch the thing—whatever it was—jumped away. She sprang out of bed and
+lit the lamp. The sight that met her eyes as she looked around the room
+made her pinch herself to see if she were really awake and not in the
+midst of some nightmare. All over the floor, chairs, table, beds, bureau
+and wash-stand sat frogs; big frogs, little frogs, medium-sized frogs;
+all goggling solemnly at her in the lamplight. She stared open mouthed
+at the apparition. Could this be another Plague of Frogs, she asked
+herself, such as was visited upon Pharaoh? At her horrified exclamation
+Gladys woke up, gave one look around the room and dove under the
+bedclothes with a wild yell. To her excited eyes it looked as if there
+were a million frogs in the room.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked Ophelia, sitting up in bed and staring around
+her sleepily.
+
+“Don’t you see the frogs?” cried Nyoda.
+
+“Sure I see them,” said Ophelia. “Aren’t you glad I got so many?”
+
+“Ophelia!” gasped Nyoda, “did you bring those frogs in here?”
+
+“Betcher I did,” said Ophelia, with pride, “and it took me most all
+afternoon to catch the whole sackful, too. What’s wrong?” she asked, as
+she saw the expression on Nyoda’s face. “Yer said they’d eat the bugs
+and yer made such a fuss about the mosquitoes last night that I brought
+the toads to eat them while we slept.” Nyoda dropped limply into a
+chair. The inspirations of Ophelia surpassed anything she had ever read
+in fiction.
+
+If anybody has ever tried to catch a roomful of frogs that were not
+anxious to be caught they can appreciate the chase that went on at
+Onoway House that night. The first faint streaks of dawn were appearing
+in the sky before the family finally retired once more. Sufficient to
+say that Ophelia never set up another mosquito trap made of frogs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.—THE WINNEBAGOS SCENT A PLOT.
+
+
+“Where are you going, my pretty maid, and why the step ladder?” said
+Nyoda to Migwan one morning. “Have your beans grown up so high over
+night that you have to climb a ladder to pick them?”
+
+“Come and see!” said Migwan, mysteriously. Nyoda followed her to the
+front lawn. Migwan set the ladder up beside a dead tree, from which the
+branches had been sawn, leaving a slender trunk about seven feet high.
+On top of this Migwan proceeded to nail a flat board.
+
+“Are you going to live on a pillar, like St. Simeon Stylites?” asked
+Nyoda, curiously, as Migwan mounted the ladder with a basin of water in
+her hand.
+
+“O come, Nyoda,” said Migwan, “don’t you know a bird bathtub when you
+see one?”
+
+“A bathtub, is it?” said Nyoda. “Now I breathe easily again. But why so
+extremely near the earth?”
+
+Migwan laughed at her chaffing. “You have to put them high up,” she
+explained, “or else the cats get the birds when they are bathing. Mr.
+Landsdowne told me how to make it.” The other girls wandered out and
+inspected the drinking fountain-bathtub. Hinpoha closed one eye and
+looked critically at the outfit.
+
+“Doesn’t it strike you as being a little inharmonious?” she asked.
+“Black stump, unfinished wood platform, and blue enamel basin.”
+
+“Paint the platform and basin dark green,” said Sahwah, the practical.
+“There is some green paint down cellar, I saw it. Let me paint it. I can
+do that much for the birds, even if I didn’t think of building them a
+drinking fountain.” She sped after the paint and soon transformed the
+offending articles so that they blended harmoniously with the
+surroundings.
+
+“It’s better now,” said Nyoda, thoughtfully, “but it’s still crude and
+unbeautiful. What is wrong?”
+
+“I know,” said Hinpoha, the artistic one. “It’s too bare. It looks like
+a hat without any trimming. What it needs is vines around it.”
+
+“The very thing!” exclaimed Migwan. “I’ll plant climbing nasturtiums and
+train them to go up the pole and wind around the basin, so it will look
+like a fountain.”
+
+“Four heads are better than one,” observed Nyoda, as the seeds were
+planted, “when they are all looking in the same direction.”
+
+Just then a young man came up the path from the road. “May I use your
+telephone?” he asked, courteously raising his hat. He spoke with a
+slight foreign accent.
+
+“Certainly you may,” said Migwan, going with him into the house. She
+could not help hearing what he said. He called up a number in town and
+when he had his connection, said, “This is Larue talking. We are going
+to do it on the Centerville Road. There is a river near.” That was all.
+He rang off, thanked Migwan politely and walked off down the road. The
+incident was forgotten for a time.
+
+That afternoon Gladys was coming home in the automobile. At the turn in
+the road just before you came to Onoway House there was a car stalled.
+The driver, a young and pretty woman, was apparently in great perplexity
+what to do. “Can I help you?” asked Gladys, stopping her machine.
+
+“I don’t know what’s the matter,” said the young woman, “but I can’t get
+the car started. I’m afraid I’ll have to be towed to a garage. Do you
+know of anyone around here who has a team of horses?”
+
+Gladys looked at the starting apparatus of the other car, but it was a
+different make from hers and she knew nothing about it. “Would you like
+to have me tow you to our barn?” she asked. “There is a man up the road
+who fixes automobiles for a great many people who drive through here and
+I could get him to come over.”
+
+The young woman appeared much relieved. “If you would be so kind it
+would be a great favor,” she said, “for I am in haste to-day.”
+
+Gladys towed the car to the barn at Onoway House and phoned for the car
+tinker. The young woman, who introduced herself as Miss Mortimer, was a
+very pleasant person indeed, and quite won the hearts of the girls. She
+was delighted with Onoway House, both with the name and the house
+itself, and asked to be shown all over it, from garret to cellar. “How
+near that tree is to the window!” she said, as she looked out of the
+attic window into the branches of the big Balm of Gilead tree that grew
+beside the house, close to Migwan and Hinpoha’s bedroom. It was much
+higher than the house and its branches drooped down on the roof. “How do
+you ever move about up here with all this furniture?” asked Miss
+Mortimer.
+
+“Oh,” answered Migwan, “we never come up here.”
+
+The barn likewise struck the visitor’s fancy, with its big empty lofts,
+and she fell absolutely in love with the river. The girls took her for a
+ride on the raft, and she amused herself by sounding the depth of the
+water with the pole. They could see that she was experienced in handling
+boats from the way she steered the raft. The girls were so charmed with
+her that they felt a keen regret when the neighborhood tinker announced
+that the car was in running shape again.
+
+“I’ve had a lovely time, girls,” said Miss Mortimer, shaking the hand of
+each in farewell. “I can’t thank you enough.”
+
+“Come and see us again, if you are ever passing this way,” said Migwan,
+cordially.
+
+“You may possibly see me again,” said Miss Mortimer, half to herself, as
+she got into her machine and drove away.
+
+There was no moon that night and the cloud-covered sky hinted at
+approaching rain, but Sahwah wanted to go out on the river on the raft,
+so Nyoda and Migwan and Hinpoha and Gladys went with her. It was too
+dark to play any kind of games and the girls were too tired and
+breathless from the hot day to sing, so they floated down-stream in lazy
+silence, watching the shapeless outlines made against the dull sky by
+the trees and bushes along the banks. On the other side of Farmer
+Landsdowne’s place there was an abandoned farm. The house had stood
+empty for many years, its cheerless windows brooding in the sunlight and
+glaring in the moonlight. Just as they did with every other vacant
+house, the Winnebagos nicknamed this one the Haunted House, and vied
+with each other in describing the queer noises they had heard issuing
+from it and the ghosts they had seen walking up and down the porch. As
+they passed this place, gliding silently along the river, they were
+surprised to see an automobile standing beside the house, at the little
+side porch, in the shadow of a row of tall trees.
+
+“The ghosts are getting prosperous,” whispered Migwan, “they have bought
+an automobile to do their nightly wandering in. Pretty soon we can’t say
+that ghosts ‘walk’ any more. Ah, here come the ghosts.”
+
+From the side door of the house came two men, who proceeded to lift
+various boxes from under the seats of the car and carry them into the
+house. Then they lifted out a small keg, which the girls could not help
+noticing they handled with greater care than they had the boxes. The
+wind was blowing toward the river, and the girls distinctly heard one
+man say to the other, “Be careful now, you know what will happen if we
+drop this.”
+
+“I’m being as careful as I can,” answered the second man.
+
+After a few seconds the first one spoke again. “When’s Belle coming?”
+
+“She arrived in town to-day,” said his partner.
+
+When they had gone into the house this time the machine suddenly drove
+away, revealing the presence of a third man at the wheel, whom the girls
+had not noticed before this. The two men stayed in the house.
+
+“What on earth can be happening there?” said Sahwah.
+
+“It certainly does look suspicious,” said Nyoda.
+
+They waited there in the shadow of the willows for a long time to see
+what would happen next, but nothing did. The house stood blank and
+silent and apparently as empty as ever. Not a glimmer of light was
+visible anywhere. Sahwah and Nyoda were just on the point of getting
+into the rowboat, which had been tied on behind the raft, and towing the
+other girls back home, when their ears caught the sound of a faint
+splashing, like the sound made by the dipping of an oar. They were
+completely hidden from sight either up or down the river, for just at
+this point a portion of the bank had caved in, and the water filling up
+the hole had made a deep indentation in the shore line, and into this
+miniature bay the Tortoise-Crab had been steered. The thick willows
+along the bank formed a screen between them and the stream above and
+below. But they could look between the branches and see what was coming
+up stream, from the direction of the lake. It was a rowboat, containing
+two persons. The scudding clouds parted at intervals and the moon shone
+through, and by its fitful light they could see that one of these
+persons was a woman. When the rowboat was almost directly behind the
+house it came to a halt, only a few yards from the place where the
+Winnebagos lay concealed.
+
+“This is the house,” said the man.
+
+“I told you the water was deep enough up this far,” said the woman, in a
+tone of satisfaction. Just then the moon shone out for a brief instant,
+and the Winnebagos looked at each other in surprise. The woman, or
+rather the girl, in the rowboat was Miss Mortimer, who had been their
+guest only that day. The next moment she spoke. “We might as well go
+back now. There isn’t anything more we can do. I just wanted to prove to
+you that it could be towed up the river this far without danger.”
+
+“All right, Belle,” replied the man, and at the sound of his voice
+Migwan pricked up her ears. There was something vaguely familiar about
+it; something which eluded her at the moment. The rowboat turned in the
+river and proceeded rapidly down-stream. The Winnebagos returned home,
+full of excitement and wonder.
+
+The barn at Onoway House stood halfway between the house and the river.
+As they landed from the raft and were tying it to the post they saw a
+man come out of the barn and disappear among the bushes that grew
+nearby. It was too dark to see him with any degree of distinctness.
+Gladys’s thought leaped immediately to her car, which was left in the
+barn. “Somebody’s trying to steal the car!” she cried, and they all
+hastened to the barn. The automobile stood undisturbed in its place.
+They made a hasty search with lanterns, but as far as they could see,
+none of the gardening tools were missing. Satisfied that no damage had
+been done, they went into the house.
+
+“Probably a tramp,” said Mrs. Gardiner, when the facts were told her.
+“He evidently thought he would sleep in the barn, and then changed his
+mind for some reason or other.”
+
+Migwan lay awake a long time trying to place the voice of the man in the
+rowboat. Just as she was sinking off to sleep it came to her. The voice
+she had heard in the darkness had a slightly foreign accent, and was the
+voice of the man who had used the telephone that morning.
+
+Sometime during the night Onoway House was wakened by the sounds of a
+terrific thunder storm. The girls flew around shutting windows. After a
+few minutes of driving rain against the window panes the sound changed.
+It became a sharp clattering. “Hail!” said Sahwah.
+
+“Oh, my young plants!” cried Migwan. “They will be pounded to pieces.”
+
+“Cover them with sheets and blankets!” suggested Nyoda. With their
+accustomed swiftness of action the Winnebagos snatched up everything in
+the house that was available for the purpose and ran out into the
+garden, and spread the covers over the beds in a manner which would keep
+the tender young plants from being pounded to pieces by the hailstones.
+Migwan herself ran down to the farthest bed, which was somewhat
+separated from the others. As she raced to save it from destruction she
+suddenly ran squarely into someone who was standing in the garden. She
+had only time to see that it was a man, when, with a muffled exclamation
+of alarm he disappeared into space. Disappeared is the only word for it.
+He did not run, he never reached the cover of the bushes; he simply
+vanished off the face of the earth. One moment he was and the next
+moment he was not. Much excited, Migwan ran back to the others and told
+her story, only to be laughed at and told she was seeing things and had
+lurking men on the brain. The thing was so queer and uncanny that she
+began to wonder herself if she had been fully awake at the time, and if
+she might not possibly have dreamed the whole thing.
+
+The morning dawned fresh and fair after the shower, green and gold with
+the sun on the garden, and Migwan’s delight at finding the tender little
+plants unharmed, thanks to their timely covering, was inclined to thrust
+the mysterious goings-on at the empty house the night before into
+secondary place in her mind. But she was not allowed to forget it, for
+it was the sole topic of conversation at the breakfast table. Gladys,
+with her nose buried in the morning paper, suddenly looked up. “Listen
+to this,” she said, and then began to read: “Another dynamite plot
+unearthed. Society for the purpose of assassinating men prominent in
+affairs and dynamiting large buildings discovered in attempt to blow up
+the Court House. An attempt to blow up the new Court House was
+frustrated yesterday when George Brown, one of the custodians, saw a man
+crouching in the engine room and ordered him out. A search revealed the
+fact that dynamite had been placed on the floor and attached to a fuse.
+On being arrested the man confessed that he was a member of the famous
+Venoti gang, operating in the various large cities. The man is being
+held without bail, but the head of the gang, Dante Venoti, is still at
+large, and so is his wife, Bella, who aids him in all his activities. No
+clue to their whereabouts can be found.”
+
+“Do you suppose,” said Gladys, laying the paper down, “that those men we
+saw last night could belong to that gang? You remember how carefully
+they carried the keg into the house, as if it contained some explosive.
+They couldn’t have any business there or they wouldn’t have come at
+night. And they called the woman in the boat ‘Belle,’ or it might have
+been ‘Bella.’”
+
+“And that man in the boat was the same one who came here and used the
+telephone yesterday morning,” said Migwan. “I couldn’t help noticing his
+foreign accent. He said, ‘We are going to do it on the Centerville Road.
+There is a river near.’ What are they going to do on the Centerville
+Road?”
+
+The garden work was neglected while the girls discussed the matter. “And
+the man we saw coming out of the barn when we came home,” said Sahwah,
+“he probably had something to do with it, too.”
+
+“And the man I saw in the garden in the middle of the night,” said
+Migwan.
+
+“If you _did_ see a man,” said Nyoda, somewhat doubtfully. Migwan did
+not insist upon her story. What was the use, when she had no proof, and
+the thing had been so uncanny?
+
+They were all moved to real grief over the fact that the delightful Miss
+Mortimer should have a hand in such a dark business—in fact, was
+undoubtedly the famous Bella Venoti herself. “I can’t believe it,” said
+Migwan, “she was so jolly and friendly, and was so charmed with Onoway
+House.”
+
+“I wonder why she wanted to go through it from attic to cellar,” said
+Sahwah, shrewdly. “Could she have had some purpose? _Migwan!_” she
+cried, jumping up suddenly, “don’t you remember that she said, ‘How near
+that tree is to the window’? Could she have been thinking that it would
+be easy to climb in there? And when she asked how we ever moved about
+with all that furniture up there, you said, ‘We never come up here’!
+Don’t you see what we’ve done? We’ve given her a chance to look the
+house over and find a place where people could hide if they wanted to,
+and as much as told her that they would be safe up here because we never
+came up.”
+
+Consternation reigned at this speech of Sahwah’s. The girls remembered
+the incident only too well. “I’ll never be able to trust anyone again,”
+said Migwan, near to tears, for she had conceived a great liking for the
+young woman she had known as “Miss Mortimer.”
+
+“Do you remember,” pursued Sahwah, “how she took the pole of the raft
+and found out how deep the water was all along, and then afterwards she
+said to the man in the boat, ‘I told you it was deep enough.’ Everything
+she did at our house was a sort of investigation.”
+
+“But it was only by accident that she got to Onoway House in the first
+place,” said Gladys. “All she did was ask me to tell her where she could
+get a team of horses to tow her to a garage. She didn’t know I belonged
+to Onoway House. It was I who brought her here, and she only stayed
+because we asked her to. It doesn’t look as if she had any serious
+intentions of investigating the neighborhood. She said she was in a
+hurry to go on.” Migwan brightened visibly at this. She clutched eagerly
+at any hope that Miss Mortimer might be innocent after all.
+
+“How do you know that that breakdown in the road was accidental?” asked
+Nyoda. “And how can you be sure that she didn’t know you came from
+Onoway House? She may have been looking for a pretense to come here and
+you played right into her hands by offering to tow her into the barn.”
+Migwan’s hope flickered and went out.
+
+“And the man in the barn,” said Sahwah, knowingly, “he might have come
+to look the automobile over and become familiar with the way the barn
+door opened, so he could get into the car and drive away in a hurry if
+he wanted to get away.” Taken all in all, there was only one conclusion
+the girls could come to, and that was that there was something
+suspicious going on in the neighborhood, and it looked very much as if
+the Venoti gang were hiding explosives in the empty house and were
+planning to bring something else; what it was they could not guess. At
+all events, something must be done about it. Nyoda called up the police
+in town and told briefly what they had seen and heard, and was told that
+plain clothes men would be sent out to watch the empty house. When she
+described the man who had called and used the telephone, the police
+officer gave an exclamation of satisfaction.
+
+“That description fits Venoti closely,” he said. “He used to have a
+mustache, but he could very easily have shaved it off. It’s very
+possible that it was he. He’s done that trick before; asked to use
+people’s telephones as a means of getting into the house.”
+
+The girls thrilled at the thought of having seen the famous anarchist so
+close. “Hadn’t we better tell the Landsdownes about it?” asked Migwan.
+“They are in a better position to watch that house from their windows
+than we are.”
+
+“You’re right,” said Nyoda. “And we ought to tell the Smalleys, too, so
+they will be on their guard and ready to help the police if it is
+necessary.”
+
+“I hate to go over there,” said Migwan, “I don’t like Mr. Smalley.”
+
+“That has nothing to do with it,” said Nyoda, firmly. “The fact that he
+is fearfully stingy and grasping has no bearing on this case. He has a
+right to know it if his property is in danger.” And she proceeded
+forthwith to the Red House.
+
+Mr. Smalley was inclined to pooh-pooh the whole affair as the
+imagination of a houseful of women. “Saw a man running out of your barn,
+did you?” he asked, showing some interest in this part of the tale.
+“Well now, come to think of it,” he said, “I saw someone sneaking around
+ours too, last night. But I didn’t think much of it. That’s happened
+before. It’s usually chicken thieves. I keep a big dog in the barn and
+they think twice about breaking in after they hear him bark, and you
+haven’t any chickens, that’s why nothing was touched.” It was a very
+simple explanation of the presence of the man in the barn, but still it
+did not satisfy Nyoda. She could not help connecting it in some way with
+the occurrences in the vacant house.
+
+Mr. Landsdowne was very much interested and excited at the story when it
+was told to him. “There’s probably a whole lot more to it than we know,”
+he said, getting out his rifle and beginning to clean it. “There’s more
+going on in this country in the present state of affairs than most
+people dream of. You have notified the police? That’s good; I guess
+there won’t be many more secret doings in the empty house.”
+
+As Nyoda and Migwan went home from the Landsdownes they passed a
+telegraph pole in the road on which a man was working. Silhouetted
+against the sky as he was they could see his actions clearly. He was
+holding something to his ear which looked like a receiver, and with the
+other hand he was writing something down in a little book. Migwan looked
+at him curiously; then she started. “Nyoda,” she said, in a whisper,
+“that is the same man who used our telephone. That is Dante Venoti
+himself.” As if conscious that they were looking at him, the man on the
+pole put down the pencil, and drawing his cap, which had a large visor,
+down over his face, he bent his head so they could not get another look
+at his features. “That’s the man, all right,” said Migwan. “What do you
+suppose he is doing?”
+
+“It looks,” said Nyoda, judicially, “as if he were tapping the wires for
+messages that are expected to pass at this time. Possibly you did not
+notice it, but I began to look at that man as soon as we stepped into
+the road from Landsdowne’s, and I saw him look at his watch and then
+hastily put the receiver to his ear.”
+
+“Oh, I hope the police from town will come soon,” said Migwan, hopping
+nervously up and down in the road.
+
+“Until they do come we had better keep a close watch on what goes on
+around here,” said Nyoda. Accordingly the Winnebagos formed themselves
+into a complete spy system. Migwan and Gladys and Betty and Tom took
+baskets and picked the raspberries that grew along the road as an excuse
+for watching the road and the front of the house, while Nyoda and Sahwah
+and Hinpoha took the raft and patrolled the river. As the girls in the
+road watched, the man climbed down from the pole, walked leisurely past
+them, went up the path to the empty house and seated himself calmly on
+the front steps, fanning himself with his hat, apparently an innocent
+line man taking a rest from the hot sun at the top of his pole.
+
+“He’s afraid to go in with us watching him,” whispered Migwan. Just then
+a large automobile whirled by, stirring up clouds of dust, which
+temporarily blinded the girls. When they looked again toward the house
+the “line man” had vanished from the steps. “He’s gone inside!” said
+Migwan, when they saw without a doubt that he was nowhere in sight
+outdoors.
+
+Meanwhile the girls on the raft, who had been keeping a sharp lookout
+down-stream with a pair of opera glasses, saw something approaching in
+the distance which arrested their attention. For a long time they could
+not make out what it was—it looked like a shapeless black mass. Then as
+they drew nearer they saw what was coming, and an exclamation of
+surprise burst from each one. It was a structure like a portable garage
+on a raft, towed by a launch. As it drew nearer still they could make
+out with the opera glasses that the person at the wheel was a woman, and
+that woman was Bella Venoti.
+
+The hasty arrival of an automobile full of armed men who jumped out in
+front of the “vacant” house frightened the girls in the road nearly out
+of their wits, until they realized that these were the plain clothes men
+from town. After sizing up the house from the outside the men went up
+the path to the porch. The girls were watching them with a fascinated
+gaze, and no one saw the second automobile that was coming up the road
+far in the distance. One of the plain clothes men, who seemed to be the
+leader of the group, rapped sharply on the door of the house. There was
+no answer. He rapped again. This time the door was flung wide open from
+the inside. The girls could see that the man in the doorway was Dante
+Venoti. The officer of the law stepped forward. “Your little game is up,
+Dante Venoti,” he said, quietly, “and you are under arrest.”
+
+Dante Venoti looked at him in open-mouthed astonishment. “Vatevaire do
+you mean?” he gasped. “I am under arrest? Has ze law stop ze production?
+Chambers, Chambers,” he called over his shoulder, “come here queek. Ze
+police has stop’ ze production!”
+
+A tall, lanky, decidedly American looking individual appeared in the
+doorway behind him. “What the deuce!” he exclaimed, at the sight of all
+the men on the porch. At this moment the second automobile drove up,
+followed by a third and a fourth. A large number of men and women
+dismounted and ran up the path to the house.
+
+“Caruthers! Simpson! Jimmy!” shouted Venoti, excitedly to the latest
+arrivals, “ze police has stop ze production!”
+
+“What do you know about it!” exclaimed someone in the crowd of
+newcomers, evidently one of those addressed. “Where’s Belle?”
+
+“She is bringing zeze caboose! Up ze rivaire!” cried the black haired
+man, wringing his hands in distress.
+
+The plain clothes men looked over the band of people that stood around
+him. There was nothing about them to indicate their desperate character.
+Instead of being Italians as they had expected, they seemed to be mostly
+Americans. The leader of the policemen suddenly looked hard at Venoti.
+“Say,” he said, “you look like a Dago, but you don’t talk like one. Who
+are you, anyway?”
+
+“I am Felix Larue,” said the black haired man, “I am ze director of ze
+Great Western Film Company, and zeze are all my actors. We have rent zis
+house and farm for ze production of ze war play ‘Ze Honor of a Soldier.’
+Last night we bring some of ze properties to ze house; zey are very
+valuable, and Chambers and Bushbower here zey stay in ze house wiz zem.”
+
+The plain clothes men looked at each other and started to grin. Migwan
+and Gladys, who had joined the company on the porch, suddenly felt
+unutterably foolish. “But what were you doing on top of the pole?”
+faltered Migwan.
+
+Mr. Larue turned his eyes toward her. He recognized her as the girl who
+had allowed him to use her telephone the day before, and favored her
+with a polite bow. “Me,” he said, “I play ze part of ze spy in ze
+piece—ze villain. I tap ze wire and get ze message. I was practice for
+ze part zis morning.” He turned beseechingly to the policeman who had
+questioned him. “Zen you will not stop ze production?” he asked.
+
+“Heavens, no,” answered the policeman. “We were going to arrest you for
+an anarchist, that’s all.”
+
+The company of actors were dissolving into hysterical laughter, in which
+the plain clothes men joined sheepishly. Just then a young woman came
+around the house from the back, followed at a short distance by Nyoda,
+Sahwah and Hinpoha. Seeing the crowd in front she stopped in surprise.
+Larue went to the edge of the porch and called to her reassuringly.
+“Come on, Belle,” he called, gaily. When she was up on the porch he took
+her by the hand and led her forward. “Permit me to introduce my fellow
+conspirator,” he said, in a theatrical manner and with a low bow. “Zis
+is Belle Mortimer, ze leading lady of ze Great Western Film Company!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.—MOVING PICTURES.
+
+
+The Winnebagos looked at each other speechlessly. Belle Mortimer, the
+famous motion picture actress, whom they had seen on the screen dozens
+of times, and for whom Migwan had long entertained a secret and
+devouring adoration! Not Bella Venoti at all! “Did you ever?” gasped
+Sahwah.
+
+“No, I never,” answered the Winnebagos, in chorus.
+
+Miss Mortimer recognized her hostesses of the day before and greeted
+them warmly. “My kind friends from Onoway House,” she called them. The
+Winnebagos were embarrassed to death to have to explain how they had
+spied on the vacant house and thought the famous Venoti gang was at
+work, and were themselves responsible for the presence of the policemen.
+
+“I never _heard_ of anything so funny,” she said, laughing until the
+tears came. “I _never_ heard of anything so funny!” The plain clothes
+men departed in their automobile, disappointed at not having made the
+grand capture they had expected to. “Would you like to stay with us for
+the day and watch us work?” asked Miss Mortimer.
+
+“Oh, could we?” breathed Migwan. She was in the seventh heaven at the
+thought of being with Belle Mortimer so long. Then followed a day of
+delirious delight. To begin with, the Winnebagos were introduced to the
+whole company, many of whose names were familiar to them. Felix Larue,
+having gotten over the fright he had received when he thought the piece
+was going to be suppressed by the police for some unaccountable reason,
+was all smiles and amiability, and explained anything the girls wanted
+to know about. The piece was a very exciting one, full of thrilling
+incidents and danger, and the girls were held spellbound at the physical
+feats which some of those actors performed. The house on the raft was
+explained as the play progressed. It was filled with soldiers and towed
+up the river, to all appearances merely a garage being moved by its
+owner. But when a dispatch bearer of the enemy, whose family lived in
+the house, stopped to see them while he was carrying an important
+message, the soldiers rushed out from the garage, sprang ashore, seized
+the man along with the message and carried him away in the launch, which
+had been cut away from the raft while the capture was being made. Migwan
+thought of the tame little plots she had written the winter before and
+was filled with envy at the creator of this stirring play.
+
+It took a whole week to make the film of “The Honor of a Soldier” and in
+that time the girls saw a great deal of Miss Mortimer. And one blessed
+night she stayed at Onoway House with them, instead of motoring back to
+the city with the rest of the company. Just as Migwan was dying of
+admiration for her, so she was attracted by this dreamy-eyed girl with
+the lofty brow. In a confidential moment Migwan confessed that she had
+written several motion picture plays the winter before, all of which had
+been rejected. “Do you mind if I see them?” asked Miss Mortimer. Much
+embarrassed, Migwan produced the manuscripts, written in the form
+outlined in the book she had bought. Miss Mortimer read them over
+carefully, while Migwan awaited her verdict with a beating heart.
+
+“Well?” she asked, when Miss Mortimer had finished reading them.
+
+“Who told you to put them in this form?” asked Miss Mortimer.
+
+“I learned it from a book,” answered Migwan. “What do you think of
+them?” she asked, impatient for Miss Mortimer’s opinion.
+
+“The idea in one of them is good, very good,” said Miss Mortimer. “This
+one called ‘Jerry’s Sister.’ But you have really spoiled it in the
+development. It takes a person familiar with the production of a film to
+direct the movements of the actors intelligently. If Mr. Larue, for
+example, had developed that piece it would be a very good one. Would you
+be willing to sell just the idea, if Mr. Larue thinks he can use it?”
+
+Migwan had never thought of this before. “Why, yes,” she said, “I
+suppose I would. It’s certainly no good to me as it is.”
+
+“Let me take it to Mr. Larue,” said Miss Mortimer. “I’m sure he will see
+the possibilities in it just as I have.” Migwan was in a transport of
+delight to think that her idea at least had found favor with Miss
+Mortimer. Miss Mortimer was as good as her word and showed the play to
+Mr. Larue and he agreed with her that it could be developed into a
+side-splitting farce comedy. Migwan was more intoxicated with that first
+sale of the labors of her pen than she was at any future successes,
+however great. Deeply inspired by this recognition of her talent, she
+evolved an exciting plot from the incidents which had just occurred,
+namely, the mistaking of the moving picture company for the Venoti gang.
+She kept it merely in plot form, not trying to develop it, and Mr. Larue
+accepted this one also. After this second success, even though the price
+she received for the two plots was not large, the future stretched out
+before Migwan like a brilliant rainbow, with a pot of gold under each
+end.
+
+Miss Mortimer soon discovered that the Winnebagos were a group of Camp
+Fire Girls, and she immediately had an idea. When “The Honor of a
+Soldier” was finished Mr. Larue was going to produce a piece which
+called for a larger number of people than the company contained, among
+them a group of Camp Fire Girls. He intended hiring a number of “supers”
+for this play. “Why not hire the Winnebagos?” said Miss Mortimer. And so
+it was arranged. Medmangi and Nakwisi and Chapa, the other three
+Winnebagos, were notified to join the ranks, and excitement ran high. To
+be in a real moving picture! It is true that they had nothing special to
+do, just walk through the scene in one place and sit on the ground in a
+circle in another, but there was not a single girl who did not hope that
+her conduct on that occasion would lead Mr. Larue into hiring her as a
+permanent member of the company.
+
+Especially Sahwah. The active, strenuous life of a motion picture
+actress attracted her more than anything just now. She longed to be in
+the public eye and achieve fame by performing thrilling feats. She saw
+herself in a thousand different positions of danger, always the heroine.
+Now she was diving for a ring dropped into the water from the hand of a
+princess; now she was trapped in a burning building; now she was riding
+a wild horse. But always she was the idol of the company, and the idol
+of the moving picture audiences, and the envy of all other actresses.
+She would receive letters from people all over the country and her
+picture would be in the papers and in the magazines, and her name would
+be featured on the colored posters in front of the theatres. Managers
+would quarrel over her and she would be offered a fabulous salary. All
+this Sahwah saw in her mind’s eye as the future which was waiting for
+her, for since meeting Miss Mortimer she really meant to be a motion
+picture actress when she was through school. She felt in her heart that
+she could show people a few things when it came to feats of action. She
+simply could not wait for the day when the Winnebagos were to be in the
+picture. When the play was produced in the city theatres her friends
+would recognize her, and Oh joy!—here her thoughts became too gay to
+think.
+
+The play in question was staged, not on the Centerville road, but in one
+of the city parks, where there were hills and formal gardens and an
+artificial lake, which were necessary settings. The day arrived at last.
+News had gone abroad that a motion picture play was to be staged in that
+particular park and a curious crowd gathered to watch the proceedings.
+Sahwah felt very splendid and important as she stood in the company of
+the actors. She knew that the crowd did not know that she was just in
+that one play as a filler-in; to them she was really and truly a member
+of this wonderful company—a real moving picture actress. Gazing over the
+crowd with an air of indifference, she suddenly saw one face that sent
+the blood racing to her head. That was Marie Lanning, the girl whom
+Sahwah had defeated so utterly in the basketball game the winter before,
+and who had tried such underhand means to put her out of the game.
+Sahwah felt that her triumph was complete. Marie was just the kind of
+girl who would nearly die of envy to see her rival connected with
+anything so conspicuous.
+
+The picture began; progressed; the time came for the march of the Camp
+Fire Girls down the steep hill. Sahwah stood straight as a soldier; the
+supreme moment had come. Now Mr. Larue would see that she stood out from
+all the other girls in ability to act; that moment was to be the making
+of her fortune. She glanced covertly at Marie Lanning. Marie had
+recognized her and was staring at her with unbelieving, jealous eyes.
+The march began. Sahwah held herself straighter still, if that were
+possible, and began the descent. It was hard going because it was so
+steep, but she did not let that spoil her upright carriage. She was just
+in the middle of the line, which was being led by Nyoda, and could see
+that the girls in front of her were getting out of step and breaking the
+unity of the line in their efforts to preserve their balance. Not so
+Sahwah. She saw Mr. Larue watching her and she knew he was comparing her
+with the rest. Her fancy broke loose again and she had a premonition of
+her future triumphs. The sight of the camera turned full on her gave her
+a sense of elation beyond words. It almost intoxicated her. Halfway down
+the hill Sahwah, with her head full of day-dreams, stepped on a loose
+stone which turned under her foot, throwing her violently forward. She
+fell against Hinpoha, who was in front of her. Hinpoha, utterly
+unprepared for this impetus from the rear, lost her balance completely
+and crashed into Gladys. Gladys was thrown against Nyoda, and the whole
+four of them went down the hill head over heels for all the world like a
+row of dominoes.
+
+Down at the bottom of the hill stood the hero and heroine of the piece,
+namely, Miss Mortimer and Chambers, the leading man, and as the
+landslide descended it engulfed them and the next moment there was a
+heap of players on the ground in a tangled mass. It took some minutes to
+extricate them, so mixed up were they. Mr. Larue hastened to the spot
+with an exclamation of very excusable impatience. Several dozen feet of
+perfectly good film had been spoiled and valuable time wasted. The
+players got to their feet again unhurt, and the watching crowd shouted
+with laughter. Sahwah was ready to die of chagrin and mortification. She
+had spoiled any chances she had ever had of making a favorable
+impression on Mr. Larue; but this was the least part of it. There in the
+crowd was Marie Lanning laughing herself sick at this fiasco of Sahwah’s
+playing. Good-natured Mr. Chambers was trying to soothe the
+embarrassment of the Winnebagos and make them laugh by declaring he had
+lost his breath when he was knocked over and when he got it back he
+found it wasn’t his, but Sahwah refused to be comforted. She had
+disgraced herself in the public eye. Breaking away from the group she
+ran through the crowd with averted face, in spite of calls to come back,
+and kept on running until she had reached the edge of the park and the
+street car line. Boarding a car, she went back to Onoway House, wishing
+miserably that she had never been born, or had died the winter before in
+the coasting accident. Her ambition to be a motion picture actress died
+a violent death right then and there. So the march of the Camp Fire
+Girls had to be done over again without Sahwah, and was consummated this
+time without accident.
+
+When Sahwah reached Onoway House she wished with all her heart that she
+hadn’t come back there. She had done it mechanically, not knowing where
+else to go. At the time her only thought had been to get away from the
+crowd and from Mr. Larue; now she hated to face the Winnebagos. She was
+glad that no one was at home, for Mrs. Gardiner had taken Betty and Tom
+and Ophelia to see the play acted. As she went around the back of the
+house she came face to face with Mr. Smalley, who was just going up on
+the back porch. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see
+him, so Sahwah thought, but he was friendly enough and asked if the
+Gardiners were at home. When Sahwah said no, he said, “Then possibly
+they wouldn’t mind if you gave me what I wanted. I came over to see if
+they would lend me their wheel hoe, as mine is broken and will have to
+be sent away to be fixed, and I have a big job of hoeing that ought to
+be done to-day.” Sahwah knew that Migwan would not refuse to do a
+neighborly kindness like that as long as they were not using the tool
+themselves, and willingly lent it to him.
+
+She was still in great distress of mind over the ridiculous incident of
+the morning and did not want to see the other girls when they came home.
+So taking a pillow and a book, she wandered down the river path to a
+quiet shady spot among the willows and spent the afternoon in solitude.
+When the other girls returned home Sahwah was nowhere to be found. This
+did not greatly surprise them, however, for they were used to her
+impetuous nature and knew she was hiding somewhere. Hinpoha and Gladys
+were up-stairs removing the dust of the road from their faces and hands
+when they heard a stealthy footstep overhead. “She’s hiding in the
+attic!” said Hinpoha.
+
+“She’ll melt up there,” said Gladys, “it must be like an oven. Let’s
+coax her down and don’t any of us say a word about the play. She must
+feel terrible about it.”
+
+So it was agreed among the girls that no mention of Sahwah’s mishap
+should be made, and Hinpoha went to the foot of the attic stairs and
+called up: “Come on down, Sahwah, we’re all going out on the river.”
+There was no answer. Hinpoha called again: “Please come, Sahwah, we need
+you to steer the raft.” Still no answer. Hinpoha went up softly. She
+thought she could persuade Sahwah to come down if none of the others
+were around. But when she reached the top of the stairs there was no
+sign of Sahwah anywhere. The place was stifling, and Hinpoha gasped for
+breath. Sahwah must be hiding among the old furniture. Hinpoha moved
+things about, raising clouds of dust that nearly choked her, and calling
+to Sahwah. No answer came, and she did not find Sahwah hidden among any
+of the things. Gladys came up to see what was going on, followed by
+Migwan.
+
+“She doesn’t seem to be up here after all,” said Hinpoha, pausing to
+take breath. “It’s funny; I certainly thought I heard someone up here.”
+
+“Don’t you remember the time I thought I heard someone up here in the
+night and you said it was the noise made by rats or mice?” asked Migwan.
+“It was probably that same thing again.”
+
+“It must have been,” said Hinpoha.
+
+“Maybe it was the ghost of that Mrs. Waterhouse, who died before she had
+her attic cleaned, and comes back to move the furniture,” said Gladys.
+In spite of its being daylight an unearthly thrill went through the
+veins of the girls. The whole thing was so mysterious and uncanny.
+
+Migwan was looking around the attic. “Who broke that window?” she asked,
+suddenly. The side window, the one near the Balm of Gilead tree, was
+shattered and lay in pieces on the floor.
+
+“It wasn’t broken the day we brought Miss Mortimer up,” said Gladys. “It
+must have happened since then.”
+
+“There must have been someone up here to-day,” said Migwan. “Do you
+suppose—” here she stopped.
+
+“Suppose what?” asked Hinpoha.
+
+“Do you suppose,” continued Migwan, “that Sahwah was up here and broke
+it accidentally and is afraid to show herself on account of it?”
+
+“Maybe,” said Hinpoha, “but Sahwah’s not the one to try to cover up
+anything like that. She’d offer to pay for the damage and it wouldn’t
+worry her five minutes.”
+
+“It may have been broken the night of the storm,” said Nyoda, who had
+arrived on the scene. “If I remember rightly, we opened it when Miss
+Mortimer was up here, and as it is only held up by a nail and a rope
+hanging down from the ceiling, it could easily have been torn loose in
+such a wind as that and slammed down against the casement and broken. We
+were so excited trying to cover up the plants that we did not hear the
+crash, if indeed, we could have heard it in that thunder at all.”
+
+This seemed such a plausible explanation that the girls accepted it
+without question and dismissed the matter from their minds. Descending
+from the hot attic they went out on the river on the raft. As it drew
+near supper time they feared that Sahwah would stay away and miss her
+supper, and they knew that she would have to show herself sometime, so
+they determined to have it over with so Sahwah could eat her supper in
+peace. On the path along the river they found her handkerchief and knew
+that she was somewhere near the water. They called and called, but she
+did not answer. “I know what will bring her from her hiding-place,” said
+Nyoda. She unfolded her plan and the girls agreed. They poled the raft
+back to the landing-place and got on shore. Then they set Ophelia on the
+raft all alone and sent it down-stream, telling her to scream at the top
+of her voice as if she were frightened. Ophelia obeyed and set up such a
+series of ear-splitting shrieks as she floated down the river that it
+was hard to believe that she was not in mortal terror. The scheme worked
+admirably. Sahwah heard the screams and peered through the bushes to see
+what was happening. She saw Ophelia alone on the raft and no one else in
+sight, and thought, of course, that she was afraid and ran out to
+reassure her. She took hold of the tow line and pulled the raft back to
+the landing-place.
+
+“Whatever made you so scared?” she asked, as Ophelia stepped on terra
+firma.
+
+“Pooh, I wasn’t scared at all,” said Ophelia, grandly. “They told me to
+scream so you’d come out.” So Sahwah knew the trick that had been
+practised on her, but instead of being pleased to think that the girls
+wanted her with them so badly she was more irritated than before. There
+was no further use of hiding; she had to go into the house now and eat
+her supper with the rest. The meal was not such a trial for her as she
+had anticipated, because no one mentioned the subject of moving
+pictures, or acted as if anything had happened at all. After supper
+Nyoda brought out a magazine showing pictures of the Rocky Mountains and
+the girls gave this their strict attention. Nyoda read aloud the
+descriptions that went with the pictures. In one place she read: “The
+barren aspect of the hillside is due to a landslide which swept
+everything before it.”
+
+At this Migwan’s thoughts went back to the scene on the hillside that
+day, when the human landslide was in progress. Now Migwan, in spite of
+her serious appearance, had a sense of humor which at times got the
+upper hand of her altogether. The memory of those figures rolling down
+the hill was too much for her and she dissolved abruptly into hysterical
+laughter. She vainly tried to control it and buried her face in her
+handkerchief, but it was no use. The harder she tried to stop laughing
+the harder she laughed. “Oh,” she gasped, “I never saw anything so funny
+as when you rolled against Miss Mortimer and Mr. Chambers and knocked
+them off their feet.”
+
+After Migwan’s hysterical outburst the rest could not restrain their
+laughter either, and Sahwah became the butt of all the humorous remarks
+that had been accumulating in the minds of the rest. If it had been
+anyone else but Migwan who had started them off, Sahwah would possibly
+have forgiven that one, but since selling her two plots to Mr. Larue
+Migwan had been holding her head pretty high. That Migwan had succeeded
+in her end of the motion picture business when she had failed in hers
+galled Sahwah to death and she fancied that Migwan was trying to “rub it
+in.”
+
+“I hope everything I do will cause you as much pleasure,” she said
+stiffly. “I suppose nothing could make you happier than to see me do
+something ridiculous every day.” Sahwah had slipped off her balance
+wheel altogether.
+
+Migwan sobered up when she heard Sahwah’s injured tone. She never
+dreamed Sahwah had taken the occurrence so much to heart. It was not her
+usual way. “Please don’t be angry, Sahwah,” she said, contritely. “I
+just couldn’t help laughing. You know how light headed I am.”
+
+But Sahwah would have none of her apology. “I’ll leave you folks to have
+as much fun over it as you please,” she said coldly, rising and going
+up-stairs.
+
+Migwan was near to tears and would have gone after her, but Nyoda
+restrained her. “Let her alone,” she advised, “and she’ll come out of it
+all the sooner.”
+
+Sahwah was herself again in the morning as far as the others were
+concerned, but she still treated Migwan somewhat coldly and it was
+evident that she had not forgiven her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.—A CANNING EPISODE.
+
+
+Three times every week Migwan had been making the trip to town with a
+machine-load of vegetables, which was disposed of to an ever growing
+list of customers. Thanks to the early start the garden had been given
+by Mr. Mitchell, and the constant care it received at the hands of
+Migwan and her willing helpers, Migwan always managed to bring out her
+produce a day or so in advance of most of the other growers in the
+neighborhood and so could command a better price at first than she could
+have if she had arrived on the scene at flood tide. After every trip
+there was a neat little sum to put in the old cocoa can which Migwan
+used as a bank until there was enough accumulated to make a real bank
+deposit. The asparagus had passed beyond its vegetable days and had
+grown up in tall feathery shoots that made a pretty sight as they stood
+in a long row against the fence. The new strawberry plants had taken
+root and were growing vigorously; the cucumbers were thriving like fat
+babies. The squashes and melons were running a race, as Sahwah said, to
+see which could hold up the most fruit on their vines; the corn-stalks
+stood straight and tall, holding in their arms their firstborn, silky
+tassel-capped children, like proud young fathers.
+
+But it was the tomato bed in which Migwan’s dearest hopes were bound up.
+The frames sagged with exhaustion at the task of holding up the weight
+of crimsoning globes that hung on the vines. Migwan tended this bed as a
+mother broods over a favorite child, fingering over the leaves for
+loathsome tomato worms, spraying the plants to keep away diseases, and
+cultivating the ground around the roots. All suckers were ruthlessly
+snipped off as soon as they grew, so that the entire strength of the
+plants could go into the ripening of tomatoes. For it was on that tomato
+bed that Migwan’s fortune depended. While the proceeds from the
+remainder of the garden were gratifying, they were not great enough to
+make up the sum which Migwan needed to go to college, as the vegetables
+were not raised in large enough quantities. Migwan carefully estimated
+the amount she would realize from the sale of the tomatoes and found
+that it would not be large enough, and decided she could make more out
+of them by canning them. At Nyoda’s advice the Winnebagos formed
+themselves into a Canning Club, which would give them the right to use
+the 4H label, which stood for Head, Hand, Health and Heart, and was
+recognized by dealers in various places. According to the methods of the
+Canning Club they canned the tomatoes in tin cans, with tops neatly
+soldered on. After an interview with various hotels and restaurants in
+the city Nyoda succeeded in establishing a market for Migwan’s goods,
+and the canning went on in earnest. The whole family were pressed into
+service, and for days they did nothing but peel from morning until
+night.
+
+“I’m getting to be such an expert peeler,” said Hinpoha, “that I
+automatically reach out in my sleep and start to peel Migwan.”
+
+Nyoda made up a gay little song about the peeling. To the tune of
+“Comrades, comrades, ever since we were boys,” she sang, “Peeling,
+peeling, ever since 6 A.M.”
+
+Several places had asked for homemade ketchup and Migwan prepared to
+supply the demand. Never did a prize housekeeper, making ketchup for a
+county fair, take such pains as Migwan did with hers. She took care to
+use only the best spices and the best vinegar; she put in a few peach
+leaves from the tree to give it a finer flavor; she stood beside the big
+iron preserving kettle and stirred the mixture all the while it was
+boiling to be sure that it would not settle and burn. Everyone in the
+house had to taste it to be sure it found favor with a number of
+critical palates. “Wouldn’t you like to put a few bay leaves into it?”
+asked her mother. “There are some in the glass jar in the pantry. They
+are all crumbled and broken up fine, but they are still good.” Migwan
+put a spoonful of the broken leaves into the ketchup; then she put
+another.
+
+“Oh, I never was so tired,” she sighed, when at last it had boiled long
+enough and she shoved it back.
+
+“Let’s all go out on the river,” proposed Nyoda, “and forget our toil
+for awhile.” Sahwah was the last out of the kitchen, having stopped to
+drink a glass of water, and while she was drinking her eye roved over
+the table and caught sight of half a dozen cloves that had spilled out
+of a box. Gathering them up in her hand she dropped them into the
+ketchup. Just then Migwan came back for something and the two went out
+together.
+
+“And now for the bottling,” said Migwan, when the supper dishes were put
+away, and she set several dozen shining glass bottles on the table.
+After she had been dipping up the ketchup for awhile she paused in her
+work to sit down for a few moments and count up her expected profits.
+“Let’s see,” she said, “forty bottles at fifteen cents a bottle is six
+dollars. That isn’t so bad for one day’s work. But I hope I don’t have
+many days of such work,” she added. “My back is about broken with
+stirring.” About thirty of the bottles were filled and sealed when she
+took this little breathing spell.
+
+“Let me have a taste,” said Hinpoha, eyeing the brown mixture longingly.
+
+“Help yourself,” said Migwan. Hinpoha took a spoonful. Her face drew up
+into the most frightful puckers. Running to the sink she took a hasty
+drink of water. “What’s the matter?” said Migwan, viewing her in alarm.
+“Did you choke on it?”
+
+“Taste it!” cried Hinpoha. “It’s as bitter as gall.”
+
+Migwan took a taste of the ketchup and looked fit to drop. “Whatever is
+the matter with it?” she gasped. One after another the girls tasted it
+and voiced their mystification. “It couldn’t have spoiled in that short
+time,” said Migwan.
+
+Then she suddenly remembered having seen Sahwah drop something into the
+kettle as it stood on the back of the stove. Could it be possible that
+Sahwah was seeking revenge for having been made fun of? “Sahwah,” she
+gasped, unbelievingly, “did you put anything into the ketchup that made
+it bitter?”
+
+“I did not,” said Sahwah, the indignant color flaming into her face. She
+had already forgotten the incident of the cloves. She saw Nyoda and the
+other girls look at her in surprise at Migwan’s words. Her temper rose
+to the boiling point. “I know what you’re thinking,” she said, fiercely.
+“You think I did something to the ketchup to get even with Migwan, but I
+didn’t, so there. I don’t know any more about it than you do.”
+
+“I take it all back,” said Migwan, alarmed at the tempest she had set
+astir, and bursting into tears buried her head on her arms on the
+kitchen table. All that work gone for nothing!
+
+Sahwah ran from the room in a fearful passion. Nyoda tried to comfort
+Migwan. “It’s a lucky thing we found it before the stuff was sold,” she
+said, “or your trade would have been ruined.” She and the other girls
+threw the ketchup out and washed the bottles.
+
+“Whatever could have happened to it?” said Gladys, wonderingly.
+
+Migwan lifted her face. “I want to tell you something, Nyoda,” she said.
+“I suppose you wonder why I asked Sahwah if she had put anything in.
+Well, when I went back into the kitchen after my hat when we were going
+out on the river, Sahwah was there, and she was dropping something into
+the kettle.”
+
+“You don’t mean it?” said Nyoda, incredulously. Nyoda understood
+Sahwah’s blind impulses of passion, and she could not help noticing for
+the last few days that Sahwah was still nursing her wrath at Migwan for
+laughing at her, and she wondered if she could have lost control of
+herself for an instant and spoiled the ketchup.
+
+Meanwhile Sahwah, up-stairs, had cooled down almost as rapidly as she
+had flared up, and began to think that she had been a little hasty in
+her outburst. She, therefore, descended the back stairs with the idea of
+making peace with the family and helping to wash the bottles. But
+halfway down the stairs she happened to hear Migwan’s remark and Nyoda’s
+answer, and the long silence which followed it. Immediately her fury
+mounted again to think that they suspected her of doing such an
+underhand trick. “They don’t trust me!” she cried, over and over again
+to herself. “They don’t believe what I said; they think I did it and
+told a lie about it.” All night she tossed and nursed her sense of
+injury and by morning her mind was made up. She would leave this place
+where everyone was against her, and where even Nyoda mistrusted her.
+That was the most unkind cut of all.
+
+When she did not appear at the breakfast table the rest began to wonder.
+Betty reported that Sahwah had not been in bed when she woke up, which
+was late, and she thought she had risen and dressed and gone down-stairs
+without disturbing her. There was no sign of her in the garden or on the
+river. Both the rowboat and the raft were at the landing-place. There
+was an uncomfortable restraint at the breakfast table. Each one was
+thinking of something and did not want the others to see it. That thing
+was that Sahwah had a guilty conscience and was afraid to face the
+girls. Migwan’s eyes filled with tears when she thought how her dear
+friend had injured her. A blow delivered by the hand of a friend is so
+much worse than one from an enemy. The table was always set the night
+before and the plates turned down.
+
+“What’s this sticking out under Sahwah’s plate?” asked Gladys. It was a
+note which she opened and read and then sat down heavily in her chair.
+The rest crowded around to see. This was what they read: “As long as you
+don’t trust me and think I do underhand things you will probably be glad
+to get rid of me altogether. Don’t look for me, for I will never come
+back. You may give my place in the Winnebagos to someone else.” It was
+signed “Sarah Ann Brewster,” and not the familiar “Sahwah.”
+
+“Sahwah’s run away!” gasped Migwan in distress, and the girls all ran up
+to her room. Her clothes were gone from their hooks and her suit-case
+was gone from under the bed. The girls faced each other in
+consternation.
+
+“Do you think she had anything to do with the ketchup, after all?” asked
+Gladys, thoughtfully. “It was so unlike her to do anything of that
+kind.”
+
+“Then why did she run away?” asked Migwan, perplexed.
+
+The morning passed miserably. They missed Sahwah at every turn. Several
+times the girls forgot themselves and sang out “O Sahwah!” Nyoda did not
+doubt for a moment that Sahwah had gone to her own home, but she thought
+it best not to go after her immediately. Sahwah’s hot temper must cool
+before she would come to herself. Nyoda was puzzled at her conduct. If
+she had nothing to be ashamed of why had she run away? That was the
+question which kept coming up in her mind. Nothing went right in the
+house or the garden that day. Everyone was out of sorts. Migwan
+absent-mindedly pulled up a whole row of choice plants instead of weeds;
+Gladys ran the automobile into a tree and bent up the fender; Hinpoha
+slammed the door on her finger nail; Nyoda burnt her hand. Ophelia was
+just dressed for the afternoon in a clean, starched white dress when she
+fell into the river and had to be dressed over again from head to foot.
+The whole household was too cross for words. The departure of Sahwah was
+the first rupture that had ever occurred in the closely linked ranks of
+the Winnebagos and they were all broken up over it.
+
+When Mrs. Gardiner was cooking beef for supper she told Migwan to get
+her some bay leaf to flavor it with. Migwan brought out the glass jar of
+crushed leaves. “That’s not the bay leaf,” said her mother, and went to
+look for it herself. “Here it is,” she said, bringing another glass jar
+down from a higher shelf.
+
+“Then what’s this?” asked Migwan, indicating the first jar.
+
+“I haven’t the slightest idea,” said Mrs. Gardiner. “It was in the
+pantry when we came.”
+
+“But this was what I put into the ketchup,” said Migwan. Hastily
+unscrewing the top she shook out some of the contents and tasted them.
+Her mouth contracted into a fearful pucker. Never in her life had she
+tasted anything so bitter.
+
+“I did it myself,” she said, in a dazed tone. “I spoiled the ketchup
+myself.” At her shout the girls came together in the kitchen to hear the
+story of the mistaken ingredient.
+
+“What can that be?” they all asked. Nobody knew. It was some dried herb
+that had been left by the former mistress of the house, and a powerful
+one. The girls looked at each other blankly.
+
+“And I accused Sahwah of doing it,” said Migwan, remorsefully. “No
+wonder she flared up and left us, I don’t blame her a bit. I wouldn’t
+thank anyone for accusing me wrongfully of anything like that.”
+
+“We’ll have to go after her this very evening,” said Gladys, “and bring
+her back.”
+
+“If she’ll come,” said Hinpoha, knowing Sahwah’s proud spirit.
+
+“Oh, I’m quite willing to grovel in the dust at her feet,” said Migwan.
+
+Gladys drove them all into town with her and they sped to the Brewster
+house. It was all dark and silent. Sahwah was evidently not there. They
+tried the neighbors. They all denied that she had been near the house.
+They finally came to this conclusion themselves, for in the light of the
+street lamp just in front of the house they could see that the porch was
+covered with a month’s accumulation of yellow dust which bore no
+footmarks but their own.
+
+Here was a new problem. They had come expecting to offer profuse
+apologies to Sahwah and carry her back with them to Onoway House
+rejoicing, and it was a shock to find her gone. The thought of letting
+her go on believing that they mistrusted her was intolerable, but how
+were they going to clear matters up? Sahwah had no relatives in town,
+and, of course, they did not know all her friends, so it would be hard
+to find her. That is, if she had ever reached town at all. Something
+might have happened to her on the way—Nyoda and Gladys sought each
+other’s eyes and each thought of what had happened to them on the way to
+Bates Villa.
+
+With heavy hearts they rode back to Onoway House. The days went by
+cheerlessly. A week passed since Sahwah had run away, but no word came
+from her. Nyoda interviewed the conductors on the interurban car line to
+find out if Sahwah had taken the car into the city. No one remembered a
+girl of that description on the day mentioned. Sahwah had only one hat—a
+conspicuous red one—and she would not fail to attract attention.
+Thoroughly alarmed, Nyoda decided on a course of action. She called up
+the various newspapers in town and asked them to print a notice to the
+effect that Sahwah had disappeared. If Sahwah were in town she would see
+it and knowing that they were worried about her would let them know
+where she was. The notice came out in the papers, and a day or two
+passed, but there was no word from Sahwah. Nyoda and Gladys made a
+hurried trip to town to put the police on the track. Just before they
+got to the city limits they had a blowout and were delayed some time
+before they could go on. As they waited in the road another machine came
+along and the driver stopped and offered assistance. Nyoda recognized a
+friend of hers in the machine, a Miss Barnes, teacher in a local
+gymnasium.
+
+“Hello, Miss Kent,” she called, cheerfully, “I haven’t seen you for an
+age. Where have you been keeping yourself?”
+
+“Where have you been keeping yourself?” returned Nyoda.
+
+“I, Oh, I’m working this summer,” replied Miss Barnes. “I’m just in town
+on business. I’m helping to conduct a girls’ summer camp on the lake
+shore. I thought possibly you would bring your Camp Fire group out there
+this summer. One of your girls is out there now.”
+
+“Which one?” asked Nyoda, thinking of Chapa and Nakwisi, whom she had
+heard talking about going.
+
+“One by the name of Brewster,” said Miss Barnes, “a regular mermaid in
+the water. She has the girls out there standing open-mouthed at her
+swimming and diving. Why, what’s the matter?” she asked, as Nyoda gave a
+sigh of relief that seemed to come from her boots.
+
+“Nothing,” replied Nyoda, “only we’ve been scouring the town for that
+very girl.”
+
+“You have?” asked Miss Barnes, with interest. “Would you like to come
+out and visit her?”
+
+“Could I?” asked Nyoda.
+
+“Certainly,” said Miss Barnes, “come right out with me now. I’m going
+back.”
+
+And so Sahwah’s mysterious disappearance was cleared up. When the
+Winnebagos, lined up in the road, saw the automobile approaching, and
+that Sahwah was in it, they welcomed her back into their midst with a
+rousing Winnebago cheer that warmed her to the heart. All the clouds had
+been rolled away by Nyoda’s explanations and this was a triumphant
+homecoming. A regular feast was spread for her, and as she ate she
+related her adventures since leaving the house early that other morning.
+Without forming any plan of where she was going she had walked up the
+road in the opposite direction of the car line and then a farmer had
+come along on a wagon and given her a lift. He had taken her all the way
+to the other car line, three miles below Onoway House. She had come into
+the city by this route. She did not want to go home for fear they would
+come after her, so she went to the Young Women’s Christian Association.
+As she sat in the rest room wondering what she should do next she heard
+two girls talking about registering for camp. This seemed to her a
+timely suggestion, and she followed them to the registration desk and
+registered for two weeks. She went out that same day. When she arrived
+there she did such feats in the water that they asked her if she would
+not stay all summer and help teach the girls to swim. She said she
+would, and so saw a very easy way out of her difficulty. The reason they
+had not heard from her when they put the notice in the papers was
+because they did not get the city papers in camp.
+
+Sahwah surveyed the faces around the table with a beaming countenance.
+After all, she could only be entirely happy with the Winnebagos. Migwan
+and she were once more on the best of terms.
+
+“But tell us,” said Hinpoha, now that this was safe ground to tread
+upon, “what it was you put into the ketchup.”
+
+“Oh,” said Sahwah, who now remembered all about it, “those were a couple
+of cloves that were lying on the table.”
+
+And so the last bit of mystery was cleared up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.—OPHELIA DANCES THE SUN DANCE.
+
+
+Among the other books at Onoway House there was a Manual of the
+Woodcraft Indians which belonged to Sahwah, and which she was very fond
+of quoting and reading to the other girls when they were inclined to
+hang back at some of the expeditions she proposed. One night she read
+aloud the chapter about “dancing the sun dance,” that is, becoming
+sunburned from head to foot without blistering. On a day not long after
+this Ophelia might have been seen standing beside the river clad only in
+a thin, white slip. Stepping from the bank, she immersed herself in the
+water, then stood in the sun, holding out her arms and turning up her
+face to its glare. When the blazing August sunlight began to feel
+uncomfortably warm on her body she plunged into the cooling flood and
+then came up to stand on the bank again. She did this straight through
+for two hours, and then began to investigate the result. Her arms were a
+beautiful brilliant red, and the length of leg that extended out from
+the slip was the same shade. She felt wonderfully pleased, and dipped in
+the water again and again to cool off and then returned to the burning
+process. When the dinner bell rang she returned to the house, eager to
+show her achievement. But she did not feel so enthusiastic now as when
+she first beheld her scarlet appearance. Something was wrong. It seemed
+as if she were on fire from head to foot. She looked at her arms. They
+were no longer such a pretty red; they had swelled up in large, white
+blisters. So had her legs. She could hardly see out of her eyes.
+
+“Ophelia!” gasped the girls, when she came into the house. “What has
+happened? Have you been scalded?”
+
+“I’ve been doing your old Sun Dance,” said Ophelia, painfully.
+
+Never in all their lives had they seen such a case of sunburn. Every
+inch of her body was covered with blisters as big as a hand. The sun had
+burned right through the flimsy garment she wore. There was a pattern
+around her neck where the embroidery had left its trace. She screamed
+every time they tried to touch her. Nyoda worked quickly and deftly and
+the luckless sun dancer was wrapped from head to foot in soft linen
+bandages until she looked like a mummy.
+
+Sahwah sought Nyoda in tribulation. “Was it my fault,” she asked, “for
+reading her that book? She never would have thought of it if I hadn’t
+given her the idea.”
+
+“No,” answered Nyoda, “it wasn’t your fault. It said emphatically in the
+book that the coat of tan should be acquired gradually. You couldn’t
+foresee that she would stand in the sun that way. So don’t worry about
+it any longer.”
+
+“Still, I feel in a measure responsible,” said Sahwah, “and I ought to
+be the one to take care of her. Let me sleep in the room with her
+to-night and get up if she wants anything.” Sahwah’s desire to help was
+so sincere that she insisted upon being allowed to do it, and took upon
+herself all the care of the sunburned Ophelia, which was no small job,
+for the pain from the blisters made her frightfully cross.
+
+Nyoda was surprised to see Sahwah keeping at it with such persistent
+good nature and apparent success, for as a rule she was not a good one
+to take care of the sick; she was in too much of a hurry. She would
+generally spill the water when she was trying to give a drink to her
+patient, or fall over the rug, or drop dishes; and the effect she
+produced was irritating rather than soothing. But in this case she
+seemed to be making a desperate effort to do things correctly so she
+would be allowed to continue, and fetched and carried all the afternoon
+in obedience to Ophelia’s whims. She read her stories to while away the
+painful hours and when supper time came made her a wonderful egg salad
+in the form of a water lily, and cut sandwiches into odd shapes to
+beguile her into eating them. When evening came and Ophelia was restless
+and could not go to sleep she sang to her in her clear, high voice,
+songs of camp and firelight. One by one the Winnebagos drifted in and
+joined their voices to hers in a beautifully blended chorus.
+
+“Gee, that’s what it must be like in heaven,” sighed the child of the
+streets, as she listened to them. The Winnebagos smiled tenderly and
+sang on until she dropped off to sleep.
+
+Sahwah slept with one eye open listening for a call from Ophelia. She
+heard her stirring restlessly in the night and went over and sat beside
+her. “Can’t you sleep?” she asked.
+
+“No,” complained Ophelia. “Say, will you tell me that story again?”
+
+Sahwah began, “Once upon a time there was a little girl and she had a
+fairy godmother——”
+
+“What’s a fairy godmother?” interrupted Ophelia.
+
+“Oh,” said Sahwah, “it’s somebody who looks after you especially and is
+very good to you and grants all your wishes, and always comes when
+you’re in trouble——”
+
+“Who’s my fairy godmother?” demanded Ophelia.
+
+“I don’t know,” said Sahwah.
+
+“I bet I haven’t got any!” said Ophelia, suspiciously. “I didn’t have a
+father and mother like the rest of the kids and I bet I haven’t got any
+fairy godmother either.”
+
+“Oh, yes, you have,” said Sahwah to soothe her, “you have one only you
+haven’t seen her yet. Wait and she’ll appear.” But Ophelia lay with her
+face to the wall and said no more. “Would you like me to bring you a
+drink?” asked Sahwah, a few minutes later. Ophelia replied with a nod
+and Sahwah went down to the kitchen. There was no drinking water in
+sight and Sahwah hesitated about going out to the well at that time of
+the night. Then she remembered that a pail of well water had been taken
+down cellar that evening to keep cool. Taking a light she descended the
+cellar stairs. When she was nearly to the bottom she heard a subdued
+crash, like a basket of something being thrown over, followed by a
+series of small bumping sounds. She stood stock still, afraid to move
+off the step.
+
+Then, summoning her voice, she cried, “Who is down there?” No answer
+came from the darkness below. After that first crash there was not
+another sound. Sahwah was not naturally timid, and her one explanation
+for all night noises in a house was rats. Besides, she had started after
+water for Ophelia, and she meant to get it. She went down stairs and
+looked all around with her light. She soon found the thing which had
+made the noise. It was a basket of potatoes which had fallen over and as
+the potatoes rolled out on the cement floor they had made those odd
+little after noises which had puzzled her. Satisfied that nobody was in
+the house she took her pail of water and went up-stairs, glad that she
+had not roused the house and brought out a laugh against herself.
+
+She gave Ophelia the drink, and being feverish she drank it eagerly and
+murmured gratefully, “I guess you’re my fairy godmother.” As Sahwah
+turned to go to bed Ophelia thrust out a bandaged hand and caught hold
+of her gown. “Stay with me,” she said, and Sahwah sat down again beside
+the bed until Ophelia fell asleep. Sahwah felt pleased and elated at
+being chosen by Ophelia as the one she wanted near her. It was not often
+that a child singled Sahwah out from the group as an object of
+affection; they usually went to Gladys or Hinpoha. So she responded
+quickly to the advances made by Ophelia and thenceforth made a special
+pet of her, taking her part on all occasions.
+
+Soon after Ophelia’s experience with sunburn a rainy spell set in which
+lasted a week. Every day they were greeted by grey skies and a steady
+downpour, fine for the parched garden, but hard on amusements. They
+played card games until they were weary of the sight of a card; they
+played every other game they knew until it palled on them, and on the
+fifth day of rain they surrounded Nyoda and clamored for something new
+to do. Nyoda scratched her head thoughtfully and asked if they would
+like to play Thieves’ Market.
+
+“Play what?” asked Gladys.
+
+“Thieves’ Market,” said Nyoda. “You know in Mexico there is an
+institution known as the Thieves’ Market, where stolen goods are sold to
+the public. We will not discuss the moral aspect of the business, but I
+thought we could make a game out of it. Let’s each get a hold of some
+possession of each one of the others’ without being seen and put a price
+on it. The price will not be a money value, of course, but a stunt. The
+owner of the article will have first chance at the stunt and if she
+fails the thing will go to whoever can buy it. If anyone fails to get a
+possession from each one of the rest to add to the collection she can’t
+play, and if she is seen by the owner while ‘stealing’ it she will have
+to put it back. We’ll hold the Thieves’ Market to-night after supper in
+the parlor and I’ll be storekeeper.”
+
+The Winnebagos, always on the lookout for something novel and
+entertaining, seized on the idea with rapture. The rain was forgotten
+that afternoon as they scurried around the house trying to seize upon
+articles belonging to the others, and at the same time trying valiantly
+to guard their own possessions. It was not hard to get Sahwah’s things,
+for she had a habit of leaving them lying all over the house. Her red
+hat had fallen a victim the first thing; likewise her shoes and tennis
+racket. It was harder to get anything away from Nyoda, for she seemed to
+be Argus eyed; but providentially she was called to the telephone, and
+while she was talking they made their raid.
+
+When opened, the Thieves’ Market presented such a conglomeration of
+articles that at first the girls could only stand and wonder how those
+things had ever been taken away from them without their knowing it, for
+many of them were possessions which were usually hidden from sight while
+the owners fondly believed that their existence was unknown. Migwan gave
+a cry of dismay when she beheld her “Autobiography,” which she was
+carefully keeping a secret from the rest, out in full view on the table.
+“How did you ever find it?” she gasped. “It was folded up in my
+clothes.”
+
+But Migwan’s embarrassment was nothing compared to Nyoda’s when she
+caught sight of a certain photograph. She blushed scarlet while the
+girls teased her unmercifully. It was a picture of Sherry, the serenader
+of the camp the summer before. Until they found the photograph the girls
+did not know that Nyoda was corresponding with him. And the prices on
+the various things were the funniest of all. The girls had come down
+that evening dressed in their middies and bloomers for they had a
+suspicion that there would be some acrobatic stunts taking place, and it
+was well that they did. To redeem her hat Sahwah had to stand on her
+head and to get her bedroom slippers Gladys had to jump through a hoop
+from a chair. Hinpoha had to wrestle with Nyoda for the possession of
+her paint box, and the price of Betty’s shoes was to throw them over her
+shoulder into a basket. At the first throw she knocked a vase off the
+table, but luckily it did not break, and she was warned that another
+accident would result in her going shoeless. Migwan tremblingly
+approached the Autobiography to find out the price. It was “Read one
+chapter aloud.” “I won’t do it,” said Migwan, flatly.
+
+“Next customer,” cried Nyoda, pounding with her hammer. “For the simple
+price of reading aloud one chapter I will sell this complete
+autobiography of a pious life, profusely illustrated by the author.”
+Sahwah hastened up to “buy” the book, but Migwan headed her off in a
+hurry and read the first chapter with as good grace as she could, amid
+the cheers and applause of the other customers. Sahwah made a grimace
+when she had to polish the shoes of everyone present to get her shoe
+brush back.
+
+Thus the various articles in the Thieves’ Market were disposed of amid
+much laughter and merry-making, until there remained but one article, a
+cold chisel. Nyoda went through the usual formula, offering it for sale,
+but no one came to claim it. She redoubled her pleas, but with the same
+result. “For the third and last time I offer this great bargain in a
+cold chisel for the simple price of jumping over three chairs in
+succession,” she said, with a flourish. Nobody appeared to be anxious to
+redeem their property. “Whose is it?” she asked, mystified.
+
+It apparently belonged to no one. “It’s yours, Gladys,” said Sahwah, “I
+stole it from you.”
+
+“Mine?” asked Gladys, in surprise. “I don’t own any chisel. Where did
+you get it from?”
+
+“Out of the automobile,” answered Sahwah.
+
+“But it doesn’t belong there,” said Gladys. “There’s no chisel among the
+tools. You’re joking, you found it somewhere else.”
+
+“No, really,” said Sahwah, “I found it in the car this afternoon.”
+
+“Mother,” called Migwan, “were there any tools left in the barn by Mr.
+Mitchell?”
+
+“Nothing but the garden tools,” answered her mother. Tom also denied any
+knowledge of the chisel.
+
+“Girls,” said Nyoda, seriously, “there is something going on here that I
+do not understand. First Migwan thought she heard footsteps in the
+attic; then a ghost appeared to me in the tepee; one night we saw a man
+running out of the barn, and later on that night Migwan claims to have
+run into a man in the garden. Soon afterward Hinpoha was sure she heard
+footsteps in the attic, and when we went up we found the window broken.
+Just a few nights ago a basket of potatoes was mysteriously knocked over
+in the cellar in the middle of the night, and now we find a chisel in
+the automobile which does not belong to us. It looks for all the world
+as if somebody were trying to break into this house, in fact, has broken
+in on a number of occasions.”
+
+Migwan shrieked and covered up her ears. “A mystery!” said Sahwah,
+theatrically. “How thrilling!” The interest in the Thieves’ Market died
+out before this new and alarming idea.
+
+“It may be only a remarkable series of co-incidences,” said Nyoda,
+seeing the fright of the girls, “but it certainly looks suspicious. That
+window may possibly have been broken by the wind during the storm, and
+the footsteps may have been rats or Mrs. Waterhouse’s ghost, and the
+ghost in the tepee may have been a practical joker, but baskets of
+potatoes do not fall over of their own accord in the middle of the night
+and cold chisels don’t grow in automobiles. There’s something wrong and
+we ought to find out what it is.”
+
+“Oh, I’ll never go up-stairs alone again,” shuddered Migwan. “Sahwah,
+how did you ever dare go down cellar in the dark after you heard that
+noise?” And she shivered violently at the very thought.
+
+“Tom, can you handle a gun?” asked Nyoda.
+
+“Yes,” answered Tom.
+
+“I’m going to buy a little automatic pistol to-morrow,” said Nyoda, “and
+teach everyone of you girls how to shoot it.”
+
+“I wonder if we hadn’t better try to get Calvin Smalley to sleep in the
+house,” said Migwan.
+
+“I can take care of you,” said Tom, proudly. Nothing else was talked of
+for the remainder of the evening and when bed time came there was a
+general reluctance to become separated from the rest of the household.
+But, although they listened for footsteps in the attic they heard
+nothing, and the night passed away peacefully.
+
+The next night the ghost became active again. Whether it was the same
+one or a different one they did not find out, however, for they did not
+see it this time, only heard it. Just about bed time it was, a strange,
+weird moaning sound that filled the house and echoed through the big
+halls. Whether it proceeded from the basement or the attic they were
+unable to make out; it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
+Migwan clung close to her mother and trembled. The sound rang out again,
+more weird than before. It was bloodcurdling. Nyoda opened the window
+and fired several shots into the air. The moaning sound stopped abruptly
+and was heard no more that night, but sleep was out of the question. The
+girls were too excited and fearful. The next day Mrs. Gardiner advised
+everybody to hide their valuables away. The peaceful life at Onoway
+House was broken up. The household lived in momentary expectation of
+something happening. “And this is the quiet of the country,” sighed
+Migwan, “where I was to grow fat and strong. I’m worn to a frazzle
+worrying about this mystery.”
+
+“So’m I,” said Gladys.
+
+“And I’m getting thin,” said Hinpoha, which brought out a general laugh.
+
+“Not so you could notice it,” said Sahwah. Whereupon Hinpoha tried to
+smother her with a pillow and the two rolled over on the bed,
+struggling.
+
+As if worrying about a burglar were not enough, Sahwah and Gladys had
+another exciting experience one day that week. If we were to stretch a
+point and trace things back to their beginnings it was the fault of the
+Winnebagos themselves, for if they hadn’t gone horseback riding that
+day—— Well, Farmer Landsdowne came over in the morning and said he had a
+pair of horses which were not working and if they wanted to go horseback
+riding now was their chance. The girls were delighted with the idea and
+flew to don bloomers. None of them had ever ridden before and excitement
+ran high. Naturally there were no saddles, for Farmer Landsdowne’s
+horses were not ridden as a general rule, and the girls had to ride
+bareback.
+
+“It feels like trying to straddle a table,” said Migwan, marveling at
+the width of the horse she was on. “My legs aren’t half long enough.”
+She clung desperately to his mane as he began to trot and she began to
+slide all over him. “He’s so slippery I can’t stick on,” she gasped. The
+horse stopped abruptly as she jerked on the reins and she slid off as if
+he had been greased, and landed in the soft grass beside the road.
+
+“Here, let me try,” said Sahwah, impatient for her turn. “He isn’t
+either slippery,” she said, when she got on, “he’s bony, horribly bony.
+He’s just like knives.” She jolted up and down a few times on his hip
+bones and an idea jolted into her head. Getting off she ran into the
+house and came out again with a sofa pillow, which she proceeded to tie
+on his back. Then she rode in comparative comfort, amid the laughter of
+the girls.
+
+Calvin Smalley, who happened to be working out in front and saw her ride
+past, doubled up with laughter over his vegetable bed. “What next?” he
+chuckled. “What next?” He was still thinking about this and laughing
+over it when he went through the empty field which Sahwah had crossed
+the time she had discovered the house among the trees, and where Abner
+Smalley now pastured his bull. So absorbed was he in the memory of that
+ridiculous pillow tied on the horse that he was not careful in putting
+up the bars behind him when he left the field, and later in the
+afternoon the bull wandered over in that direction and came through into
+the next field. He found the river road and followed it and began to
+graze in one of the unploughed fields belonging to Onoway House.
+
+Sahwah, wearing her big, red hat, was bending low over the ground,
+digging up some ferns which grew there, when all of a sudden she heard a
+loud snort and looked up to see the bull charging down upon her. She
+looked wildly around for a place of safety. Nothing was nearer than the
+far-off hedge that surrounded the cultivated garden patch. Not a tree,
+not a fence, in sight. Quick as light she bounded off toward the hedge,
+although she knew it would be impossible for her to reach it before the
+bull would be upon her.
+
+Gladys, coming along the road in the automobile, heard a shriek and
+looked up to see Sahwah tearing across the open field with the bull hard
+after her. Without a moment’s hesitation Gladys turned the car into the
+field and started after the bull at full speed. She let the car out
+every notch and it whizzed dizzily over the hard turf. She sounded the
+horn again and again with the hope of attracting the attention of the
+bull, but he did not pause. Like lightning she bore down upon him,
+passed to one side and slowed down for a second beside Sahwah, who
+jumped on the running-board and was borne away to safety.
+
+“This hum-drum, uneventful life,” said Sahwah, as she sat on the porch
+half an hour afterward and tried to catch her breath, while the rest
+fanned her with palm leaf fans, “is getting a little too much for me!”
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.—A BIRTHDAY PARTY
+
+
+After Nyoda had fired the shots out of the window, nothing was heard or
+seen of the ghost and the footsteps in the attic ceased. “It’s just as I
+thought,” said Nyoda, “someone has been trying to frighten us with a
+possible view of robbing the house at some time, thinking that a
+houseful of women would be terror-stricken at the ghostly noises, but
+when he found we had a gun and could shoot he thought better of the
+plan.” Gradually the girls lost their fright, and the odd corners of
+Onoway House regained their old charm. They were far too busy with the
+canning to think of much else, for the tomatoes were ripening in such
+large quantities that it was all they could do to dispose of them. The
+4H brand found favor and the market gradually increased, and every week
+Migwan had a goodly sum to deposit in the bank after the cost of the tin
+cans had been deducted.
+
+“I have to laugh when I think of that honor in the book,” said Migwan,
+“can at least three cans of fruit,” and she pointed to the cans stacked
+on the back porch ready to be packed into the automobile and taken to
+town. “Why, hello, Calvin,” she said, as Calvin Smalley appeared at the
+back door. “Come in.” Calvin came in and sat down. “What’s the matter?”
+asked Migwan, for his face had a frightened and distressed look.
+
+“Uncle Abner has turned me out!” said Calvin.
+
+“Turned you out!” echoed the girls. “Why?”
+
+“He showed me a will last night,” said Calvin, “a later one than that
+which was found when my grandfather died, which left the farm to him
+instead of to my father. He just found it last night when he was
+rummaging among grandfather’s old papers. According to that I have been
+living on his charity all these years instead of on my own property as I
+supposed and now he says he can’t afford to keep me any longer. He
+wanted me to sign a paper saying that I would work for him without pay
+until I was thirty years old to make up for what I have had all these
+years, and when I wouldn’t do it he told me to get out.”
+
+“How can any man be so mean and stingy!” said Migwan, indignantly.
+
+“And what do you intend to do now?” asked Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+“I don’t know,” said Calvin, looking utterly downcast and discouraged.
+“I had expected to go through school and then to agricultural college
+and be a scientific farmer, but that’s out of the question now. I
+haven’t a cent in the world. I could hire out to some of the farmers
+around here, I suppose, but you know what that means—they wouldn’t pay
+me much because I’m a boy, but they would get a man’s work out of me and
+it’s precious little time I’d have for school. I’ve always saved Uncle
+Abner the cost of one hired man in return for what he gave me, so I
+don’t feel under any obligations to him. I think I’ll give up farming
+for a while and go to the city and work. The trouble is I have no
+friends there and it might be hard for me to get into a good place.” His
+honest eyes were clouded over with perplexity and trouble.
+
+“My father could probably get you a job in the city,” said Gladys, “if
+you can wait until he gets back. He’s out west now.”
+
+“I tell you what to do,” said kind-hearted Mrs. Gardiner to Calvin, “you
+stay here with us until Mr. Evans comes back. You can help the girls in
+the garden, and we were wishing not long ago that we had another man in
+the house.”
+
+“You are very kind,” said Calvin, gratefully, “but I don’t want to put
+you to any trouble.”
+
+“No trouble at all,” Mrs. Gardiner assured him, “you can sleep with
+Tom.” The girls all expressed pleasure at the prospect of having Calvin
+stay at Onoway House and under the spell of their kindly hospitality his
+drooping spirits revived. He shook the dust of his uncle’s house from
+his feet, feeling no longer an outcast, since he had suddenly found such
+kind friends on the other side of the hedge.
+
+Calvin lived in a perpetual state of wonder at the girls at Onoway
+House. They made a frolic out of everything they did and were
+continually thinking up new and amazing games to play. Calvin had never
+done anything at home all his life but work, and work was a serious
+business to him. He never knew before that work was fun. The long, weary
+hours of peeling were enlivened with songs made up on the spur of the
+moment. Sahwah would look up from the pan over which she was bending,
+and sing to the tune of “The Pope”:
+
+  “Our Migwan leads a jolly life, jolly life,
+  She peels tomatoes with her knife, with her knife,
+  And puts the pieces in the can,
+  And leaves the peelings in the pan, (Oh, tra la la).”
+
+And then they would all start to sing at once,
+
+  “The tomatoes went in one by one,
+  (There’s one more bushel to peel),
+  Hinpoha she did cut her thumb,
+  (There’s one more bushel to peel).”
+
+  “The tomatoes went in two by two,
+  And Gladys and Sahwah fell into the stew.
+  The tomatoes went in three by three,
+  And Migwan got drowned a-trying to see.”
+
+etc., etc., thus they made merry over the work until it was done.
+
+“Do you know,” said Migwan, looking up from her peeling, “that it’s
+Gladys’s birthday next Friday? We ought to have a celebration.”
+
+“How about a picnic?” asked Nyoda. “We haven’t had a real one yet. Have
+the rest of the Winnebagos come out from town and all of us sleep in the
+tepee as we had planned on the Fourth of July. Then we’ll get a horse
+and wagon and drive along the roads until we come to a place beside the
+river where we want to stop and cook our dinner and just spend the day
+like gypsies.” The girls entered into the plan with enthusiasm, both for
+the sake of celebrating Gladys’s birthday and cheering up Calvin, who
+had been rather quiet and pensive of late. It was a great disappointment
+to him to have to give up his plans for going to college, and his
+uncle’s unfriendly treatment of him had cut him to the heart.
+
+Medmangi and Chapa and Nakwisi arrived the day before the picnic and the
+house echoed with the sound of voices and laughter, as the Winnebagos
+bubbled over with joy at being all together. The morning of the picnic
+was as fine as they could wish, and it was not long before they were
+bumping over the road in one of Farmer Landsdowne’s wagons, behind the
+very two horses which the girls had ridden the week before. It was a
+wagon full. Sahwah sat up in front and drove like a veritable daughter
+of Jehu, with Farmer Landsdowne up beside her to come to the rescue in
+case the horses should run away, which was not at all likely, as it took
+constant persuasion to keep them going even at an easy jog trot. Mrs.
+Landsdowne, who, with her husband, had been invited to the picnic, sat
+beside Mrs. Gardiner, in the back of the wagon, while Calvin Smalley
+stayed next to Migwan, as he usually did. She was so quiet and gentle
+and kind that he felt more at ease with her than with the rest of the
+Winnebagos, who were such jokers. Ophelia, who was beginning to be
+inseparable from Sahwah, squeezed herself in between her and Mr.
+Landsdowne, and refused to move. Sahwah, of course, took her part and
+let her stay, although she was a bit crowded for space. Hinpoha and
+Gladys sat at the back of the wagon dangling their feet over the end,
+where they could watch the yellow road unwinding like a ribbon beneath
+them, while Nyoda sat between Betty and Tom to keep the peace.
+
+“Where are we going?” asked Mrs. Gardiner, as they swung along the road.
+
+“Oh,” replied Sahwah, “somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere. It’s
+lots more romantic to start out without any idea where you’re going and
+stop wherever it suits you than to start out for a certain place and
+think you have to go there even if you pass nicer places on the road.
+Maybe, like Mrs. Wiggs, we’ll end up at a first-class fire.”
+
+“We undoubtedly will,” said Nyoda, “if we expect to cook any dinner. Do
+my eyes deceive me?” she continued, “or is this a fishing-rod under the
+straw? It is, it is,” she cried, drawing it out. “Now I know what has
+been the matter with me for the past few months, this feeling of sadness
+and longing that was not akin to rheumatism. I have been pining,
+languishing, wasting away with a desire to go fishing. My early life ran
+quiet beside a babbling brook, and there I sat and fished trout and
+fried them over an outdoor fire. This spirit will never know repose
+until it has gone fishing once more.”
+
+“Take the rod and welcome, it’s mine,” said Calvin, glad that something
+of his should give pleasure to one of his cherished friends.
+
+In a shady grove of sycamores beside the river they dismounted from the
+wagon and scattered in search of firewood, for the fire must be started
+the first thing, as there were potatoes to roast. Nyoda took the
+fishing-rod and started for the river. “We’ll never get anything to eat
+if we wait until you catch enough fish for dinner,” said Sahwah.
+
+“Who said I was going to catch enough for dinner?” said Nyoda. “I
+wouldn’t be cruel enough to keep you waiting all that time. But I do
+want to catch just one for old times’ sake.” She strolled down to the
+water’s edge and after a few minutes Mr. Landsdowne joined her. He liked
+Nyoda and enjoyed a talk with her.
+
+“Are you going to play all alone at the picnic?” he asked, as he dropped
+down beside her.
+
+“Alone, but with _unbaited_ zeal,” she quoted, digging around in the
+ground with her stick. “Come and help me find a worm.”
+
+“I’m afraid the Early Bird got them all,” she said plaintively, after a
+few moment’s fruitless search. By dint of much digging they finally
+unearthed one and baited the hook. Nyoda cast her line and then settled
+down to a spell of silent waiting. “I don’t believe there’s a fish in
+this old river,” she said impatiently, after fifteen minutes of angling
+which brought no results. “Not here, anyway. Let’s go down beyond the
+bend where the river widens out into that broad pool. The water is
+deeper and quieter there.” They moved on to the new location and Nyoda
+tried her luck again. This time success crowned her efforts and she
+landed a small fish almost immediately. “What did I tell you?” she
+exclaimed, triumphantly. “There’s luck in changing places. Now for
+another one.” In a few moments she felt a tug at the line. “It must be a
+whale,” she cried, enthusiastically, “it pulls so hard.”
+
+“It may be caught on a snag,” said Farmer Landsdowne. “Here, let me get
+it loose for you, I’m afraid you’ll break that rod,” he said, as the
+pole bent ominously in her hands.
+
+“Spare the rod and spoil the fish,” said Nyoda.
+
+“What are you doing on my property?” said a harsh voice behind them,
+“don’t you see that sign?”
+
+Nyoda and Farmer Landsdowne sprang to their feet in surprise and faced
+an irate farmer in blue shirt sleeves. Sure enough, on a tree not very
+far from them there was a sign reading,
+
+  NO FISHING IN THIS POND.
+
+“We didn’t see the sign,” said Nyoda, stammering in her embarrassment,
+and crimson to the roots of her hair.
+
+“We really didn’t,” confirmed Farmer Landsdowne.
+
+“Well, ye see it now, don’t ye?” pursued the proprietor of the
+fish-pond. “Kindly move along.”
+
+“We have one fish,” said Nyoda, feeling unutterably foolish, “but we’ll
+pay you for that. I must have one to take back to the picnic or I don’t
+dare show my face.”
+
+“Ye say ye caught a fish?” shouted the farmer, excitedly. “Holy
+mackerel! That was the only one in the pond—I put it in there this
+morning—and I’ve rented the fishing of it to a young feller from
+Cleveland at twenty-five cents an hour.”
+
+“But it didn’t take me an hour to catch him,” said Nyoda. “It only took
+five minutes. That’ll be about two cents.” But the farmer held out for
+his twenty-five cents and Nyoda paid it, laughing to herself at the way
+the “feller from Cleveland” had been cheated out of his sport.
+
+“Don’t ever tell the girls about this,” pleaded Nyoda, as they moved
+shamefacedly away. “I’m supposed to be a pattern of conduct, and I’m
+always scolding the girls because they don’t use their eyes enough.
+They’ll never get over laughing at me if they find it out.” Farmer
+Landsdowne promised solemnly that he would not divulge the secret.
+
+“Did you catch anything?” called Sahwah, as Nyoda returned to the group
+under the trees.
+
+“We certainly did,” replied Nyoda, with a sidelong glance at Farmer
+Landsdowne.
+
+“Listen to this part of father’s last letter,” said Gladys, as they sat
+around on the grass eating their dinner. “Juneau, Alaska.
+
+“We recently saw a group of Camp Fire girls holding a Ceremonial Meeting
+on a mountain near Juneau. It fairly made us homesick; it reminded us so
+much of the group we used to see in our house. We went up and spoke to
+them and they send you this three-petaled flower as a greeting.”
+
+“To think we have friends all over the country, just because we know the
+meaning of the word Wohelo!” said Migwan in an awed tone, as the
+Winnebagos crowded around Gladys to see the flower which had come from
+far off Alaska, a silent All Hail from kindred spirits.
+
+Just at this point Ophelia, who was coming a long way with the
+coffee-pot in her hand, tripped over a root and sprawled on her face on
+the ground, showering everybody near her with coffee. “We have your
+title now,” said Nyoda, “it’s Ophelia-Face-in-the-Mud. You’re always
+falling that way.”
+
+“And I know what your name is,” replied Ophelia.
+
+“What is it?” asked Nyoda, guilelessly.
+
+“It’s Nyoda-Chased-by-a-Farmer,” said Ophelia.
+
+Nyoda started and looked guilty. “How did you know that?” she asked,
+giving herself away completely.
+
+“Followed you,” said Ophelia. “I saw you fishin’ where the sign said to
+keep out and the man in the blue shirt sleeves chased you out.”
+
+“Tell us about it,” demanded all the girls, and Nyoda had to tell the
+whole story that she wanted to keep a secret.
+
+  “Fishy, fishy in the brook,
+  But the fishers ‘got the hook,’”
+
+chanted Sahwah, teasingly. Nyoda and Farmer Landsdowne looked sheepish
+at the jokes that were thrown at them thick and fast, but they stood it
+good-naturedly.
+
+“A truce!” cried Gladys, coming to the rescue of Nyoda. “Let’s play
+charades.”
+
+“Good!” said Migwan. “You be leader of one side and let Nyoda take the
+other. Whichever side gives up first will have to get supper for the
+rest.”
+
+Gladys chose Sahwah, Mrs. Gardiner, Betty, Ophelia, Tom and Calvin.
+Nyoda chose Mr. and Mrs. Landsdowne, Hinpoha, Migwan, Chapa, Medmangi
+and Nakwisi. Gladys’s side went out first and came in without her.
+
+“Word of three syllables, first syllable,” said Sahwah, who acted as
+spokesman. The whole company sat down in a row, striking the most
+doleful attitude and groaning as if in pain, and shedding tears into
+their handkerchiefs.
+
+“Most woeful looking crowd I ever saw,” remarked Mr. Landsdowne.
+
+“Woe!” shouted Nyoda, triumphantly, and the guess was correct.
+
+The weepers continued their weeping in the second syllable, and then
+Gladys appeared, felt of all their pulses and gave each a dose out of a
+bottle, whereupon they all straightened up, lost their symptoms of
+distress, and capered for joy.
+
+“Cure,” said Migwan. The players shook their heads.
+
+“Heal,” shouted Hinpoha, and Gladys acknowledged it.
+
+In the last syllable Gladys went around and demanded payment for her
+services, but in each case was met with a promise to pay at some future
+time.
+
+“Owe,” said Chapa, which was pronounced right. “O heal woe, what’s
+that?” she asked.
+
+“You’re twisted,” said Nyoda, “it’s ‘Wohelo.’ That really was too easy.
+Let’s not divide them into syllables after this,” she suggested, “it’s
+no contest of wits that way. Let’s act out the word all at once.” The
+alteration was accepted with enthusiasm.
+
+Hinpoha came out alone for her side. “Word of two syllables,” she said.
+Taking a blanket she spread it over a bushy weed and tucked the corners
+under until it looked not unlike a large stone. Then she retired from
+the scene. Soon Nyoda came along and paused in front of the blanket,
+which looked like an inviting seat.
+
+“What a lovely rock to rest on!” she exclaimed, and seated herself upon
+it. Of course, it flattened down under her weight and she was borne down
+to the ground.
+
+A moment of silence followed this performance as the guessers racked
+their brains for the meaning. “Is it ‘Landsdowne?’” asked Gladys.
+
+“It might be, but it isn’t,” said Nyoda, laughing.
+
+“I know,” said Sahwah, starting up, “it’s ‘shamrock.’”
+
+“You are sharper than I thought,” said Nyoda, rising from her seat.
+“Nobody down yet. Now, fire your broadside at us. No word under three
+syllables. Anything less would be unworthy of our giant intellects.”
+
+“Third round!” cried Calvin.
+
+Sahwah walked down to the water’s edge, holding in her hand a large key.
+Leaning over, she moved the key as if it were walking in the water. This
+proved a puzzler, and cries of ‘Milwaukee,’ ‘Nebrasky,’ and ‘turnkey’
+were all met with a triumphant shake of the head.
+
+“It looks as if we would have to give up,” said Hinpoha.
+
+Just then Nyoda sprang up with a shout. “Why didn’t I think of it
+before?” she cried. “It’s ‘Keewaydin,’ key-wade-in. What else could you
+expect from Sahwah?”
+
+“That’s it,” said Sahwah. “You must be a mind reader.”
+
+“Here’s where we finish you off,” said Nyoda, as her side came out
+again. “We’ve taken a word of four syllables this time.” The whole team
+advanced in single file, Indian fashion, keeping closely in step. Round
+and round they marched, back and forth, never slackening their speed,
+until one by one they tumbled to the ground from sheer exhaustion and
+stiffened out lifelessly. The guessers looked at each other, puzzled.
+
+“Do it again,” said Sahwah. The strenuous march was repeated, and the
+marchers succumbed as before. Still no light came to the onlookers.
+Sahwah whispered something to Gladys.
+
+“Would you just as soon do it again?” asked Gladys. Again the file wound
+round the trees and tumbled to the turf. Nyoda made a triumphant grimace
+as no guess was forthcoming. Sahwah’s eyes began to sparkle.
+
+“Would you please do it once more?” she pleaded.
+
+“Have mercy on the performers,” groaned Nyoda, but they went through it
+again, and this time they were too spent to rise from the ground when
+the acting was done. “Do you give up?” called Nyoda.
+
+“No,” answered Gladys.
+
+“You have five seconds to produce the answer, then,” said Nyoda.
+
+“It’s diapason,” said Gladys, “die-a-pacin.”
+
+“Really!” said Nyoda, falling back in astonishment.
+
+“We knew it all the while!” cried Sahwah and Gladys. “We just kept you
+doing it over and over again because we liked to see you work.”
+
+The laugh was on Nyoda and her team all the way around. “We do this to
+each other!” called Sahwah, using the Indian form of taunt when one has
+played a successful trick on another.
+
+“Tie the villains to a tree, and let them perish of mosquito bites,”
+Nyoda commanded in an awful tone. “I’ll get even with you for that, Miss
+Sahwah,” she said, darkly, as the other side trooped off to cook up a
+new poser.
+
+“Hadn’t you better stop playing now?” inquired Mrs. Gardiner. “You know
+we wanted to get home before dark.”
+
+“Oh, let’s do one more,” pleaded Migwan. If they had only stopped
+playing when Mrs. Gardiner suggested it and gone home early they might
+have been in time to prevent the thing which occurred, but they were
+bent on seeing one side or the other go down, and Gladys’s side prepared
+another charade.
+
+“We’ve played up to your own game,” said Gladys, who was introducing the
+new charade, “and have increased the number to five syllables.” The
+actors were Mrs. Gardiner, Betty and Tom Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner was
+scolding the children and emphasized her remarks by a sharp pinch on
+Tom’s arm. Betty, seeing the maternal hand also extended in her
+direction, promptly climbed a tree and sat in safety, while her mother
+shook her finger at her and cried warningly, “I’ll attend to you after
+awhile.”
+
+“What on earth?” said Nyoda, scratching her head in perplexity. But
+scratch as she might, no answer came, and the rest of her team had
+nothing to offer either. After holding out for fully fifteen minutes
+they were compelled to give it up.
+
+“It’s ‘manipulator,’” cried the winning side, in chorus.
+“‘Ma-nip-you-later!’” And they stood around to condole while Nyoda’s
+side prepared supper. Then it was that Calvin, basely deserting the team
+he had helped so far, went over to the side of the enemy and helped
+Migwan fetch wood for the fire. Both sides stopped often to jeer at each
+other, so it took them twice as long to get the meal ready as it would
+have ordinarily. They loitered and sang along the way home, letting the
+horses take their time, and it was quite late when they reached Onoway
+House.
+
+The first thing that greeted them was the sight of Mr. Bob, the cocker
+spaniel, rolling on the front lawn in great distress, and giving every
+sign of being poisoned. They hastily administered an antidote and, after
+a time of suspense were confident that the effect of the poison had been
+counteracted. So far they had only been in the kitchen, but when the
+excitement about the dog was over they moved toward the sitting-room to
+rest awhile and drink lemonade before going to bed. When the light was
+lit they all stopped in astonishment. In the sitting-room there was an
+old-fashioned combination desk and bookcase, the bookcase part set on
+top of the desk and reaching nearly to the ceiling. It belonged to the
+house, and the desk was closed and locked. Now, however, it stood open,
+and all the drawers were pulled out, while the top of the desk and the
+floor before it were strewn with papers in great disorder.
+
+“Burglars!” cried Migwan. “The house has been robbed!” They immediately
+looked through the house to see what had been taken. Up-stairs in the
+room occupied by the two boys there was a desk similar to the one in the
+sitting-room. This had also been broken open and the drawers searched
+through, although the disorder of papers was not so great as it was
+down-stairs. Half afraid of what they should find, the whole family went
+from room to room, but nothing else seemed to have been disturbed, and
+as far as they could see nothing had been stolen. The silver in the
+sideboard drawer was untouched, but then, this was only plate, and worn
+at that. But in full view on the dining-room table lay Sahwah’s
+Firemaker Bracelet, which she had laid there a few moments before
+starting for the picnic, and then, with her customary forgetfulness,
+neglected to pick up again. This was solid silver and worth stealing.
+Further than that, she had also forgotten to wear her watch, and it was
+still safe in her top bureau drawer. It was a riddle, and as they talked
+it over they could only come to one conclusion, and that was that the
+burglar had thought there were large sums of money hidden in the two
+desks and had passed over the small articles in the hope of getting a
+bigger harvest, or else was leaving those other things to the last. He
+ransacked the up-stairs desk, having broken the lock, and then went
+through the one down-stairs. While looking through the papers in the
+sitting-room he had evidently been frightened away by something, for
+there was one drawer that had not been disturbed. This also accounted
+for the fact that nothing else had been taken. What had frightened him
+was probably the barking of the dog, who, although he was on the
+outside, had become aware of the presence of someone in the house. He
+had fed the dog poison, probably poisoned meat, for they had found a
+small piece of meat on the porch. Evidently the poison had begun to act
+before Mr. Bob had it all eaten, and he left that piece. But before the
+dog was dead the burglar had heard the family returning along the road,
+singing, and made his escape. The whole thing must have happened not
+long before, for the dog had not had the poison long enough to take
+deadly effect. It was then that they regretted having lingered so long
+over the game of charades and delayed their homecoming.
+
+“If we had only been half an hour sooner, we might have found out who it
+was,” said Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+“Thank Heaven we weren’t half an hour later,” said Hinpoha, “or Mr. Bob
+would have been dead.” She would have felt worse about losing Mr. Bob
+than about having all her possessions stolen.
+
+“How about sleeping in the tepee to-night?” asked Gladys. There was not
+enough room in the house for so many people and the eight Winnebagos had
+made their beds in the tepee while the three girls from town were there,
+both to solve the question of sleeping quarters and for the fun of the
+thing. It was just like camping out to sleep on the ground, all the
+eight girls in a circle around the little watch fire in the middle of
+the tepee.
+
+“Oh, I’ll be afraid to,” said Hinpoha.
+
+“I don’t know but what it would be just as safe as sleeping in the
+house,” said Nyoda. “I doubt if anyone would think of people sleeping
+out in that thing. It’s a rather novel idea in this neighborhood. And at
+any rate there’s nothing out there to steal and consequently nothing to
+tempt a thief.”
+
+So, their fears having vanished, the Winnebagos went to bed in the tepee
+just as they had planned. Nyoda took the precaution of putting her
+pistol under her pillow. The girls really enjoyed the air of suppressed
+excitement. When did youth and high spirits ever fail to respond to the
+thrill of danger, either real or fancied? This attempted burglary was
+the most exciting thing that had ever happened to most of the girls and
+they were getting as much thrill out of it as possible. It amused them
+to see Tom and Calvin parading the front lawn armed with bird guns,
+swelled up with importance at having to guard a houseful of women.
+Instead of hoping that the burglar had been scared away for good they
+wished fervently that he would return and give them a chance to shoot.
+They would have stayed there all night if Mrs. Gardiner had not ordered
+them to bed.
+
+One by one the girls in the tepee dropped off to slumber, worn out with
+the varied events of the day. But Nyoda could not sleep. She had a
+throbbing headache from the glare of the sun on the water while she sat
+fishing. The little fire, in the center of the bare circle of earth
+which prevented it from spreading, died down and subsided to glowing
+embers, then one by one these turned black and left the tepee in
+darkness. There was not a spark left. Nyoda was sure of this, for she
+sat up several times in an effort to make herself comfortable, and when
+she took a drink from the pail of well water which stood nearby she
+emptied the dipper over the spot where the fire had been, to make doubly
+sure. Still sleep would not come. She stared out of the doorway of the
+tepee into the darkness. A group of beech trees with their light grey
+bark loomed up ghostlike before the door. She began to think of the
+ghost which had appeared to her that other night in that very doorway,
+and tried to connect the incidents which had taken place afterwards with
+that. One thing was sure—someone was getting into Onoway House every few
+days. Why nothing was taken was a mystery to her. It seemed to her now
+that it was not so much an attempt at burglary as an effort to annoy and
+frighten the family. Possibly it was someone who had a grudge against
+them—she could not imagine why—and was indulging in these pranks to
+satisfy a spite. She thought she saw a glimmer of light on the subject.
+
+Farmer Landsdowne had once told her that when it became known that Mr.
+Mitchell was going to give up the care of the place, several farmers of
+the Centerville Road district had applied for the position of caretaker,
+but wishing to assist Migwan, the Bartletts had refused their offers and
+given the place over to the Winnebagos. That must be it. Someone wanted
+that job badly and was wreaking his disappointment on the people who had
+kept him from getting it. The more she thought of it the more probable
+it seemed. Possibly more than one were involved in the plot.
+
+Then another thought struck her. Could it be the crazy man who lived
+alone in the little house among the trees? Calvin had stated that he
+never left the house, but who could account for the inspirations of an
+unbalanced mind? That nothing had been taken from the house seemed to
+indicate a want of fixed purpose in the mind of the housebreaker—to go
+to all that trouble for nothing. This idea also seemed worth
+considering.
+
+As she lay turning these things over in her mind she thought she heard a
+stealthy footstep in the grass outside of the tepee. Thinking that the
+ghost was coming to pay another visit, she drew the pistol from under
+her pillow and turning over, face downward, lay with it pointed toward
+the doorway. There would be no outcry when he appeared in the doorway.
+The first intimation the ghost would have that he was observed would be
+a shot in the leg that would prevent him from running away and would
+solve the mystery. In tense silence she waited, one; two; three minutes,
+but nothing appeared. Then suddenly she smelled smoke, and turning
+around swiftly saw that the side of the tepee toward which she had had
+her back was in flames.
+
+“Fire!” she called at the top of her voice. “Sahwah! Hinpoha! Gladys!
+Migwan! Wake up!” And seizing the pail of water she dashed it against
+the side of the tepee. The water sizzled as it fell, but the canvas
+covering was burning like tinder. Thus rudely awakened the girls sprang
+up in alarm. The place was filling with dense smoke, and through it they
+groped their way to the opening, dragging out their blankets. Hardly had
+the last girl got out when the whole thing was one roaring blaze, which
+lit up the scenery a long way around.
+
+Nyoda, paying no attention to the flames that were mounting skyward from
+the burning canvas, looked intently for a lurking figure among the
+trees, for she thought it hardly possible that whoever had set the tepee
+afire could have gotten outside of the range of light in that short
+time. It was possible to see as far as the road on the one side and
+across the river on the other. But nowhere was there a man or the shadow
+of a man. The folks came running out of Onoway House half dressed and in
+terror that the girls had not escaped from the burning tent in time, and
+the farmers all the way down the road, seeing the glare, rushed to offer
+their assistance, for a fire in the country is a serious thing where
+there is no water pressure. Farmer Landsdowne came on a dead run,
+carrying a water bucket. Even Abner Smalley appeared in the midst of the
+crowd. He gave a scowling look at Calvin, but said nothing, and soon
+took his departure when the danger was over, as it was directly, for it
+did not take long to reduce that canvas covering to a black mass, and
+buckets of water thrown all around on the ground and the trees kept the
+fire from spreading.
+
+For the second time that night the family gathered in the sitting-room
+and faced each other over an exciting happening. “I told you if you
+built a fire in that tepee you would burn it down,” said Mrs. Gardiner.
+“I never felt easy when you had one.”
+
+“But it didn’t catch fire from our little fire,” declared Nyoda, and
+told the events of the night, from the going out of the fire to the
+footsteps outside the tepee when the canvas had suddenly blazed up when
+she was lying in wait for the ghost with a pistol. The circle of faces
+paled with fear as she told her tale. Who could this mysterious visitor
+be, who seemed determined to do them some harm? The girls finished the
+night in the house, three in a bed, but none of them closed their eyes
+to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.—THE WELL DIGGER’S GHOST.
+
+
+The next morning Mrs. Gardiner sent Mr. Landsdowne to interview the
+police force of the township in which the Centerville Road belonged, and
+he brought the whole force back with him. He had to bring the whole
+force if he brought any for it embraced only one man and he was well
+along in years, but he had a uniform and a helmet and a club and a gun,
+and presented an imposing appearance as he strutted up and down the
+yard, before which an evil doer might be moved to pause. The three girls
+from town had departed and Nakwisi had left her spy glass behind in the
+excitement, and this was a source of great entertainment to the rural
+gendarme. He spent a great deal of time sliding the lens back and forth
+to fit his eye and peering up the road into the distance, or looking up
+into the air, as if he expected to see the burglar approaching in an
+airship. He was very talkative and fond of recounting the captures he
+had made single handed, and declared solemnly that the man in this case
+was as good as caught already, for no one had ever escaped yet when Dave
+Beeman had started out to get him.
+
+Nyoda, who was fond of seeing her theories worked out, still held to the
+idea that the mysterious visitor was someone who wanted the job of
+caretaker, and inquired closely of Farmer Landsdowne who the men were
+who had applied for the position. When it came down to fact there was
+only one who had really wanted the job very badly, although several
+others had mentioned the fact that they wouldn’t mind doing it, and that
+man had found a similar situation immediately afterward and left the
+neighborhood. So her theory did not seem to be inclined to hold water.
+
+She had another idea, however, and wrote to Mr. Mitchell, asking if he
+had ever heard strange noises in the attic while he lived there. Mr.
+Mitchell answered and said that not only had he heard strange noises in
+the attic, but also in the cellar and in the barn, and that pieces of
+furniture had apparently moved themselves in the middle of the night;
+and it was on this account that he had left the place, as it made his
+wife so nervous she became ill. This fact put a new face on the matter.
+The hostility, then, was not directed against themselves personally, but
+against the tenants of the house, no matter who they were. But this idea
+left them more in the dark than ever, and they lost a good deal of sleep
+over it without reaching any solution.
+
+After a few days of zealous watching, during which time nothing
+happened, the police force of Centerville township gave it up as a bad
+job and relaxed its vigilance, declaring that the firebug must have
+gotten out of the country, for that was the only way he could hope to
+escape his eagle eye. “If he was still in the country, I’d a’ had him by
+this time”, Dave Beeman asserted confidently. “So as long as he’s gone
+that far you don’t need to worry any more.” And he took himself off,
+eager to get back to the quiet game of pinochle in Gus Wurlitzer’s
+grocery store, which Farmer Landsdowne had interrupted several days ago.
+
+It was just about this time that Migwan had her biggest order for canned
+tomatoes—from a fashionable private sanitarium a few miles distant, and
+the rush of canning gradually took their minds off the mysterious
+intruder. Migwan, picking her finest and ripest tomatoes to fill this
+order, noticed that a number of the vines were drooping and turning
+yellow. The half ripe tomatoes were falling to the ground and rotting.
+One whole end of the bed seemed to be affected. She looked carefully for
+insects and found none. Some of the leaves seemed worse shrivelled than
+others. In perplexity she called Mr. Landsdowne over to look at them. He
+looked closely at the plants and also seemed puzzled as to the cause of
+the mysterious blight. “It isn’t rot,” he said, “because the bed is high
+and dry and the plants have never stood in water.” Upon looking closely
+he discovered that the affected plants were covered with a fine white
+coating. He gave a smothered exclamation. “Do you know what that is?” he
+asked. “It’s lime! Somebody has sprayed your plants with a solution of
+lime. Are you sure you didn’t do it yourself?” he asked, quizzically.
+
+Migwan shook her head. “I haven’t sprayed those plants with anything for
+a month,” she asserted, “and neither has anyone else in the house.”
+
+“Somebody outside of the house has done it, then,” said Mr. Landsdowne.
+
+The work of the mysterious visitor again! It struck dismay into the
+breasts of the whole household. They never knew when and where that hand
+was going to strike next. And so silently, so mysteriously, without ever
+leaving a trace behind!
+
+There was nothing left to do but dig up the dead plants and throw them
+away. Migwan almost stopped breathing when she thought that the rest of
+the bed might be treated in the same way, and the source of her revenue
+cut off. But why was all this happening? What could anyone possibly have
+against the peaceful dwellers at Onoway House?
+
+A guard was set over the tomato bed both day and night for a week and
+the big order for the sanitarium was filled as fast as the tomatoes
+ripened. Nothing at all happened during this time and the vigilance was
+relaxed. A large dog was turned loose in the garden at night and they
+felt secure in his protection. This dog belonged to Calvin Smalley. When
+he had left his uncle’s house he had to leave Pointer behind, as he did
+not know what else to do with him, but now that the Gardiners were
+willing to have him he went over and got him when he knew his uncle was
+away from the house, so he would not have to meet him. Pointer was
+overjoyed at seeing his young master again and attached himself to the
+household at once, and never made the slightest effort to go back to his
+old home. He had a deep, heavy bark which could not fail to rouse the
+house at once. With the coming of Pointer the girls breathed easily
+again.
+
+One day when Migwan had gone over to see the Landsdownes, Mr. Landsdowne
+had given her a treasure for her garden. This was a plant of a rare
+species called Titania Gloria, which a friend had brought from Bermuda.
+It was a first year growth and so would not bloom until the following
+summer. Migwan planted it along the fence beside the mint bed and
+treasured it like gold, for the blossom of the Titania Gloria was a
+wonderful shade of blue and was considered a prize by fanciers, who paid
+high prices for cuttings of the plant. In the excitement over the tepee
+and the tomato plants, however, she forgot to tell the other girls about
+it, so she was the only one who knew what a precious thing that little
+bed of leaves was.
+
+The weather was so fine that week that Migwan decided to have a garden
+party and invite a number of friends from town. Gladys promised to dance
+and the boys cleared a circle for her in the grass under the trees,
+picking up every stick that lay on the ground. Mrs. Landsdowne, hearing
+about the party, offered to make ice cream for them in her freezer. Just
+before the guests arrived Migwan and Calvin went over after it. They
+took the raft, because they thought that would be the easiest way of
+transporting the heavy tub. Migwan rode on the raft and supported the
+tub and Calvin walked along the bank and pulled the tow line. His
+eagerness to help with the festivity was somewhat pathetic. Never, to
+his knowledge, had there been a party at the Smalley House. The way
+these girls planned a party out of a clear sky and carried out their
+plans without delay was nothing short of marvelous to him. They were
+always at their ease with company, while it was a fearful ordeal for him
+to meet strangers. He liked to be a part of such doings; but was at a
+loss how to act. Migwan, with her fine understanding of things beneath
+the surface, saw that this boy was lonesome in the crowd, not knowing
+how to mix in and have a glorious time on his own account, and she
+always saw to it that his part was mapped out for him in all their
+doings. Therefore she chose him to help her bring the ice cream over.
+
+Calvin, happy at being useful, towed the raft carefully and turned his
+head whenever Migwan spoke, so as to give strict attention to her words.
+Doing this, he fell over the branch of a tree in the path and jerked the
+rope violently. The raft tipped up and both Migwan and the tub of ice
+cream went into the river. Migwan climbed out on the bank before Calvin
+was up from the ground. He was aghast at what he had done. He had been
+so eager to help with the party and now he had spoiled it! That he would
+be instantly expelled from Onoway House he was sure, and he felt that he
+deserved it. Migwan, at least, would never speak to him again.
+Speechless, he turned piteous eyes to where she sat on the bank
+dripping. To his surprise she was doubled up with laughter. “What are
+you laughing at?” he asked, startled.
+
+“Because you upset the raft and the ice cream fell into the river!”
+giggled Migwan. Calvin gasped. The very thing that was nearly killing
+him with chagrin was the cause of her mirth! It was the first time he
+had ever seen anyone make light of a calamity. Her mirth was so
+contagious that he began to laugh himself. Still laughing, he brought
+the tub out of the river and set it on the bank. The water had washed
+away the packing of ice, but the lid on the inner can was providentially
+tight and the ice cream was unharmed. That little incident crystallized
+the friendship between the two. After that he was Migwan’s slave. A girl
+who could be thrown into the river without getting vexed was a friend
+worth having. Dripping, they returned to the house, where the
+preparations for the party were at their height, to be laughed at
+immoderately and christened the “Water Babies.”
+
+To Hinpoha the Artistic had been entrusted the setting of the tables.
+Her decorations were water lilies from the river, and when she had
+finished it looked as if a feast had been spread for the river nymphs.
+Around the edges of the platter she put bunches of bright mint leaves.
+Her artistic efforts called out so much praise from the guests that she
+was in a continual state of blushing as she waited on the table.
+
+“What’s the matter with your hand?” asked Migwan, noticing that she was
+passing things around left handedly.
+
+“Nothing,” said Hinpoha, “nothing much. I slipped when I was getting the
+lilies and fell on my wrist and it feels lame, that’s all.”
+
+“Is it sprained?” asked Migwan.
+
+“Oh, no,” said Hinpoha, “I don’t think so.”
+
+“It’s all swelled up,” said Migwan, holding up the injured wrist. “Let
+me paint it with iodine and tie it up for you.”
+
+Hinpoha maintained that it was nothing serious, but Migwan insisted.
+“Where is the iodine, mother?” she asked.
+
+“On the pantry shelf,” answered Mrs. Gardiner. Migwan got the bottle and
+painted Hinpoha’s wrist before the party could proceed. Hinpoha surveyed
+the brown stripe around her arm rather disgustedly. It was for this very
+reason that she had said nothing about the wrist before. She did not
+want it painted up for the party. It offended her artistic eye and she
+would rather suffer in silence.
+
+While the guests were sitting at the tables Gladys danced on the lawn
+for their entertainment. The merry laughter was hushed in surprise and
+delight at her fairylike movements. In the silence which reigned at this
+time the thing which happened was distinctly heard by everyone.
+Apparently from the depths of the earth there came a muffled thud, thud,
+as of a pick striking against hard ground. It kept up for a few minutes
+and then ceased, to be renewed again after a short interval. The
+dwellers at Onoway House looked at each other. Into each mind there
+sprang the story of the Deacon’s well, and the words of Farmer
+Landsdowne, “_Superstitious folks say you can still hear the buried well
+digger striking with his pick against the ground that covers him._” It
+was the most mysterious sound, far away and faint, yet seemingly right
+under their very feet. Gladys heard it and paused in her dancing.
+Pointer and Mr. Bob both heard it and began to bark. In a little while
+the thudding noise ceased and was heard no more, and the company were
+all left wondering if they could have been the victims of imagination.
+
+“Maybe it’s somebody down cellar,” said Calvin, and taking Pointer with
+him, went down. Tom followed him. But there was no sign of anyone down
+there. Pointer ran around with his nose to the ground as if he were
+smelling for footsteps, but his tail kept wagging all the while. They
+were all familiar footsteps he scented. Nothing was out of place in the
+cellar except that a basket of potatoes was thrown over and the potatoes
+had rolled out on the cement floor. The boys noticed this without
+thinking anything of it. The mystery of the well digger’s ghost remained
+unsolved.
+
+In the cool of the early evening after her guests had departed, Migwan
+wandered down into the garden to look at her various plants and flowers.
+It occurred to her that she had not paid her Titania Gloria a visit for
+several days. But what a sight met her eyes when she reached the spot
+where the precious thing had been planted! Not a single bit was left.
+The clean cut stalks showed where they had been clipped off close to the
+ground. Migwan started up with a cry of dismay which brought the other
+girls running to her side. “My Titania Gloria!” gasped Migwan. “Look!
+The mysterious visitor has been at work again!” And she told them about
+the valuable cuttings that had disappeared so uncannily.
+
+“We never hear that ghost but what something happens after it!” said
+Gladys, in an awestruck tone. The girls peered apprehensively into the
+shadows of the tall trees surrounding the garden.
+
+“What’s up?” asked Hinpoha, joining the group. Migwan pointed to the
+devastated bed. “What’s the matter with it?” asked Hinpoha.
+
+“My Titania Gloria!” said Migwan. “It’s been clipped off at the roots.”
+
+“Your what?” asked Hinpoha. Migwan explained about the rare plant Farmer
+Landsdowne had given her. Hinpoha gave a sudden start and exclamation.
+“What did you say it was?” she asked.
+
+“A Titania Gloria,” answered Migwan.
+
+“Well, girls, I’m the guilty one, then,” said Hinpoha, “for I cut those
+plants off thinking they were mint. That was what I decorated the
+platters with this afternoon. Do anything you like with me, Migwan, beat
+me, hang me to a tree, put my feet in stocks, or anything, and I’ll make
+no resistance.” She was absolutely frozen to the spot when she realized
+what she had done.
+
+Migwan, grieved as she was over the loss of her cherished Titania, yet
+had to laugh at the depths of Hinpoha’s mortification. “You old goose!”
+she said, putting her arms around her, “don’t take it so to heart! It’s
+my fault, not yours at all, because I didn’t tell anyone what that plant
+was. And the leaves do look just like mint.” Thus she comforted the
+discomfited Hinpoha.
+
+“Migwan,” said her mother, when they had returned to the house, “where
+did you get that iodine with which you painted Hinpoha’s wrist this
+afternoon?”
+
+“On the pantry shelf, just where you told me,” answered Migwan.
+
+“Well,” said her mother, “I told you wrong. The iodine is up on my
+wash-stand.”
+
+“Then what was in the brown bottle on the pantry shelf?” asked Migwan.
+The bottle was produced.
+
+“Why,” said Mrs. Gardiner, “that’s walnut stain, guaranteed not to wear
+off!”
+
+Then there was a laugh at Migwan’s expense!
+
+  “Old Migwan Hubbard
+  She went to the cupboard,
+  To get iodine in a phial,
+  But she couldn’t read plain,
+  And brought walnut stain,
+  And now her poor patient looks vile!”
+
+chanted Sahwah.
+
+“You’re even now,” said Gladys, “you’ve each scored a trick.”
+
+“‘_We do this to each other!_’” said Migwan and Hinpoha in the same
+breath, and locked fingers and made a wish according to the time-honored
+custom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.—OPHELIA FINDS A FAIRY GODMOTHER.
+
+
+As the summer progressed, the girls had more than one conference as to
+what was to become of Ophelia when they left Onoway House. To let her go
+back to her life in the slums was unthinkable. So far, Old Grady had
+made no effort to get her back, possibly for the simple reason that she
+did not know where the child was. They did not even know whether or not
+she had a legal claim on Ophelia. All Ophelia knew about the business
+was that Old Grady had taken her from the orphan asylum when she was
+seven years old. Where she had lived before she went to the orphan
+asylum she could not remember, so she must have been very young when she
+came there. They were equally unwilling that she should return to the
+asylum.
+
+“If we could only find someone to adopt her,” said Hinpoha. That would
+be the best thing, they all agreed, although there was a lingering doubt
+in the mind of each one as to whether anyone would want to adopt
+Ophelia. Grammar was to her a totally unnecessary accomplishment, and
+the amount of slang she knew was unending. By dint of hard labor they
+had succeeded in making her say “you” instead of “yer,” and “to” instead
+of “ter,” and discard some of her more violent slang phrases, but she
+was still obviously a child of the streets and the tenement, and that
+life had left its brand upon her. It showed itself constantly in her
+speech. They had better success in teaching her table manners, for with
+a child’s gift of imitation she soon fell into the ways of those around
+her.
+
+But having had so much excitement in her short life she still pined for
+it. While the life in the country was pleasant in the extreme it was far
+too quiet to suit her and she longed to be back in the crowded tenement
+where there was something happening every hour out of the twenty-four;
+where people woke to life instead of going to bed when darkness fell and
+the lamps were lighted; where street cars clanged and wagons rattled and
+fire engines rumbled by; where the harsh voices of newsboys rang out
+above the loud conversation of the women on the doorsteps and the
+wailing of the babies. The zigging of the grasshoppers and the swishing
+of the wind in the Balm of Gilead tree and the murmur of the river had
+for her a mournful and desolate sound, and she often covered up her ears
+so as not to hear it. When she first came to Onoway House she was so
+interested in the new life that it kept her busy all day long finding
+out new things; but gradually the novelty wore off. At first she had
+been as mischievous as a monkey; always up to some prank or other. She
+teased Tom and was teased by him in return; she put burrs in Mr. Bob’s
+long ears; she climbed trees and threw things down on the heads of
+unsuspecting persons underneath; she startled the girls out of their
+wits by lying unseen under the couch in the sitting-room and grabbing
+their ankles unexpectedly. Always she was doing something, and always
+merry and full of life; so that she made the girls feel that they had
+done a fine thing by bringing her to Onoway House.
+
+But of late a change had come over her. She began to droop, and to sit
+silent by herself at times. The girls did their best to keep her amused,
+but they were very busy with the continual canning, and Betty, who had
+more time than the others, did not like her and would not play with her.
+So she grew more and more homesick for the big, noisy city and the
+playmates of other days. Then had come the time when she was so
+sunburned and she had developed the fondness for Sahwah. After that she
+was less lonesome, for Sahwah was such a lively person to be attached to
+that one had always to be on the lookout for surprises. Sahwah taught
+her to swim and dive and ride a bicycle; she had the boys make a swing
+for her under the big tree, and Ophelia blossomed once more into
+happiness. At Sahwah’s instigation she played more tricks on the other
+girls than before.
+
+But Ophelia was a shrewd little person, and she knew that the summer
+would come to a close and the girls would not live together any more.
+She often heard them discussing their plans. What was to become of her
+then? The happy family life at Onoway House stirred in her a desire to
+have a home too, and a mother of her own. She began to grow wistful
+again and at times her eyes would have a strange far-away look. The
+scandals of the streets which were once the breath of life to her and
+which she repeated with such relish, began to lose their charm, and she
+developed a taste for fairy tales. “Tell me the story about the fairy
+godmother,” she would say to Sahwah, and would listen attentively to the
+end. “Are you sure I’ve got one somewhere?” she would ask eagerly.
+
+“You surely have,” Sahwah would answer, to satisfy her.
+
+And then, “What _are_ we going to do with Ophelia when the summer is
+over?” Sahwah would ask the girls after Ophelia was in bed. And Hinpoha
+would think of Aunt Phœbe and knew she would never adopt such a child as
+Ophelia was; and Migwan knew that it would be out of the question in her
+family; and Sahwah knew that her mother would not let her come and live
+with them; and Gladys thought of her delicate mother and sighed. Nyoda
+could not make a home for her, because she had none of her own and a
+boarding house was no place for a child.
+
+“It’s a shame,” Sahwah would declare vehemently, “that there aren’t
+fathers and mothers enough in this world to go round. Here’s Ophelia
+will have to go into an institution more than likely, and grow up
+without any especial interest being taken in her, while we have had so
+much done for us. It isn’t fair.”
+
+“There’s something curious about Ophelia,” said Gladys, musingly. “While
+she came from the tenements and is as wild and untrained as any little
+street gamin, she has the appearance of a child of a much higher class.
+Have you ever noticed how small and perfect her hands and feet are? And
+what beautiful almond shaped fingernails she has? And what delicate
+features? Have you seen how erectly she carries herself, and how
+graceful she is when she dances? In spite of her name, I don’t believe
+she is Irish; and I don’t think her people could have been low class.
+There’s an indefinable something about her which spells quality.”
+
+“Probably a princess in disguise,” said Sahwah, in a tone of amusement.
+“Leave it to Gladys to scent ‘quality.’”
+
+But the others had noticed the same characteristics in Ophelia and were
+inclined to agree with Gladys on the subject.
+
+“But what about the strange spot of light hair on her head?” asked
+Sahwah. “Would you call that a mark of quality?” But to this there was
+no answer. They had never seen or heard of anything like it before. Thus
+the summer days slipped by and Onoway House continued to shelter two
+homeless orphans, neither of whom knew what the future held in store for
+them.
+
+One afternoon when the girls had planned to go for a long walk to the
+woods Gladys read in the paper that a balloonist was to make an
+ascension over the lake. For some unaccountable reason she took a fancy
+that she would like to see the performance. “Oh, Gladys,” said Sahwah,
+impatiently, “you’ve seen balloonists before and you’ll see plenty yet;
+come with us this afternoon.” But Gladys held out, even while she
+wondered to herself why she was so eager to see this not uncommon sight.
+Half offended at her, the other girls departed in the direction of the
+woods. Gladys climbed high up in the Balm of Gilead tree, from which she
+could look over the country for miles around and easily see the lake and
+the distant amusement park from which the balloonist was to ascend.
+
+The newspaper said three o’clock, but evidently the performance was
+delayed, for although Gladys was on the lookout since before that time
+nothing seemed to be happening. To aid her in seeing she took Nakwisi’s
+spy glass up into the tree with her, and while she was waiting for the
+parachute spectacle she amused herself by focusing the glass on far away
+objects on the land and bringing them right before her eyes, as it
+seemed. She could look right into the back door of a distant farm house
+and see children playing in the doorway and chickens walking up and down
+the steps; she could see the men working in the fields; she could see
+the yachts out on the lake and the smoky trail of a freight steamer.
+Somewhere in the middle of her range of vision were the gleaming rails
+of the car tracks. She looked at them idly; they were like long streaks
+of light in the sun. She saw two men, evidently tramps, come out of the
+bushes along the road and bend over the rails. Somewhere along that
+stretch of track there was a derailing switch and it seemed to Gladys
+that it was at this point where the men were. Gladys looked at the pair,
+suspiciously, for a second and then decided they were track testers. One
+had an iron bar in his hand and he seemed to be turning the switch.
+Suddenly the other man pointed up the road and then the two jumped
+quickly backward into the bushes. Gladys looked in the direction the man
+had pointed. Far off down the track she could see the red body of the
+“Limited” approaching at a tremendous rate. The stretch of country past
+the Centerville Road was flat and even; the track was perfect and there
+was no traffic to block the way, and the cars made great speed along
+here. Something told Gladys that the men had had no business at the
+switch; that they meant to derail and wreck the Limited. Gladys had
+learned to think and act quickly since she had become a Camp Fire Girl,
+and scarcely had the idea entered her head that the Limited was in
+danger, than she conceived the plan of heading it off. Before the car
+reached the switch it must pass the Centerville Road. Being the Limited,
+it did not stop there. So Gladys planned to run the automobile down the
+Centerville Road and flag the car. She flung herself from the tree in
+haste, got the machine out of the barn and started down the road with
+wide-open throttle.
+
+Trees and fences whirled dizzily by, obscured in the cloud of dust she
+was raising. Across the stillness of the fields she could hear the
+Limited pounding down the track. A hundred yards from the end of the
+road the automobile engine snorted, choked and went dead. Without
+waiting to investigate the trouble, Gladys jumped out and proceeded on
+foot. Could she make it? She could see the red monster through the
+trees, rushing along to certain destruction. With an inward prayer for
+the speed of Antelope Boy, the Indian runner, she darted forward like an
+arrow from the bow. Breathless and spent she came out on the car track
+just a moment ahead of the thundering car, and waved the scarlet
+Winnebago banner, which she had snatched from the wall on the way out.
+With a quick jamming of the emergency brakes that shook the car from end
+to end it came to a standstill just beyond the Centerville Road, and
+only fifty feet from the switch.
+
+“What’s the matter?” asked the motorman, coming out.
+
+“Look at the switch!” panted Gladys, sinking down beside the road,
+unable to say more.
+
+The motorman looked at the switch. “My God,” he said, mopping his
+forehead, “if we’d ever run into that thing going at such a rate there
+wouldn’t have been anyone left to tell the tale.”
+
+The passengers were pouring from the car, eager to find out the reason
+for the sudden stoppage. “What’s the matter?” was heard on every side.
+
+“You’ve got that girl to thank,” said the motorman, moving back toward
+his vestibule, “that you’re not lying in a heap of kindling wood.”
+Gladys, much abashed and still hardly able to breathe, laid her head on
+her knee and sobbed from sheer nervousness and relief.
+
+“Gladys!” suddenly said a voice above the murmurings of the throng of
+passengers.
+
+Gladys raised her head. “Papa!” she cried, staggering to her feet. “Were
+you on that car?”
+
+Another figure detached itself from the crowd and hastened forward.
+“Mother!” cried Gladys. “Oh, if I hadn’t been able to stop it—” and at
+the horror of the idea her strength deserted her and she slipped quietly
+to the ground at her parents’ feet.
+
+When she came to the car had gone on and she was lying in the grass by
+the roadside with her head in her mother’s lap. “Cheer up, you’re all
+right,” said her mother a little unsteadily, smiling down at her. Gladys
+now became aware of two other figures that were standing in the road.
+
+“Aunt Beatrice!” she cried. “And Uncle Lynn! What are you doing here?”
+
+“We all came out to surprise you,” said her father. “We got back from
+the West last night; sooner than we expected, and decided we would run
+out without any warning and see what kind of farmers you were. The
+automobile is being overhauled so we came on the interurban. We didn’t
+know it didn’t stop at your road.”
+
+Then, Gladys suddenly remembered her own disabled car standing in the
+road, and they all moved toward it. With a little tinkering it
+condescended to run and they were soon at Onoway House, telling the
+exciting tale to Mrs. Gardiner, who held up her hands in horror at the
+thought of the fate which the newcomers had so narrowly escaped. Aunt
+Beatrice, not being strong, was much agitated, and developed a
+palpitation of the heart, and had to lie in the hammock on the porch and
+be doctored, so Gladys had her hands full until the girls came back.
+They were much surprised at the houseful of company and very glad to see
+Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who were very good friends of the Winnebagos indeed.
+They looked with interest when Aunt Beatrice was introduced, for they
+all remembered the tragic story Gladys had told them about the loss of
+her baby in the hotel fire. Aunt Beatrice felt well enough to get up
+then and acknowledge the introductions with a sweet but infinitely sad
+smile that went straight to their hearts, and brought tears to the eyes
+of the soft-hearted Hinpoha.
+
+Ophelia came in last, having loitered on the lawn to play with Pointer
+and Mr. Bob. She had taken off her hat and was swinging it around in her
+hand when she came up on the porch. “And this is the little sister of
+the Winnebagos,” said Nyoda, drawing her forward. Aunt Beatrice looked
+down at the dust-streaked little face, with her sad smile, but her eyes
+rested there only an instant. She was gazing as if fascinated at the
+strange ring of light hair on her head. She became very pale and her
+eyes widened until they seemed to be the biggest part of her face.
+
+“Lynn!” she gasped in a choking voice, “Lynn! Look!” and she sank on the
+floor unconscious. “It can’t be! It can’t be!” she kept saying faintly
+when they revived her. “Beatrice died in the fire. But Beatrice had that
+ring of light hair on her head! It can’t be! But there never were two
+such birthmarks!”
+
+What a hubbub arose when this startling possibility was uttered!
+Ophelia, the lost Beatrice? Could it possibly be true? Uncle Lynn lost
+no time in finding out. Taking Ophelia with him he hunted up Old Grady.
+She knew nothing more save that she had gotten her from an orphan
+asylum, which she named. At the asylum he learned what he wanted to
+know. The superintendent remembered about Ophelia on account of the
+strange ring of light hair. The child had been brought to the
+institution when she was about a year old. There was a babies’
+dispensary in connection with the place, and into this a weak, haggard
+girl of about eighteen had staggered one day carrying a baby. The baby
+was sick and she begged them to make it well. While she sat waiting for
+the nurse to look at the baby the girl collapsed. She died in a charity
+hospital a few days later. On her death-bed she confessed that she had
+run away from a large hotel with the baby which had been left in her
+care, intending to hide it and get money from the parents for its
+recovery. But she feared this would lead her into trouble and left town
+with the child and never troubled the parents as she had intended, and
+kept the baby with her until it fell sick, when she had become
+frightened and sought the dispensary. She apparently never knew that the
+hotel had burned and covered up the traces of her flight. The baby was
+kept at the orphan asylum and named Ophelia. Her last name had never
+been known. Thence Old Grady had adopted her, but her right could be
+taken away from her as it was clear that she was no fit person to have
+the child.
+
+“It’s just like a fairy tale!” said Hinpoha, when it was established
+beyond a doubt that the abused street waif Gladys had brought home in
+the goodness of her heart was her own cousin.
+
+“Didn’t I tell you you’d find your fairy godmother if you only waited
+long enough?” said Sahwah. And Ophelia, from the depths of her mother’s
+arms, nodded rapturously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.—A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+“Oh, Gladys, do you have to go home, now that your mother and father are
+back?” asked Migwan, anxiously.
+
+“Not unless you want to, Gladys,” said Mrs. Evans. “If you would rather
+stay out here until school opens, you may. Father and I are going to
+Boston in a few days, you know.”
+
+So there was no breaking up of the group before they all went home, with
+the exception of Ophelia, or rather Beatrice, as we will have to call
+her from now on, for, of course, she was to go with her mother.
+
+“What must it be like, anyway,” said Hinpoha, “not to have any last name
+until you’re nine years old and then be introduced to yourself? To
+answer to the name of Ophelia one and ‘Miss Beatrice Palmer’ the next?
+It must be rather confusing.”
+
+Little Beatrice went to Boston with her mother and father and uncle and
+aunt and Onoway House missed her rather sorely. Calvin Smalley also got
+a measure of happiness out of the restoration of the lost child, for
+Uncle Lynn was so beside himself with joy over the event that he was
+ready to bestow favors on anyone connected with Onoway House, and
+promised to see that Calvin got through school and college. He would
+give him a place to work in his office Saturdays and vacations.
+
+For several days now there had been no sign of the mysterious visitor,
+and the well digger’s ghost had also apparently been laid to rest. Then
+one morning they woke to the realization that the unseen agency had been
+at work again. Pinned on the front door was a piece of paper on which
+was scrawled,
+
+  “_If you folks know what’s good for you you’ll get out of that
+  house._”
+
+“We’ll do no such thing!” said Migwan, with unexpected spirit “I’ve
+started out to earn money to go to college by canning tomatoes, and I’m
+going to stay here until they’re canned; I don’t care who likes it or
+doesn’t.”
+
+“That’s it, stand up for your rights,” applauded Sahwah.
+
+“But what possible motive could anyone have for wanting us to get out of
+the house?” asked Migwan. Of course, there was no answer to this.
+
+“Do you suppose the house will be burned down as the tepee was?” asked
+Gladys, in rather a scared voice. This suggestion sent a shiver through
+them all.
+
+“We must get the policeman back again to watch,” said Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+Accordingly, the redoubtable constable was brought on the scene again.
+
+“Well, well, well,” he said, fingering the mysterious note. “Thought
+he’d come back again now that the coast was clear, did he? You notice,
+though, that he didn’t make no effort while I was here. You can bet your
+life he won’t get busy again while I’m here now. You ladies just rest
+easy and go on with your peeling.”
+
+Scarcely had he finished speaking, when from the bowels of the earth and
+apparently under his very feet, there came the strange sound as of blows
+being struck on hard earth or stone. The expression on Dave Beeman’s
+face was such a mixture of surprise and alarm that the girls could not
+keep from laughing, disturbed as they were at the return of the sounds.
+“By gum,” said the constable, looking furtively around, “this is
+certainly a queer business.” He had heard the story of the well digger’s
+ghost and it was very strong in his mind just now. “Maybe it’s just as
+well not to meddle,” he said under his breath.
+
+Off and on through the day they heard the same sounds issuing from the
+ground, and at dusk the weird moaning began again. The constable showed
+strong signs of wishing himself elsewhere. When darkness fell the noises
+ceased and were heard no more that night. But another sort of moaning
+had taken its place. This was the wind, which had been blowing strongly
+all day, and early in the evening increased to the proportions of a
+hurricane. With wise forethought Sahwah and Nyoda brought the raft and
+the rowboat up on land. Leaves, small twigs and thick dust filled the
+air. Windows rattled ominously; doors slammed with jarring crashes.
+Migwan, foreseeing a devastating storm, set all the girls to picking
+tomatoes as fast as they could, whether they were ripe or not, to save
+them from being dashed to the ground. They could ripen off the vines
+later.
+
+At last the sandstorm drove them into the house, blinded. Then there
+came such a wind as none of them had ever experienced. Trees in the yard
+broke like matches; the Balm of Gilead roared like an ocean in a
+tempest. There was a constant rattle of pebbles and small objects
+against the window panes; then one of the windows in the dining-room was
+broken by a branch being hurled against it, and let in a miniature
+tempest. Papers blew around the room in great confusion. Migwan rolled
+the high topped sideboard in front of the broken pane to keep the wind
+out of the room. At times it seemed as if the very house must be coming
+down on top of their heads, and they stood with frightened faces in the
+front hall ready to dash out at a moment’s notice. A crash sounded on
+the roof and they thought the time had come, but in a moment they
+realized that it was only the chimney falling over. The bricks went
+sliding and bumping down the slope of the roof and fell to the ground
+over the edge.
+
+“I pity anybody who’s caught in this out in the open,” said Migwan. “I
+believe the wind is strong enough to blow a horse over. I wonder where
+Calvin is now.” Calvin had gone to the city with Farmer Landsdowne on
+business and intended to remain all night.
+
+“He’s probably all right if he has reached those friends of the
+Landsdownes’,” said Hinpoha.
+
+“The Smalleys are out, too,” said Sahwah. “I saw them drive past after
+dark, going toward town, just before it began to blow so terribly. Oh,
+listen! What do you suppose that was?” A crash in the yard told them
+that something had happened to the barn. Gladys was in great distress
+about the car, and had to be restrained forcibly from running out to see
+if it was all right. The wind continued the greater part of the night
+and nobody thought of going to bed. By morning it had spent its force.
+
+Then they looked out on a scene of destruction. The garden was piled
+with branches and trunks of trees, and strewn with clothes that had been
+hanging on wash-lines somewhere along the road. Up against the porch lay
+a wicker chair which they recognized as belonging to a house some
+distance away. Everywhere around they could see the corn and wheat lying
+flat on the ground, as if trodden by some giant foot. The roof of the
+barn had been torn off on one side and reposed on the ground, more or
+less shattered. The car was uninjured except that it was covered with a
+thick coating of yellow dust. It was well that they had thought to pick
+the tomatoes, for the vines and the frames which supported them were
+demolished. All the telephone wires were down as far as they could see.
+
+Calvin was not to return until night, and they felt no great anxiety
+about him, but often during the day a disquieting thought came to
+Migwan. This was about Uncle Peter, the man who lived in the cottage
+among the trees. Suppose something had happened to him? From Sahwah’s
+report, the house was very old and frail. She watched the Red House
+closely for signs of life, but apparently the Smalleys had not returned.
+The doors were shut and there was no smoke coming out of the kitchen
+chimney.
+
+“Nyoda,” said Migwan, finally, “I’m going over and see if that old man
+is all right. I can’t rest until I know.”
+
+“All right,” said Nyoda, “I’m going with you.” Sahwah was over at Mrs.
+Landsdowne’s, but they remembered her description of the approach to the
+cottage, and made the detour around the field where the bull was and the
+marsh beyond it, coming up to the cottage from the other side. It was
+still standing, although the big tree beside it had been blown over and
+lay across the roof.
+
+“Would you ever think,” said Migwan, “that there was anyone living in
+there? I could pass it a dozen times and swear it was empty, if I didn’t
+know about it.”
+
+“Well,” said Nyoda, the house is still standing, “so I suppose the old
+man is all right.”
+
+“I wonder,” said Migwan. “He may have been frightened sick, and he may
+have nothing to eat or drink, now that the Smalleys are kept away. We’d
+better have a look. He can’t hurt us. If Sahwah spent the whole
+afternoon with him we needn’t be afraid.”
+
+They tried the door, but, of course, found it locked, and were obliged
+to resort to the same means of entrance as Sahwah had employed. They saw
+the key in the other door just as Sahwah had and turned it and opened
+the door. The old man was sitting by the table in just the position
+Sahwah had described. Apparently he was neither frightened nor hurt. He
+looked up when he saw them in the doorway and motioned them to come in.
+There was nothing extraordinary in his appearance; he was simply an old
+man with mild blue eyes. Obeying the same impulse of adventure which had
+led Sahwah across the threshold, they stepped in and sat down. The room
+was just as Sahwah had told them. The table was littered with wheels and
+rods which the old man was fitting together. As they expected, he worked
+away without taking any notice of them.
+
+“Did you mind the storm?” asked Nyoda.
+
+“Storm?” said the old man. “What storm?”
+
+“He never noticed it!” said Migwan, in an aside to Nyoda.
+
+“What are you making?” asked Migwan, wishing to hear from his own lips
+the explanation he had given Sahwah.
+
+After his customary interval he spoke. “It’s a machine that reclaims
+wasted moments,” he explained. “Every moment that isn’t made good use of
+goes down through this little trap door, and when there are enough to
+make an hour they join hands and climb up on the face of the clock
+again.”
+
+Migwan and Nyoda exchanged glances. The ingenious imagination of the old
+man surpassed anything they had ever heard. They stayed awhile, amusing
+themselves by looking at the books and clocks in the cabinets, and then
+rose, intending to slip away quietly when he was absorbed in his work,
+as Sahwah had done. A dish of apples standing on one of the cabinets
+indicated that he was not without food and their minds were now at rest
+about his welfare. But when they moved toward the door he turned and
+looked at them.
+
+“What do you think of it?” he asked.
+
+By “it” they figured that he meant the machine he was working on. “It’s
+a very good one indeed,” said Nyoda, “very interesting.”
+
+“Do you want to buy the rights?” asked the old man, taking off his hat
+and putting it on again.
+
+“He thinks he’s talking to some capitalist!” whispered Migwan.
+
+“We’ll talk over the plans first among ourselves and let you know our
+decision,” said Nyoda, not knowing what to say and wishing to appear
+politely interested. This speech would give them an opportunity to get
+away. But to her surprise Uncle Peter drew a sheet of paper from among
+those on the table and gravely handed it to her.
+
+“Here are the plans,” he said. “Take them and look them over and let me
+know in a week.” Then he fell to work and forgot their presence. Holding
+the paper in her hands Nyoda walked out of the room, followed by Migwan.
+They left the house as they had entered it and returned by a roundabout
+way to Onoway House. Nyoda put the plans of the remarkable machine away
+in her room, intending to keep it as a curiosity. Soon afterward they
+saw the Smalleys driving into the yard of the Red House.
+
+It took the girls most of the day to clear the garden of the rubbish
+which had been blown into it and tie up the prostrate plants on sticks.
+Calvin came back at night safe and relieved the slight anxiety they had
+felt about him. As they sat on the porch after supper comparing notes
+about the storm they heard the muffled sounds which told that the well
+digger’s ghost was at work again. It continued throughout the evening.
+
+“I’ll be a wreck if this keeps up much longer,” said Migwan. A perpetual
+air of uneasiness had fallen on Onoway House and it was impossible to
+get anything accomplished. How could they settle down to work or play
+with that dreadful thud, thud pounding in their ears every little while?
+Dave Beeman had taken himself home after the storm to see what damage
+had been done and they were again without the protection of the law.
+
+“Maybe it’s some animal under the ground,” suggested Calvin. “It
+certainly couldn’t be a person down there.” This seemed such an
+amazingly sensible solution of the mystery that the girls were inclined
+to accept it.
+
+“I suppose imagination does help a lot,” said Migwan, “and if we hadn’t
+heard that story about the well digger we would never have thought of a
+man with a pickaxe. It’s undoubtedly the movements of an animal we
+hear.”
+
+“But what animal lives underground without any air?” asked Sahwah.
+
+“There’s probably a hole somewhere, only we haven’t found it,” said
+Migwan, who seemed determined to believe the animal theory.
+
+“But what about the note on the door and the lime on the tomatoes and
+the burning of the tepee?” asked Sahwah. “You can’t blame that onto an
+animal, can you?”
+
+“That’s very true,” said Migwan, “but it is likely there is no
+connection between the two mysteries. It’s just a coincidence. I for one
+am going to be sensible and stop worrying about that noise in the
+ground.” And most of them followed Migwan’s example.
+
+The next morning was such a beautiful one that they could not resist
+getting up early and running out of doors before breakfast. “Let’s play
+a game of hide-and-seek,” proposed Sahwah. The others agreed readily;
+Hinpoha was counted out and had to be “it,” and the others scattered to
+hide themselves. One by one Hinpoha discovered and “caught” the players,
+or they got “in free.” Calvin startled her nearly out of her wits by
+suddenly dropping out of a tree almost on top of her.
+
+“Are we all in?” asked Migwan, fanning herself with her handkerchief.
+She was out of breath from her strenuous run for the goal.
+
+“All but Sahwah,” said Hinpoha. She started out again to look for her,
+turning around every little while to keep a wary eye on the goal lest
+Sahwah should spring out from somewhere nearby and reach it before she
+did. But Sahwah was evidently hidden at some distance from the goal, and
+Hinpoha walked in an ever increasing circle without tempting her out.
+The others, tired of waiting for her to be caught, joined in the search
+and beat the bushes and hunted through the barn and looked up in the
+trees. But no Sahwah did they find.
+
+Breakfast time neared and Hinpoha called loudly, “In free, Sahwah,
+game’s over.” But Sahwah did not emerge from some cleverly concealed
+nook as they expected.
+
+“Maybe she didn’t hear you,” said Migwan. “Let’s all call.” And they all
+called, shouting together in perfect unison as they had done on so many
+other occasions, making the combined voice carry a great distance. An
+echo answered them but that was all. The girls looked at each other
+blankly.
+
+“Do you suppose she’s staying hidden on purpose?” asked Calvin.
+
+“No,” said Nyoda, emphatically, “I don’t. Sahwah’s had enough experience
+with causing us worry by disappearing never to do it on purpose again.
+She’s probably stuck somewhere and can’t get out. Do you remember the
+time she was shut up in the statue and couldn’t talk? Something of the
+kind has occurred again, I don’t doubt. We’ll simply have to search
+until we find and release her.”
+
+They began a systematized search and minutely examined every foot of
+ground. Thinking that the barn was the most likely place to get into
+something and not get out again, they opened every old chest there and
+pried into every corner, and moved every article. They went up-stairs
+and looked through the lofts and corners. The roof being partly off, it
+was as light as day, and if she had been there anywhere they would
+surely have seen her. But there was no sign of her. They looked under
+the roof of the barn that lay on the ground, thinking that she might
+have crawled under that and become pinned down, but she was not there.
+
+“Could she have fallen into the river?” asked Calvin.
+
+“It wouldn’t have done her any harm if she had,” said Hinpoha. “Sahwah’s
+more at home in the water than she is on land. It wouldn’t have been
+unlike her to jump in and swim around and duck her head under every time
+I came near, but then she would have heard us calling for her and come
+out.”
+
+They parted every bush and shrub, and looked closely at the branches of
+every tree, half fearing to find her hanging by the hair somewhere.
+
+“Do you suppose she went up the Balm of Gilead tree and into the attic
+window?” asked Migwan. They searched through the attic, and a laborious
+search it was, on account of the quantities of furniture and chests to
+be moved. They pulled out every drawer and burst open every trunk and
+chest, thinking she might have crawled into one and then the lid had
+closed with a spring lock. It was fully noon before they were satisfied
+that she was not up there.
+
+“Could she be in the cellar?” asked Hinpoha. Down they went, carrying
+lights to look into all the dark corners. But the search was vain. The
+girls became extremely frightened. Something told them that Sahwah’s
+disappearance was not voluntary. They looked at each other with growing
+fear. What had the message on the door said?
+
+  “_If you folks know what’s good for you you’ll get out of that
+  house._”
+
+Was that a warning of what had happened now? Was it a friendly or a
+sinister warning? Migwan was almost beside herself to think that
+anything had happened to Sahwah while she was staying with her. The day
+dragged along like a nightmare. In the afternoon Calvin had an
+inspiration. “Why didn’t I think of it before?” he almost shouted.
+“Here’s Pointer; he’s a hunting dog and can follow a trail. We’ll set
+him to find Sahwah’s trail.”
+
+“That’s right,” said Migwan, in relief, “we’ll surely find her now.”
+
+They gave Pointer a shoe of Sahwah’s and in a moment he had started off
+with his nose to the ground. But if they had expected him to lead them
+to her hiding-place they were disappointed, for all he did was follow
+the trail around the garden between the house and the river. Once he
+went down cellar, straining hard at the chain which held him, and they
+were sure he would find something they had overlooked in their search,
+but the trail ended in front of the fruit cellar.
+
+“Sahwah came down here early this morning to bring up those melons,
+don’t you remember?” said Migwan. “That’s all Pointer has found out.”
+They kept Pointer at it for some time, but he never offered to leave the
+garden.
+
+“Are you sure he’s on the trail?” asked Hinpoha, doubtfully.
+
+“Yes,” said Calvin, “he never whines that way unless he is. That long
+howl is the hunting dog’s signal that he’s on the job. When he loses the
+trail he runs back and forth uncertainly.”
+
+“According to that, Sahwah must be very near,” said Gladys. “Are you
+sure there isn’t any other place in the house, cellar or barn that she
+could have gotten into, Migwan?”
+
+“Quite sure,” said Migwan, disheartened. “You know yourself the way we
+finecombed every foot of space.”
+
+“There’s another thing that might have made Pointer lose the trail,”
+said Nyoda. “Do you remember that he stopped short at the river once?
+Well, it is my belief that Sahwah ran down to the river and either fell
+or jumped in and swam away. That would destroy the trail, and Sahwah
+might be miles away for all we know.” She carefully refrained from
+suggesting that anything had happened to Sahwah and she might have gone
+under the water and not come up again, but there was a fear tugging at
+her heart that Sahwah had dived in and struck her head on something and
+gone down.
+
+But several of the others must have had much the same thought, for
+Gladys remarked, without any apparent connection, “_You can see the
+bottom almost all the way down the river._”
+
+And Hinpoha said, “_Those tangled roots of trees in the river are nasty
+things to get into._”
+
+And Calvin set the dog free immediately and untied the rowboat. He and
+Nyoda rowed down the river while the rest followed along the banks. The
+stream was clear most of the distance and they could see to the bottom.
+Here and there were sharp rocks jutting up and casting shadows on the
+sunlit bottom, and in places the water had washed the dirt away from the
+roots of trees so that they extended out into the river like
+many-fingered creatures waiting to seize their prey. But nowhere did
+they see what they feared. In the lower part of the river, toward the
+mouth, the water was deeper and had been dredged free of all
+obstructions, so while it was muddy and they could not see into its
+depths they knew that nothing was to be found here.
+
+Vaguely relieved and yet dreadfully anxious and mystified they returned
+to Onoway House. “Do you suppose she was carried away by an automobile
+or wagon?” asked Migwan. “Does anyone recall seeing anything of the kind
+going by when we started to play?” Nobody did. While they were
+discussing this new theory, Pointer, who had been left to run loose
+while they were searching the river, came running up to them. With much
+wagging of his tail he went to Calvin and laid something at his feet For
+a moment they could not make out what it was. Migwan recognized it
+first.
+
+_It was Sahwah’s shoe, completely covered and dripping with black mud._
+
+“Where did you find it, Pointer?” asked Calvin. Pointer wagged his tail
+in evident satisfaction, but, of course, he could not answer his
+master’s question.
+
+“Is that the shoe Sahwah had on this morning?” asked Nyoda.
+
+“Yes,” said Hinpoha. “I remember asking her why she wore those shoes
+with the red buttons to run around in and she said they were getting
+tight and she wanted to wear them out.”
+
+“Where does that black mud come from around here?” asked Gladys.
+
+It was Nyoda who guessed the dreadful fact first. All of a sudden she
+remembered cleaning her shoes after she had come home from her visit to
+Uncle Peter.
+
+“_The marsh!_” she gasped. “_Sahwah’s caught in the marsh!_ It’s the
+same mud. I went to the edge of the marsh the other day to see it and
+got some on my shoe.”
+
+Without stopping to hear more, Calvin dashed off in the direction of his
+father’s farm, with Pointer at his heels and Gladys and Nyoda and
+Hinpoha and Migwan and Tom and Betty trailing after him as fast as they
+could go. Mrs. Gardiner followed a little distance behind. She could not
+keep up with them. Calvin tore a flat board from one of the fences as he
+ran along and called on the others to do the same thing. A little
+farther on he found a rope and took that along. They reached the edge of
+the marsh and looked eagerly for the figure of Sahwah imprisoned in the
+treacherous ooze. But the green surface smiled up innocently at them.
+Not a sign of a struggle, no indentation in the level, no break. To the
+unknowing it looked like the smoothest lawn lying like a sheet of
+emerald in the sun. But on second glance you saw the water bubbling up
+through the grass and then you knew the secret of the greenness. Nowhere
+could they see Sahwah.
+
+Migwan had to force herself to ask the question that was in everybody’s
+mind. “Has she gone under?”
+
+“No,” said Calvin, positively. “It can’t be possible in so short a time.
+They say that a horse went down here once long ago, and it took him more
+than two days to be covered entirely.”
+
+After being wrought up to such a pitch of expectancy it was a shock to
+find that Sahwah was not in the marsh. _But how had her shoe come to be
+covered with marsh mud, and what was it doing off her foot?_ Where had
+Pointer found it?
+
+“Oh, if only dogs could speak!” said Hinpoha. “Pointer, Pointer, where
+did you find it?” But Pointer could only wag his tail and bark.
+
+From where they stood at the edge of the marsh they could see the
+cottage among the trees. A look of inquiry passed between Nyoda and
+Migwan. Calvin saw the look and understood it.
+
+“Would you like to look in Uncle Peter’s house?” he asked. His face was
+very pale, and Nyoda, watching him keenly, thought she detected a sudden
+suspicion and fear in his eyes. He looked apprehensively over his
+shoulder at the Red House as they started to skirt the bog. Nyoda
+understood that movement. Abner Smalley did not know that they knew
+about Uncle Peter, and Calvin had said he would be very angry if he
+found it out. Now he would be sure to see them going toward the house.
+But this thought did not make Nyoda waver in her determination to search
+the cottage. The urgency of the occasion released them from their
+promise of secrecy. As Calvin had no key they were obliged to enter by
+the window as on former occasions. But the front room was absolutely
+blank and bare and they saw the impossibility of anyone’s being hidden
+there. It was a tense moment when they opened the door of the inner room
+and the girls who had never been there stepped behind the others and
+held their breath. Uncle Peter sat at the table just as Nyoda and Migwan
+had seen him a day or two before, playing with his rods and wheels. His
+mild blue eyes rested in astonishment on the number of people who
+thronged the doorway.
+
+“Come in, ladies,” he said, politely. The room was exactly as it had
+been the other day and apparently he had not stirred from his position.
+They all felt that Sahwah had not been there and that the old man knew
+nothing about the matter. But Calvin spoke to him.
+
+“Uncle Peter,” he said. The man turned at the name and stared at him but
+gave no sign of recognizing him. “Do you know me, Uncle Peter?” said
+Calvin. “It’s Calvin, Jim’s boy.”
+
+The old man smiled vacantly and held out the bit of machinery he was
+working on. “It’s a machine for saving time,” he said. “As the minutes
+are ticked off——” There was nothing to be gotten out of him, and they
+withdrew again. Calvin looked around him fearfully as they returned
+through the fields, to see if his uncle had watched him take the girls
+to the cottage, but there was no sign of him anywhere, at which he
+breathed an unconscious sigh of relief. Tired out with their ceaseless
+searching and sick with anxiety, they returned to Onoway House.
+
+If we were writing an ingeniously intricate detective story the thing to
+do would be to wait until Sahwah was discovered by some brilliant piece
+of detective work and then have her tell her story, leaving the
+explanation of the mystery until the last chapter, and keeping the
+reader on the verge of nervous prostration to the end of the piece. But,
+as this is only a faithful narrative of actual events, and as Sahwah is
+our heroine as much as any of the girls, we know that the reader would
+much prefer to follow her adventures with their own eyes, rather than
+hear about them later when she tells the story to the wondering
+household. And we also think it only fair to say that if Sahwah’s return
+had depended on any brilliant detective work on the part of the others
+we have very grave doubts as to its ever being accomplished. We will,
+then, leave the dwellers at Onoway House to their searching and
+theorizing and bewailing, and follow Sahwah from the time they started
+to play hide-and-seek and Hinpoha blinded her eyes and began to count
+“five, ten, fifteen, twenty.”
+
+Sahwah ran across the garden toward the house, intending to swing
+herself into one of the open cellar windows. Near this window was a
+flower bed which Migwan had filled with especially rich black soil. That
+morning she had watered the bed and had done it so thoroughly that the
+ground was turned into a very soft mud. Sahwah, not looking where she
+was going, stepped into this mud and sank in over her shoe top with one
+foot. When she had entered the window she stood on the cellar floor and
+regarded the muddy shoe disgustedly. Feeling that it was wet through,
+she ripped it off and flung it out of the window. It landed back in the
+muddy bed and was hidden by the growing plants. Sahwah then proceeded to
+hide herself in the fruit cellar. This was a partitioned off place in a
+dark corner. She sat among the cupboards and baskets and watched Hinpoha
+pass the window several times as she hunted for the players. Once
+Hinpoha peered searchingly into the window and Sahwah thought she was on
+the verge of being discovered and pressed back in her corner. There was
+a basket of potatoes in the way of her getting quite into the corner and
+she moved this out. There was also a barrel of vinegar and she slipped
+in behind this. As she moved the barrel it dropped back upon her
+shoeless foot and it was all she could do to repress a cry of pain as
+she stood and held the battered member in her hand. But the pain became
+so bad she decided to give up the game and get something to relieve it.
+She pushed hard against the barrel to move it out, but this time it
+would not move. She pushed harder, bracing her back against the wooden
+wall behind her, when, without warning, the wall caved in as if by
+magic, and she fell backwards head over heels into inky darkness. The
+wall through which she had fallen closed with a bang.
+
+Sahwah sat up and reached mechanically for the hurt foot. The pain had
+increased alarmingly and for a time shut out all other sensations. Then
+it abated a little and Sahwah had time to wonder what she had fallen
+into. She was sitting on a stone floor, she could make that out. It must
+be a room of some kind, she decided, but the darkness was so intense
+that she could make nothing out. “There must have been another part to
+the cellar behind the fruit cellar, although we never knew it,” thought
+Sahwah, “and the back of the fruit cellar was the door.” As soon as she
+could stand upon her foot again she moved forward in the direction from
+which she thought she had come and searched with her hands for a
+doorknob. But her fingers encountered only a smooth wall surface and
+after about five minutes of careful feeling she came to the startled
+conclusion that there was no such thing. “I must have got turned around
+when I tumbled,” she thought, “and am feeling of the wrong wall.” She
+accordingly moved forward until her outstretched hands encountered
+another hard surface and she repeated the process of looking for a
+doorknob. No more success here. “Well, there are four walls to every
+room,” thought Sahwah, “and I’ve still got two more trys.” Again she
+moved out cautiously and with ever increasing nervousness admitted that
+there was no door in that direction. “Now for the fourth side, the right
+one at last,” she said to herself. “One, two, three, out goes me!” She
+moved quickly in the fourth and last direction. Without warning she ran
+hard into something which tripped her up. She felt her head striking
+violently against something hard and then she knew no more.
+
+She woke to a dream consciousness first. She dreamed she was lying in
+the soft sand on the lake shore near one of the great stone piers, where
+a number of men were at work. They were pounding the stones with great
+hammers and the vibrations from the blows shook the beach and went
+through her as she lay on the sand. Gradually the sparkling water faded
+from her sight; the sky grew dark and night fell, but still the blows
+continued to sound on the stone. Just where the dream ended and reality
+began she never knew, but, with a rush of consciousness she knew that
+she was awake and alive; that everything was dark and that she was lying
+on her face in something soft that was like sand and yet not like it.
+And the pounding she had heard in her dream was still going on. Thud,
+thud, it shook the earth and jarred her so her teeth were on edge. For a
+long time she lay and listened without wondering much what it was. Her
+head ached with such intensity that it might have been the throbbing of
+her temples that was shaking the earth so. After a while that dulled,
+but the jarring blows still kept up. With a cessation of the pain came
+the power to think and Sahwah remembered the strange noises they had
+heard issuing from the ground. It must be the same noise; only it was a
+hundred times louder now. It was a sort of clanging thump; like the
+sound of steel on stone. Even with all that noise going on Sahwah
+slipped off into half consciousness at times. Although there did not
+seem to be any doors or windows, she was not suffering for lack of air,
+but at the time she was too dazed to notice this and wonder at it.
+
+She woke with a start from one of these dozes to the realization that
+there was a broad streak of light on the floor. Fully conscious now, she
+raised her head and looked around. She was lying in a bin filled with
+sawdust. When she held up her head her eyes came just to the top of it.
+By the light she could see that she was indeed in a sort of sub-cellar.
+It must have been older than the other cellar for the floor was made of
+great slabs of mouldy stone. Her eyes followed the beam of light and she
+saw that a door had been opened into still another cellar beyond. In
+this chamber a lantern stood on the floor, whence came the light, and
+its ray produced weird and fantastic moving shadows. These shadows came
+from a man who was wielding a pickaxe against a spot in the stone wall.
+It was this that was causing the jarring blows. Startled almost out of
+her senses at seeing a man thus apparently caged up in the sub-cellar of
+Onoway House, Sahwah could only lay back with a gasp. She could not
+raise her voice to cry out had she been so inclined.
+
+But fast on the heels of that shock came another. The worker paused in
+his exertions to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and stood where
+the light of the lantern shone full in his face. Sahwah’s heart gave a
+great leap when she recognized Abner Smalley. Abner Smalley in the
+hidden sub-cellar of Onoway House, digging a hole in the wall! Sahwah
+forgot her own plight in curiosity as to what he was doing. She lay and
+watched him fascinated while he resumed his pounding. So he was the
+mysterious intruder who had wrought such terror among them! This, then,
+was the well digger’s ghost! What could he be searching for in the
+cellar of his neighbor’s house? Sahwah dug her feet into the soft
+sawdust as she watched the pick rise and fall. She had no idea of the
+flight of time. She thought it was only a few minutes since she had
+fallen into the sub-cellar. She lay thinking of the expressions on the
+faces of the girls when she would tell them her discovery. To think that
+she had been the one to solve the mystery! She felt a little
+disappointed that the mysterious intruder should have turned out to be
+someone they knew. It would have been more in keeping with her idea of
+romance to have found a prince shut up in the cellar.
+
+While she was thinking these thoughts the light suddenly vanished and
+she heard the bang of a door shutting. She was in darkness once more. In
+a moment she heard footsteps retreating and dying away in the distance.
+All was silent again. It took her some moments to collect her thoughts
+sufficiently to realize a new and significant fact. _Abner Smalley had
+not gone out by the door into the fruit cellar. There must be, then,
+another way of egress from the sub-cellar._ Instantly Sahwah made up her
+mind to follow him and see how he had gotten out at the other end. Her
+feet were imbedded deeply in the sawdust and she became aware of the
+fact that her shoeless foot was resting against something with a sharp
+edge. She drew it away and then carefully felt with her hands for the
+object. She could not see it when she had it but it felt like a metal
+box of some kind, possibly tin. She carried it with her and moved toward
+the place where she now knew there was a door. She found the handle
+easily and opened it. This was the side of the wall toward which she had
+moved when she had run into the bin before, and so she did not discover
+it. A strong breath of air struck her as she advanced into this chamber.
+It was scarcely more than a passage, for by reaching out her arms she
+could touch the wall on both sides. She moved cautiously, fearing to
+fall again in the dark. She felt the place in the wall where Abner
+Smalley had made an indentation with his pick. She was wondering where
+this passage led and wishing it would come to an end soon, when she
+struck the already sore foot against what must have been the pickaxe set
+against the wall and fell on her nose once more. The tin box she carried
+was rammed into the pit of her stomach and knocked the breath out of
+her, but this time she had not hit her head.
+
+She lay still for a moment trying to get her breath back. Her eyes were
+becoming accustomed to the inky darkness by this time. She looked down
+and saw a stone floor beneath her. She turned her head to one side and
+saw a stone wall beside her. She turned over altogether and looked
+up—and saw the constellation Cassiopea flashing down at her from the
+sky. For a moment she could not believe her senses. Of all the strange
+sights she had seen nothing had affected her so powerfully as the sight
+of that familiar group of stars. What she had expected to see she could
+not tell, stone perhaps, but anything except the open sky. She sat up in
+a hurry and began to investigate where she was. The wall around her
+seemed to be circular and all of a sudden Sahwah had the answer. She was
+in the cistern—the old unused cistern which was not a great distance
+from the house. This, then, was the opening of the sub-cellar, the way
+in which Mr. Smalley had made his escape. There was usually a covering
+over the cistern, but he had evidently been in a hurry and left it off.
+
+The fact that there were stars out took Sahwah’s breath away. It was
+night then; had she been in that cellar all day? It was inconceivable,
+yet it was undoubtedly true. By the faint glimmer of the stars she could
+make out that there were hollows in the stone side of the cistern by
+which a person could easily climb out. She lost no time in climbing when
+she made this discovery. What a joy it was to be coming up into God’s
+outdoors again! As she emerged from the cistern she saw Migwan standing
+in the garden beside the back porch. The moon shone full on her as she
+stepped out of the hole in the ground and just then Migwan caught sight
+of her. The apparition was too much for Migwan and she screamed one
+terrified scream after another until the girls came running from all
+over to see what fresh calamity had happened. Only seeing Sahwah
+standing in their midst and not having seen her appear magically out of
+the depths of the ground, they could not understand Migwan’s terror.
+
+“Stop screaming, Migwan,” said Sahwah, and when Migwan heard her voice
+and saw that it was really she, she quieted down and listened while
+Sahwah told her tale of adventure since going down into the cellar to
+hide. The day had passed so quickly for Sahwah, she having lain
+unconscious until late in the afternoon, that she, of course, knew
+nothing of their frantic search for her and so could not comprehend why
+they made such a fuss over her return. They laughed and cried all at
+once and hugged her until she finally protested.
+
+“What have you brought along as a souvenir of your trip?” asked Nyoda,
+who had regained her light-hearted manner now that Sahwah was safely
+back.
+
+Sahwah looked down at the box she held in her hand. “I found it in the
+bin of sawdust,” she said. “It was just like playing ‘Fish-pond’ at the
+children’s parties. You put your hand in a box of sawdust and draw out a
+handsome prize.” And Sahwah laughed, her familiar long drawn-out giggle,
+that they had despaired of ever hearing again. She laid the box on the
+table. It was of tin, about nine inches long by three inches wide by
+three high, with a closely fitting cover. “Shall I open it, Nyoda?” she
+asked.
+
+“I don’t see any harm in doing so,” said Nyoda. Sahwah took off the
+cover. There was nothing in the box but a folded piece of paper. She
+took it and spread it before them on the table.
+
+“What is it?” they all cried, crowding around. The first thing that
+caught their eye was a slanting line drawn across the paper in heavy
+ink. There was some writing beside it, but this was so faded that it
+took some studying to make it out. Finally they got it. It read:
+
+“_Supposed extension of gas vein._” The upper end of the line was marked
+“_36 feet west of cistern._” There was a cross at that point also, and
+this was marked, “_Place where gas was struck at 300 feet._”
+
+“The Deacon’s gas well!” they all exclaimed in chorus. It was true,
+then.
+
+“And there was a well digger’s ghost, even if it didn’t turn out to be
+the one we expected!” said Migwan.
+
+That day was never to be forgotten, although the next cleared up the
+mystery and brought still another surprise. Dave Beeman, the constable,
+was once more brought out and this time furnished with information that
+nearly caused his eyes to start from his head. Abner Smalley, the (as
+everyone supposed) respectable citizen of Centerville Road, breaking
+into his neighbor’s house and deliberately trying to dig a hole in the
+stone wall. It was the sensation of his career. “Well, I’ll be
+jiggered!” he gasped.
+
+But his surprise was nothing compared to Abner Smalley’s when he was
+confronted with the accusation without warning. He turned so pale and
+trembled so much that it was useless to deny his guilt.
+
+“You are guilty, Abney Smalley,” said the constable, in such a solemn
+tone that the girls could hardly keep straight faces. “You’d better make
+a clean breast of it and tell what you were doing in that house or it
+might go hard with you.”
+
+Abner Smalley, although he was a bully by nature, was a coward when the
+odds were against him, and he had always had a wholesome fear of the
+law, so at Dave Beeman’s suggestion he decided to “make a clean breast
+of it.” We will not weary the reader with all the conversation that took
+place, but will simply tell the facts of the story.
+
+Some time ago, while the old caretaker lived on the place yet, the story
+of the Deacon’s gas well had come to Abner Smalley’s ears. He heard a
+fact connected with it, however, that was not generally known, namely,
+that the Deacon had made a record of the place where the gas was found.
+Believing that the Deacon had left it hidden somewhere in the house, he
+had devised a means of breaking in and searching for it. His first plan
+had been to frighten the dwellers in the house and make them believe
+there was a ghost in the attic so they would give the place a wide berth
+at night and leave him free to ransack the Deacon’s old furniture. He
+frightened the Mitchells so that they moved. But no sooner had the
+Mitchells departed than the new caretakers had come; and they were a
+much bigger houseful than the others.
+
+He had tried the same plan with them as he had with the others, namely,
+mysterious noises around the place at night. But what had frightened
+Mrs. Mitchell into moving had no effect on these new farmers. They shot
+off a gun when he was doing his best ghost stunt, namely, blowing into a
+bottle, which had produced that weird moaning sound. He it was who had
+dressed up as a ghost and appeared to Nyoda in the tepee; throwing the
+red pepper into her face when she made as if to attack him with a pole.
+It was he whom they had seen coming out of the barn that night, and
+later it was he again whom Migwan had seen during the hail storm. He had
+disappeared so utterly by jumping down the cistern. That was the first
+time he had been down, and on this occasion he had discovered the
+passage leading to the sub-cellar. It was he the girls had heard in the
+attic on numerous occasions. He had entered and gone out after dark by
+means of the Balm of Gilead tree. One time he broke the window. He had
+been down cellar that night when Sahwah nearly caught him. He was
+looking for the other entrance to the sub-cellar, which he never found.
+He knocked over the basket of potatoes which had mystified them so. He
+had been on the point of entering the house that day when Sahwah
+suddenly returned from town after he thought the whole family was gone
+for the day. When he saw her go off along the river he went in anyway
+and was nearly caught in the attic by the girls. He had escaped
+detection by hiding in a large chest.
+
+The day they had gone for the picnic he saw them go and spent all day
+looking through the desks in the house. Finally the dog barked so he
+gave him the poisoned meat he had brought along to use if necessary.
+Then the family had returned and he had had a narrow escape into the
+cistern. He had stayed there until night, when he had set fire to the
+tepee, not knowing that anyone was sleeping in it. After starting the
+blaze he had again sought refuge in the cistern and when the crowd had
+gathered, came out in their midst so that his absence from such an
+exciting event in the neighborhood would cause no comment among the
+farmers. The cistern was in the shadow and everyone was watching the
+fire so intently that he was able to emerge unseen.
+
+He had sprayed the tomatoes with lime and written the note which they
+found on the door. He had left the chisel in the automobile on one
+occasion when he had been hunting through the things in the barn;
+forgetting to take it with him when he went out.
+
+He wanted to get hold of that record secretly and be sure whether the
+great vein of gas which the Deacon knew existed was on the property now
+owned by the Bartletts or that of the Landsdownes, and then he was going
+to buy that property before the owners knew about the gas, as the land
+would be worth a fortune if that fact ever became known. He was pretty
+sure, after discovering that sub-cellar, that the Deacon had left his
+papers down there when he went to California. By pounding on the walls
+he had discovered one place which he was sure was hollow. If the stone
+that covered the place could be removed by any trick he failed to
+discover it and had to resort to digging it out with a pick. This, as we
+already know, produced the dull thudding sound underground which had
+frightened the household almost out of their wits. The reason he could
+prowl around in the yard at night after they had set the dog to watch
+was that Pointer knew him and made no disturbance upon seeing him.
+
+Abner Smalley was marched off triumphantly by Dave Beeman, and was held
+on such a complicated charge of house-breaking, arson, assault and
+battery, and intimidating peaceful citizens, that it took the combined
+efforts of the village to draw it up. Thus ended the great mystery which
+had kept Onoway House in more or less of an uproar all summer.
+
+“I never saw anything like the way we Winnebagos have of falling into
+things,” said Sahwah. “Here Mr. Smalley made such elaborate efforts to
+find that record, using up more energy and ingenuity than it would take
+to dig up the whole farm and hunt for the gas well; and he didn’t find
+it in the end; and all I did was drop in on top of it without even
+suspecting its existence.”
+
+“There must be a special destiny that guides us,” said Migwan. “Perhaps
+we possess an enchanted goblet, like the ‘Luck of Edenhall,’ only it’s
+‘The Luck of the Winnebagos.’”
+
+“Cheer for the ‘Luck of the Winnebagos,’” said Sahwah, who never lost an
+occasion to raise a cheer on any pretext. And at that Sahwah never
+dreamed of the extent of the good fortune she had brought the Bartletts
+by her lucky tumble. The vein of gas which was struck when they
+subsequently drilled proved a sensation even in that notable gas region
+and made millionaires of its owners. And the reward which Sahwah
+received for finding the record, and that which the others received
+“just for living,” as Migwan expressed it—for though they had not found
+the sub-cellar themselves it was due to their game that Sahwah had found
+it—drove the memory of their fright from their heads. But we are getting
+a little ahead of our story. There is one more chapter yet to the Luck
+of the Winnebagos before that remarkable summer came to an end.
+
+After the departure of Abner Smalley things grew so quiet at Onoway
+House that Migwan, who had declared before that she would be a wreck if
+the excitement did not cease soon, was now complaining that things
+seemed flat and she wished the mystery hadn’t been cleared up because it
+robbed them of their chief topic of conversation.
+
+“Well, I’m going to take advantage of the quiet atmosphere and
+straighten out my bureau drawers,” said Nyoda. “I haven’t been able to
+put my mind to it with all this excitement going on. And they’re a sight
+since you girls went rummaging for things for the Thieves’ Market.” In
+doing this she came upon that strange creation of Uncle Peter’s brain,
+the plan for the “Wasted Minute Saving Machine.” She showed it to the
+girls and they examined it wonderingly.
+
+“What is this on the other side?” asked Migwan. “It’s a will!” she
+cried, reading it through. “It says, ‘I, Adam Smalley, give and
+bequeathe my farm on the Centerville Road to my son Jim, as Abner has
+already had his share in cash.’”
+
+“Let me see!” cried Calvin. “It’s the latest one!” he shouted, reading
+the date. “It’s dated 1902 and the one Uncle Abner found was 1900. The
+farm is mine after all! Uncle Peter had this will in his possession and
+didn’t know it! How can I thank you girls for what you’ve done for me?”
+
+“It was all Migwan’s fault,” said Hinpoha. “She insisted upon going to
+see whether the old man was all right after the storm.”
+
+Migwan declared that she had had nothing to do with it; it was the Luck
+of the Winnebagos that had given her the inspiration. But Calvin knew
+well that in this case the Luck of the Winnebagos was only Migwan’s own
+thoughtfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.—GOOD-BYE TO ONOWAY HOUSE.
+
+
+By the first of September Migwan had made enough money from the sale of
+canned tomatoes to more than pay her way through college the first year.
+“It’s Mother Nature who has been my fairy godmother,” she said to the
+girls. “I asked her for the money to go to college and she put her hand
+deep into her earth pocket and brought it out for me. It’s like the
+magic gardens in the fairy tales where the money grew on the bushes.”
+
+“What a summer this has been, to be sure,” said Hinpoha, who was in a
+reflective mood. They were all sitting in the orchard, busy with various
+sorts of handwork. The day was hot and drowsy and the shade of the trees
+most inviting. “Migwan and I thought we would have such a quiet time
+together, just we two. She was going to write a book and I was going to
+illustrate it, when we weren’t working in the garden. And how
+differently it all turned out! One by one you other girls came—I’ll
+never forget how funny Gladys and Nyoda looked when they came out that
+night, and how surprised Sahwah was to find you here when she arrived.
+Then Gladys brought Ophelia, I mean Beatrice, and after that we never
+had a quiet moment. Then the mystery began and kept up all summer.
+Instead of these three months being a quiet rest they’ve been the most
+thrilling time of my life.”
+
+“It seems to have agreed with you, though,” said Sahwah, mischievously,
+whereupon there was a general laugh, for Hinpoha, instead of growing
+thin with all the worry and excitement, had actually gained five pounds.
+
+“As much worry as it caused me,” said Migwan, “I’m glad everything
+happened as it did. The summer I had looked forward to would have been
+horribly dull and uninteresting, but now I feel that I’ve had some real
+experiences. I’ve got enough ideas for stories to last for years to
+come.”
+
+“And for moving picture plays,” said Hinpoha. “But,” she added, “if you
+go in for that sort of thing seriously, where am I coming in? You know
+we made a compact; I was to illustrate everything you wrote, and how am
+I going to illustrate moving picture plays?”
+
+There was a ripple of amusement at her perplexity. “You’ll have to
+illustrate them by acting them out,” said Gladys. They all agreed
+Hinpoha would make a hit as a motion picture actress, all but Sahwah,
+who dropped her eyes to her lap when Migwan began to talk about moving
+pictures, and presently went into the house to fetch something she
+needed for her work. When she came out again the subject had been
+changed and was no longer embarrassing to her.
+
+“What will the Bartletts say when they hear the peach crop was ruined by
+the wind storm?” asked Hinpoha.
+
+“That’s the only thing about our summer experience that I really
+regret,” answered Migwan. “I wrote and told them about it, of course,
+when I told them about the gas well, and Mrs. Bartlett said we shouldn’t
+worry about it and that we ourselves were a crop of peaches.”
+
+“The dear thing!” said Gladys. “I should love to see the Bartletts again
+some time; they were so friendly to us last summer, and it is all due to
+them that we have had such a glorious time this summer.”
+
+Scarcely had she spoken when an automobile entered the drive and stopped
+beside the house. Migwan ran out to see who it was. The next moment she
+had her arms around the neck of a pretty little woman. “Oh, Mrs.
+Bartlett!” she cried. “Did the fairies bring you? We just made a wish to
+see you.”
+
+Soon the girls were all flocking around the car, shaking hands with Mr.
+and Mrs. Bartlett, and making a fuss over little Raymond. How the
+Bartletts did sit up in astonishment when all the events of the summer
+were told in detail! “Well, you certainly are trumps for sticking it
+out,” said Mr. Bartlett, admiringly. “Nobody but a bunch of Camp Fire
+Girls would have done it.” At which the Winnebagos glowed with pride.
+
+Now that the Bartletts had come to stay at Onoway House, Migwan decided
+she would go home a week earlier than she had planned, as there was not
+enough room for so many people there. Aunt Phœbe and the Doctor were in
+town again, so Hinpoha could go home if she wished; and Sahwah’s mother
+had also returned. They were a little sorry to break up so abruptly when
+they had planned quite a few things for that last week to celebrate the
+finishing of the canning, but all agreed that under the circumstances it
+was the best thing they could do.
+
+“I really need a week at home,” said Migwan with a twinkle in her eye,
+“to rest up from my vacation. There I’ll get the peace and quiet that I
+came here to seek.” Take care, O Migwan, how you talk! Once before you
+predicted peace and quiet, and see what happened!
+
+Before they went, however, they must have one more big time altogether,
+Mrs. Bartlett insisted, and she went into town on purpose to bring out
+Nakwisi and Chapa and Medmangi. Close behind them came another car which
+also stopped at Onoway House, and out of it stepped Mr. and Mrs. Evans
+and Aunt Beatrice and Uncle Lynn and little Beatrice, the latter dressed
+up in wonderful new clothes and already subtly changed, but still eager
+to romp with the girls and tag after Sahwah.
+
+“See here,” said Mr. Evans, when they were all talking about going home
+the next day, “you girls have been working pretty hard this summer, and
+haven’t had a real vacation yet, why don’t you go for an automobile trip
+the last week? Gladys has her car; that is, if it came through all the
+excitement alive, and mother and I would be willing to let you take the
+other one. Go on a run of say a thousand miles or so, and see a few
+cities. The change will do you good.”
+
+“Oh, papa!” cried Gladys, clapping her hands in rapture. “That will be
+wonderful!” And the other girls fell in love with the idea on the spot.
+
+As this was to be their last night at Onoway House nothing was left
+undone that would make the occasion a happy one. The evening was fine
+and warm and the stars hung in the sky like great jeweled lamps. With
+one accord they all sought the garden and the orchard, where Gladys
+danced on the grass in the moonlight like a real fairy. Then all the
+girls danced together, until Mrs. Evans declared that they looked like
+the dancing nymphs in the Corot picture. And Beatrice, who had been
+taught those same things during the summer, broke away from her mother
+and joined in the dance, as light and graceful as Gladys herself. It was
+plain to see that she had the gift which ran in the family, and as her
+mother watched her with a thrill of pride her heart overflowed anew in
+thankfulness to the girls who had restored her daughter to her.
+
+“On such a night,” quoted Migwan, looking up at the moon, “Leander swam
+the Hellespont——”
+
+“The river!” cried Sahwah, immediately, “we must go out on the river
+once more. Oh, how can I say good-bye to the Tortoise-Crab?” And she
+shed imaginary tears into her handkerchief.
+
+“Let’s go for one more float,” cried all the girls.
+
+The grown-ups strolled down to the river bank and sat on the grassy
+slope, watching with indulgent interest what the girls were going to do
+next. They saw them coming far up the river and heard their song as it
+was wafted down on the scented breeze. Slowly and majestically the raft
+approached, with Sahwah standing up and guiding it with the pole. When
+it had come nearer the onlookers saw a romantic spectacle indeed. Gladys
+reposed on a bed of flowers and leaves, under a canopy of branches and
+vines, a ravishingly lovely Cleopatra. Beside her knelt Antony,
+otherwise Migwan, holding out to her a big white water lily. The other
+Winnebagos, as slave maidens, sat on the raft and wove flower wreaths or
+fanned their lovely mistress with leaf fans. It was the slaves who were
+doing the singing and their clear voices rang out with wonderful harmony
+on the enchanted air. On they came, past the spot where Sahwah had been
+hidden on the afternoon of the moving pictures; past the Lorelei Rock,
+where they had held that other pageant which had frightened Calvin so;
+past the spot where they lay concealed and watched the strange manœuvers
+of the supposed Venoti gang. Each rock and tree along the stream was
+pregnant with memories of that eventful summer, and they could hardly
+believe that they were saying good-bye to it all.
+
+Now they were opposite the watchers on the bank and the murmurs of
+admiration reached their ears as they floated past. “What lovely
+voices——”
+
+“What wonderful imaginations those girls have——”
+
+“How beautifully they work together——”
+
+Calvin looked on in speechless admiration, his eyes for the most part on
+Migwan. Never in his life had he regretted anything so much as he did
+the fact that these jolly friends of his were going away. He was to stay
+on his farm after all and now the prospect suddenly seemed empty.
+
+The voices of the onlookers blended in the ears of the boaters with the
+murmur of the river as it flowed over the stones, and with the sighing
+of the wind in the willows as the raft passed on.
+
+And here let us leave the Winnebagos for a time as we love best to see
+them, all together on the water, their voices raised in the wonder song
+of youth as they float down the river under the spell of the magic
+moonlight.
+
+                                THE END.
+
+The next volume in this series is entitled: The Camp Fire Girls Go
+Motoring; or, Along the Road that Leads the Way.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Camp Fire Girls Series
+
+By HILDEGARD G. FREY. The only series of stories for Camp Fire Girls
+endorsed by the officials of the Camp Fire Girls Organization.
+
+PRICE, 40 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or,
+    The Winnebagos go Camping.
+
+This lively Camp Fire group and their Guardian go back to Nature in a
+camp in the wilds of Maine and pile up more adventures in one summer
+than they have had in all their previous vacations put together. Before
+the summer is over they have transformed Gladys, the frivolous boarding
+school girl, into a genuine Winnebago.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT SCHOOL; or,
+    The Wohelo Weavers.
+
+It is the custom of the Winnebagos to weave the events of their lives
+into symbolic bead bands, instead of keeping a diary. All commendatory
+doings are worked out in bright colors, but every time the Law of the
+Camp Fire is broken it must be recorded in black. How these seven live
+wire girls strive to infuse into their school life the spirit of Work,
+Health and Love and yet manage to get into more than their share of
+mischief, is told in this story.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE; or,
+    The Magic Garden.
+
+Migwan is determined to go to college, and not being strong enough to
+work indoors earns the money by raising fruits and vegetables. The
+Winnebagos all turn a hand to help the cause along and the “goings-on”
+at Onoway House that summer make the foundations shake with laughter.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING; or,
+    Along the Road That Leads the Way.
+
+The Winnebagos take a thousand mile auto trip. The “pinching” of Nyoda,
+the fire in the country inn, the runaway girl and the dead-earnest hare
+and hound chase combine to make these three weeks the most exciting the
+Winnebagos have ever experienced.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Blue Grass Seminary Girls Series
+
+By CAROLYN JUDSON BURNETT
+
+Handsome Cloth Binding
+
+Price, 40c. per Volume
+
+_Splendid Stories of the Adventures of a Group of Charming Girls_
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS’ VACATION ADVENTURES;
+    or, Shirley Willing to the Rescue.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS’ CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS;
+    or, A Four Weeks’ Tour with the Glee Club.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS;
+    or, Shirley Willing on a Mission of Peace.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS ON THE WATER;
+    or, Exciting Adventures on a Summer’s Cruise Through the
+    Panama Canal.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Mildred Series
+
+By MARTHA FINLEY
+
+Handsome Cloth Binding
+
+Price, 40c. per Volume
+
+_A Companion Series to the Famous “Elsie” Books by the Same Author_
+
+    MILDRED KEITH
+    MILDRED AT ROSELANDS
+    MILDRED AND ELSIE
+    MILDRED’S NEW DAUGHTER
+    MILDRED’S MARRIED LIFE
+    MILDRED AT HOME
+    MILDRED’S BOYS AND GIRLS
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Girl Chum’s Series
+
+ALL AMERICAN AUTHORS.
+
+ALL COPYRIGHT STORIES.
+
+A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by popular
+authors. These are charming stories for young girls, well told and full
+of interest. Their simplicity, tenderness, healthy, interesting motives,
+vigorous action, and character painting will please all girl readers.
+
+HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING.
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS.
+
+  BENHURST CLUB, THE. By Howe Benning.
+
+  BERTHA’S SUMMER BOARDERS. By Linnie S. Harris.
+
+  BILLOW PRAIRIE. A Story of Life in the Great West. By Joy Allison.
+
+  DUXBERRY DOINGS. A New England Story. By Caroline B. Le Row.
+
+  FUSSBUDGET’S FOLKS. A Story For Young Girls. By Anna F. Burnham.
+
+  HAPPY DISCIPLINE, A. By Elizabeth Cummings.
+
+  JOLLY TEN, THE. and Their Year of Stories. By Agnes Carr Sage.
+
+  KATIE ROBERTSON. A Girl’s Story of Factory Life. By M. E. Winslow.
+
+  LONELY HILL. A Story For Girls. By M. L. Thornton-Wilder.
+
+  MAJORIBANKS. A Girl’s Story. By Elvirton Wright.
+
+  MISS CHARITY’S HOUSE. By Howe Benning.
+
+  MISS ELLIOT’S GIRLS. A Story For Young Girls. By Mary Spring
+  Corning.
+
+  MISS MALCOLM’S TEN. A Story For Girls. By Margaret E. Winslow.
+
+  ONE GIRL’S WAY OUT. By Howe Benning.
+
+  PEN’S VENTURE. By Elvirton Wright.
+
+  RUTH PRENTICE. A Story For Girls. By Marion Thorne.
+
+  THREE YEARS AT GLENWOOD. A Story of School Life. By M. E. Winslow.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Girl Comrade’s Series
+
+ALL AMERICAN AUTHORS.
+
+ALL COPYRIGHT STORIES.
+
+A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by popular
+authors. These are charming stories for young girls, well told and full
+of interest. Their simplicity, tenderness, healthy, interesting motives,
+vigorous action, and character painting will please all girl readers.
+
+HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING.
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS.
+
+  A BACHELOR MAID AND HER BROTHER. By I. T. Thurston.
+
+  ALL ABOARD. A Story For Girls. By Fanny E. Newberry.
+
+  ALMOST A GENIUS. A Story For Girls. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  ANNICE WYNKOOP, Artist. Story of a Country Girl. By Adelaide L.
+  Rouse.
+
+  BUBBLES. A Girl’s Story. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  COMRADES. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  DEANE GIRLS, THE. A Home Story. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  HELEN BEATON, COLLEGE WOMAN. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  JOYCE’S INVESTMENTS. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  MELLICENT RAYMOND. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  MISS ASHTON’S NEW PUPIL. A School Girl’s Story. By Mrs. S. S.
+  Robbins.
+
+  NOT FOR PROFIT. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  ODD ONE, THE. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  SARA, A PRINCESS. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The AMY E. BLANCHARD Series
+
+Miss Blanchard has won an enviable reputation as a writer of short
+stories for girls. Her books are thoroughly wholesome in every way and
+her style is full of charm. The titles described below will be splendid
+additions to every girl’s library.
+
+Handsomely bound in cloth, full library size.
+
+Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. Price, 60 cents per volume, postpaid.
+
+THE GLAD LADY. A spirited account of a remarkably pleasant vacation
+spent in an unfrequented part of northern Spain. This summer, which
+promised at the outset to be very quiet, proved to be exactly the
+opposite. Event follows event in rapid succession and the story ends
+with the culmination of at least two happy romances. The story
+throughout is interwoven with vivid descriptions of real places and
+people of which the general public knows very little. These add greatly
+to the reader’s interest.
+
+WIT’S END. Instilled with life, color and individuality, this story of
+true love cannot fail to attract and hold to its happy end the reader’s
+eager attention. The word pictures are masterly; while the poise of
+narrative and description is marvellously preserved.
+
+A JOURNEY OF JOY. A charming story of the travels and adventures of two
+young American girls, and an elderly companion in Europe. It is not only
+well told, but the amount of information contained will make it a very
+valuable addition to the library of any girl who anticipates making a
+similar trip. Their many pleasant experiences end in the culmination of
+two happy romances, all told in the happiest vein.
+
+TALBOT’S ANGLES. A charming romance of Southern life. Talbot’s Angles is
+a beautiful old estate located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The
+death of the owner and the ensuing legal troubles render it necessary
+for our heroine, the present owner, to leave the place which has been in
+her family for hundreds of years and endeavor to earn her own living.
+Another claimant for the property appearing on the scene complicates
+matters still more. The untangling of this mixed-up condition of affairs
+makes an extremely interesting story.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent prepaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Spies Series
+
+These stories are based on important historical events, scenes wherein
+boys are prominent characters being selected. They are the romance of
+history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity to picturing the home
+life, and accurate in every particular.
+
+Handsome Cloth Bindings
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
+
+  A story of the part they took in its defence.
+  By William P. Chipman.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE DEFENCE OF FORT HENRY.
+
+  A boy’s story of Wheeling Creek in 1777.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
+
+  A story of two boys at the siege of Boston.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT.
+
+  A story of two Ohio boys in the War of 1812.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH LAFAYETTE.
+
+  The story of how two boys joined the Continental Army.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES ON CHESAPEAKE BAY.
+
+  The story of two young spies under Commodore Barney.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH THE REGULATORS.
+
+  The story of how the boys assisted the Carolina Patriots to drive
+  the British from that State.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH THE SWAMP FOX.
+
+  The story of General Marion and his young spies.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT YORKTOWN.
+
+  The story of how the spies helped General Lafayette in the
+  Siege of Yorktown.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
+
+  The story of how the young spies helped the Continental Army
+  at Valley Forge.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF FORT GRISWOLD.
+
+  The story of the part they took in its brave defence.
+  By William P. Chipman.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF OLD NEW YORK.
+
+  The story of how the young spies prevented the capture of
+  General Washington.
+  By James Otis.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Navy Boys Series
+
+A series of excellent stories of adventure on sea and land, selected
+from the works of popular writers; each volume designed for boys’
+reading.
+
+Handsome Cloth Bindings
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN DEFENCE OF LIBERTY.
+
+    A story of the burning of the British schooner Gaspee in 1772.
+    By William Pman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS ON LONG ISLAND SOUND.
+
+    A story of the Whale Boat Navy of 1776.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS AT THE SIEGE OF HAVANA.
+
+    Being the experience of three boys serving under Israel Putnam
+    in 1772.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS WITH GRANT AT VICKSBURG.
+
+    A boy’s story of the siege of Vicksburg.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS’ CRUISE WITH PAUL JONES.
+
+    A boy’s story of a cruise with the Great Commodore in 1776.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS ON LAKE ONTARIO.
+
+    The story of two boys and their adventures in the War of 1812.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS’ CRUISE ON THE PICKERING.
+
+    A boy’s story of privateering in 1780.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN NEW YORK BAY.
+
+    A story of three boys who took command of the schooner “The Laughing
+    Mary,” the first vessel of the American Navy.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN THE TRACK OF THE ENEMY.
+
+    The story of a remarkable cruise with the Sloop of War “Providence”
+    and the Frigate “Alfred.”
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS’ DARING CAPTURE.
+
+    The story of how the navy boys helped to capture the British Cutter
+    “Margaretta,” in 1775.
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS’ CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS.
+
+    The adventures of two Yankee Middies with the first cruise of an
+    American Squadron in 1775.
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS’ CRUISE WITH COLUMBUS.
+
+    The adventures of two boys who sailed with the great Admiral in his
+    discovery of America.
+    By Frederick A. Ober
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Jack Lorimer Series
+
+Volumes By WINN STANDISH
+
+Handsomely Bound in Cloth
+
+Full Library Size—Price
+
+40 cents per Volume, postpaid
+
+CAPTAIN JACK LORIMER;
+    or, The Young Athlete of Millvale High.
+
+Jack Lorimer is a fine example of the all-around American high-school
+boyfondness for clean, honest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of
+sympathy among athletic youths.
+
+JACK LORIMER’S CHAMPIONS;
+    or, Sports on Land and Lake.
+
+There is a lively story woven in with the athletic achievements, which
+are all right, since the book has been by Chadwick, the Nestor of
+American sporting Journalism.
+
+JACK LORIMER’S HOLIDAYS;
+    or, Millvale High in Camp.
+
+It would be well not to put this book into a boy’s hands until the
+chores are finished, otherwise they might be neglected.
+
+JACK LORIMER’S SUBSTITUTE;
+    or, The Acting Captain of the Team.
+
+On the sporting side, the book takes up football, wrestling,
+tobogganing. There is a good deal of fun in this book and plenty of
+action.
+
+JACK LORIMER, FRESHMAN;
+    or, From Millvale High to Exmouth.
+
+Jack and some friends he makes crowd innumerable happenings into an
+exciting freshman year at one of the leading Eastern colleges. The book
+is typical of the American college boy’s life, and there is a lively
+story, interwoven with feats on the gridiron, hockey, basketball and
+other clean, honest sports for which Jack Lorimer stands.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Allies With the Battleships
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By ENSIGN ROBERT L. DRAKE
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton, young American lads, meet each other
+in an unusual way soon after the declaration of war. Circumstances place
+them on board the British cruiser “The Sylph” and from there on, they
+share adventures with the sailors of the Allies. Ensign Robert L. Drake,
+the author, is an experienced naval officer, and he describes admirably
+the many exciting adventures of the two boys.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES UNDER THE SEA;
+    or, The Vanishing Submarine.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALTIC;
+    or, Through Fields of Ice to Aid the Czar.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES ON THE NORTH SEA PATROL;
+    or, Striking the First Blow at the German Fleet.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES UNDER TWO FLAGS;
+    or, Sweeping the Enemy from the Seas.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE FLYING SQUADRON;
+    or, The Naval Raiders of the Great War.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE TERROR OF THE SEAS;
+    or, The Last Shot of Submarine D-16.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Allies With the Army
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By CLAIR W. HAYES
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+In this series we follow the fortunes of two American lads unable to
+leave Europe after war is declared. They meet the soldiers of the
+Allies, and decide to cast their lot with them. Their experiences and
+escapes are many, and furnish plenty of the good, healthy action that
+every boy loves.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN GREAT PERIL;
+    or, With the Italian Army in the Alps.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALKAN CAMPAIGN;
+    or, The Struggle to Save a Nation.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES AT LIEGE;
+    or, Through Lines of Steel.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES ON THE FIRING LINE;
+    or, Twelve Days Battle Along the Marne.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE COSSACKS;
+    or, A Wild Dash over the Carpathians.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE TRENCHES;
+    or, Midst Shot and Shell Along the Aisne
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Scouts Series
+
+By HERBERT CARTER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM;
+    or, Caught Between the Hostile Armies.
+
+In this volume we follow the thrilling adventures of the boys in the
+midst of the exciting struggle abroad.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE;
+    or, The Strange Secret of Alligator Swamp.
+
+Startling experiences awaited the comrades when they visited the
+Southland. But their knowledge of woodcraft enabled them to overcome all
+difficulties.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA.
+
+A story of Burgoyne’s defeat in 1777.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS’ FIRST CAMP FIRE;
+    or, Scouting with the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+This book brims over with woods lore and the thrilling adventure that
+befell the Boy Scouts during their vacation in the wilderness.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE;
+    or, Marooned Among the Moonshiners.
+
+This story tells of the strange and mysterious adventures that happened
+to the Patrol in their trip among the moonshiners of North Carolina.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL;
+    or, Scouting through the Big Game Country.
+
+The story recites the adventures of the members of the Silver Fox Patrol
+with wild animals of the forest trails and the desperate men who had
+sought a refuge in this lonely country.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS;
+    or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+Thad and his chums have a wonderful experience when they are employed by
+the State of Maine to act as Fire Wardens.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER;
+    or, The Search for the Lost Tenderfoot.
+
+A serious calamity threatens the Silver Fox Patrol. How apparent
+disaster is bravely met and overcome by Thad and his friends, forms the
+main theme of the story.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES;
+    or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine.
+
+The boys’ tour takes them into the wildest region of the great Rocky
+Mountains and here they meet with many strange adventures.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND;
+    or, Marooned Among the Game Fish Poachers.
+
+Thad Brewster and his comrades find themselves in the predicament that
+confronted old Robinson Crusoe; only it is on the Great Lakes that they
+are wrecked instead of the salty sea.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA;
+    or, The Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood.
+
+The boys of the Silver Fox Patrol, after successfully braving a terrific
+flood, become entangled in a mystery that carries them through many
+exciting adventures.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Chums Series
+
+By WILMER M. ELY
+
+Price. 40 Cents per Volume. Postpaid
+
+In this series of remarkable stories are described the adventures of two
+boys in the great swamps of interior Florida, among the cays off the
+Florida coast, and through the Bahama Islands. These are real, live
+boys, and their experiences are worth following.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN MYSTERY LAND;
+    or, Charlie West and Walter Hazard among the Mexicans.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS ON INDIAN RIVER;
+    or, The Boy Partners of the Schooner “Orphan.”
+
+THE BOY CHUMS ON HAUNTED ISLAND;
+    or, Hunting for Pearls in the Bahama Islands.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE FOREST;
+    or, Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS’ PERILOUS CRUISE;
+    or, Searching for Wreckage en the Florida Coast.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO;
+    or, A Dangerous Cruise with the Greek Spongers.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS CRUISING IN FLORIDA WATERS;
+    or, The Perils and Dangers of the Fishing Fleet.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE FLORIDA JUNGLE;
+    or, Charlie West and Walter Hazard with the Seminole Indians.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Broncho Rider Boys Series
+
+By FRANK FOWLER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+A series of thrilling stories for boys, breathing the adventurous spirit
+that lives in the wide plains and lofty mountain canoes of the great
+West. These tales will delight every lad who loves to read of pleasing
+adventure in the open; yet at the same time the most careful parent need
+not hesitate to place them in the hands of the boy.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH FUNSTON AT VERA CRUZ;
+    or, Upholding the Honor of the Stars and Stripes.
+
+When trouble breaks out between this country and Mexico, the boys are
+eager to join the American troops under General Funston. Their attempts
+to reach Vera Cruz are fraught with danger, but after many difficulties,
+they manage to reach the trouble zone, where their real adventures
+begin.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS AT KEYSTONE RANCH;
+    or, Three Chums of the Saddle and Lariat.
+
+In this story the reader makes the acquaintance of three devoted chums.
+The book begins in rapid action, and there is “something doing” up to
+the very time you lay it down.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS DOWN IN ARIZONA;
+    or, A Struggle for the Great Copper Lode.
+
+The Broncho Rider Boys find themselves impelled to make a brave fight
+against heavy odds, in order to retain possession of a valuable mine
+that is claimed by some of their relatives. They meet with numerous
+strange and thrilling perils and every wideawake boy will be pleased to
+learn how the boys finally managed to outwit their enemies.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ALONG THE BORDER;
+    or, The Hidden Treasure of the Zuni Medicine Man.
+
+Once more the tried and true comrades of camp and trail are in the
+saddle. In the strangest possible way they are drawn into a series of
+exciting happenings among the Zuni Indians. Certainly no lad will lay
+this book down, save with regret.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ON THE WYOMING TRAIL;
+    or, A Mystery of the Prairie Stampede.
+
+The three prairie pards finally find a chance to visit the Wyoming ranch
+belonging to Adrian, but managed for him by an unscrupulous relative. Of
+course, they become entangled in a maze of adventurous doings while in
+the Northern cattle country. How the Broncho Rider Boys carried
+themselves through this nerve-testing period makes intensely interesting
+reading.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS;
+    or, The Smugglers of the Rio Grande.
+
+In this volume, the Broncho Rider Boys get mixed up in the Mexican
+troubles, and become acquainted with General Villa. In their efforts to
+prevent smuggling across the border, they naturally make many enemies,
+but finally succeed in their mission.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Big Five Motorcycle Boys Series
+
+By RALPH MARLOW
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+It is doubtful whether a more entertaining lot of boys ever before
+appeared in a story than the “Big Five,” who figure in the pages of
+these volumes. From cover to cover the reader will be thrilled and
+delighted with the accounts of their many adventures.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS ON THE BATTLE LINE;
+    or, With the Allies in France.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS AT THE FRONT;
+    or, Carrying Dispatches Through Belgium.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS UNDER FIRE;
+    or, With the Allies in the War Zone.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS’ SWIFT ROAD CHASE;
+    or, Surprising the Bank Robbers.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS ON FLORIDA TRAILS;
+    or, Adventures Among the Saw Palmetto Crackers.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS IN TENNESSEE WILDS;
+    or, The Secret of Walnut Ridge.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS THROUGH BY WIRELESS;
+    or, A Strange Message from the Air.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our Young Aeroplane Scouts Series
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By HORACE PORTER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+A series of stories of two American boy aviators in the great European
+war zone. The fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. The
+boys have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous
+escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ENGLAND;
+    or, Twin Stars in the London Sky Patrol.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY;
+    or, Flying with the War Eagles of the Alps.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM;
+    or, Saving the Fortunes of the Trouvilles.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN GERMANY;
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA;
+    or, Lost on the Frozen Steppes.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN TURKEY;
+    or, Bringing the Light to Yusef.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, by 
+Hildegard G. Frey
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36833-0.txt or 36833-0.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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+
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diff --git a/old/36833-0.zip b/old/36833-0.zip
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+Project Gutenberg's The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, by Hildegard G. Frey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House
+       or, The Magic Garden
+
+Author: Hildegard G. Frey
+
+Release Date: July 24, 2011 [EBook #36833]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Roger Frank, Dave Morgan
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GLADYS TURNED THE CAR INTO THE FIELD AND STARTED AFTER
+THE BULL AT FULL SPEED.]
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+                          The Camp Fire Girls
+                            At Onoway House
+
+                                   OR
+
+                            The Magic Garden
+
+                          By HILDEGARD G. FREY
+
+                               AUTHOR OF
+
+          "The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods," "The Camp
+                 Fire Girls at School," "The Camp Fire
+                          Girls Go Motoring."
+
+                           A. L. BURT COMPANY
+
+                          Publishers--New York
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+                            Copyright, 1916
+                         By A. L. Burt Company
+
+                  THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+
+
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.--ONOWAY HOUSE.
+
+
+"What a lovely quiet summer we're going to have, we two," exclaimed
+Migwan to Hinpoha, as they stood looking out of the window of their room
+into the garden, filled with rows of young growing things and bordered
+by a shallow stony river. Migwan, we remember, had come to spend the
+summer on the little farm owned by the Bartletts and earn enough money
+to go to college by selling vegetables. The house in the city had been
+rented for three months, and her mother, Mrs. Gardiner, and her brother
+Tom and sister Betty had come to the country with her. Hinpoha was
+temporarily without a home, her aunt being away on her wedding trip with
+the Doctor, and she was to stay all summer with Migwan.
+
+"Yes, it will be lovely," agreed Hinpoha. "I've never lived in such a
+quiet place before. And I've never had you to myself for so long."
+Migwan replied with a hug, in schoolgirl rapture. She felt a little
+closer to Hinpoha than she did to the other Winnebagos. As they stood
+there looking out of the window together they heard the honk of an
+automobile horn and the sound of a car driving into the yard, and ran
+out to see who the guests were.
+
+"Gladys Evans!" exclaimed Migwan, spying the new comers. "And Nyoda!
+Welcome to our city!"
+
+"Please mum," said Gladys, making a long face, "could ye take in a poor
+lone orphan what's got no home to her back?"
+
+"What's up?" asked Migwan, laughing at Gladys's tone.
+
+"Mother and father started for Seattle to-day," replied Gladys, "and
+from there they are going to Alaska, where they will spend the summer. I
+hinted that I was a good traveling companion, but they decided that
+three was a crowd on this trip, and as I had done so well for myself
+last summer they informed me that it was their intention to put me out
+to seek my own fortune once more. So, hearing that there were pleasant
+country places along this road, one in particular, I am looking for a
+place to board for the summer."
+
+"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Migwan. "To think that we are to have
+you with us this vacation after all, after thinking that you were going
+to disport yourself in California! The guest chamber stands ready; 'will
+you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly."
+
+At this point "Nyoda," Guardian of the Winnebago Camp Fire group,
+formally known as Miss Kent, also advanced with a long face, holding her
+handkerchief to her eyes. "Could you take in a poor shipwrecked sailor,"
+she sobbed, "one whose ship went right down under her feet and left her
+nothing to stand on at all?"
+
+"It might even be arranged," replied Migwan. "What is your tale of woe,
+my ancient mariner?"
+
+"My cherished landlady's gone to the Exposition," said Nyoda, with a
+fresh burst of grief, "and I can't live with her and be her boarder this
+summer! It's a cruel world! And me so young and tender!"
+
+"Two flies in the guest chamber," said Migwan, hospitably. "Thomas, my
+good man, carry the boarders' bags up to their room, for I see they have
+brought them right with them."
+
+"Save the trouble of going back after them," said Nyoda and Gladys, in
+chorus. "We knew you couldn't refuse to take us in."
+
+"If ever a maiden had a look on her face which said, 'Come, come to this
+bosom, my own stricken dear,'" continued Nyoda, "it's yon poet who is
+going to seed."
+
+"Going to seed!" exclaimed Migwan, "and this after I have just opened my
+hospitable doors to you!"
+
+"By going to seed, my innocent maid, I only meant to express in a veiled
+and delicate way the fact that you were turning into a farmer," said
+Nyoda.
+
+In spite of the fact that Migwan and Hinpoha had just expressed such
+great pleasure at the prospect of being alone together for the summer,
+they rejoiced in the arrival of Nyoda and Gladys as only two Winnebagos
+could at the thought of having two more of their own circle under the
+same roof with them, and their hearts beat high with anticipation of the
+coming larks.
+
+Supper was a merry meal indeed that night, eaten out on the screened-in
+back porch. "We are seven!" exclaimed Nyoda, counting noses at the
+table. "The mystic number as well as the poetic one. 'Seven Little
+Sisters;' 'The Seven Little Kids;' 'the seventh son of a seventh son.'
+All mysterious things take place on the seventh of the month, and
+something always happens when the clock strikes seven." As she paused to
+take breath the old-fashioned clock in the kitchen slowly struck seven.
+The last stroke was still vibrating when there came a ring at the
+doorbell. "What did I tell you?" said Nyoda. "Enter the villain."
+
+The villain proved to be Sahwah. She looked rather astonished to see
+Nyoda and Gladys at the table with the family. "Oh, Migwan," she said,
+"could you possibly take me in for the summer? Mother got a telegram
+to-day saying that Aunt Mary, that's her sister in Pennsylvania, had
+fallen down-stairs and broken both her shoulder blades. Mother packed up
+and went right away to take care of her and the children. She hasn't any
+idea how long she'll be gone. Father started for a long business trip
+out west this week and Jim is camping with the Boy Scouts. If you have
+room----" A shout of laughter interrupted her tale.
+
+"Always room for one more," said Migwan. "You're the third weary pilgrim
+to arrive."
+
+Sahwah looked at Nyoda and Gladys in astonishment. "You don't mean that
+you're here for the summer, too?" When she heard that this was the truth
+she twinkled with delight. "It's going to be almost as much fun as going
+camping together was last year," she said, burying her nose in the mug
+of milk which Migwan hospitably set before her.
+
+"What do you call this house by the side of the road?" asked Nyoda after
+supper, when they were all sitting on the porch. Mrs. Gardiner sat
+placidly rocking herself, undisturbed by the unexpected addition of
+three members to her family. This whole summer venture was in Migwan's
+hands, and she washed hers of the whole affair. Tom sat on the top step
+of the porch, unnaturally quiet, with the air of a boy lost among a
+whole crowd of girls. Betty, fascinated by Nyoda, sat at her feet and
+watched her as she talked.
+
+"It has no name," said Migwan, in answer to Nyoda's question.
+
+"Then we must find one immediately," said Nyoda. "I refuse to sleep in a
+nameless place."
+
+"Did the place where you used to live have a name?" asked Hinpoha,
+banteringly.
+
+"It certainly did 'have a name,'" replied Nyoda, with a twinkle in her
+eye. Gladys caught her eye and laughed. She was more in Nyoda's
+confidence than the rest of the girls.
+
+"What was the name?" asked Betty.
+
+"It was Peacock Plaza," said Nyoda, "painted on a gold sign over the
+door, where all who read could run."
+
+"That wasn't what you called it," said Gladys.
+
+"No, my beloved," returned Nyoda, "from the character and appearance of
+most of the inmates of the Widder Higgins' establishment, I have been
+moved to refer to it as 'The Rookery.'"
+
+"Now," said Gladys sternly, when the laughter over this title had
+subsided, "tell the ladies the real reason why you had to seek a new
+boarding place so abruptly."
+
+"I told you before," said Nyoda, "that my venturesome landlady went to
+the Exposition and left me out in the cold."
+
+"That's not the real reason," said Gladys, severely. "If you don't tell
+it immediately, I will!"
+
+"I'll tell it," said Nyoda submissively, alarmed at this threat. "You
+see, it was this way," she began in a pained, plaintive voice. "This
+Gladys woman over here came up to take supper with me last night--only
+she smelled the supper cooking in the kitchen and turned up her nose,
+whereupon I was moved with compassion to cook supper for her in my
+chafing-dish unbeknownst to the landlady, who has been known to frown on
+any attempts to compete with her table d'hôte."
+
+"I never!" murmured Gladys. "She invited me to a chafing-dish supper in
+the first place."
+
+"Well, as I was saying," continued Nyoda, not heeding this interruption,
+"to save her from starvation I dragged out my chafing-dish and made
+shrimp wiggle and creamed peas, and we had a dinner fit for a king, if I
+do say it as shouldn't. The crowning glory of the feast was a big onion
+which Gladys's delicate appetite required as a stimulant. All went merry
+as a marriage bell until it came to the disposal of that onion after the
+feast was over, as there was more than half of it left. We didn't dare
+take it down to the kitchen for fear the Widder would pounce on us for
+cooking in our rooms, and even my stout heart quailed at the thought of
+sleeping ferninst that fragrant vegetable. Suddenly I had an
+inspiration." Here Nyoda paused dramatically.
+
+"Yes," broke in Gladys, impatient at her pause, "and she calmly chucked
+it out of the second story window into the street!"
+
+"All would still have been mild and melodious," continued Nyoda, in a
+solemn tone which enthralled her hearers, "if it hadn't been for the
+fact that the fates had their fingers crossed at me last night. How
+otherwise could it have happened that at the exact moment when the onion
+descended the old bachelor missionary should have been prancing up the
+walk, coming to call on the Widder Higgins? Who but fate could have
+brought it about that that onion should bounce first on his hat, then on
+his nose, and then on his manly bosom?"
+
+"And he never waited to see what hit him!" put in Gladys, for whom the
+recital was not going fast enough. "He ran as if he thought somebody had
+thrown a bomb at him."
+
+"And the Widder Higgins was standing behind the lace curtain watching
+his approach with maidenly reserve," resumed Nyoda, "and so had a box
+seat view of the tragedy, and the last act of the drama was a moving
+one, I can assure you."
+
+"Oh, Nyoda," cried Hinpoha and Sahwah and Migwan, pointing their fingers
+at her, "a nice person you are to be Guardian of the Winnebagos! Fine
+example you are setting your youthful flock! You need a guardian worse
+than any of us!"
+
+"Do as you like with me," said Nyoda, covering her face with her hands
+in mock shame, whereupon Hinpoha and Migwan and Gladys fell upon her
+neck with one accord.
+
+"But we haven't named this house yet," said Nyoda, uncovering her face
+and smoothing out her black hair.
+
+"I thought of a name while you were telling about the onion," said
+Migwan. "It's Onoway House."
+
+"What does that mean?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"It's a symbolic word, like Wohelo," said Migwan. "It's made from the
+words, Only One Way. You see there was only one way of getting that
+money to go to college and that was by coming here."
+
+"I think that is a very good name," said Nyoda. "It is clever as well as
+pretty. It sounds like the song, 'Onaway, awake beloved,' from
+Hiawatha's Wedding Feast."
+
+"It sounds like the water going over the stones in the river," said
+romantic Hinpoha.
+
+And so Onoway House was named.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.--NEIGHBORS.
+
+
+Onoway House stood on the Centerville Road, on a farm of about four
+acres. All of the land was not worked, just the part that was laid out
+as a garden and a small orchard of peach trees. The rest was open meadow
+running down to the river. It had originally been a much larger farm--Old
+Deacon Waterhouse's place--but after his death it had been divided up and
+sold in sections. Onoway House was the original home built by the deacon
+when he bought the farm as a young man. It was a very old place, large
+and rambling, and full of queer corners and passageways, and a big
+echoing cobwebby attic, crowded with old furniture and trunks. The house
+had been sold with all its furnishings at the Deacon's death, and the
+old things were still in the rooms when the Bartletts bought it
+twenty-five years later. This made it unnecessary for the Gardiners,
+when they came, to bring any of their own furniture. The Bartletts had
+never lived on the place, hiring a caretaker to work the garden, and it
+was the sudden departure of this man that had given Migwan her chance.
+
+On either side of Onoway House was a farm of much larger proportions. To
+the right there stood a big, homelike looking farmhouse painted white,
+with porches and vines and a lawn in front running down to the road; on
+the left was a smaller house, painted dark red, with a vegetable bed in
+front. The garden at Onoway House had been given a good start and the
+strawberries and asparagus and sundry other vegetables were ready to
+market when Migwan took possession. The Winnebagos looked on the
+gardening as a grand lark and pitched in with a will to help Migwan make
+her fortune from the ground.
+
+"Did you ever see anything half so delicate as this little new
+pea-vine?" asked Migwan, puttering happily over one of the long beds.
+
+"Or anything half so indelicate as this plantain bush?" asked Nyoda,
+busily grubbing weeds. "'Scarce reared above the parent earth thy tender
+form,'" she quoted, "'and yet with a root three times as long as the
+hair of Claire de Lorme!'"
+
+"Burns would relish hearing that line of his applied to weeds," said
+Migwan, laughing. "I wonder what he would have written if he had turned
+up a plantain weed with his plough instead of a mountain daisy."
+
+"He wouldn't have turned up a plantain weed," said Nyoda, with a vicious
+thrust of the long knife with which she was weeding, "it would have
+turned him up."
+
+Migwan rose from the ground slowly and painfully. "Oh dear," she sighed,
+"I wonder if Burns ever got as stiff in the joints from close contact
+with Nature as I am?"
+
+"He certainly must have," observed Nyoda, straining her muscles to
+uproot the weedy homesteader, "haven't you ever heard the slogan, 'Omega
+Oil for Burns?'"
+
+Migwan laughed as she straightened up and held her aching back. "Earth
+gets its price for what earth gives us," she quoted, with a mixture of
+ruefulness and humor.
+
+"Listen to the poetry floating around on the breeze," cried Sahwah,
+passing them as she ran the wheel hoe up and down between the rows of
+plants.
+
+  "Come and trip it as you go
+  On the light fantastic _hoe_,"
+
+she sang. "Oh, I say," she called over her shoulder, "do I have to hoe
+up the surface of the river around the watercress, too?"
+
+"You certainly do," said Nyoda gravely, "and while you're at it just
+loosen up the air around that air fern of Mrs. Gardiner's." Sahwah made
+a grimace and trundled off with her wheel hoe.
+
+"Are you looking for any field hands?" called a cheery voice. The girls
+looked up to see a white-haired, pleasant-faced old man of about seventy
+years standing in the garden. "My name's Landsdowne, Farmer Landsdowne,"
+he said by way of introduction, with a friendly smile, which included
+all the girls at once, "and I've come to have a look at the new
+caretaker."
+
+"I'm the one," said Migwan, stepping forward. "My name is Gardiner, and
+I _am_ a gardener just now."
+
+"And are all these your sisters?" asked Farmer Landsdowne, quizzically.
+Migwan laughed and introduced the girls in turn. They all liked Farmer
+Landsdowne immediately. He walked up and down among the rows of
+vegetables, and gave Migwan quantities of advice about soil cultivation,
+insects and diseases and various other things pertaining to gardening,
+for which she thanked him heartily. "Come over and see us," he said
+hospitably, as he took his departure, "I live there," and he pointed to
+the friendly looking white house on the right of Onoway House.
+
+"Isn't he a dear?" said Gladys, when he was gone. "I'm glad he's our
+next door neighbor. What do you suppose the people on the other side are
+like?"
+
+"Red isn't nearly so pretty as white," said Hinpoha, squinting at the
+bare looking house to the left of them. As they looked a man came along
+the edge of the land on which the red house stood. When he reached the
+fence which separated the two farms he stood still for a few minutes
+looking hard at Onoway House; then, seeing that the girls were looking
+in his direction he turned and went back to the house.
+
+The strawberries were ready to pick the first week that the girls were
+at Onoway House, and Migwan had an idea about marketing them. She gave
+each picker two baskets with instructions to put only the largest and
+finest in one and the medium-sized and small ones in the other.
+
+"What are you going to take them to town in?" asked Gladys. Although
+there was a large barn on the place there were no horses, for Mr.
+Mitchell, the last caretaker, had owned his own horse and taken it away
+with him when he left.
+
+"I'll have to hire one from some of the neighbors," said Migwan. Mr.
+Landsdowne, when interviewed, would have been extremely glad to let them
+take a horse and wagon, but this was a busy time and one of his teams
+was sick so none could be spared. Feeling considerably more shy than she
+had when she went to Mr. Landsdowne, Migwan went over to the red house.
+As she went around the path to the back door she heard sounds of loud
+talking in a man's voice, which ceased as she came up on the porch. A
+red faced man, (he almost matched the house, thought Migwan) came to the
+door. "I am your new neighbor, Elsie Gardiner," said Migwan, "and I
+wonder if I could hire a horse and wagon from you three times a week to
+take my vegetables to town."
+
+"So you've come to live on the place, have you?" said the man. "How long
+are you going to stay?"
+
+"All summer," replied Migwan. She was not drawn to this man as she was
+to Farmer Landsdowne. There was something about him that seemed to repel
+her, although she could not have told what it was.
+
+"Yes, I can let you have a horse and wagon," he said, after a moment.
+"When do you want it?"
+
+"In about an hour," said Migwan.
+
+"I'll send it over," said the master of the red house. "My name's
+Smalley, Abner Smalley," he said, as she took her leave.
+
+In an hour the horse was at the door. It was brought over by a
+pleasant-faced, light-haired lad of about seventeen, who introduced
+himself as Calvin Smalley.
+
+"You don't look a bit like your father," said Migwan.
+
+"That's not my father," said Calvin, "that's my uncle. My father's dead.
+He was Uncle Abner's brother. I live with Uncle Abner and Aunt Maggie.
+But the farm's really mine," he said proudly, as though he did not want
+anyone to think he was living on charity even though he was an orphan,
+"for Grandfather willed it to Father. Uncle Abner's holding it in trust
+for me until I'm of age."
+
+There was something so frank and manly about him that the girls liked
+him at once. But if Calvin Smalley made such a good impression, the
+horse which he had brought over for the girls to drive to town was less
+fortunate. He was a hoary, moth-eaten looking creature that might easily
+have been the first white horse born west of the Mississippi. In looking
+at him you would be left with a lingering doubt in your mind as to
+whether he had originally been white or had turned white with age. He
+tottered so that each step threatened to be his last The wagon to which
+he was fastened with a patched and rotten harness had probably been on
+the scene some years before he was born. Migwan was much taken aback
+when she inspected him. "I wouldn't dare attempt to drive that beast all
+the way to town," she thought to herself. "He'd never get beyond the
+first bend in the road. And if he did make it he'd go so slowly that my
+berries would be out of season before I got to my customers."
+
+"Isn't he rather--old?" she said, aloud. "I'm afraid he isn't able to
+work much."
+
+Calvin blushed fiery red and his eyes sought the ground in distress.
+"It's a shame," he said, fiercely, "to try to hire out such a horse. I
+don't blame you for not wanting it." Without another word he climbed
+into the wagon and urged the feeble horse back to his home pasture.
+
+"Didn't you feel sorry for that poor boy?" said Migwan. "He felt ashamed
+clear down to his shoes at having to bring that old wreck of a horse
+over. I should have died if I had been in his place. He's such a nice
+looking boy, too. I suppose his uncle is one of those stingy, grasping
+farmers who work everybody to death on the place. Anybody who plants
+vegetables in his front yard must be stingy. That horse probably
+couldn't work on the farm any more so he thought he would make some
+money out of it by hiring it to us. He must have thought girls didn't
+know a horse when they saw one. I didn't exactly fall in love with Mr.
+Smalley when I went over. He wasn't a bit friendly like Mr. Landsdowne."
+
+"I foresee where we will have little to do with our neighbors in the Red
+House," said Sahwah. "I'm sorry, because I like to have lots of people
+to visit, and like to have them running in at odd times, the way Mr.
+Landsdowne appeared."
+
+"Let's not have any hard feelings against Calvin Smalley, though," said
+Migwan. "He isn't to blame for his uncle's stinginess. I dare say he
+isn't very happy over there. Let's have him over as often as we can."
+
+"Spoken like a true Winnebago," said Nyoda, approvingly.
+
+"But in the meantime," said Migwan, in perplexity, "what are we going to
+do for a horse and wagon to take our things to town?"
+
+"Why not use our car?" said Gladys. The machine she had come in was
+still in the barn at Onoway House. "It's a good thing I learned to run
+the big one--father said I might use it all summer if I would be a good
+girl and stay at home when they went out west."
+
+"Could we get everything in?" asked Migwan.
+
+"I think so," said Gladys, "if we arrange them carefully." The berries
+and asparagus were loaded into the back of the machine and Gladys and
+Migwan drove off.
+
+"What shall we do now, Nyoda?" asked Hinpoha, after the two girls were
+gone.
+
+"I know what I'm going to do," said Nyoda, moving in the direction of
+her bedroom. "Now," she said, as she threw herself on the bed with a
+great yawn and stretch, "if anyone asks you what kind of a farmer I am
+you may tell them that I'm a retired one!" Nyoda had been up since four
+o'clock that morning, and was unused to such early rising. Hinpoha drew
+down the shade to shut out the strong sunlight and tiptoed from the
+room.
+
+Gladys and Migwan stopped first at a large grocery store to inquire the
+prices of strawberries and asparagus. The proprietor offered to buy the
+whole load, but they would not sell, as they could get more for them by
+peddling them at retail prices. Migwan examined the berries in the
+store, and mentally fixed her middle grade berries at the same price
+with them, and her finest grade ones at three cents higher.
+
+"I've an idea," said Gladys, "that some of mother's friends would take
+the berries at our own price." Thus it was that Mrs. Davis, whose
+speculations about the financial standing of the Evans family had
+resulted in Gladys's mother giving her such an elaborate party the
+winter before, was surprised by a call from Gladys at ten o'clock in the
+morning.
+
+"Ah, good morning, my dear," she said effusively, seating Gladys in the
+parlor, "you have come to spend the day, I hope? Caroline is not up
+yet--she was out late last night--but I shall make her get up right away."
+
+"Please don't call Caroline," said Gladys, "it's you I came to see."
+
+"Oh, yes," purred Mrs. Davis, "a message from your mother, I see."
+
+Gladys came to the point directly. "Have you canned your strawberries
+yet, Mrs. Davis?"
+
+"No," replied Mrs. Davis, a little puzzled by the question.
+
+"Would you like to buy some extra fine ones?" continued Gladys.
+
+"Why, yes, I suppose so," said Mrs. Davis, "who has any for sale?"
+
+"I have," said Gladys, "right out here in the machine." Mrs. Davis
+bought the whole eight quarts of large berries, paying fifteen cents a
+quart straight, and ordered another eight quarts as soon as they should
+be ripe. She also took two bunches of asparagus.
+
+"Whatever are you doing, Gladys Evans?" she asked, curiously. "Peddling
+berries?"
+
+Gladys laughed at her evident mystification, and tingled with a desire
+to keep her guessing. "We decided that I had better work this summer,"
+she said, gravely, "so I am peddling berries for a friend of ours who is
+a farmer. We will have to go on a farm ourselves, father said, if things
+to eat get much dearer, so I am getting the practice. Wouldn't you like
+to be a regular customer, and have me bring you fresh vegetables and
+fruit three times a week all through the summer?"
+
+"Why, yes," stammered Mrs. Davis in a daze, "of course, certainly."
+
+"All right, then," said Gladys, "I'll put you down." She drove off in
+high glee, and Mrs. Davis went into the house with a knowing smile on
+her face. So the Evanses were losing money after all, and Gladys was
+working this summer instead of traveling. Poor Gladys! She flew
+up-stairs to communicate the news to her energetic daughter Caroline who
+was just beginning to think about getting up. "I do feel so sorry for
+poor Gladys," she said. "You must be very kind to her whenever you meet
+her."
+
+The rest of the berries and vegetables were disposed of to other friends
+of Gladys's and Migwan's, all for topnotch prices, and there were at
+least half a dozen names in the little note book when they started
+homeward, of people who wanted to be supplied regularly. To some of her
+friends Gladys told frankly whose fruit she was selling, and enlisted
+their sympathies in the enterprise, while to others, like the Davises
+and the Joneses, who were thorough snobs, she could not resist
+pretending that she was actually working for a farmer to earn money. She
+could not remember when she had enjoyed anything so much as the
+expressions on the various faces when she made her little speech at the
+door and offered her basket of fruit for inspection. "Wait until I tell
+dad about it," she chuckled to Migwan.
+
+When they returned to Onoway House they found that during their absence
+the girls, with the help of Mr. Landsdowne, had constructed a raft about
+seven feet square, which they were setting afloat on the river. "Oh,
+what fun!" cried Migwan when she saw it. "We needed another rapid vessel
+to go boating in. There's only one rowboat and we could never all go out
+at once. What shall we call it?"
+
+"Let's name it the Tortoise," said Hinpoha, "and call the rowboat the
+Hare."
+
+"Oh, no," said Sahwah, "let's call it the Crab, because it travels sort
+of sidewise." Hinpoha held out for her name and Sahwah would not yield
+hers.
+
+"Contest of arms!" cried Nyoda. "Decide the question by a test of
+physical prowess. Whichever one of you can pole the raft straight across
+the river and back again without mishap in the shortest time may have
+the privilege of naming it. Is that fair?"
+
+"It is!" cried all the girls. Hinpoha and Sahwah, dressed in their
+bathing-suits, prepared for the contest. Hinpoha had the first trial
+because she had spoken first. Getting onto the raft and seizing the
+stout pole, she pushed off from the shore. It was difficult to keep the
+unwieldy craft going toward the opposite bank, because it had a strong
+inclination to be carried down-stream with the current. Halfway across
+she grounded on a rock and stood marooned. Sahwah watched the moments
+tick off on Nyoda's watch with ill-concealed delight while Hinpoha
+pushed and strained on the pole to set the raft free. Finally she leaned
+all her weight, which was no small item, on the pole and shoved with her
+feet against the raft. It freed itself and glided away under her feet,
+leaving her clinging to the pole in the middle of the river, while her
+solid footing of a few moments ago swung into the current and floated
+off beyond her reach. She looked so comical clinging to the pole, which
+was fast losing its upright position under her weight, that the girls
+were unable to help her for laughter, and a minute later she plunged
+into the river with a mighty splash and swam disgustedly to shore.
+
+"Our new boat will not be called the TORTOISE, it seems," said Nyoda.
+"Cheer up, Hinpoha, you have made yourself more immortal by the picture
+you presented hanging over the water than you would have by naming the
+raft. As Hinpoha, the Polehanger, you will have your portrait in the
+Winnebago Hall of Fame. Now then, Sahwah, show her how it should be
+done."
+
+Sahwah, ever more skilful in watercraft than Hinpoha, poled the raft
+neatly across the stream to the opposite shore, paused a moment to see
+that the feat was properly registered by the judges, and then started
+back. Unlike Hinpoha, who forged blindly ahead, she felt carefully with
+her pole to locate the points of the rocks and then avoided them. "Here
+I come," she hailed, when she was nearly back to the starting point, "on
+my new raft, the CRAB." Striking a heroic attitude with arms crossed and
+one foot out ahead of the other she stepped to the edge of the raft,
+when the floating floor tipped under her weight and she lost her balance
+and fell head first into the water. The raft, released from her guiding
+hand, went off with the current as it had done before. The look of
+stupefaction on her face when she came up out of the water was even
+funnier than the sight of Hinpoha marooned on the pole.
+
+"The raft will not be named the CRAB, either, it seems," said Nyoda.
+
+"I don't care what it's called," said Sahwah, her temper up, "I'm going
+to pole that raft across the river."
+
+"So'm I," said Hinpoha, her eye gleaming with resolution.
+
+"Let's do it together," said Sahwah.
+
+Thanks to Sahwah's skill with the pole and Hinpoha's judicious balancing
+of the raft at the right places, they made the trip over and back
+without mishap.
+
+"Two heads are better than one," said Sahwah, as they landed, "what
+neither of us could do alone we can do in combination."
+
+"Then why not combine the names?" said Nyoda. "You have each won equal
+rights in the contest."
+
+"Good idea," said Sahwah. "We couldn't find a better one than the
+Tortoise-Crab." So the name was painted across the floor of the raft,
+this being the only space big enough.
+
+Delighted with their new sport, the girls spent the whole evening on the
+river, all five Winnebagos and Betty and Tom on the raft at once,
+floating down-stream with the current and being towed up again by the
+rowboat. It was bright moonlight, and the air was full of romance. At
+one place along the riverbank there stood a high rock, grey on the
+moonlit side and black on the other. "It reminds me of the Lorelei
+Rock," said Nyoda.
+
+"Let's play Lorelei," said Sahwah.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Why," answered Sahwah, "let Hinpoha climb up on the rock and comb her
+hair and sing, and we come along on the raft and listen to her song and
+run into the rock and upset. We want to go swimming before we go to bed
+anyhow."
+
+"I can't sing," objected Hinpoha.
+
+"That doesn't make any difference," said Sahwah, "sing anyway."
+
+So Hinpoha mounted the moonlit rock and shook her long, red hair down
+over her shoulders, combing it out with her sidecomb and singing "Fairy
+Moonlight," while the raft floated lazily down-stream toward the base of
+the cliff, its passengers sitting in attitudes of enraptured listening,
+and pointing ecstatically to the figure silhouetted against the moon.
+Sahwah adroitly steered the raft toward the rock and it struck with a
+great jar. It disobligingly kept its balance, however, and refused to
+upset. Sahwah deliberately rolled off the edge, tipping it as she did
+so, and the rest went off on all sides, giggling and splashing in the
+water. Hinpoha on the rock above wrung her hands in mock horror at the
+effect of her song. That instant a figure came running at top speed
+along the river bank. "I'll save you, girls," he shouted, jumping into
+the water with all his clothes on. Catching hold of Migwan, who was
+hanging on to the raft, he pulled her out of the water and set her on
+the shore. It was Calvin Smalley, their neighbor from the Red House.
+
+"Oh," gasped Migwan, trying not to laugh at him, "I thank you ever so
+much, but we're not really drowning. We upset the raft on purpose."
+
+"Upset it on purpose!" said Calvin, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes," answered Migwan, "we were playing Lorelei, you know."
+
+Then Calvin noticed for the first time that the victims of the upset
+were all dressed in bathing-suits, and that they seemed to be very much
+at home in the water. "It looked like a dreadful smashup," he said, "and
+I forgot that the river isn't very deep here. Do you generally play such
+quiet games?"
+
+"Sometimes we play much more quiet ones," said Sahwah meaningly.
+
+"It was too bad to frighten you so," said Nyoda. "We'll have to warn
+spectators the next time we do anything. We'll have to have a flag that
+says 'Stunt coming; look out for the splash!' and whoever runs may
+read." At this moment Hinpoha jumped from the rock, out into the middle
+of the stream, where it was deep, swam under water toward the bank, and
+came up suddenly beside Calvin so that he was quite startled.
+
+"Say," he said, looking around at the group of girls who were doing
+various astonishing things, "do you belong to the circus?"
+
+The girls laughed at this inquiry. "Oh, no," said Migwan, "we are only
+Camp Fire Girls."
+
+"Camp Fire Girls?" said Calvin. "I've heard of them, but I never knew
+any. Is that why you call each other by such funny names?"
+
+"Yes," answered Migwan, and she told him their names and their meanings.
+
+"It must be great fun to be a Camp Fire Girl," said Calvin thoughtfully.
+
+"Come for a ride on the raft with us," said Migwan, "we are going back
+now. We aren't going to upset again," she added reassuringly, "and if we
+did you couldn't get any wetter." Calvin smiled at the pleasantry, but
+said he must be going in. He was on his way home when he saw the raft
+upset. The Lorelei Rock was just on the other side of the Smalley farm.
+He bade them a friendly good-night, promising to come over to Onoway
+House soon, and took his way home across the fields.
+
+"What a nice boy he is," said Migwan. "He wasn't a bit cross when he
+found that the joke was on him, as some would have been."
+
+Migwan woke up in the night and could not go to sleep again immediately.
+As she lay smiling to herself about the fun they had had with the raft
+that evening, she heard a sound as of something dropped on the attic
+floor above her room, followed by a faint creaking as of someone walking
+over bare boards. She clutched Hinpoha's arm and woke her up. "There's
+someone in the attic," she whispered. Hinpoha yawned.
+
+"I don't hear anything," she said.
+
+"There it is again," said Migwan, "listen." Again there came a faint
+creak, accompanied by a far-away rustle as of crinkling paper.
+
+"It's mice," said Hinpoha, "or maybe rats. They get between the walls
+and make noises that way."
+
+Migwan breathed a sigh of relief and composed herself to slumber again.
+"I suppose these dreadfully old houses are just overrun with things of
+that kind," she said. "But for a moment it did give me a scare."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.--OPHELIA.
+
+
+"They've come! They've come!" shrieked Migwan, running into the
+dining-room where the rest of the family were peacefully finishing their
+breakfast.
+
+"Who've come?" said Nyoda, excitedly, "the Mexicans?"
+
+"The bean weevils," said Migwan, tragically. "Mr. Landsdowne said to
+watch out for them, although they were hardly ever found up north, but
+they're here. He just found a bush with them on."
+
+"To arms!" cried Sahwah, springing up. "The Flying Column to the rescue!
+
+  "Forward the Bug Brigade,
+  Is there a leaf unsprayed?"----
+
+Here she tripped over the carpet and her Amazonian shout came to an
+abrupt end.
+
+"Where are the weevils?" she asked, when they had all gathered around
+the bean patch.
+
+"On here," said Migwan, indicating a hill of beans.
+
+"Oh," said Sahwah, in a disappointed tone.
+
+"Where did you think they were?" asked Migwan.
+
+"From the noise you were making," said Sahwah, "I expected to find them
+drawn up in battle lines, waiting to charge the garden with fixed
+bayonets."
+
+"They'll do just as much damage as if they had bayonets," remarked
+Farmer Landsdowne.
+
+"Do be cautious in approaching such deadly foes," said Sahwah in a tone
+of mock anxiety, as Migwan came along with the sprayer, "take careful
+aim, and don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes."
+
+"I'll spray you in a minute if you don't keep still," said Migwan.
+
+"What must it feel like to be a weevil," said Gladys, musingly, "and be
+hunted down remorselessly wherever you went?"
+
+"Gladys has gone over to the side of the enemy," said Sahwah, teasingly.
+"There is the subject for your next book, Migwan, 'Won by a Weevil', by
+the author of 'Enthralled by a Thrip'! It must have been weevils
+Tennyson meant when he wrote 'The Lotus Eaters.'"
+
+"Battle over?" asked Hinpoha, as Migwan laid down the sprayer. "Then
+let's celebrate the victory. Cheer the bean crop." To the tune of "We
+will, We will Cheer," they sang,
+
+  "Weevil, weevil, weevil, weevil,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil, weevil, weevil, weevil,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop, O!"
+
+"Don't crow too soon," said Farmer Landsdowne, picking up his sprayer
+preparatory to taking his departure, "there may be twice as many on
+to-morrow."
+
+"I flatly refuse to worry about to-morrow," said Nyoda, "'sufficient
+unto the day is the weevil thereof!'"
+
+Calvin Smalley, working in the vegetable patch in front of the Red
+House, heard that cheer and paused in his work to look over at the other
+garden. He was wondering what was so funny about gardening. "I wish," he
+sighed, as he turned back to his endless task, "that those girls were my
+sisters!"
+
+Gladys went into town alone when the last of the strawberries were ripe,
+for none of the other girls could be spared that day. The squash bugs
+had descended on the garden and all hands were required on deck to save
+the squash and melon vines from being eaten alive. On the way she passed
+Mr. Smalley, driving the identical wreck of a horse he had tried to hire
+out to the girls. He had a heavy load of vegetables, and the poor,
+broken down creature would hardly move it from the spot. He started
+nervously as the machine passed him on the narrow road, and Mr. Smalley
+pulled him up sharply and brought the whip down on his back with a heavy
+cut. "Ain't you used to automobiles yet, you stupid brute?" he growled.
+
+Gladys delivered the eight quarts of extra large berries to Mrs. Davis
+first. "Wouldn't you like to stay in town and have lunch with us and go
+to the theatre afterward?" Mrs. Davis said in such a patronizing tone
+that Gladys quite started, and then laughed inwardly.
+
+"I'm sorry, but I haven't sold all of my berries yet," she answered
+soberly, "and I have to hurry back and help pick bugs."
+
+"Pick bugs?" exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in a horrified tone.
+
+"Yes," said Gladys, with a relish, "nice juicy, striped bugs that crunch
+beautifully when you step on them."
+
+"Oh, oh," said Mrs. Davis, putting her hands over her ears. "Give my
+love to your poor, dear mamma," she said gushingly, when Gladys was
+departing. "Tell her she has my fullest sympathy." As Gladys's poor,
+dear mamma was, at that moment, seated on the observation platform of a
+luxurious railway coach, speeding through the mountains of Washington
+while Mrs. Davis was obliged to stay in town for the time being, she was
+not really in as much need of Mrs. Davis's sympathy as that lady fondly
+imagined.
+
+Gladys disposed of the remaining berries to other amused or patronizing
+friends, and then decided to look up a laundress she knew of and get her
+to come out to Onoway House once in a while to do the heavy washing. The
+street where the laundress lived was narrow and crowded with children
+playing in the middle of the road, and progress was rather slow. One
+little girl in particular made Gladys extremely nervous by running
+across the street right in front of the machine and daring her to run
+over her, shaking her fists at her and making horrible grimaces. She got
+across the street once in safety and then started back again. Just then
+a small child sprang up from the ground right under the very wheels of
+the machine and Gladys turned sharply to one side. The fender struck the
+saucy little girl who was daring her to run over her and she rolled
+under the car, screaming. Gladys jammed down the emergency brake with a
+jerk that almost wrenched the machinery of the automobile asunder. White
+as a sheet she jumped out and picked the girl up. In an instant an angry
+crowd of women and children had surrounded the machine. "Darn yer!"
+cried the child shrilly, shaking a dirty fist in Gladys's face, while
+the other arm hung limp. "I thought yer didn't dast run into me."
+
+"Get into the car," said Gladys, terrified, "and I'll take you home."
+
+"I dassent go home," shrieked the child, "Old Grady'll lick the tar out
+of me if I go home without sellin' me papers."
+
+"Then let me take you to the hospital, or somewhere," said Gladys,
+anxious to get away from the threatening crowd.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked one voice after another, as the tenements
+poured their human contents into the street.
+
+"Ophelia's run over," explained a powerful Irish woman, with a shawl
+over her head, who kept her hand on the handle of the car door. "Lady
+speedin' run her down like a dog." An angry murmur rose from the crowd.
+Gladys shook in her shoes and wondered if she dared start the car with
+all those children hanging on the front of it. She looked around
+helplessly for someone who would help her out of her difficulty. Just
+then a policeman turned into the street, attracted by the crowd.
+
+"Cheese it, de cop!" screamed a ragged gamin, who stood on the step of
+the car, and the women and children began to slink into the doorways.
+Gladys waited until he came up, and then explained the whole matter and
+asked where the nearest hospital was.
+
+"Can't blame you for hitting that brat," said the policeman, "she's the
+terror of drivers for two blocks." Ophelia stuck out her tongue at him.
+Gladys drove her to the hospital where it was discovered that the left
+arm was broken below the elbow. Painful as the setting may have been
+there was "never a whang out of her," as the doctor remarked, although
+she hung on tightly to Gladys's white sleeve with her dirty hand. Her
+waist was taken off to find the extent of the damage, and Gladys was
+frightened to see that the other arm was fearfully bruised and
+scratched, and there was a ring of purple and green blotches around her
+neck like a collar.
+
+"She must have been thrown down harder than I thought," said Gladys to
+the nurse.
+
+"Thrown down nothin'," answered Ophelia, "Old Grady did that the other
+day when I threw a stone through the winder." And she held up the
+mottled arm where all might see.
+
+"Oh," said Gladys, with a shudder, "cover it up." Putting Ophelia into
+the machine again she drove back to the scene of the accident and
+entered the squalid tenement in which the child said she lived.
+
+"Won't Old Grady beat me up though, when she finds I've busted me wing,"
+said Ophelia, as they mounted the rickety stairs. Hardly had she spoken
+when the door at the head of the stairs flew open and a large,
+red-faced, coarse-looking woman strode out and shook her fist over the
+banisters.
+
+"I'll fix ye fer stayin' out afther I tell ye ter come in, ye little
+devil," she shouted. "I'll break every bone in yer body. Gimme the money
+for the papers first."
+
+"Go chase yerself," said Ophelia, standing still on the stairs with a
+spiteful gleam in her eye, "there ain't no money. I ain't had time ter
+peddle this afternoon."
+
+"What yer mean, no money?" screamed the woman. "Just wait till I get me
+hands on yer!"
+
+Gladys shrank back against the wall in terror, then collecting herself
+she thrust Ophelia behind her and faced the angry woman. "Ophelia has
+had an accident," she explained. "I ran over her with my machine and
+broke her arm." The woman brushed past her and grabbed Ophelia by the
+shoulder. Overcome with fury at the thought that her household drudge
+would be of no use to her for several weeks, she boxed her ears again
+and again, calling her every name she could think of. Finally she let go
+of her with a push that sent Ophelia stumbling down half a dozen stairs.
+
+"Get out o' my sight!" she shrieked. "Do yer think I'm going ter house
+an' feed a worthless brat that ain't doin' nothin' fer her keep? Get out
+an' live in the streets yer like ter play in so well!" With a final
+exclamation she strode back into the room and slammed the door after
+her. Ophelia picked herself up from the step, shaking her one useful
+fist at the closed door at the head of the stairs.
+
+Gladys was inexpressibly shocked at this heartless treatment of an
+injured child. "Come--come home with me," she said faintly. Seated beside
+her in the big car, Ophelia ran out her tongue and made faces at the
+jeering children who watched her ride away.
+
+"This is the life!" she exclaimed, as she settled herself comfortably in
+the cushioned seat. People in the streets turned to stare at the dirty
+little ragamuffin riding beside the daintily gowned young girl, shouting
+saucily at the passers-by, or making jeering remarks in a voice audible
+above the noise of traffic.
+
+The girls were all out in front watching for her as Gladys drove up. It
+was past supper time and they were wondering what had become of her.
+What a chorus of surprised exclamations arose when Ophelia was set down
+in their midst! Gladys explained the situation briefly and asked Migwan
+if they could not keep her there awhile. Migwan consented hospitably and
+went off to find a place for her to sleep, while Gladys proceeded to
+wash the accumulated layers of dirt from Ophelia's face and divest her
+of her spotted rags. She came to the table in a kimono of Gladys's, for
+there were no clothes in the house that would fit her. She was nine
+years old, she said, but small and thin for her age, with arms and legs
+like pipe-stems which fairly made one shiver to look at. She had a
+little, pinched, sharp featured face, cunning with the knowledge of the
+world gained from her life on the streets, big grey-green eyes filled
+with dancing lights, and black hair that tumbled around her face in
+tangled curls, which Gladys was not able to smooth out in her hasty
+going over before supper.
+
+Not in the least shy in her new surroundings, nor complaining of
+discomfort from the broken arm, she sat at the table and kept up a
+cheerful stream of talk, racy with slang and the idiom of the streets.
+Hinpoha was instantly dubbed "Firetop." "Is it red inside of yer head?"
+she asked, after gazing steadfastly at Hinpoha's hair for several
+minutes. To all questions about her father and mother she shrugged her
+shoulders. "Ain't never had any," she replied. "I was born in the Orphan
+Asylum. Old Grady got me there." Here a spasm of rage distorted her face
+at the remembrance of Old Grady's ministrations, followed by a wicked
+chuckle when she thought how that tender guardian's plan for turning her
+out homeless into the street had been frustrated by this lucky stroke of
+fate. What her last name was she did not know. "I guess I never had
+one," she said cheerfully. "I'm just Ophelia." Gladys was much
+distressed because she would not drink milk. "No," she said, shoving it
+away, "that's for the babies. Gimme coffee or nothin'." Disdaining the
+aid of fork or spoon, she conveyed her food to her mouth with her
+fingers. "Say," she said, after staring fixedly at Nyoda in a
+disconcerting way she had, "are yer teeth false?"
+
+"Certainly not!" said Nyoda indignantly. "What made you think so?"
+
+"They're so white and even," said Ophelia. "Nobody ever had such teeth
+of their own."
+
+"Did you bleach yer hair?" she asked next, turning her attention to
+Gladys's pale gold locks. Gladys merely laughed.
+
+Ophelia waxed more loquacious as she filled up on the good things on the
+table. "Did yer husband leave yer?" she inquired sociably of Mrs.
+Gardiner. Gladys rose hastily and bore Ophelia away to her room, where a
+cot had been set up for her.
+
+"Three flies in the spider's parlor," said Migwan.
+
+"And one in the ointment, or my prophetic soul has its signals crossed,"
+said Nyoda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.--THE MEDICINE LODGE.
+
+
+Nyoda's prophetic soul proved to be a true prophet, and there were
+trying times to follow the establishment of Ophelia at Onoway House.
+That very first night Nyoda woke with a strangling sensation to find
+Ophelia sitting on her chest. "I want ter sleep in the bed wid yer," she
+said, in answer to Nyoda's startled inquiry. "I'm afraid ter sleep
+alone." She had been trying to creep in between Nyoda and Gladys and
+lost her balance, which accounted for her position when Nyoda woke up.
+
+"But there's nothing in the room to hurt you," Nyoda said, reassuringly.
+
+"It's them hop-toads," she wailed, stopping her ears against the pillow,
+"they give me th' pip with their everlastin' screechin'. They sound
+right under the bed." Gladys woke up in time to hear her and offered to
+take the cot herself and let Ophelia sleep with Nyoda.
+
+The next morning Gladys made a hurried trip to town to buy Ophelia some
+clothes, while Nyoda washed her hair, much to Ophelia's disgust. The
+curls were so matted that it was impossible to comb them out and there
+was nothing left to do but cut them short. When all the foreign coloring
+matter had been removed and the hair had begun to dry in the warm wind,
+Nyoda stopped beside her in bewildered astonishment. On the top of her
+head, just about in the center, there was a circular patch of light hair
+about three inches in diameter. All the rest was black. "Ophelia," said
+Nyoda, looking her straight in the eyes, "how did you bleach the top of
+your hair?"
+
+"It's a fib," said Ophelia, politely, "I never bleached it."
+
+"Then somebody did," said Nyoda.
+
+"Didn't neither," contradicted Ophelia.
+
+"We'll see whether they did or not," said Nyoda, "when the hair grows
+out from the roots."
+
+Dressed in the pretty clothes Gladys bought for her she was not at all a
+bad looking child, but her language and her knowledge of evil absolutely
+appalled the dwellers at Onoway House. "Did yer old man beat yer up?"
+she asked sympathetically of Mrs. Landsdowne, when that gentle lady came
+to call. Mrs. Landsdowne had run into the barn door the day before and
+had a bruise on her forehead.
+
+Ophelia's sins in the garden were too numerous to chronicle. When set to
+weeding she pulled weeds and plants impartially, working such havoc in a
+short time that she was forbidden to touch a single growing thing. Her
+ignorance of everything pertaining to the country was only equalled by
+her curiosity.
+
+"What would happen to the cow if you didn't milk her?" she demanded of
+Farmer Landsdowne, as she watched him milking one day. "She'd bust, I
+suppose," she went on, answering her own question while Farmer
+Landsdowne was scratching his head for a reply. "Say, are yer whiskers
+fireproof?" she asked, scrutinizing his white beard with interest.
+"Because if they ain't yer don't dast smoke that pipe. The Santa Claus
+in Lefkovitz's window told me so. Say, what do you do when they get
+dirty?"
+
+Leaving her alone in the barn for a few moments he heard a mighty
+squawking and cackling and hastened to investigate. He found the old
+setting hen running distractedly around one of the empty horse stalls,
+frantically trying to get out, while Ophelia was holding the big rooster
+on the nest with her one hand, in spite of the fact that he was flapping
+his wings and pecking at her furiously. "He ought to do some of the
+settin'," she remarked, when taken to task for her act, "he ain't doin'
+nothin' fer a livin'."
+
+The squash bugs had descended once more, and were making hay of the
+squash bed while the sun shone, and the girls worked a whole, long weary
+afternoon clearing the vines. As the bugs were picked off they were put
+into tin cans to be destroyed. Tired to death and heartily sick of
+handling the disagreeable insects the girls quit the job at sundown,
+having just about cleared the patch. They gathered in Migwan's big room
+before supper to make some plans for the Winnebago Ceremonial Meeting
+which was to be held at Onoway House on the Fourth of July. Ophelia
+promptly followed them and demanded admittance. "You can't come in,"
+said Migwan rather crossly, for there were secrets being told which they
+did not want her to hear.
+
+Ophelia wandered off in search of amusement. Mr. Bob had fled at her
+approach and was hiding under the porch, and Betty had been admitted to
+the council of the Winnebagos, for Migwan and Nyoda had decided at the
+beginning of the summer that if there was to be any peace with her she
+would have to be a party to all their doings, and as she was to be put
+into a Camp Fire Group in the fall she was given this opportunity of
+learning to qualify for the various honors by watching the intimate
+workings of the Winnebago group. Tom was over at the Landsdowne's and
+Mrs. Gardiner was getting supper and invited Ophelia to stay out of the
+kitchen when she came down to see if there was any fun to be had there.
+Ophelia had been allowed to help once or twice and had broken so many
+dishes with her one-handed way of doing things that Mrs. Gardiner lost
+all patience and refused to have her around.
+
+Strolling out into the garden in her quest for something to do she came
+upon the big tin pail containing all the squash bugs, which Migwan
+intended taking over to Farmer Landsdowne for disposal. A mischievous
+impulse seized her, and taking off the cover she emptied the bugs back
+into the bed, where they crawled eagerly back to their interrupted feast
+of tender leaves. When the prank was discovered Migwan sank wearily down
+beside the patch she had tried so hard to save from destruction.
+"Whatever possessed you?" said Nyoda, seizing Ophelia with the firm
+determination of boxing her ears. But Ophelia shrank back with such
+evident expectation of a blow that Nyoda loosened her hold.
+
+"Well, ain't yer goin' ter punish me?" asked Ophelia, still eyeing her
+warily for an unexpected attack, with the attitude of an animal at bay.
+To her surprise there were no blows forthcoming, but she was ordered to
+pick off all the squash bugs again, and before the job was done she had
+plenty of time to regret her rash act. All that beautiful long summer
+evening, when the girls were on the front porch playing games and
+shouting with laughter, she sat in the squash bed, undoing the mischief
+she had done. When bed time came she was told to sleep in the cot by
+herself, and Gladys and Nyoda took no notice of her at all, whispering
+secrets to each other in bed with never a word to her. The next morning
+she was awakened at four o'clock and set to work again, and so missed
+the merry breakfast with the family. Gladys had promised to take her to
+town in the machine that day, but, of course, this pleasure was
+forfeited, as the beetles were not yet all picked off. The family was
+all invited over to the Landsdowne's for supper that night, but by four
+o'clock Ophelia realized with a pang of disappointment that she would
+not even be through by five. Accustomed as she was to brutal treatment,
+this was the worst punishment she had ever experienced, but she realized
+that she deserved it and was gamely paying the price without a murmur.
+When Migwan came out shortly after four and helped her so that she would
+be done in time to go to Farmer Landsdowne's with the others her
+penitence was complete.
+
+Preparations for the big Fourth of July Council meeting were going
+forward apace. It was to be a house party, they decided, and the other
+three Winnebagos, Nakwisi, Chapa and Medmangi, were to be invited to
+spend the night. Sleeping quarters caused some debate, when Sahwah had a
+brilliant idea. "Let's build a tepee," she said, "and all sleep on the
+ground inside of it with our feet toward the center. Then we can hold
+the Council Fire in there and dance a war dance around the fire and make
+shadows on the sides to scare the natives." No sooner said than begun.
+The front lawn was chosen as the site of the tepee, as that was the only
+spot big enough. Dick, Tom and Mr. Landsdowne set the poles in a circle
+to make the supporting framework, and the girls made the covering of
+heavy sail cloth, which fitted snugly over the poles and had an opening
+in the center of the top, and another one lower down for the entrance.
+When done it would easily accommodate fifteen or sixteen persons. An
+iron kettle was sunk into the ground in the center of the tepee. This
+would hold sticks of wood soaked in kerosene, which is the secret of a
+quickly lighted council fire, and also the alcohol and salt mixture
+which is an indispensable part of all ghost story telling parties. The
+grass around the kettle was pulled up, leaving a ring of bare earth,
+which would prevent accident from the fire spreading.
+
+The whole thing was completed two days before the Fourth. A big sign,
+WINNEBAGO MEDICINE LODGE, was hung over the entrance. Underneath it a
+sign in smaller letters proclaimed that at the Fourth Sundown of the
+Thunder Moon the big medicine man Face-Toward-the-Mountain would "make
+medicine" in the lodge for the benefit of the Winnebago tribe and their
+paleface friends. The "paleface friends" referred to were Mrs. Gardiner,
+Betty and Tom and Ophelia, Mr. and Mrs. Landsdowne and Calvin Smalley,
+who were invited to see the show.
+
+"It's a shame Aunt Phoebe and the Doctor have to miss it," said Hinpoha.
+
+It was rumored that a real Indian princess would be present at the
+medicine making, i.e., Sahwah in her Indian dress that Mr. Evans had
+sent her from Canada, and excitement ran high among the invited guests
+as hint after hint trickled out as to the elaborateness of the
+ceremonial, which was to eclipse anything yet attempted in that line by
+the Winnebagos, which was saying a great deal. Migwan had been seen
+doing a great deal of surreptitious writing of late and at bed time the
+Winnebagos had taken to congregating in the big, back bedroom and
+locking the doors, and soon there would issue forth sounds of much
+talking and laughter, so that a really experienced listener would almost
+suspect there was a play in process of rehearsal. "Let's reh--you know,"
+said Migwan to Gladys, when the last touches had been put on the tepee,
+suddenly cutting her words short and making a hand sign to finish her
+sentence.
+
+"Do you mind if I don't just now," answered Gladys, "I have such a bad
+headache I think I will lie down for a while. It must have been the sun
+glaring on the white canvas."
+
+"I have one too," said Hinpoha, "it must have been the sun. I'll come
+later when Gladys does," she said to Migwan, with an aggravatingly
+mysterious hand sign.
+
+At supper time Ophelia refused to eat and moped in a manner quite
+foreign to her. Her eyes were red and it looked as though she had been
+crying. After supper she still sat by herself in a corner of the porch
+and made no effort to trap the girls into telling their plans for the
+Fourth as she had been doing all day. "Come and play Blind-Man's-Buff on
+the lawn," called Migwan. Ophelia raised her head and looked at her
+listlessly, but made no effort to join in the merry game.
+
+"Don't you feel well?" asked Nyoda, noting her languid manner. "Child,
+what makes your eyes so red?" she said, turning Ophelia's face toward
+the light.
+
+"I don't know," said Ophelia, wriggling out of her grasp, and putting
+her head down on her knee.
+
+"Come, let me put you to bed," said Nyoda. "I'm afraid you're going to
+be sick." In the morning Ophelia's face was all broken out and Nyoda
+groaned when she realized the truth. Ophelia had the measles. All
+preparations for the Fourth of July Ceremonial had to be called off, and
+the three girls in town telephoned not to come out. The sight of the
+tepee and all the plans it suggested called out a wail of despair every
+time the girls went out in the yard. On the morning of the Glorious
+Fourth Gladys woke to find herself spotted like a leopard.
+
+"That must be the reason why I had such a fearful headache the other
+day," she said, as she took her place with the other sick one, half
+amused and wholly disgusted at herself for having fallen a victim.
+
+"I had a headache too," said Hinpoha, in alarm, "I hope I'm not coming
+down with them. I've had them once."
+
+"That doesn't help much," said Nyoda, "for I had them three times."
+Hinpoha's fears were realized, and by night there was a third case
+developed. And so, instead of a grand council on the Fourth of July
+there was real medicine making at Onoway House. None of the sufferers
+were very ill, although they must remain prisoners, and they had such a
+jolly time in the "contagious disease ward" that Migwan and Sahwah, who
+were finding things rather dull on the outside, wished fervently that
+they had taken the measles too.
+
+As soon as the three invalids were pronounced entirely well there was a
+celebration held in honor of the occasion in the tepee. At sundown Nyoda
+went around beating on a tin pan covered with a cloth in lieu of a
+tom-tom, which was always the signal for the tribe to come together.
+Tom, as runner, was dispatched to fetch the Landsdownes and Calvin
+Smalley. When the tribe came trooping in answer to the call, followed by
+the guests, they were marched in solemn file around the lawn and into
+the tepee. Inside there was a fire kindled in the center, with a circle
+of ponchos and blankets spread around it on the ground. "Bless my soul,
+but this is cozy," said Farmer Landsdowne, dropping down on a poncho and
+stretching himself comfortably.
+
+"Now, what shall we do?" asked Nyoda, who was mistress of ceremonies,
+"play games or tell stories?"
+
+"Tell stories," begged Migwan, "we haven't 'wound the yarn' for an age."
+
+"All right," agreed Nyoda, "shall we do it the way several of the Indian
+tribes do?"
+
+"How do they do it?" asked Migwan.
+
+"Well," said Nyoda, "there is a tradition among certain tribes that if
+anyone refuses to tell a story when he is asked he will grow a tail like
+a donkey. Sometimes, however, they do not wait for Nature to perform
+this miracle, but fasten a tail themselves onto the one who will not
+entertain the crowd when he is bidden, and he must wear it until he
+tells a story. Their way of asking one of their number to tell one is to
+remark 'There is a tail to you,' as a delicate way of expressing the
+fate that will be his if he refuses."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Sahwah.
+
+"And now Gladys," said Nyoda, "'there is a tail to you.'"
+
+Gladys placed more wood on the fire, which was burning low, and returned
+to her seat on the blanket. "Did I ever tell you," she began, "about my
+Aunt Beatrice? She and my Uncle Lynn were visiting here from the West
+with my little cousin Beatrice, who was only six months old. They were
+staying in a big hotel downtown. One night they went to a party, leaving
+Beatrice in their room at the hotel in the care of her nurse. At the
+party there was a fortune teller who amused the guests by reading their
+palms. When it came my aunt's turn the woman said to her, 'You have had
+one child, who is dead.' Everybody laughed because they knew Aunt
+Beatrice had never lost a baby, and little Beatrice was safe and sound
+in the hotel that very minute. But it worried my aunt almost to death,
+and she couldn't enjoy herself the rest of the evening.
+
+"Finally she said to my uncle, 'I can't stand it any longer, I must go
+home,' so they left the party just as the guests were sitting down to a
+midnight supper, and everybody made fun of her for being such a fussy
+young mother. When they got downtown they found the hotel in flames and
+the streets blocked for a long distance around. Aunt Beatrice finally
+broke through the fire lines and ran right past the firemen who tried to
+keep her out, into the burning building, and fought her way up-stairs
+through the smoke to her room, where she could hear a baby crying. She
+was blind from the smoke and could hardly see where she was going, but
+she picked up a rug from the floor, wrapped it around the baby and
+carried her out in safety. When she got outside they found it was not
+little Beatrice at all that she had saved, it was a strange baby. She
+had mistaken the room up-stairs in the smoke and carried out someone
+else's child. The building collapsed right after she came out and no one
+could go in any more. Beatrice and her nurse were lost in the fire." A
+murmur of horrified sympathy went around the circle in the tepee. "And,"
+continued Gladys, "my Aunt Beatrice has never been herself since. She
+can't bear even to see a baby."
+
+"Is that the reason you wouldn't let me bring Marian Simpson's baby over
+the day she left it with me to take care of?" asked Hinpoha. "I remember
+you said your aunt was visiting you."
+
+"Yes, that was why," said Gladys. "And now, Mr. Landsdowne," she added,
+"'there is a tail to you!'"
+
+Farmer Landsdowne stared thoughtfully into the fire for a moment, and
+then a reminiscent smile began to wrinkle the corners of his eyes.
+"Would you like to hear a story about the old house?" he asked.
+
+"You mean Onoway House?" asked Migwan.
+
+Mr. Landsdowne nodded. "Only it seems strange to be calling it 'Onoway
+House.' It has always been known as 'Waterhouse's Place,' because old
+Deacon Waterhouse built it. Well, like most old houses, there are
+different stories told about it, but whether they are true or not, no
+one knows. People are so apt to believe anything they want to believe.
+Well, I started out to tell you the story about the gas well. But before
+I tell you about the gas well I suppose I ought to tell you about the
+Deacon's son. Mind you, the things I am telling you are only what I have
+heard from the folks around here; I never knew Deacon Waterhouse. He was
+dead and the house empty before the farm was split up, and it wasn't
+until the part that I now own was offered for sale that I ever came into
+this neighborhood. Well, to return to the Deacon's son. They say that
+there never was a finer looking young fellow than Charley Waterhouse. He
+was a regular prince among the country boys. But he didn't care a rap
+about farming. All he wanted to do was read; that and take the horse and
+buggy and drive to town. The old Deacon was terribly disappointed, of
+course, for Charley was his only son, and he couldn't see that the boy
+wasn't cut out to be a farmer. He railed about his love of books and
+wouldn't give him money for schooling. Charley stood it until he was
+eighteen and then he ran away, after forging the Deacon's name to a
+check. The folks around here never saw him again. Mrs. Waterhouse died
+of a broken heart, they say. They also say," he added with a twinkle in
+his eye, "that she died before she had her attic cleaned, and that her
+ghost comes back at night and sets the old furniture straight up there."
+Migwan and Hinpoha exchanged glances.
+
+"Now about the gas well," resumed Mr. Landsdowne. "The Deacon was
+digging for water on the farm. The old well had dried up during a long,
+hot spell and he was bound to go deep enough this time. Down they
+went--two, three hundred feet, and still no good water. The ground had
+turned into slate and shale. The well digger lit a match down in the
+hole when suddenly there was a terrific explosion which caved in the
+sides of the well and all the dirt which was piled around the outside
+slid in again, completely filling it up. A vein of gas had been struck.
+That very day the Deacon received word that his son was in San
+Francisco, dying, and wanted to see him. He forgot his anger over
+Charley's disgrace and started west that very night. He never came back.
+He stayed in San Francisco a whole year and then died out there. While
+he was there he mentioned the gas well to several people, or they say he
+did, and that's how the story got round. But if such a thing did happen,
+there was never any trace of it afterward. Personally I do not believe
+it ever happened. But superstitious folks around here say they can still
+hear the buried well digger striking with his pick against the earth
+that covers him."
+
+"Two ghosts at Onoway House!" said Nyoda, "we are uncommonly well
+supplied," and the girls shivered and drew near together in mock fear.
+Thus, with various stories the evening wore away, until Farmer
+Landsdowne, looking at his big, old-fashioned silver watch with a start,
+remarked that he should have been in bed an hour ago, whereupon the
+company broke up. Calvin Smalley went home reluctantly. That evening
+spent by the fire in the tepee had been a sort of wonderland to him,
+unused as he was to family festivities of any kind.
+
+Nyoda lingered after the rest had gone to see that the fire in the tepee
+was properly extinguished. As she watched the glowing embers turn black
+one by one she became aware of a figure standing in the doorway. The
+moonlight fell directly on it and she could see that it was robed in
+flowing white, and instead of a face there was a hideous death's head.
+Horribly startled at first she recovered her composure when she
+remembered that she was living in a household which were given to
+playing jokes on each other. Flinging up her hands in mock terror, she
+recited dramatically,
+
+"Art thou some angel, some devil, or some ghost?" The figure in the
+doorway never moved. Nyoda picked up the thick stick with which she had
+stirred the fire and rushed upon the ghost as if she intended to beat it
+to a pulp. It flung out its arm, covered with the flowing drapery, and
+Nyoda dropped her weapon and staggered back against the side of the
+tepee, sneezing with terrible violence, her eyes smarting and watering
+horribly. When the force of the paroxysm had spent itself and she could
+open her eyes again the ghost had vanished. Blind and choking, she made
+her way back to the house, intent on finding out who the ghost was, who
+had thrown red pepper into her eyes. That it was none of the dwellers at
+Onoway House was clear. The girls were already partly undressed, Ophelia
+was in bed, and Tom was taking a foot-bath in the kitchen under the
+watchful supervision of his mother to see that he got himself clean. A
+chorus of indignation rose on every side at the outrage, when Nyoda had
+told her tale.
+
+"Could it have been Calvin Smalley?" somebody asked. But this no one
+would believe. The boy was too gentle and manly, and too evidently
+delighted with his new neighbors to have done such a dastardly deed.
+Then who had dressed up as a ghost and thrown red pepper at Nyoda in the
+tepee?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.--SAHWAH MAKES A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+As there was no one of their acquaintance whom they could suspect of
+being the ghost, the trick was laid at the door of some unknown dweller
+along the road with a fondness for horseplay. The girls spent the
+morning working quietly in the garden, and in the afternoon they went to
+the city in Gladys's automobile, all but Sahwah, who wanted to work on a
+waist she was making. Then, after the automobile was out of sight she
+discovered that she did not have the right kind of thread and could not
+work on it after all. With the prospect of a whole afternoon to herself,
+she decided to take a long walk. The Bartlett farm was not very large
+and she was soon at its boundary, and over on the Smalley property. In
+contrast to their little orchard and garden and meadow, the Smalley farm
+stretched out as far as she could see, with great corn and wheat fields,
+and acres of timber land. Somewhere on the place Calvin Smalley was
+working, and Sahwah made up her mind to find him and ask him over to
+Onoway House that night. But the extent of the Smalley farm was
+ninety-seven acres, and it was not so easy to find a person on it when
+one had no definite knowledge of that person's whereabouts. Sahwah
+walked and walked and walked, up one field and down another, shading her
+eyes with her hand to catch sight of the figure she was looking for. But
+Calvin was somewhere near the center of the cornfield, stooping near the
+ground, and the high stalks waved over his head and concealed him
+completely. Sahwah passed by without discovering him and crossed an open
+field that was lying fallow. Beyond this was a strip of marsh land which
+was practically impassable. Under ordinary circumstances Sahwah would
+have turned back, but being badly in want of something better to do she
+tried to cross it. She had seen two boards lying in the field, and
+securing these she laid them down on the treacherous mud, and by
+standing on one and laying the other down in front of her and then
+advancing to that one she actually got across in safety.
+
+On the other side of the bog she spied a little clump of trees and
+headed toward them, for the sun was very hot in the open and the thought
+of a rest in the shade was attractive. When she came nearer she saw that
+this little copse sheltered a cottage, old and weatherbeaten and
+evidently deserted. Weeds grew around it, higher than the steps and the
+floor of the porch, and the crumbling chimney, which ran up on the
+outside of the house, was covered with a thick growth of Japanese ivy.
+"It's a regular House in the Woods," said Sahwah to herself, "only there
+are no dwarfs. I wonder what it's like inside," she went on in her
+thoughts. "Maybe we could come here sometime and build a fire--there must
+be a fireplace somewhere because there's a chimney--and have a Ceremonial
+Meeting or a picnic. How delightfully private it is!" The trees hid the
+house from view until one almost stumbled upon it, and then the marsh
+and the broad vacant field stretched between it and the farm, and behind
+it was the river, its banks hidden by a thick growth of willows and
+alders, so that the cottage was not visible to a person coming along the
+river in a boat. There was not a sound to be heard anywhere except the
+zig-a-zig of the grasshoppers in the field and the swish of the hidden
+water as it flowed over the stones. "A grand place to have a secret
+meeting of the Winnebagos," said Sahwah to herself, "where we wouldn't
+always be interrupted by Ophelia pounding on the door and wanting to
+come in. I wonder if it's open?"
+
+She stepped up on the porch and tried the door. It was locked. She
+peered into the window. The room she saw was absolutely empty. She could
+not see whether there was a fireplace or not. She was seized with a
+desire to enter that cottage. It was deserted and tumble down and
+fascinating. Whoever owned it--if anyone did, for she was not sure
+whether it stood on the Smalley property or not--had evidently abandoned
+it to the elements. There was no harm at all in trying to get in. She
+pushed on the window. It apparently was also locked. But she pushed
+again and this time she heard a crack. The rotten wood was splitting
+away from the rusty catch. She pushed again and the window slid up. She
+stepped over the sill into the room.
+
+The window was so thick with dirt that the light seemed dim inside. At
+one end of the room there was an open fireplace, long unused, with the
+mortar falling out between the bricks. There was another door in the
+wall opposite the front door, so evidently there was another room
+beyond. This door was also locked, but the key was in the lock and it
+turned readily under her hand and the door swung open. Sahwah stood
+still in surprise. This room was as full of furniture as the other had
+been empty. Around all four walls stood cabinets and bookcases, and
+besides these there was a couch, a desk, a table and several chairs. The
+table was covered with screws, little wheels and the works of clocks,
+and before it sat an old man, busily working with them. He had on a
+long, shabby grey dressing-gown and a high silk hat on his head. He did
+not look up as she opened the door, but went right on working,
+apparently oblivious to her presence. She stared at him in amazement for
+a moment, and then, remembering her manners, realized that she had
+deliberately walked into a gentleman's room without knocking.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she said, in embarrassment, "I didn't know there
+was anyone here."
+
+The old man looked up and saw her standing in the doorway. "Come in,
+come in," he said, affably, in a deep voice. Sahwah took a step into the
+room. The old man went back to his wheels and rods and took no more
+notice of her.
+
+"What is that you're making?" asked Sahwah, curiously.
+
+"It's a long story," said the man, taking off his hat, pulling a
+handkerchief out of it and putting it back on his head, and then falling
+to work again.
+
+"Must be a genius," thought Sahwah, "that's what makes him act so
+queerly." She waited a few minutes in silence and then curiosity got the
+better of her. "Is it too long to tell?" she asked.
+
+"Eh? What's that?" asked the man, turning toward her. He took off his
+hat, put his handkerchief back in again and then put the hat back on his
+head.
+
+"I asked you," said Sahwah, politely, "if the story of what you are
+making is too long to tell."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said the man, and resumed his work without
+another word.
+
+"How impolite!" thought Sahwah. "To urge me to stay and then refuse to
+answer my questions." Her eyes strayed around the room at the bookcases
+and cabinets. Every cabinet was filled with clocks or parts of clocks.
+The books as far as she could see were all about machinery. One was a
+book of such astounding width of binding that she leaned over to read
+the title. The letters were so faded that they were hardly visible. "L,"
+she read, "E, F, E----"
+
+"It's a machine for saving time," said the man at the table, so suddenly
+that Sahwah jumped.
+
+"How interesting!" she said. "How does it work?"
+
+The man fitted a rod into a wheel and apparently forgot her existence.
+She sat silent a few minutes more and then decided she had better go
+home. She rose softly to her feet. "It's something like a clock," said
+the man, without looking up from his work.
+
+"It's coming after all," she thought, and sat down again.
+
+After a silence of about five minutes the man spoke again. "It measures
+the time just like any clock," he explained, "only, as the minutes are
+ticked off, they are thrown into a little compartment at the side,--this
+thing," he said, holding up a little metal box. He lapsed into silence
+again and after an interval resumed where he had left off. "This
+compartment," he said, "holds just an hour, and when it is full a bell
+rings and the compartment opens automatically, throwing the block of
+time, carefully wrapped to prevent leakage of seconds, out into this
+basket." He took off his hat, brought out his handkerchief, polished a
+bit of glass with it, put it carefully back into the crown and replaced
+the hat on his head.
+
+It suddenly came over Sahwah that her ingenious host was not quite right
+in his mind, so rising abruptly she hastened out of the room. The man
+took no notice of her departure. She locked the door carefully after
+her, and went out by the window whence she had entered the house,
+pulling it shut from the outside. She did not undertake to cross the
+marsh again, but made a wide detour around it. When she was once more in
+the fallow field she looked back, but the house was invisible among the
+trees and bushes which surrounded it. As she sped past the rows of
+standing corn on her way home, Abner Smalley, bending low among them,
+saw her and straightened up with a suspicious look in his eyes. He
+glanced in the direction from which she had come. On one side was the
+empty field bordered by the marsh and the woody copse, and on the other
+was the path from the river which went in the direction of Onoway House.
+He breathed a sigh of relief. The girl had come from the direction of
+Onoway House, of course. The next day he put his bull to graze in the
+empty field before the copse. Then, in different places along the rail
+fence which enclosed this field he put signs reading: BEWARE THE BULL.
+HE IS UGLY.
+
+When the girls came back from town Sahwah told her discovery. "Nyoda,"
+said Gladys, suddenly, "do you suppose it could have been this man who
+threw the pepper at you?"
+
+"Perhaps," said Nyoda, and all the girls shuddered at the thought.
+Before Sahwah's discovery they had agreed among themselves to say
+nothing about the ghost episode to anyone outside the family, so that
+the perpetrator of the joke, if he were one of the farmer boys living
+near, would not have the satisfaction of knowing that they were wrought
+up about it. In the meantime they would send Tom to get acquainted with
+all the boys on the road and try to find out something about it from
+them.
+
+Calvin Smalley was over that evening and something was said about
+Sahwah's adventure of the afternoon. "Calvin," said Nyoda, directly,
+"who is the old man who lives in that house?"
+
+Calvin looked very much distressed, and frightened too, it must be
+admitted. Then he laughed, although to Nyoda his laugh seemed a trifle
+forced, and said in his usual straightforward manner, "The man in the
+old house among the trees? That is my great uncle Peter, grandfather's
+brother. He was something of an inventer and invented a time clock, but
+the patent was stolen by another and he never got the credit for
+inventing it. He worried about it until his mind became unbalanced. For
+years he has worked around with wheels and things, making strange
+contrivances for clocks. He is perfectly harmless and wouldn't hurt a
+fly. He will not live in a house with people and he will not leave the
+cottage he lives in even for an hour, he is so afraid something will
+happen to his machine while he is away. We don't like to have people
+know that he is there because they would say we ought to send him away,
+but Uncle Abner won't do that because Uncle Peter hates to be with folks
+and he might not be allowed to play with his machine in an institution
+the way he can here. So as long as he is happy what is the difference?
+But you know how country people talk. So would it be asking a great deal
+to request you not to say anything about this to anyone, not even the
+Landsdownes? If Uncle Abner ever found out you knew he would be very
+angry, and would sure think I told you. I don't see how you ever got in,
+anyway; the door is usually kept locked, and to all appearances the
+house is empty." Sahwah looked decidedly uncomfortable as she met the
+eyes of several of the girls, but no one mentioned the manner in which
+she had gained entrance. Inasmuch as she had pried into this secret she
+felt it was no more than right to promise to keep it.
+
+"All right, we won't say anything," she said, reassuringly. All the
+others gave an equally solemn promise, and were glad that Ophelia had
+heard none of the talk about the matter, for she had been over at the
+Landsdowne's since before Sahwah told her adventure. Little pitchers
+have wide mouths as well as big ears.
+
+The girls all looked at each other when Calvin asserted that his Uncle
+Peter never left the house even for an hour. Clearly then, he had not
+been the ghost.
+
+Migwan had bad dreams that night. Just before going to bed she had been
+reading a volume of Poe, which is not the most sleep producing
+literature known. She dreamed that she was lying awake in her bed,
+looking at a big square of moonlight on the floor, when suddenly a black
+shadow fell across it, and the figure of a monkey appeared on the
+windowsill, stood there a moment and then jumped into the room.
+Shuddering with fright she woke up, and could hardly rid herself of the
+impression of the dream, it had seemed so real. There was a big square
+of moonlight on the floor. "I must have seen it in my sleep," she
+thought, "it's exactly like the one in my dream." She lay wondering if
+it were possible to see things with your eyes closed, when all of a
+sudden her heart began to thump madly. Into the moonlight there was
+creeping a black shadow. It remained still for a few seconds, a
+grotesque-shaped thing with a long tail, and then something came
+hurtling through the window and landed on the floor beside the bed.
+Migwan gave a scream that roused the house. Hinpoha, starting up wildly,
+jumped from bed and landed squarely on the black specter on the floor.
+The form struggled and squirmed and sent forth a long wailing ME-OW-W-W.
+
+"What is the matter?" cried Nyoda and Gladys and Betty and Sahwah,
+running to the rescue.
+
+"It's a cat!" said Migwan, faintly. "I thought it was a monkey!"
+
+"Moral: Don't read Poe before going to bed," said Nyoda, while the rest
+shouted with laughter at the cause of Migwan's fright.
+
+"It must have jumped in from the tree," said Hinpoha. "I see our screen
+has fallen out."
+
+There was little sleep in the house the rest of the night. During the
+time when the screen was out of the window the room had filled with
+mosquitoes, which soon found their way to the rest of the rooms. "If you
+offered me the choice of sleeping in a room with a monkey or a swarm of
+mosquitoes, I believe I'd take the monkey," said Nyoda, slapping
+viciously. Altogether it was a heavy-eyed group that came down to
+breakfast the next morning.
+
+"What are we going to do to-day?" asked Gladys.
+
+"The usual thing," said Migwan, "pull weeds. That is, I am. You girls
+don't need to help all the time. I don't want you to think of my garden
+as merely a lot of weeds to be forever pulled. I want you to remember
+only the beautiful part of it."
+
+"We don't mind pulling weeds," cried the girls, stoutly, "it's fun when
+we all do it together," and they fell to work with a will.
+
+"I declare," said Migwan, "I have become so zealous in the pursuit of
+weeds that I mechanically start to pull them along the roadside. I
+actually believe that if a weed grew on my grave I'd rise up and
+eradicate it. I little thought when I proudly won an honor last summer
+for identifying ten different weeds that they'd get to haunting my
+dreams the way they do now. Now I know what people mean when they say
+'meaner than pusley.' It's the meanest thing I've ever dealt with. I cut
+off and pull up every trace of it one day and the next day there it is
+again, just as flourishing as ever."
+
+"I don't call that meanness," said Nyoda, "that's just cheerful
+persistence. Think what a success we'd all be in life if we got ahead in
+the face of obstacles in that way. If I didn't already have a perfectly
+good symbol I'd take pusley for mine. If it were edible I think I'd use
+it as an exclusive article of diet for a time and see if I couldn't
+absorb some of its characteristics."
+
+While she was talking Ophelia came along with a frog on a shovel, which
+she proceeded to throw over the fence. "Come back with that frog," said
+Migwan, "I need him in my business. Don't you know that frogs eat the
+insects off the plants and we have that many less to kill?" Ophelia was
+standing in the strong sunlight, and Nyoda noticed that the circle of
+light hair on her head was still golden clear to the roots, although the
+ringlets were visibly growing.
+
+"It must be a freak of Nature," she concluded, "for it certainly isn't
+bleached."
+
+Rest at Onoway House was again doomed to be broken that night. Nyoda had
+been peacefully sleeping for some time when she woke up at the touch of
+something cold upon her face. She started up and the feeling
+disappeared. She went to sleep again, thinking she had been dreaming.
+Soon the feeling came again, as of something cold lying on her forehead.
+She put up her hand and encountered a cold and knobby object. At her
+touch the thing--whatever it was--jumped away. She sprang out of bed and
+lit the lamp. The sight that met her eyes as she looked around the room
+made her pinch herself to see if she were really awake and not in the
+midst of some nightmare. All over the floor, chairs, table, beds, bureau
+and wash-stand sat frogs; big frogs, little frogs, medium-sized frogs;
+all goggling solemnly at her in the lamplight. She stared open mouthed
+at the apparition. Could this be another Plague of Frogs, she asked
+herself, such as was visited upon Pharaoh? At her horrified exclamation
+Gladys woke up, gave one look around the room and dove under the
+bedclothes with a wild yell. To her excited eyes it looked as if there
+were a million frogs in the room.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ophelia, sitting up in bed and staring around
+her sleepily.
+
+"Don't you see the frogs?" cried Nyoda.
+
+"Sure I see them," said Ophelia. "Aren't you glad I got so many?"
+
+"Ophelia!" gasped Nyoda, "did you bring those frogs in here?"
+
+"Betcher I did," said Ophelia, with pride, "and it took me most all
+afternoon to catch the whole sackful, too. What's wrong?" she asked, as
+she saw the expression on Nyoda's face. "Yer said they'd eat the bugs
+and yer made such a fuss about the mosquitoes last night that I brought
+the toads to eat them while we slept." Nyoda dropped limply into a
+chair. The inspirations of Ophelia surpassed anything she had ever read
+in fiction.
+
+If anybody has ever tried to catch a roomful of frogs that were not
+anxious to be caught they can appreciate the chase that went on at
+Onoway House that night. The first faint streaks of dawn were appearing
+in the sky before the family finally retired once more. Sufficient to
+say that Ophelia never set up another mosquito trap made of frogs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.--THE WINNEBAGOS SCENT A PLOT.
+
+
+"Where are you going, my pretty maid, and why the step ladder?" said
+Nyoda to Migwan one morning. "Have your beans grown up so high over
+night that you have to climb a ladder to pick them?"
+
+"Come and see!" said Migwan, mysteriously. Nyoda followed her to the
+front lawn. Migwan set the ladder up beside a dead tree, from which the
+branches had been sawn, leaving a slender trunk about seven feet high.
+On top of this Migwan proceeded to nail a flat board.
+
+"Are you going to live on a pillar, like St. Simeon Stylites?" asked
+Nyoda, curiously, as Migwan mounted the ladder with a basin of water in
+her hand.
+
+"O come, Nyoda," said Migwan, "don't you know a bird bathtub when you
+see one?"
+
+"A bathtub, is it?" said Nyoda. "Now I breathe easily again. But why so
+extremely near the earth?"
+
+Migwan laughed at her chaffing. "You have to put them high up," she
+explained, "or else the cats get the birds when they are bathing. Mr.
+Landsdowne told me how to make it." The other girls wandered out and
+inspected the drinking fountain-bathtub. Hinpoha closed one eye and
+looked critically at the outfit.
+
+"Doesn't it strike you as being a little inharmonious?" she asked.
+"Black stump, unfinished wood platform, and blue enamel basin."
+
+"Paint the platform and basin dark green," said Sahwah, the practical.
+"There is some green paint down cellar, I saw it. Let me paint it. I can
+do that much for the birds, even if I didn't think of building them a
+drinking fountain." She sped after the paint and soon transformed the
+offending articles so that they blended harmoniously with the
+surroundings.
+
+"It's better now," said Nyoda, thoughtfully, "but it's still crude and
+unbeautiful. What is wrong?"
+
+"I know," said Hinpoha, the artistic one. "It's too bare. It looks like
+a hat without any trimming. What it needs is vines around it."
+
+"The very thing!" exclaimed Migwan. "I'll plant climbing nasturtiums and
+train them to go up the pole and wind around the basin, so it will look
+like a fountain."
+
+"Four heads are better than one," observed Nyoda, as the seeds were
+planted, "when they are all looking in the same direction."
+
+Just then a young man came up the path from the road. "May I use your
+telephone?" he asked, courteously raising his hat. He spoke with a
+slight foreign accent.
+
+"Certainly you may," said Migwan, going with him into the house. She
+could not help hearing what he said. He called up a number in town and
+when he had his connection, said, "This is Larue talking. We are going
+to do it on the Centerville Road. There is a river near." That was all.
+He rang off, thanked Migwan politely and walked off down the road. The
+incident was forgotten for a time.
+
+That afternoon Gladys was coming home in the automobile. At the turn in
+the road just before you came to Onoway House there was a car stalled.
+The driver, a young and pretty woman, was apparently in great perplexity
+what to do. "Can I help you?" asked Gladys, stopping her machine.
+
+"I don't know what's the matter," said the young woman, "but I can't get
+the car started. I'm afraid I'll have to be towed to a garage. Do you
+know of anyone around here who has a team of horses?"
+
+Gladys looked at the starting apparatus of the other car, but it was a
+different make from hers and she knew nothing about it. "Would you like
+to have me tow you to our barn?" she asked. "There is a man up the road
+who fixes automobiles for a great many people who drive through here and
+I could get him to come over."
+
+The young woman appeared much relieved. "If you would be so kind it
+would be a great favor," she said, "for I am in haste to-day."
+
+Gladys towed the car to the barn at Onoway House and phoned for the car
+tinker. The young woman, who introduced herself as Miss Mortimer, was a
+very pleasant person indeed, and quite won the hearts of the girls. She
+was delighted with Onoway House, both with the name and the house
+itself, and asked to be shown all over it, from garret to cellar. "How
+near that tree is to the window!" she said, as she looked out of the
+attic window into the branches of the big Balm of Gilead tree that grew
+beside the house, close to Migwan and Hinpoha's bedroom. It was much
+higher than the house and its branches drooped down on the roof. "How do
+you ever move about up here with all this furniture?" asked Miss
+Mortimer.
+
+"Oh," answered Migwan, "we never come up here."
+
+The barn likewise struck the visitor's fancy, with its big empty lofts,
+and she fell absolutely in love with the river. The girls took her for a
+ride on the raft, and she amused herself by sounding the depth of the
+water with the pole. They could see that she was experienced in handling
+boats from the way she steered the raft. The girls were so charmed with
+her that they felt a keen regret when the neighborhood tinker announced
+that the car was in running shape again.
+
+"I've had a lovely time, girls," said Miss Mortimer, shaking the hand of
+each in farewell. "I can't thank you enough."
+
+"Come and see us again, if you are ever passing this way," said Migwan,
+cordially.
+
+"You may possibly see me again," said Miss Mortimer, half to herself, as
+she got into her machine and drove away.
+
+There was no moon that night and the cloud-covered sky hinted at
+approaching rain, but Sahwah wanted to go out on the river on the raft,
+so Nyoda and Migwan and Hinpoha and Gladys went with her. It was too
+dark to play any kind of games and the girls were too tired and
+breathless from the hot day to sing, so they floated down-stream in lazy
+silence, watching the shapeless outlines made against the dull sky by
+the trees and bushes along the banks. On the other side of Farmer
+Landsdowne's place there was an abandoned farm. The house had stood
+empty for many years, its cheerless windows brooding in the sunlight and
+glaring in the moonlight. Just as they did with every other vacant
+house, the Winnebagos nicknamed this one the Haunted House, and vied
+with each other in describing the queer noises they had heard issuing
+from it and the ghosts they had seen walking up and down the porch. As
+they passed this place, gliding silently along the river, they were
+surprised to see an automobile standing beside the house, at the little
+side porch, in the shadow of a row of tall trees.
+
+"The ghosts are getting prosperous," whispered Migwan, "they have bought
+an automobile to do their nightly wandering in. Pretty soon we can't say
+that ghosts 'walk' any more. Ah, here come the ghosts."
+
+From the side door of the house came two men, who proceeded to lift
+various boxes from under the seats of the car and carry them into the
+house. Then they lifted out a small keg, which the girls could not help
+noticing they handled with greater care than they had the boxes. The
+wind was blowing toward the river, and the girls distinctly heard one
+man say to the other, "Be careful now, you know what will happen if we
+drop this."
+
+"I'm being as careful as I can," answered the second man.
+
+After a few seconds the first one spoke again. "When's Belle coming?"
+
+"She arrived in town to-day," said his partner.
+
+When they had gone into the house this time the machine suddenly drove
+away, revealing the presence of a third man at the wheel, whom the girls
+had not noticed before this. The two men stayed in the house.
+
+"What on earth can be happening there?" said Sahwah.
+
+"It certainly does look suspicious," said Nyoda.
+
+They waited there in the shadow of the willows for a long time to see
+what would happen next, but nothing did. The house stood blank and
+silent and apparently as empty as ever. Not a glimmer of light was
+visible anywhere. Sahwah and Nyoda were just on the point of getting
+into the rowboat, which had been tied on behind the raft, and towing the
+other girls back home, when their ears caught the sound of a faint
+splashing, like the sound made by the dipping of an oar. They were
+completely hidden from sight either up or down the river, for just at
+this point a portion of the bank had caved in, and the water filling up
+the hole had made a deep indentation in the shore line, and into this
+miniature bay the Tortoise-Crab had been steered. The thick willows
+along the bank formed a screen between them and the stream above and
+below. But they could look between the branches and see what was coming
+up stream, from the direction of the lake. It was a rowboat, containing
+two persons. The scudding clouds parted at intervals and the moon shone
+through, and by its fitful light they could see that one of these
+persons was a woman. When the rowboat was almost directly behind the
+house it came to a halt, only a few yards from the place where the
+Winnebagos lay concealed.
+
+"This is the house," said the man.
+
+"I told you the water was deep enough up this far," said the woman, in a
+tone of satisfaction. Just then the moon shone out for a brief instant,
+and the Winnebagos looked at each other in surprise. The woman, or
+rather the girl, in the rowboat was Miss Mortimer, who had been their
+guest only that day. The next moment she spoke. "We might as well go
+back now. There isn't anything more we can do. I just wanted to prove to
+you that it could be towed up the river this far without danger."
+
+"All right, Belle," replied the man, and at the sound of his voice
+Migwan pricked up her ears. There was something vaguely familiar about
+it; something which eluded her at the moment. The rowboat turned in the
+river and proceeded rapidly down-stream. The Winnebagos returned home,
+full of excitement and wonder.
+
+The barn at Onoway House stood halfway between the house and the river.
+As they landed from the raft and were tying it to the post they saw a
+man come out of the barn and disappear among the bushes that grew
+nearby. It was too dark to see him with any degree of distinctness.
+Gladys's thought leaped immediately to her car, which was left in the
+barn. "Somebody's trying to steal the car!" she cried, and they all
+hastened to the barn. The automobile stood undisturbed in its place.
+They made a hasty search with lanterns, but as far as they could see,
+none of the gardening tools were missing. Satisfied that no damage had
+been done, they went into the house.
+
+"Probably a tramp," said Mrs. Gardiner, when the facts were told her.
+"He evidently thought he would sleep in the barn, and then changed his
+mind for some reason or other."
+
+Migwan lay awake a long time trying to place the voice of the man in the
+rowboat. Just as she was sinking off to sleep it came to her. The voice
+she had heard in the darkness had a slightly foreign accent, and was the
+voice of the man who had used the telephone that morning.
+
+Sometime during the night Onoway House was wakened by the sounds of a
+terrific thunder storm. The girls flew around shutting windows. After a
+few minutes of driving rain against the window panes the sound changed.
+It became a sharp clattering. "Hail!" said Sahwah.
+
+"Oh, my young plants!" cried Migwan. "They will be pounded to pieces."
+
+"Cover them with sheets and blankets!" suggested Nyoda. With their
+accustomed swiftness of action the Winnebagos snatched up everything in
+the house that was available for the purpose and ran out into the
+garden, and spread the covers over the beds in a manner which would keep
+the tender young plants from being pounded to pieces by the hailstones.
+Migwan herself ran down to the farthest bed, which was somewhat
+separated from the others. As she raced to save it from destruction she
+suddenly ran squarely into someone who was standing in the garden. She
+had only time to see that it was a man, when, with a muffled exclamation
+of alarm he disappeared into space. Disappeared is the only word for it.
+He did not run, he never reached the cover of the bushes; he simply
+vanished off the face of the earth. One moment he was and the next
+moment he was not. Much excited, Migwan ran back to the others and told
+her story, only to be laughed at and told she was seeing things and had
+lurking men on the brain. The thing was so queer and uncanny that she
+began to wonder herself if she had been fully awake at the time, and if
+she might not possibly have dreamed the whole thing.
+
+The morning dawned fresh and fair after the shower, green and gold with
+the sun on the garden, and Migwan's delight at finding the tender little
+plants unharmed, thanks to their timely covering, was inclined to thrust
+the mysterious goings-on at the empty house the night before into
+secondary place in her mind. But she was not allowed to forget it, for
+it was the sole topic of conversation at the breakfast table. Gladys,
+with her nose buried in the morning paper, suddenly looked up. "Listen
+to this," she said, and then began to read: "Another dynamite plot
+unearthed. Society for the purpose of assassinating men prominent in
+affairs and dynamiting large buildings discovered in attempt to blow up
+the Court House. An attempt to blow up the new Court House was
+frustrated yesterday when George Brown, one of the custodians, saw a man
+crouching in the engine room and ordered him out. A search revealed the
+fact that dynamite had been placed on the floor and attached to a fuse.
+On being arrested the man confessed that he was a member of the famous
+Venoti gang, operating in the various large cities. The man is being
+held without bail, but the head of the gang, Dante Venoti, is still at
+large, and so is his wife, Bella, who aids him in all his activities. No
+clue to their whereabouts can be found."
+
+"Do you suppose," said Gladys, laying the paper down, "that those men we
+saw last night could belong to that gang? You remember how carefully
+they carried the keg into the house, as if it contained some explosive.
+They couldn't have any business there or they wouldn't have come at
+night. And they called the woman in the boat 'Belle,' or it might have
+been 'Bella.'"
+
+"And that man in the boat was the same one who came here and used the
+telephone yesterday morning," said Migwan. "I couldn't help noticing his
+foreign accent. He said, 'We are going to do it on the Centerville Road.
+There is a river near.' What are they going to do on the Centerville
+Road?"
+
+The garden work was neglected while the girls discussed the matter. "And
+the man we saw coming out of the barn when we came home," said Sahwah,
+"he probably had something to do with it, too."
+
+"And the man I saw in the garden in the middle of the night," said
+Migwan.
+
+"If you _did_ see a man," said Nyoda, somewhat doubtfully. Migwan did
+not insist upon her story. What was the use, when she had no proof, and
+the thing had been so uncanny?
+
+They were all moved to real grief over the fact that the delightful Miss
+Mortimer should have a hand in such a dark business--in fact, was
+undoubtedly the famous Bella Venoti herself. "I can't believe it," said
+Migwan, "she was so jolly and friendly, and was so charmed with Onoway
+House."
+
+"I wonder why she wanted to go through it from attic to cellar," said
+Sahwah, shrewdly. "Could she have had some purpose? _Migwan!_" she
+cried, jumping up suddenly, "don't you remember that she said, 'How near
+that tree is to the window'? Could she have been thinking that it would
+be easy to climb in there? And when she asked how we ever moved about
+with all that furniture up there, you said, 'We never come up here'!
+Don't you see what we've done? We've given her a chance to look the
+house over and find a place where people could hide if they wanted to,
+and as much as told her that they would be safe up here because we never
+came up."
+
+Consternation reigned at this speech of Sahwah's. The girls remembered
+the incident only too well. "I'll never be able to trust anyone again,"
+said Migwan, near to tears, for she had conceived a great liking for the
+young woman she had known as "Miss Mortimer."
+
+"Do you remember," pursued Sahwah, "how she took the pole of the raft
+and found out how deep the water was all along, and then afterwards she
+said to the man in the boat, 'I told you it was deep enough.' Everything
+she did at our house was a sort of investigation."
+
+"But it was only by accident that she got to Onoway House in the first
+place," said Gladys. "All she did was ask me to tell her where she could
+get a team of horses to tow her to a garage. She didn't know I belonged
+to Onoway House. It was I who brought her here, and she only stayed
+because we asked her to. It doesn't look as if she had any serious
+intentions of investigating the neighborhood. She said she was in a
+hurry to go on." Migwan brightened visibly at this. She clutched eagerly
+at any hope that Miss Mortimer might be innocent after all.
+
+"How do you know that that breakdown in the road was accidental?" asked
+Nyoda. "And how can you be sure that she didn't know you came from
+Onoway House? She may have been looking for a pretense to come here and
+you played right into her hands by offering to tow her into the barn."
+Migwan's hope flickered and went out.
+
+"And the man in the barn," said Sahwah, knowingly, "he might have come
+to look the automobile over and become familiar with the way the barn
+door opened, so he could get into the car and drive away in a hurry if
+he wanted to get away." Taken all in all, there was only one conclusion
+the girls could come to, and that was that there was something
+suspicious going on in the neighborhood, and it looked very much as if
+the Venoti gang were hiding explosives in the empty house and were
+planning to bring something else; what it was they could not guess. At
+all events, something must be done about it. Nyoda called up the police
+in town and told briefly what they had seen and heard, and was told that
+plain clothes men would be sent out to watch the empty house. When she
+described the man who had called and used the telephone, the police
+officer gave an exclamation of satisfaction.
+
+"That description fits Venoti closely," he said. "He used to have a
+mustache, but he could very easily have shaved it off. It's very
+possible that it was he. He's done that trick before; asked to use
+people's telephones as a means of getting into the house."
+
+The girls thrilled at the thought of having seen the famous anarchist so
+close. "Hadn't we better tell the Landsdownes about it?" asked Migwan.
+"They are in a better position to watch that house from their windows
+than we are."
+
+"You're right," said Nyoda. "And we ought to tell the Smalleys, too, so
+they will be on their guard and ready to help the police if it is
+necessary."
+
+"I hate to go over there," said Migwan, "I don't like Mr. Smalley."
+
+"That has nothing to do with it," said Nyoda, firmly. "The fact that he
+is fearfully stingy and grasping has no bearing on this case. He has a
+right to know it if his property is in danger." And she proceeded
+forthwith to the Red House.
+
+Mr. Smalley was inclined to pooh-pooh the whole affair as the
+imagination of a houseful of women. "Saw a man running out of your barn,
+did you?" he asked, showing some interest in this part of the tale.
+"Well now, come to think of it," he said, "I saw someone sneaking around
+ours too, last night. But I didn't think much of it. That's happened
+before. It's usually chicken thieves. I keep a big dog in the barn and
+they think twice about breaking in after they hear him bark, and you
+haven't any chickens, that's why nothing was touched." It was a very
+simple explanation of the presence of the man in the barn, but still it
+did not satisfy Nyoda. She could not help connecting it in some way with
+the occurrences in the vacant house.
+
+Mr. Landsdowne was very much interested and excited at the story when it
+was told to him. "There's probably a whole lot more to it than we know,"
+he said, getting out his rifle and beginning to clean it. "There's more
+going on in this country in the present state of affairs than most
+people dream of. You have notified the police? That's good; I guess
+there won't be many more secret doings in the empty house."
+
+As Nyoda and Migwan went home from the Landsdownes they passed a
+telegraph pole in the road on which a man was working. Silhouetted
+against the sky as he was they could see his actions clearly. He was
+holding something to his ear which looked like a receiver, and with the
+other hand he was writing something down in a little book. Migwan looked
+at him curiously; then she started. "Nyoda," she said, in a whisper,
+"that is the same man who used our telephone. That is Dante Venoti
+himself." As if conscious that they were looking at him, the man on the
+pole put down the pencil, and drawing his cap, which had a large visor,
+down over his face, he bent his head so they could not get another look
+at his features. "That's the man, all right," said Migwan. "What do you
+suppose he is doing?"
+
+"It looks," said Nyoda, judicially, "as if he were tapping the wires for
+messages that are expected to pass at this time. Possibly you did not
+notice it, but I began to look at that man as soon as we stepped into
+the road from Landsdowne's, and I saw him look at his watch and then
+hastily put the receiver to his ear."
+
+"Oh, I hope the police from town will come soon," said Migwan, hopping
+nervously up and down in the road.
+
+"Until they do come we had better keep a close watch on what goes on
+around here," said Nyoda. Accordingly the Winnebagos formed themselves
+into a complete spy system. Migwan and Gladys and Betty and Tom took
+baskets and picked the raspberries that grew along the road as an excuse
+for watching the road and the front of the house, while Nyoda and Sahwah
+and Hinpoha took the raft and patrolled the river. As the girls in the
+road watched, the man climbed down from the pole, walked leisurely past
+them, went up the path to the empty house and seated himself calmly on
+the front steps, fanning himself with his hat, apparently an innocent
+line man taking a rest from the hot sun at the top of his pole.
+
+"He's afraid to go in with us watching him," whispered Migwan. Just then
+a large automobile whirled by, stirring up clouds of dust, which
+temporarily blinded the girls. When they looked again toward the house
+the "line man" had vanished from the steps. "He's gone inside!" said
+Migwan, when they saw without a doubt that he was nowhere in sight
+outdoors.
+
+Meanwhile the girls on the raft, who had been keeping a sharp lookout
+down-stream with a pair of opera glasses, saw something approaching in
+the distance which arrested their attention. For a long time they could
+not make out what it was--it looked like a shapeless black mass. Then as
+they drew nearer they saw what was coming, and an exclamation of
+surprise burst from each one. It was a structure like a portable garage
+on a raft, towed by a launch. As it drew nearer still they could make
+out with the opera glasses that the person at the wheel was a woman, and
+that woman was Bella Venoti.
+
+The hasty arrival of an automobile full of armed men who jumped out in
+front of the "vacant" house frightened the girls in the road nearly out
+of their wits, until they realized that these were the plain clothes men
+from town. After sizing up the house from the outside the men went up
+the path to the porch. The girls were watching them with a fascinated
+gaze, and no one saw the second automobile that was coming up the road
+far in the distance. One of the plain clothes men, who seemed to be the
+leader of the group, rapped sharply on the door of the house. There was
+no answer. He rapped again. This time the door was flung wide open from
+the inside. The girls could see that the man in the doorway was Dante
+Venoti. The officer of the law stepped forward. "Your little game is up,
+Dante Venoti," he said, quietly, "and you are under arrest."
+
+Dante Venoti looked at him in open-mouthed astonishment. "Vatevaire do
+you mean?" he gasped. "I am under arrest? Has ze law stop ze production?
+Chambers, Chambers," he called over his shoulder, "come here queek. Ze
+police has stop' ze production!"
+
+A tall, lanky, decidedly American looking individual appeared in the
+doorway behind him. "What the deuce!" he exclaimed, at the sight of all
+the men on the porch. At this moment the second automobile drove up,
+followed by a third and a fourth. A large number of men and women
+dismounted and ran up the path to the house.
+
+"Caruthers! Simpson! Jimmy!" shouted Venoti, excitedly to the latest
+arrivals, "ze police has stop ze production!"
+
+"What do you know about it!" exclaimed someone in the crowd of
+newcomers, evidently one of those addressed. "Where's Belle?"
+
+"She is bringing zeze caboose! Up ze rivaire!" cried the black haired
+man, wringing his hands in distress.
+
+The plain clothes men looked over the band of people that stood around
+him. There was nothing about them to indicate their desperate character.
+Instead of being Italians as they had expected, they seemed to be mostly
+Americans. The leader of the policemen suddenly looked hard at Venoti.
+"Say," he said, "you look like a Dago, but you don't talk like one. Who
+are you, anyway?"
+
+"I am Felix Larue," said the black haired man, "I am ze director of ze
+Great Western Film Company, and zeze are all my actors. We have rent zis
+house and farm for ze production of ze war play 'Ze Honor of a Soldier.'
+Last night we bring some of ze properties to ze house; zey are very
+valuable, and Chambers and Bushbower here zey stay in ze house wiz zem."
+
+The plain clothes men looked at each other and started to grin. Migwan
+and Gladys, who had joined the company on the porch, suddenly felt
+unutterably foolish. "But what were you doing on top of the pole?"
+faltered Migwan.
+
+Mr. Larue turned his eyes toward her. He recognized her as the girl who
+had allowed him to use her telephone the day before, and favored her
+with a polite bow. "Me," he said, "I play ze part of ze spy in ze
+piece--ze villain. I tap ze wire and get ze message. I was practice for
+ze part zis morning." He turned beseechingly to the policeman who had
+questioned him. "Zen you will not stop ze production?" he asked.
+
+"Heavens, no," answered the policeman. "We were going to arrest you for
+an anarchist, that's all."
+
+The company of actors were dissolving into hysterical laughter, in which
+the plain clothes men joined sheepishly. Just then a young woman came
+around the house from the back, followed at a short distance by Nyoda,
+Sahwah and Hinpoha. Seeing the crowd in front she stopped in surprise.
+Larue went to the edge of the porch and called to her reassuringly.
+"Come on, Belle," he called, gaily. When she was up on the porch he took
+her by the hand and led her forward. "Permit me to introduce my fellow
+conspirator," he said, in a theatrical manner and with a low bow. "Zis
+is Belle Mortimer, ze leading lady of ze Great Western Film Company!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.--MOVING PICTURES.
+
+
+The Winnebagos looked at each other speechlessly. Belle Mortimer, the
+famous motion picture actress, whom they had seen on the screen dozens
+of times, and for whom Migwan had long entertained a secret and
+devouring adoration! Not Bella Venoti at all! "Did you ever?" gasped
+Sahwah.
+
+"No, I never," answered the Winnebagos, in chorus.
+
+Miss Mortimer recognized her hostesses of the day before and greeted
+them warmly. "My kind friends from Onoway House," she called them. The
+Winnebagos were embarrassed to death to have to explain how they had
+spied on the vacant house and thought the famous Venoti gang was at
+work, and were themselves responsible for the presence of the policemen.
+
+"I never _heard_ of anything so funny," she said, laughing until the
+tears came. "I _never_ heard of anything so funny!" The plain clothes
+men departed in their automobile, disappointed at not having made the
+grand capture they had expected to. "Would you like to stay with us for
+the day and watch us work?" asked Miss Mortimer.
+
+"Oh, could we?" breathed Migwan. She was in the seventh heaven at the
+thought of being with Belle Mortimer so long. Then followed a day of
+delirious delight. To begin with, the Winnebagos were introduced to the
+whole company, many of whose names were familiar to them. Felix Larue,
+having gotten over the fright he had received when he thought the piece
+was going to be suppressed by the police for some unaccountable reason,
+was all smiles and amiability, and explained anything the girls wanted
+to know about. The piece was a very exciting one, full of thrilling
+incidents and danger, and the girls were held spellbound at the physical
+feats which some of those actors performed. The house on the raft was
+explained as the play progressed. It was filled with soldiers and towed
+up the river, to all appearances merely a garage being moved by its
+owner. But when a dispatch bearer of the enemy, whose family lived in
+the house, stopped to see them while he was carrying an important
+message, the soldiers rushed out from the garage, sprang ashore, seized
+the man along with the message and carried him away in the launch, which
+had been cut away from the raft while the capture was being made. Migwan
+thought of the tame little plots she had written the winter before and
+was filled with envy at the creator of this stirring play.
+
+It took a whole week to make the film of "The Honor of a Soldier" and in
+that time the girls saw a great deal of Miss Mortimer. And one blessed
+night she stayed at Onoway House with them, instead of motoring back to
+the city with the rest of the company. Just as Migwan was dying of
+admiration for her, so she was attracted by this dreamy-eyed girl with
+the lofty brow. In a confidential moment Migwan confessed that she had
+written several motion picture plays the winter before, all of which had
+been rejected. "Do you mind if I see them?" asked Miss Mortimer. Much
+embarrassed, Migwan produced the manuscripts, written in the form
+outlined in the book she had bought. Miss Mortimer read them over
+carefully, while Migwan awaited her verdict with a beating heart.
+
+"Well?" she asked, when Miss Mortimer had finished reading them.
+
+"Who told you to put them in this form?" asked Miss Mortimer.
+
+"I learned it from a book," answered Migwan. "What do you think of
+them?" she asked, impatient for Miss Mortimer's opinion.
+
+"The idea in one of them is good, very good," said Miss Mortimer. "This
+one called 'Jerry's Sister.' But you have really spoiled it in the
+development. It takes a person familiar with the production of a film to
+direct the movements of the actors intelligently. If Mr. Larue, for
+example, had developed that piece it would be a very good one. Would you
+be willing to sell just the idea, if Mr. Larue thinks he can use it?"
+
+Migwan had never thought of this before. "Why, yes," she said, "I
+suppose I would. It's certainly no good to me as it is."
+
+"Let me take it to Mr. Larue," said Miss Mortimer. "I'm sure he will see
+the possibilities in it just as I have." Migwan was in a transport of
+delight to think that her idea at least had found favor with Miss
+Mortimer. Miss Mortimer was as good as her word and showed the play to
+Mr. Larue and he agreed with her that it could be developed into a
+side-splitting farce comedy. Migwan was more intoxicated with that first
+sale of the labors of her pen than she was at any future successes,
+however great. Deeply inspired by this recognition of her talent, she
+evolved an exciting plot from the incidents which had just occurred,
+namely, the mistaking of the moving picture company for the Venoti gang.
+She kept it merely in plot form, not trying to develop it, and Mr. Larue
+accepted this one also. After this second success, even though the price
+she received for the two plots was not large, the future stretched out
+before Migwan like a brilliant rainbow, with a pot of gold under each
+end.
+
+Miss Mortimer soon discovered that the Winnebagos were a group of Camp
+Fire Girls, and she immediately had an idea. When "The Honor of a
+Soldier" was finished Mr. Larue was going to produce a piece which
+called for a larger number of people than the company contained, among
+them a group of Camp Fire Girls. He intended hiring a number of "supers"
+for this play. "Why not hire the Winnebagos?" said Miss Mortimer. And so
+it was arranged. Medmangi and Nakwisi and Chapa, the other three
+Winnebagos, were notified to join the ranks, and excitement ran high. To
+be in a real moving picture! It is true that they had nothing special to
+do, just walk through the scene in one place and sit on the ground in a
+circle in another, but there was not a single girl who did not hope that
+her conduct on that occasion would lead Mr. Larue into hiring her as a
+permanent member of the company.
+
+Especially Sahwah. The active, strenuous life of a motion picture
+actress attracted her more than anything just now. She longed to be in
+the public eye and achieve fame by performing thrilling feats. She saw
+herself in a thousand different positions of danger, always the heroine.
+Now she was diving for a ring dropped into the water from the hand of a
+princess; now she was trapped in a burning building; now she was riding
+a wild horse. But always she was the idol of the company, and the idol
+of the moving picture audiences, and the envy of all other actresses.
+She would receive letters from people all over the country and her
+picture would be in the papers and in the magazines, and her name would
+be featured on the colored posters in front of the theatres. Managers
+would quarrel over her and she would be offered a fabulous salary. All
+this Sahwah saw in her mind's eye as the future which was waiting for
+her, for since meeting Miss Mortimer she really meant to be a motion
+picture actress when she was through school. She felt in her heart that
+she could show people a few things when it came to feats of action. She
+simply could not wait for the day when the Winnebagos were to be in the
+picture. When the play was produced in the city theatres her friends
+would recognize her, and Oh joy!--here her thoughts became too gay to
+think.
+
+The play in question was staged, not on the Centerville road, but in one
+of the city parks, where there were hills and formal gardens and an
+artificial lake, which were necessary settings. The day arrived at last.
+News had gone abroad that a motion picture play was to be staged in that
+particular park and a curious crowd gathered to watch the proceedings.
+Sahwah felt very splendid and important as she stood in the company of
+the actors. She knew that the crowd did not know that she was just in
+that one play as a filler-in; to them she was really and truly a member
+of this wonderful company--a real moving picture actress. Gazing over the
+crowd with an air of indifference, she suddenly saw one face that sent
+the blood racing to her head. That was Marie Lanning, the girl whom
+Sahwah had defeated so utterly in the basketball game the winter before,
+and who had tried such underhand means to put her out of the game.
+Sahwah felt that her triumph was complete. Marie was just the kind of
+girl who would nearly die of envy to see her rival connected with
+anything so conspicuous.
+
+The picture began; progressed; the time came for the march of the Camp
+Fire Girls down the steep hill. Sahwah stood straight as a soldier; the
+supreme moment had come. Now Mr. Larue would see that she stood out from
+all the other girls in ability to act; that moment was to be the making
+of her fortune. She glanced covertly at Marie Lanning. Marie had
+recognized her and was staring at her with unbelieving, jealous eyes.
+The march began. Sahwah held herself straighter still, if that were
+possible, and began the descent. It was hard going because it was so
+steep, but she did not let that spoil her upright carriage. She was just
+in the middle of the line, which was being led by Nyoda, and could see
+that the girls in front of her were getting out of step and breaking the
+unity of the line in their efforts to preserve their balance. Not so
+Sahwah. She saw Mr. Larue watching her and she knew he was comparing her
+with the rest. Her fancy broke loose again and she had a premonition of
+her future triumphs. The sight of the camera turned full on her gave her
+a sense of elation beyond words. It almost intoxicated her. Halfway down
+the hill Sahwah, with her head full of day-dreams, stepped on a loose
+stone which turned under her foot, throwing her violently forward. She
+fell against Hinpoha, who was in front of her. Hinpoha, utterly
+unprepared for this impetus from the rear, lost her balance completely
+and crashed into Gladys. Gladys was thrown against Nyoda, and the whole
+four of them went down the hill head over heels for all the world like a
+row of dominoes.
+
+Down at the bottom of the hill stood the hero and heroine of the piece,
+namely, Miss Mortimer and Chambers, the leading man, and as the
+landslide descended it engulfed them and the next moment there was a
+heap of players on the ground in a tangled mass. It took some minutes to
+extricate them, so mixed up were they. Mr. Larue hastened to the spot
+with an exclamation of very excusable impatience. Several dozen feet of
+perfectly good film had been spoiled and valuable time wasted. The
+players got to their feet again unhurt, and the watching crowd shouted
+with laughter. Sahwah was ready to die of chagrin and mortification. She
+had spoiled any chances she had ever had of making a favorable
+impression on Mr. Larue; but this was the least part of it. There in the
+crowd was Marie Lanning laughing herself sick at this fiasco of Sahwah's
+playing. Good-natured Mr. Chambers was trying to soothe the
+embarrassment of the Winnebagos and make them laugh by declaring he had
+lost his breath when he was knocked over and when he got it back he
+found it wasn't his, but Sahwah refused to be comforted. She had
+disgraced herself in the public eye. Breaking away from the group she
+ran through the crowd with averted face, in spite of calls to come back,
+and kept on running until she had reached the edge of the park and the
+street car line. Boarding a car, she went back to Onoway House, wishing
+miserably that she had never been born, or had died the winter before in
+the coasting accident. Her ambition to be a motion picture actress died
+a violent death right then and there. So the march of the Camp Fire
+Girls had to be done over again without Sahwah, and was consummated this
+time without accident.
+
+When Sahwah reached Onoway House she wished with all her heart that she
+hadn't come back there. She had done it mechanically, not knowing where
+else to go. At the time her only thought had been to get away from the
+crowd and from Mr. Larue; now she hated to face the Winnebagos. She was
+glad that no one was at home, for Mrs. Gardiner had taken Betty and Tom
+and Ophelia to see the play acted. As she went around the back of the
+house she came face to face with Mr. Smalley, who was just going up on
+the back porch. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see
+him, so Sahwah thought, but he was friendly enough and asked if the
+Gardiners were at home. When Sahwah said no, he said, "Then possibly
+they wouldn't mind if you gave me what I wanted. I came over to see if
+they would lend me their wheel hoe, as mine is broken and will have to
+be sent away to be fixed, and I have a big job of hoeing that ought to
+be done to-day." Sahwah knew that Migwan would not refuse to do a
+neighborly kindness like that as long as they were not using the tool
+themselves, and willingly lent it to him.
+
+She was still in great distress of mind over the ridiculous incident of
+the morning and did not want to see the other girls when they came home.
+So taking a pillow and a book, she wandered down the river path to a
+quiet shady spot among the willows and spent the afternoon in solitude.
+When the other girls returned home Sahwah was nowhere to be found. This
+did not greatly surprise them, however, for they were used to her
+impetuous nature and knew she was hiding somewhere. Hinpoha and Gladys
+were up-stairs removing the dust of the road from their faces and hands
+when they heard a stealthy footstep overhead. "She's hiding in the
+attic!" said Hinpoha.
+
+"She'll melt up there," said Gladys, "it must be like an oven. Let's
+coax her down and don't any of us say a word about the play. She must
+feel terrible about it."
+
+So it was agreed among the girls that no mention of Sahwah's mishap
+should be made, and Hinpoha went to the foot of the attic stairs and
+called up: "Come on down, Sahwah, we're all going out on the river."
+There was no answer. Hinpoha called again: "Please come, Sahwah, we need
+you to steer the raft." Still no answer. Hinpoha went up softly. She
+thought she could persuade Sahwah to come down if none of the others
+were around. But when she reached the top of the stairs there was no
+sign of Sahwah anywhere. The place was stifling, and Hinpoha gasped for
+breath. Sahwah must be hiding among the old furniture. Hinpoha moved
+things about, raising clouds of dust that nearly choked her, and calling
+to Sahwah. No answer came, and she did not find Sahwah hidden among any
+of the things. Gladys came up to see what was going on, followed by
+Migwan.
+
+"She doesn't seem to be up here after all," said Hinpoha, pausing to
+take breath. "It's funny; I certainly thought I heard someone up here."
+
+"Don't you remember the time I thought I heard someone up here in the
+night and you said it was the noise made by rats or mice?" asked Migwan.
+"It was probably that same thing again."
+
+"It must have been," said Hinpoha.
+
+"Maybe it was the ghost of that Mrs. Waterhouse, who died before she had
+her attic cleaned, and comes back to move the furniture," said Gladys.
+In spite of its being daylight an unearthly thrill went through the
+veins of the girls. The whole thing was so mysterious and uncanny.
+
+Migwan was looking around the attic. "Who broke that window?" she asked,
+suddenly. The side window, the one near the Balm of Gilead tree, was
+shattered and lay in pieces on the floor.
+
+"It wasn't broken the day we brought Miss Mortimer up," said Gladys. "It
+must have happened since then."
+
+"There must have been someone up here to-day," said Migwan. "Do you
+suppose--" here she stopped.
+
+"Suppose what?" asked Hinpoha.
+
+"Do you suppose," continued Migwan, "that Sahwah was up here and broke
+it accidentally and is afraid to show herself on account of it?"
+
+"Maybe," said Hinpoha, "but Sahwah's not the one to try to cover up
+anything like that. She'd offer to pay for the damage and it wouldn't
+worry her five minutes."
+
+"It may have been broken the night of the storm," said Nyoda, who had
+arrived on the scene. "If I remember rightly, we opened it when Miss
+Mortimer was up here, and as it is only held up by a nail and a rope
+hanging down from the ceiling, it could easily have been torn loose in
+such a wind as that and slammed down against the casement and broken. We
+were so excited trying to cover up the plants that we did not hear the
+crash, if indeed, we could have heard it in that thunder at all."
+
+This seemed such a plausible explanation that the girls accepted it
+without question and dismissed the matter from their minds. Descending
+from the hot attic they went out on the river on the raft. As it drew
+near supper time they feared that Sahwah would stay away and miss her
+supper, and they knew that she would have to show herself sometime, so
+they determined to have it over with so Sahwah could eat her supper in
+peace. On the path along the river they found her handkerchief and knew
+that she was somewhere near the water. They called and called, but she
+did not answer. "I know what will bring her from her hiding-place," said
+Nyoda. She unfolded her plan and the girls agreed. They poled the raft
+back to the landing-place and got on shore. Then they set Ophelia on the
+raft all alone and sent it down-stream, telling her to scream at the top
+of her voice as if she were frightened. Ophelia obeyed and set up such a
+series of ear-splitting shrieks as she floated down the river that it
+was hard to believe that she was not in mortal terror. The scheme worked
+admirably. Sahwah heard the screams and peered through the bushes to see
+what was happening. She saw Ophelia alone on the raft and no one else in
+sight, and thought, of course, that she was afraid and ran out to
+reassure her. She took hold of the tow line and pulled the raft back to
+the landing-place.
+
+"Whatever made you so scared?" she asked, as Ophelia stepped on terra
+firma.
+
+"Pooh, I wasn't scared at all," said Ophelia, grandly. "They told me to
+scream so you'd come out." So Sahwah knew the trick that had been
+practised on her, but instead of being pleased to think that the girls
+wanted her with them so badly she was more irritated than before. There
+was no further use of hiding; she had to go into the house now and eat
+her supper with the rest. The meal was not such a trial for her as she
+had anticipated, because no one mentioned the subject of moving
+pictures, or acted as if anything had happened at all. After supper
+Nyoda brought out a magazine showing pictures of the Rocky Mountains and
+the girls gave this their strict attention. Nyoda read aloud the
+descriptions that went with the pictures. In one place she read: "The
+barren aspect of the hillside is due to a landslide which swept
+everything before it."
+
+At this Migwan's thoughts went back to the scene on the hillside that
+day, when the human landslide was in progress. Now Migwan, in spite of
+her serious appearance, had a sense of humor which at times got the
+upper hand of her altogether. The memory of those figures rolling down
+the hill was too much for her and she dissolved abruptly into hysterical
+laughter. She vainly tried to control it and buried her face in her
+handkerchief, but it was no use. The harder she tried to stop laughing
+the harder she laughed. "Oh," she gasped, "I never saw anything so funny
+as when you rolled against Miss Mortimer and Mr. Chambers and knocked
+them off their feet."
+
+After Migwan's hysterical outburst the rest could not restrain their
+laughter either, and Sahwah became the butt of all the humorous remarks
+that had been accumulating in the minds of the rest. If it had been
+anyone else but Migwan who had started them off, Sahwah would possibly
+have forgiven that one, but since selling her two plots to Mr. Larue
+Migwan had been holding her head pretty high. That Migwan had succeeded
+in her end of the motion picture business when she had failed in hers
+galled Sahwah to death and she fancied that Migwan was trying to "rub it
+in."
+
+"I hope everything I do will cause you as much pleasure," she said
+stiffly. "I suppose nothing could make you happier than to see me do
+something ridiculous every day." Sahwah had slipped off her balance
+wheel altogether.
+
+Migwan sobered up when she heard Sahwah's injured tone. She never
+dreamed Sahwah had taken the occurrence so much to heart. It was not her
+usual way. "Please don't be angry, Sahwah," she said, contritely. "I
+just couldn't help laughing. You know how light headed I am."
+
+But Sahwah would have none of her apology. "I'll leave you folks to have
+as much fun over it as you please," she said coldly, rising and going
+up-stairs.
+
+Migwan was near to tears and would have gone after her, but Nyoda
+restrained her. "Let her alone," she advised, "and she'll come out of it
+all the sooner."
+
+Sahwah was herself again in the morning as far as the others were
+concerned, but she still treated Migwan somewhat coldly and it was
+evident that she had not forgiven her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.--A CANNING EPISODE.
+
+
+Three times every week Migwan had been making the trip to town with a
+machine-load of vegetables, which was disposed of to an ever growing
+list of customers. Thanks to the early start the garden had been given
+by Mr. Mitchell, and the constant care it received at the hands of
+Migwan and her willing helpers, Migwan always managed to bring out her
+produce a day or so in advance of most of the other growers in the
+neighborhood and so could command a better price at first than she could
+have if she had arrived on the scene at flood tide. After every trip
+there was a neat little sum to put in the old cocoa can which Migwan
+used as a bank until there was enough accumulated to make a real bank
+deposit. The asparagus had passed beyond its vegetable days and had
+grown up in tall feathery shoots that made a pretty sight as they stood
+in a long row against the fence. The new strawberry plants had taken
+root and were growing vigorously; the cucumbers were thriving like fat
+babies. The squashes and melons were running a race, as Sahwah said, to
+see which could hold up the most fruit on their vines; the corn-stalks
+stood straight and tall, holding in their arms their firstborn, silky
+tassel-capped children, like proud young fathers.
+
+But it was the tomato bed in which Migwan's dearest hopes were bound up.
+The frames sagged with exhaustion at the task of holding up the weight
+of crimsoning globes that hung on the vines. Migwan tended this bed as a
+mother broods over a favorite child, fingering over the leaves for
+loathsome tomato worms, spraying the plants to keep away diseases, and
+cultivating the ground around the roots. All suckers were ruthlessly
+snipped off as soon as they grew, so that the entire strength of the
+plants could go into the ripening of tomatoes. For it was on that tomato
+bed that Migwan's fortune depended. While the proceeds from the
+remainder of the garden were gratifying, they were not great enough to
+make up the sum which Migwan needed to go to college, as the vegetables
+were not raised in large enough quantities. Migwan carefully estimated
+the amount she would realize from the sale of the tomatoes and found
+that it would not be large enough, and decided she could make more out
+of them by canning them. At Nyoda's advice the Winnebagos formed
+themselves into a Canning Club, which would give them the right to use
+the 4H label, which stood for Head, Hand, Health and Heart, and was
+recognized by dealers in various places. According to the methods of the
+Canning Club they canned the tomatoes in tin cans, with tops neatly
+soldered on. After an interview with various hotels and restaurants in
+the city Nyoda succeeded in establishing a market for Migwan's goods,
+and the canning went on in earnest. The whole family were pressed into
+service, and for days they did nothing but peel from morning until
+night.
+
+"I'm getting to be such an expert peeler," said Hinpoha, "that I
+automatically reach out in my sleep and start to peel Migwan."
+
+Nyoda made up a gay little song about the peeling. To the tune of
+"Comrades, comrades, ever since we were boys," she sang, "Peeling,
+peeling, ever since 6 A.M."
+
+Several places had asked for homemade ketchup and Migwan prepared to
+supply the demand. Never did a prize housekeeper, making ketchup for a
+county fair, take such pains as Migwan did with hers. She took care to
+use only the best spices and the best vinegar; she put in a few peach
+leaves from the tree to give it a finer flavor; she stood beside the big
+iron preserving kettle and stirred the mixture all the while it was
+boiling to be sure that it would not settle and burn. Everyone in the
+house had to taste it to be sure it found favor with a number of
+critical palates. "Wouldn't you like to put a few bay leaves into it?"
+asked her mother. "There are some in the glass jar in the pantry. They
+are all crumbled and broken up fine, but they are still good." Migwan
+put a spoonful of the broken leaves into the ketchup; then she put
+another.
+
+"Oh, I never was so tired," she sighed, when at last it had boiled long
+enough and she shoved it back.
+
+"Let's all go out on the river," proposed Nyoda, "and forget our toil
+for awhile." Sahwah was the last out of the kitchen, having stopped to
+drink a glass of water, and while she was drinking her eye roved over
+the table and caught sight of half a dozen cloves that had spilled out
+of a box. Gathering them up in her hand she dropped them into the
+ketchup. Just then Migwan came back for something and the two went out
+together.
+
+"And now for the bottling," said Migwan, when the supper dishes were put
+away, and she set several dozen shining glass bottles on the table.
+After she had been dipping up the ketchup for awhile she paused in her
+work to sit down for a few moments and count up her expected profits.
+"Let's see," she said, "forty bottles at fifteen cents a bottle is six
+dollars. That isn't so bad for one day's work. But I hope I don't have
+many days of such work," she added. "My back is about broken with
+stirring." About thirty of the bottles were filled and sealed when she
+took this little breathing spell.
+
+"Let me have a taste," said Hinpoha, eyeing the brown mixture longingly.
+
+"Help yourself," said Migwan. Hinpoha took a spoonful. Her face drew up
+into the most frightful puckers. Running to the sink she took a hasty
+drink of water. "What's the matter?" said Migwan, viewing her in alarm.
+"Did you choke on it?"
+
+"Taste it!" cried Hinpoha. "It's as bitter as gall."
+
+Migwan took a taste of the ketchup and looked fit to drop. "Whatever is
+the matter with it?" she gasped. One after another the girls tasted it
+and voiced their mystification. "It couldn't have spoiled in that short
+time," said Migwan.
+
+Then she suddenly remembered having seen Sahwah drop something into the
+kettle as it stood on the back of the stove. Could it be possible that
+Sahwah was seeking revenge for having been made fun of? "Sahwah," she
+gasped, unbelievingly, "did you put anything into the ketchup that made
+it bitter?"
+
+"I did not," said Sahwah, the indignant color flaming into her face. She
+had already forgotten the incident of the cloves. She saw Nyoda and the
+other girls look at her in surprise at Migwan's words. Her temper rose
+to the boiling point. "I know what you're thinking," she said, fiercely.
+"You think I did something to the ketchup to get even with Migwan, but I
+didn't, so there. I don't know any more about it than you do."
+
+"I take it all back," said Migwan, alarmed at the tempest she had set
+astir, and bursting into tears buried her head on her arms on the
+kitchen table. All that work gone for nothing!
+
+Sahwah ran from the room in a fearful passion. Nyoda tried to comfort
+Migwan. "It's a lucky thing we found it before the stuff was sold," she
+said, "or your trade would have been ruined." She and the other girls
+threw the ketchup out and washed the bottles.
+
+"Whatever could have happened to it?" said Gladys, wonderingly.
+
+Migwan lifted her face. "I want to tell you something, Nyoda," she said.
+"I suppose you wonder why I asked Sahwah if she had put anything in.
+Well, when I went back into the kitchen after my hat when we were going
+out on the river, Sahwah was there, and she was dropping something into
+the kettle."
+
+"You don't mean it?" said Nyoda, incredulously. Nyoda understood
+Sahwah's blind impulses of passion, and she could not help noticing for
+the last few days that Sahwah was still nursing her wrath at Migwan for
+laughing at her, and she wondered if she could have lost control of
+herself for an instant and spoiled the ketchup.
+
+Meanwhile Sahwah, up-stairs, had cooled down almost as rapidly as she
+had flared up, and began to think that she had been a little hasty in
+her outburst. She, therefore, descended the back stairs with the idea of
+making peace with the family and helping to wash the bottles. But
+halfway down the stairs she happened to hear Migwan's remark and Nyoda's
+answer, and the long silence which followed it. Immediately her fury
+mounted again to think that they suspected her of doing such an
+underhand trick. "They don't trust me!" she cried, over and over again
+to herself. "They don't believe what I said; they think I did it and
+told a lie about it." All night she tossed and nursed her sense of
+injury and by morning her mind was made up. She would leave this place
+where everyone was against her, and where even Nyoda mistrusted her.
+That was the most unkind cut of all.
+
+When she did not appear at the breakfast table the rest began to wonder.
+Betty reported that Sahwah had not been in bed when she woke up, which
+was late, and she thought she had risen and dressed and gone down-stairs
+without disturbing her. There was no sign of her in the garden or on the
+river. Both the rowboat and the raft were at the landing-place. There
+was an uncomfortable restraint at the breakfast table. Each one was
+thinking of something and did not want the others to see it. That thing
+was that Sahwah had a guilty conscience and was afraid to face the
+girls. Migwan's eyes filled with tears when she thought how her dear
+friend had injured her. A blow delivered by the hand of a friend is so
+much worse than one from an enemy. The table was always set the night
+before and the plates turned down.
+
+"What's this sticking out under Sahwah's plate?" asked Gladys. It was a
+note which she opened and read and then sat down heavily in her chair.
+The rest crowded around to see. This was what they read: "As long as you
+don't trust me and think I do underhand things you will probably be glad
+to get rid of me altogether. Don't look for me, for I will never come
+back. You may give my place in the Winnebagos to someone else." It was
+signed "Sarah Ann Brewster," and not the familiar "Sahwah."
+
+"Sahwah's run away!" gasped Migwan in distress, and the girls all ran up
+to her room. Her clothes were gone from their hooks and her suit-case
+was gone from under the bed. The girls faced each other in
+consternation.
+
+"Do you think she had anything to do with the ketchup, after all?" asked
+Gladys, thoughtfully. "It was so unlike her to do anything of that
+kind."
+
+"Then why did she run away?" asked Migwan, perplexed.
+
+The morning passed miserably. They missed Sahwah at every turn. Several
+times the girls forgot themselves and sang out "O Sahwah!" Nyoda did not
+doubt for a moment that Sahwah had gone to her own home, but she thought
+it best not to go after her immediately. Sahwah's hot temper must cool
+before she would come to herself. Nyoda was puzzled at her conduct. If
+she had nothing to be ashamed of why had she run away? That was the
+question which kept coming up in her mind. Nothing went right in the
+house or the garden that day. Everyone was out of sorts. Migwan
+absent-mindedly pulled up a whole row of choice plants instead of weeds;
+Gladys ran the automobile into a tree and bent up the fender; Hinpoha
+slammed the door on her finger nail; Nyoda burnt her hand. Ophelia was
+just dressed for the afternoon in a clean, starched white dress when she
+fell into the river and had to be dressed over again from head to foot.
+The whole household was too cross for words. The departure of Sahwah was
+the first rupture that had ever occurred in the closely linked ranks of
+the Winnebagos and they were all broken up over it.
+
+When Mrs. Gardiner was cooking beef for supper she told Migwan to get
+her some bay leaf to flavor it with. Migwan brought out the glass jar of
+crushed leaves. "That's not the bay leaf," said her mother, and went to
+look for it herself. "Here it is," she said, bringing another glass jar
+down from a higher shelf.
+
+"Then what's this?" asked Migwan, indicating the first jar.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea," said Mrs. Gardiner. "It was in the
+pantry when we came."
+
+"But this was what I put into the ketchup," said Migwan. Hastily
+unscrewing the top she shook out some of the contents and tasted them.
+Her mouth contracted into a fearful pucker. Never in her life had she
+tasted anything so bitter.
+
+"I did it myself," she said, in a dazed tone. "I spoiled the ketchup
+myself." At her shout the girls came together in the kitchen to hear the
+story of the mistaken ingredient.
+
+"What can that be?" they all asked. Nobody knew. It was some dried herb
+that had been left by the former mistress of the house, and a powerful
+one. The girls looked at each other blankly.
+
+"And I accused Sahwah of doing it," said Migwan, remorsefully. "No
+wonder she flared up and left us, I don't blame her a bit. I wouldn't
+thank anyone for accusing me wrongfully of anything like that."
+
+"We'll have to go after her this very evening," said Gladys, "and bring
+her back."
+
+"If she'll come," said Hinpoha, knowing Sahwah's proud spirit.
+
+"Oh, I'm quite willing to grovel in the dust at her feet," said Migwan.
+
+Gladys drove them all into town with her and they sped to the Brewster
+house. It was all dark and silent. Sahwah was evidently not there. They
+tried the neighbors. They all denied that she had been near the house.
+They finally came to this conclusion themselves, for in the light of the
+street lamp just in front of the house they could see that the porch was
+covered with a month's accumulation of yellow dust which bore no
+footmarks but their own.
+
+Here was a new problem. They had come expecting to offer profuse
+apologies to Sahwah and carry her back with them to Onoway House
+rejoicing, and it was a shock to find her gone. The thought of letting
+her go on believing that they mistrusted her was intolerable, but how
+were they going to clear matters up? Sahwah had no relatives in town,
+and, of course, they did not know all her friends, so it would be hard
+to find her. That is, if she had ever reached town at all. Something
+might have happened to her on the way--Nyoda and Gladys sought each
+other's eyes and each thought of what had happened to them on the way to
+Bates Villa.
+
+With heavy hearts they rode back to Onoway House. The days went by
+cheerlessly. A week passed since Sahwah had run away, but no word came
+from her. Nyoda interviewed the conductors on the interurban car line to
+find out if Sahwah had taken the car into the city. No one remembered a
+girl of that description on the day mentioned. Sahwah had only one hat--a
+conspicuous red one--and she would not fail to attract attention.
+Thoroughly alarmed, Nyoda decided on a course of action. She called up
+the various newspapers in town and asked them to print a notice to the
+effect that Sahwah had disappeared. If Sahwah were in town she would see
+it and knowing that they were worried about her would let them know
+where she was. The notice came out in the papers, and a day or two
+passed, but there was no word from Sahwah. Nyoda and Gladys made a
+hurried trip to town to put the police on the track. Just before they
+got to the city limits they had a blowout and were delayed some time
+before they could go on. As they waited in the road another machine came
+along and the driver stopped and offered assistance. Nyoda recognized a
+friend of hers in the machine, a Miss Barnes, teacher in a local
+gymnasium.
+
+"Hello, Miss Kent," she called, cheerfully, "I haven't seen you for an
+age. Where have you been keeping yourself?"
+
+"Where have you been keeping yourself?" returned Nyoda.
+
+"I, Oh, I'm working this summer," replied Miss Barnes. "I'm just in town
+on business. I'm helping to conduct a girls' summer camp on the lake
+shore. I thought possibly you would bring your Camp Fire group out there
+this summer. One of your girls is out there now."
+
+"Which one?" asked Nyoda, thinking of Chapa and Nakwisi, whom she had
+heard talking about going.
+
+"One by the name of Brewster," said Miss Barnes, "a regular mermaid in
+the water. She has the girls out there standing open-mouthed at her
+swimming and diving. Why, what's the matter?" she asked, as Nyoda gave a
+sigh of relief that seemed to come from her boots.
+
+"Nothing," replied Nyoda, "only we've been scouring the town for that
+very girl."
+
+"You have?" asked Miss Barnes, with interest. "Would you like to come
+out and visit her?"
+
+"Could I?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Certainly," said Miss Barnes, "come right out with me now. I'm going
+back."
+
+And so Sahwah's mysterious disappearance was cleared up. When the
+Winnebagos, lined up in the road, saw the automobile approaching, and
+that Sahwah was in it, they welcomed her back into their midst with a
+rousing Winnebago cheer that warmed her to the heart. All the clouds had
+been rolled away by Nyoda's explanations and this was a triumphant
+homecoming. A regular feast was spread for her, and as she ate she
+related her adventures since leaving the house early that other morning.
+Without forming any plan of where she was going she had walked up the
+road in the opposite direction of the car line and then a farmer had
+come along on a wagon and given her a lift. He had taken her all the way
+to the other car line, three miles below Onoway House. She had come into
+the city by this route. She did not want to go home for fear they would
+come after her, so she went to the Young Women's Christian Association.
+As she sat in the rest room wondering what she should do next she heard
+two girls talking about registering for camp. This seemed to her a
+timely suggestion, and she followed them to the registration desk and
+registered for two weeks. She went out that same day. When she arrived
+there she did such feats in the water that they asked her if she would
+not stay all summer and help teach the girls to swim. She said she
+would, and so saw a very easy way out of her difficulty. The reason they
+had not heard from her when they put the notice in the papers was
+because they did not get the city papers in camp.
+
+Sahwah surveyed the faces around the table with a beaming countenance.
+After all, she could only be entirely happy with the Winnebagos. Migwan
+and she were once more on the best of terms.
+
+"But tell us," said Hinpoha, now that this was safe ground to tread
+upon, "what it was you put into the ketchup."
+
+"Oh," said Sahwah, who now remembered all about it, "those were a couple
+of cloves that were lying on the table."
+
+And so the last bit of mystery was cleared up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.--OPHELIA DANCES THE SUN DANCE.
+
+
+Among the other books at Onoway House there was a Manual of the
+Woodcraft Indians which belonged to Sahwah, and which she was very fond
+of quoting and reading to the other girls when they were inclined to
+hang back at some of the expeditions she proposed. One night she read
+aloud the chapter about "dancing the sun dance," that is, becoming
+sunburned from head to foot without blistering. On a day not long after
+this Ophelia might have been seen standing beside the river clad only in
+a thin, white slip. Stepping from the bank, she immersed herself in the
+water, then stood in the sun, holding out her arms and turning up her
+face to its glare. When the blazing August sunlight began to feel
+uncomfortably warm on her body she plunged into the cooling flood and
+then came up to stand on the bank again. She did this straight through
+for two hours, and then began to investigate the result. Her arms were a
+beautiful brilliant red, and the length of leg that extended out from
+the slip was the same shade. She felt wonderfully pleased, and dipped in
+the water again and again to cool off and then returned to the burning
+process. When the dinner bell rang she returned to the house, eager to
+show her achievement. But she did not feel so enthusiastic now as when
+she first beheld her scarlet appearance. Something was wrong. It seemed
+as if she were on fire from head to foot. She looked at her arms. They
+were no longer such a pretty red; they had swelled up in large, white
+blisters. So had her legs. She could hardly see out of her eyes.
+
+"Ophelia!" gasped the girls, when she came into the house. "What has
+happened? Have you been scalded?"
+
+"I've been doing your old Sun Dance," said Ophelia, painfully.
+
+Never in all their lives had they seen such a case of sunburn. Every
+inch of her body was covered with blisters as big as a hand. The sun had
+burned right through the flimsy garment she wore. There was a pattern
+around her neck where the embroidery had left its trace. She screamed
+every time they tried to touch her. Nyoda worked quickly and deftly and
+the luckless sun dancer was wrapped from head to foot in soft linen
+bandages until she looked like a mummy.
+
+Sahwah sought Nyoda in tribulation. "Was it my fault," she asked, "for
+reading her that book? She never would have thought of it if I hadn't
+given her the idea."
+
+"No," answered Nyoda, "it wasn't your fault. It said emphatically in the
+book that the coat of tan should be acquired gradually. You couldn't
+foresee that she would stand in the sun that way. So don't worry about
+it any longer."
+
+"Still, I feel in a measure responsible," said Sahwah, "and I ought to
+be the one to take care of her. Let me sleep in the room with her
+to-night and get up if she wants anything." Sahwah's desire to help was
+so sincere that she insisted upon being allowed to do it, and took upon
+herself all the care of the sunburned Ophelia, which was no small job,
+for the pain from the blisters made her frightfully cross.
+
+Nyoda was surprised to see Sahwah keeping at it with such persistent
+good nature and apparent success, for as a rule she was not a good one
+to take care of the sick; she was in too much of a hurry. She would
+generally spill the water when she was trying to give a drink to her
+patient, or fall over the rug, or drop dishes; and the effect she
+produced was irritating rather than soothing. But in this case she
+seemed to be making a desperate effort to do things correctly so she
+would be allowed to continue, and fetched and carried all the afternoon
+in obedience to Ophelia's whims. She read her stories to while away the
+painful hours and when supper time came made her a wonderful egg salad
+in the form of a water lily, and cut sandwiches into odd shapes to
+beguile her into eating them. When evening came and Ophelia was restless
+and could not go to sleep she sang to her in her clear, high voice,
+songs of camp and firelight. One by one the Winnebagos drifted in and
+joined their voices to hers in a beautifully blended chorus.
+
+"Gee, that's what it must be like in heaven," sighed the child of the
+streets, as she listened to them. The Winnebagos smiled tenderly and
+sang on until she dropped off to sleep.
+
+Sahwah slept with one eye open listening for a call from Ophelia. She
+heard her stirring restlessly in the night and went over and sat beside
+her. "Can't you sleep?" she asked.
+
+"No," complained Ophelia. "Say, will you tell me that story again?"
+
+Sahwah began, "Once upon a time there was a little girl and she had a
+fairy godmother----"
+
+"What's a fairy godmother?" interrupted Ophelia.
+
+"Oh," said Sahwah, "it's somebody who looks after you especially and is
+very good to you and grants all your wishes, and always comes when
+you're in trouble----"
+
+"Who's my fairy godmother?" demanded Ophelia.
+
+"I don't know," said Sahwah.
+
+"I bet I haven't got any!" said Ophelia, suspiciously. "I didn't have a
+father and mother like the rest of the kids and I bet I haven't got any
+fairy godmother either."
+
+"Oh, yes, you have," said Sahwah to soothe her, "you have one only you
+haven't seen her yet. Wait and she'll appear." But Ophelia lay with her
+face to the wall and said no more. "Would you like me to bring you a
+drink?" asked Sahwah, a few minutes later. Ophelia replied with a nod
+and Sahwah went down to the kitchen. There was no drinking water in
+sight and Sahwah hesitated about going out to the well at that time of
+the night. Then she remembered that a pail of well water had been taken
+down cellar that evening to keep cool. Taking a light she descended the
+cellar stairs. When she was nearly to the bottom she heard a subdued
+crash, like a basket of something being thrown over, followed by a
+series of small bumping sounds. She stood stock still, afraid to move
+off the step.
+
+Then, summoning her voice, she cried, "Who is down there?" No answer
+came from the darkness below. After that first crash there was not
+another sound. Sahwah was not naturally timid, and her one explanation
+for all night noises in a house was rats. Besides, she had started after
+water for Ophelia, and she meant to get it. She went down stairs and
+looked all around with her light. She soon found the thing which had
+made the noise. It was a basket of potatoes which had fallen over and as
+the potatoes rolled out on the cement floor they had made those odd
+little after noises which had puzzled her. Satisfied that nobody was in
+the house she took her pail of water and went up-stairs, glad that she
+had not roused the house and brought out a laugh against herself.
+
+She gave Ophelia the drink, and being feverish she drank it eagerly and
+murmured gratefully, "I guess you're my fairy godmother." As Sahwah
+turned to go to bed Ophelia thrust out a bandaged hand and caught hold
+of her gown. "Stay with me," she said, and Sahwah sat down again beside
+the bed until Ophelia fell asleep. Sahwah felt pleased and elated at
+being chosen by Ophelia as the one she wanted near her. It was not often
+that a child singled Sahwah out from the group as an object of
+affection; they usually went to Gladys or Hinpoha. So she responded
+quickly to the advances made by Ophelia and thenceforth made a special
+pet of her, taking her part on all occasions.
+
+Soon after Ophelia's experience with sunburn a rainy spell set in which
+lasted a week. Every day they were greeted by grey skies and a steady
+downpour, fine for the parched garden, but hard on amusements. They
+played card games until they were weary of the sight of a card; they
+played every other game they knew until it palled on them, and on the
+fifth day of rain they surrounded Nyoda and clamored for something new
+to do. Nyoda scratched her head thoughtfully and asked if they would
+like to play Thieves' Market.
+
+"Play what?" asked Gladys.
+
+"Thieves' Market," said Nyoda. "You know in Mexico there is an
+institution known as the Thieves' Market, where stolen goods are sold to
+the public. We will not discuss the moral aspect of the business, but I
+thought we could make a game out of it. Let's each get a hold of some
+possession of each one of the others' without being seen and put a price
+on it. The price will not be a money value, of course, but a stunt. The
+owner of the article will have first chance at the stunt and if she
+fails the thing will go to whoever can buy it. If anyone fails to get a
+possession from each one of the rest to add to the collection she can't
+play, and if she is seen by the owner while 'stealing' it she will have
+to put it back. We'll hold the Thieves' Market to-night after supper in
+the parlor and I'll be storekeeper."
+
+The Winnebagos, always on the lookout for something novel and
+entertaining, seized on the idea with rapture. The rain was forgotten
+that afternoon as they scurried around the house trying to seize upon
+articles belonging to the others, and at the same time trying valiantly
+to guard their own possessions. It was not hard to get Sahwah's things,
+for she had a habit of leaving them lying all over the house. Her red
+hat had fallen a victim the first thing; likewise her shoes and tennis
+racket. It was harder to get anything away from Nyoda, for she seemed to
+be Argus eyed; but providentially she was called to the telephone, and
+while she was talking they made their raid.
+
+When opened, the Thieves' Market presented such a conglomeration of
+articles that at first the girls could only stand and wonder how those
+things had ever been taken away from them without their knowing it, for
+many of them were possessions which were usually hidden from sight while
+the owners fondly believed that their existence was unknown. Migwan gave
+a cry of dismay when she beheld her "Autobiography," which she was
+carefully keeping a secret from the rest, out in full view on the table.
+"How did you ever find it?" she gasped. "It was folded up in my
+clothes."
+
+But Migwan's embarrassment was nothing compared to Nyoda's when she
+caught sight of a certain photograph. She blushed scarlet while the
+girls teased her unmercifully. It was a picture of Sherry, the serenader
+of the camp the summer before. Until they found the photograph the girls
+did not know that Nyoda was corresponding with him. And the prices on
+the various things were the funniest of all. The girls had come down
+that evening dressed in their middies and bloomers for they had a
+suspicion that there would be some acrobatic stunts taking place, and it
+was well that they did. To redeem her hat Sahwah had to stand on her
+head and to get her bedroom slippers Gladys had to jump through a hoop
+from a chair. Hinpoha had to wrestle with Nyoda for the possession of
+her paint box, and the price of Betty's shoes was to throw them over her
+shoulder into a basket. At the first throw she knocked a vase off the
+table, but luckily it did not break, and she was warned that another
+accident would result in her going shoeless. Migwan tremblingly
+approached the Autobiography to find out the price. It was "Read one
+chapter aloud." "I won't do it," said Migwan, flatly.
+
+"Next customer," cried Nyoda, pounding with her hammer. "For the simple
+price of reading aloud one chapter I will sell this complete
+autobiography of a pious life, profusely illustrated by the author."
+Sahwah hastened up to "buy" the book, but Migwan headed her off in a
+hurry and read the first chapter with as good grace as she could, amid
+the cheers and applause of the other customers. Sahwah made a grimace
+when she had to polish the shoes of everyone present to get her shoe
+brush back.
+
+Thus the various articles in the Thieves' Market were disposed of amid
+much laughter and merry-making, until there remained but one article, a
+cold chisel. Nyoda went through the usual formula, offering it for sale,
+but no one came to claim it. She redoubled her pleas, but with the same
+result. "For the third and last time I offer this great bargain in a
+cold chisel for the simple price of jumping over three chairs in
+succession," she said, with a flourish. Nobody appeared to be anxious to
+redeem their property. "Whose is it?" she asked, mystified.
+
+It apparently belonged to no one. "It's yours, Gladys," said Sahwah, "I
+stole it from you."
+
+"Mine?" asked Gladys, in surprise. "I don't own any chisel. Where did
+you get it from?"
+
+"Out of the automobile," answered Sahwah.
+
+"But it doesn't belong there," said Gladys. "There's no chisel among the
+tools. You're joking, you found it somewhere else."
+
+"No, really," said Sahwah, "I found it in the car this afternoon."
+
+"Mother," called Migwan, "were there any tools left in the barn by Mr.
+Mitchell?"
+
+"Nothing but the garden tools," answered her mother. Tom also denied any
+knowledge of the chisel.
+
+"Girls," said Nyoda, seriously, "there is something going on here that I
+do not understand. First Migwan thought she heard footsteps in the
+attic; then a ghost appeared to me in the tepee; one night we saw a man
+running out of the barn, and later on that night Migwan claims to have
+run into a man in the garden. Soon afterward Hinpoha was sure she heard
+footsteps in the attic, and when we went up we found the window broken.
+Just a few nights ago a basket of potatoes was mysteriously knocked over
+in the cellar in the middle of the night, and now we find a chisel in
+the automobile which does not belong to us. It looks for all the world
+as if somebody were trying to break into this house, in fact, has broken
+in on a number of occasions."
+
+Migwan shrieked and covered up her ears. "A mystery!" said Sahwah,
+theatrically. "How thrilling!" The interest in the Thieves' Market died
+out before this new and alarming idea.
+
+"It may be only a remarkable series of co-incidences," said Nyoda,
+seeing the fright of the girls, "but it certainly looks suspicious. That
+window may possibly have been broken by the wind during the storm, and
+the footsteps may have been rats or Mrs. Waterhouse's ghost, and the
+ghost in the tepee may have been a practical joker, but baskets of
+potatoes do not fall over of their own accord in the middle of the night
+and cold chisels don't grow in automobiles. There's something wrong and
+we ought to find out what it is."
+
+"Oh, I'll never go up-stairs alone again," shuddered Migwan. "Sahwah,
+how did you ever dare go down cellar in the dark after you heard that
+noise?" And she shivered violently at the very thought.
+
+"Tom, can you handle a gun?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Yes," answered Tom.
+
+"I'm going to buy a little automatic pistol to-morrow," said Nyoda, "and
+teach everyone of you girls how to shoot it."
+
+"I wonder if we hadn't better try to get Calvin Smalley to sleep in the
+house," said Migwan.
+
+"I can take care of you," said Tom, proudly. Nothing else was talked of
+for the remainder of the evening and when bed time came there was a
+general reluctance to become separated from the rest of the household.
+But, although they listened for footsteps in the attic they heard
+nothing, and the night passed away peacefully.
+
+The next night the ghost became active again. Whether it was the same
+one or a different one they did not find out, however, for they did not
+see it this time, only heard it. Just about bed time it was, a strange,
+weird moaning sound that filled the house and echoed through the big
+halls. Whether it proceeded from the basement or the attic they were
+unable to make out; it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
+Migwan clung close to her mother and trembled. The sound rang out again,
+more weird than before. It was bloodcurdling. Nyoda opened the window
+and fired several shots into the air. The moaning sound stopped abruptly
+and was heard no more that night, but sleep was out of the question. The
+girls were too excited and fearful. The next day Mrs. Gardiner advised
+everybody to hide their valuables away. The peaceful life at Onoway
+House was broken up. The household lived in momentary expectation of
+something happening. "And this is the quiet of the country," sighed
+Migwan, "where I was to grow fat and strong. I'm worn to a frazzle
+worrying about this mystery."
+
+"So'm I," said Gladys.
+
+"And I'm getting thin," said Hinpoha, which brought out a general laugh.
+
+"Not so you could notice it," said Sahwah. Whereupon Hinpoha tried to
+smother her with a pillow and the two rolled over on the bed,
+struggling.
+
+As if worrying about a burglar were not enough, Sahwah and Gladys had
+another exciting experience one day that week. If we were to stretch a
+point and trace things back to their beginnings it was the fault of the
+Winnebagos themselves, for if they hadn't gone horseback riding that
+day---- Well, Farmer Landsdowne came over in the morning and said he had a
+pair of horses which were not working and if they wanted to go horseback
+riding now was their chance. The girls were delighted with the idea and
+flew to don bloomers. None of them had ever ridden before and excitement
+ran high. Naturally there were no saddles, for Farmer Landsdowne's
+horses were not ridden as a general rule, and the girls had to ride
+bareback.
+
+"It feels like trying to straddle a table," said Migwan, marveling at
+the width of the horse she was on. "My legs aren't half long enough."
+She clung desperately to his mane as he began to trot and she began to
+slide all over him. "He's so slippery I can't stick on," she gasped. The
+horse stopped abruptly as she jerked on the reins and she slid off as if
+he had been greased, and landed in the soft grass beside the road.
+
+"Here, let me try," said Sahwah, impatient for her turn. "He isn't
+either slippery," she said, when she got on, "he's bony, horribly bony.
+He's just like knives." She jolted up and down a few times on his hip
+bones and an idea jolted into her head. Getting off she ran into the
+house and came out again with a sofa pillow, which she proceeded to tie
+on his back. Then she rode in comparative comfort, amid the laughter of
+the girls.
+
+Calvin Smalley, who happened to be working out in front and saw her ride
+past, doubled up with laughter over his vegetable bed. "What next?" he
+chuckled. "What next?" He was still thinking about this and laughing
+over it when he went through the empty field which Sahwah had crossed
+the time she had discovered the house among the trees, and where Abner
+Smalley now pastured his bull. So absorbed was he in the memory of that
+ridiculous pillow tied on the horse that he was not careful in putting
+up the bars behind him when he left the field, and later in the
+afternoon the bull wandered over in that direction and came through into
+the next field. He found the river road and followed it and began to
+graze in one of the unploughed fields belonging to Onoway House.
+
+Sahwah, wearing her big, red hat, was bending low over the ground,
+digging up some ferns which grew there, when all of a sudden she heard a
+loud snort and looked up to see the bull charging down upon her. She
+looked wildly around for a place of safety. Nothing was nearer than the
+far-off hedge that surrounded the cultivated garden patch. Not a tree,
+not a fence, in sight. Quick as light she bounded off toward the hedge,
+although she knew it would be impossible for her to reach it before the
+bull would be upon her.
+
+Gladys, coming along the road in the automobile, heard a shriek and
+looked up to see Sahwah tearing across the open field with the bull hard
+after her. Without a moment's hesitation Gladys turned the car into the
+field and started after the bull at full speed. She let the car out
+every notch and it whizzed dizzily over the hard turf. She sounded the
+horn again and again with the hope of attracting the attention of the
+bull, but he did not pause. Like lightning she bore down upon him,
+passed to one side and slowed down for a second beside Sahwah, who
+jumped on the running-board and was borne away to safety.
+
+"This hum-drum, uneventful life," said Sahwah, as she sat on the porch
+half an hour afterward and tried to catch her breath, while the rest
+fanned her with palm leaf fans, "is getting a little too much for me!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.--A BIRTHDAY PARTY
+
+
+After Nyoda had fired the shots out of the window, nothing was heard or
+seen of the ghost and the footsteps in the attic ceased. "It's just as I
+thought," said Nyoda, "someone has been trying to frighten us with a
+possible view of robbing the house at some time, thinking that a
+houseful of women would be terror-stricken at the ghostly noises, but
+when he found we had a gun and could shoot he thought better of the
+plan." Gradually the girls lost their fright, and the odd corners of
+Onoway House regained their old charm. They were far too busy with the
+canning to think of much else, for the tomatoes were ripening in such
+large quantities that it was all they could do to dispose of them. The
+4H brand found favor and the market gradually increased, and every week
+Migwan had a goodly sum to deposit in the bank after the cost of the tin
+cans had been deducted.
+
+"I have to laugh when I think of that honor in the book," said Migwan,
+"can at least three cans of fruit," and she pointed to the cans stacked
+on the back porch ready to be packed into the automobile and taken to
+town. "Why, hello, Calvin," she said, as Calvin Smalley appeared at the
+back door. "Come in." Calvin came in and sat down. "What's the matter?"
+asked Migwan, for his face had a frightened and distressed look.
+
+"Uncle Abner has turned me out!" said Calvin.
+
+"Turned you out!" echoed the girls. "Why?"
+
+"He showed me a will last night," said Calvin, "a later one than that
+which was found when my grandfather died, which left the farm to him
+instead of to my father. He just found it last night when he was
+rummaging among grandfather's old papers. According to that I have been
+living on his charity all these years instead of on my own property as I
+supposed and now he says he can't afford to keep me any longer. He
+wanted me to sign a paper saying that I would work for him without pay
+until I was thirty years old to make up for what I have had all these
+years, and when I wouldn't do it he told me to get out."
+
+"How can any man be so mean and stingy!" said Migwan, indignantly.
+
+"And what do you intend to do now?" asked Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+"I don't know," said Calvin, looking utterly downcast and discouraged.
+"I had expected to go through school and then to agricultural college
+and be a scientific farmer, but that's out of the question now. I
+haven't a cent in the world. I could hire out to some of the farmers
+around here, I suppose, but you know what that means--they wouldn't pay
+me much because I'm a boy, but they would get a man's work out of me and
+it's precious little time I'd have for school. I've always saved Uncle
+Abner the cost of one hired man in return for what he gave me, so I
+don't feel under any obligations to him. I think I'll give up farming
+for a while and go to the city and work. The trouble is I have no
+friends there and it might be hard for me to get into a good place." His
+honest eyes were clouded over with perplexity and trouble.
+
+"My father could probably get you a job in the city," said Gladys, "if
+you can wait until he gets back. He's out west now."
+
+"I tell you what to do," said kind-hearted Mrs. Gardiner to Calvin, "you
+stay here with us until Mr. Evans comes back. You can help the girls in
+the garden, and we were wishing not long ago that we had another man in
+the house."
+
+"You are very kind," said Calvin, gratefully, "but I don't want to put
+you to any trouble."
+
+"No trouble at all," Mrs. Gardiner assured him, "you can sleep with
+Tom." The girls all expressed pleasure at the prospect of having Calvin
+stay at Onoway House and under the spell of their kindly hospitality his
+drooping spirits revived. He shook the dust of his uncle's house from
+his feet, feeling no longer an outcast, since he had suddenly found such
+kind friends on the other side of the hedge.
+
+Calvin lived in a perpetual state of wonder at the girls at Onoway
+House. They made a frolic out of everything they did and were
+continually thinking up new and amazing games to play. Calvin had never
+done anything at home all his life but work, and work was a serious
+business to him. He never knew before that work was fun. The long, weary
+hours of peeling were enlivened with songs made up on the spur of the
+moment. Sahwah would look up from the pan over which she was bending,
+and sing to the tune of "The Pope":
+
+  "Our Migwan leads a jolly life, jolly life,
+  She peels tomatoes with her knife, with her knife,
+  And puts the pieces in the can,
+  And leaves the peelings in the pan, (Oh, tra la la)."
+
+And then they would all start to sing at once,
+
+  "The tomatoes went in one by one,
+  (There's one more bushel to peel),
+  Hinpoha she did cut her thumb,
+  (There's one more bushel to peel)."
+
+  "The tomatoes went in two by two,
+  And Gladys and Sahwah fell into the stew.
+  The tomatoes went in three by three,
+  And Migwan got drowned a-trying to see."
+
+etc., etc., thus they made merry over the work until it was done.
+
+"Do you know," said Migwan, looking up from her peeling, "that it's
+Gladys's birthday next Friday? We ought to have a celebration."
+
+"How about a picnic?" asked Nyoda. "We haven't had a real one yet. Have
+the rest of the Winnebagos come out from town and all of us sleep in the
+tepee as we had planned on the Fourth of July. Then we'll get a horse
+and wagon and drive along the roads until we come to a place beside the
+river where we want to stop and cook our dinner and just spend the day
+like gypsies." The girls entered into the plan with enthusiasm, both for
+the sake of celebrating Gladys's birthday and cheering up Calvin, who
+had been rather quiet and pensive of late. It was a great disappointment
+to him to have to give up his plans for going to college, and his
+uncle's unfriendly treatment of him had cut him to the heart.
+
+Medmangi and Chapa and Nakwisi arrived the day before the picnic and the
+house echoed with the sound of voices and laughter, as the Winnebagos
+bubbled over with joy at being all together. The morning of the picnic
+was as fine as they could wish, and it was not long before they were
+bumping over the road in one of Farmer Landsdowne's wagons, behind the
+very two horses which the girls had ridden the week before. It was a
+wagon full. Sahwah sat up in front and drove like a veritable daughter
+of Jehu, with Farmer Landsdowne up beside her to come to the rescue in
+case the horses should run away, which was not at all likely, as it took
+constant persuasion to keep them going even at an easy jog trot. Mrs.
+Landsdowne, who, with her husband, had been invited to the picnic, sat
+beside Mrs. Gardiner, in the back of the wagon, while Calvin Smalley
+stayed next to Migwan, as he usually did. She was so quiet and gentle
+and kind that he felt more at ease with her than with the rest of the
+Winnebagos, who were such jokers. Ophelia, who was beginning to be
+inseparable from Sahwah, squeezed herself in between her and Mr.
+Landsdowne, and refused to move. Sahwah, of course, took her part and
+let her stay, although she was a bit crowded for space. Hinpoha and
+Gladys sat at the back of the wagon dangling their feet over the end,
+where they could watch the yellow road unwinding like a ribbon beneath
+them, while Nyoda sat between Betty and Tom to keep the peace.
+
+"Where are we going?" asked Mrs. Gardiner, as they swung along the road.
+
+"Oh," replied Sahwah, "somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere. It's
+lots more romantic to start out without any idea where you're going and
+stop wherever it suits you than to start out for a certain place and
+think you have to go there even if you pass nicer places on the road.
+Maybe, like Mrs. Wiggs, we'll end up at a first-class fire."
+
+"We undoubtedly will," said Nyoda, "if we expect to cook any dinner. Do
+my eyes deceive me?" she continued, "or is this a fishing-rod under the
+straw? It is, it is," she cried, drawing it out. "Now I know what has
+been the matter with me for the past few months, this feeling of sadness
+and longing that was not akin to rheumatism. I have been pining,
+languishing, wasting away with a desire to go fishing. My early life ran
+quiet beside a babbling brook, and there I sat and fished trout and
+fried them over an outdoor fire. This spirit will never know repose
+until it has gone fishing once more."
+
+"Take the rod and welcome, it's mine," said Calvin, glad that something
+of his should give pleasure to one of his cherished friends.
+
+In a shady grove of sycamores beside the river they dismounted from the
+wagon and scattered in search of firewood, for the fire must be started
+the first thing, as there were potatoes to roast. Nyoda took the
+fishing-rod and started for the river. "We'll never get anything to eat
+if we wait until you catch enough fish for dinner," said Sahwah.
+
+"Who said I was going to catch enough for dinner?" said Nyoda. "I
+wouldn't be cruel enough to keep you waiting all that time. But I do
+want to catch just one for old times' sake." She strolled down to the
+water's edge and after a few minutes Mr. Landsdowne joined her. He liked
+Nyoda and enjoyed a talk with her.
+
+"Are you going to play all alone at the picnic?" he asked, as he dropped
+down beside her.
+
+"Alone, but with _unbaited_ zeal," she quoted, digging around in the
+ground with her stick. "Come and help me find a worm."
+
+"I'm afraid the Early Bird got them all," she said plaintively, after a
+few moment's fruitless search. By dint of much digging they finally
+unearthed one and baited the hook. Nyoda cast her line and then settled
+down to a spell of silent waiting. "I don't believe there's a fish in
+this old river," she said impatiently, after fifteen minutes of angling
+which brought no results. "Not here, anyway. Let's go down beyond the
+bend where the river widens out into that broad pool. The water is
+deeper and quieter there." They moved on to the new location and Nyoda
+tried her luck again. This time success crowned her efforts and she
+landed a small fish almost immediately. "What did I tell you?" she
+exclaimed, triumphantly. "There's luck in changing places. Now for
+another one." In a few moments she felt a tug at the line. "It must be a
+whale," she cried, enthusiastically, "it pulls so hard."
+
+"It may be caught on a snag," said Farmer Landsdowne. "Here, let me get
+it loose for you, I'm afraid you'll break that rod," he said, as the
+pole bent ominously in her hands.
+
+"Spare the rod and spoil the fish," said Nyoda.
+
+"What are you doing on my property?" said a harsh voice behind them,
+"don't you see that sign?"
+
+Nyoda and Farmer Landsdowne sprang to their feet in surprise and faced
+an irate farmer in blue shirt sleeves. Sure enough, on a tree not very
+far from them there was a sign reading,
+
+  NO FISHING IN THIS POND.
+
+"We didn't see the sign," said Nyoda, stammering in her embarrassment,
+and crimson to the roots of her hair.
+
+"We really didn't," confirmed Farmer Landsdowne.
+
+"Well, ye see it now, don't ye?" pursued the proprietor of the
+fish-pond. "Kindly move along."
+
+"We have one fish," said Nyoda, feeling unutterably foolish, "but we'll
+pay you for that. I must have one to take back to the picnic or I don't
+dare show my face."
+
+"Ye say ye caught a fish?" shouted the farmer, excitedly. "Holy
+mackerel! That was the only one in the pond--I put it in there this
+morning--and I've rented the fishing of it to a young feller from
+Cleveland at twenty-five cents an hour."
+
+"But it didn't take me an hour to catch him," said Nyoda. "It only took
+five minutes. That'll be about two cents." But the farmer held out for
+his twenty-five cents and Nyoda paid it, laughing to herself at the way
+the "feller from Cleveland" had been cheated out of his sport.
+
+"Don't ever tell the girls about this," pleaded Nyoda, as they moved
+shamefacedly away. "I'm supposed to be a pattern of conduct, and I'm
+always scolding the girls because they don't use their eyes enough.
+They'll never get over laughing at me if they find it out." Farmer
+Landsdowne promised solemnly that he would not divulge the secret.
+
+"Did you catch anything?" called Sahwah, as Nyoda returned to the group
+under the trees.
+
+"We certainly did," replied Nyoda, with a sidelong glance at Farmer
+Landsdowne.
+
+"Listen to this part of father's last letter," said Gladys, as they sat
+around on the grass eating their dinner. "Juneau, Alaska.
+
+"We recently saw a group of Camp Fire girls holding a Ceremonial Meeting
+on a mountain near Juneau. It fairly made us homesick; it reminded us so
+much of the group we used to see in our house. We went up and spoke to
+them and they send you this three-petaled flower as a greeting."
+
+"To think we have friends all over the country, just because we know the
+meaning of the word Wohelo!" said Migwan in an awed tone, as the
+Winnebagos crowded around Gladys to see the flower which had come from
+far off Alaska, a silent All Hail from kindred spirits.
+
+Just at this point Ophelia, who was coming a long way with the
+coffee-pot in her hand, tripped over a root and sprawled on her face on
+the ground, showering everybody near her with coffee. "We have your
+title now," said Nyoda, "it's Ophelia-Face-in-the-Mud. You're always
+falling that way."
+
+"And I know what your name is," replied Ophelia.
+
+"What is it?" asked Nyoda, guilelessly.
+
+"It's Nyoda-Chased-by-a-Farmer," said Ophelia.
+
+Nyoda started and looked guilty. "How did you know that?" she asked,
+giving herself away completely.
+
+"Followed you," said Ophelia. "I saw you fishin' where the sign said to
+keep out and the man in the blue shirt sleeves chased you out."
+
+"Tell us about it," demanded all the girls, and Nyoda had to tell the
+whole story that she wanted to keep a secret.
+
+  "Fishy, fishy in the brook,
+  But the fishers 'got the hook,'"
+
+chanted Sahwah, teasingly. Nyoda and Farmer Landsdowne looked sheepish
+at the jokes that were thrown at them thick and fast, but they stood it
+good-naturedly.
+
+"A truce!" cried Gladys, coming to the rescue of Nyoda. "Let's play
+charades."
+
+"Good!" said Migwan. "You be leader of one side and let Nyoda take the
+other. Whichever side gives up first will have to get supper for the
+rest."
+
+Gladys chose Sahwah, Mrs. Gardiner, Betty, Ophelia, Tom and Calvin.
+Nyoda chose Mr. and Mrs. Landsdowne, Hinpoha, Migwan, Chapa, Medmangi
+and Nakwisi. Gladys's side went out first and came in without her.
+
+"Word of three syllables, first syllable," said Sahwah, who acted as
+spokesman. The whole company sat down in a row, striking the most
+doleful attitude and groaning as if in pain, and shedding tears into
+their handkerchiefs.
+
+"Most woeful looking crowd I ever saw," remarked Mr. Landsdowne.
+
+"Woe!" shouted Nyoda, triumphantly, and the guess was correct.
+
+The weepers continued their weeping in the second syllable, and then
+Gladys appeared, felt of all their pulses and gave each a dose out of a
+bottle, whereupon they all straightened up, lost their symptoms of
+distress, and capered for joy.
+
+"Cure," said Migwan. The players shook their heads.
+
+"Heal," shouted Hinpoha, and Gladys acknowledged it.
+
+In the last syllable Gladys went around and demanded payment for her
+services, but in each case was met with a promise to pay at some future
+time.
+
+"Owe," said Chapa, which was pronounced right. "O heal woe, what's
+that?" she asked.
+
+"You're twisted," said Nyoda, "it's 'Wohelo.' That really was too easy.
+Let's not divide them into syllables after this," she suggested, "it's
+no contest of wits that way. Let's act out the word all at once." The
+alteration was accepted with enthusiasm.
+
+Hinpoha came out alone for her side. "Word of two syllables," she said.
+Taking a blanket she spread it over a bushy weed and tucked the corners
+under until it looked not unlike a large stone. Then she retired from
+the scene. Soon Nyoda came along and paused in front of the blanket,
+which looked like an inviting seat.
+
+"What a lovely rock to rest on!" she exclaimed, and seated herself upon
+it. Of course, it flattened down under her weight and she was borne down
+to the ground.
+
+A moment of silence followed this performance as the guessers racked
+their brains for the meaning. "Is it 'Landsdowne?'" asked Gladys.
+
+"It might be, but it isn't," said Nyoda, laughing.
+
+"I know," said Sahwah, starting up, "it's 'shamrock.'"
+
+"You are sharper than I thought," said Nyoda, rising from her seat.
+"Nobody down yet. Now, fire your broadside at us. No word under three
+syllables. Anything less would be unworthy of our giant intellects."
+
+"Third round!" cried Calvin.
+
+Sahwah walked down to the water's edge, holding in her hand a large key.
+Leaning over, she moved the key as if it were walking in the water. This
+proved a puzzler, and cries of 'Milwaukee,' 'Nebrasky,' and 'turnkey'
+were all met with a triumphant shake of the head.
+
+"It looks as if we would have to give up," said Hinpoha.
+
+Just then Nyoda sprang up with a shout. "Why didn't I think of it
+before?" she cried. "It's 'Keewaydin,' key-wade-in. What else could you
+expect from Sahwah?"
+
+"That's it," said Sahwah. "You must be a mind reader."
+
+"Here's where we finish you off," said Nyoda, as her side came out
+again. "We've taken a word of four syllables this time." The whole team
+advanced in single file, Indian fashion, keeping closely in step. Round
+and round they marched, back and forth, never slackening their speed,
+until one by one they tumbled to the ground from sheer exhaustion and
+stiffened out lifelessly. The guessers looked at each other, puzzled.
+
+"Do it again," said Sahwah. The strenuous march was repeated, and the
+marchers succumbed as before. Still no light came to the onlookers.
+Sahwah whispered something to Gladys.
+
+"Would you just as soon do it again?" asked Gladys. Again the file wound
+round the trees and tumbled to the turf. Nyoda made a triumphant grimace
+as no guess was forthcoming. Sahwah's eyes began to sparkle.
+
+"Would you please do it once more?" she pleaded.
+
+"Have mercy on the performers," groaned Nyoda, but they went through it
+again, and this time they were too spent to rise from the ground when
+the acting was done. "Do you give up?" called Nyoda.
+
+"No," answered Gladys.
+
+"You have five seconds to produce the answer, then," said Nyoda.
+
+"It's diapason," said Gladys, "die-a-pacin."
+
+"Really!" said Nyoda, falling back in astonishment.
+
+"We knew it all the while!" cried Sahwah and Gladys. "We just kept you
+doing it over and over again because we liked to see you work."
+
+The laugh was on Nyoda and her team all the way around. "We do this to
+each other!" called Sahwah, using the Indian form of taunt when one has
+played a successful trick on another.
+
+"Tie the villains to a tree, and let them perish of mosquito bites,"
+Nyoda commanded in an awful tone. "I'll get even with you for that, Miss
+Sahwah," she said, darkly, as the other side trooped off to cook up a
+new poser.
+
+"Hadn't you better stop playing now?" inquired Mrs. Gardiner. "You know
+we wanted to get home before dark."
+
+"Oh, let's do one more," pleaded Migwan. If they had only stopped
+playing when Mrs. Gardiner suggested it and gone home early they might
+have been in time to prevent the thing which occurred, but they were
+bent on seeing one side or the other go down, and Gladys's side prepared
+another charade.
+
+"We've played up to your own game," said Gladys, who was introducing the
+new charade, "and have increased the number to five syllables." The
+actors were Mrs. Gardiner, Betty and Tom Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner was
+scolding the children and emphasized her remarks by a sharp pinch on
+Tom's arm. Betty, seeing the maternal hand also extended in her
+direction, promptly climbed a tree and sat in safety, while her mother
+shook her finger at her and cried warningly, "I'll attend to you after
+awhile."
+
+"What on earth?" said Nyoda, scratching her head in perplexity. But
+scratch as she might, no answer came, and the rest of her team had
+nothing to offer either. After holding out for fully fifteen minutes
+they were compelled to give it up.
+
+"It's 'manipulator,'" cried the winning side, in chorus.
+"'Ma-nip-you-later!'" And they stood around to condole while Nyoda's
+side prepared supper. Then it was that Calvin, basely deserting the team
+he had helped so far, went over to the side of the enemy and helped
+Migwan fetch wood for the fire. Both sides stopped often to jeer at each
+other, so it took them twice as long to get the meal ready as it would
+have ordinarily. They loitered and sang along the way home, letting the
+horses take their time, and it was quite late when they reached Onoway
+House.
+
+The first thing that greeted them was the sight of Mr. Bob, the cocker
+spaniel, rolling on the front lawn in great distress, and giving every
+sign of being poisoned. They hastily administered an antidote and, after
+a time of suspense were confident that the effect of the poison had been
+counteracted. So far they had only been in the kitchen, but when the
+excitement about the dog was over they moved toward the sitting-room to
+rest awhile and drink lemonade before going to bed. When the light was
+lit they all stopped in astonishment. In the sitting-room there was an
+old-fashioned combination desk and bookcase, the bookcase part set on
+top of the desk and reaching nearly to the ceiling. It belonged to the
+house, and the desk was closed and locked. Now, however, it stood open,
+and all the drawers were pulled out, while the top of the desk and the
+floor before it were strewn with papers in great disorder.
+
+"Burglars!" cried Migwan. "The house has been robbed!" They immediately
+looked through the house to see what had been taken. Up-stairs in the
+room occupied by the two boys there was a desk similar to the one in the
+sitting-room. This had also been broken open and the drawers searched
+through, although the disorder of papers was not so great as it was
+down-stairs. Half afraid of what they should find, the whole family went
+from room to room, but nothing else seemed to have been disturbed, and
+as far as they could see nothing had been stolen. The silver in the
+sideboard drawer was untouched, but then, this was only plate, and worn
+at that. But in full view on the dining-room table lay Sahwah's
+Firemaker Bracelet, which she had laid there a few moments before
+starting for the picnic, and then, with her customary forgetfulness,
+neglected to pick up again. This was solid silver and worth stealing.
+Further than that, she had also forgotten to wear her watch, and it was
+still safe in her top bureau drawer. It was a riddle, and as they talked
+it over they could only come to one conclusion, and that was that the
+burglar had thought there were large sums of money hidden in the two
+desks and had passed over the small articles in the hope of getting a
+bigger harvest, or else was leaving those other things to the last. He
+ransacked the up-stairs desk, having broken the lock, and then went
+through the one down-stairs. While looking through the papers in the
+sitting-room he had evidently been frightened away by something, for
+there was one drawer that had not been disturbed. This also accounted
+for the fact that nothing else had been taken. What had frightened him
+was probably the barking of the dog, who, although he was on the
+outside, had become aware of the presence of someone in the house. He
+had fed the dog poison, probably poisoned meat, for they had found a
+small piece of meat on the porch. Evidently the poison had begun to act
+before Mr. Bob had it all eaten, and he left that piece. But before the
+dog was dead the burglar had heard the family returning along the road,
+singing, and made his escape. The whole thing must have happened not
+long before, for the dog had not had the poison long enough to take
+deadly effect. It was then that they regretted having lingered so long
+over the game of charades and delayed their homecoming.
+
+"If we had only been half an hour sooner, we might have found out who it
+was," said Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+"Thank Heaven we weren't half an hour later," said Hinpoha, "or Mr. Bob
+would have been dead." She would have felt worse about losing Mr. Bob
+than about having all her possessions stolen.
+
+"How about sleeping in the tepee to-night?" asked Gladys. There was not
+enough room in the house for so many people and the eight Winnebagos had
+made their beds in the tepee while the three girls from town were there,
+both to solve the question of sleeping quarters and for the fun of the
+thing. It was just like camping out to sleep on the ground, all the
+eight girls in a circle around the little watch fire in the middle of
+the tepee.
+
+"Oh, I'll be afraid to," said Hinpoha.
+
+"I don't know but what it would be just as safe as sleeping in the
+house," said Nyoda. "I doubt if anyone would think of people sleeping
+out in that thing. It's a rather novel idea in this neighborhood. And at
+any rate there's nothing out there to steal and consequently nothing to
+tempt a thief."
+
+So, their fears having vanished, the Winnebagos went to bed in the tepee
+just as they had planned. Nyoda took the precaution of putting her
+pistol under her pillow. The girls really enjoyed the air of suppressed
+excitement. When did youth and high spirits ever fail to respond to the
+thrill of danger, either real or fancied? This attempted burglary was
+the most exciting thing that had ever happened to most of the girls and
+they were getting as much thrill out of it as possible. It amused them
+to see Tom and Calvin parading the front lawn armed with bird guns,
+swelled up with importance at having to guard a houseful of women.
+Instead of hoping that the burglar had been scared away for good they
+wished fervently that he would return and give them a chance to shoot.
+They would have stayed there all night if Mrs. Gardiner had not ordered
+them to bed.
+
+One by one the girls in the tepee dropped off to slumber, worn out with
+the varied events of the day. But Nyoda could not sleep. She had a
+throbbing headache from the glare of the sun on the water while she sat
+fishing. The little fire, in the center of the bare circle of earth
+which prevented it from spreading, died down and subsided to glowing
+embers, then one by one these turned black and left the tepee in
+darkness. There was not a spark left. Nyoda was sure of this, for she
+sat up several times in an effort to make herself comfortable, and when
+she took a drink from the pail of well water which stood nearby she
+emptied the dipper over the spot where the fire had been, to make doubly
+sure. Still sleep would not come. She stared out of the doorway of the
+tepee into the darkness. A group of beech trees with their light grey
+bark loomed up ghostlike before the door. She began to think of the
+ghost which had appeared to her that other night in that very doorway,
+and tried to connect the incidents which had taken place afterwards with
+that. One thing was sure--someone was getting into Onoway House every few
+days. Why nothing was taken was a mystery to her. It seemed to her now
+that it was not so much an attempt at burglary as an effort to annoy and
+frighten the family. Possibly it was someone who had a grudge against
+them--she could not imagine why--and was indulging in these pranks to
+satisfy a spite. She thought she saw a glimmer of light on the subject.
+
+Farmer Landsdowne had once told her that when it became known that Mr.
+Mitchell was going to give up the care of the place, several farmers of
+the Centerville Road district had applied for the position of caretaker,
+but wishing to assist Migwan, the Bartletts had refused their offers and
+given the place over to the Winnebagos. That must be it. Someone wanted
+that job badly and was wreaking his disappointment on the people who had
+kept him from getting it. The more she thought of it the more probable
+it seemed. Possibly more than one were involved in the plot.
+
+Then another thought struck her. Could it be the crazy man who lived
+alone in the little house among the trees? Calvin had stated that he
+never left the house, but who could account for the inspirations of an
+unbalanced mind? That nothing had been taken from the house seemed to
+indicate a want of fixed purpose in the mind of the housebreaker--to go
+to all that trouble for nothing. This idea also seemed worth
+considering.
+
+As she lay turning these things over in her mind she thought she heard a
+stealthy footstep in the grass outside of the tepee. Thinking that the
+ghost was coming to pay another visit, she drew the pistol from under
+her pillow and turning over, face downward, lay with it pointed toward
+the doorway. There would be no outcry when he appeared in the doorway.
+The first intimation the ghost would have that he was observed would be
+a shot in the leg that would prevent him from running away and would
+solve the mystery. In tense silence she waited, one; two; three minutes,
+but nothing appeared. Then suddenly she smelled smoke, and turning
+around swiftly saw that the side of the tepee toward which she had had
+her back was in flames.
+
+"Fire!" she called at the top of her voice. "Sahwah! Hinpoha! Gladys!
+Migwan! Wake up!" And seizing the pail of water she dashed it against
+the side of the tepee. The water sizzled as it fell, but the canvas
+covering was burning like tinder. Thus rudely awakened the girls sprang
+up in alarm. The place was filling with dense smoke, and through it they
+groped their way to the opening, dragging out their blankets. Hardly had
+the last girl got out when the whole thing was one roaring blaze, which
+lit up the scenery a long way around.
+
+Nyoda, paying no attention to the flames that were mounting skyward from
+the burning canvas, looked intently for a lurking figure among the
+trees, for she thought it hardly possible that whoever had set the tepee
+afire could have gotten outside of the range of light in that short
+time. It was possible to see as far as the road on the one side and
+across the river on the other. But nowhere was there a man or the shadow
+of a man. The folks came running out of Onoway House half dressed and in
+terror that the girls had not escaped from the burning tent in time, and
+the farmers all the way down the road, seeing the glare, rushed to offer
+their assistance, for a fire in the country is a serious thing where
+there is no water pressure. Farmer Landsdowne came on a dead run,
+carrying a water bucket. Even Abner Smalley appeared in the midst of the
+crowd. He gave a scowling look at Calvin, but said nothing, and soon
+took his departure when the danger was over, as it was directly, for it
+did not take long to reduce that canvas covering to a black mass, and
+buckets of water thrown all around on the ground and the trees kept the
+fire from spreading.
+
+For the second time that night the family gathered in the sitting-room
+and faced each other over an exciting happening. "I told you if you
+built a fire in that tepee you would burn it down," said Mrs. Gardiner.
+"I never felt easy when you had one."
+
+"But it didn't catch fire from our little fire," declared Nyoda, and
+told the events of the night, from the going out of the fire to the
+footsteps outside the tepee when the canvas had suddenly blazed up when
+she was lying in wait for the ghost with a pistol. The circle of faces
+paled with fear as she told her tale. Who could this mysterious visitor
+be, who seemed determined to do them some harm? The girls finished the
+night in the house, three in a bed, but none of them closed their eyes
+to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.--THE WELL DIGGER'S GHOST.
+
+
+The next morning Mrs. Gardiner sent Mr. Landsdowne to interview the
+police force of the township in which the Centerville Road belonged, and
+he brought the whole force back with him. He had to bring the whole
+force if he brought any for it embraced only one man and he was well
+along in years, but he had a uniform and a helmet and a club and a gun,
+and presented an imposing appearance as he strutted up and down the
+yard, before which an evil doer might be moved to pause. The three girls
+from town had departed and Nakwisi had left her spy glass behind in the
+excitement, and this was a source of great entertainment to the rural
+gendarme. He spent a great deal of time sliding the lens back and forth
+to fit his eye and peering up the road into the distance, or looking up
+into the air, as if he expected to see the burglar approaching in an
+airship. He was very talkative and fond of recounting the captures he
+had made single handed, and declared solemnly that the man in this case
+was as good as caught already, for no one had ever escaped yet when Dave
+Beeman had started out to get him.
+
+Nyoda, who was fond of seeing her theories worked out, still held to the
+idea that the mysterious visitor was someone who wanted the job of
+caretaker, and inquired closely of Farmer Landsdowne who the men were
+who had applied for the position. When it came down to fact there was
+only one who had really wanted the job very badly, although several
+others had mentioned the fact that they wouldn't mind doing it, and that
+man had found a similar situation immediately afterward and left the
+neighborhood. So her theory did not seem to be inclined to hold water.
+
+She had another idea, however, and wrote to Mr. Mitchell, asking if he
+had ever heard strange noises in the attic while he lived there. Mr.
+Mitchell answered and said that not only had he heard strange noises in
+the attic, but also in the cellar and in the barn, and that pieces of
+furniture had apparently moved themselves in the middle of the night;
+and it was on this account that he had left the place, as it made his
+wife so nervous she became ill. This fact put a new face on the matter.
+The hostility, then, was not directed against themselves personally, but
+against the tenants of the house, no matter who they were. But this idea
+left them more in the dark than ever, and they lost a good deal of sleep
+over it without reaching any solution.
+
+After a few days of zealous watching, during which time nothing
+happened, the police force of Centerville township gave it up as a bad
+job and relaxed its vigilance, declaring that the firebug must have
+gotten out of the country, for that was the only way he could hope to
+escape his eagle eye. "If he was still in the country, I'd a' had him by
+this time", Dave Beeman asserted confidently. "So as long as he's gone
+that far you don't need to worry any more." And he took himself off,
+eager to get back to the quiet game of pinochle in Gus Wurlitzer's
+grocery store, which Farmer Landsdowne had interrupted several days ago.
+
+It was just about this time that Migwan had her biggest order for canned
+tomatoes--from a fashionable private sanitarium a few miles distant, and
+the rush of canning gradually took their minds off the mysterious
+intruder. Migwan, picking her finest and ripest tomatoes to fill this
+order, noticed that a number of the vines were drooping and turning
+yellow. The half ripe tomatoes were falling to the ground and rotting.
+One whole end of the bed seemed to be affected. She looked carefully for
+insects and found none. Some of the leaves seemed worse shrivelled than
+others. In perplexity she called Mr. Landsdowne over to look at them. He
+looked closely at the plants and also seemed puzzled as to the cause of
+the mysterious blight. "It isn't rot," he said, "because the bed is high
+and dry and the plants have never stood in water." Upon looking closely
+he discovered that the affected plants were covered with a fine white
+coating. He gave a smothered exclamation. "Do you know what that is?" he
+asked. "It's lime! Somebody has sprayed your plants with a solution of
+lime. Are you sure you didn't do it yourself?" he asked, quizzically.
+
+Migwan shook her head. "I haven't sprayed those plants with anything for
+a month," she asserted, "and neither has anyone else in the house."
+
+"Somebody outside of the house has done it, then," said Mr. Landsdowne.
+
+The work of the mysterious visitor again! It struck dismay into the
+breasts of the whole household. They never knew when and where that hand
+was going to strike next. And so silently, so mysteriously, without ever
+leaving a trace behind!
+
+There was nothing left to do but dig up the dead plants and throw them
+away. Migwan almost stopped breathing when she thought that the rest of
+the bed might be treated in the same way, and the source of her revenue
+cut off. But why was all this happening? What could anyone possibly have
+against the peaceful dwellers at Onoway House?
+
+A guard was set over the tomato bed both day and night for a week and
+the big order for the sanitarium was filled as fast as the tomatoes
+ripened. Nothing at all happened during this time and the vigilance was
+relaxed. A large dog was turned loose in the garden at night and they
+felt secure in his protection. This dog belonged to Calvin Smalley. When
+he had left his uncle's house he had to leave Pointer behind, as he did
+not know what else to do with him, but now that the Gardiners were
+willing to have him he went over and got him when he knew his uncle was
+away from the house, so he would not have to meet him. Pointer was
+overjoyed at seeing his young master again and attached himself to the
+household at once, and never made the slightest effort to go back to his
+old home. He had a deep, heavy bark which could not fail to rouse the
+house at once. With the coming of Pointer the girls breathed easily
+again.
+
+One day when Migwan had gone over to see the Landsdownes, Mr. Landsdowne
+had given her a treasure for her garden. This was a plant of a rare
+species called Titania Gloria, which a friend had brought from Bermuda.
+It was a first year growth and so would not bloom until the following
+summer. Migwan planted it along the fence beside the mint bed and
+treasured it like gold, for the blossom of the Titania Gloria was a
+wonderful shade of blue and was considered a prize by fanciers, who paid
+high prices for cuttings of the plant. In the excitement over the tepee
+and the tomato plants, however, she forgot to tell the other girls about
+it, so she was the only one who knew what a precious thing that little
+bed of leaves was.
+
+The weather was so fine that week that Migwan decided to have a garden
+party and invite a number of friends from town. Gladys promised to dance
+and the boys cleared a circle for her in the grass under the trees,
+picking up every stick that lay on the ground. Mrs. Landsdowne, hearing
+about the party, offered to make ice cream for them in her freezer. Just
+before the guests arrived Migwan and Calvin went over after it. They
+took the raft, because they thought that would be the easiest way of
+transporting the heavy tub. Migwan rode on the raft and supported the
+tub and Calvin walked along the bank and pulled the tow line. His
+eagerness to help with the festivity was somewhat pathetic. Never, to
+his knowledge, had there been a party at the Smalley House. The way
+these girls planned a party out of a clear sky and carried out their
+plans without delay was nothing short of marvelous to him. They were
+always at their ease with company, while it was a fearful ordeal for him
+to meet strangers. He liked to be a part of such doings; but was at a
+loss how to act. Migwan, with her fine understanding of things beneath
+the surface, saw that this boy was lonesome in the crowd, not knowing
+how to mix in and have a glorious time on his own account, and she
+always saw to it that his part was mapped out for him in all their
+doings. Therefore she chose him to help her bring the ice cream over.
+
+Calvin, happy at being useful, towed the raft carefully and turned his
+head whenever Migwan spoke, so as to give strict attention to her words.
+Doing this, he fell over the branch of a tree in the path and jerked the
+rope violently. The raft tipped up and both Migwan and the tub of ice
+cream went into the river. Migwan climbed out on the bank before Calvin
+was up from the ground. He was aghast at what he had done. He had been
+so eager to help with the party and now he had spoiled it! That he would
+be instantly expelled from Onoway House he was sure, and he felt that he
+deserved it. Migwan, at least, would never speak to him again.
+Speechless, he turned piteous eyes to where she sat on the bank
+dripping. To his surprise she was doubled up with laughter. "What are
+you laughing at?" he asked, startled.
+
+"Because you upset the raft and the ice cream fell into the river!"
+giggled Migwan. Calvin gasped. The very thing that was nearly killing
+him with chagrin was the cause of her mirth! It was the first time he
+had ever seen anyone make light of a calamity. Her mirth was so
+contagious that he began to laugh himself. Still laughing, he brought
+the tub out of the river and set it on the bank. The water had washed
+away the packing of ice, but the lid on the inner can was providentially
+tight and the ice cream was unharmed. That little incident crystallized
+the friendship between the two. After that he was Migwan's slave. A girl
+who could be thrown into the river without getting vexed was a friend
+worth having. Dripping, they returned to the house, where the
+preparations for the party were at their height, to be laughed at
+immoderately and christened the "Water Babies."
+
+To Hinpoha the Artistic had been entrusted the setting of the tables.
+Her decorations were water lilies from the river, and when she had
+finished it looked as if a feast had been spread for the river nymphs.
+Around the edges of the platter she put bunches of bright mint leaves.
+Her artistic efforts called out so much praise from the guests that she
+was in a continual state of blushing as she waited on the table.
+
+"What's the matter with your hand?" asked Migwan, noticing that she was
+passing things around left handedly.
+
+"Nothing," said Hinpoha, "nothing much. I slipped when I was getting the
+lilies and fell on my wrist and it feels lame, that's all."
+
+"Is it sprained?" asked Migwan.
+
+"Oh, no," said Hinpoha, "I don't think so."
+
+"It's all swelled up," said Migwan, holding up the injured wrist. "Let
+me paint it with iodine and tie it up for you."
+
+Hinpoha maintained that it was nothing serious, but Migwan insisted.
+"Where is the iodine, mother?" she asked.
+
+"On the pantry shelf," answered Mrs. Gardiner. Migwan got the bottle and
+painted Hinpoha's wrist before the party could proceed. Hinpoha surveyed
+the brown stripe around her arm rather disgustedly. It was for this very
+reason that she had said nothing about the wrist before. She did not
+want it painted up for the party. It offended her artistic eye and she
+would rather suffer in silence.
+
+While the guests were sitting at the tables Gladys danced on the lawn
+for their entertainment. The merry laughter was hushed in surprise and
+delight at her fairylike movements. In the silence which reigned at this
+time the thing which happened was distinctly heard by everyone.
+Apparently from the depths of the earth there came a muffled thud, thud,
+as of a pick striking against hard ground. It kept up for a few minutes
+and then ceased, to be renewed again after a short interval. The
+dwellers at Onoway House looked at each other. Into each mind there
+sprang the story of the Deacon's well, and the words of Farmer
+Landsdowne, "_Superstitious folks say you can still hear the buried well
+digger striking with his pick against the ground that covers him._" It
+was the most mysterious sound, far away and faint, yet seemingly right
+under their very feet. Gladys heard it and paused in her dancing.
+Pointer and Mr. Bob both heard it and began to bark. In a little while
+the thudding noise ceased and was heard no more, and the company were
+all left wondering if they could have been the victims of imagination.
+
+"Maybe it's somebody down cellar," said Calvin, and taking Pointer with
+him, went down. Tom followed him. But there was no sign of anyone down
+there. Pointer ran around with his nose to the ground as if he were
+smelling for footsteps, but his tail kept wagging all the while. They
+were all familiar footsteps he scented. Nothing was out of place in the
+cellar except that a basket of potatoes was thrown over and the potatoes
+had rolled out on the cement floor. The boys noticed this without
+thinking anything of it. The mystery of the well digger's ghost remained
+unsolved.
+
+In the cool of the early evening after her guests had departed, Migwan
+wandered down into the garden to look at her various plants and flowers.
+It occurred to her that she had not paid her Titania Gloria a visit for
+several days. But what a sight met her eyes when she reached the spot
+where the precious thing had been planted! Not a single bit was left.
+The clean cut stalks showed where they had been clipped off close to the
+ground. Migwan started up with a cry of dismay which brought the other
+girls running to her side. "My Titania Gloria!" gasped Migwan. "Look!
+The mysterious visitor has been at work again!" And she told them about
+the valuable cuttings that had disappeared so uncannily.
+
+"We never hear that ghost but what something happens after it!" said
+Gladys, in an awestruck tone. The girls peered apprehensively into the
+shadows of the tall trees surrounding the garden.
+
+"What's up?" asked Hinpoha, joining the group. Migwan pointed to the
+devastated bed. "What's the matter with it?" asked Hinpoha.
+
+"My Titania Gloria!" said Migwan. "It's been clipped off at the roots."
+
+"Your what?" asked Hinpoha. Migwan explained about the rare plant Farmer
+Landsdowne had given her. Hinpoha gave a sudden start and exclamation.
+"What did you say it was?" she asked.
+
+"A Titania Gloria," answered Migwan.
+
+"Well, girls, I'm the guilty one, then," said Hinpoha, "for I cut those
+plants off thinking they were mint. That was what I decorated the
+platters with this afternoon. Do anything you like with me, Migwan, beat
+me, hang me to a tree, put my feet in stocks, or anything, and I'll make
+no resistance." She was absolutely frozen to the spot when she realized
+what she had done.
+
+Migwan, grieved as she was over the loss of her cherished Titania, yet
+had to laugh at the depths of Hinpoha's mortification. "You old goose!"
+she said, putting her arms around her, "don't take it so to heart! It's
+my fault, not yours at all, because I didn't tell anyone what that plant
+was. And the leaves do look just like mint." Thus she comforted the
+discomfited Hinpoha.
+
+"Migwan," said her mother, when they had returned to the house, "where
+did you get that iodine with which you painted Hinpoha's wrist this
+afternoon?"
+
+"On the pantry shelf, just where you told me," answered Migwan.
+
+"Well," said her mother, "I told you wrong. The iodine is up on my
+wash-stand."
+
+"Then what was in the brown bottle on the pantry shelf?" asked Migwan.
+The bottle was produced.
+
+"Why," said Mrs. Gardiner, "that's walnut stain, guaranteed not to wear
+off!"
+
+Then there was a laugh at Migwan's expense!
+
+  "Old Migwan Hubbard
+  She went to the cupboard,
+  To get iodine in a phial,
+  But she couldn't read plain,
+  And brought walnut stain,
+  And now her poor patient looks vile!"
+
+chanted Sahwah.
+
+"You're even now," said Gladys, "you've each scored a trick."
+
+"'_We do this to each other!_'" said Migwan and Hinpoha in the same
+breath, and locked fingers and made a wish according to the time-honored
+custom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.--OPHELIA FINDS A FAIRY GODMOTHER.
+
+
+As the summer progressed, the girls had more than one conference as to
+what was to become of Ophelia when they left Onoway House. To let her go
+back to her life in the slums was unthinkable. So far, Old Grady had
+made no effort to get her back, possibly for the simple reason that she
+did not know where the child was. They did not even know whether or not
+she had a legal claim on Ophelia. All Ophelia knew about the business
+was that Old Grady had taken her from the orphan asylum when she was
+seven years old. Where she had lived before she went to the orphan
+asylum she could not remember, so she must have been very young when she
+came there. They were equally unwilling that she should return to the
+asylum.
+
+"If we could only find someone to adopt her," said Hinpoha. That would
+be the best thing, they all agreed, although there was a lingering doubt
+in the mind of each one as to whether anyone would want to adopt
+Ophelia. Grammar was to her a totally unnecessary accomplishment, and
+the amount of slang she knew was unending. By dint of hard labor they
+had succeeded in making her say "you" instead of "yer," and "to" instead
+of "ter," and discard some of her more violent slang phrases, but she
+was still obviously a child of the streets and the tenement, and that
+life had left its brand upon her. It showed itself constantly in her
+speech. They had better success in teaching her table manners, for with
+a child's gift of imitation she soon fell into the ways of those around
+her.
+
+But having had so much excitement in her short life she still pined for
+it. While the life in the country was pleasant in the extreme it was far
+too quiet to suit her and she longed to be back in the crowded tenement
+where there was something happening every hour out of the twenty-four;
+where people woke to life instead of going to bed when darkness fell and
+the lamps were lighted; where street cars clanged and wagons rattled and
+fire engines rumbled by; where the harsh voices of newsboys rang out
+above the loud conversation of the women on the doorsteps and the
+wailing of the babies. The zigging of the grasshoppers and the swishing
+of the wind in the Balm of Gilead tree and the murmur of the river had
+for her a mournful and desolate sound, and she often covered up her ears
+so as not to hear it. When she first came to Onoway House she was so
+interested in the new life that it kept her busy all day long finding
+out new things; but gradually the novelty wore off. At first she had
+been as mischievous as a monkey; always up to some prank or other. She
+teased Tom and was teased by him in return; she put burrs in Mr. Bob's
+long ears; she climbed trees and threw things down on the heads of
+unsuspecting persons underneath; she startled the girls out of their
+wits by lying unseen under the couch in the sitting-room and grabbing
+their ankles unexpectedly. Always she was doing something, and always
+merry and full of life; so that she made the girls feel that they had
+done a fine thing by bringing her to Onoway House.
+
+But of late a change had come over her. She began to droop, and to sit
+silent by herself at times. The girls did their best to keep her amused,
+but they were very busy with the continual canning, and Betty, who had
+more time than the others, did not like her and would not play with her.
+So she grew more and more homesick for the big, noisy city and the
+playmates of other days. Then had come the time when she was so
+sunburned and she had developed the fondness for Sahwah. After that she
+was less lonesome, for Sahwah was such a lively person to be attached to
+that one had always to be on the lookout for surprises. Sahwah taught
+her to swim and dive and ride a bicycle; she had the boys make a swing
+for her under the big tree, and Ophelia blossomed once more into
+happiness. At Sahwah's instigation she played more tricks on the other
+girls than before.
+
+But Ophelia was a shrewd little person, and she knew that the summer
+would come to a close and the girls would not live together any more.
+She often heard them discussing their plans. What was to become of her
+then? The happy family life at Onoway House stirred in her a desire to
+have a home too, and a mother of her own. She began to grow wistful
+again and at times her eyes would have a strange far-away look. The
+scandals of the streets which were once the breath of life to her and
+which she repeated with such relish, began to lose their charm, and she
+developed a taste for fairy tales. "Tell me the story about the fairy
+godmother," she would say to Sahwah, and would listen attentively to the
+end. "Are you sure I've got one somewhere?" she would ask eagerly.
+
+"You surely have," Sahwah would answer, to satisfy her.
+
+And then, "What _are_ we going to do with Ophelia when the summer is
+over?" Sahwah would ask the girls after Ophelia was in bed. And Hinpoha
+would think of Aunt Phoebe and knew she would never adopt such a child as
+Ophelia was; and Migwan knew that it would be out of the question in her
+family; and Sahwah knew that her mother would not let her come and live
+with them; and Gladys thought of her delicate mother and sighed. Nyoda
+could not make a home for her, because she had none of her own and a
+boarding house was no place for a child.
+
+"It's a shame," Sahwah would declare vehemently, "that there aren't
+fathers and mothers enough in this world to go round. Here's Ophelia
+will have to go into an institution more than likely, and grow up
+without any especial interest being taken in her, while we have had so
+much done for us. It isn't fair."
+
+"There's something curious about Ophelia," said Gladys, musingly. "While
+she came from the tenements and is as wild and untrained as any little
+street gamin, she has the appearance of a child of a much higher class.
+Have you ever noticed how small and perfect her hands and feet are? And
+what beautiful almond shaped fingernails she has? And what delicate
+features? Have you seen how erectly she carries herself, and how
+graceful she is when she dances? In spite of her name, I don't believe
+she is Irish; and I don't think her people could have been low class.
+There's an indefinable something about her which spells quality."
+
+"Probably a princess in disguise," said Sahwah, in a tone of amusement.
+"Leave it to Gladys to scent 'quality.'"
+
+But the others had noticed the same characteristics in Ophelia and were
+inclined to agree with Gladys on the subject.
+
+"But what about the strange spot of light hair on her head?" asked
+Sahwah. "Would you call that a mark of quality?" But to this there was
+no answer. They had never seen or heard of anything like it before. Thus
+the summer days slipped by and Onoway House continued to shelter two
+homeless orphans, neither of whom knew what the future held in store for
+them.
+
+One afternoon when the girls had planned to go for a long walk to the
+woods Gladys read in the paper that a balloonist was to make an
+ascension over the lake. For some unaccountable reason she took a fancy
+that she would like to see the performance. "Oh, Gladys," said Sahwah,
+impatiently, "you've seen balloonists before and you'll see plenty yet;
+come with us this afternoon." But Gladys held out, even while she
+wondered to herself why she was so eager to see this not uncommon sight.
+Half offended at her, the other girls departed in the direction of the
+woods. Gladys climbed high up in the Balm of Gilead tree, from which she
+could look over the country for miles around and easily see the lake and
+the distant amusement park from which the balloonist was to ascend.
+
+The newspaper said three o'clock, but evidently the performance was
+delayed, for although Gladys was on the lookout since before that time
+nothing seemed to be happening. To aid her in seeing she took Nakwisi's
+spy glass up into the tree with her, and while she was waiting for the
+parachute spectacle she amused herself by focusing the glass on far away
+objects on the land and bringing them right before her eyes, as it
+seemed. She could look right into the back door of a distant farm house
+and see children playing in the doorway and chickens walking up and down
+the steps; she could see the men working in the fields; she could see
+the yachts out on the lake and the smoky trail of a freight steamer.
+Somewhere in the middle of her range of vision were the gleaming rails
+of the car tracks. She looked at them idly; they were like long streaks
+of light in the sun. She saw two men, evidently tramps, come out of the
+bushes along the road and bend over the rails. Somewhere along that
+stretch of track there was a derailing switch and it seemed to Gladys
+that it was at this point where the men were. Gladys looked at the pair,
+suspiciously, for a second and then decided they were track testers. One
+had an iron bar in his hand and he seemed to be turning the switch.
+Suddenly the other man pointed up the road and then the two jumped
+quickly backward into the bushes. Gladys looked in the direction the man
+had pointed. Far off down the track she could see the red body of the
+"Limited" approaching at a tremendous rate. The stretch of country past
+the Centerville Road was flat and even; the track was perfect and there
+was no traffic to block the way, and the cars made great speed along
+here. Something told Gladys that the men had had no business at the
+switch; that they meant to derail and wreck the Limited. Gladys had
+learned to think and act quickly since she had become a Camp Fire Girl,
+and scarcely had the idea entered her head that the Limited was in
+danger, than she conceived the plan of heading it off. Before the car
+reached the switch it must pass the Centerville Road. Being the Limited,
+it did not stop there. So Gladys planned to run the automobile down the
+Centerville Road and flag the car. She flung herself from the tree in
+haste, got the machine out of the barn and started down the road with
+wide-open throttle.
+
+Trees and fences whirled dizzily by, obscured in the cloud of dust she
+was raising. Across the stillness of the fields she could hear the
+Limited pounding down the track. A hundred yards from the end of the
+road the automobile engine snorted, choked and went dead. Without
+waiting to investigate the trouble, Gladys jumped out and proceeded on
+foot. Could she make it? She could see the red monster through the
+trees, rushing along to certain destruction. With an inward prayer for
+the speed of Antelope Boy, the Indian runner, she darted forward like an
+arrow from the bow. Breathless and spent she came out on the car track
+just a moment ahead of the thundering car, and waved the scarlet
+Winnebago banner, which she had snatched from the wall on the way out.
+With a quick jamming of the emergency brakes that shook the car from end
+to end it came to a standstill just beyond the Centerville Road, and
+only fifty feet from the switch.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the motorman, coming out.
+
+"Look at the switch!" panted Gladys, sinking down beside the road,
+unable to say more.
+
+The motorman looked at the switch. "My God," he said, mopping his
+forehead, "if we'd ever run into that thing going at such a rate there
+wouldn't have been anyone left to tell the tale."
+
+The passengers were pouring from the car, eager to find out the reason
+for the sudden stoppage. "What's the matter?" was heard on every side.
+
+"You've got that girl to thank," said the motorman, moving back toward
+his vestibule, "that you're not lying in a heap of kindling wood."
+Gladys, much abashed and still hardly able to breathe, laid her head on
+her knee and sobbed from sheer nervousness and relief.
+
+"Gladys!" suddenly said a voice above the murmurings of the throng of
+passengers.
+
+Gladys raised her head. "Papa!" she cried, staggering to her feet. "Were
+you on that car?"
+
+Another figure detached itself from the crowd and hastened forward.
+"Mother!" cried Gladys. "Oh, if I hadn't been able to stop it--" and at
+the horror of the idea her strength deserted her and she slipped quietly
+to the ground at her parents' feet.
+
+When she came to the car had gone on and she was lying in the grass by
+the roadside with her head in her mother's lap. "Cheer up, you're all
+right," said her mother a little unsteadily, smiling down at her. Gladys
+now became aware of two other figures that were standing in the road.
+
+"Aunt Beatrice!" she cried. "And Uncle Lynn! What are you doing here?"
+
+"We all came out to surprise you," said her father. "We got back from
+the West last night; sooner than we expected, and decided we would run
+out without any warning and see what kind of farmers you were. The
+automobile is being overhauled so we came on the interurban. We didn't
+know it didn't stop at your road."
+
+Then, Gladys suddenly remembered her own disabled car standing in the
+road, and they all moved toward it. With a little tinkering it
+condescended to run and they were soon at Onoway House, telling the
+exciting tale to Mrs. Gardiner, who held up her hands in horror at the
+thought of the fate which the newcomers had so narrowly escaped. Aunt
+Beatrice, not being strong, was much agitated, and developed a
+palpitation of the heart, and had to lie in the hammock on the porch and
+be doctored, so Gladys had her hands full until the girls came back.
+They were much surprised at the houseful of company and very glad to see
+Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who were very good friends of the Winnebagos indeed.
+They looked with interest when Aunt Beatrice was introduced, for they
+all remembered the tragic story Gladys had told them about the loss of
+her baby in the hotel fire. Aunt Beatrice felt well enough to get up
+then and acknowledge the introductions with a sweet but infinitely sad
+smile that went straight to their hearts, and brought tears to the eyes
+of the soft-hearted Hinpoha.
+
+Ophelia came in last, having loitered on the lawn to play with Pointer
+and Mr. Bob. She had taken off her hat and was swinging it around in her
+hand when she came up on the porch. "And this is the little sister of
+the Winnebagos," said Nyoda, drawing her forward. Aunt Beatrice looked
+down at the dust-streaked little face, with her sad smile, but her eyes
+rested there only an instant. She was gazing as if fascinated at the
+strange ring of light hair on her head. She became very pale and her
+eyes widened until they seemed to be the biggest part of her face.
+
+"Lynn!" she gasped in a choking voice, "Lynn! Look!" and she sank on the
+floor unconscious. "It can't be! It can't be!" she kept saying faintly
+when they revived her. "Beatrice died in the fire. But Beatrice had that
+ring of light hair on her head! It can't be! But there never were two
+such birthmarks!"
+
+What a hubbub arose when this startling possibility was uttered!
+Ophelia, the lost Beatrice? Could it possibly be true? Uncle Lynn lost
+no time in finding out. Taking Ophelia with him he hunted up Old Grady.
+She knew nothing more save that she had gotten her from an orphan
+asylum, which she named. At the asylum he learned what he wanted to
+know. The superintendent remembered about Ophelia on account of the
+strange ring of light hair. The child had been brought to the
+institution when she was about a year old. There was a babies'
+dispensary in connection with the place, and into this a weak, haggard
+girl of about eighteen had staggered one day carrying a baby. The baby
+was sick and she begged them to make it well. While she sat waiting for
+the nurse to look at the baby the girl collapsed. She died in a charity
+hospital a few days later. On her death-bed she confessed that she had
+run away from a large hotel with the baby which had been left in her
+care, intending to hide it and get money from the parents for its
+recovery. But she feared this would lead her into trouble and left town
+with the child and never troubled the parents as she had intended, and
+kept the baby with her until it fell sick, when she had become
+frightened and sought the dispensary. She apparently never knew that the
+hotel had burned and covered up the traces of her flight. The baby was
+kept at the orphan asylum and named Ophelia. Her last name had never
+been known. Thence Old Grady had adopted her, but her right could be
+taken away from her as it was clear that she was no fit person to have
+the child.
+
+"It's just like a fairy tale!" said Hinpoha, when it was established
+beyond a doubt that the abused street waif Gladys had brought home in
+the goodness of her heart was her own cousin.
+
+"Didn't I tell you you'd find your fairy godmother if you only waited
+long enough?" said Sahwah. And Ophelia, from the depths of her mother's
+arms, nodded rapturously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.--A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+"Oh, Gladys, do you have to go home, now that your mother and father are
+back?" asked Migwan, anxiously.
+
+"Not unless you want to, Gladys," said Mrs. Evans. "If you would rather
+stay out here until school opens, you may. Father and I are going to
+Boston in a few days, you know."
+
+So there was no breaking up of the group before they all went home, with
+the exception of Ophelia, or rather Beatrice, as we will have to call
+her from now on, for, of course, she was to go with her mother.
+
+"What must it be like, anyway," said Hinpoha, "not to have any last name
+until you're nine years old and then be introduced to yourself? To
+answer to the name of Ophelia one and 'Miss Beatrice Palmer' the next?
+It must be rather confusing."
+
+Little Beatrice went to Boston with her mother and father and uncle and
+aunt and Onoway House missed her rather sorely. Calvin Smalley also got
+a measure of happiness out of the restoration of the lost child, for
+Uncle Lynn was so beside himself with joy over the event that he was
+ready to bestow favors on anyone connected with Onoway House, and
+promised to see that Calvin got through school and college. He would
+give him a place to work in his office Saturdays and vacations.
+
+For several days now there had been no sign of the mysterious visitor,
+and the well digger's ghost had also apparently been laid to rest. Then
+one morning they woke to the realization that the unseen agency had been
+at work again. Pinned on the front door was a piece of paper on which
+was scrawled,
+
+  "_If you folks know what's good for you you'll get out of that
+  house._"
+
+"We'll do no such thing!" said Migwan, with unexpected spirit "I've
+started out to earn money to go to college by canning tomatoes, and I'm
+going to stay here until they're canned; I don't care who likes it or
+doesn't."
+
+"That's it, stand up for your rights," applauded Sahwah.
+
+"But what possible motive could anyone have for wanting us to get out of
+the house?" asked Migwan. Of course, there was no answer to this.
+
+"Do you suppose the house will be burned down as the tepee was?" asked
+Gladys, in rather a scared voice. This suggestion sent a shiver through
+them all.
+
+"We must get the policeman back again to watch," said Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+Accordingly, the redoubtable constable was brought on the scene again.
+
+"Well, well, well," he said, fingering the mysterious note. "Thought
+he'd come back again now that the coast was clear, did he? You notice,
+though, that he didn't make no effort while I was here. You can bet your
+life he won't get busy again while I'm here now. You ladies just rest
+easy and go on with your peeling."
+
+Scarcely had he finished speaking, when from the bowels of the earth and
+apparently under his very feet, there came the strange sound as of blows
+being struck on hard earth or stone. The expression on Dave Beeman's
+face was such a mixture of surprise and alarm that the girls could not
+keep from laughing, disturbed as they were at the return of the sounds.
+"By gum," said the constable, looking furtively around, "this is
+certainly a queer business." He had heard the story of the well digger's
+ghost and it was very strong in his mind just now. "Maybe it's just as
+well not to meddle," he said under his breath.
+
+Off and on through the day they heard the same sounds issuing from the
+ground, and at dusk the weird moaning began again. The constable showed
+strong signs of wishing himself elsewhere. When darkness fell the noises
+ceased and were heard no more that night. But another sort of moaning
+had taken its place. This was the wind, which had been blowing strongly
+all day, and early in the evening increased to the proportions of a
+hurricane. With wise forethought Sahwah and Nyoda brought the raft and
+the rowboat up on land. Leaves, small twigs and thick dust filled the
+air. Windows rattled ominously; doors slammed with jarring crashes.
+Migwan, foreseeing a devastating storm, set all the girls to picking
+tomatoes as fast as they could, whether they were ripe or not, to save
+them from being dashed to the ground. They could ripen off the vines
+later.
+
+At last the sandstorm drove them into the house, blinded. Then there
+came such a wind as none of them had ever experienced. Trees in the yard
+broke like matches; the Balm of Gilead roared like an ocean in a
+tempest. There was a constant rattle of pebbles and small objects
+against the window panes; then one of the windows in the dining-room was
+broken by a branch being hurled against it, and let in a miniature
+tempest. Papers blew around the room in great confusion. Migwan rolled
+the high topped sideboard in front of the broken pane to keep the wind
+out of the room. At times it seemed as if the very house must be coming
+down on top of their heads, and they stood with frightened faces in the
+front hall ready to dash out at a moment's notice. A crash sounded on
+the roof and they thought the time had come, but in a moment they
+realized that it was only the chimney falling over. The bricks went
+sliding and bumping down the slope of the roof and fell to the ground
+over the edge.
+
+"I pity anybody who's caught in this out in the open," said Migwan. "I
+believe the wind is strong enough to blow a horse over. I wonder where
+Calvin is now." Calvin had gone to the city with Farmer Landsdowne on
+business and intended to remain all night.
+
+"He's probably all right if he has reached those friends of the
+Landsdownes'," said Hinpoha.
+
+"The Smalleys are out, too," said Sahwah. "I saw them drive past after
+dark, going toward town, just before it began to blow so terribly. Oh,
+listen! What do you suppose that was?" A crash in the yard told them
+that something had happened to the barn. Gladys was in great distress
+about the car, and had to be restrained forcibly from running out to see
+if it was all right. The wind continued the greater part of the night
+and nobody thought of going to bed. By morning it had spent its force.
+
+Then they looked out on a scene of destruction. The garden was piled
+with branches and trunks of trees, and strewn with clothes that had been
+hanging on wash-lines somewhere along the road. Up against the porch lay
+a wicker chair which they recognized as belonging to a house some
+distance away. Everywhere around they could see the corn and wheat lying
+flat on the ground, as if trodden by some giant foot. The roof of the
+barn had been torn off on one side and reposed on the ground, more or
+less shattered. The car was uninjured except that it was covered with a
+thick coating of yellow dust. It was well that they had thought to pick
+the tomatoes, for the vines and the frames which supported them were
+demolished. All the telephone wires were down as far as they could see.
+
+Calvin was not to return until night, and they felt no great anxiety
+about him, but often during the day a disquieting thought came to
+Migwan. This was about Uncle Peter, the man who lived in the cottage
+among the trees. Suppose something had happened to him? From Sahwah's
+report, the house was very old and frail. She watched the Red House
+closely for signs of life, but apparently the Smalleys had not returned.
+The doors were shut and there was no smoke coming out of the kitchen
+chimney.
+
+"Nyoda," said Migwan, finally, "I'm going over and see if that old man
+is all right. I can't rest until I know."
+
+"All right," said Nyoda, "I'm going with you." Sahwah was over at Mrs.
+Landsdowne's, but they remembered her description of the approach to the
+cottage, and made the detour around the field where the bull was and the
+marsh beyond it, coming up to the cottage from the other side. It was
+still standing, although the big tree beside it had been blown over and
+lay across the roof.
+
+"Would you ever think," said Migwan, "that there was anyone living in
+there? I could pass it a dozen times and swear it was empty, if I didn't
+know about it."
+
+"Well," said Nyoda, the house is still standing, "so I suppose the old
+man is all right."
+
+"I wonder," said Migwan. "He may have been frightened sick, and he may
+have nothing to eat or drink, now that the Smalleys are kept away. We'd
+better have a look. He can't hurt us. If Sahwah spent the whole
+afternoon with him we needn't be afraid."
+
+They tried the door, but, of course, found it locked, and were obliged
+to resort to the same means of entrance as Sahwah had employed. They saw
+the key in the other door just as Sahwah had and turned it and opened
+the door. The old man was sitting by the table in just the position
+Sahwah had described. Apparently he was neither frightened nor hurt. He
+looked up when he saw them in the doorway and motioned them to come in.
+There was nothing extraordinary in his appearance; he was simply an old
+man with mild blue eyes. Obeying the same impulse of adventure which had
+led Sahwah across the threshold, they stepped in and sat down. The room
+was just as Sahwah had told them. The table was littered with wheels and
+rods which the old man was fitting together. As they expected, he worked
+away without taking any notice of them.
+
+"Did you mind the storm?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Storm?" said the old man. "What storm?"
+
+"He never noticed it!" said Migwan, in an aside to Nyoda.
+
+"What are you making?" asked Migwan, wishing to hear from his own lips
+the explanation he had given Sahwah.
+
+After his customary interval he spoke. "It's a machine that reclaims
+wasted moments," he explained. "Every moment that isn't made good use of
+goes down through this little trap door, and when there are enough to
+make an hour they join hands and climb up on the face of the clock
+again."
+
+Migwan and Nyoda exchanged glances. The ingenious imagination of the old
+man surpassed anything they had ever heard. They stayed awhile, amusing
+themselves by looking at the books and clocks in the cabinets, and then
+rose, intending to slip away quietly when he was absorbed in his work,
+as Sahwah had done. A dish of apples standing on one of the cabinets
+indicated that he was not without food and their minds were now at rest
+about his welfare. But when they moved toward the door he turned and
+looked at them.
+
+"What do you think of it?" he asked.
+
+By "it" they figured that he meant the machine he was working on. "It's
+a very good one indeed," said Nyoda, "very interesting."
+
+"Do you want to buy the rights?" asked the old man, taking off his hat
+and putting it on again.
+
+"He thinks he's talking to some capitalist!" whispered Migwan.
+
+"We'll talk over the plans first among ourselves and let you know our
+decision," said Nyoda, not knowing what to say and wishing to appear
+politely interested. This speech would give them an opportunity to get
+away. But to her surprise Uncle Peter drew a sheet of paper from among
+those on the table and gravely handed it to her.
+
+"Here are the plans," he said. "Take them and look them over and let me
+know in a week." Then he fell to work and forgot their presence. Holding
+the paper in her hands Nyoda walked out of the room, followed by Migwan.
+They left the house as they had entered it and returned by a roundabout
+way to Onoway House. Nyoda put the plans of the remarkable machine away
+in her room, intending to keep it as a curiosity. Soon afterward they
+saw the Smalleys driving into the yard of the Red House.
+
+It took the girls most of the day to clear the garden of the rubbish
+which had been blown into it and tie up the prostrate plants on sticks.
+Calvin came back at night safe and relieved the slight anxiety they had
+felt about him. As they sat on the porch after supper comparing notes
+about the storm they heard the muffled sounds which told that the well
+digger's ghost was at work again. It continued throughout the evening.
+
+"I'll be a wreck if this keeps up much longer," said Migwan. A perpetual
+air of uneasiness had fallen on Onoway House and it was impossible to
+get anything accomplished. How could they settle down to work or play
+with that dreadful thud, thud pounding in their ears every little while?
+Dave Beeman had taken himself home after the storm to see what damage
+had been done and they were again without the protection of the law.
+
+"Maybe it's some animal under the ground," suggested Calvin. "It
+certainly couldn't be a person down there." This seemed such an
+amazingly sensible solution of the mystery that the girls were inclined
+to accept it.
+
+"I suppose imagination does help a lot," said Migwan, "and if we hadn't
+heard that story about the well digger we would never have thought of a
+man with a pickaxe. It's undoubtedly the movements of an animal we
+hear."
+
+"But what animal lives underground without any air?" asked Sahwah.
+
+"There's probably a hole somewhere, only we haven't found it," said
+Migwan, who seemed determined to believe the animal theory.
+
+"But what about the note on the door and the lime on the tomatoes and
+the burning of the tepee?" asked Sahwah. "You can't blame that onto an
+animal, can you?"
+
+"That's very true," said Migwan, "but it is likely there is no
+connection between the two mysteries. It's just a coincidence. I for one
+am going to be sensible and stop worrying about that noise in the
+ground." And most of them followed Migwan's example.
+
+The next morning was such a beautiful one that they could not resist
+getting up early and running out of doors before breakfast. "Let's play
+a game of hide-and-seek," proposed Sahwah. The others agreed readily;
+Hinpoha was counted out and had to be "it," and the others scattered to
+hide themselves. One by one Hinpoha discovered and "caught" the players,
+or they got "in free." Calvin startled her nearly out of her wits by
+suddenly dropping out of a tree almost on top of her.
+
+"Are we all in?" asked Migwan, fanning herself with her handkerchief.
+She was out of breath from her strenuous run for the goal.
+
+"All but Sahwah," said Hinpoha. She started out again to look for her,
+turning around every little while to keep a wary eye on the goal lest
+Sahwah should spring out from somewhere nearby and reach it before she
+did. But Sahwah was evidently hidden at some distance from the goal, and
+Hinpoha walked in an ever increasing circle without tempting her out.
+The others, tired of waiting for her to be caught, joined in the search
+and beat the bushes and hunted through the barn and looked up in the
+trees. But no Sahwah did they find.
+
+Breakfast time neared and Hinpoha called loudly, "In free, Sahwah,
+game's over." But Sahwah did not emerge from some cleverly concealed
+nook as they expected.
+
+"Maybe she didn't hear you," said Migwan. "Let's all call." And they all
+called, shouting together in perfect unison as they had done on so many
+other occasions, making the combined voice carry a great distance. An
+echo answered them but that was all. The girls looked at each other
+blankly.
+
+"Do you suppose she's staying hidden on purpose?" asked Calvin.
+
+"No," said Nyoda, emphatically, "I don't. Sahwah's had enough experience
+with causing us worry by disappearing never to do it on purpose again.
+She's probably stuck somewhere and can't get out. Do you remember the
+time she was shut up in the statue and couldn't talk? Something of the
+kind has occurred again, I don't doubt. We'll simply have to search
+until we find and release her."
+
+They began a systematized search and minutely examined every foot of
+ground. Thinking that the barn was the most likely place to get into
+something and not get out again, they opened every old chest there and
+pried into every corner, and moved every article. They went up-stairs
+and looked through the lofts and corners. The roof being partly off, it
+was as light as day, and if she had been there anywhere they would
+surely have seen her. But there was no sign of her. They looked under
+the roof of the barn that lay on the ground, thinking that she might
+have crawled under that and become pinned down, but she was not there.
+
+"Could she have fallen into the river?" asked Calvin.
+
+"It wouldn't have done her any harm if she had," said Hinpoha. "Sahwah's
+more at home in the water than she is on land. It wouldn't have been
+unlike her to jump in and swim around and duck her head under every time
+I came near, but then she would have heard us calling for her and come
+out."
+
+They parted every bush and shrub, and looked closely at the branches of
+every tree, half fearing to find her hanging by the hair somewhere.
+
+"Do you suppose she went up the Balm of Gilead tree and into the attic
+window?" asked Migwan. They searched through the attic, and a laborious
+search it was, on account of the quantities of furniture and chests to
+be moved. They pulled out every drawer and burst open every trunk and
+chest, thinking she might have crawled into one and then the lid had
+closed with a spring lock. It was fully noon before they were satisfied
+that she was not up there.
+
+"Could she be in the cellar?" asked Hinpoha. Down they went, carrying
+lights to look into all the dark corners. But the search was vain. The
+girls became extremely frightened. Something told them that Sahwah's
+disappearance was not voluntary. They looked at each other with growing
+fear. What had the message on the door said?
+
+  "_If you folks know what's good for you you'll get out of that
+  house._"
+
+Was that a warning of what had happened now? Was it a friendly or a
+sinister warning? Migwan was almost beside herself to think that
+anything had happened to Sahwah while she was staying with her. The day
+dragged along like a nightmare. In the afternoon Calvin had an
+inspiration. "Why didn't I think of it before?" he almost shouted.
+"Here's Pointer; he's a hunting dog and can follow a trail. We'll set
+him to find Sahwah's trail."
+
+"That's right," said Migwan, in relief, "we'll surely find her now."
+
+They gave Pointer a shoe of Sahwah's and in a moment he had started off
+with his nose to the ground. But if they had expected him to lead them
+to her hiding-place they were disappointed, for all he did was follow
+the trail around the garden between the house and the river. Once he
+went down cellar, straining hard at the chain which held him, and they
+were sure he would find something they had overlooked in their search,
+but the trail ended in front of the fruit cellar.
+
+"Sahwah came down here early this morning to bring up those melons,
+don't you remember?" said Migwan. "That's all Pointer has found out."
+They kept Pointer at it for some time, but he never offered to leave the
+garden.
+
+"Are you sure he's on the trail?" asked Hinpoha, doubtfully.
+
+"Yes," said Calvin, "he never whines that way unless he is. That long
+howl is the hunting dog's signal that he's on the job. When he loses the
+trail he runs back and forth uncertainly."
+
+"According to that, Sahwah must be very near," said Gladys. "Are you
+sure there isn't any other place in the house, cellar or barn that she
+could have gotten into, Migwan?"
+
+"Quite sure," said Migwan, disheartened. "You know yourself the way we
+finecombed every foot of space."
+
+"There's another thing that might have made Pointer lose the trail,"
+said Nyoda. "Do you remember that he stopped short at the river once?
+Well, it is my belief that Sahwah ran down to the river and either fell
+or jumped in and swam away. That would destroy the trail, and Sahwah
+might be miles away for all we know." She carefully refrained from
+suggesting that anything had happened to Sahwah and she might have gone
+under the water and not come up again, but there was a fear tugging at
+her heart that Sahwah had dived in and struck her head on something and
+gone down.
+
+But several of the others must have had much the same thought, for
+Gladys remarked, without any apparent connection, "_You can see the
+bottom almost all the way down the river._"
+
+And Hinpoha said, "_Those tangled roots of trees in the river are nasty
+things to get into._"
+
+And Calvin set the dog free immediately and untied the rowboat. He and
+Nyoda rowed down the river while the rest followed along the banks. The
+stream was clear most of the distance and they could see to the bottom.
+Here and there were sharp rocks jutting up and casting shadows on the
+sunlit bottom, and in places the water had washed the dirt away from the
+roots of trees so that they extended out into the river like
+many-fingered creatures waiting to seize their prey. But nowhere did
+they see what they feared. In the lower part of the river, toward the
+mouth, the water was deeper and had been dredged free of all
+obstructions, so while it was muddy and they could not see into its
+depths they knew that nothing was to be found here.
+
+Vaguely relieved and yet dreadfully anxious and mystified they returned
+to Onoway House. "Do you suppose she was carried away by an automobile
+or wagon?" asked Migwan. "Does anyone recall seeing anything of the kind
+going by when we started to play?" Nobody did. While they were
+discussing this new theory, Pointer, who had been left to run loose
+while they were searching the river, came running up to them. With much
+wagging of his tail he went to Calvin and laid something at his feet For
+a moment they could not make out what it was. Migwan recognized it
+first.
+
+_It was Sahwah's shoe, completely covered and dripping with black mud._
+
+"Where did you find it, Pointer?" asked Calvin. Pointer wagged his tail
+in evident satisfaction, but, of course, he could not answer his
+master's question.
+
+"Is that the shoe Sahwah had on this morning?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Yes," said Hinpoha. "I remember asking her why she wore those shoes
+with the red buttons to run around in and she said they were getting
+tight and she wanted to wear them out."
+
+"Where does that black mud come from around here?" asked Gladys.
+
+It was Nyoda who guessed the dreadful fact first. All of a sudden she
+remembered cleaning her shoes after she had come home from her visit to
+Uncle Peter.
+
+"_The marsh!_" she gasped. "_Sahwah's caught in the marsh!_ It's the
+same mud. I went to the edge of the marsh the other day to see it and
+got some on my shoe."
+
+Without stopping to hear more, Calvin dashed off in the direction of his
+father's farm, with Pointer at his heels and Gladys and Nyoda and
+Hinpoha and Migwan and Tom and Betty trailing after him as fast as they
+could go. Mrs. Gardiner followed a little distance behind. She could not
+keep up with them. Calvin tore a flat board from one of the fences as he
+ran along and called on the others to do the same thing. A little
+farther on he found a rope and took that along. They reached the edge of
+the marsh and looked eagerly for the figure of Sahwah imprisoned in the
+treacherous ooze. But the green surface smiled up innocently at them.
+Not a sign of a struggle, no indentation in the level, no break. To the
+unknowing it looked like the smoothest lawn lying like a sheet of
+emerald in the sun. But on second glance you saw the water bubbling up
+through the grass and then you knew the secret of the greenness. Nowhere
+could they see Sahwah.
+
+Migwan had to force herself to ask the question that was in everybody's
+mind. "Has she gone under?"
+
+"No," said Calvin, positively. "It can't be possible in so short a time.
+They say that a horse went down here once long ago, and it took him more
+than two days to be covered entirely."
+
+After being wrought up to such a pitch of expectancy it was a shock to
+find that Sahwah was not in the marsh. _But how had her shoe come to be
+covered with marsh mud, and what was it doing off her foot?_ Where had
+Pointer found it?
+
+"Oh, if only dogs could speak!" said Hinpoha. "Pointer, Pointer, where
+did you find it?" But Pointer could only wag his tail and bark.
+
+From where they stood at the edge of the marsh they could see the
+cottage among the trees. A look of inquiry passed between Nyoda and
+Migwan. Calvin saw the look and understood it.
+
+"Would you like to look in Uncle Peter's house?" he asked. His face was
+very pale, and Nyoda, watching him keenly, thought she detected a sudden
+suspicion and fear in his eyes. He looked apprehensively over his
+shoulder at the Red House as they started to skirt the bog. Nyoda
+understood that movement. Abner Smalley did not know that they knew
+about Uncle Peter, and Calvin had said he would be very angry if he
+found it out. Now he would be sure to see them going toward the house.
+But this thought did not make Nyoda waver in her determination to search
+the cottage. The urgency of the occasion released them from their
+promise of secrecy. As Calvin had no key they were obliged to enter by
+the window as on former occasions. But the front room was absolutely
+blank and bare and they saw the impossibility of anyone's being hidden
+there. It was a tense moment when they opened the door of the inner room
+and the girls who had never been there stepped behind the others and
+held their breath. Uncle Peter sat at the table just as Nyoda and Migwan
+had seen him a day or two before, playing with his rods and wheels. His
+mild blue eyes rested in astonishment on the number of people who
+thronged the doorway.
+
+"Come in, ladies," he said, politely. The room was exactly as it had
+been the other day and apparently he had not stirred from his position.
+They all felt that Sahwah had not been there and that the old man knew
+nothing about the matter. But Calvin spoke to him.
+
+"Uncle Peter," he said. The man turned at the name and stared at him but
+gave no sign of recognizing him. "Do you know me, Uncle Peter?" said
+Calvin. "It's Calvin, Jim's boy."
+
+The old man smiled vacantly and held out the bit of machinery he was
+working on. "It's a machine for saving time," he said. "As the minutes
+are ticked off----" There was nothing to be gotten out of him, and they
+withdrew again. Calvin looked around him fearfully as they returned
+through the fields, to see if his uncle had watched him take the girls
+to the cottage, but there was no sign of him anywhere, at which he
+breathed an unconscious sigh of relief. Tired out with their ceaseless
+searching and sick with anxiety, they returned to Onoway House.
+
+If we were writing an ingeniously intricate detective story the thing to
+do would be to wait until Sahwah was discovered by some brilliant piece
+of detective work and then have her tell her story, leaving the
+explanation of the mystery until the last chapter, and keeping the
+reader on the verge of nervous prostration to the end of the piece. But,
+as this is only a faithful narrative of actual events, and as Sahwah is
+our heroine as much as any of the girls, we know that the reader would
+much prefer to follow her adventures with their own eyes, rather than
+hear about them later when she tells the story to the wondering
+household. And we also think it only fair to say that if Sahwah's return
+had depended on any brilliant detective work on the part of the others
+we have very grave doubts as to its ever being accomplished. We will,
+then, leave the dwellers at Onoway House to their searching and
+theorizing and bewailing, and follow Sahwah from the time they started
+to play hide-and-seek and Hinpoha blinded her eyes and began to count
+"five, ten, fifteen, twenty."
+
+Sahwah ran across the garden toward the house, intending to swing
+herself into one of the open cellar windows. Near this window was a
+flower bed which Migwan had filled with especially rich black soil. That
+morning she had watered the bed and had done it so thoroughly that the
+ground was turned into a very soft mud. Sahwah, not looking where she
+was going, stepped into this mud and sank in over her shoe top with one
+foot. When she had entered the window she stood on the cellar floor and
+regarded the muddy shoe disgustedly. Feeling that it was wet through,
+she ripped it off and flung it out of the window. It landed back in the
+muddy bed and was hidden by the growing plants. Sahwah then proceeded to
+hide herself in the fruit cellar. This was a partitioned off place in a
+dark corner. She sat among the cupboards and baskets and watched Hinpoha
+pass the window several times as she hunted for the players. Once
+Hinpoha peered searchingly into the window and Sahwah thought she was on
+the verge of being discovered and pressed back in her corner. There was
+a basket of potatoes in the way of her getting quite into the corner and
+she moved this out. There was also a barrel of vinegar and she slipped
+in behind this. As she moved the barrel it dropped back upon her
+shoeless foot and it was all she could do to repress a cry of pain as
+she stood and held the battered member in her hand. But the pain became
+so bad she decided to give up the game and get something to relieve it.
+She pushed hard against the barrel to move it out, but this time it
+would not move. She pushed harder, bracing her back against the wooden
+wall behind her, when, without warning, the wall caved in as if by
+magic, and she fell backwards head over heels into inky darkness. The
+wall through which she had fallen closed with a bang.
+
+Sahwah sat up and reached mechanically for the hurt foot. The pain had
+increased alarmingly and for a time shut out all other sensations. Then
+it abated a little and Sahwah had time to wonder what she had fallen
+into. She was sitting on a stone floor, she could make that out. It must
+be a room of some kind, she decided, but the darkness was so intense
+that she could make nothing out. "There must have been another part to
+the cellar behind the fruit cellar, although we never knew it," thought
+Sahwah, "and the back of the fruit cellar was the door." As soon as she
+could stand upon her foot again she moved forward in the direction from
+which she thought she had come and searched with her hands for a
+doorknob. But her fingers encountered only a smooth wall surface and
+after about five minutes of careful feeling she came to the startled
+conclusion that there was no such thing. "I must have got turned around
+when I tumbled," she thought, "and am feeling of the wrong wall." She
+accordingly moved forward until her outstretched hands encountered
+another hard surface and she repeated the process of looking for a
+doorknob. No more success here. "Well, there are four walls to every
+room," thought Sahwah, "and I've still got two more trys." Again she
+moved out cautiously and with ever increasing nervousness admitted that
+there was no door in that direction. "Now for the fourth side, the right
+one at last," she said to herself. "One, two, three, out goes me!" She
+moved quickly in the fourth and last direction. Without warning she ran
+hard into something which tripped her up. She felt her head striking
+violently against something hard and then she knew no more.
+
+She woke to a dream consciousness first. She dreamed she was lying in
+the soft sand on the lake shore near one of the great stone piers, where
+a number of men were at work. They were pounding the stones with great
+hammers and the vibrations from the blows shook the beach and went
+through her as she lay on the sand. Gradually the sparkling water faded
+from her sight; the sky grew dark and night fell, but still the blows
+continued to sound on the stone. Just where the dream ended and reality
+began she never knew, but, with a rush of consciousness she knew that
+she was awake and alive; that everything was dark and that she was lying
+on her face in something soft that was like sand and yet not like it.
+And the pounding she had heard in her dream was still going on. Thud,
+thud, it shook the earth and jarred her so her teeth were on edge. For a
+long time she lay and listened without wondering much what it was. Her
+head ached with such intensity that it might have been the throbbing of
+her temples that was shaking the earth so. After a while that dulled,
+but the jarring blows still kept up. With a cessation of the pain came
+the power to think and Sahwah remembered the strange noises they had
+heard issuing from the ground. It must be the same noise; only it was a
+hundred times louder now. It was a sort of clanging thump; like the
+sound of steel on stone. Even with all that noise going on Sahwah
+slipped off into half consciousness at times. Although there did not
+seem to be any doors or windows, she was not suffering for lack of air,
+but at the time she was too dazed to notice this and wonder at it.
+
+She woke with a start from one of these dozes to the realization that
+there was a broad streak of light on the floor. Fully conscious now, she
+raised her head and looked around. She was lying in a bin filled with
+sawdust. When she held up her head her eyes came just to the top of it.
+By the light she could see that she was indeed in a sort of sub-cellar.
+It must have been older than the other cellar for the floor was made of
+great slabs of mouldy stone. Her eyes followed the beam of light and she
+saw that a door had been opened into still another cellar beyond. In
+this chamber a lantern stood on the floor, whence came the light, and
+its ray produced weird and fantastic moving shadows. These shadows came
+from a man who was wielding a pickaxe against a spot in the stone wall.
+It was this that was causing the jarring blows. Startled almost out of
+her senses at seeing a man thus apparently caged up in the sub-cellar of
+Onoway House, Sahwah could only lay back with a gasp. She could not
+raise her voice to cry out had she been so inclined.
+
+But fast on the heels of that shock came another. The worker paused in
+his exertions to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and stood where
+the light of the lantern shone full in his face. Sahwah's heart gave a
+great leap when she recognized Abner Smalley. Abner Smalley in the
+hidden sub-cellar of Onoway House, digging a hole in the wall! Sahwah
+forgot her own plight in curiosity as to what he was doing. She lay and
+watched him fascinated while he resumed his pounding. So he was the
+mysterious intruder who had wrought such terror among them! This, then,
+was the well digger's ghost! What could he be searching for in the
+cellar of his neighbor's house? Sahwah dug her feet into the soft
+sawdust as she watched the pick rise and fall. She had no idea of the
+flight of time. She thought it was only a few minutes since she had
+fallen into the sub-cellar. She lay thinking of the expressions on the
+faces of the girls when she would tell them her discovery. To think that
+she had been the one to solve the mystery! She felt a little
+disappointed that the mysterious intruder should have turned out to be
+someone they knew. It would have been more in keeping with her idea of
+romance to have found a prince shut up in the cellar.
+
+While she was thinking these thoughts the light suddenly vanished and
+she heard the bang of a door shutting. She was in darkness once more. In
+a moment she heard footsteps retreating and dying away in the distance.
+All was silent again. It took her some moments to collect her thoughts
+sufficiently to realize a new and significant fact. _Abner Smalley had
+not gone out by the door into the fruit cellar. There must be, then,
+another way of egress from the sub-cellar._ Instantly Sahwah made up her
+mind to follow him and see how he had gotten out at the other end. Her
+feet were imbedded deeply in the sawdust and she became aware of the
+fact that her shoeless foot was resting against something with a sharp
+edge. She drew it away and then carefully felt with her hands for the
+object. She could not see it when she had it but it felt like a metal
+box of some kind, possibly tin. She carried it with her and moved toward
+the place where she now knew there was a door. She found the handle
+easily and opened it. This was the side of the wall toward which she had
+moved when she had run into the bin before, and so she did not discover
+it. A strong breath of air struck her as she advanced into this chamber.
+It was scarcely more than a passage, for by reaching out her arms she
+could touch the wall on both sides. She moved cautiously, fearing to
+fall again in the dark. She felt the place in the wall where Abner
+Smalley had made an indentation with his pick. She was wondering where
+this passage led and wishing it would come to an end soon, when she
+struck the already sore foot against what must have been the pickaxe set
+against the wall and fell on her nose once more. The tin box she carried
+was rammed into the pit of her stomach and knocked the breath out of
+her, but this time she had not hit her head.
+
+She lay still for a moment trying to get her breath back. Her eyes were
+becoming accustomed to the inky darkness by this time. She looked down
+and saw a stone floor beneath her. She turned her head to one side and
+saw a stone wall beside her. She turned over altogether and looked
+up--and saw the constellation Cassiopea flashing down at her from the
+sky. For a moment she could not believe her senses. Of all the strange
+sights she had seen nothing had affected her so powerfully as the sight
+of that familiar group of stars. What she had expected to see she could
+not tell, stone perhaps, but anything except the open sky. She sat up in
+a hurry and began to investigate where she was. The wall around her
+seemed to be circular and all of a sudden Sahwah had the answer. She was
+in the cistern--the old unused cistern which was not a great distance
+from the house. This, then, was the opening of the sub-cellar, the way
+in which Mr. Smalley had made his escape. There was usually a covering
+over the cistern, but he had evidently been in a hurry and left it off.
+
+The fact that there were stars out took Sahwah's breath away. It was
+night then; had she been in that cellar all day? It was inconceivable,
+yet it was undoubtedly true. By the faint glimmer of the stars she could
+make out that there were hollows in the stone side of the cistern by
+which a person could easily climb out. She lost no time in climbing when
+she made this discovery. What a joy it was to be coming up into God's
+outdoors again! As she emerged from the cistern she saw Migwan standing
+in the garden beside the back porch. The moon shone full on her as she
+stepped out of the hole in the ground and just then Migwan caught sight
+of her. The apparition was too much for Migwan and she screamed one
+terrified scream after another until the girls came running from all
+over to see what fresh calamity had happened. Only seeing Sahwah
+standing in their midst and not having seen her appear magically out of
+the depths of the ground, they could not understand Migwan's terror.
+
+"Stop screaming, Migwan," said Sahwah, and when Migwan heard her voice
+and saw that it was really she, she quieted down and listened while
+Sahwah told her tale of adventure since going down into the cellar to
+hide. The day had passed so quickly for Sahwah, she having lain
+unconscious until late in the afternoon, that she, of course, knew
+nothing of their frantic search for her and so could not comprehend why
+they made such a fuss over her return. They laughed and cried all at
+once and hugged her until she finally protested.
+
+"What have you brought along as a souvenir of your trip?" asked Nyoda,
+who had regained her light-hearted manner now that Sahwah was safely
+back.
+
+Sahwah looked down at the box she held in her hand. "I found it in the
+bin of sawdust," she said. "It was just like playing 'Fish-pond' at the
+children's parties. You put your hand in a box of sawdust and draw out a
+handsome prize." And Sahwah laughed, her familiar long drawn-out giggle,
+that they had despaired of ever hearing again. She laid the box on the
+table. It was of tin, about nine inches long by three inches wide by
+three high, with a closely fitting cover. "Shall I open it, Nyoda?" she
+asked.
+
+"I don't see any harm in doing so," said Nyoda. Sahwah took off the
+cover. There was nothing in the box but a folded piece of paper. She
+took it and spread it before them on the table.
+
+"What is it?" they all cried, crowding around. The first thing that
+caught their eye was a slanting line drawn across the paper in heavy
+ink. There was some writing beside it, but this was so faded that it
+took some studying to make it out. Finally they got it. It read:
+
+"_Supposed extension of gas vein._" The upper end of the line was marked
+"_36 feet west of cistern._" There was a cross at that point also, and
+this was marked, "_Place where gas was struck at 300 feet._"
+
+"The Deacon's gas well!" they all exclaimed in chorus. It was true,
+then.
+
+"And there was a well digger's ghost, even if it didn't turn out to be
+the one we expected!" said Migwan.
+
+That day was never to be forgotten, although the next cleared up the
+mystery and brought still another surprise. Dave Beeman, the constable,
+was once more brought out and this time furnished with information that
+nearly caused his eyes to start from his head. Abner Smalley, the (as
+everyone supposed) respectable citizen of Centerville Road, breaking
+into his neighbor's house and deliberately trying to dig a hole in the
+stone wall. It was the sensation of his career. "Well, I'll be
+jiggered!" he gasped.
+
+But his surprise was nothing compared to Abner Smalley's when he was
+confronted with the accusation without warning. He turned so pale and
+trembled so much that it was useless to deny his guilt.
+
+"You are guilty, Abney Smalley," said the constable, in such a solemn
+tone that the girls could hardly keep straight faces. "You'd better make
+a clean breast of it and tell what you were doing in that house or it
+might go hard with you."
+
+Abner Smalley, although he was a bully by nature, was a coward when the
+odds were against him, and he had always had a wholesome fear of the
+law, so at Dave Beeman's suggestion he decided to "make a clean breast
+of it." We will not weary the reader with all the conversation that took
+place, but will simply tell the facts of the story.
+
+Some time ago, while the old caretaker lived on the place yet, the story
+of the Deacon's gas well had come to Abner Smalley's ears. He heard a
+fact connected with it, however, that was not generally known, namely,
+that the Deacon had made a record of the place where the gas was found.
+Believing that the Deacon had left it hidden somewhere in the house, he
+had devised a means of breaking in and searching for it. His first plan
+had been to frighten the dwellers in the house and make them believe
+there was a ghost in the attic so they would give the place a wide berth
+at night and leave him free to ransack the Deacon's old furniture. He
+frightened the Mitchells so that they moved. But no sooner had the
+Mitchells departed than the new caretakers had come; and they were a
+much bigger houseful than the others.
+
+He had tried the same plan with them as he had with the others, namely,
+mysterious noises around the place at night. But what had frightened
+Mrs. Mitchell into moving had no effect on these new farmers. They shot
+off a gun when he was doing his best ghost stunt, namely, blowing into a
+bottle, which had produced that weird moaning sound. He it was who had
+dressed up as a ghost and appeared to Nyoda in the tepee; throwing the
+red pepper into her face when she made as if to attack him with a pole.
+It was he whom they had seen coming out of the barn that night, and
+later it was he again whom Migwan had seen during the hail storm. He had
+disappeared so utterly by jumping down the cistern. That was the first
+time he had been down, and on this occasion he had discovered the
+passage leading to the sub-cellar. It was he the girls had heard in the
+attic on numerous occasions. He had entered and gone out after dark by
+means of the Balm of Gilead tree. One time he broke the window. He had
+been down cellar that night when Sahwah nearly caught him. He was
+looking for the other entrance to the sub-cellar, which he never found.
+He knocked over the basket of potatoes which had mystified them so. He
+had been on the point of entering the house that day when Sahwah
+suddenly returned from town after he thought the whole family was gone
+for the day. When he saw her go off along the river he went in anyway
+and was nearly caught in the attic by the girls. He had escaped
+detection by hiding in a large chest.
+
+The day they had gone for the picnic he saw them go and spent all day
+looking through the desks in the house. Finally the dog barked so he
+gave him the poisoned meat he had brought along to use if necessary.
+Then the family had returned and he had had a narrow escape into the
+cistern. He had stayed there until night, when he had set fire to the
+tepee, not knowing that anyone was sleeping in it. After starting the
+blaze he had again sought refuge in the cistern and when the crowd had
+gathered, came out in their midst so that his absence from such an
+exciting event in the neighborhood would cause no comment among the
+farmers. The cistern was in the shadow and everyone was watching the
+fire so intently that he was able to emerge unseen.
+
+He had sprayed the tomatoes with lime and written the note which they
+found on the door. He had left the chisel in the automobile on one
+occasion when he had been hunting through the things in the barn;
+forgetting to take it with him when he went out.
+
+He wanted to get hold of that record secretly and be sure whether the
+great vein of gas which the Deacon knew existed was on the property now
+owned by the Bartletts or that of the Landsdownes, and then he was going
+to buy that property before the owners knew about the gas, as the land
+would be worth a fortune if that fact ever became known. He was pretty
+sure, after discovering that sub-cellar, that the Deacon had left his
+papers down there when he went to California. By pounding on the walls
+he had discovered one place which he was sure was hollow. If the stone
+that covered the place could be removed by any trick he failed to
+discover it and had to resort to digging it out with a pick. This, as we
+already know, produced the dull thudding sound underground which had
+frightened the household almost out of their wits. The reason he could
+prowl around in the yard at night after they had set the dog to watch
+was that Pointer knew him and made no disturbance upon seeing him.
+
+Abner Smalley was marched off triumphantly by Dave Beeman, and was held
+on such a complicated charge of house-breaking, arson, assault and
+battery, and intimidating peaceful citizens, that it took the combined
+efforts of the village to draw it up. Thus ended the great mystery which
+had kept Onoway House in more or less of an uproar all summer.
+
+"I never saw anything like the way we Winnebagos have of falling into
+things," said Sahwah. "Here Mr. Smalley made such elaborate efforts to
+find that record, using up more energy and ingenuity than it would take
+to dig up the whole farm and hunt for the gas well; and he didn't find
+it in the end; and all I did was drop in on top of it without even
+suspecting its existence."
+
+"There must be a special destiny that guides us," said Migwan. "Perhaps
+we possess an enchanted goblet, like the 'Luck of Edenhall,' only it's
+'The Luck of the Winnebagos.'"
+
+"Cheer for the 'Luck of the Winnebagos,'" said Sahwah, who never lost an
+occasion to raise a cheer on any pretext. And at that Sahwah never
+dreamed of the extent of the good fortune she had brought the Bartletts
+by her lucky tumble. The vein of gas which was struck when they
+subsequently drilled proved a sensation even in that notable gas region
+and made millionaires of its owners. And the reward which Sahwah
+received for finding the record, and that which the others received
+"just for living," as Migwan expressed it--for though they had not found
+the sub-cellar themselves it was due to their game that Sahwah had found
+it--drove the memory of their fright from their heads. But we are getting
+a little ahead of our story. There is one more chapter yet to the Luck
+of the Winnebagos before that remarkable summer came to an end.
+
+After the departure of Abner Smalley things grew so quiet at Onoway
+House that Migwan, who had declared before that she would be a wreck if
+the excitement did not cease soon, was now complaining that things
+seemed flat and she wished the mystery hadn't been cleared up because it
+robbed them of their chief topic of conversation.
+
+"Well, I'm going to take advantage of the quiet atmosphere and
+straighten out my bureau drawers," said Nyoda. "I haven't been able to
+put my mind to it with all this excitement going on. And they're a sight
+since you girls went rummaging for things for the Thieves' Market." In
+doing this she came upon that strange creation of Uncle Peter's brain,
+the plan for the "Wasted Minute Saving Machine." She showed it to the
+girls and they examined it wonderingly.
+
+"What is this on the other side?" asked Migwan. "It's a will!" she
+cried, reading it through. "It says, 'I, Adam Smalley, give and
+bequeathe my farm on the Centerville Road to my son Jim, as Abner has
+already had his share in cash.'"
+
+"Let me see!" cried Calvin. "It's the latest one!" he shouted, reading
+the date. "It's dated 1902 and the one Uncle Abner found was 1900. The
+farm is mine after all! Uncle Peter had this will in his possession and
+didn't know it! How can I thank you girls for what you've done for me?"
+
+"It was all Migwan's fault," said Hinpoha. "She insisted upon going to
+see whether the old man was all right after the storm."
+
+Migwan declared that she had had nothing to do with it; it was the Luck
+of the Winnebagos that had given her the inspiration. But Calvin knew
+well that in this case the Luck of the Winnebagos was only Migwan's own
+thoughtfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.--GOOD-BYE TO ONOWAY HOUSE.
+
+
+By the first of September Migwan had made enough money from the sale of
+canned tomatoes to more than pay her way through college the first year.
+"It's Mother Nature who has been my fairy godmother," she said to the
+girls. "I asked her for the money to go to college and she put her hand
+deep into her earth pocket and brought it out for me. It's like the
+magic gardens in the fairy tales where the money grew on the bushes."
+
+"What a summer this has been, to be sure," said Hinpoha, who was in a
+reflective mood. They were all sitting in the orchard, busy with various
+sorts of handwork. The day was hot and drowsy and the shade of the trees
+most inviting. "Migwan and I thought we would have such a quiet time
+together, just we two. She was going to write a book and I was going to
+illustrate it, when we weren't working in the garden. And how
+differently it all turned out! One by one you other girls came--I'll
+never forget how funny Gladys and Nyoda looked when they came out that
+night, and how surprised Sahwah was to find you here when she arrived.
+Then Gladys brought Ophelia, I mean Beatrice, and after that we never
+had a quiet moment. Then the mystery began and kept up all summer.
+Instead of these three months being a quiet rest they've been the most
+thrilling time of my life."
+
+"It seems to have agreed with you, though," said Sahwah, mischievously,
+whereupon there was a general laugh, for Hinpoha, instead of growing
+thin with all the worry and excitement, had actually gained five pounds.
+
+"As much worry as it caused me," said Migwan, "I'm glad everything
+happened as it did. The summer I had looked forward to would have been
+horribly dull and uninteresting, but now I feel that I've had some real
+experiences. I've got enough ideas for stories to last for years to
+come."
+
+"And for moving picture plays," said Hinpoha. "But," she added, "if you
+go in for that sort of thing seriously, where am I coming in? You know
+we made a compact; I was to illustrate everything you wrote, and how am
+I going to illustrate moving picture plays?"
+
+There was a ripple of amusement at her perplexity. "You'll have to
+illustrate them by acting them out," said Gladys. They all agreed
+Hinpoha would make a hit as a motion picture actress, all but Sahwah,
+who dropped her eyes to her lap when Migwan began to talk about moving
+pictures, and presently went into the house to fetch something she
+needed for her work. When she came out again the subject had been
+changed and was no longer embarrassing to her.
+
+"What will the Bartletts say when they hear the peach crop was ruined by
+the wind storm?" asked Hinpoha.
+
+"That's the only thing about our summer experience that I really
+regret," answered Migwan. "I wrote and told them about it, of course,
+when I told them about the gas well, and Mrs. Bartlett said we shouldn't
+worry about it and that we ourselves were a crop of peaches."
+
+"The dear thing!" said Gladys. "I should love to see the Bartletts again
+some time; they were so friendly to us last summer, and it is all due to
+them that we have had such a glorious time this summer."
+
+Scarcely had she spoken when an automobile entered the drive and stopped
+beside the house. Migwan ran out to see who it was. The next moment she
+had her arms around the neck of a pretty little woman. "Oh, Mrs.
+Bartlett!" she cried. "Did the fairies bring you? We just made a wish to
+see you."
+
+Soon the girls were all flocking around the car, shaking hands with Mr.
+and Mrs. Bartlett, and making a fuss over little Raymond. How the
+Bartletts did sit up in astonishment when all the events of the summer
+were told in detail! "Well, you certainly are trumps for sticking it
+out," said Mr. Bartlett, admiringly. "Nobody but a bunch of Camp Fire
+Girls would have done it." At which the Winnebagos glowed with pride.
+
+Now that the Bartletts had come to stay at Onoway House, Migwan decided
+she would go home a week earlier than she had planned, as there was not
+enough room for so many people there. Aunt Phoebe and the Doctor were in
+town again, so Hinpoha could go home if she wished; and Sahwah's mother
+had also returned. They were a little sorry to break up so abruptly when
+they had planned quite a few things for that last week to celebrate the
+finishing of the canning, but all agreed that under the circumstances it
+was the best thing they could do.
+
+"I really need a week at home," said Migwan with a twinkle in her eye,
+"to rest up from my vacation. There I'll get the peace and quiet that I
+came here to seek." Take care, O Migwan, how you talk! Once before you
+predicted peace and quiet, and see what happened!
+
+Before they went, however, they must have one more big time altogether,
+Mrs. Bartlett insisted, and she went into town on purpose to bring out
+Nakwisi and Chapa and Medmangi. Close behind them came another car which
+also stopped at Onoway House, and out of it stepped Mr. and Mrs. Evans
+and Aunt Beatrice and Uncle Lynn and little Beatrice, the latter dressed
+up in wonderful new clothes and already subtly changed, but still eager
+to romp with the girls and tag after Sahwah.
+
+"See here," said Mr. Evans, when they were all talking about going home
+the next day, "you girls have been working pretty hard this summer, and
+haven't had a real vacation yet, why don't you go for an automobile trip
+the last week? Gladys has her car; that is, if it came through all the
+excitement alive, and mother and I would be willing to let you take the
+other one. Go on a run of say a thousand miles or so, and see a few
+cities. The change will do you good."
+
+"Oh, papa!" cried Gladys, clapping her hands in rapture. "That will be
+wonderful!" And the other girls fell in love with the idea on the spot.
+
+As this was to be their last night at Onoway House nothing was left
+undone that would make the occasion a happy one. The evening was fine
+and warm and the stars hung in the sky like great jeweled lamps. With
+one accord they all sought the garden and the orchard, where Gladys
+danced on the grass in the moonlight like a real fairy. Then all the
+girls danced together, until Mrs. Evans declared that they looked like
+the dancing nymphs in the Corot picture. And Beatrice, who had been
+taught those same things during the summer, broke away from her mother
+and joined in the dance, as light and graceful as Gladys herself. It was
+plain to see that she had the gift which ran in the family, and as her
+mother watched her with a thrill of pride her heart overflowed anew in
+thankfulness to the girls who had restored her daughter to her.
+
+"On such a night," quoted Migwan, looking up at the moon, "Leander swam
+the Hellespont----"
+
+"The river!" cried Sahwah, immediately, "we must go out on the river
+once more. Oh, how can I say good-bye to the Tortoise-Crab?" And she
+shed imaginary tears into her handkerchief.
+
+"Let's go for one more float," cried all the girls.
+
+The grown-ups strolled down to the river bank and sat on the grassy
+slope, watching with indulgent interest what the girls were going to do
+next. They saw them coming far up the river and heard their song as it
+was wafted down on the scented breeze. Slowly and majestically the raft
+approached, with Sahwah standing up and guiding it with the pole. When
+it had come nearer the onlookers saw a romantic spectacle indeed. Gladys
+reposed on a bed of flowers and leaves, under a canopy of branches and
+vines, a ravishingly lovely Cleopatra. Beside her knelt Antony,
+otherwise Migwan, holding out to her a big white water lily. The other
+Winnebagos, as slave maidens, sat on the raft and wove flower wreaths or
+fanned their lovely mistress with leaf fans. It was the slaves who were
+doing the singing and their clear voices rang out with wonderful harmony
+on the enchanted air. On they came, past the spot where Sahwah had been
+hidden on the afternoon of the moving pictures; past the Lorelei Rock,
+where they had held that other pageant which had frightened Calvin so;
+past the spot where they lay concealed and watched the strange manoeuvers
+of the supposed Venoti gang. Each rock and tree along the stream was
+pregnant with memories of that eventful summer, and they could hardly
+believe that they were saying good-bye to it all.
+
+Now they were opposite the watchers on the bank and the murmurs of
+admiration reached their ears as they floated past. "What lovely
+voices----"
+
+"What wonderful imaginations those girls have----"
+
+"How beautifully they work together----"
+
+Calvin looked on in speechless admiration, his eyes for the most part on
+Migwan. Never in his life had he regretted anything so much as he did
+the fact that these jolly friends of his were going away. He was to stay
+on his farm after all and now the prospect suddenly seemed empty.
+
+The voices of the onlookers blended in the ears of the boaters with the
+murmur of the river as it flowed over the stones, and with the sighing
+of the wind in the willows as the raft passed on.
+
+And here let us leave the Winnebagos for a time as we love best to see
+them, all together on the water, their voices raised in the wonder song
+of youth as they float down the river under the spell of the magic
+moonlight.
+
+                                THE END.
+
+The next volume in this series is entitled: The Camp Fire Girls Go
+Motoring; or, Along the Road that Leads the Way.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Camp Fire Girls Series
+
+By HILDEGARD G. FREY. The only series of stories for Camp Fire Girls
+endorsed by the officials of the Camp Fire Girls Organization.
+
+PRICE, 40 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or,
+    The Winnebagos go Camping.
+
+This lively Camp Fire group and their Guardian go back to Nature in a
+camp in the wilds of Maine and pile up more adventures in one summer
+than they have had in all their previous vacations put together. Before
+the summer is over they have transformed Gladys, the frivolous boarding
+school girl, into a genuine Winnebago.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT SCHOOL; or,
+    The Wohelo Weavers.
+
+It is the custom of the Winnebagos to weave the events of their lives
+into symbolic bead bands, instead of keeping a diary. All commendatory
+doings are worked out in bright colors, but every time the Law of the
+Camp Fire is broken it must be recorded in black. How these seven live
+wire girls strive to infuse into their school life the spirit of Work,
+Health and Love and yet manage to get into more than their share of
+mischief, is told in this story.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE; or,
+    The Magic Garden.
+
+Migwan is determined to go to college, and not being strong enough to
+work indoors earns the money by raising fruits and vegetables. The
+Winnebagos all turn a hand to help the cause along and the "goings-on"
+at Onoway House that summer make the foundations shake with laughter.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING; or,
+    Along the Road That Leads the Way.
+
+The Winnebagos take a thousand mile auto trip. The "pinching" of Nyoda,
+the fire in the country inn, the runaway girl and the dead-earnest hare
+and hound chase combine to make these three weeks the most exciting the
+Winnebagos have ever experienced.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Blue Grass Seminary Girls Series
+
+By CAROLYN JUDSON BURNETT
+
+Handsome Cloth Binding
+
+Price, 40c. per Volume
+
+_Splendid Stories of the Adventures of a Group of Charming Girls_
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS' VACATION ADVENTURES;
+    or, Shirley Willing to the Rescue.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS' CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS;
+    or, A Four Weeks' Tour with the Glee Club.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS;
+    or, Shirley Willing on a Mission of Peace.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS ON THE WATER;
+    or, Exciting Adventures on a Summer's Cruise Through the
+    Panama Canal.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Mildred Series
+
+By MARTHA FINLEY
+
+Handsome Cloth Binding
+
+Price, 40c. per Volume
+
+_A Companion Series to the Famous "Elsie" Books by the Same Author_
+
+    MILDRED KEITH
+    MILDRED AT ROSELANDS
+    MILDRED AND ELSIE
+    MILDRED'S NEW DAUGHTER
+    MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE
+    MILDRED AT HOME
+    MILDRED'S BOYS AND GIRLS
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Girl Chum's Series
+
+ALL AMERICAN AUTHORS.
+
+ALL COPYRIGHT STORIES.
+
+A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by popular
+authors. These are charming stories for young girls, well told and full
+of interest. Their simplicity, tenderness, healthy, interesting motives,
+vigorous action, and character painting will please all girl readers.
+
+HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING.
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS.
+
+  BENHURST CLUB, THE. By Howe Benning.
+
+  BERTHA'S SUMMER BOARDERS. By Linnie S. Harris.
+
+  BILLOW PRAIRIE. A Story of Life in the Great West. By Joy Allison.
+
+  DUXBERRY DOINGS. A New England Story. By Caroline B. Le Row.
+
+  FUSSBUDGET'S FOLKS. A Story For Young Girls. By Anna F. Burnham.
+
+  HAPPY DISCIPLINE, A. By Elizabeth Cummings.
+
+  JOLLY TEN, THE. and Their Year of Stories. By Agnes Carr Sage.
+
+  KATIE ROBERTSON. A Girl's Story of Factory Life. By M. E. Winslow.
+
+  LONELY HILL. A Story For Girls. By M. L. Thornton-Wilder.
+
+  MAJORIBANKS. A Girl's Story. By Elvirton Wright.
+
+  MISS CHARITY'S HOUSE. By Howe Benning.
+
+  MISS ELLIOT'S GIRLS. A Story For Young Girls. By Mary Spring
+  Corning.
+
+  MISS MALCOLM'S TEN. A Story For Girls. By Margaret E. Winslow.
+
+  ONE GIRL'S WAY OUT. By Howe Benning.
+
+  PEN'S VENTURE. By Elvirton Wright.
+
+  RUTH PRENTICE. A Story For Girls. By Marion Thorne.
+
+  THREE YEARS AT GLENWOOD. A Story of School Life. By M. E. Winslow.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Girl Comrade's Series
+
+ALL AMERICAN AUTHORS.
+
+ALL COPYRIGHT STORIES.
+
+A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by popular
+authors. These are charming stories for young girls, well told and full
+of interest. Their simplicity, tenderness, healthy, interesting motives,
+vigorous action, and character painting will please all girl readers.
+
+HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING.
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS.
+
+  A BACHELOR MAID AND HER BROTHER. By I. T. Thurston.
+
+  ALL ABOARD. A Story For Girls. By Fanny E. Newberry.
+
+  ALMOST A GENIUS. A Story For Girls. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  ANNICE WYNKOOP, Artist. Story of a Country Girl. By Adelaide L.
+  Rouse.
+
+  BUBBLES. A Girl's Story. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  COMRADES. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  DEANE GIRLS, THE. A Home Story. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  HELEN BEATON, COLLEGE WOMAN. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  JOYCE'S INVESTMENTS. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  MELLICENT RAYMOND. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  MISS ASHTON'S NEW PUPIL. A School Girl's Story. By Mrs. S. S.
+  Robbins.
+
+  NOT FOR PROFIT. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  ODD ONE, THE. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  SARA, A PRINCESS. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The AMY E. BLANCHARD Series
+
+Miss Blanchard has won an enviable reputation as a writer of short
+stories for girls. Her books are thoroughly wholesome in every way and
+her style is full of charm. The titles described below will be splendid
+additions to every girl's library.
+
+Handsomely bound in cloth, full library size.
+
+Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. Price, 60 cents per volume, postpaid.
+
+THE GLAD LADY. A spirited account of a remarkably pleasant vacation
+spent in an unfrequented part of northern Spain. This summer, which
+promised at the outset to be very quiet, proved to be exactly the
+opposite. Event follows event in rapid succession and the story ends
+with the culmination of at least two happy romances. The story
+throughout is interwoven with vivid descriptions of real places and
+people of which the general public knows very little. These add greatly
+to the reader's interest.
+
+WIT'S END. Instilled with life, color and individuality, this story of
+true love cannot fail to attract and hold to its happy end the reader's
+eager attention. The word pictures are masterly; while the poise of
+narrative and description is marvellously preserved.
+
+A JOURNEY OF JOY. A charming story of the travels and adventures of two
+young American girls, and an elderly companion in Europe. It is not only
+well told, but the amount of information contained will make it a very
+valuable addition to the library of any girl who anticipates making a
+similar trip. Their many pleasant experiences end in the culmination of
+two happy romances, all told in the happiest vein.
+
+TALBOT'S ANGLES. A charming romance of Southern life. Talbot's Angles is
+a beautiful old estate located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The
+death of the owner and the ensuing legal troubles render it necessary
+for our heroine, the present owner, to leave the place which has been in
+her family for hundreds of years and endeavor to earn her own living.
+Another claimant for the property appearing on the scene complicates
+matters still more. The untangling of this mixed-up condition of affairs
+makes an extremely interesting story.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent prepaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Spies Series
+
+These stories are based on important historical events, scenes wherein
+boys are prominent characters being selected. They are the romance of
+history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity to picturing the home
+life, and accurate in every particular.
+
+Handsome Cloth Bindings
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
+
+  A story of the part they took in its defence.
+  By William P. Chipman.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE DEFENCE OF FORT HENRY.
+
+  A boy's story of Wheeling Creek in 1777.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
+
+  A story of two boys at the siege of Boston.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT.
+
+  A story of two Ohio boys in the War of 1812.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH LAFAYETTE.
+
+  The story of how two boys joined the Continental Army.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES ON CHESAPEAKE BAY.
+
+  The story of two young spies under Commodore Barney.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH THE REGULATORS.
+
+  The story of how the boys assisted the Carolina Patriots to drive
+  the British from that State.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH THE SWAMP FOX.
+
+  The story of General Marion and his young spies.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT YORKTOWN.
+
+  The story of how the spies helped General Lafayette in the
+  Siege of Yorktown.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
+
+  The story of how the young spies helped the Continental Army
+  at Valley Forge.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF FORT GRISWOLD.
+
+  The story of the part they took in its brave defence.
+  By William P. Chipman.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF OLD NEW YORK.
+
+  The story of how the young spies prevented the capture of
+  General Washington.
+  By James Otis.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Navy Boys Series
+
+A series of excellent stories of adventure on sea and land, selected
+from the works of popular writers; each volume designed for boys'
+reading.
+
+Handsome Cloth Bindings
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN DEFENCE OF LIBERTY.
+
+    A story of the burning of the British schooner Gaspee in 1772.
+    By William Pman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS ON LONG ISLAND SOUND.
+
+    A story of the Whale Boat Navy of 1776.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS AT THE SIEGE OF HAVANA.
+
+    Being the experience of three boys serving under Israel Putnam
+    in 1772.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS WITH GRANT AT VICKSBURG.
+
+    A boy's story of the siege of Vicksburg.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH PAUL JONES.
+
+    A boy's story of a cruise with the Great Commodore in 1776.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS ON LAKE ONTARIO.
+
+    The story of two boys and their adventures in the War of 1812.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE ON THE PICKERING.
+
+    A boy's story of privateering in 1780.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN NEW YORK BAY.
+
+    A story of three boys who took command of the schooner "The Laughing
+    Mary," the first vessel of the American Navy.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN THE TRACK OF THE ENEMY.
+
+    The story of a remarkable cruise with the Sloop of War "Providence"
+    and the Frigate "Alfred."
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' DARING CAPTURE.
+
+    The story of how the navy boys helped to capture the British Cutter
+    "Margaretta," in 1775.
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS.
+
+    The adventures of two Yankee Middies with the first cruise of an
+    American Squadron in 1775.
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH COLUMBUS.
+
+    The adventures of two boys who sailed with the great Admiral in his
+    discovery of America.
+    By Frederick A. Ober
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Jack Lorimer Series
+
+Volumes By WINN STANDISH
+
+Handsomely Bound in Cloth
+
+Full Library Size--Price
+
+40 cents per Volume, postpaid
+
+CAPTAIN JACK LORIMER;
+    or, The Young Athlete of Millvale High.
+
+Jack Lorimer is a fine example of the all-around American high-school
+boyfondness for clean, honest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of
+sympathy among athletic youths.
+
+JACK LORIMER'S CHAMPIONS;
+    or, Sports on Land and Lake.
+
+There is a lively story woven in with the athletic achievements, which
+are all right, since the book has been by Chadwick, the Nestor of
+American sporting Journalism.
+
+JACK LORIMER'S HOLIDAYS;
+    or, Millvale High in Camp.
+
+It would be well not to put this book into a boy's hands until the
+chores are finished, otherwise they might be neglected.
+
+JACK LORIMER'S SUBSTITUTE;
+    or, The Acting Captain of the Team.
+
+On the sporting side, the book takes up football, wrestling,
+tobogganing. There is a good deal of fun in this book and plenty of
+action.
+
+JACK LORIMER, FRESHMAN;
+    or, From Millvale High to Exmouth.
+
+Jack and some friends he makes crowd innumerable happenings into an
+exciting freshman year at one of the leading Eastern colleges. The book
+is typical of the American college boy's life, and there is a lively
+story, interwoven with feats on the gridiron, hockey, basketball and
+other clean, honest sports for which Jack Lorimer stands.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Allies With the Battleships
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By ENSIGN ROBERT L. DRAKE
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton, young American lads, meet each other
+in an unusual way soon after the declaration of war. Circumstances place
+them on board the British cruiser "The Sylph" and from there on, they
+share adventures with the sailors of the Allies. Ensign Robert L. Drake,
+the author, is an experienced naval officer, and he describes admirably
+the many exciting adventures of the two boys.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES UNDER THE SEA;
+    or, The Vanishing Submarine.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALTIC;
+    or, Through Fields of Ice to Aid the Czar.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES ON THE NORTH SEA PATROL;
+    or, Striking the First Blow at the German Fleet.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES UNDER TWO FLAGS;
+    or, Sweeping the Enemy from the Seas.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE FLYING SQUADRON;
+    or, The Naval Raiders of the Great War.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE TERROR OF THE SEAS;
+    or, The Last Shot of Submarine D-16.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Allies With the Army
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By CLAIR W. HAYES
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+In this series we follow the fortunes of two American lads unable to
+leave Europe after war is declared. They meet the soldiers of the
+Allies, and decide to cast their lot with them. Their experiences and
+escapes are many, and furnish plenty of the good, healthy action that
+every boy loves.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN GREAT PERIL;
+    or, With the Italian Army in the Alps.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALKAN CAMPAIGN;
+    or, The Struggle to Save a Nation.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES AT LIEGE;
+    or, Through Lines of Steel.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES ON THE FIRING LINE;
+    or, Twelve Days Battle Along the Marne.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE COSSACKS;
+    or, A Wild Dash over the Carpathians.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE TRENCHES;
+    or, Midst Shot and Shell Along the Aisne
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Scouts Series
+
+By HERBERT CARTER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM;
+    or, Caught Between the Hostile Armies.
+
+In this volume we follow the thrilling adventures of the boys in the
+midst of the exciting struggle abroad.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE;
+    or, The Strange Secret of Alligator Swamp.
+
+Startling experiences awaited the comrades when they visited the
+Southland. But their knowledge of woodcraft enabled them to overcome all
+difficulties.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA.
+
+A story of Burgoyne's defeat in 1777.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMP FIRE;
+    or, Scouting with the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+This book brims over with woods lore and the thrilling adventure that
+befell the Boy Scouts during their vacation in the wilderness.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE;
+    or, Marooned Among the Moonshiners.
+
+This story tells of the strange and mysterious adventures that happened
+to the Patrol in their trip among the moonshiners of North Carolina.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL;
+    or, Scouting through the Big Game Country.
+
+The story recites the adventures of the members of the Silver Fox Patrol
+with wild animals of the forest trails and the desperate men who had
+sought a refuge in this lonely country.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS;
+    or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+Thad and his chums have a wonderful experience when they are employed by
+the State of Maine to act as Fire Wardens.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER;
+    or, The Search for the Lost Tenderfoot.
+
+A serious calamity threatens the Silver Fox Patrol. How apparent
+disaster is bravely met and overcome by Thad and his friends, forms the
+main theme of the story.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES;
+    or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine.
+
+The boys' tour takes them into the wildest region of the great Rocky
+Mountains and here they meet with many strange adventures.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND;
+    or, Marooned Among the Game Fish Poachers.
+
+Thad Brewster and his comrades find themselves in the predicament that
+confronted old Robinson Crusoe; only it is on the Great Lakes that they
+are wrecked instead of the salty sea.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA;
+    or, The Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood.
+
+The boys of the Silver Fox Patrol, after successfully braving a terrific
+flood, become entangled in a mystery that carries them through many
+exciting adventures.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Chums Series
+
+By WILMER M. ELY
+
+Price. 40 Cents per Volume. Postpaid
+
+In this series of remarkable stories are described the adventures of two
+boys in the great swamps of interior Florida, among the cays off the
+Florida coast, and through the Bahama Islands. These are real, live
+boys, and their experiences are worth following.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN MYSTERY LAND;
+    or, Charlie West and Walter Hazard among the Mexicans.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS ON INDIAN RIVER;
+    or, The Boy Partners of the Schooner "Orphan."
+
+THE BOY CHUMS ON HAUNTED ISLAND;
+    or, Hunting for Pearls in the Bahama Islands.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE FOREST;
+    or, Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS' PERILOUS CRUISE;
+    or, Searching for Wreckage en the Florida Coast.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO;
+    or, A Dangerous Cruise with the Greek Spongers.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS CRUISING IN FLORIDA WATERS;
+    or, The Perils and Dangers of the Fishing Fleet.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE FLORIDA JUNGLE;
+    or, Charlie West and Walter Hazard with the Seminole Indians.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Broncho Rider Boys Series
+
+By FRANK FOWLER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+A series of thrilling stories for boys, breathing the adventurous spirit
+that lives in the wide plains and lofty mountain canoes of the great
+West. These tales will delight every lad who loves to read of pleasing
+adventure in the open; yet at the same time the most careful parent need
+not hesitate to place them in the hands of the boy.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH FUNSTON AT VERA CRUZ;
+    or, Upholding the Honor of the Stars and Stripes.
+
+When trouble breaks out between this country and Mexico, the boys are
+eager to join the American troops under General Funston. Their attempts
+to reach Vera Cruz are fraught with danger, but after many difficulties,
+they manage to reach the trouble zone, where their real adventures
+begin.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS AT KEYSTONE RANCH;
+    or, Three Chums of the Saddle and Lariat.
+
+In this story the reader makes the acquaintance of three devoted chums.
+The book begins in rapid action, and there is "something doing" up to
+the very time you lay it down.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS DOWN IN ARIZONA;
+    or, A Struggle for the Great Copper Lode.
+
+The Broncho Rider Boys find themselves impelled to make a brave fight
+against heavy odds, in order to retain possession of a valuable mine
+that is claimed by some of their relatives. They meet with numerous
+strange and thrilling perils and every wideawake boy will be pleased to
+learn how the boys finally managed to outwit their enemies.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ALONG THE BORDER;
+    or, The Hidden Treasure of the Zuni Medicine Man.
+
+Once more the tried and true comrades of camp and trail are in the
+saddle. In the strangest possible way they are drawn into a series of
+exciting happenings among the Zuni Indians. Certainly no lad will lay
+this book down, save with regret.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ON THE WYOMING TRAIL;
+    or, A Mystery of the Prairie Stampede.
+
+The three prairie pards finally find a chance to visit the Wyoming ranch
+belonging to Adrian, but managed for him by an unscrupulous relative. Of
+course, they become entangled in a maze of adventurous doings while in
+the Northern cattle country. How the Broncho Rider Boys carried
+themselves through this nerve-testing period makes intensely interesting
+reading.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS;
+    or, The Smugglers of the Rio Grande.
+
+In this volume, the Broncho Rider Boys get mixed up in the Mexican
+troubles, and become acquainted with General Villa. In their efforts to
+prevent smuggling across the border, they naturally make many enemies,
+but finally succeed in their mission.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Big Five Motorcycle Boys Series
+
+By RALPH MARLOW
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+It is doubtful whether a more entertaining lot of boys ever before
+appeared in a story than the "Big Five," who figure in the pages of
+these volumes. From cover to cover the reader will be thrilled and
+delighted with the accounts of their many adventures.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS ON THE BATTLE LINE;
+    or, With the Allies in France.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS AT THE FRONT;
+    or, Carrying Dispatches Through Belgium.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS UNDER FIRE;
+    or, With the Allies in the War Zone.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS' SWIFT ROAD CHASE;
+    or, Surprising the Bank Robbers.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS ON FLORIDA TRAILS;
+    or, Adventures Among the Saw Palmetto Crackers.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS IN TENNESSEE WILDS;
+    or, The Secret of Walnut Ridge.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS THROUGH BY WIRELESS;
+    or, A Strange Message from the Air.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our Young Aeroplane Scouts Series
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By HORACE PORTER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+A series of stories of two American boy aviators in the great European
+war zone. The fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. The
+boys have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous
+escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ENGLAND;
+    or, Twin Stars in the London Sky Patrol.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY;
+    or, Flying with the War Eagles of the Alps.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM;
+    or, Saving the Fortunes of the Trouvilles.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN GERMANY;
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA;
+    or, Lost on the Frozen Steppes.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN TURKEY;
+    or, Bringing the Light to Yusef.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, by 
+Hildegard G. Frey
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36833-8.txt or 36833-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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+Project Gutenberg's The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, by Hildegard G. Frey
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House
+       or, The Magic Garden
+
+Author: Hildegard G. Frey
+
+Release Date: July 24, 2011 [EBook #36833]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Stephen Hutcheson, Roger Frank, Dave Morgan
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at
+http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+[Illustration: GLADYS TURNED THE CAR INTO THE FIELD AND STARTED AFTER
+THE BULL AT FULL SPEED.]
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+                          The Camp Fire Girls
+                            At Onoway House
+
+                                   OR
+
+                            The Magic Garden
+
+                          By HILDEGARD G. FREY
+
+                               AUTHOR OF
+
+          "The Camp Fire Girls in the Maine Woods," "The Camp
+                 Fire Girls at School," "The Camp Fire
+                          Girls Go Motoring."
+
+                           A. L. BURT COMPANY
+
+                          Publishers--New York
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+                            Copyright, 1916
+                         By A. L. Burt Company
+
+                  THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE
+
+- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
+
+
+
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.--ONOWAY HOUSE.
+
+
+"What a lovely quiet summer we're going to have, we two," exclaimed
+Migwan to Hinpoha, as they stood looking out of the window of their room
+into the garden, filled with rows of young growing things and bordered
+by a shallow stony river. Migwan, we remember, had come to spend the
+summer on the little farm owned by the Bartletts and earn enough money
+to go to college by selling vegetables. The house in the city had been
+rented for three months, and her mother, Mrs. Gardiner, and her brother
+Tom and sister Betty had come to the country with her. Hinpoha was
+temporarily without a home, her aunt being away on her wedding trip with
+the Doctor, and she was to stay all summer with Migwan.
+
+"Yes, it will be lovely," agreed Hinpoha. "I've never lived in such a
+quiet place before. And I've never had you to myself for so long."
+Migwan replied with a hug, in schoolgirl rapture. She felt a little
+closer to Hinpoha than she did to the other Winnebagos. As they stood
+there looking out of the window together they heard the honk of an
+automobile horn and the sound of a car driving into the yard, and ran
+out to see who the guests were.
+
+"Gladys Evans!" exclaimed Migwan, spying the new comers. "And Nyoda!
+Welcome to our city!"
+
+"Please mum," said Gladys, making a long face, "could ye take in a poor
+lone orphan what's got no home to her back?"
+
+"What's up?" asked Migwan, laughing at Gladys's tone.
+
+"Mother and father started for Seattle to-day," replied Gladys, "and
+from there they are going to Alaska, where they will spend the summer. I
+hinted that I was a good traveling companion, but they decided that
+three was a crowd on this trip, and as I had done so well for myself
+last summer they informed me that it was their intention to put me out
+to seek my own fortune once more. So, hearing that there were pleasant
+country places along this road, one in particular, I am looking for a
+place to board for the summer."
+
+"Well, of all things!" exclaimed Migwan. "To think that we are to have
+you with us this vacation after all, after thinking that you were going
+to disport yourself in California! The guest chamber stands ready; 'will
+you walk into my parlor?' said the Spider to the Fly."
+
+At this point "Nyoda," Guardian of the Winnebago Camp Fire group,
+formally known as Miss Kent, also advanced with a long face, holding her
+handkerchief to her eyes. "Could you take in a poor shipwrecked sailor,"
+she sobbed, "one whose ship went right down under her feet and left her
+nothing to stand on at all?"
+
+"It might even be arranged," replied Migwan. "What is your tale of woe,
+my ancient mariner?"
+
+"My cherished landlady's gone to the Exposition," said Nyoda, with a
+fresh burst of grief, "and I can't live with her and be her boarder this
+summer! It's a cruel world! And me so young and tender!"
+
+"Two flies in the guest chamber," said Migwan, hospitably. "Thomas, my
+good man, carry the boarders' bags up to their room, for I see they have
+brought them right with them."
+
+"Save the trouble of going back after them," said Nyoda and Gladys, in
+chorus. "We knew you couldn't refuse to take us in."
+
+"If ever a maiden had a look on her face which said, 'Come, come to this
+bosom, my own stricken dear,'" continued Nyoda, "it's yon poet who is
+going to seed."
+
+"Going to seed!" exclaimed Migwan, "and this after I have just opened my
+hospitable doors to you!"
+
+"By going to seed, my innocent maid, I only meant to express in a veiled
+and delicate way the fact that you were turning into a farmer," said
+Nyoda.
+
+In spite of the fact that Migwan and Hinpoha had just expressed such
+great pleasure at the prospect of being alone together for the summer,
+they rejoiced in the arrival of Nyoda and Gladys as only two Winnebagos
+could at the thought of having two more of their own circle under the
+same roof with them, and their hearts beat high with anticipation of the
+coming larks.
+
+Supper was a merry meal indeed that night, eaten out on the screened-in
+back porch. "We are seven!" exclaimed Nyoda, counting noses at the
+table. "The mystic number as well as the poetic one. 'Seven Little
+Sisters;' 'The Seven Little Kids;' 'the seventh son of a seventh son.'
+All mysterious things take place on the seventh of the month, and
+something always happens when the clock strikes seven." As she paused to
+take breath the old-fashioned clock in the kitchen slowly struck seven.
+The last stroke was still vibrating when there came a ring at the
+doorbell. "What did I tell you?" said Nyoda. "Enter the villain."
+
+The villain proved to be Sahwah. She looked rather astonished to see
+Nyoda and Gladys at the table with the family. "Oh, Migwan," she said,
+"could you possibly take me in for the summer? Mother got a telegram
+to-day saying that Aunt Mary, that's her sister in Pennsylvania, had
+fallen down-stairs and broken both her shoulder blades. Mother packed up
+and went right away to take care of her and the children. She hasn't any
+idea how long she'll be gone. Father started for a long business trip
+out west this week and Jim is camping with the Boy Scouts. If you have
+room----" A shout of laughter interrupted her tale.
+
+"Always room for one more," said Migwan. "You're the third weary pilgrim
+to arrive."
+
+Sahwah looked at Nyoda and Gladys in astonishment. "You don't mean that
+you're here for the summer, too?" When she heard that this was the truth
+she twinkled with delight. "It's going to be almost as much fun as going
+camping together was last year," she said, burying her nose in the mug
+of milk which Migwan hospitably set before her.
+
+"What do you call this house by the side of the road?" asked Nyoda after
+supper, when they were all sitting on the porch. Mrs. Gardiner sat
+placidly rocking herself, undisturbed by the unexpected addition of
+three members to her family. This whole summer venture was in Migwan's
+hands, and she washed hers of the whole affair. Tom sat on the top step
+of the porch, unnaturally quiet, with the air of a boy lost among a
+whole crowd of girls. Betty, fascinated by Nyoda, sat at her feet and
+watched her as she talked.
+
+"It has no name," said Migwan, in answer to Nyoda's question.
+
+"Then we must find one immediately," said Nyoda. "I refuse to sleep in a
+nameless place."
+
+"Did the place where you used to live have a name?" asked Hinpoha,
+banteringly.
+
+"It certainly did 'have a name,'" replied Nyoda, with a twinkle in her
+eye. Gladys caught her eye and laughed. She was more in Nyoda's
+confidence than the rest of the girls.
+
+"What was the name?" asked Betty.
+
+"It was Peacock Plaza," said Nyoda, "painted on a gold sign over the
+door, where all who read could run."
+
+"That wasn't what you called it," said Gladys.
+
+"No, my beloved," returned Nyoda, "from the character and appearance of
+most of the inmates of the Widder Higgins' establishment, I have been
+moved to refer to it as 'The Rookery.'"
+
+"Now," said Gladys sternly, when the laughter over this title had
+subsided, "tell the ladies the real reason why you had to seek a new
+boarding place so abruptly."
+
+"I told you before," said Nyoda, "that my venturesome landlady went to
+the Exposition and left me out in the cold."
+
+"That's not the real reason," said Gladys, severely. "If you don't tell
+it immediately, I will!"
+
+"I'll tell it," said Nyoda submissively, alarmed at this threat. "You
+see, it was this way," she began in a pained, plaintive voice. "This
+Gladys woman over here came up to take supper with me last night--only
+she smelled the supper cooking in the kitchen and turned up her nose,
+whereupon I was moved with compassion to cook supper for her in my
+chafing-dish unbeknownst to the landlady, who has been known to frown on
+any attempts to compete with her table d'hote."
+
+"I never!" murmured Gladys. "She invited me to a chafing-dish supper in
+the first place."
+
+"Well, as I was saying," continued Nyoda, not heeding this interruption,
+"to save her from starvation I dragged out my chafing-dish and made
+shrimp wiggle and creamed peas, and we had a dinner fit for a king, if I
+do say it as shouldn't. The crowning glory of the feast was a big onion
+which Gladys's delicate appetite required as a stimulant. All went merry
+as a marriage bell until it came to the disposal of that onion after the
+feast was over, as there was more than half of it left. We didn't dare
+take it down to the kitchen for fear the Widder would pounce on us for
+cooking in our rooms, and even my stout heart quailed at the thought of
+sleeping ferninst that fragrant vegetable. Suddenly I had an
+inspiration." Here Nyoda paused dramatically.
+
+"Yes," broke in Gladys, impatient at her pause, "and she calmly chucked
+it out of the second story window into the street!"
+
+"All would still have been mild and melodious," continued Nyoda, in a
+solemn tone which enthralled her hearers, "if it hadn't been for the
+fact that the fates had their fingers crossed at me last night. How
+otherwise could it have happened that at the exact moment when the onion
+descended the old bachelor missionary should have been prancing up the
+walk, coming to call on the Widder Higgins? Who but fate could have
+brought it about that that onion should bounce first on his hat, then on
+his nose, and then on his manly bosom?"
+
+"And he never waited to see what hit him!" put in Gladys, for whom the
+recital was not going fast enough. "He ran as if he thought somebody had
+thrown a bomb at him."
+
+"And the Widder Higgins was standing behind the lace curtain watching
+his approach with maidenly reserve," resumed Nyoda, "and so had a box
+seat view of the tragedy, and the last act of the drama was a moving
+one, I can assure you."
+
+"Oh, Nyoda," cried Hinpoha and Sahwah and Migwan, pointing their fingers
+at her, "a nice person you are to be Guardian of the Winnebagos! Fine
+example you are setting your youthful flock! You need a guardian worse
+than any of us!"
+
+"Do as you like with me," said Nyoda, covering her face with her hands
+in mock shame, whereupon Hinpoha and Migwan and Gladys fell upon her
+neck with one accord.
+
+"But we haven't named this house yet," said Nyoda, uncovering her face
+and smoothing out her black hair.
+
+"I thought of a name while you were telling about the onion," said
+Migwan. "It's Onoway House."
+
+"What does that mean?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"It's a symbolic word, like Wohelo," said Migwan. "It's made from the
+words, Only One Way. You see there was only one way of getting that
+money to go to college and that was by coming here."
+
+"I think that is a very good name," said Nyoda. "It is clever as well as
+pretty. It sounds like the song, 'Onaway, awake beloved,' from
+Hiawatha's Wedding Feast."
+
+"It sounds like the water going over the stones in the river," said
+romantic Hinpoha.
+
+And so Onoway House was named.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.--NEIGHBORS.
+
+
+Onoway House stood on the Centerville Road, on a farm of about four
+acres. All of the land was not worked, just the part that was laid out
+as a garden and a small orchard of peach trees. The rest was open meadow
+running down to the river. It had originally been a much larger farm--Old
+Deacon Waterhouse's place--but after his death it had been divided up and
+sold in sections. Onoway House was the original home built by the deacon
+when he bought the farm as a young man. It was a very old place, large
+and rambling, and full of queer corners and passageways, and a big
+echoing cobwebby attic, crowded with old furniture and trunks. The house
+had been sold with all its furnishings at the Deacon's death, and the
+old things were still in the rooms when the Bartletts bought it
+twenty-five years later. This made it unnecessary for the Gardiners,
+when they came, to bring any of their own furniture. The Bartletts had
+never lived on the place, hiring a caretaker to work the garden, and it
+was the sudden departure of this man that had given Migwan her chance.
+
+On either side of Onoway House was a farm of much larger proportions. To
+the right there stood a big, homelike looking farmhouse painted white,
+with porches and vines and a lawn in front running down to the road; on
+the left was a smaller house, painted dark red, with a vegetable bed in
+front. The garden at Onoway House had been given a good start and the
+strawberries and asparagus and sundry other vegetables were ready to
+market when Migwan took possession. The Winnebagos looked on the
+gardening as a grand lark and pitched in with a will to help Migwan make
+her fortune from the ground.
+
+"Did you ever see anything half so delicate as this little new
+pea-vine?" asked Migwan, puttering happily over one of the long beds.
+
+"Or anything half so indelicate as this plantain bush?" asked Nyoda,
+busily grubbing weeds. "'Scarce reared above the parent earth thy tender
+form,'" she quoted, "'and yet with a root three times as long as the
+hair of Claire de Lorme!'"
+
+"Burns would relish hearing that line of his applied to weeds," said
+Migwan, laughing. "I wonder what he would have written if he had turned
+up a plantain weed with his plough instead of a mountain daisy."
+
+"He wouldn't have turned up a plantain weed," said Nyoda, with a vicious
+thrust of the long knife with which she was weeding, "it would have
+turned him up."
+
+Migwan rose from the ground slowly and painfully. "Oh dear," she sighed,
+"I wonder if Burns ever got as stiff in the joints from close contact
+with Nature as I am?"
+
+"He certainly must have," observed Nyoda, straining her muscles to
+uproot the weedy homesteader, "haven't you ever heard the slogan, 'Omega
+Oil for Burns?'"
+
+Migwan laughed as she straightened up and held her aching back. "Earth
+gets its price for what earth gives us," she quoted, with a mixture of
+ruefulness and humor.
+
+"Listen to the poetry floating around on the breeze," cried Sahwah,
+passing them as she ran the wheel hoe up and down between the rows of
+plants.
+
+  "Come and trip it as you go
+  On the light fantastic _hoe_,"
+
+she sang. "Oh, I say," she called over her shoulder, "do I have to hoe
+up the surface of the river around the watercress, too?"
+
+"You certainly do," said Nyoda gravely, "and while you're at it just
+loosen up the air around that air fern of Mrs. Gardiner's." Sahwah made
+a grimace and trundled off with her wheel hoe.
+
+"Are you looking for any field hands?" called a cheery voice. The girls
+looked up to see a white-haired, pleasant-faced old man of about seventy
+years standing in the garden. "My name's Landsdowne, Farmer Landsdowne,"
+he said by way of introduction, with a friendly smile, which included
+all the girls at once, "and I've come to have a look at the new
+caretaker."
+
+"I'm the one," said Migwan, stepping forward. "My name is Gardiner, and
+I _am_ a gardener just now."
+
+"And are all these your sisters?" asked Farmer Landsdowne, quizzically.
+Migwan laughed and introduced the girls in turn. They all liked Farmer
+Landsdowne immediately. He walked up and down among the rows of
+vegetables, and gave Migwan quantities of advice about soil cultivation,
+insects and diseases and various other things pertaining to gardening,
+for which she thanked him heartily. "Come over and see us," he said
+hospitably, as he took his departure, "I live there," and he pointed to
+the friendly looking white house on the right of Onoway House.
+
+"Isn't he a dear?" said Gladys, when he was gone. "I'm glad he's our
+next door neighbor. What do you suppose the people on the other side are
+like?"
+
+"Red isn't nearly so pretty as white," said Hinpoha, squinting at the
+bare looking house to the left of them. As they looked a man came along
+the edge of the land on which the red house stood. When he reached the
+fence which separated the two farms he stood still for a few minutes
+looking hard at Onoway House; then, seeing that the girls were looking
+in his direction he turned and went back to the house.
+
+The strawberries were ready to pick the first week that the girls were
+at Onoway House, and Migwan had an idea about marketing them. She gave
+each picker two baskets with instructions to put only the largest and
+finest in one and the medium-sized and small ones in the other.
+
+"What are you going to take them to town in?" asked Gladys. Although
+there was a large barn on the place there were no horses, for Mr.
+Mitchell, the last caretaker, had owned his own horse and taken it away
+with him when he left.
+
+"I'll have to hire one from some of the neighbors," said Migwan. Mr.
+Landsdowne, when interviewed, would have been extremely glad to let them
+take a horse and wagon, but this was a busy time and one of his teams
+was sick so none could be spared. Feeling considerably more shy than she
+had when she went to Mr. Landsdowne, Migwan went over to the red house.
+As she went around the path to the back door she heard sounds of loud
+talking in a man's voice, which ceased as she came up on the porch. A
+red faced man, (he almost matched the house, thought Migwan) came to the
+door. "I am your new neighbor, Elsie Gardiner," said Migwan, "and I
+wonder if I could hire a horse and wagon from you three times a week to
+take my vegetables to town."
+
+"So you've come to live on the place, have you?" said the man. "How long
+are you going to stay?"
+
+"All summer," replied Migwan. She was not drawn to this man as she was
+to Farmer Landsdowne. There was something about him that seemed to repel
+her, although she could not have told what it was.
+
+"Yes, I can let you have a horse and wagon," he said, after a moment.
+"When do you want it?"
+
+"In about an hour," said Migwan.
+
+"I'll send it over," said the master of the red house. "My name's
+Smalley, Abner Smalley," he said, as she took her leave.
+
+In an hour the horse was at the door. It was brought over by a
+pleasant-faced, light-haired lad of about seventeen, who introduced
+himself as Calvin Smalley.
+
+"You don't look a bit like your father," said Migwan.
+
+"That's not my father," said Calvin, "that's my uncle. My father's dead.
+He was Uncle Abner's brother. I live with Uncle Abner and Aunt Maggie.
+But the farm's really mine," he said proudly, as though he did not want
+anyone to think he was living on charity even though he was an orphan,
+"for Grandfather willed it to Father. Uncle Abner's holding it in trust
+for me until I'm of age."
+
+There was something so frank and manly about him that the girls liked
+him at once. But if Calvin Smalley made such a good impression, the
+horse which he had brought over for the girls to drive to town was less
+fortunate. He was a hoary, moth-eaten looking creature that might easily
+have been the first white horse born west of the Mississippi. In looking
+at him you would be left with a lingering doubt in your mind as to
+whether he had originally been white or had turned white with age. He
+tottered so that each step threatened to be his last The wagon to which
+he was fastened with a patched and rotten harness had probably been on
+the scene some years before he was born. Migwan was much taken aback
+when she inspected him. "I wouldn't dare attempt to drive that beast all
+the way to town," she thought to herself. "He'd never get beyond the
+first bend in the road. And if he did make it he'd go so slowly that my
+berries would be out of season before I got to my customers."
+
+"Isn't he rather--old?" she said, aloud. "I'm afraid he isn't able to
+work much."
+
+Calvin blushed fiery red and his eyes sought the ground in distress.
+"It's a shame," he said, fiercely, "to try to hire out such a horse. I
+don't blame you for not wanting it." Without another word he climbed
+into the wagon and urged the feeble horse back to his home pasture.
+
+"Didn't you feel sorry for that poor boy?" said Migwan. "He felt ashamed
+clear down to his shoes at having to bring that old wreck of a horse
+over. I should have died if I had been in his place. He's such a nice
+looking boy, too. I suppose his uncle is one of those stingy, grasping
+farmers who work everybody to death on the place. Anybody who plants
+vegetables in his front yard must be stingy. That horse probably
+couldn't work on the farm any more so he thought he would make some
+money out of it by hiring it to us. He must have thought girls didn't
+know a horse when they saw one. I didn't exactly fall in love with Mr.
+Smalley when I went over. He wasn't a bit friendly like Mr. Landsdowne."
+
+"I foresee where we will have little to do with our neighbors in the Red
+House," said Sahwah. "I'm sorry, because I like to have lots of people
+to visit, and like to have them running in at odd times, the way Mr.
+Landsdowne appeared."
+
+"Let's not have any hard feelings against Calvin Smalley, though," said
+Migwan. "He isn't to blame for his uncle's stinginess. I dare say he
+isn't very happy over there. Let's have him over as often as we can."
+
+"Spoken like a true Winnebago," said Nyoda, approvingly.
+
+"But in the meantime," said Migwan, in perplexity, "what are we going to
+do for a horse and wagon to take our things to town?"
+
+"Why not use our car?" said Gladys. The machine she had come in was
+still in the barn at Onoway House. "It's a good thing I learned to run
+the big one--father said I might use it all summer if I would be a good
+girl and stay at home when they went out west."
+
+"Could we get everything in?" asked Migwan.
+
+"I think so," said Gladys, "if we arrange them carefully." The berries
+and asparagus were loaded into the back of the machine and Gladys and
+Migwan drove off.
+
+"What shall we do now, Nyoda?" asked Hinpoha, after the two girls were
+gone.
+
+"I know what I'm going to do," said Nyoda, moving in the direction of
+her bedroom. "Now," she said, as she threw herself on the bed with a
+great yawn and stretch, "if anyone asks you what kind of a farmer I am
+you may tell them that I'm a retired one!" Nyoda had been up since four
+o'clock that morning, and was unused to such early rising. Hinpoha drew
+down the shade to shut out the strong sunlight and tiptoed from the
+room.
+
+Gladys and Migwan stopped first at a large grocery store to inquire the
+prices of strawberries and asparagus. The proprietor offered to buy the
+whole load, but they would not sell, as they could get more for them by
+peddling them at retail prices. Migwan examined the berries in the
+store, and mentally fixed her middle grade berries at the same price
+with them, and her finest grade ones at three cents higher.
+
+"I've an idea," said Gladys, "that some of mother's friends would take
+the berries at our own price." Thus it was that Mrs. Davis, whose
+speculations about the financial standing of the Evans family had
+resulted in Gladys's mother giving her such an elaborate party the
+winter before, was surprised by a call from Gladys at ten o'clock in the
+morning.
+
+"Ah, good morning, my dear," she said effusively, seating Gladys in the
+parlor, "you have come to spend the day, I hope? Caroline is not up
+yet--she was out late last night--but I shall make her get up right away."
+
+"Please don't call Caroline," said Gladys, "it's you I came to see."
+
+"Oh, yes," purred Mrs. Davis, "a message from your mother, I see."
+
+Gladys came to the point directly. "Have you canned your strawberries
+yet, Mrs. Davis?"
+
+"No," replied Mrs. Davis, a little puzzled by the question.
+
+"Would you like to buy some extra fine ones?" continued Gladys.
+
+"Why, yes, I suppose so," said Mrs. Davis, "who has any for sale?"
+
+"I have," said Gladys, "right out here in the machine." Mrs. Davis
+bought the whole eight quarts of large berries, paying fifteen cents a
+quart straight, and ordered another eight quarts as soon as they should
+be ripe. She also took two bunches of asparagus.
+
+"Whatever are you doing, Gladys Evans?" she asked, curiously. "Peddling
+berries?"
+
+Gladys laughed at her evident mystification, and tingled with a desire
+to keep her guessing. "We decided that I had better work this summer,"
+she said, gravely, "so I am peddling berries for a friend of ours who is
+a farmer. We will have to go on a farm ourselves, father said, if things
+to eat get much dearer, so I am getting the practice. Wouldn't you like
+to be a regular customer, and have me bring you fresh vegetables and
+fruit three times a week all through the summer?"
+
+"Why, yes," stammered Mrs. Davis in a daze, "of course, certainly."
+
+"All right, then," said Gladys, "I'll put you down." She drove off in
+high glee, and Mrs. Davis went into the house with a knowing smile on
+her face. So the Evanses were losing money after all, and Gladys was
+working this summer instead of traveling. Poor Gladys! She flew
+up-stairs to communicate the news to her energetic daughter Caroline who
+was just beginning to think about getting up. "I do feel so sorry for
+poor Gladys," she said. "You must be very kind to her whenever you meet
+her."
+
+The rest of the berries and vegetables were disposed of to other friends
+of Gladys's and Migwan's, all for topnotch prices, and there were at
+least half a dozen names in the little note book when they started
+homeward, of people who wanted to be supplied regularly. To some of her
+friends Gladys told frankly whose fruit she was selling, and enlisted
+their sympathies in the enterprise, while to others, like the Davises
+and the Joneses, who were thorough snobs, she could not resist
+pretending that she was actually working for a farmer to earn money. She
+could not remember when she had enjoyed anything so much as the
+expressions on the various faces when she made her little speech at the
+door and offered her basket of fruit for inspection. "Wait until I tell
+dad about it," she chuckled to Migwan.
+
+When they returned to Onoway House they found that during their absence
+the girls, with the help of Mr. Landsdowne, had constructed a raft about
+seven feet square, which they were setting afloat on the river. "Oh,
+what fun!" cried Migwan when she saw it. "We needed another rapid vessel
+to go boating in. There's only one rowboat and we could never all go out
+at once. What shall we call it?"
+
+"Let's name it the Tortoise," said Hinpoha, "and call the rowboat the
+Hare."
+
+"Oh, no," said Sahwah, "let's call it the Crab, because it travels sort
+of sidewise." Hinpoha held out for her name and Sahwah would not yield
+hers.
+
+"Contest of arms!" cried Nyoda. "Decide the question by a test of
+physical prowess. Whichever one of you can pole the raft straight across
+the river and back again without mishap in the shortest time may have
+the privilege of naming it. Is that fair?"
+
+"It is!" cried all the girls. Hinpoha and Sahwah, dressed in their
+bathing-suits, prepared for the contest. Hinpoha had the first trial
+because she had spoken first. Getting onto the raft and seizing the
+stout pole, she pushed off from the shore. It was difficult to keep the
+unwieldy craft going toward the opposite bank, because it had a strong
+inclination to be carried down-stream with the current. Halfway across
+she grounded on a rock and stood marooned. Sahwah watched the moments
+tick off on Nyoda's watch with ill-concealed delight while Hinpoha
+pushed and strained on the pole to set the raft free. Finally she leaned
+all her weight, which was no small item, on the pole and shoved with her
+feet against the raft. It freed itself and glided away under her feet,
+leaving her clinging to the pole in the middle of the river, while her
+solid footing of a few moments ago swung into the current and floated
+off beyond her reach. She looked so comical clinging to the pole, which
+was fast losing its upright position under her weight, that the girls
+were unable to help her for laughter, and a minute later she plunged
+into the river with a mighty splash and swam disgustedly to shore.
+
+"Our new boat will not be called the TORTOISE, it seems," said Nyoda.
+"Cheer up, Hinpoha, you have made yourself more immortal by the picture
+you presented hanging over the water than you would have by naming the
+raft. As Hinpoha, the Polehanger, you will have your portrait in the
+Winnebago Hall of Fame. Now then, Sahwah, show her how it should be
+done."
+
+Sahwah, ever more skilful in watercraft than Hinpoha, poled the raft
+neatly across the stream to the opposite shore, paused a moment to see
+that the feat was properly registered by the judges, and then started
+back. Unlike Hinpoha, who forged blindly ahead, she felt carefully with
+her pole to locate the points of the rocks and then avoided them. "Here
+I come," she hailed, when she was nearly back to the starting point, "on
+my new raft, the CRAB." Striking a heroic attitude with arms crossed and
+one foot out ahead of the other she stepped to the edge of the raft,
+when the floating floor tipped under her weight and she lost her balance
+and fell head first into the water. The raft, released from her guiding
+hand, went off with the current as it had done before. The look of
+stupefaction on her face when she came up out of the water was even
+funnier than the sight of Hinpoha marooned on the pole.
+
+"The raft will not be named the CRAB, either, it seems," said Nyoda.
+
+"I don't care what it's called," said Sahwah, her temper up, "I'm going
+to pole that raft across the river."
+
+"So'm I," said Hinpoha, her eye gleaming with resolution.
+
+"Let's do it together," said Sahwah.
+
+Thanks to Sahwah's skill with the pole and Hinpoha's judicious balancing
+of the raft at the right places, they made the trip over and back
+without mishap.
+
+"Two heads are better than one," said Sahwah, as they landed, "what
+neither of us could do alone we can do in combination."
+
+"Then why not combine the names?" said Nyoda. "You have each won equal
+rights in the contest."
+
+"Good idea," said Sahwah. "We couldn't find a better one than the
+Tortoise-Crab." So the name was painted across the floor of the raft,
+this being the only space big enough.
+
+Delighted with their new sport, the girls spent the whole evening on the
+river, all five Winnebagos and Betty and Tom on the raft at once,
+floating down-stream with the current and being towed up again by the
+rowboat. It was bright moonlight, and the air was full of romance. At
+one place along the riverbank there stood a high rock, grey on the
+moonlit side and black on the other. "It reminds me of the Lorelei
+Rock," said Nyoda.
+
+"Let's play Lorelei," said Sahwah.
+
+"What do you mean?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Why," answered Sahwah, "let Hinpoha climb up on the rock and comb her
+hair and sing, and we come along on the raft and listen to her song and
+run into the rock and upset. We want to go swimming before we go to bed
+anyhow."
+
+"I can't sing," objected Hinpoha.
+
+"That doesn't make any difference," said Sahwah, "sing anyway."
+
+So Hinpoha mounted the moonlit rock and shook her long, red hair down
+over her shoulders, combing it out with her sidecomb and singing "Fairy
+Moonlight," while the raft floated lazily down-stream toward the base of
+the cliff, its passengers sitting in attitudes of enraptured listening,
+and pointing ecstatically to the figure silhouetted against the moon.
+Sahwah adroitly steered the raft toward the rock and it struck with a
+great jar. It disobligingly kept its balance, however, and refused to
+upset. Sahwah deliberately rolled off the edge, tipping it as she did
+so, and the rest went off on all sides, giggling and splashing in the
+water. Hinpoha on the rock above wrung her hands in mock horror at the
+effect of her song. That instant a figure came running at top speed
+along the river bank. "I'll save you, girls," he shouted, jumping into
+the water with all his clothes on. Catching hold of Migwan, who was
+hanging on to the raft, he pulled her out of the water and set her on
+the shore. It was Calvin Smalley, their neighbor from the Red House.
+
+"Oh," gasped Migwan, trying not to laugh at him, "I thank you ever so
+much, but we're not really drowning. We upset the raft on purpose."
+
+"Upset it on purpose!" said Calvin, in astonishment.
+
+"Yes," answered Migwan, "we were playing Lorelei, you know."
+
+Then Calvin noticed for the first time that the victims of the upset
+were all dressed in bathing-suits, and that they seemed to be very much
+at home in the water. "It looked like a dreadful smashup," he said, "and
+I forgot that the river isn't very deep here. Do you generally play such
+quiet games?"
+
+"Sometimes we play much more quiet ones," said Sahwah meaningly.
+
+"It was too bad to frighten you so," said Nyoda. "We'll have to warn
+spectators the next time we do anything. We'll have to have a flag that
+says 'Stunt coming; look out for the splash!' and whoever runs may
+read." At this moment Hinpoha jumped from the rock, out into the middle
+of the stream, where it was deep, swam under water toward the bank, and
+came up suddenly beside Calvin so that he was quite startled.
+
+"Say," he said, looking around at the group of girls who were doing
+various astonishing things, "do you belong to the circus?"
+
+The girls laughed at this inquiry. "Oh, no," said Migwan, "we are only
+Camp Fire Girls."
+
+"Camp Fire Girls?" said Calvin. "I've heard of them, but I never knew
+any. Is that why you call each other by such funny names?"
+
+"Yes," answered Migwan, and she told him their names and their meanings.
+
+"It must be great fun to be a Camp Fire Girl," said Calvin thoughtfully.
+
+"Come for a ride on the raft with us," said Migwan, "we are going back
+now. We aren't going to upset again," she added reassuringly, "and if we
+did you couldn't get any wetter." Calvin smiled at the pleasantry, but
+said he must be going in. He was on his way home when he saw the raft
+upset. The Lorelei Rock was just on the other side of the Smalley farm.
+He bade them a friendly good-night, promising to come over to Onoway
+House soon, and took his way home across the fields.
+
+"What a nice boy he is," said Migwan. "He wasn't a bit cross when he
+found that the joke was on him, as some would have been."
+
+Migwan woke up in the night and could not go to sleep again immediately.
+As she lay smiling to herself about the fun they had had with the raft
+that evening, she heard a sound as of something dropped on the attic
+floor above her room, followed by a faint creaking as of someone walking
+over bare boards. She clutched Hinpoha's arm and woke her up. "There's
+someone in the attic," she whispered. Hinpoha yawned.
+
+"I don't hear anything," she said.
+
+"There it is again," said Migwan, "listen." Again there came a faint
+creak, accompanied by a far-away rustle as of crinkling paper.
+
+"It's mice," said Hinpoha, "or maybe rats. They get between the walls
+and make noises that way."
+
+Migwan breathed a sigh of relief and composed herself to slumber again.
+"I suppose these dreadfully old houses are just overrun with things of
+that kind," she said. "But for a moment it did give me a scare."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.--OPHELIA.
+
+
+"They've come! They've come!" shrieked Migwan, running into the
+dining-room where the rest of the family were peacefully finishing their
+breakfast.
+
+"Who've come?" said Nyoda, excitedly, "the Mexicans?"
+
+"The bean weevils," said Migwan, tragically. "Mr. Landsdowne said to
+watch out for them, although they were hardly ever found up north, but
+they're here. He just found a bush with them on."
+
+"To arms!" cried Sahwah, springing up. "The Flying Column to the rescue!
+
+  "Forward the Bug Brigade,
+  Is there a leaf unsprayed?"----
+
+Here she tripped over the carpet and her Amazonian shout came to an
+abrupt end.
+
+"Where are the weevils?" she asked, when they had all gathered around
+the bean patch.
+
+"On here," said Migwan, indicating a hill of beans.
+
+"Oh," said Sahwah, in a disappointed tone.
+
+"Where did you think they were?" asked Migwan.
+
+"From the noise you were making," said Sahwah, "I expected to find them
+drawn up in battle lines, waiting to charge the garden with fixed
+bayonets."
+
+"They'll do just as much damage as if they had bayonets," remarked
+Farmer Landsdowne.
+
+"Do be cautious in approaching such deadly foes," said Sahwah in a tone
+of mock anxiety, as Migwan came along with the sprayer, "take careful
+aim, and don't fire until you see the whites of their eyes."
+
+"I'll spray you in a minute if you don't keep still," said Migwan.
+
+"What must it feel like to be a weevil," said Gladys, musingly, "and be
+hunted down remorselessly wherever you went?"
+
+"Gladys has gone over to the side of the enemy," said Sahwah, teasingly.
+"There is the subject for your next book, Migwan, 'Won by a Weevil', by
+the author of 'Enthralled by a Thrip'! It must have been weevils
+Tennyson meant when he wrote 'The Lotus Eaters.'"
+
+"Battle over?" asked Hinpoha, as Migwan laid down the sprayer. "Then
+let's celebrate the victory. Cheer the bean crop." To the tune of "We
+will, We will Cheer," they sang,
+
+  "Weevil, weevil, weevil, weevil,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil, weevil, weevil, weevil,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop,
+  Weevil cheer our bean crop, O!"
+
+"Don't crow too soon," said Farmer Landsdowne, picking up his sprayer
+preparatory to taking his departure, "there may be twice as many on
+to-morrow."
+
+"I flatly refuse to worry about to-morrow," said Nyoda, "'sufficient
+unto the day is the weevil thereof!'"
+
+Calvin Smalley, working in the vegetable patch in front of the Red
+House, heard that cheer and paused in his work to look over at the other
+garden. He was wondering what was so funny about gardening. "I wish," he
+sighed, as he turned back to his endless task, "that those girls were my
+sisters!"
+
+Gladys went into town alone when the last of the strawberries were ripe,
+for none of the other girls could be spared that day. The squash bugs
+had descended on the garden and all hands were required on deck to save
+the squash and melon vines from being eaten alive. On the way she passed
+Mr. Smalley, driving the identical wreck of a horse he had tried to hire
+out to the girls. He had a heavy load of vegetables, and the poor,
+broken down creature would hardly move it from the spot. He started
+nervously as the machine passed him on the narrow road, and Mr. Smalley
+pulled him up sharply and brought the whip down on his back with a heavy
+cut. "Ain't you used to automobiles yet, you stupid brute?" he growled.
+
+Gladys delivered the eight quarts of extra large berries to Mrs. Davis
+first. "Wouldn't you like to stay in town and have lunch with us and go
+to the theatre afterward?" Mrs. Davis said in such a patronizing tone
+that Gladys quite started, and then laughed inwardly.
+
+"I'm sorry, but I haven't sold all of my berries yet," she answered
+soberly, "and I have to hurry back and help pick bugs."
+
+"Pick bugs?" exclaimed Mrs. Davis, in a horrified tone.
+
+"Yes," said Gladys, with a relish, "nice juicy, striped bugs that crunch
+beautifully when you step on them."
+
+"Oh, oh," said Mrs. Davis, putting her hands over her ears. "Give my
+love to your poor, dear mamma," she said gushingly, when Gladys was
+departing. "Tell her she has my fullest sympathy." As Gladys's poor,
+dear mamma was, at that moment, seated on the observation platform of a
+luxurious railway coach, speeding through the mountains of Washington
+while Mrs. Davis was obliged to stay in town for the time being, she was
+not really in as much need of Mrs. Davis's sympathy as that lady fondly
+imagined.
+
+Gladys disposed of the remaining berries to other amused or patronizing
+friends, and then decided to look up a laundress she knew of and get her
+to come out to Onoway House once in a while to do the heavy washing. The
+street where the laundress lived was narrow and crowded with children
+playing in the middle of the road, and progress was rather slow. One
+little girl in particular made Gladys extremely nervous by running
+across the street right in front of the machine and daring her to run
+over her, shaking her fists at her and making horrible grimaces. She got
+across the street once in safety and then started back again. Just then
+a small child sprang up from the ground right under the very wheels of
+the machine and Gladys turned sharply to one side. The fender struck the
+saucy little girl who was daring her to run over her and she rolled
+under the car, screaming. Gladys jammed down the emergency brake with a
+jerk that almost wrenched the machinery of the automobile asunder. White
+as a sheet she jumped out and picked the girl up. In an instant an angry
+crowd of women and children had surrounded the machine. "Darn yer!"
+cried the child shrilly, shaking a dirty fist in Gladys's face, while
+the other arm hung limp. "I thought yer didn't dast run into me."
+
+"Get into the car," said Gladys, terrified, "and I'll take you home."
+
+"I dassent go home," shrieked the child, "Old Grady'll lick the tar out
+of me if I go home without sellin' me papers."
+
+"Then let me take you to the hospital, or somewhere," said Gladys,
+anxious to get away from the threatening crowd.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked one voice after another, as the tenements
+poured their human contents into the street.
+
+"Ophelia's run over," explained a powerful Irish woman, with a shawl
+over her head, who kept her hand on the handle of the car door. "Lady
+speedin' run her down like a dog." An angry murmur rose from the crowd.
+Gladys shook in her shoes and wondered if she dared start the car with
+all those children hanging on the front of it. She looked around
+helplessly for someone who would help her out of her difficulty. Just
+then a policeman turned into the street, attracted by the crowd.
+
+"Cheese it, de cop!" screamed a ragged gamin, who stood on the step of
+the car, and the women and children began to slink into the doorways.
+Gladys waited until he came up, and then explained the whole matter and
+asked where the nearest hospital was.
+
+"Can't blame you for hitting that brat," said the policeman, "she's the
+terror of drivers for two blocks." Ophelia stuck out her tongue at him.
+Gladys drove her to the hospital where it was discovered that the left
+arm was broken below the elbow. Painful as the setting may have been
+there was "never a whang out of her," as the doctor remarked, although
+she hung on tightly to Gladys's white sleeve with her dirty hand. Her
+waist was taken off to find the extent of the damage, and Gladys was
+frightened to see that the other arm was fearfully bruised and
+scratched, and there was a ring of purple and green blotches around her
+neck like a collar.
+
+"She must have been thrown down harder than I thought," said Gladys to
+the nurse.
+
+"Thrown down nothin'," answered Ophelia, "Old Grady did that the other
+day when I threw a stone through the winder." And she held up the
+mottled arm where all might see.
+
+"Oh," said Gladys, with a shudder, "cover it up." Putting Ophelia into
+the machine again she drove back to the scene of the accident and
+entered the squalid tenement in which the child said she lived.
+
+"Won't Old Grady beat me up though, when she finds I've busted me wing,"
+said Ophelia, as they mounted the rickety stairs. Hardly had she spoken
+when the door at the head of the stairs flew open and a large,
+red-faced, coarse-looking woman strode out and shook her fist over the
+banisters.
+
+"I'll fix ye fer stayin' out afther I tell ye ter come in, ye little
+devil," she shouted. "I'll break every bone in yer body. Gimme the money
+for the papers first."
+
+"Go chase yerself," said Ophelia, standing still on the stairs with a
+spiteful gleam in her eye, "there ain't no money. I ain't had time ter
+peddle this afternoon."
+
+"What yer mean, no money?" screamed the woman. "Just wait till I get me
+hands on yer!"
+
+Gladys shrank back against the wall in terror, then collecting herself
+she thrust Ophelia behind her and faced the angry woman. "Ophelia has
+had an accident," she explained. "I ran over her with my machine and
+broke her arm." The woman brushed past her and grabbed Ophelia by the
+shoulder. Overcome with fury at the thought that her household drudge
+would be of no use to her for several weeks, she boxed her ears again
+and again, calling her every name she could think of. Finally she let go
+of her with a push that sent Ophelia stumbling down half a dozen stairs.
+
+"Get out o' my sight!" she shrieked. "Do yer think I'm going ter house
+an' feed a worthless brat that ain't doin' nothin' fer her keep? Get out
+an' live in the streets yer like ter play in so well!" With a final
+exclamation she strode back into the room and slammed the door after
+her. Ophelia picked herself up from the step, shaking her one useful
+fist at the closed door at the head of the stairs.
+
+Gladys was inexpressibly shocked at this heartless treatment of an
+injured child. "Come--come home with me," she said faintly. Seated beside
+her in the big car, Ophelia ran out her tongue and made faces at the
+jeering children who watched her ride away.
+
+"This is the life!" she exclaimed, as she settled herself comfortably in
+the cushioned seat. People in the streets turned to stare at the dirty
+little ragamuffin riding beside the daintily gowned young girl, shouting
+saucily at the passers-by, or making jeering remarks in a voice audible
+above the noise of traffic.
+
+The girls were all out in front watching for her as Gladys drove up. It
+was past supper time and they were wondering what had become of her.
+What a chorus of surprised exclamations arose when Ophelia was set down
+in their midst! Gladys explained the situation briefly and asked Migwan
+if they could not keep her there awhile. Migwan consented hospitably and
+went off to find a place for her to sleep, while Gladys proceeded to
+wash the accumulated layers of dirt from Ophelia's face and divest her
+of her spotted rags. She came to the table in a kimono of Gladys's, for
+there were no clothes in the house that would fit her. She was nine
+years old, she said, but small and thin for her age, with arms and legs
+like pipe-stems which fairly made one shiver to look at. She had a
+little, pinched, sharp featured face, cunning with the knowledge of the
+world gained from her life on the streets, big grey-green eyes filled
+with dancing lights, and black hair that tumbled around her face in
+tangled curls, which Gladys was not able to smooth out in her hasty
+going over before supper.
+
+Not in the least shy in her new surroundings, nor complaining of
+discomfort from the broken arm, she sat at the table and kept up a
+cheerful stream of talk, racy with slang and the idiom of the streets.
+Hinpoha was instantly dubbed "Firetop." "Is it red inside of yer head?"
+she asked, after gazing steadfastly at Hinpoha's hair for several
+minutes. To all questions about her father and mother she shrugged her
+shoulders. "Ain't never had any," she replied. "I was born in the Orphan
+Asylum. Old Grady got me there." Here a spasm of rage distorted her face
+at the remembrance of Old Grady's ministrations, followed by a wicked
+chuckle when she thought how that tender guardian's plan for turning her
+out homeless into the street had been frustrated by this lucky stroke of
+fate. What her last name was she did not know. "I guess I never had
+one," she said cheerfully. "I'm just Ophelia." Gladys was much
+distressed because she would not drink milk. "No," she said, shoving it
+away, "that's for the babies. Gimme coffee or nothin'." Disdaining the
+aid of fork or spoon, she conveyed her food to her mouth with her
+fingers. "Say," she said, after staring fixedly at Nyoda in a
+disconcerting way she had, "are yer teeth false?"
+
+"Certainly not!" said Nyoda indignantly. "What made you think so?"
+
+"They're so white and even," said Ophelia. "Nobody ever had such teeth
+of their own."
+
+"Did you bleach yer hair?" she asked next, turning her attention to
+Gladys's pale gold locks. Gladys merely laughed.
+
+Ophelia waxed more loquacious as she filled up on the good things on the
+table. "Did yer husband leave yer?" she inquired sociably of Mrs.
+Gardiner. Gladys rose hastily and bore Ophelia away to her room, where a
+cot had been set up for her.
+
+"Three flies in the spider's parlor," said Migwan.
+
+"And one in the ointment, or my prophetic soul has its signals crossed,"
+said Nyoda.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.--THE MEDICINE LODGE.
+
+
+Nyoda's prophetic soul proved to be a true prophet, and there were
+trying times to follow the establishment of Ophelia at Onoway House.
+That very first night Nyoda woke with a strangling sensation to find
+Ophelia sitting on her chest. "I want ter sleep in the bed wid yer," she
+said, in answer to Nyoda's startled inquiry. "I'm afraid ter sleep
+alone." She had been trying to creep in between Nyoda and Gladys and
+lost her balance, which accounted for her position when Nyoda woke up.
+
+"But there's nothing in the room to hurt you," Nyoda said, reassuringly.
+
+"It's them hop-toads," she wailed, stopping her ears against the pillow,
+"they give me th' pip with their everlastin' screechin'. They sound
+right under the bed." Gladys woke up in time to hear her and offered to
+take the cot herself and let Ophelia sleep with Nyoda.
+
+The next morning Gladys made a hurried trip to town to buy Ophelia some
+clothes, while Nyoda washed her hair, much to Ophelia's disgust. The
+curls were so matted that it was impossible to comb them out and there
+was nothing left to do but cut them short. When all the foreign coloring
+matter had been removed and the hair had begun to dry in the warm wind,
+Nyoda stopped beside her in bewildered astonishment. On the top of her
+head, just about in the center, there was a circular patch of light hair
+about three inches in diameter. All the rest was black. "Ophelia," said
+Nyoda, looking her straight in the eyes, "how did you bleach the top of
+your hair?"
+
+"It's a fib," said Ophelia, politely, "I never bleached it."
+
+"Then somebody did," said Nyoda.
+
+"Didn't neither," contradicted Ophelia.
+
+"We'll see whether they did or not," said Nyoda, "when the hair grows
+out from the roots."
+
+Dressed in the pretty clothes Gladys bought for her she was not at all a
+bad looking child, but her language and her knowledge of evil absolutely
+appalled the dwellers at Onoway House. "Did yer old man beat yer up?"
+she asked sympathetically of Mrs. Landsdowne, when that gentle lady came
+to call. Mrs. Landsdowne had run into the barn door the day before and
+had a bruise on her forehead.
+
+Ophelia's sins in the garden were too numerous to chronicle. When set to
+weeding she pulled weeds and plants impartially, working such havoc in a
+short time that she was forbidden to touch a single growing thing. Her
+ignorance of everything pertaining to the country was only equalled by
+her curiosity.
+
+"What would happen to the cow if you didn't milk her?" she demanded of
+Farmer Landsdowne, as she watched him milking one day. "She'd bust, I
+suppose," she went on, answering her own question while Farmer
+Landsdowne was scratching his head for a reply. "Say, are yer whiskers
+fireproof?" she asked, scrutinizing his white beard with interest.
+"Because if they ain't yer don't dast smoke that pipe. The Santa Claus
+in Lefkovitz's window told me so. Say, what do you do when they get
+dirty?"
+
+Leaving her alone in the barn for a few moments he heard a mighty
+squawking and cackling and hastened to investigate. He found the old
+setting hen running distractedly around one of the empty horse stalls,
+frantically trying to get out, while Ophelia was holding the big rooster
+on the nest with her one hand, in spite of the fact that he was flapping
+his wings and pecking at her furiously. "He ought to do some of the
+settin'," she remarked, when taken to task for her act, "he ain't doin'
+nothin' fer a livin'."
+
+The squash bugs had descended once more, and were making hay of the
+squash bed while the sun shone, and the girls worked a whole, long weary
+afternoon clearing the vines. As the bugs were picked off they were put
+into tin cans to be destroyed. Tired to death and heartily sick of
+handling the disagreeable insects the girls quit the job at sundown,
+having just about cleared the patch. They gathered in Migwan's big room
+before supper to make some plans for the Winnebago Ceremonial Meeting
+which was to be held at Onoway House on the Fourth of July. Ophelia
+promptly followed them and demanded admittance. "You can't come in,"
+said Migwan rather crossly, for there were secrets being told which they
+did not want her to hear.
+
+Ophelia wandered off in search of amusement. Mr. Bob had fled at her
+approach and was hiding under the porch, and Betty had been admitted to
+the council of the Winnebagos, for Migwan and Nyoda had decided at the
+beginning of the summer that if there was to be any peace with her she
+would have to be a party to all their doings, and as she was to be put
+into a Camp Fire Group in the fall she was given this opportunity of
+learning to qualify for the various honors by watching the intimate
+workings of the Winnebago group. Tom was over at the Landsdowne's and
+Mrs. Gardiner was getting supper and invited Ophelia to stay out of the
+kitchen when she came down to see if there was any fun to be had there.
+Ophelia had been allowed to help once or twice and had broken so many
+dishes with her one-handed way of doing things that Mrs. Gardiner lost
+all patience and refused to have her around.
+
+Strolling out into the garden in her quest for something to do she came
+upon the big tin pail containing all the squash bugs, which Migwan
+intended taking over to Farmer Landsdowne for disposal. A mischievous
+impulse seized her, and taking off the cover she emptied the bugs back
+into the bed, where they crawled eagerly back to their interrupted feast
+of tender leaves. When the prank was discovered Migwan sank wearily down
+beside the patch she had tried so hard to save from destruction.
+"Whatever possessed you?" said Nyoda, seizing Ophelia with the firm
+determination of boxing her ears. But Ophelia shrank back with such
+evident expectation of a blow that Nyoda loosened her hold.
+
+"Well, ain't yer goin' ter punish me?" asked Ophelia, still eyeing her
+warily for an unexpected attack, with the attitude of an animal at bay.
+To her surprise there were no blows forthcoming, but she was ordered to
+pick off all the squash bugs again, and before the job was done she had
+plenty of time to regret her rash act. All that beautiful long summer
+evening, when the girls were on the front porch playing games and
+shouting with laughter, she sat in the squash bed, undoing the mischief
+she had done. When bed time came she was told to sleep in the cot by
+herself, and Gladys and Nyoda took no notice of her at all, whispering
+secrets to each other in bed with never a word to her. The next morning
+she was awakened at four o'clock and set to work again, and so missed
+the merry breakfast with the family. Gladys had promised to take her to
+town in the machine that day, but, of course, this pleasure was
+forfeited, as the beetles were not yet all picked off. The family was
+all invited over to the Landsdowne's for supper that night, but by four
+o'clock Ophelia realized with a pang of disappointment that she would
+not even be through by five. Accustomed as she was to brutal treatment,
+this was the worst punishment she had ever experienced, but she realized
+that she deserved it and was gamely paying the price without a murmur.
+When Migwan came out shortly after four and helped her so that she would
+be done in time to go to Farmer Landsdowne's with the others her
+penitence was complete.
+
+Preparations for the big Fourth of July Council meeting were going
+forward apace. It was to be a house party, they decided, and the other
+three Winnebagos, Nakwisi, Chapa and Medmangi, were to be invited to
+spend the night. Sleeping quarters caused some debate, when Sahwah had a
+brilliant idea. "Let's build a tepee," she said, "and all sleep on the
+ground inside of it with our feet toward the center. Then we can hold
+the Council Fire in there and dance a war dance around the fire and make
+shadows on the sides to scare the natives." No sooner said than begun.
+The front lawn was chosen as the site of the tepee, as that was the only
+spot big enough. Dick, Tom and Mr. Landsdowne set the poles in a circle
+to make the supporting framework, and the girls made the covering of
+heavy sail cloth, which fitted snugly over the poles and had an opening
+in the center of the top, and another one lower down for the entrance.
+When done it would easily accommodate fifteen or sixteen persons. An
+iron kettle was sunk into the ground in the center of the tepee. This
+would hold sticks of wood soaked in kerosene, which is the secret of a
+quickly lighted council fire, and also the alcohol and salt mixture
+which is an indispensable part of all ghost story telling parties. The
+grass around the kettle was pulled up, leaving a ring of bare earth,
+which would prevent accident from the fire spreading.
+
+The whole thing was completed two days before the Fourth. A big sign,
+WINNEBAGO MEDICINE LODGE, was hung over the entrance. Underneath it a
+sign in smaller letters proclaimed that at the Fourth Sundown of the
+Thunder Moon the big medicine man Face-Toward-the-Mountain would "make
+medicine" in the lodge for the benefit of the Winnebago tribe and their
+paleface friends. The "paleface friends" referred to were Mrs. Gardiner,
+Betty and Tom and Ophelia, Mr. and Mrs. Landsdowne and Calvin Smalley,
+who were invited to see the show.
+
+"It's a shame Aunt Phoebe and the Doctor have to miss it," said Hinpoha.
+
+It was rumored that a real Indian princess would be present at the
+medicine making, i.e., Sahwah in her Indian dress that Mr. Evans had
+sent her from Canada, and excitement ran high among the invited guests
+as hint after hint trickled out as to the elaborateness of the
+ceremonial, which was to eclipse anything yet attempted in that line by
+the Winnebagos, which was saying a great deal. Migwan had been seen
+doing a great deal of surreptitious writing of late and at bed time the
+Winnebagos had taken to congregating in the big, back bedroom and
+locking the doors, and soon there would issue forth sounds of much
+talking and laughter, so that a really experienced listener would almost
+suspect there was a play in process of rehearsal. "Let's reh--you know,"
+said Migwan to Gladys, when the last touches had been put on the tepee,
+suddenly cutting her words short and making a hand sign to finish her
+sentence.
+
+"Do you mind if I don't just now," answered Gladys, "I have such a bad
+headache I think I will lie down for a while. It must have been the sun
+glaring on the white canvas."
+
+"I have one too," said Hinpoha, "it must have been the sun. I'll come
+later when Gladys does," she said to Migwan, with an aggravatingly
+mysterious hand sign.
+
+At supper time Ophelia refused to eat and moped in a manner quite
+foreign to her. Her eyes were red and it looked as though she had been
+crying. After supper she still sat by herself in a corner of the porch
+and made no effort to trap the girls into telling their plans for the
+Fourth as she had been doing all day. "Come and play Blind-Man's-Buff on
+the lawn," called Migwan. Ophelia raised her head and looked at her
+listlessly, but made no effort to join in the merry game.
+
+"Don't you feel well?" asked Nyoda, noting her languid manner. "Child,
+what makes your eyes so red?" she said, turning Ophelia's face toward
+the light.
+
+"I don't know," said Ophelia, wriggling out of her grasp, and putting
+her head down on her knee.
+
+"Come, let me put you to bed," said Nyoda. "I'm afraid you're going to
+be sick." In the morning Ophelia's face was all broken out and Nyoda
+groaned when she realized the truth. Ophelia had the measles. All
+preparations for the Fourth of July Ceremonial had to be called off, and
+the three girls in town telephoned not to come out. The sight of the
+tepee and all the plans it suggested called out a wail of despair every
+time the girls went out in the yard. On the morning of the Glorious
+Fourth Gladys woke to find herself spotted like a leopard.
+
+"That must be the reason why I had such a fearful headache the other
+day," she said, as she took her place with the other sick one, half
+amused and wholly disgusted at herself for having fallen a victim.
+
+"I had a headache too," said Hinpoha, in alarm, "I hope I'm not coming
+down with them. I've had them once."
+
+"That doesn't help much," said Nyoda, "for I had them three times."
+Hinpoha's fears were realized, and by night there was a third case
+developed. And so, instead of a grand council on the Fourth of July
+there was real medicine making at Onoway House. None of the sufferers
+were very ill, although they must remain prisoners, and they had such a
+jolly time in the "contagious disease ward" that Migwan and Sahwah, who
+were finding things rather dull on the outside, wished fervently that
+they had taken the measles too.
+
+As soon as the three invalids were pronounced entirely well there was a
+celebration held in honor of the occasion in the tepee. At sundown Nyoda
+went around beating on a tin pan covered with a cloth in lieu of a
+tom-tom, which was always the signal for the tribe to come together.
+Tom, as runner, was dispatched to fetch the Landsdownes and Calvin
+Smalley. When the tribe came trooping in answer to the call, followed by
+the guests, they were marched in solemn file around the lawn and into
+the tepee. Inside there was a fire kindled in the center, with a circle
+of ponchos and blankets spread around it on the ground. "Bless my soul,
+but this is cozy," said Farmer Landsdowne, dropping down on a poncho and
+stretching himself comfortably.
+
+"Now, what shall we do?" asked Nyoda, who was mistress of ceremonies,
+"play games or tell stories?"
+
+"Tell stories," begged Migwan, "we haven't 'wound the yarn' for an age."
+
+"All right," agreed Nyoda, "shall we do it the way several of the Indian
+tribes do?"
+
+"How do they do it?" asked Migwan.
+
+"Well," said Nyoda, "there is a tradition among certain tribes that if
+anyone refuses to tell a story when he is asked he will grow a tail like
+a donkey. Sometimes, however, they do not wait for Nature to perform
+this miracle, but fasten a tail themselves onto the one who will not
+entertain the crowd when he is bidden, and he must wear it until he
+tells a story. Their way of asking one of their number to tell one is to
+remark 'There is a tail to you,' as a delicate way of expressing the
+fate that will be his if he refuses."
+
+"Oh, what fun!" cried Sahwah.
+
+"And now Gladys," said Nyoda, "'there is a tail to you.'"
+
+Gladys placed more wood on the fire, which was burning low, and returned
+to her seat on the blanket. "Did I ever tell you," she began, "about my
+Aunt Beatrice? She and my Uncle Lynn were visiting here from the West
+with my little cousin Beatrice, who was only six months old. They were
+staying in a big hotel downtown. One night they went to a party, leaving
+Beatrice in their room at the hotel in the care of her nurse. At the
+party there was a fortune teller who amused the guests by reading their
+palms. When it came my aunt's turn the woman said to her, 'You have had
+one child, who is dead.' Everybody laughed because they knew Aunt
+Beatrice had never lost a baby, and little Beatrice was safe and sound
+in the hotel that very minute. But it worried my aunt almost to death,
+and she couldn't enjoy herself the rest of the evening.
+
+"Finally she said to my uncle, 'I can't stand it any longer, I must go
+home,' so they left the party just as the guests were sitting down to a
+midnight supper, and everybody made fun of her for being such a fussy
+young mother. When they got downtown they found the hotel in flames and
+the streets blocked for a long distance around. Aunt Beatrice finally
+broke through the fire lines and ran right past the firemen who tried to
+keep her out, into the burning building, and fought her way up-stairs
+through the smoke to her room, where she could hear a baby crying. She
+was blind from the smoke and could hardly see where she was going, but
+she picked up a rug from the floor, wrapped it around the baby and
+carried her out in safety. When she got outside they found it was not
+little Beatrice at all that she had saved, it was a strange baby. She
+had mistaken the room up-stairs in the smoke and carried out someone
+else's child. The building collapsed right after she came out and no one
+could go in any more. Beatrice and her nurse were lost in the fire." A
+murmur of horrified sympathy went around the circle in the tepee. "And,"
+continued Gladys, "my Aunt Beatrice has never been herself since. She
+can't bear even to see a baby."
+
+"Is that the reason you wouldn't let me bring Marian Simpson's baby over
+the day she left it with me to take care of?" asked Hinpoha. "I remember
+you said your aunt was visiting you."
+
+"Yes, that was why," said Gladys. "And now, Mr. Landsdowne," she added,
+"'there is a tail to you!'"
+
+Farmer Landsdowne stared thoughtfully into the fire for a moment, and
+then a reminiscent smile began to wrinkle the corners of his eyes.
+"Would you like to hear a story about the old house?" he asked.
+
+"You mean Onoway House?" asked Migwan.
+
+Mr. Landsdowne nodded. "Only it seems strange to be calling it 'Onoway
+House.' It has always been known as 'Waterhouse's Place,' because old
+Deacon Waterhouse built it. Well, like most old houses, there are
+different stories told about it, but whether they are true or not, no
+one knows. People are so apt to believe anything they want to believe.
+Well, I started out to tell you the story about the gas well. But before
+I tell you about the gas well I suppose I ought to tell you about the
+Deacon's son. Mind you, the things I am telling you are only what I have
+heard from the folks around here; I never knew Deacon Waterhouse. He was
+dead and the house empty before the farm was split up, and it wasn't
+until the part that I now own was offered for sale that I ever came into
+this neighborhood. Well, to return to the Deacon's son. They say that
+there never was a finer looking young fellow than Charley Waterhouse. He
+was a regular prince among the country boys. But he didn't care a rap
+about farming. All he wanted to do was read; that and take the horse and
+buggy and drive to town. The old Deacon was terribly disappointed, of
+course, for Charley was his only son, and he couldn't see that the boy
+wasn't cut out to be a farmer. He railed about his love of books and
+wouldn't give him money for schooling. Charley stood it until he was
+eighteen and then he ran away, after forging the Deacon's name to a
+check. The folks around here never saw him again. Mrs. Waterhouse died
+of a broken heart, they say. They also say," he added with a twinkle in
+his eye, "that she died before she had her attic cleaned, and that her
+ghost comes back at night and sets the old furniture straight up there."
+Migwan and Hinpoha exchanged glances.
+
+"Now about the gas well," resumed Mr. Landsdowne. "The Deacon was
+digging for water on the farm. The old well had dried up during a long,
+hot spell and he was bound to go deep enough this time. Down they
+went--two, three hundred feet, and still no good water. The ground had
+turned into slate and shale. The well digger lit a match down in the
+hole when suddenly there was a terrific explosion which caved in the
+sides of the well and all the dirt which was piled around the outside
+slid in again, completely filling it up. A vein of gas had been struck.
+That very day the Deacon received word that his son was in San
+Francisco, dying, and wanted to see him. He forgot his anger over
+Charley's disgrace and started west that very night. He never came back.
+He stayed in San Francisco a whole year and then died out there. While
+he was there he mentioned the gas well to several people, or they say he
+did, and that's how the story got round. But if such a thing did happen,
+there was never any trace of it afterward. Personally I do not believe
+it ever happened. But superstitious folks around here say they can still
+hear the buried well digger striking with his pick against the earth
+that covers him."
+
+"Two ghosts at Onoway House!" said Nyoda, "we are uncommonly well
+supplied," and the girls shivered and drew near together in mock fear.
+Thus, with various stories the evening wore away, until Farmer
+Landsdowne, looking at his big, old-fashioned silver watch with a start,
+remarked that he should have been in bed an hour ago, whereupon the
+company broke up. Calvin Smalley went home reluctantly. That evening
+spent by the fire in the tepee had been a sort of wonderland to him,
+unused as he was to family festivities of any kind.
+
+Nyoda lingered after the rest had gone to see that the fire in the tepee
+was properly extinguished. As she watched the glowing embers turn black
+one by one she became aware of a figure standing in the doorway. The
+moonlight fell directly on it and she could see that it was robed in
+flowing white, and instead of a face there was a hideous death's head.
+Horribly startled at first she recovered her composure when she
+remembered that she was living in a household which were given to
+playing jokes on each other. Flinging up her hands in mock terror, she
+recited dramatically,
+
+"Art thou some angel, some devil, or some ghost?" The figure in the
+doorway never moved. Nyoda picked up the thick stick with which she had
+stirred the fire and rushed upon the ghost as if she intended to beat it
+to a pulp. It flung out its arm, covered with the flowing drapery, and
+Nyoda dropped her weapon and staggered back against the side of the
+tepee, sneezing with terrible violence, her eyes smarting and watering
+horribly. When the force of the paroxysm had spent itself and she could
+open her eyes again the ghost had vanished. Blind and choking, she made
+her way back to the house, intent on finding out who the ghost was, who
+had thrown red pepper into her eyes. That it was none of the dwellers at
+Onoway House was clear. The girls were already partly undressed, Ophelia
+was in bed, and Tom was taking a foot-bath in the kitchen under the
+watchful supervision of his mother to see that he got himself clean. A
+chorus of indignation rose on every side at the outrage, when Nyoda had
+told her tale.
+
+"Could it have been Calvin Smalley?" somebody asked. But this no one
+would believe. The boy was too gentle and manly, and too evidently
+delighted with his new neighbors to have done such a dastardly deed.
+Then who had dressed up as a ghost and thrown red pepper at Nyoda in the
+tepee?
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.--SAHWAH MAKES A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+As there was no one of their acquaintance whom they could suspect of
+being the ghost, the trick was laid at the door of some unknown dweller
+along the road with a fondness for horseplay. The girls spent the
+morning working quietly in the garden, and in the afternoon they went to
+the city in Gladys's automobile, all but Sahwah, who wanted to work on a
+waist she was making. Then, after the automobile was out of sight she
+discovered that she did not have the right kind of thread and could not
+work on it after all. With the prospect of a whole afternoon to herself,
+she decided to take a long walk. The Bartlett farm was not very large
+and she was soon at its boundary, and over on the Smalley property. In
+contrast to their little orchard and garden and meadow, the Smalley farm
+stretched out as far as she could see, with great corn and wheat fields,
+and acres of timber land. Somewhere on the place Calvin Smalley was
+working, and Sahwah made up her mind to find him and ask him over to
+Onoway House that night. But the extent of the Smalley farm was
+ninety-seven acres, and it was not so easy to find a person on it when
+one had no definite knowledge of that person's whereabouts. Sahwah
+walked and walked and walked, up one field and down another, shading her
+eyes with her hand to catch sight of the figure she was looking for. But
+Calvin was somewhere near the center of the cornfield, stooping near the
+ground, and the high stalks waved over his head and concealed him
+completely. Sahwah passed by without discovering him and crossed an open
+field that was lying fallow. Beyond this was a strip of marsh land which
+was practically impassable. Under ordinary circumstances Sahwah would
+have turned back, but being badly in want of something better to do she
+tried to cross it. She had seen two boards lying in the field, and
+securing these she laid them down on the treacherous mud, and by
+standing on one and laying the other down in front of her and then
+advancing to that one she actually got across in safety.
+
+On the other side of the bog she spied a little clump of trees and
+headed toward them, for the sun was very hot in the open and the thought
+of a rest in the shade was attractive. When she came nearer she saw that
+this little copse sheltered a cottage, old and weatherbeaten and
+evidently deserted. Weeds grew around it, higher than the steps and the
+floor of the porch, and the crumbling chimney, which ran up on the
+outside of the house, was covered with a thick growth of Japanese ivy.
+"It's a regular House in the Woods," said Sahwah to herself, "only there
+are no dwarfs. I wonder what it's like inside," she went on in her
+thoughts. "Maybe we could come here sometime and build a fire--there must
+be a fireplace somewhere because there's a chimney--and have a Ceremonial
+Meeting or a picnic. How delightfully private it is!" The trees hid the
+house from view until one almost stumbled upon it, and then the marsh
+and the broad vacant field stretched between it and the farm, and behind
+it was the river, its banks hidden by a thick growth of willows and
+alders, so that the cottage was not visible to a person coming along the
+river in a boat. There was not a sound to be heard anywhere except the
+zig-a-zig of the grasshoppers in the field and the swish of the hidden
+water as it flowed over the stones. "A grand place to have a secret
+meeting of the Winnebagos," said Sahwah to herself, "where we wouldn't
+always be interrupted by Ophelia pounding on the door and wanting to
+come in. I wonder if it's open?"
+
+She stepped up on the porch and tried the door. It was locked. She
+peered into the window. The room she saw was absolutely empty. She could
+not see whether there was a fireplace or not. She was seized with a
+desire to enter that cottage. It was deserted and tumble down and
+fascinating. Whoever owned it--if anyone did, for she was not sure
+whether it stood on the Smalley property or not--had evidently abandoned
+it to the elements. There was no harm at all in trying to get in. She
+pushed on the window. It apparently was also locked. But she pushed
+again and this time she heard a crack. The rotten wood was splitting
+away from the rusty catch. She pushed again and the window slid up. She
+stepped over the sill into the room.
+
+The window was so thick with dirt that the light seemed dim inside. At
+one end of the room there was an open fireplace, long unused, with the
+mortar falling out between the bricks. There was another door in the
+wall opposite the front door, so evidently there was another room
+beyond. This door was also locked, but the key was in the lock and it
+turned readily under her hand and the door swung open. Sahwah stood
+still in surprise. This room was as full of furniture as the other had
+been empty. Around all four walls stood cabinets and bookcases, and
+besides these there was a couch, a desk, a table and several chairs. The
+table was covered with screws, little wheels and the works of clocks,
+and before it sat an old man, busily working with them. He had on a
+long, shabby grey dressing-gown and a high silk hat on his head. He did
+not look up as she opened the door, but went right on working,
+apparently oblivious to her presence. She stared at him in amazement for
+a moment, and then, remembering her manners, realized that she had
+deliberately walked into a gentleman's room without knocking.
+
+"I beg your pardon," she said, in embarrassment, "I didn't know there
+was anyone here."
+
+The old man looked up and saw her standing in the doorway. "Come in,
+come in," he said, affably, in a deep voice. Sahwah took a step into the
+room. The old man went back to his wheels and rods and took no more
+notice of her.
+
+"What is that you're making?" asked Sahwah, curiously.
+
+"It's a long story," said the man, taking off his hat, pulling a
+handkerchief out of it and putting it back on his head, and then falling
+to work again.
+
+"Must be a genius," thought Sahwah, "that's what makes him act so
+queerly." She waited a few minutes in silence and then curiosity got the
+better of her. "Is it too long to tell?" she asked.
+
+"Eh? What's that?" asked the man, turning toward her. He took off his
+hat, put his handkerchief back in again and then put the hat back on his
+head.
+
+"I asked you," said Sahwah, politely, "if the story of what you are
+making is too long to tell."
+
+"Not at all, not at all," said the man, and resumed his work without
+another word.
+
+"How impolite!" thought Sahwah. "To urge me to stay and then refuse to
+answer my questions." Her eyes strayed around the room at the bookcases
+and cabinets. Every cabinet was filled with clocks or parts of clocks.
+The books as far as she could see were all about machinery. One was a
+book of such astounding width of binding that she leaned over to read
+the title. The letters were so faded that they were hardly visible. "L,"
+she read, "E, F, E----"
+
+"It's a machine for saving time," said the man at the table, so suddenly
+that Sahwah jumped.
+
+"How interesting!" she said. "How does it work?"
+
+The man fitted a rod into a wheel and apparently forgot her existence.
+She sat silent a few minutes more and then decided she had better go
+home. She rose softly to her feet. "It's something like a clock," said
+the man, without looking up from his work.
+
+"It's coming after all," she thought, and sat down again.
+
+After a silence of about five minutes the man spoke again. "It measures
+the time just like any clock," he explained, "only, as the minutes are
+ticked off, they are thrown into a little compartment at the side,--this
+thing," he said, holding up a little metal box. He lapsed into silence
+again and after an interval resumed where he had left off. "This
+compartment," he said, "holds just an hour, and when it is full a bell
+rings and the compartment opens automatically, throwing the block of
+time, carefully wrapped to prevent leakage of seconds, out into this
+basket." He took off his hat, brought out his handkerchief, polished a
+bit of glass with it, put it carefully back into the crown and replaced
+the hat on his head.
+
+It suddenly came over Sahwah that her ingenious host was not quite right
+in his mind, so rising abruptly she hastened out of the room. The man
+took no notice of her departure. She locked the door carefully after
+her, and went out by the window whence she had entered the house,
+pulling it shut from the outside. She did not undertake to cross the
+marsh again, but made a wide detour around it. When she was once more in
+the fallow field she looked back, but the house was invisible among the
+trees and bushes which surrounded it. As she sped past the rows of
+standing corn on her way home, Abner Smalley, bending low among them,
+saw her and straightened up with a suspicious look in his eyes. He
+glanced in the direction from which she had come. On one side was the
+empty field bordered by the marsh and the woody copse, and on the other
+was the path from the river which went in the direction of Onoway House.
+He breathed a sigh of relief. The girl had come from the direction of
+Onoway House, of course. The next day he put his bull to graze in the
+empty field before the copse. Then, in different places along the rail
+fence which enclosed this field he put signs reading: BEWARE THE BULL.
+HE IS UGLY.
+
+When the girls came back from town Sahwah told her discovery. "Nyoda,"
+said Gladys, suddenly, "do you suppose it could have been this man who
+threw the pepper at you?"
+
+"Perhaps," said Nyoda, and all the girls shuddered at the thought.
+Before Sahwah's discovery they had agreed among themselves to say
+nothing about the ghost episode to anyone outside the family, so that
+the perpetrator of the joke, if he were one of the farmer boys living
+near, would not have the satisfaction of knowing that they were wrought
+up about it. In the meantime they would send Tom to get acquainted with
+all the boys on the road and try to find out something about it from
+them.
+
+Calvin Smalley was over that evening and something was said about
+Sahwah's adventure of the afternoon. "Calvin," said Nyoda, directly,
+"who is the old man who lives in that house?"
+
+Calvin looked very much distressed, and frightened too, it must be
+admitted. Then he laughed, although to Nyoda his laugh seemed a trifle
+forced, and said in his usual straightforward manner, "The man in the
+old house among the trees? That is my great uncle Peter, grandfather's
+brother. He was something of an inventer and invented a time clock, but
+the patent was stolen by another and he never got the credit for
+inventing it. He worried about it until his mind became unbalanced. For
+years he has worked around with wheels and things, making strange
+contrivances for clocks. He is perfectly harmless and wouldn't hurt a
+fly. He will not live in a house with people and he will not leave the
+cottage he lives in even for an hour, he is so afraid something will
+happen to his machine while he is away. We don't like to have people
+know that he is there because they would say we ought to send him away,
+but Uncle Abner won't do that because Uncle Peter hates to be with folks
+and he might not be allowed to play with his machine in an institution
+the way he can here. So as long as he is happy what is the difference?
+But you know how country people talk. So would it be asking a great deal
+to request you not to say anything about this to anyone, not even the
+Landsdownes? If Uncle Abner ever found out you knew he would be very
+angry, and would sure think I told you. I don't see how you ever got in,
+anyway; the door is usually kept locked, and to all appearances the
+house is empty." Sahwah looked decidedly uncomfortable as she met the
+eyes of several of the girls, but no one mentioned the manner in which
+she had gained entrance. Inasmuch as she had pried into this secret she
+felt it was no more than right to promise to keep it.
+
+"All right, we won't say anything," she said, reassuringly. All the
+others gave an equally solemn promise, and were glad that Ophelia had
+heard none of the talk about the matter, for she had been over at the
+Landsdowne's since before Sahwah told her adventure. Little pitchers
+have wide mouths as well as big ears.
+
+The girls all looked at each other when Calvin asserted that his Uncle
+Peter never left the house even for an hour. Clearly then, he had not
+been the ghost.
+
+Migwan had bad dreams that night. Just before going to bed she had been
+reading a volume of Poe, which is not the most sleep producing
+literature known. She dreamed that she was lying awake in her bed,
+looking at a big square of moonlight on the floor, when suddenly a black
+shadow fell across it, and the figure of a monkey appeared on the
+windowsill, stood there a moment and then jumped into the room.
+Shuddering with fright she woke up, and could hardly rid herself of the
+impression of the dream, it had seemed so real. There was a big square
+of moonlight on the floor. "I must have seen it in my sleep," she
+thought, "it's exactly like the one in my dream." She lay wondering if
+it were possible to see things with your eyes closed, when all of a
+sudden her heart began to thump madly. Into the moonlight there was
+creeping a black shadow. It remained still for a few seconds, a
+grotesque-shaped thing with a long tail, and then something came
+hurtling through the window and landed on the floor beside the bed.
+Migwan gave a scream that roused the house. Hinpoha, starting up wildly,
+jumped from bed and landed squarely on the black specter on the floor.
+The form struggled and squirmed and sent forth a long wailing ME-OW-W-W.
+
+"What is the matter?" cried Nyoda and Gladys and Betty and Sahwah,
+running to the rescue.
+
+"It's a cat!" said Migwan, faintly. "I thought it was a monkey!"
+
+"Moral: Don't read Poe before going to bed," said Nyoda, while the rest
+shouted with laughter at the cause of Migwan's fright.
+
+"It must have jumped in from the tree," said Hinpoha. "I see our screen
+has fallen out."
+
+There was little sleep in the house the rest of the night. During the
+time when the screen was out of the window the room had filled with
+mosquitoes, which soon found their way to the rest of the rooms. "If you
+offered me the choice of sleeping in a room with a monkey or a swarm of
+mosquitoes, I believe I'd take the monkey," said Nyoda, slapping
+viciously. Altogether it was a heavy-eyed group that came down to
+breakfast the next morning.
+
+"What are we going to do to-day?" asked Gladys.
+
+"The usual thing," said Migwan, "pull weeds. That is, I am. You girls
+don't need to help all the time. I don't want you to think of my garden
+as merely a lot of weeds to be forever pulled. I want you to remember
+only the beautiful part of it."
+
+"We don't mind pulling weeds," cried the girls, stoutly, "it's fun when
+we all do it together," and they fell to work with a will.
+
+"I declare," said Migwan, "I have become so zealous in the pursuit of
+weeds that I mechanically start to pull them along the roadside. I
+actually believe that if a weed grew on my grave I'd rise up and
+eradicate it. I little thought when I proudly won an honor last summer
+for identifying ten different weeds that they'd get to haunting my
+dreams the way they do now. Now I know what people mean when they say
+'meaner than pusley.' It's the meanest thing I've ever dealt with. I cut
+off and pull up every trace of it one day and the next day there it is
+again, just as flourishing as ever."
+
+"I don't call that meanness," said Nyoda, "that's just cheerful
+persistence. Think what a success we'd all be in life if we got ahead in
+the face of obstacles in that way. If I didn't already have a perfectly
+good symbol I'd take pusley for mine. If it were edible I think I'd use
+it as an exclusive article of diet for a time and see if I couldn't
+absorb some of its characteristics."
+
+While she was talking Ophelia came along with a frog on a shovel, which
+she proceeded to throw over the fence. "Come back with that frog," said
+Migwan, "I need him in my business. Don't you know that frogs eat the
+insects off the plants and we have that many less to kill?" Ophelia was
+standing in the strong sunlight, and Nyoda noticed that the circle of
+light hair on her head was still golden clear to the roots, although the
+ringlets were visibly growing.
+
+"It must be a freak of Nature," she concluded, "for it certainly isn't
+bleached."
+
+Rest at Onoway House was again doomed to be broken that night. Nyoda had
+been peacefully sleeping for some time when she woke up at the touch of
+something cold upon her face. She started up and the feeling
+disappeared. She went to sleep again, thinking she had been dreaming.
+Soon the feeling came again, as of something cold lying on her forehead.
+She put up her hand and encountered a cold and knobby object. At her
+touch the thing--whatever it was--jumped away. She sprang out of bed and
+lit the lamp. The sight that met her eyes as she looked around the room
+made her pinch herself to see if she were really awake and not in the
+midst of some nightmare. All over the floor, chairs, table, beds, bureau
+and wash-stand sat frogs; big frogs, little frogs, medium-sized frogs;
+all goggling solemnly at her in the lamplight. She stared open mouthed
+at the apparition. Could this be another Plague of Frogs, she asked
+herself, such as was visited upon Pharaoh? At her horrified exclamation
+Gladys woke up, gave one look around the room and dove under the
+bedclothes with a wild yell. To her excited eyes it looked as if there
+were a million frogs in the room.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked Ophelia, sitting up in bed and staring around
+her sleepily.
+
+"Don't you see the frogs?" cried Nyoda.
+
+"Sure I see them," said Ophelia. "Aren't you glad I got so many?"
+
+"Ophelia!" gasped Nyoda, "did you bring those frogs in here?"
+
+"Betcher I did," said Ophelia, with pride, "and it took me most all
+afternoon to catch the whole sackful, too. What's wrong?" she asked, as
+she saw the expression on Nyoda's face. "Yer said they'd eat the bugs
+and yer made such a fuss about the mosquitoes last night that I brought
+the toads to eat them while we slept." Nyoda dropped limply into a
+chair. The inspirations of Ophelia surpassed anything she had ever read
+in fiction.
+
+If anybody has ever tried to catch a roomful of frogs that were not
+anxious to be caught they can appreciate the chase that went on at
+Onoway House that night. The first faint streaks of dawn were appearing
+in the sky before the family finally retired once more. Sufficient to
+say that Ophelia never set up another mosquito trap made of frogs.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.--THE WINNEBAGOS SCENT A PLOT.
+
+
+"Where are you going, my pretty maid, and why the step ladder?" said
+Nyoda to Migwan one morning. "Have your beans grown up so high over
+night that you have to climb a ladder to pick them?"
+
+"Come and see!" said Migwan, mysteriously. Nyoda followed her to the
+front lawn. Migwan set the ladder up beside a dead tree, from which the
+branches had been sawn, leaving a slender trunk about seven feet high.
+On top of this Migwan proceeded to nail a flat board.
+
+"Are you going to live on a pillar, like St. Simeon Stylites?" asked
+Nyoda, curiously, as Migwan mounted the ladder with a basin of water in
+her hand.
+
+"O come, Nyoda," said Migwan, "don't you know a bird bathtub when you
+see one?"
+
+"A bathtub, is it?" said Nyoda. "Now I breathe easily again. But why so
+extremely near the earth?"
+
+Migwan laughed at her chaffing. "You have to put them high up," she
+explained, "or else the cats get the birds when they are bathing. Mr.
+Landsdowne told me how to make it." The other girls wandered out and
+inspected the drinking fountain-bathtub. Hinpoha closed one eye and
+looked critically at the outfit.
+
+"Doesn't it strike you as being a little inharmonious?" she asked.
+"Black stump, unfinished wood platform, and blue enamel basin."
+
+"Paint the platform and basin dark green," said Sahwah, the practical.
+"There is some green paint down cellar, I saw it. Let me paint it. I can
+do that much for the birds, even if I didn't think of building them a
+drinking fountain." She sped after the paint and soon transformed the
+offending articles so that they blended harmoniously with the
+surroundings.
+
+"It's better now," said Nyoda, thoughtfully, "but it's still crude and
+unbeautiful. What is wrong?"
+
+"I know," said Hinpoha, the artistic one. "It's too bare. It looks like
+a hat without any trimming. What it needs is vines around it."
+
+"The very thing!" exclaimed Migwan. "I'll plant climbing nasturtiums and
+train them to go up the pole and wind around the basin, so it will look
+like a fountain."
+
+"Four heads are better than one," observed Nyoda, as the seeds were
+planted, "when they are all looking in the same direction."
+
+Just then a young man came up the path from the road. "May I use your
+telephone?" he asked, courteously raising his hat. He spoke with a
+slight foreign accent.
+
+"Certainly you may," said Migwan, going with him into the house. She
+could not help hearing what he said. He called up a number in town and
+when he had his connection, said, "This is Larue talking. We are going
+to do it on the Centerville Road. There is a river near." That was all.
+He rang off, thanked Migwan politely and walked off down the road. The
+incident was forgotten for a time.
+
+That afternoon Gladys was coming home in the automobile. At the turn in
+the road just before you came to Onoway House there was a car stalled.
+The driver, a young and pretty woman, was apparently in great perplexity
+what to do. "Can I help you?" asked Gladys, stopping her machine.
+
+"I don't know what's the matter," said the young woman, "but I can't get
+the car started. I'm afraid I'll have to be towed to a garage. Do you
+know of anyone around here who has a team of horses?"
+
+Gladys looked at the starting apparatus of the other car, but it was a
+different make from hers and she knew nothing about it. "Would you like
+to have me tow you to our barn?" she asked. "There is a man up the road
+who fixes automobiles for a great many people who drive through here and
+I could get him to come over."
+
+The young woman appeared much relieved. "If you would be so kind it
+would be a great favor," she said, "for I am in haste to-day."
+
+Gladys towed the car to the barn at Onoway House and phoned for the car
+tinker. The young woman, who introduced herself as Miss Mortimer, was a
+very pleasant person indeed, and quite won the hearts of the girls. She
+was delighted with Onoway House, both with the name and the house
+itself, and asked to be shown all over it, from garret to cellar. "How
+near that tree is to the window!" she said, as she looked out of the
+attic window into the branches of the big Balm of Gilead tree that grew
+beside the house, close to Migwan and Hinpoha's bedroom. It was much
+higher than the house and its branches drooped down on the roof. "How do
+you ever move about up here with all this furniture?" asked Miss
+Mortimer.
+
+"Oh," answered Migwan, "we never come up here."
+
+The barn likewise struck the visitor's fancy, with its big empty lofts,
+and she fell absolutely in love with the river. The girls took her for a
+ride on the raft, and she amused herself by sounding the depth of the
+water with the pole. They could see that she was experienced in handling
+boats from the way she steered the raft. The girls were so charmed with
+her that they felt a keen regret when the neighborhood tinker announced
+that the car was in running shape again.
+
+"I've had a lovely time, girls," said Miss Mortimer, shaking the hand of
+each in farewell. "I can't thank you enough."
+
+"Come and see us again, if you are ever passing this way," said Migwan,
+cordially.
+
+"You may possibly see me again," said Miss Mortimer, half to herself, as
+she got into her machine and drove away.
+
+There was no moon that night and the cloud-covered sky hinted at
+approaching rain, but Sahwah wanted to go out on the river on the raft,
+so Nyoda and Migwan and Hinpoha and Gladys went with her. It was too
+dark to play any kind of games and the girls were too tired and
+breathless from the hot day to sing, so they floated down-stream in lazy
+silence, watching the shapeless outlines made against the dull sky by
+the trees and bushes along the banks. On the other side of Farmer
+Landsdowne's place there was an abandoned farm. The house had stood
+empty for many years, its cheerless windows brooding in the sunlight and
+glaring in the moonlight. Just as they did with every other vacant
+house, the Winnebagos nicknamed this one the Haunted House, and vied
+with each other in describing the queer noises they had heard issuing
+from it and the ghosts they had seen walking up and down the porch. As
+they passed this place, gliding silently along the river, they were
+surprised to see an automobile standing beside the house, at the little
+side porch, in the shadow of a row of tall trees.
+
+"The ghosts are getting prosperous," whispered Migwan, "they have bought
+an automobile to do their nightly wandering in. Pretty soon we can't say
+that ghosts 'walk' any more. Ah, here come the ghosts."
+
+From the side door of the house came two men, who proceeded to lift
+various boxes from under the seats of the car and carry them into the
+house. Then they lifted out a small keg, which the girls could not help
+noticing they handled with greater care than they had the boxes. The
+wind was blowing toward the river, and the girls distinctly heard one
+man say to the other, "Be careful now, you know what will happen if we
+drop this."
+
+"I'm being as careful as I can," answered the second man.
+
+After a few seconds the first one spoke again. "When's Belle coming?"
+
+"She arrived in town to-day," said his partner.
+
+When they had gone into the house this time the machine suddenly drove
+away, revealing the presence of a third man at the wheel, whom the girls
+had not noticed before this. The two men stayed in the house.
+
+"What on earth can be happening there?" said Sahwah.
+
+"It certainly does look suspicious," said Nyoda.
+
+They waited there in the shadow of the willows for a long time to see
+what would happen next, but nothing did. The house stood blank and
+silent and apparently as empty as ever. Not a glimmer of light was
+visible anywhere. Sahwah and Nyoda were just on the point of getting
+into the rowboat, which had been tied on behind the raft, and towing the
+other girls back home, when their ears caught the sound of a faint
+splashing, like the sound made by the dipping of an oar. They were
+completely hidden from sight either up or down the river, for just at
+this point a portion of the bank had caved in, and the water filling up
+the hole had made a deep indentation in the shore line, and into this
+miniature bay the Tortoise-Crab had been steered. The thick willows
+along the bank formed a screen between them and the stream above and
+below. But they could look between the branches and see what was coming
+up stream, from the direction of the lake. It was a rowboat, containing
+two persons. The scudding clouds parted at intervals and the moon shone
+through, and by its fitful light they could see that one of these
+persons was a woman. When the rowboat was almost directly behind the
+house it came to a halt, only a few yards from the place where the
+Winnebagos lay concealed.
+
+"This is the house," said the man.
+
+"I told you the water was deep enough up this far," said the woman, in a
+tone of satisfaction. Just then the moon shone out for a brief instant,
+and the Winnebagos looked at each other in surprise. The woman, or
+rather the girl, in the rowboat was Miss Mortimer, who had been their
+guest only that day. The next moment she spoke. "We might as well go
+back now. There isn't anything more we can do. I just wanted to prove to
+you that it could be towed up the river this far without danger."
+
+"All right, Belle," replied the man, and at the sound of his voice
+Migwan pricked up her ears. There was something vaguely familiar about
+it; something which eluded her at the moment. The rowboat turned in the
+river and proceeded rapidly down-stream. The Winnebagos returned home,
+full of excitement and wonder.
+
+The barn at Onoway House stood halfway between the house and the river.
+As they landed from the raft and were tying it to the post they saw a
+man come out of the barn and disappear among the bushes that grew
+nearby. It was too dark to see him with any degree of distinctness.
+Gladys's thought leaped immediately to her car, which was left in the
+barn. "Somebody's trying to steal the car!" she cried, and they all
+hastened to the barn. The automobile stood undisturbed in its place.
+They made a hasty search with lanterns, but as far as they could see,
+none of the gardening tools were missing. Satisfied that no damage had
+been done, they went into the house.
+
+"Probably a tramp," said Mrs. Gardiner, when the facts were told her.
+"He evidently thought he would sleep in the barn, and then changed his
+mind for some reason or other."
+
+Migwan lay awake a long time trying to place the voice of the man in the
+rowboat. Just as she was sinking off to sleep it came to her. The voice
+she had heard in the darkness had a slightly foreign accent, and was the
+voice of the man who had used the telephone that morning.
+
+Sometime during the night Onoway House was wakened by the sounds of a
+terrific thunder storm. The girls flew around shutting windows. After a
+few minutes of driving rain against the window panes the sound changed.
+It became a sharp clattering. "Hail!" said Sahwah.
+
+"Oh, my young plants!" cried Migwan. "They will be pounded to pieces."
+
+"Cover them with sheets and blankets!" suggested Nyoda. With their
+accustomed swiftness of action the Winnebagos snatched up everything in
+the house that was available for the purpose and ran out into the
+garden, and spread the covers over the beds in a manner which would keep
+the tender young plants from being pounded to pieces by the hailstones.
+Migwan herself ran down to the farthest bed, which was somewhat
+separated from the others. As she raced to save it from destruction she
+suddenly ran squarely into someone who was standing in the garden. She
+had only time to see that it was a man, when, with a muffled exclamation
+of alarm he disappeared into space. Disappeared is the only word for it.
+He did not run, he never reached the cover of the bushes; he simply
+vanished off the face of the earth. One moment he was and the next
+moment he was not. Much excited, Migwan ran back to the others and told
+her story, only to be laughed at and told she was seeing things and had
+lurking men on the brain. The thing was so queer and uncanny that she
+began to wonder herself if she had been fully awake at the time, and if
+she might not possibly have dreamed the whole thing.
+
+The morning dawned fresh and fair after the shower, green and gold with
+the sun on the garden, and Migwan's delight at finding the tender little
+plants unharmed, thanks to their timely covering, was inclined to thrust
+the mysterious goings-on at the empty house the night before into
+secondary place in her mind. But she was not allowed to forget it, for
+it was the sole topic of conversation at the breakfast table. Gladys,
+with her nose buried in the morning paper, suddenly looked up. "Listen
+to this," she said, and then began to read: "Another dynamite plot
+unearthed. Society for the purpose of assassinating men prominent in
+affairs and dynamiting large buildings discovered in attempt to blow up
+the Court House. An attempt to blow up the new Court House was
+frustrated yesterday when George Brown, one of the custodians, saw a man
+crouching in the engine room and ordered him out. A search revealed the
+fact that dynamite had been placed on the floor and attached to a fuse.
+On being arrested the man confessed that he was a member of the famous
+Venoti gang, operating in the various large cities. The man is being
+held without bail, but the head of the gang, Dante Venoti, is still at
+large, and so is his wife, Bella, who aids him in all his activities. No
+clue to their whereabouts can be found."
+
+"Do you suppose," said Gladys, laying the paper down, "that those men we
+saw last night could belong to that gang? You remember how carefully
+they carried the keg into the house, as if it contained some explosive.
+They couldn't have any business there or they wouldn't have come at
+night. And they called the woman in the boat 'Belle,' or it might have
+been 'Bella.'"
+
+"And that man in the boat was the same one who came here and used the
+telephone yesterday morning," said Migwan. "I couldn't help noticing his
+foreign accent. He said, 'We are going to do it on the Centerville Road.
+There is a river near.' What are they going to do on the Centerville
+Road?"
+
+The garden work was neglected while the girls discussed the matter. "And
+the man we saw coming out of the barn when we came home," said Sahwah,
+"he probably had something to do with it, too."
+
+"And the man I saw in the garden in the middle of the night," said
+Migwan.
+
+"If you _did_ see a man," said Nyoda, somewhat doubtfully. Migwan did
+not insist upon her story. What was the use, when she had no proof, and
+the thing had been so uncanny?
+
+They were all moved to real grief over the fact that the delightful Miss
+Mortimer should have a hand in such a dark business--in fact, was
+undoubtedly the famous Bella Venoti herself. "I can't believe it," said
+Migwan, "she was so jolly and friendly, and was so charmed with Onoway
+House."
+
+"I wonder why she wanted to go through it from attic to cellar," said
+Sahwah, shrewdly. "Could she have had some purpose? _Migwan!_" she
+cried, jumping up suddenly, "don't you remember that she said, 'How near
+that tree is to the window'? Could she have been thinking that it would
+be easy to climb in there? And when she asked how we ever moved about
+with all that furniture up there, you said, 'We never come up here'!
+Don't you see what we've done? We've given her a chance to look the
+house over and find a place where people could hide if they wanted to,
+and as much as told her that they would be safe up here because we never
+came up."
+
+Consternation reigned at this speech of Sahwah's. The girls remembered
+the incident only too well. "I'll never be able to trust anyone again,"
+said Migwan, near to tears, for she had conceived a great liking for the
+young woman she had known as "Miss Mortimer."
+
+"Do you remember," pursued Sahwah, "how she took the pole of the raft
+and found out how deep the water was all along, and then afterwards she
+said to the man in the boat, 'I told you it was deep enough.' Everything
+she did at our house was a sort of investigation."
+
+"But it was only by accident that she got to Onoway House in the first
+place," said Gladys. "All she did was ask me to tell her where she could
+get a team of horses to tow her to a garage. She didn't know I belonged
+to Onoway House. It was I who brought her here, and she only stayed
+because we asked her to. It doesn't look as if she had any serious
+intentions of investigating the neighborhood. She said she was in a
+hurry to go on." Migwan brightened visibly at this. She clutched eagerly
+at any hope that Miss Mortimer might be innocent after all.
+
+"How do you know that that breakdown in the road was accidental?" asked
+Nyoda. "And how can you be sure that she didn't know you came from
+Onoway House? She may have been looking for a pretense to come here and
+you played right into her hands by offering to tow her into the barn."
+Migwan's hope flickered and went out.
+
+"And the man in the barn," said Sahwah, knowingly, "he might have come
+to look the automobile over and become familiar with the way the barn
+door opened, so he could get into the car and drive away in a hurry if
+he wanted to get away." Taken all in all, there was only one conclusion
+the girls could come to, and that was that there was something
+suspicious going on in the neighborhood, and it looked very much as if
+the Venoti gang were hiding explosives in the empty house and were
+planning to bring something else; what it was they could not guess. At
+all events, something must be done about it. Nyoda called up the police
+in town and told briefly what they had seen and heard, and was told that
+plain clothes men would be sent out to watch the empty house. When she
+described the man who had called and used the telephone, the police
+officer gave an exclamation of satisfaction.
+
+"That description fits Venoti closely," he said. "He used to have a
+mustache, but he could very easily have shaved it off. It's very
+possible that it was he. He's done that trick before; asked to use
+people's telephones as a means of getting into the house."
+
+The girls thrilled at the thought of having seen the famous anarchist so
+close. "Hadn't we better tell the Landsdownes about it?" asked Migwan.
+"They are in a better position to watch that house from their windows
+than we are."
+
+"You're right," said Nyoda. "And we ought to tell the Smalleys, too, so
+they will be on their guard and ready to help the police if it is
+necessary."
+
+"I hate to go over there," said Migwan, "I don't like Mr. Smalley."
+
+"That has nothing to do with it," said Nyoda, firmly. "The fact that he
+is fearfully stingy and grasping has no bearing on this case. He has a
+right to know it if his property is in danger." And she proceeded
+forthwith to the Red House.
+
+Mr. Smalley was inclined to pooh-pooh the whole affair as the
+imagination of a houseful of women. "Saw a man running out of your barn,
+did you?" he asked, showing some interest in this part of the tale.
+"Well now, come to think of it," he said, "I saw someone sneaking around
+ours too, last night. But I didn't think much of it. That's happened
+before. It's usually chicken thieves. I keep a big dog in the barn and
+they think twice about breaking in after they hear him bark, and you
+haven't any chickens, that's why nothing was touched." It was a very
+simple explanation of the presence of the man in the barn, but still it
+did not satisfy Nyoda. She could not help connecting it in some way with
+the occurrences in the vacant house.
+
+Mr. Landsdowne was very much interested and excited at the story when it
+was told to him. "There's probably a whole lot more to it than we know,"
+he said, getting out his rifle and beginning to clean it. "There's more
+going on in this country in the present state of affairs than most
+people dream of. You have notified the police? That's good; I guess
+there won't be many more secret doings in the empty house."
+
+As Nyoda and Migwan went home from the Landsdownes they passed a
+telegraph pole in the road on which a man was working. Silhouetted
+against the sky as he was they could see his actions clearly. He was
+holding something to his ear which looked like a receiver, and with the
+other hand he was writing something down in a little book. Migwan looked
+at him curiously; then she started. "Nyoda," she said, in a whisper,
+"that is the same man who used our telephone. That is Dante Venoti
+himself." As if conscious that they were looking at him, the man on the
+pole put down the pencil, and drawing his cap, which had a large visor,
+down over his face, he bent his head so they could not get another look
+at his features. "That's the man, all right," said Migwan. "What do you
+suppose he is doing?"
+
+"It looks," said Nyoda, judicially, "as if he were tapping the wires for
+messages that are expected to pass at this time. Possibly you did not
+notice it, but I began to look at that man as soon as we stepped into
+the road from Landsdowne's, and I saw him look at his watch and then
+hastily put the receiver to his ear."
+
+"Oh, I hope the police from town will come soon," said Migwan, hopping
+nervously up and down in the road.
+
+"Until they do come we had better keep a close watch on what goes on
+around here," said Nyoda. Accordingly the Winnebagos formed themselves
+into a complete spy system. Migwan and Gladys and Betty and Tom took
+baskets and picked the raspberries that grew along the road as an excuse
+for watching the road and the front of the house, while Nyoda and Sahwah
+and Hinpoha took the raft and patrolled the river. As the girls in the
+road watched, the man climbed down from the pole, walked leisurely past
+them, went up the path to the empty house and seated himself calmly on
+the front steps, fanning himself with his hat, apparently an innocent
+line man taking a rest from the hot sun at the top of his pole.
+
+"He's afraid to go in with us watching him," whispered Migwan. Just then
+a large automobile whirled by, stirring up clouds of dust, which
+temporarily blinded the girls. When they looked again toward the house
+the "line man" had vanished from the steps. "He's gone inside!" said
+Migwan, when they saw without a doubt that he was nowhere in sight
+outdoors.
+
+Meanwhile the girls on the raft, who had been keeping a sharp lookout
+down-stream with a pair of opera glasses, saw something approaching in
+the distance which arrested their attention. For a long time they could
+not make out what it was--it looked like a shapeless black mass. Then as
+they drew nearer they saw what was coming, and an exclamation of
+surprise burst from each one. It was a structure like a portable garage
+on a raft, towed by a launch. As it drew nearer still they could make
+out with the opera glasses that the person at the wheel was a woman, and
+that woman was Bella Venoti.
+
+The hasty arrival of an automobile full of armed men who jumped out in
+front of the "vacant" house frightened the girls in the road nearly out
+of their wits, until they realized that these were the plain clothes men
+from town. After sizing up the house from the outside the men went up
+the path to the porch. The girls were watching them with a fascinated
+gaze, and no one saw the second automobile that was coming up the road
+far in the distance. One of the plain clothes men, who seemed to be the
+leader of the group, rapped sharply on the door of the house. There was
+no answer. He rapped again. This time the door was flung wide open from
+the inside. The girls could see that the man in the doorway was Dante
+Venoti. The officer of the law stepped forward. "Your little game is up,
+Dante Venoti," he said, quietly, "and you are under arrest."
+
+Dante Venoti looked at him in open-mouthed astonishment. "Vatevaire do
+you mean?" he gasped. "I am under arrest? Has ze law stop ze production?
+Chambers, Chambers," he called over his shoulder, "come here queek. Ze
+police has stop' ze production!"
+
+A tall, lanky, decidedly American looking individual appeared in the
+doorway behind him. "What the deuce!" he exclaimed, at the sight of all
+the men on the porch. At this moment the second automobile drove up,
+followed by a third and a fourth. A large number of men and women
+dismounted and ran up the path to the house.
+
+"Caruthers! Simpson! Jimmy!" shouted Venoti, excitedly to the latest
+arrivals, "ze police has stop ze production!"
+
+"What do you know about it!" exclaimed someone in the crowd of
+newcomers, evidently one of those addressed. "Where's Belle?"
+
+"She is bringing zeze caboose! Up ze rivaire!" cried the black haired
+man, wringing his hands in distress.
+
+The plain clothes men looked over the band of people that stood around
+him. There was nothing about them to indicate their desperate character.
+Instead of being Italians as they had expected, they seemed to be mostly
+Americans. The leader of the policemen suddenly looked hard at Venoti.
+"Say," he said, "you look like a Dago, but you don't talk like one. Who
+are you, anyway?"
+
+"I am Felix Larue," said the black haired man, "I am ze director of ze
+Great Western Film Company, and zeze are all my actors. We have rent zis
+house and farm for ze production of ze war play 'Ze Honor of a Soldier.'
+Last night we bring some of ze properties to ze house; zey are very
+valuable, and Chambers and Bushbower here zey stay in ze house wiz zem."
+
+The plain clothes men looked at each other and started to grin. Migwan
+and Gladys, who had joined the company on the porch, suddenly felt
+unutterably foolish. "But what were you doing on top of the pole?"
+faltered Migwan.
+
+Mr. Larue turned his eyes toward her. He recognized her as the girl who
+had allowed him to use her telephone the day before, and favored her
+with a polite bow. "Me," he said, "I play ze part of ze spy in ze
+piece--ze villain. I tap ze wire and get ze message. I was practice for
+ze part zis morning." He turned beseechingly to the policeman who had
+questioned him. "Zen you will not stop ze production?" he asked.
+
+"Heavens, no," answered the policeman. "We were going to arrest you for
+an anarchist, that's all."
+
+The company of actors were dissolving into hysterical laughter, in which
+the plain clothes men joined sheepishly. Just then a young woman came
+around the house from the back, followed at a short distance by Nyoda,
+Sahwah and Hinpoha. Seeing the crowd in front she stopped in surprise.
+Larue went to the edge of the porch and called to her reassuringly.
+"Come on, Belle," he called, gaily. When she was up on the porch he took
+her by the hand and led her forward. "Permit me to introduce my fellow
+conspirator," he said, in a theatrical manner and with a low bow. "Zis
+is Belle Mortimer, ze leading lady of ze Great Western Film Company!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.--MOVING PICTURES.
+
+
+The Winnebagos looked at each other speechlessly. Belle Mortimer, the
+famous motion picture actress, whom they had seen on the screen dozens
+of times, and for whom Migwan had long entertained a secret and
+devouring adoration! Not Bella Venoti at all! "Did you ever?" gasped
+Sahwah.
+
+"No, I never," answered the Winnebagos, in chorus.
+
+Miss Mortimer recognized her hostesses of the day before and greeted
+them warmly. "My kind friends from Onoway House," she called them. The
+Winnebagos were embarrassed to death to have to explain how they had
+spied on the vacant house and thought the famous Venoti gang was at
+work, and were themselves responsible for the presence of the policemen.
+
+"I never _heard_ of anything so funny," she said, laughing until the
+tears came. "I _never_ heard of anything so funny!" The plain clothes
+men departed in their automobile, disappointed at not having made the
+grand capture they had expected to. "Would you like to stay with us for
+the day and watch us work?" asked Miss Mortimer.
+
+"Oh, could we?" breathed Migwan. She was in the seventh heaven at the
+thought of being with Belle Mortimer so long. Then followed a day of
+delirious delight. To begin with, the Winnebagos were introduced to the
+whole company, many of whose names were familiar to them. Felix Larue,
+having gotten over the fright he had received when he thought the piece
+was going to be suppressed by the police for some unaccountable reason,
+was all smiles and amiability, and explained anything the girls wanted
+to know about. The piece was a very exciting one, full of thrilling
+incidents and danger, and the girls were held spellbound at the physical
+feats which some of those actors performed. The house on the raft was
+explained as the play progressed. It was filled with soldiers and towed
+up the river, to all appearances merely a garage being moved by its
+owner. But when a dispatch bearer of the enemy, whose family lived in
+the house, stopped to see them while he was carrying an important
+message, the soldiers rushed out from the garage, sprang ashore, seized
+the man along with the message and carried him away in the launch, which
+had been cut away from the raft while the capture was being made. Migwan
+thought of the tame little plots she had written the winter before and
+was filled with envy at the creator of this stirring play.
+
+It took a whole week to make the film of "The Honor of a Soldier" and in
+that time the girls saw a great deal of Miss Mortimer. And one blessed
+night she stayed at Onoway House with them, instead of motoring back to
+the city with the rest of the company. Just as Migwan was dying of
+admiration for her, so she was attracted by this dreamy-eyed girl with
+the lofty brow. In a confidential moment Migwan confessed that she had
+written several motion picture plays the winter before, all of which had
+been rejected. "Do you mind if I see them?" asked Miss Mortimer. Much
+embarrassed, Migwan produced the manuscripts, written in the form
+outlined in the book she had bought. Miss Mortimer read them over
+carefully, while Migwan awaited her verdict with a beating heart.
+
+"Well?" she asked, when Miss Mortimer had finished reading them.
+
+"Who told you to put them in this form?" asked Miss Mortimer.
+
+"I learned it from a book," answered Migwan. "What do you think of
+them?" she asked, impatient for Miss Mortimer's opinion.
+
+"The idea in one of them is good, very good," said Miss Mortimer. "This
+one called 'Jerry's Sister.' But you have really spoiled it in the
+development. It takes a person familiar with the production of a film to
+direct the movements of the actors intelligently. If Mr. Larue, for
+example, had developed that piece it would be a very good one. Would you
+be willing to sell just the idea, if Mr. Larue thinks he can use it?"
+
+Migwan had never thought of this before. "Why, yes," she said, "I
+suppose I would. It's certainly no good to me as it is."
+
+"Let me take it to Mr. Larue," said Miss Mortimer. "I'm sure he will see
+the possibilities in it just as I have." Migwan was in a transport of
+delight to think that her idea at least had found favor with Miss
+Mortimer. Miss Mortimer was as good as her word and showed the play to
+Mr. Larue and he agreed with her that it could be developed into a
+side-splitting farce comedy. Migwan was more intoxicated with that first
+sale of the labors of her pen than she was at any future successes,
+however great. Deeply inspired by this recognition of her talent, she
+evolved an exciting plot from the incidents which had just occurred,
+namely, the mistaking of the moving picture company for the Venoti gang.
+She kept it merely in plot form, not trying to develop it, and Mr. Larue
+accepted this one also. After this second success, even though the price
+she received for the two plots was not large, the future stretched out
+before Migwan like a brilliant rainbow, with a pot of gold under each
+end.
+
+Miss Mortimer soon discovered that the Winnebagos were a group of Camp
+Fire Girls, and she immediately had an idea. When "The Honor of a
+Soldier" was finished Mr. Larue was going to produce a piece which
+called for a larger number of people than the company contained, among
+them a group of Camp Fire Girls. He intended hiring a number of "supers"
+for this play. "Why not hire the Winnebagos?" said Miss Mortimer. And so
+it was arranged. Medmangi and Nakwisi and Chapa, the other three
+Winnebagos, were notified to join the ranks, and excitement ran high. To
+be in a real moving picture! It is true that they had nothing special to
+do, just walk through the scene in one place and sit on the ground in a
+circle in another, but there was not a single girl who did not hope that
+her conduct on that occasion would lead Mr. Larue into hiring her as a
+permanent member of the company.
+
+Especially Sahwah. The active, strenuous life of a motion picture
+actress attracted her more than anything just now. She longed to be in
+the public eye and achieve fame by performing thrilling feats. She saw
+herself in a thousand different positions of danger, always the heroine.
+Now she was diving for a ring dropped into the water from the hand of a
+princess; now she was trapped in a burning building; now she was riding
+a wild horse. But always she was the idol of the company, and the idol
+of the moving picture audiences, and the envy of all other actresses.
+She would receive letters from people all over the country and her
+picture would be in the papers and in the magazines, and her name would
+be featured on the colored posters in front of the theatres. Managers
+would quarrel over her and she would be offered a fabulous salary. All
+this Sahwah saw in her mind's eye as the future which was waiting for
+her, for since meeting Miss Mortimer she really meant to be a motion
+picture actress when she was through school. She felt in her heart that
+she could show people a few things when it came to feats of action. She
+simply could not wait for the day when the Winnebagos were to be in the
+picture. When the play was produced in the city theatres her friends
+would recognize her, and Oh joy!--here her thoughts became too gay to
+think.
+
+The play in question was staged, not on the Centerville road, but in one
+of the city parks, where there were hills and formal gardens and an
+artificial lake, which were necessary settings. The day arrived at last.
+News had gone abroad that a motion picture play was to be staged in that
+particular park and a curious crowd gathered to watch the proceedings.
+Sahwah felt very splendid and important as she stood in the company of
+the actors. She knew that the crowd did not know that she was just in
+that one play as a filler-in; to them she was really and truly a member
+of this wonderful company--a real moving picture actress. Gazing over the
+crowd with an air of indifference, she suddenly saw one face that sent
+the blood racing to her head. That was Marie Lanning, the girl whom
+Sahwah had defeated so utterly in the basketball game the winter before,
+and who had tried such underhand means to put her out of the game.
+Sahwah felt that her triumph was complete. Marie was just the kind of
+girl who would nearly die of envy to see her rival connected with
+anything so conspicuous.
+
+The picture began; progressed; the time came for the march of the Camp
+Fire Girls down the steep hill. Sahwah stood straight as a soldier; the
+supreme moment had come. Now Mr. Larue would see that she stood out from
+all the other girls in ability to act; that moment was to be the making
+of her fortune. She glanced covertly at Marie Lanning. Marie had
+recognized her and was staring at her with unbelieving, jealous eyes.
+The march began. Sahwah held herself straighter still, if that were
+possible, and began the descent. It was hard going because it was so
+steep, but she did not let that spoil her upright carriage. She was just
+in the middle of the line, which was being led by Nyoda, and could see
+that the girls in front of her were getting out of step and breaking the
+unity of the line in their efforts to preserve their balance. Not so
+Sahwah. She saw Mr. Larue watching her and she knew he was comparing her
+with the rest. Her fancy broke loose again and she had a premonition of
+her future triumphs. The sight of the camera turned full on her gave her
+a sense of elation beyond words. It almost intoxicated her. Halfway down
+the hill Sahwah, with her head full of day-dreams, stepped on a loose
+stone which turned under her foot, throwing her violently forward. She
+fell against Hinpoha, who was in front of her. Hinpoha, utterly
+unprepared for this impetus from the rear, lost her balance completely
+and crashed into Gladys. Gladys was thrown against Nyoda, and the whole
+four of them went down the hill head over heels for all the world like a
+row of dominoes.
+
+Down at the bottom of the hill stood the hero and heroine of the piece,
+namely, Miss Mortimer and Chambers, the leading man, and as the
+landslide descended it engulfed them and the next moment there was a
+heap of players on the ground in a tangled mass. It took some minutes to
+extricate them, so mixed up were they. Mr. Larue hastened to the spot
+with an exclamation of very excusable impatience. Several dozen feet of
+perfectly good film had been spoiled and valuable time wasted. The
+players got to their feet again unhurt, and the watching crowd shouted
+with laughter. Sahwah was ready to die of chagrin and mortification. She
+had spoiled any chances she had ever had of making a favorable
+impression on Mr. Larue; but this was the least part of it. There in the
+crowd was Marie Lanning laughing herself sick at this fiasco of Sahwah's
+playing. Good-natured Mr. Chambers was trying to soothe the
+embarrassment of the Winnebagos and make them laugh by declaring he had
+lost his breath when he was knocked over and when he got it back he
+found it wasn't his, but Sahwah refused to be comforted. She had
+disgraced herself in the public eye. Breaking away from the group she
+ran through the crowd with averted face, in spite of calls to come back,
+and kept on running until she had reached the edge of the park and the
+street car line. Boarding a car, she went back to Onoway House, wishing
+miserably that she had never been born, or had died the winter before in
+the coasting accident. Her ambition to be a motion picture actress died
+a violent death right then and there. So the march of the Camp Fire
+Girls had to be done over again without Sahwah, and was consummated this
+time without accident.
+
+When Sahwah reached Onoway House she wished with all her heart that she
+hadn't come back there. She had done it mechanically, not knowing where
+else to go. At the time her only thought had been to get away from the
+crowd and from Mr. Larue; now she hated to face the Winnebagos. She was
+glad that no one was at home, for Mrs. Gardiner had taken Betty and Tom
+and Ophelia to see the play acted. As she went around the back of the
+house she came face to face with Mr. Smalley, who was just going up on
+the back porch. He seemed just as surprised to see her as she was to see
+him, so Sahwah thought, but he was friendly enough and asked if the
+Gardiners were at home. When Sahwah said no, he said, "Then possibly
+they wouldn't mind if you gave me what I wanted. I came over to see if
+they would lend me their wheel hoe, as mine is broken and will have to
+be sent away to be fixed, and I have a big job of hoeing that ought to
+be done to-day." Sahwah knew that Migwan would not refuse to do a
+neighborly kindness like that as long as they were not using the tool
+themselves, and willingly lent it to him.
+
+She was still in great distress of mind over the ridiculous incident of
+the morning and did not want to see the other girls when they came home.
+So taking a pillow and a book, she wandered down the river path to a
+quiet shady spot among the willows and spent the afternoon in solitude.
+When the other girls returned home Sahwah was nowhere to be found. This
+did not greatly surprise them, however, for they were used to her
+impetuous nature and knew she was hiding somewhere. Hinpoha and Gladys
+were up-stairs removing the dust of the road from their faces and hands
+when they heard a stealthy footstep overhead. "She's hiding in the
+attic!" said Hinpoha.
+
+"She'll melt up there," said Gladys, "it must be like an oven. Let's
+coax her down and don't any of us say a word about the play. She must
+feel terrible about it."
+
+So it was agreed among the girls that no mention of Sahwah's mishap
+should be made, and Hinpoha went to the foot of the attic stairs and
+called up: "Come on down, Sahwah, we're all going out on the river."
+There was no answer. Hinpoha called again: "Please come, Sahwah, we need
+you to steer the raft." Still no answer. Hinpoha went up softly. She
+thought she could persuade Sahwah to come down if none of the others
+were around. But when she reached the top of the stairs there was no
+sign of Sahwah anywhere. The place was stifling, and Hinpoha gasped for
+breath. Sahwah must be hiding among the old furniture. Hinpoha moved
+things about, raising clouds of dust that nearly choked her, and calling
+to Sahwah. No answer came, and she did not find Sahwah hidden among any
+of the things. Gladys came up to see what was going on, followed by
+Migwan.
+
+"She doesn't seem to be up here after all," said Hinpoha, pausing to
+take breath. "It's funny; I certainly thought I heard someone up here."
+
+"Don't you remember the time I thought I heard someone up here in the
+night and you said it was the noise made by rats or mice?" asked Migwan.
+"It was probably that same thing again."
+
+"It must have been," said Hinpoha.
+
+"Maybe it was the ghost of that Mrs. Waterhouse, who died before she had
+her attic cleaned, and comes back to move the furniture," said Gladys.
+In spite of its being daylight an unearthly thrill went through the
+veins of the girls. The whole thing was so mysterious and uncanny.
+
+Migwan was looking around the attic. "Who broke that window?" she asked,
+suddenly. The side window, the one near the Balm of Gilead tree, was
+shattered and lay in pieces on the floor.
+
+"It wasn't broken the day we brought Miss Mortimer up," said Gladys. "It
+must have happened since then."
+
+"There must have been someone up here to-day," said Migwan. "Do you
+suppose--" here she stopped.
+
+"Suppose what?" asked Hinpoha.
+
+"Do you suppose," continued Migwan, "that Sahwah was up here and broke
+it accidentally and is afraid to show herself on account of it?"
+
+"Maybe," said Hinpoha, "but Sahwah's not the one to try to cover up
+anything like that. She'd offer to pay for the damage and it wouldn't
+worry her five minutes."
+
+"It may have been broken the night of the storm," said Nyoda, who had
+arrived on the scene. "If I remember rightly, we opened it when Miss
+Mortimer was up here, and as it is only held up by a nail and a rope
+hanging down from the ceiling, it could easily have been torn loose in
+such a wind as that and slammed down against the casement and broken. We
+were so excited trying to cover up the plants that we did not hear the
+crash, if indeed, we could have heard it in that thunder at all."
+
+This seemed such a plausible explanation that the girls accepted it
+without question and dismissed the matter from their minds. Descending
+from the hot attic they went out on the river on the raft. As it drew
+near supper time they feared that Sahwah would stay away and miss her
+supper, and they knew that she would have to show herself sometime, so
+they determined to have it over with so Sahwah could eat her supper in
+peace. On the path along the river they found her handkerchief and knew
+that she was somewhere near the water. They called and called, but she
+did not answer. "I know what will bring her from her hiding-place," said
+Nyoda. She unfolded her plan and the girls agreed. They poled the raft
+back to the landing-place and got on shore. Then they set Ophelia on the
+raft all alone and sent it down-stream, telling her to scream at the top
+of her voice as if she were frightened. Ophelia obeyed and set up such a
+series of ear-splitting shrieks as she floated down the river that it
+was hard to believe that she was not in mortal terror. The scheme worked
+admirably. Sahwah heard the screams and peered through the bushes to see
+what was happening. She saw Ophelia alone on the raft and no one else in
+sight, and thought, of course, that she was afraid and ran out to
+reassure her. She took hold of the tow line and pulled the raft back to
+the landing-place.
+
+"Whatever made you so scared?" she asked, as Ophelia stepped on terra
+firma.
+
+"Pooh, I wasn't scared at all," said Ophelia, grandly. "They told me to
+scream so you'd come out." So Sahwah knew the trick that had been
+practised on her, but instead of being pleased to think that the girls
+wanted her with them so badly she was more irritated than before. There
+was no further use of hiding; she had to go into the house now and eat
+her supper with the rest. The meal was not such a trial for her as she
+had anticipated, because no one mentioned the subject of moving
+pictures, or acted as if anything had happened at all. After supper
+Nyoda brought out a magazine showing pictures of the Rocky Mountains and
+the girls gave this their strict attention. Nyoda read aloud the
+descriptions that went with the pictures. In one place she read: "The
+barren aspect of the hillside is due to a landslide which swept
+everything before it."
+
+At this Migwan's thoughts went back to the scene on the hillside that
+day, when the human landslide was in progress. Now Migwan, in spite of
+her serious appearance, had a sense of humor which at times got the
+upper hand of her altogether. The memory of those figures rolling down
+the hill was too much for her and she dissolved abruptly into hysterical
+laughter. She vainly tried to control it and buried her face in her
+handkerchief, but it was no use. The harder she tried to stop laughing
+the harder she laughed. "Oh," she gasped, "I never saw anything so funny
+as when you rolled against Miss Mortimer and Mr. Chambers and knocked
+them off their feet."
+
+After Migwan's hysterical outburst the rest could not restrain their
+laughter either, and Sahwah became the butt of all the humorous remarks
+that had been accumulating in the minds of the rest. If it had been
+anyone else but Migwan who had started them off, Sahwah would possibly
+have forgiven that one, but since selling her two plots to Mr. Larue
+Migwan had been holding her head pretty high. That Migwan had succeeded
+in her end of the motion picture business when she had failed in hers
+galled Sahwah to death and she fancied that Migwan was trying to "rub it
+in."
+
+"I hope everything I do will cause you as much pleasure," she said
+stiffly. "I suppose nothing could make you happier than to see me do
+something ridiculous every day." Sahwah had slipped off her balance
+wheel altogether.
+
+Migwan sobered up when she heard Sahwah's injured tone. She never
+dreamed Sahwah had taken the occurrence so much to heart. It was not her
+usual way. "Please don't be angry, Sahwah," she said, contritely. "I
+just couldn't help laughing. You know how light headed I am."
+
+But Sahwah would have none of her apology. "I'll leave you folks to have
+as much fun over it as you please," she said coldly, rising and going
+up-stairs.
+
+Migwan was near to tears and would have gone after her, but Nyoda
+restrained her. "Let her alone," she advised, "and she'll come out of it
+all the sooner."
+
+Sahwah was herself again in the morning as far as the others were
+concerned, but she still treated Migwan somewhat coldly and it was
+evident that she had not forgiven her.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.--A CANNING EPISODE.
+
+
+Three times every week Migwan had been making the trip to town with a
+machine-load of vegetables, which was disposed of to an ever growing
+list of customers. Thanks to the early start the garden had been given
+by Mr. Mitchell, and the constant care it received at the hands of
+Migwan and her willing helpers, Migwan always managed to bring out her
+produce a day or so in advance of most of the other growers in the
+neighborhood and so could command a better price at first than she could
+have if she had arrived on the scene at flood tide. After every trip
+there was a neat little sum to put in the old cocoa can which Migwan
+used as a bank until there was enough accumulated to make a real bank
+deposit. The asparagus had passed beyond its vegetable days and had
+grown up in tall feathery shoots that made a pretty sight as they stood
+in a long row against the fence. The new strawberry plants had taken
+root and were growing vigorously; the cucumbers were thriving like fat
+babies. The squashes and melons were running a race, as Sahwah said, to
+see which could hold up the most fruit on their vines; the corn-stalks
+stood straight and tall, holding in their arms their firstborn, silky
+tassel-capped children, like proud young fathers.
+
+But it was the tomato bed in which Migwan's dearest hopes were bound up.
+The frames sagged with exhaustion at the task of holding up the weight
+of crimsoning globes that hung on the vines. Migwan tended this bed as a
+mother broods over a favorite child, fingering over the leaves for
+loathsome tomato worms, spraying the plants to keep away diseases, and
+cultivating the ground around the roots. All suckers were ruthlessly
+snipped off as soon as they grew, so that the entire strength of the
+plants could go into the ripening of tomatoes. For it was on that tomato
+bed that Migwan's fortune depended. While the proceeds from the
+remainder of the garden were gratifying, they were not great enough to
+make up the sum which Migwan needed to go to college, as the vegetables
+were not raised in large enough quantities. Migwan carefully estimated
+the amount she would realize from the sale of the tomatoes and found
+that it would not be large enough, and decided she could make more out
+of them by canning them. At Nyoda's advice the Winnebagos formed
+themselves into a Canning Club, which would give them the right to use
+the 4H label, which stood for Head, Hand, Health and Heart, and was
+recognized by dealers in various places. According to the methods of the
+Canning Club they canned the tomatoes in tin cans, with tops neatly
+soldered on. After an interview with various hotels and restaurants in
+the city Nyoda succeeded in establishing a market for Migwan's goods,
+and the canning went on in earnest. The whole family were pressed into
+service, and for days they did nothing but peel from morning until
+night.
+
+"I'm getting to be such an expert peeler," said Hinpoha, "that I
+automatically reach out in my sleep and start to peel Migwan."
+
+Nyoda made up a gay little song about the peeling. To the tune of
+"Comrades, comrades, ever since we were boys," she sang, "Peeling,
+peeling, ever since 6 A.M."
+
+Several places had asked for homemade ketchup and Migwan prepared to
+supply the demand. Never did a prize housekeeper, making ketchup for a
+county fair, take such pains as Migwan did with hers. She took care to
+use only the best spices and the best vinegar; she put in a few peach
+leaves from the tree to give it a finer flavor; she stood beside the big
+iron preserving kettle and stirred the mixture all the while it was
+boiling to be sure that it would not settle and burn. Everyone in the
+house had to taste it to be sure it found favor with a number of
+critical palates. "Wouldn't you like to put a few bay leaves into it?"
+asked her mother. "There are some in the glass jar in the pantry. They
+are all crumbled and broken up fine, but they are still good." Migwan
+put a spoonful of the broken leaves into the ketchup; then she put
+another.
+
+"Oh, I never was so tired," she sighed, when at last it had boiled long
+enough and she shoved it back.
+
+"Let's all go out on the river," proposed Nyoda, "and forget our toil
+for awhile." Sahwah was the last out of the kitchen, having stopped to
+drink a glass of water, and while she was drinking her eye roved over
+the table and caught sight of half a dozen cloves that had spilled out
+of a box. Gathering them up in her hand she dropped them into the
+ketchup. Just then Migwan came back for something and the two went out
+together.
+
+"And now for the bottling," said Migwan, when the supper dishes were put
+away, and she set several dozen shining glass bottles on the table.
+After she had been dipping up the ketchup for awhile she paused in her
+work to sit down for a few moments and count up her expected profits.
+"Let's see," she said, "forty bottles at fifteen cents a bottle is six
+dollars. That isn't so bad for one day's work. But I hope I don't have
+many days of such work," she added. "My back is about broken with
+stirring." About thirty of the bottles were filled and sealed when she
+took this little breathing spell.
+
+"Let me have a taste," said Hinpoha, eyeing the brown mixture longingly.
+
+"Help yourself," said Migwan. Hinpoha took a spoonful. Her face drew up
+into the most frightful puckers. Running to the sink she took a hasty
+drink of water. "What's the matter?" said Migwan, viewing her in alarm.
+"Did you choke on it?"
+
+"Taste it!" cried Hinpoha. "It's as bitter as gall."
+
+Migwan took a taste of the ketchup and looked fit to drop. "Whatever is
+the matter with it?" she gasped. One after another the girls tasted it
+and voiced their mystification. "It couldn't have spoiled in that short
+time," said Migwan.
+
+Then she suddenly remembered having seen Sahwah drop something into the
+kettle as it stood on the back of the stove. Could it be possible that
+Sahwah was seeking revenge for having been made fun of? "Sahwah," she
+gasped, unbelievingly, "did you put anything into the ketchup that made
+it bitter?"
+
+"I did not," said Sahwah, the indignant color flaming into her face. She
+had already forgotten the incident of the cloves. She saw Nyoda and the
+other girls look at her in surprise at Migwan's words. Her temper rose
+to the boiling point. "I know what you're thinking," she said, fiercely.
+"You think I did something to the ketchup to get even with Migwan, but I
+didn't, so there. I don't know any more about it than you do."
+
+"I take it all back," said Migwan, alarmed at the tempest she had set
+astir, and bursting into tears buried her head on her arms on the
+kitchen table. All that work gone for nothing!
+
+Sahwah ran from the room in a fearful passion. Nyoda tried to comfort
+Migwan. "It's a lucky thing we found it before the stuff was sold," she
+said, "or your trade would have been ruined." She and the other girls
+threw the ketchup out and washed the bottles.
+
+"Whatever could have happened to it?" said Gladys, wonderingly.
+
+Migwan lifted her face. "I want to tell you something, Nyoda," she said.
+"I suppose you wonder why I asked Sahwah if she had put anything in.
+Well, when I went back into the kitchen after my hat when we were going
+out on the river, Sahwah was there, and she was dropping something into
+the kettle."
+
+"You don't mean it?" said Nyoda, incredulously. Nyoda understood
+Sahwah's blind impulses of passion, and she could not help noticing for
+the last few days that Sahwah was still nursing her wrath at Migwan for
+laughing at her, and she wondered if she could have lost control of
+herself for an instant and spoiled the ketchup.
+
+Meanwhile Sahwah, up-stairs, had cooled down almost as rapidly as she
+had flared up, and began to think that she had been a little hasty in
+her outburst. She, therefore, descended the back stairs with the idea of
+making peace with the family and helping to wash the bottles. But
+halfway down the stairs she happened to hear Migwan's remark and Nyoda's
+answer, and the long silence which followed it. Immediately her fury
+mounted again to think that they suspected her of doing such an
+underhand trick. "They don't trust me!" she cried, over and over again
+to herself. "They don't believe what I said; they think I did it and
+told a lie about it." All night she tossed and nursed her sense of
+injury and by morning her mind was made up. She would leave this place
+where everyone was against her, and where even Nyoda mistrusted her.
+That was the most unkind cut of all.
+
+When she did not appear at the breakfast table the rest began to wonder.
+Betty reported that Sahwah had not been in bed when she woke up, which
+was late, and she thought she had risen and dressed and gone down-stairs
+without disturbing her. There was no sign of her in the garden or on the
+river. Both the rowboat and the raft were at the landing-place. There
+was an uncomfortable restraint at the breakfast table. Each one was
+thinking of something and did not want the others to see it. That thing
+was that Sahwah had a guilty conscience and was afraid to face the
+girls. Migwan's eyes filled with tears when she thought how her dear
+friend had injured her. A blow delivered by the hand of a friend is so
+much worse than one from an enemy. The table was always set the night
+before and the plates turned down.
+
+"What's this sticking out under Sahwah's plate?" asked Gladys. It was a
+note which she opened and read and then sat down heavily in her chair.
+The rest crowded around to see. This was what they read: "As long as you
+don't trust me and think I do underhand things you will probably be glad
+to get rid of me altogether. Don't look for me, for I will never come
+back. You may give my place in the Winnebagos to someone else." It was
+signed "Sarah Ann Brewster," and not the familiar "Sahwah."
+
+"Sahwah's run away!" gasped Migwan in distress, and the girls all ran up
+to her room. Her clothes were gone from their hooks and her suit-case
+was gone from under the bed. The girls faced each other in
+consternation.
+
+"Do you think she had anything to do with the ketchup, after all?" asked
+Gladys, thoughtfully. "It was so unlike her to do anything of that
+kind."
+
+"Then why did she run away?" asked Migwan, perplexed.
+
+The morning passed miserably. They missed Sahwah at every turn. Several
+times the girls forgot themselves and sang out "O Sahwah!" Nyoda did not
+doubt for a moment that Sahwah had gone to her own home, but she thought
+it best not to go after her immediately. Sahwah's hot temper must cool
+before she would come to herself. Nyoda was puzzled at her conduct. If
+she had nothing to be ashamed of why had she run away? That was the
+question which kept coming up in her mind. Nothing went right in the
+house or the garden that day. Everyone was out of sorts. Migwan
+absent-mindedly pulled up a whole row of choice plants instead of weeds;
+Gladys ran the automobile into a tree and bent up the fender; Hinpoha
+slammed the door on her finger nail; Nyoda burnt her hand. Ophelia was
+just dressed for the afternoon in a clean, starched white dress when she
+fell into the river and had to be dressed over again from head to foot.
+The whole household was too cross for words. The departure of Sahwah was
+the first rupture that had ever occurred in the closely linked ranks of
+the Winnebagos and they were all broken up over it.
+
+When Mrs. Gardiner was cooking beef for supper she told Migwan to get
+her some bay leaf to flavor it with. Migwan brought out the glass jar of
+crushed leaves. "That's not the bay leaf," said her mother, and went to
+look for it herself. "Here it is," she said, bringing another glass jar
+down from a higher shelf.
+
+"Then what's this?" asked Migwan, indicating the first jar.
+
+"I haven't the slightest idea," said Mrs. Gardiner. "It was in the
+pantry when we came."
+
+"But this was what I put into the ketchup," said Migwan. Hastily
+unscrewing the top she shook out some of the contents and tasted them.
+Her mouth contracted into a fearful pucker. Never in her life had she
+tasted anything so bitter.
+
+"I did it myself," she said, in a dazed tone. "I spoiled the ketchup
+myself." At her shout the girls came together in the kitchen to hear the
+story of the mistaken ingredient.
+
+"What can that be?" they all asked. Nobody knew. It was some dried herb
+that had been left by the former mistress of the house, and a powerful
+one. The girls looked at each other blankly.
+
+"And I accused Sahwah of doing it," said Migwan, remorsefully. "No
+wonder she flared up and left us, I don't blame her a bit. I wouldn't
+thank anyone for accusing me wrongfully of anything like that."
+
+"We'll have to go after her this very evening," said Gladys, "and bring
+her back."
+
+"If she'll come," said Hinpoha, knowing Sahwah's proud spirit.
+
+"Oh, I'm quite willing to grovel in the dust at her feet," said Migwan.
+
+Gladys drove them all into town with her and they sped to the Brewster
+house. It was all dark and silent. Sahwah was evidently not there. They
+tried the neighbors. They all denied that she had been near the house.
+They finally came to this conclusion themselves, for in the light of the
+street lamp just in front of the house they could see that the porch was
+covered with a month's accumulation of yellow dust which bore no
+footmarks but their own.
+
+Here was a new problem. They had come expecting to offer profuse
+apologies to Sahwah and carry her back with them to Onoway House
+rejoicing, and it was a shock to find her gone. The thought of letting
+her go on believing that they mistrusted her was intolerable, but how
+were they going to clear matters up? Sahwah had no relatives in town,
+and, of course, they did not know all her friends, so it would be hard
+to find her. That is, if she had ever reached town at all. Something
+might have happened to her on the way--Nyoda and Gladys sought each
+other's eyes and each thought of what had happened to them on the way to
+Bates Villa.
+
+With heavy hearts they rode back to Onoway House. The days went by
+cheerlessly. A week passed since Sahwah had run away, but no word came
+from her. Nyoda interviewed the conductors on the interurban car line to
+find out if Sahwah had taken the car into the city. No one remembered a
+girl of that description on the day mentioned. Sahwah had only one hat--a
+conspicuous red one--and she would not fail to attract attention.
+Thoroughly alarmed, Nyoda decided on a course of action. She called up
+the various newspapers in town and asked them to print a notice to the
+effect that Sahwah had disappeared. If Sahwah were in town she would see
+it and knowing that they were worried about her would let them know
+where she was. The notice came out in the papers, and a day or two
+passed, but there was no word from Sahwah. Nyoda and Gladys made a
+hurried trip to town to put the police on the track. Just before they
+got to the city limits they had a blowout and were delayed some time
+before they could go on. As they waited in the road another machine came
+along and the driver stopped and offered assistance. Nyoda recognized a
+friend of hers in the machine, a Miss Barnes, teacher in a local
+gymnasium.
+
+"Hello, Miss Kent," she called, cheerfully, "I haven't seen you for an
+age. Where have you been keeping yourself?"
+
+"Where have you been keeping yourself?" returned Nyoda.
+
+"I, Oh, I'm working this summer," replied Miss Barnes. "I'm just in town
+on business. I'm helping to conduct a girls' summer camp on the lake
+shore. I thought possibly you would bring your Camp Fire group out there
+this summer. One of your girls is out there now."
+
+"Which one?" asked Nyoda, thinking of Chapa and Nakwisi, whom she had
+heard talking about going.
+
+"One by the name of Brewster," said Miss Barnes, "a regular mermaid in
+the water. She has the girls out there standing open-mouthed at her
+swimming and diving. Why, what's the matter?" she asked, as Nyoda gave a
+sigh of relief that seemed to come from her boots.
+
+"Nothing," replied Nyoda, "only we've been scouring the town for that
+very girl."
+
+"You have?" asked Miss Barnes, with interest. "Would you like to come
+out and visit her?"
+
+"Could I?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Certainly," said Miss Barnes, "come right out with me now. I'm going
+back."
+
+And so Sahwah's mysterious disappearance was cleared up. When the
+Winnebagos, lined up in the road, saw the automobile approaching, and
+that Sahwah was in it, they welcomed her back into their midst with a
+rousing Winnebago cheer that warmed her to the heart. All the clouds had
+been rolled away by Nyoda's explanations and this was a triumphant
+homecoming. A regular feast was spread for her, and as she ate she
+related her adventures since leaving the house early that other morning.
+Without forming any plan of where she was going she had walked up the
+road in the opposite direction of the car line and then a farmer had
+come along on a wagon and given her a lift. He had taken her all the way
+to the other car line, three miles below Onoway House. She had come into
+the city by this route. She did not want to go home for fear they would
+come after her, so she went to the Young Women's Christian Association.
+As she sat in the rest room wondering what she should do next she heard
+two girls talking about registering for camp. This seemed to her a
+timely suggestion, and she followed them to the registration desk and
+registered for two weeks. She went out that same day. When she arrived
+there she did such feats in the water that they asked her if she would
+not stay all summer and help teach the girls to swim. She said she
+would, and so saw a very easy way out of her difficulty. The reason they
+had not heard from her when they put the notice in the papers was
+because they did not get the city papers in camp.
+
+Sahwah surveyed the faces around the table with a beaming countenance.
+After all, she could only be entirely happy with the Winnebagos. Migwan
+and she were once more on the best of terms.
+
+"But tell us," said Hinpoha, now that this was safe ground to tread
+upon, "what it was you put into the ketchup."
+
+"Oh," said Sahwah, who now remembered all about it, "those were a couple
+of cloves that were lying on the table."
+
+And so the last bit of mystery was cleared up.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.--OPHELIA DANCES THE SUN DANCE.
+
+
+Among the other books at Onoway House there was a Manual of the
+Woodcraft Indians which belonged to Sahwah, and which she was very fond
+of quoting and reading to the other girls when they were inclined to
+hang back at some of the expeditions she proposed. One night she read
+aloud the chapter about "dancing the sun dance," that is, becoming
+sunburned from head to foot without blistering. On a day not long after
+this Ophelia might have been seen standing beside the river clad only in
+a thin, white slip. Stepping from the bank, she immersed herself in the
+water, then stood in the sun, holding out her arms and turning up her
+face to its glare. When the blazing August sunlight began to feel
+uncomfortably warm on her body she plunged into the cooling flood and
+then came up to stand on the bank again. She did this straight through
+for two hours, and then began to investigate the result. Her arms were a
+beautiful brilliant red, and the length of leg that extended out from
+the slip was the same shade. She felt wonderfully pleased, and dipped in
+the water again and again to cool off and then returned to the burning
+process. When the dinner bell rang she returned to the house, eager to
+show her achievement. But she did not feel so enthusiastic now as when
+she first beheld her scarlet appearance. Something was wrong. It seemed
+as if she were on fire from head to foot. She looked at her arms. They
+were no longer such a pretty red; they had swelled up in large, white
+blisters. So had her legs. She could hardly see out of her eyes.
+
+"Ophelia!" gasped the girls, when she came into the house. "What has
+happened? Have you been scalded?"
+
+"I've been doing your old Sun Dance," said Ophelia, painfully.
+
+Never in all their lives had they seen such a case of sunburn. Every
+inch of her body was covered with blisters as big as a hand. The sun had
+burned right through the flimsy garment she wore. There was a pattern
+around her neck where the embroidery had left its trace. She screamed
+every time they tried to touch her. Nyoda worked quickly and deftly and
+the luckless sun dancer was wrapped from head to foot in soft linen
+bandages until she looked like a mummy.
+
+Sahwah sought Nyoda in tribulation. "Was it my fault," she asked, "for
+reading her that book? She never would have thought of it if I hadn't
+given her the idea."
+
+"No," answered Nyoda, "it wasn't your fault. It said emphatically in the
+book that the coat of tan should be acquired gradually. You couldn't
+foresee that she would stand in the sun that way. So don't worry about
+it any longer."
+
+"Still, I feel in a measure responsible," said Sahwah, "and I ought to
+be the one to take care of her. Let me sleep in the room with her
+to-night and get up if she wants anything." Sahwah's desire to help was
+so sincere that she insisted upon being allowed to do it, and took upon
+herself all the care of the sunburned Ophelia, which was no small job,
+for the pain from the blisters made her frightfully cross.
+
+Nyoda was surprised to see Sahwah keeping at it with such persistent
+good nature and apparent success, for as a rule she was not a good one
+to take care of the sick; she was in too much of a hurry. She would
+generally spill the water when she was trying to give a drink to her
+patient, or fall over the rug, or drop dishes; and the effect she
+produced was irritating rather than soothing. But in this case she
+seemed to be making a desperate effort to do things correctly so she
+would be allowed to continue, and fetched and carried all the afternoon
+in obedience to Ophelia's whims. She read her stories to while away the
+painful hours and when supper time came made her a wonderful egg salad
+in the form of a water lily, and cut sandwiches into odd shapes to
+beguile her into eating them. When evening came and Ophelia was restless
+and could not go to sleep she sang to her in her clear, high voice,
+songs of camp and firelight. One by one the Winnebagos drifted in and
+joined their voices to hers in a beautifully blended chorus.
+
+"Gee, that's what it must be like in heaven," sighed the child of the
+streets, as she listened to them. The Winnebagos smiled tenderly and
+sang on until she dropped off to sleep.
+
+Sahwah slept with one eye open listening for a call from Ophelia. She
+heard her stirring restlessly in the night and went over and sat beside
+her. "Can't you sleep?" she asked.
+
+"No," complained Ophelia. "Say, will you tell me that story again?"
+
+Sahwah began, "Once upon a time there was a little girl and she had a
+fairy godmother----"
+
+"What's a fairy godmother?" interrupted Ophelia.
+
+"Oh," said Sahwah, "it's somebody who looks after you especially and is
+very good to you and grants all your wishes, and always comes when
+you're in trouble----"
+
+"Who's my fairy godmother?" demanded Ophelia.
+
+"I don't know," said Sahwah.
+
+"I bet I haven't got any!" said Ophelia, suspiciously. "I didn't have a
+father and mother like the rest of the kids and I bet I haven't got any
+fairy godmother either."
+
+"Oh, yes, you have," said Sahwah to soothe her, "you have one only you
+haven't seen her yet. Wait and she'll appear." But Ophelia lay with her
+face to the wall and said no more. "Would you like me to bring you a
+drink?" asked Sahwah, a few minutes later. Ophelia replied with a nod
+and Sahwah went down to the kitchen. There was no drinking water in
+sight and Sahwah hesitated about going out to the well at that time of
+the night. Then she remembered that a pail of well water had been taken
+down cellar that evening to keep cool. Taking a light she descended the
+cellar stairs. When she was nearly to the bottom she heard a subdued
+crash, like a basket of something being thrown over, followed by a
+series of small bumping sounds. She stood stock still, afraid to move
+off the step.
+
+Then, summoning her voice, she cried, "Who is down there?" No answer
+came from the darkness below. After that first crash there was not
+another sound. Sahwah was not naturally timid, and her one explanation
+for all night noises in a house was rats. Besides, she had started after
+water for Ophelia, and she meant to get it. She went down stairs and
+looked all around with her light. She soon found the thing which had
+made the noise. It was a basket of potatoes which had fallen over and as
+the potatoes rolled out on the cement floor they had made those odd
+little after noises which had puzzled her. Satisfied that nobody was in
+the house she took her pail of water and went up-stairs, glad that she
+had not roused the house and brought out a laugh against herself.
+
+She gave Ophelia the drink, and being feverish she drank it eagerly and
+murmured gratefully, "I guess you're my fairy godmother." As Sahwah
+turned to go to bed Ophelia thrust out a bandaged hand and caught hold
+of her gown. "Stay with me," she said, and Sahwah sat down again beside
+the bed until Ophelia fell asleep. Sahwah felt pleased and elated at
+being chosen by Ophelia as the one she wanted near her. It was not often
+that a child singled Sahwah out from the group as an object of
+affection; they usually went to Gladys or Hinpoha. So she responded
+quickly to the advances made by Ophelia and thenceforth made a special
+pet of her, taking her part on all occasions.
+
+Soon after Ophelia's experience with sunburn a rainy spell set in which
+lasted a week. Every day they were greeted by grey skies and a steady
+downpour, fine for the parched garden, but hard on amusements. They
+played card games until they were weary of the sight of a card; they
+played every other game they knew until it palled on them, and on the
+fifth day of rain they surrounded Nyoda and clamored for something new
+to do. Nyoda scratched her head thoughtfully and asked if they would
+like to play Thieves' Market.
+
+"Play what?" asked Gladys.
+
+"Thieves' Market," said Nyoda. "You know in Mexico there is an
+institution known as the Thieves' Market, where stolen goods are sold to
+the public. We will not discuss the moral aspect of the business, but I
+thought we could make a game out of it. Let's each get a hold of some
+possession of each one of the others' without being seen and put a price
+on it. The price will not be a money value, of course, but a stunt. The
+owner of the article will have first chance at the stunt and if she
+fails the thing will go to whoever can buy it. If anyone fails to get a
+possession from each one of the rest to add to the collection she can't
+play, and if she is seen by the owner while 'stealing' it she will have
+to put it back. We'll hold the Thieves' Market to-night after supper in
+the parlor and I'll be storekeeper."
+
+The Winnebagos, always on the lookout for something novel and
+entertaining, seized on the idea with rapture. The rain was forgotten
+that afternoon as they scurried around the house trying to seize upon
+articles belonging to the others, and at the same time trying valiantly
+to guard their own possessions. It was not hard to get Sahwah's things,
+for she had a habit of leaving them lying all over the house. Her red
+hat had fallen a victim the first thing; likewise her shoes and tennis
+racket. It was harder to get anything away from Nyoda, for she seemed to
+be Argus eyed; but providentially she was called to the telephone, and
+while she was talking they made their raid.
+
+When opened, the Thieves' Market presented such a conglomeration of
+articles that at first the girls could only stand and wonder how those
+things had ever been taken away from them without their knowing it, for
+many of them were possessions which were usually hidden from sight while
+the owners fondly believed that their existence was unknown. Migwan gave
+a cry of dismay when she beheld her "Autobiography," which she was
+carefully keeping a secret from the rest, out in full view on the table.
+"How did you ever find it?" she gasped. "It was folded up in my
+clothes."
+
+But Migwan's embarrassment was nothing compared to Nyoda's when she
+caught sight of a certain photograph. She blushed scarlet while the
+girls teased her unmercifully. It was a picture of Sherry, the serenader
+of the camp the summer before. Until they found the photograph the girls
+did not know that Nyoda was corresponding with him. And the prices on
+the various things were the funniest of all. The girls had come down
+that evening dressed in their middies and bloomers for they had a
+suspicion that there would be some acrobatic stunts taking place, and it
+was well that they did. To redeem her hat Sahwah had to stand on her
+head and to get her bedroom slippers Gladys had to jump through a hoop
+from a chair. Hinpoha had to wrestle with Nyoda for the possession of
+her paint box, and the price of Betty's shoes was to throw them over her
+shoulder into a basket. At the first throw she knocked a vase off the
+table, but luckily it did not break, and she was warned that another
+accident would result in her going shoeless. Migwan tremblingly
+approached the Autobiography to find out the price. It was "Read one
+chapter aloud." "I won't do it," said Migwan, flatly.
+
+"Next customer," cried Nyoda, pounding with her hammer. "For the simple
+price of reading aloud one chapter I will sell this complete
+autobiography of a pious life, profusely illustrated by the author."
+Sahwah hastened up to "buy" the book, but Migwan headed her off in a
+hurry and read the first chapter with as good grace as she could, amid
+the cheers and applause of the other customers. Sahwah made a grimace
+when she had to polish the shoes of everyone present to get her shoe
+brush back.
+
+Thus the various articles in the Thieves' Market were disposed of amid
+much laughter and merry-making, until there remained but one article, a
+cold chisel. Nyoda went through the usual formula, offering it for sale,
+but no one came to claim it. She redoubled her pleas, but with the same
+result. "For the third and last time I offer this great bargain in a
+cold chisel for the simple price of jumping over three chairs in
+succession," she said, with a flourish. Nobody appeared to be anxious to
+redeem their property. "Whose is it?" she asked, mystified.
+
+It apparently belonged to no one. "It's yours, Gladys," said Sahwah, "I
+stole it from you."
+
+"Mine?" asked Gladys, in surprise. "I don't own any chisel. Where did
+you get it from?"
+
+"Out of the automobile," answered Sahwah.
+
+"But it doesn't belong there," said Gladys. "There's no chisel among the
+tools. You're joking, you found it somewhere else."
+
+"No, really," said Sahwah, "I found it in the car this afternoon."
+
+"Mother," called Migwan, "were there any tools left in the barn by Mr.
+Mitchell?"
+
+"Nothing but the garden tools," answered her mother. Tom also denied any
+knowledge of the chisel.
+
+"Girls," said Nyoda, seriously, "there is something going on here that I
+do not understand. First Migwan thought she heard footsteps in the
+attic; then a ghost appeared to me in the tepee; one night we saw a man
+running out of the barn, and later on that night Migwan claims to have
+run into a man in the garden. Soon afterward Hinpoha was sure she heard
+footsteps in the attic, and when we went up we found the window broken.
+Just a few nights ago a basket of potatoes was mysteriously knocked over
+in the cellar in the middle of the night, and now we find a chisel in
+the automobile which does not belong to us. It looks for all the world
+as if somebody were trying to break into this house, in fact, has broken
+in on a number of occasions."
+
+Migwan shrieked and covered up her ears. "A mystery!" said Sahwah,
+theatrically. "How thrilling!" The interest in the Thieves' Market died
+out before this new and alarming idea.
+
+"It may be only a remarkable series of co-incidences," said Nyoda,
+seeing the fright of the girls, "but it certainly looks suspicious. That
+window may possibly have been broken by the wind during the storm, and
+the footsteps may have been rats or Mrs. Waterhouse's ghost, and the
+ghost in the tepee may have been a practical joker, but baskets of
+potatoes do not fall over of their own accord in the middle of the night
+and cold chisels don't grow in automobiles. There's something wrong and
+we ought to find out what it is."
+
+"Oh, I'll never go up-stairs alone again," shuddered Migwan. "Sahwah,
+how did you ever dare go down cellar in the dark after you heard that
+noise?" And she shivered violently at the very thought.
+
+"Tom, can you handle a gun?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Yes," answered Tom.
+
+"I'm going to buy a little automatic pistol to-morrow," said Nyoda, "and
+teach everyone of you girls how to shoot it."
+
+"I wonder if we hadn't better try to get Calvin Smalley to sleep in the
+house," said Migwan.
+
+"I can take care of you," said Tom, proudly. Nothing else was talked of
+for the remainder of the evening and when bed time came there was a
+general reluctance to become separated from the rest of the household.
+But, although they listened for footsteps in the attic they heard
+nothing, and the night passed away peacefully.
+
+The next night the ghost became active again. Whether it was the same
+one or a different one they did not find out, however, for they did not
+see it this time, only heard it. Just about bed time it was, a strange,
+weird moaning sound that filled the house and echoed through the big
+halls. Whether it proceeded from the basement or the attic they were
+unable to make out; it seemed to come from everywhere and nowhere.
+Migwan clung close to her mother and trembled. The sound rang out again,
+more weird than before. It was bloodcurdling. Nyoda opened the window
+and fired several shots into the air. The moaning sound stopped abruptly
+and was heard no more that night, but sleep was out of the question. The
+girls were too excited and fearful. The next day Mrs. Gardiner advised
+everybody to hide their valuables away. The peaceful life at Onoway
+House was broken up. The household lived in momentary expectation of
+something happening. "And this is the quiet of the country," sighed
+Migwan, "where I was to grow fat and strong. I'm worn to a frazzle
+worrying about this mystery."
+
+"So'm I," said Gladys.
+
+"And I'm getting thin," said Hinpoha, which brought out a general laugh.
+
+"Not so you could notice it," said Sahwah. Whereupon Hinpoha tried to
+smother her with a pillow and the two rolled over on the bed,
+struggling.
+
+As if worrying about a burglar were not enough, Sahwah and Gladys had
+another exciting experience one day that week. If we were to stretch a
+point and trace things back to their beginnings it was the fault of the
+Winnebagos themselves, for if they hadn't gone horseback riding that
+day---- Well, Farmer Landsdowne came over in the morning and said he had a
+pair of horses which were not working and if they wanted to go horseback
+riding now was their chance. The girls were delighted with the idea and
+flew to don bloomers. None of them had ever ridden before and excitement
+ran high. Naturally there were no saddles, for Farmer Landsdowne's
+horses were not ridden as a general rule, and the girls had to ride
+bareback.
+
+"It feels like trying to straddle a table," said Migwan, marveling at
+the width of the horse she was on. "My legs aren't half long enough."
+She clung desperately to his mane as he began to trot and she began to
+slide all over him. "He's so slippery I can't stick on," she gasped. The
+horse stopped abruptly as she jerked on the reins and she slid off as if
+he had been greased, and landed in the soft grass beside the road.
+
+"Here, let me try," said Sahwah, impatient for her turn. "He isn't
+either slippery," she said, when she got on, "he's bony, horribly bony.
+He's just like knives." She jolted up and down a few times on his hip
+bones and an idea jolted into her head. Getting off she ran into the
+house and came out again with a sofa pillow, which she proceeded to tie
+on his back. Then she rode in comparative comfort, amid the laughter of
+the girls.
+
+Calvin Smalley, who happened to be working out in front and saw her ride
+past, doubled up with laughter over his vegetable bed. "What next?" he
+chuckled. "What next?" He was still thinking about this and laughing
+over it when he went through the empty field which Sahwah had crossed
+the time she had discovered the house among the trees, and where Abner
+Smalley now pastured his bull. So absorbed was he in the memory of that
+ridiculous pillow tied on the horse that he was not careful in putting
+up the bars behind him when he left the field, and later in the
+afternoon the bull wandered over in that direction and came through into
+the next field. He found the river road and followed it and began to
+graze in one of the unploughed fields belonging to Onoway House.
+
+Sahwah, wearing her big, red hat, was bending low over the ground,
+digging up some ferns which grew there, when all of a sudden she heard a
+loud snort and looked up to see the bull charging down upon her. She
+looked wildly around for a place of safety. Nothing was nearer than the
+far-off hedge that surrounded the cultivated garden patch. Not a tree,
+not a fence, in sight. Quick as light she bounded off toward the hedge,
+although she knew it would be impossible for her to reach it before the
+bull would be upon her.
+
+Gladys, coming along the road in the automobile, heard a shriek and
+looked up to see Sahwah tearing across the open field with the bull hard
+after her. Without a moment's hesitation Gladys turned the car into the
+field and started after the bull at full speed. She let the car out
+every notch and it whizzed dizzily over the hard turf. She sounded the
+horn again and again with the hope of attracting the attention of the
+bull, but he did not pause. Like lightning she bore down upon him,
+passed to one side and slowed down for a second beside Sahwah, who
+jumped on the running-board and was borne away to safety.
+
+"This hum-drum, uneventful life," said Sahwah, as she sat on the porch
+half an hour afterward and tried to catch her breath, while the rest
+fanned her with palm leaf fans, "is getting a little too much for me!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.--A BIRTHDAY PARTY
+
+
+After Nyoda had fired the shots out of the window, nothing was heard or
+seen of the ghost and the footsteps in the attic ceased. "It's just as I
+thought," said Nyoda, "someone has been trying to frighten us with a
+possible view of robbing the house at some time, thinking that a
+houseful of women would be terror-stricken at the ghostly noises, but
+when he found we had a gun and could shoot he thought better of the
+plan." Gradually the girls lost their fright, and the odd corners of
+Onoway House regained their old charm. They were far too busy with the
+canning to think of much else, for the tomatoes were ripening in such
+large quantities that it was all they could do to dispose of them. The
+4H brand found favor and the market gradually increased, and every week
+Migwan had a goodly sum to deposit in the bank after the cost of the tin
+cans had been deducted.
+
+"I have to laugh when I think of that honor in the book," said Migwan,
+"can at least three cans of fruit," and she pointed to the cans stacked
+on the back porch ready to be packed into the automobile and taken to
+town. "Why, hello, Calvin," she said, as Calvin Smalley appeared at the
+back door. "Come in." Calvin came in and sat down. "What's the matter?"
+asked Migwan, for his face had a frightened and distressed look.
+
+"Uncle Abner has turned me out!" said Calvin.
+
+"Turned you out!" echoed the girls. "Why?"
+
+"He showed me a will last night," said Calvin, "a later one than that
+which was found when my grandfather died, which left the farm to him
+instead of to my father. He just found it last night when he was
+rummaging among grandfather's old papers. According to that I have been
+living on his charity all these years instead of on my own property as I
+supposed and now he says he can't afford to keep me any longer. He
+wanted me to sign a paper saying that I would work for him without pay
+until I was thirty years old to make up for what I have had all these
+years, and when I wouldn't do it he told me to get out."
+
+"How can any man be so mean and stingy!" said Migwan, indignantly.
+
+"And what do you intend to do now?" asked Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+"I don't know," said Calvin, looking utterly downcast and discouraged.
+"I had expected to go through school and then to agricultural college
+and be a scientific farmer, but that's out of the question now. I
+haven't a cent in the world. I could hire out to some of the farmers
+around here, I suppose, but you know what that means--they wouldn't pay
+me much because I'm a boy, but they would get a man's work out of me and
+it's precious little time I'd have for school. I've always saved Uncle
+Abner the cost of one hired man in return for what he gave me, so I
+don't feel under any obligations to him. I think I'll give up farming
+for a while and go to the city and work. The trouble is I have no
+friends there and it might be hard for me to get into a good place." His
+honest eyes were clouded over with perplexity and trouble.
+
+"My father could probably get you a job in the city," said Gladys, "if
+you can wait until he gets back. He's out west now."
+
+"I tell you what to do," said kind-hearted Mrs. Gardiner to Calvin, "you
+stay here with us until Mr. Evans comes back. You can help the girls in
+the garden, and we were wishing not long ago that we had another man in
+the house."
+
+"You are very kind," said Calvin, gratefully, "but I don't want to put
+you to any trouble."
+
+"No trouble at all," Mrs. Gardiner assured him, "you can sleep with
+Tom." The girls all expressed pleasure at the prospect of having Calvin
+stay at Onoway House and under the spell of their kindly hospitality his
+drooping spirits revived. He shook the dust of his uncle's house from
+his feet, feeling no longer an outcast, since he had suddenly found such
+kind friends on the other side of the hedge.
+
+Calvin lived in a perpetual state of wonder at the girls at Onoway
+House. They made a frolic out of everything they did and were
+continually thinking up new and amazing games to play. Calvin had never
+done anything at home all his life but work, and work was a serious
+business to him. He never knew before that work was fun. The long, weary
+hours of peeling were enlivened with songs made up on the spur of the
+moment. Sahwah would look up from the pan over which she was bending,
+and sing to the tune of "The Pope":
+
+  "Our Migwan leads a jolly life, jolly life,
+  She peels tomatoes with her knife, with her knife,
+  And puts the pieces in the can,
+  And leaves the peelings in the pan, (Oh, tra la la)."
+
+And then they would all start to sing at once,
+
+  "The tomatoes went in one by one,
+  (There's one more bushel to peel),
+  Hinpoha she did cut her thumb,
+  (There's one more bushel to peel)."
+
+  "The tomatoes went in two by two,
+  And Gladys and Sahwah fell into the stew.
+  The tomatoes went in three by three,
+  And Migwan got drowned a-trying to see."
+
+etc., etc., thus they made merry over the work until it was done.
+
+"Do you know," said Migwan, looking up from her peeling, "that it's
+Gladys's birthday next Friday? We ought to have a celebration."
+
+"How about a picnic?" asked Nyoda. "We haven't had a real one yet. Have
+the rest of the Winnebagos come out from town and all of us sleep in the
+tepee as we had planned on the Fourth of July. Then we'll get a horse
+and wagon and drive along the roads until we come to a place beside the
+river where we want to stop and cook our dinner and just spend the day
+like gypsies." The girls entered into the plan with enthusiasm, both for
+the sake of celebrating Gladys's birthday and cheering up Calvin, who
+had been rather quiet and pensive of late. It was a great disappointment
+to him to have to give up his plans for going to college, and his
+uncle's unfriendly treatment of him had cut him to the heart.
+
+Medmangi and Chapa and Nakwisi arrived the day before the picnic and the
+house echoed with the sound of voices and laughter, as the Winnebagos
+bubbled over with joy at being all together. The morning of the picnic
+was as fine as they could wish, and it was not long before they were
+bumping over the road in one of Farmer Landsdowne's wagons, behind the
+very two horses which the girls had ridden the week before. It was a
+wagon full. Sahwah sat up in front and drove like a veritable daughter
+of Jehu, with Farmer Landsdowne up beside her to come to the rescue in
+case the horses should run away, which was not at all likely, as it took
+constant persuasion to keep them going even at an easy jog trot. Mrs.
+Landsdowne, who, with her husband, had been invited to the picnic, sat
+beside Mrs. Gardiner, in the back of the wagon, while Calvin Smalley
+stayed next to Migwan, as he usually did. She was so quiet and gentle
+and kind that he felt more at ease with her than with the rest of the
+Winnebagos, who were such jokers. Ophelia, who was beginning to be
+inseparable from Sahwah, squeezed herself in between her and Mr.
+Landsdowne, and refused to move. Sahwah, of course, took her part and
+let her stay, although she was a bit crowded for space. Hinpoha and
+Gladys sat at the back of the wagon dangling their feet over the end,
+where they could watch the yellow road unwinding like a ribbon beneath
+them, while Nyoda sat between Betty and Tom to keep the peace.
+
+"Where are we going?" asked Mrs. Gardiner, as they swung along the road.
+
+"Oh," replied Sahwah, "somewhere, anywhere, everywhere, nowhere. It's
+lots more romantic to start out without any idea where you're going and
+stop wherever it suits you than to start out for a certain place and
+think you have to go there even if you pass nicer places on the road.
+Maybe, like Mrs. Wiggs, we'll end up at a first-class fire."
+
+"We undoubtedly will," said Nyoda, "if we expect to cook any dinner. Do
+my eyes deceive me?" she continued, "or is this a fishing-rod under the
+straw? It is, it is," she cried, drawing it out. "Now I know what has
+been the matter with me for the past few months, this feeling of sadness
+and longing that was not akin to rheumatism. I have been pining,
+languishing, wasting away with a desire to go fishing. My early life ran
+quiet beside a babbling brook, and there I sat and fished trout and
+fried them over an outdoor fire. This spirit will never know repose
+until it has gone fishing once more."
+
+"Take the rod and welcome, it's mine," said Calvin, glad that something
+of his should give pleasure to one of his cherished friends.
+
+In a shady grove of sycamores beside the river they dismounted from the
+wagon and scattered in search of firewood, for the fire must be started
+the first thing, as there were potatoes to roast. Nyoda took the
+fishing-rod and started for the river. "We'll never get anything to eat
+if we wait until you catch enough fish for dinner," said Sahwah.
+
+"Who said I was going to catch enough for dinner?" said Nyoda. "I
+wouldn't be cruel enough to keep you waiting all that time. But I do
+want to catch just one for old times' sake." She strolled down to the
+water's edge and after a few minutes Mr. Landsdowne joined her. He liked
+Nyoda and enjoyed a talk with her.
+
+"Are you going to play all alone at the picnic?" he asked, as he dropped
+down beside her.
+
+"Alone, but with _unbaited_ zeal," she quoted, digging around in the
+ground with her stick. "Come and help me find a worm."
+
+"I'm afraid the Early Bird got them all," she said plaintively, after a
+few moment's fruitless search. By dint of much digging they finally
+unearthed one and baited the hook. Nyoda cast her line and then settled
+down to a spell of silent waiting. "I don't believe there's a fish in
+this old river," she said impatiently, after fifteen minutes of angling
+which brought no results. "Not here, anyway. Let's go down beyond the
+bend where the river widens out into that broad pool. The water is
+deeper and quieter there." They moved on to the new location and Nyoda
+tried her luck again. This time success crowned her efforts and she
+landed a small fish almost immediately. "What did I tell you?" she
+exclaimed, triumphantly. "There's luck in changing places. Now for
+another one." In a few moments she felt a tug at the line. "It must be a
+whale," she cried, enthusiastically, "it pulls so hard."
+
+"It may be caught on a snag," said Farmer Landsdowne. "Here, let me get
+it loose for you, I'm afraid you'll break that rod," he said, as the
+pole bent ominously in her hands.
+
+"Spare the rod and spoil the fish," said Nyoda.
+
+"What are you doing on my property?" said a harsh voice behind them,
+"don't you see that sign?"
+
+Nyoda and Farmer Landsdowne sprang to their feet in surprise and faced
+an irate farmer in blue shirt sleeves. Sure enough, on a tree not very
+far from them there was a sign reading,
+
+  NO FISHING IN THIS POND.
+
+"We didn't see the sign," said Nyoda, stammering in her embarrassment,
+and crimson to the roots of her hair.
+
+"We really didn't," confirmed Farmer Landsdowne.
+
+"Well, ye see it now, don't ye?" pursued the proprietor of the
+fish-pond. "Kindly move along."
+
+"We have one fish," said Nyoda, feeling unutterably foolish, "but we'll
+pay you for that. I must have one to take back to the picnic or I don't
+dare show my face."
+
+"Ye say ye caught a fish?" shouted the farmer, excitedly. "Holy
+mackerel! That was the only one in the pond--I put it in there this
+morning--and I've rented the fishing of it to a young feller from
+Cleveland at twenty-five cents an hour."
+
+"But it didn't take me an hour to catch him," said Nyoda. "It only took
+five minutes. That'll be about two cents." But the farmer held out for
+his twenty-five cents and Nyoda paid it, laughing to herself at the way
+the "feller from Cleveland" had been cheated out of his sport.
+
+"Don't ever tell the girls about this," pleaded Nyoda, as they moved
+shamefacedly away. "I'm supposed to be a pattern of conduct, and I'm
+always scolding the girls because they don't use their eyes enough.
+They'll never get over laughing at me if they find it out." Farmer
+Landsdowne promised solemnly that he would not divulge the secret.
+
+"Did you catch anything?" called Sahwah, as Nyoda returned to the group
+under the trees.
+
+"We certainly did," replied Nyoda, with a sidelong glance at Farmer
+Landsdowne.
+
+"Listen to this part of father's last letter," said Gladys, as they sat
+around on the grass eating their dinner. "Juneau, Alaska.
+
+"We recently saw a group of Camp Fire girls holding a Ceremonial Meeting
+on a mountain near Juneau. It fairly made us homesick; it reminded us so
+much of the group we used to see in our house. We went up and spoke to
+them and they send you this three-petaled flower as a greeting."
+
+"To think we have friends all over the country, just because we know the
+meaning of the word Wohelo!" said Migwan in an awed tone, as the
+Winnebagos crowded around Gladys to see the flower which had come from
+far off Alaska, a silent All Hail from kindred spirits.
+
+Just at this point Ophelia, who was coming a long way with the
+coffee-pot in her hand, tripped over a root and sprawled on her face on
+the ground, showering everybody near her with coffee. "We have your
+title now," said Nyoda, "it's Ophelia-Face-in-the-Mud. You're always
+falling that way."
+
+"And I know what your name is," replied Ophelia.
+
+"What is it?" asked Nyoda, guilelessly.
+
+"It's Nyoda-Chased-by-a-Farmer," said Ophelia.
+
+Nyoda started and looked guilty. "How did you know that?" she asked,
+giving herself away completely.
+
+"Followed you," said Ophelia. "I saw you fishin' where the sign said to
+keep out and the man in the blue shirt sleeves chased you out."
+
+"Tell us about it," demanded all the girls, and Nyoda had to tell the
+whole story that she wanted to keep a secret.
+
+  "Fishy, fishy in the brook,
+  But the fishers 'got the hook,'"
+
+chanted Sahwah, teasingly. Nyoda and Farmer Landsdowne looked sheepish
+at the jokes that were thrown at them thick and fast, but they stood it
+good-naturedly.
+
+"A truce!" cried Gladys, coming to the rescue of Nyoda. "Let's play
+charades."
+
+"Good!" said Migwan. "You be leader of one side and let Nyoda take the
+other. Whichever side gives up first will have to get supper for the
+rest."
+
+Gladys chose Sahwah, Mrs. Gardiner, Betty, Ophelia, Tom and Calvin.
+Nyoda chose Mr. and Mrs. Landsdowne, Hinpoha, Migwan, Chapa, Medmangi
+and Nakwisi. Gladys's side went out first and came in without her.
+
+"Word of three syllables, first syllable," said Sahwah, who acted as
+spokesman. The whole company sat down in a row, striking the most
+doleful attitude and groaning as if in pain, and shedding tears into
+their handkerchiefs.
+
+"Most woeful looking crowd I ever saw," remarked Mr. Landsdowne.
+
+"Woe!" shouted Nyoda, triumphantly, and the guess was correct.
+
+The weepers continued their weeping in the second syllable, and then
+Gladys appeared, felt of all their pulses and gave each a dose out of a
+bottle, whereupon they all straightened up, lost their symptoms of
+distress, and capered for joy.
+
+"Cure," said Migwan. The players shook their heads.
+
+"Heal," shouted Hinpoha, and Gladys acknowledged it.
+
+In the last syllable Gladys went around and demanded payment for her
+services, but in each case was met with a promise to pay at some future
+time.
+
+"Owe," said Chapa, which was pronounced right. "O heal woe, what's
+that?" she asked.
+
+"You're twisted," said Nyoda, "it's 'Wohelo.' That really was too easy.
+Let's not divide them into syllables after this," she suggested, "it's
+no contest of wits that way. Let's act out the word all at once." The
+alteration was accepted with enthusiasm.
+
+Hinpoha came out alone for her side. "Word of two syllables," she said.
+Taking a blanket she spread it over a bushy weed and tucked the corners
+under until it looked not unlike a large stone. Then she retired from
+the scene. Soon Nyoda came along and paused in front of the blanket,
+which looked like an inviting seat.
+
+"What a lovely rock to rest on!" she exclaimed, and seated herself upon
+it. Of course, it flattened down under her weight and she was borne down
+to the ground.
+
+A moment of silence followed this performance as the guessers racked
+their brains for the meaning. "Is it 'Landsdowne?'" asked Gladys.
+
+"It might be, but it isn't," said Nyoda, laughing.
+
+"I know," said Sahwah, starting up, "it's 'shamrock.'"
+
+"You are sharper than I thought," said Nyoda, rising from her seat.
+"Nobody down yet. Now, fire your broadside at us. No word under three
+syllables. Anything less would be unworthy of our giant intellects."
+
+"Third round!" cried Calvin.
+
+Sahwah walked down to the water's edge, holding in her hand a large key.
+Leaning over, she moved the key as if it were walking in the water. This
+proved a puzzler, and cries of 'Milwaukee,' 'Nebrasky,' and 'turnkey'
+were all met with a triumphant shake of the head.
+
+"It looks as if we would have to give up," said Hinpoha.
+
+Just then Nyoda sprang up with a shout. "Why didn't I think of it
+before?" she cried. "It's 'Keewaydin,' key-wade-in. What else could you
+expect from Sahwah?"
+
+"That's it," said Sahwah. "You must be a mind reader."
+
+"Here's where we finish you off," said Nyoda, as her side came out
+again. "We've taken a word of four syllables this time." The whole team
+advanced in single file, Indian fashion, keeping closely in step. Round
+and round they marched, back and forth, never slackening their speed,
+until one by one they tumbled to the ground from sheer exhaustion and
+stiffened out lifelessly. The guessers looked at each other, puzzled.
+
+"Do it again," said Sahwah. The strenuous march was repeated, and the
+marchers succumbed as before. Still no light came to the onlookers.
+Sahwah whispered something to Gladys.
+
+"Would you just as soon do it again?" asked Gladys. Again the file wound
+round the trees and tumbled to the turf. Nyoda made a triumphant grimace
+as no guess was forthcoming. Sahwah's eyes began to sparkle.
+
+"Would you please do it once more?" she pleaded.
+
+"Have mercy on the performers," groaned Nyoda, but they went through it
+again, and this time they were too spent to rise from the ground when
+the acting was done. "Do you give up?" called Nyoda.
+
+"No," answered Gladys.
+
+"You have five seconds to produce the answer, then," said Nyoda.
+
+"It's diapason," said Gladys, "die-a-pacin."
+
+"Really!" said Nyoda, falling back in astonishment.
+
+"We knew it all the while!" cried Sahwah and Gladys. "We just kept you
+doing it over and over again because we liked to see you work."
+
+The laugh was on Nyoda and her team all the way around. "We do this to
+each other!" called Sahwah, using the Indian form of taunt when one has
+played a successful trick on another.
+
+"Tie the villains to a tree, and let them perish of mosquito bites,"
+Nyoda commanded in an awful tone. "I'll get even with you for that, Miss
+Sahwah," she said, darkly, as the other side trooped off to cook up a
+new poser.
+
+"Hadn't you better stop playing now?" inquired Mrs. Gardiner. "You know
+we wanted to get home before dark."
+
+"Oh, let's do one more," pleaded Migwan. If they had only stopped
+playing when Mrs. Gardiner suggested it and gone home early they might
+have been in time to prevent the thing which occurred, but they were
+bent on seeing one side or the other go down, and Gladys's side prepared
+another charade.
+
+"We've played up to your own game," said Gladys, who was introducing the
+new charade, "and have increased the number to five syllables." The
+actors were Mrs. Gardiner, Betty and Tom Gardiner. Mrs. Gardiner was
+scolding the children and emphasized her remarks by a sharp pinch on
+Tom's arm. Betty, seeing the maternal hand also extended in her
+direction, promptly climbed a tree and sat in safety, while her mother
+shook her finger at her and cried warningly, "I'll attend to you after
+awhile."
+
+"What on earth?" said Nyoda, scratching her head in perplexity. But
+scratch as she might, no answer came, and the rest of her team had
+nothing to offer either. After holding out for fully fifteen minutes
+they were compelled to give it up.
+
+"It's 'manipulator,'" cried the winning side, in chorus.
+"'Ma-nip-you-later!'" And they stood around to condole while Nyoda's
+side prepared supper. Then it was that Calvin, basely deserting the team
+he had helped so far, went over to the side of the enemy and helped
+Migwan fetch wood for the fire. Both sides stopped often to jeer at each
+other, so it took them twice as long to get the meal ready as it would
+have ordinarily. They loitered and sang along the way home, letting the
+horses take their time, and it was quite late when they reached Onoway
+House.
+
+The first thing that greeted them was the sight of Mr. Bob, the cocker
+spaniel, rolling on the front lawn in great distress, and giving every
+sign of being poisoned. They hastily administered an antidote and, after
+a time of suspense were confident that the effect of the poison had been
+counteracted. So far they had only been in the kitchen, but when the
+excitement about the dog was over they moved toward the sitting-room to
+rest awhile and drink lemonade before going to bed. When the light was
+lit they all stopped in astonishment. In the sitting-room there was an
+old-fashioned combination desk and bookcase, the bookcase part set on
+top of the desk and reaching nearly to the ceiling. It belonged to the
+house, and the desk was closed and locked. Now, however, it stood open,
+and all the drawers were pulled out, while the top of the desk and the
+floor before it were strewn with papers in great disorder.
+
+"Burglars!" cried Migwan. "The house has been robbed!" They immediately
+looked through the house to see what had been taken. Up-stairs in the
+room occupied by the two boys there was a desk similar to the one in the
+sitting-room. This had also been broken open and the drawers searched
+through, although the disorder of papers was not so great as it was
+down-stairs. Half afraid of what they should find, the whole family went
+from room to room, but nothing else seemed to have been disturbed, and
+as far as they could see nothing had been stolen. The silver in the
+sideboard drawer was untouched, but then, this was only plate, and worn
+at that. But in full view on the dining-room table lay Sahwah's
+Firemaker Bracelet, which she had laid there a few moments before
+starting for the picnic, and then, with her customary forgetfulness,
+neglected to pick up again. This was solid silver and worth stealing.
+Further than that, she had also forgotten to wear her watch, and it was
+still safe in her top bureau drawer. It was a riddle, and as they talked
+it over they could only come to one conclusion, and that was that the
+burglar had thought there were large sums of money hidden in the two
+desks and had passed over the small articles in the hope of getting a
+bigger harvest, or else was leaving those other things to the last. He
+ransacked the up-stairs desk, having broken the lock, and then went
+through the one down-stairs. While looking through the papers in the
+sitting-room he had evidently been frightened away by something, for
+there was one drawer that had not been disturbed. This also accounted
+for the fact that nothing else had been taken. What had frightened him
+was probably the barking of the dog, who, although he was on the
+outside, had become aware of the presence of someone in the house. He
+had fed the dog poison, probably poisoned meat, for they had found a
+small piece of meat on the porch. Evidently the poison had begun to act
+before Mr. Bob had it all eaten, and he left that piece. But before the
+dog was dead the burglar had heard the family returning along the road,
+singing, and made his escape. The whole thing must have happened not
+long before, for the dog had not had the poison long enough to take
+deadly effect. It was then that they regretted having lingered so long
+over the game of charades and delayed their homecoming.
+
+"If we had only been half an hour sooner, we might have found out who it
+was," said Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+"Thank Heaven we weren't half an hour later," said Hinpoha, "or Mr. Bob
+would have been dead." She would have felt worse about losing Mr. Bob
+than about having all her possessions stolen.
+
+"How about sleeping in the tepee to-night?" asked Gladys. There was not
+enough room in the house for so many people and the eight Winnebagos had
+made their beds in the tepee while the three girls from town were there,
+both to solve the question of sleeping quarters and for the fun of the
+thing. It was just like camping out to sleep on the ground, all the
+eight girls in a circle around the little watch fire in the middle of
+the tepee.
+
+"Oh, I'll be afraid to," said Hinpoha.
+
+"I don't know but what it would be just as safe as sleeping in the
+house," said Nyoda. "I doubt if anyone would think of people sleeping
+out in that thing. It's a rather novel idea in this neighborhood. And at
+any rate there's nothing out there to steal and consequently nothing to
+tempt a thief."
+
+So, their fears having vanished, the Winnebagos went to bed in the tepee
+just as they had planned. Nyoda took the precaution of putting her
+pistol under her pillow. The girls really enjoyed the air of suppressed
+excitement. When did youth and high spirits ever fail to respond to the
+thrill of danger, either real or fancied? This attempted burglary was
+the most exciting thing that had ever happened to most of the girls and
+they were getting as much thrill out of it as possible. It amused them
+to see Tom and Calvin parading the front lawn armed with bird guns,
+swelled up with importance at having to guard a houseful of women.
+Instead of hoping that the burglar had been scared away for good they
+wished fervently that he would return and give them a chance to shoot.
+They would have stayed there all night if Mrs. Gardiner had not ordered
+them to bed.
+
+One by one the girls in the tepee dropped off to slumber, worn out with
+the varied events of the day. But Nyoda could not sleep. She had a
+throbbing headache from the glare of the sun on the water while she sat
+fishing. The little fire, in the center of the bare circle of earth
+which prevented it from spreading, died down and subsided to glowing
+embers, then one by one these turned black and left the tepee in
+darkness. There was not a spark left. Nyoda was sure of this, for she
+sat up several times in an effort to make herself comfortable, and when
+she took a drink from the pail of well water which stood nearby she
+emptied the dipper over the spot where the fire had been, to make doubly
+sure. Still sleep would not come. She stared out of the doorway of the
+tepee into the darkness. A group of beech trees with their light grey
+bark loomed up ghostlike before the door. She began to think of the
+ghost which had appeared to her that other night in that very doorway,
+and tried to connect the incidents which had taken place afterwards with
+that. One thing was sure--someone was getting into Onoway House every few
+days. Why nothing was taken was a mystery to her. It seemed to her now
+that it was not so much an attempt at burglary as an effort to annoy and
+frighten the family. Possibly it was someone who had a grudge against
+them--she could not imagine why--and was indulging in these pranks to
+satisfy a spite. She thought she saw a glimmer of light on the subject.
+
+Farmer Landsdowne had once told her that when it became known that Mr.
+Mitchell was going to give up the care of the place, several farmers of
+the Centerville Road district had applied for the position of caretaker,
+but wishing to assist Migwan, the Bartletts had refused their offers and
+given the place over to the Winnebagos. That must be it. Someone wanted
+that job badly and was wreaking his disappointment on the people who had
+kept him from getting it. The more she thought of it the more probable
+it seemed. Possibly more than one were involved in the plot.
+
+Then another thought struck her. Could it be the crazy man who lived
+alone in the little house among the trees? Calvin had stated that he
+never left the house, but who could account for the inspirations of an
+unbalanced mind? That nothing had been taken from the house seemed to
+indicate a want of fixed purpose in the mind of the housebreaker--to go
+to all that trouble for nothing. This idea also seemed worth
+considering.
+
+As she lay turning these things over in her mind she thought she heard a
+stealthy footstep in the grass outside of the tepee. Thinking that the
+ghost was coming to pay another visit, she drew the pistol from under
+her pillow and turning over, face downward, lay with it pointed toward
+the doorway. There would be no outcry when he appeared in the doorway.
+The first intimation the ghost would have that he was observed would be
+a shot in the leg that would prevent him from running away and would
+solve the mystery. In tense silence she waited, one; two; three minutes,
+but nothing appeared. Then suddenly she smelled smoke, and turning
+around swiftly saw that the side of the tepee toward which she had had
+her back was in flames.
+
+"Fire!" she called at the top of her voice. "Sahwah! Hinpoha! Gladys!
+Migwan! Wake up!" And seizing the pail of water she dashed it against
+the side of the tepee. The water sizzled as it fell, but the canvas
+covering was burning like tinder. Thus rudely awakened the girls sprang
+up in alarm. The place was filling with dense smoke, and through it they
+groped their way to the opening, dragging out their blankets. Hardly had
+the last girl got out when the whole thing was one roaring blaze, which
+lit up the scenery a long way around.
+
+Nyoda, paying no attention to the flames that were mounting skyward from
+the burning canvas, looked intently for a lurking figure among the
+trees, for she thought it hardly possible that whoever had set the tepee
+afire could have gotten outside of the range of light in that short
+time. It was possible to see as far as the road on the one side and
+across the river on the other. But nowhere was there a man or the shadow
+of a man. The folks came running out of Onoway House half dressed and in
+terror that the girls had not escaped from the burning tent in time, and
+the farmers all the way down the road, seeing the glare, rushed to offer
+their assistance, for a fire in the country is a serious thing where
+there is no water pressure. Farmer Landsdowne came on a dead run,
+carrying a water bucket. Even Abner Smalley appeared in the midst of the
+crowd. He gave a scowling look at Calvin, but said nothing, and soon
+took his departure when the danger was over, as it was directly, for it
+did not take long to reduce that canvas covering to a black mass, and
+buckets of water thrown all around on the ground and the trees kept the
+fire from spreading.
+
+For the second time that night the family gathered in the sitting-room
+and faced each other over an exciting happening. "I told you if you
+built a fire in that tepee you would burn it down," said Mrs. Gardiner.
+"I never felt easy when you had one."
+
+"But it didn't catch fire from our little fire," declared Nyoda, and
+told the events of the night, from the going out of the fire to the
+footsteps outside the tepee when the canvas had suddenly blazed up when
+she was lying in wait for the ghost with a pistol. The circle of faces
+paled with fear as she told her tale. Who could this mysterious visitor
+be, who seemed determined to do them some harm? The girls finished the
+night in the house, three in a bed, but none of them closed their eyes
+to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.--THE WELL DIGGER'S GHOST.
+
+
+The next morning Mrs. Gardiner sent Mr. Landsdowne to interview the
+police force of the township in which the Centerville Road belonged, and
+he brought the whole force back with him. He had to bring the whole
+force if he brought any for it embraced only one man and he was well
+along in years, but he had a uniform and a helmet and a club and a gun,
+and presented an imposing appearance as he strutted up and down the
+yard, before which an evil doer might be moved to pause. The three girls
+from town had departed and Nakwisi had left her spy glass behind in the
+excitement, and this was a source of great entertainment to the rural
+gendarme. He spent a great deal of time sliding the lens back and forth
+to fit his eye and peering up the road into the distance, or looking up
+into the air, as if he expected to see the burglar approaching in an
+airship. He was very talkative and fond of recounting the captures he
+had made single handed, and declared solemnly that the man in this case
+was as good as caught already, for no one had ever escaped yet when Dave
+Beeman had started out to get him.
+
+Nyoda, who was fond of seeing her theories worked out, still held to the
+idea that the mysterious visitor was someone who wanted the job of
+caretaker, and inquired closely of Farmer Landsdowne who the men were
+who had applied for the position. When it came down to fact there was
+only one who had really wanted the job very badly, although several
+others had mentioned the fact that they wouldn't mind doing it, and that
+man had found a similar situation immediately afterward and left the
+neighborhood. So her theory did not seem to be inclined to hold water.
+
+She had another idea, however, and wrote to Mr. Mitchell, asking if he
+had ever heard strange noises in the attic while he lived there. Mr.
+Mitchell answered and said that not only had he heard strange noises in
+the attic, but also in the cellar and in the barn, and that pieces of
+furniture had apparently moved themselves in the middle of the night;
+and it was on this account that he had left the place, as it made his
+wife so nervous she became ill. This fact put a new face on the matter.
+The hostility, then, was not directed against themselves personally, but
+against the tenants of the house, no matter who they were. But this idea
+left them more in the dark than ever, and they lost a good deal of sleep
+over it without reaching any solution.
+
+After a few days of zealous watching, during which time nothing
+happened, the police force of Centerville township gave it up as a bad
+job and relaxed its vigilance, declaring that the firebug must have
+gotten out of the country, for that was the only way he could hope to
+escape his eagle eye. "If he was still in the country, I'd a' had him by
+this time", Dave Beeman asserted confidently. "So as long as he's gone
+that far you don't need to worry any more." And he took himself off,
+eager to get back to the quiet game of pinochle in Gus Wurlitzer's
+grocery store, which Farmer Landsdowne had interrupted several days ago.
+
+It was just about this time that Migwan had her biggest order for canned
+tomatoes--from a fashionable private sanitarium a few miles distant, and
+the rush of canning gradually took their minds off the mysterious
+intruder. Migwan, picking her finest and ripest tomatoes to fill this
+order, noticed that a number of the vines were drooping and turning
+yellow. The half ripe tomatoes were falling to the ground and rotting.
+One whole end of the bed seemed to be affected. She looked carefully for
+insects and found none. Some of the leaves seemed worse shrivelled than
+others. In perplexity she called Mr. Landsdowne over to look at them. He
+looked closely at the plants and also seemed puzzled as to the cause of
+the mysterious blight. "It isn't rot," he said, "because the bed is high
+and dry and the plants have never stood in water." Upon looking closely
+he discovered that the affected plants were covered with a fine white
+coating. He gave a smothered exclamation. "Do you know what that is?" he
+asked. "It's lime! Somebody has sprayed your plants with a solution of
+lime. Are you sure you didn't do it yourself?" he asked, quizzically.
+
+Migwan shook her head. "I haven't sprayed those plants with anything for
+a month," she asserted, "and neither has anyone else in the house."
+
+"Somebody outside of the house has done it, then," said Mr. Landsdowne.
+
+The work of the mysterious visitor again! It struck dismay into the
+breasts of the whole household. They never knew when and where that hand
+was going to strike next. And so silently, so mysteriously, without ever
+leaving a trace behind!
+
+There was nothing left to do but dig up the dead plants and throw them
+away. Migwan almost stopped breathing when she thought that the rest of
+the bed might be treated in the same way, and the source of her revenue
+cut off. But why was all this happening? What could anyone possibly have
+against the peaceful dwellers at Onoway House?
+
+A guard was set over the tomato bed both day and night for a week and
+the big order for the sanitarium was filled as fast as the tomatoes
+ripened. Nothing at all happened during this time and the vigilance was
+relaxed. A large dog was turned loose in the garden at night and they
+felt secure in his protection. This dog belonged to Calvin Smalley. When
+he had left his uncle's house he had to leave Pointer behind, as he did
+not know what else to do with him, but now that the Gardiners were
+willing to have him he went over and got him when he knew his uncle was
+away from the house, so he would not have to meet him. Pointer was
+overjoyed at seeing his young master again and attached himself to the
+household at once, and never made the slightest effort to go back to his
+old home. He had a deep, heavy bark which could not fail to rouse the
+house at once. With the coming of Pointer the girls breathed easily
+again.
+
+One day when Migwan had gone over to see the Landsdownes, Mr. Landsdowne
+had given her a treasure for her garden. This was a plant of a rare
+species called Titania Gloria, which a friend had brought from Bermuda.
+It was a first year growth and so would not bloom until the following
+summer. Migwan planted it along the fence beside the mint bed and
+treasured it like gold, for the blossom of the Titania Gloria was a
+wonderful shade of blue and was considered a prize by fanciers, who paid
+high prices for cuttings of the plant. In the excitement over the tepee
+and the tomato plants, however, she forgot to tell the other girls about
+it, so she was the only one who knew what a precious thing that little
+bed of leaves was.
+
+The weather was so fine that week that Migwan decided to have a garden
+party and invite a number of friends from town. Gladys promised to dance
+and the boys cleared a circle for her in the grass under the trees,
+picking up every stick that lay on the ground. Mrs. Landsdowne, hearing
+about the party, offered to make ice cream for them in her freezer. Just
+before the guests arrived Migwan and Calvin went over after it. They
+took the raft, because they thought that would be the easiest way of
+transporting the heavy tub. Migwan rode on the raft and supported the
+tub and Calvin walked along the bank and pulled the tow line. His
+eagerness to help with the festivity was somewhat pathetic. Never, to
+his knowledge, had there been a party at the Smalley House. The way
+these girls planned a party out of a clear sky and carried out their
+plans without delay was nothing short of marvelous to him. They were
+always at their ease with company, while it was a fearful ordeal for him
+to meet strangers. He liked to be a part of such doings; but was at a
+loss how to act. Migwan, with her fine understanding of things beneath
+the surface, saw that this boy was lonesome in the crowd, not knowing
+how to mix in and have a glorious time on his own account, and she
+always saw to it that his part was mapped out for him in all their
+doings. Therefore she chose him to help her bring the ice cream over.
+
+Calvin, happy at being useful, towed the raft carefully and turned his
+head whenever Migwan spoke, so as to give strict attention to her words.
+Doing this, he fell over the branch of a tree in the path and jerked the
+rope violently. The raft tipped up and both Migwan and the tub of ice
+cream went into the river. Migwan climbed out on the bank before Calvin
+was up from the ground. He was aghast at what he had done. He had been
+so eager to help with the party and now he had spoiled it! That he would
+be instantly expelled from Onoway House he was sure, and he felt that he
+deserved it. Migwan, at least, would never speak to him again.
+Speechless, he turned piteous eyes to where she sat on the bank
+dripping. To his surprise she was doubled up with laughter. "What are
+you laughing at?" he asked, startled.
+
+"Because you upset the raft and the ice cream fell into the river!"
+giggled Migwan. Calvin gasped. The very thing that was nearly killing
+him with chagrin was the cause of her mirth! It was the first time he
+had ever seen anyone make light of a calamity. Her mirth was so
+contagious that he began to laugh himself. Still laughing, he brought
+the tub out of the river and set it on the bank. The water had washed
+away the packing of ice, but the lid on the inner can was providentially
+tight and the ice cream was unharmed. That little incident crystallized
+the friendship between the two. After that he was Migwan's slave. A girl
+who could be thrown into the river without getting vexed was a friend
+worth having. Dripping, they returned to the house, where the
+preparations for the party were at their height, to be laughed at
+immoderately and christened the "Water Babies."
+
+To Hinpoha the Artistic had been entrusted the setting of the tables.
+Her decorations were water lilies from the river, and when she had
+finished it looked as if a feast had been spread for the river nymphs.
+Around the edges of the platter she put bunches of bright mint leaves.
+Her artistic efforts called out so much praise from the guests that she
+was in a continual state of blushing as she waited on the table.
+
+"What's the matter with your hand?" asked Migwan, noticing that she was
+passing things around left handedly.
+
+"Nothing," said Hinpoha, "nothing much. I slipped when I was getting the
+lilies and fell on my wrist and it feels lame, that's all."
+
+"Is it sprained?" asked Migwan.
+
+"Oh, no," said Hinpoha, "I don't think so."
+
+"It's all swelled up," said Migwan, holding up the injured wrist. "Let
+me paint it with iodine and tie it up for you."
+
+Hinpoha maintained that it was nothing serious, but Migwan insisted.
+"Where is the iodine, mother?" she asked.
+
+"On the pantry shelf," answered Mrs. Gardiner. Migwan got the bottle and
+painted Hinpoha's wrist before the party could proceed. Hinpoha surveyed
+the brown stripe around her arm rather disgustedly. It was for this very
+reason that she had said nothing about the wrist before. She did not
+want it painted up for the party. It offended her artistic eye and she
+would rather suffer in silence.
+
+While the guests were sitting at the tables Gladys danced on the lawn
+for their entertainment. The merry laughter was hushed in surprise and
+delight at her fairylike movements. In the silence which reigned at this
+time the thing which happened was distinctly heard by everyone.
+Apparently from the depths of the earth there came a muffled thud, thud,
+as of a pick striking against hard ground. It kept up for a few minutes
+and then ceased, to be renewed again after a short interval. The
+dwellers at Onoway House looked at each other. Into each mind there
+sprang the story of the Deacon's well, and the words of Farmer
+Landsdowne, "_Superstitious folks say you can still hear the buried well
+digger striking with his pick against the ground that covers him._" It
+was the most mysterious sound, far away and faint, yet seemingly right
+under their very feet. Gladys heard it and paused in her dancing.
+Pointer and Mr. Bob both heard it and began to bark. In a little while
+the thudding noise ceased and was heard no more, and the company were
+all left wondering if they could have been the victims of imagination.
+
+"Maybe it's somebody down cellar," said Calvin, and taking Pointer with
+him, went down. Tom followed him. But there was no sign of anyone down
+there. Pointer ran around with his nose to the ground as if he were
+smelling for footsteps, but his tail kept wagging all the while. They
+were all familiar footsteps he scented. Nothing was out of place in the
+cellar except that a basket of potatoes was thrown over and the potatoes
+had rolled out on the cement floor. The boys noticed this without
+thinking anything of it. The mystery of the well digger's ghost remained
+unsolved.
+
+In the cool of the early evening after her guests had departed, Migwan
+wandered down into the garden to look at her various plants and flowers.
+It occurred to her that she had not paid her Titania Gloria a visit for
+several days. But what a sight met her eyes when she reached the spot
+where the precious thing had been planted! Not a single bit was left.
+The clean cut stalks showed where they had been clipped off close to the
+ground. Migwan started up with a cry of dismay which brought the other
+girls running to her side. "My Titania Gloria!" gasped Migwan. "Look!
+The mysterious visitor has been at work again!" And she told them about
+the valuable cuttings that had disappeared so uncannily.
+
+"We never hear that ghost but what something happens after it!" said
+Gladys, in an awestruck tone. The girls peered apprehensively into the
+shadows of the tall trees surrounding the garden.
+
+"What's up?" asked Hinpoha, joining the group. Migwan pointed to the
+devastated bed. "What's the matter with it?" asked Hinpoha.
+
+"My Titania Gloria!" said Migwan. "It's been clipped off at the roots."
+
+"Your what?" asked Hinpoha. Migwan explained about the rare plant Farmer
+Landsdowne had given her. Hinpoha gave a sudden start and exclamation.
+"What did you say it was?" she asked.
+
+"A Titania Gloria," answered Migwan.
+
+"Well, girls, I'm the guilty one, then," said Hinpoha, "for I cut those
+plants off thinking they were mint. That was what I decorated the
+platters with this afternoon. Do anything you like with me, Migwan, beat
+me, hang me to a tree, put my feet in stocks, or anything, and I'll make
+no resistance." She was absolutely frozen to the spot when she realized
+what she had done.
+
+Migwan, grieved as she was over the loss of her cherished Titania, yet
+had to laugh at the depths of Hinpoha's mortification. "You old goose!"
+she said, putting her arms around her, "don't take it so to heart! It's
+my fault, not yours at all, because I didn't tell anyone what that plant
+was. And the leaves do look just like mint." Thus she comforted the
+discomfited Hinpoha.
+
+"Migwan," said her mother, when they had returned to the house, "where
+did you get that iodine with which you painted Hinpoha's wrist this
+afternoon?"
+
+"On the pantry shelf, just where you told me," answered Migwan.
+
+"Well," said her mother, "I told you wrong. The iodine is up on my
+wash-stand."
+
+"Then what was in the brown bottle on the pantry shelf?" asked Migwan.
+The bottle was produced.
+
+"Why," said Mrs. Gardiner, "that's walnut stain, guaranteed not to wear
+off!"
+
+Then there was a laugh at Migwan's expense!
+
+  "Old Migwan Hubbard
+  She went to the cupboard,
+  To get iodine in a phial,
+  But she couldn't read plain,
+  And brought walnut stain,
+  And now her poor patient looks vile!"
+
+chanted Sahwah.
+
+"You're even now," said Gladys, "you've each scored a trick."
+
+"'_We do this to each other!_'" said Migwan and Hinpoha in the same
+breath, and locked fingers and made a wish according to the time-honored
+custom.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.--OPHELIA FINDS A FAIRY GODMOTHER.
+
+
+As the summer progressed, the girls had more than one conference as to
+what was to become of Ophelia when they left Onoway House. To let her go
+back to her life in the slums was unthinkable. So far, Old Grady had
+made no effort to get her back, possibly for the simple reason that she
+did not know where the child was. They did not even know whether or not
+she had a legal claim on Ophelia. All Ophelia knew about the business
+was that Old Grady had taken her from the orphan asylum when she was
+seven years old. Where she had lived before she went to the orphan
+asylum she could not remember, so she must have been very young when she
+came there. They were equally unwilling that she should return to the
+asylum.
+
+"If we could only find someone to adopt her," said Hinpoha. That would
+be the best thing, they all agreed, although there was a lingering doubt
+in the mind of each one as to whether anyone would want to adopt
+Ophelia. Grammar was to her a totally unnecessary accomplishment, and
+the amount of slang she knew was unending. By dint of hard labor they
+had succeeded in making her say "you" instead of "yer," and "to" instead
+of "ter," and discard some of her more violent slang phrases, but she
+was still obviously a child of the streets and the tenement, and that
+life had left its brand upon her. It showed itself constantly in her
+speech. They had better success in teaching her table manners, for with
+a child's gift of imitation she soon fell into the ways of those around
+her.
+
+But having had so much excitement in her short life she still pined for
+it. While the life in the country was pleasant in the extreme it was far
+too quiet to suit her and she longed to be back in the crowded tenement
+where there was something happening every hour out of the twenty-four;
+where people woke to life instead of going to bed when darkness fell and
+the lamps were lighted; where street cars clanged and wagons rattled and
+fire engines rumbled by; where the harsh voices of newsboys rang out
+above the loud conversation of the women on the doorsteps and the
+wailing of the babies. The zigging of the grasshoppers and the swishing
+of the wind in the Balm of Gilead tree and the murmur of the river had
+for her a mournful and desolate sound, and she often covered up her ears
+so as not to hear it. When she first came to Onoway House she was so
+interested in the new life that it kept her busy all day long finding
+out new things; but gradually the novelty wore off. At first she had
+been as mischievous as a monkey; always up to some prank or other. She
+teased Tom and was teased by him in return; she put burrs in Mr. Bob's
+long ears; she climbed trees and threw things down on the heads of
+unsuspecting persons underneath; she startled the girls out of their
+wits by lying unseen under the couch in the sitting-room and grabbing
+their ankles unexpectedly. Always she was doing something, and always
+merry and full of life; so that she made the girls feel that they had
+done a fine thing by bringing her to Onoway House.
+
+But of late a change had come over her. She began to droop, and to sit
+silent by herself at times. The girls did their best to keep her amused,
+but they were very busy with the continual canning, and Betty, who had
+more time than the others, did not like her and would not play with her.
+So she grew more and more homesick for the big, noisy city and the
+playmates of other days. Then had come the time when she was so
+sunburned and she had developed the fondness for Sahwah. After that she
+was less lonesome, for Sahwah was such a lively person to be attached to
+that one had always to be on the lookout for surprises. Sahwah taught
+her to swim and dive and ride a bicycle; she had the boys make a swing
+for her under the big tree, and Ophelia blossomed once more into
+happiness. At Sahwah's instigation she played more tricks on the other
+girls than before.
+
+But Ophelia was a shrewd little person, and she knew that the summer
+would come to a close and the girls would not live together any more.
+She often heard them discussing their plans. What was to become of her
+then? The happy family life at Onoway House stirred in her a desire to
+have a home too, and a mother of her own. She began to grow wistful
+again and at times her eyes would have a strange far-away look. The
+scandals of the streets which were once the breath of life to her and
+which she repeated with such relish, began to lose their charm, and she
+developed a taste for fairy tales. "Tell me the story about the fairy
+godmother," she would say to Sahwah, and would listen attentively to the
+end. "Are you sure I've got one somewhere?" she would ask eagerly.
+
+"You surely have," Sahwah would answer, to satisfy her.
+
+And then, "What _are_ we going to do with Ophelia when the summer is
+over?" Sahwah would ask the girls after Ophelia was in bed. And Hinpoha
+would think of Aunt Phoebe and knew she would never adopt such a child as
+Ophelia was; and Migwan knew that it would be out of the question in her
+family; and Sahwah knew that her mother would not let her come and live
+with them; and Gladys thought of her delicate mother and sighed. Nyoda
+could not make a home for her, because she had none of her own and a
+boarding house was no place for a child.
+
+"It's a shame," Sahwah would declare vehemently, "that there aren't
+fathers and mothers enough in this world to go round. Here's Ophelia
+will have to go into an institution more than likely, and grow up
+without any especial interest being taken in her, while we have had so
+much done for us. It isn't fair."
+
+"There's something curious about Ophelia," said Gladys, musingly. "While
+she came from the tenements and is as wild and untrained as any little
+street gamin, she has the appearance of a child of a much higher class.
+Have you ever noticed how small and perfect her hands and feet are? And
+what beautiful almond shaped fingernails she has? And what delicate
+features? Have you seen how erectly she carries herself, and how
+graceful she is when she dances? In spite of her name, I don't believe
+she is Irish; and I don't think her people could have been low class.
+There's an indefinable something about her which spells quality."
+
+"Probably a princess in disguise," said Sahwah, in a tone of amusement.
+"Leave it to Gladys to scent 'quality.'"
+
+But the others had noticed the same characteristics in Ophelia and were
+inclined to agree with Gladys on the subject.
+
+"But what about the strange spot of light hair on her head?" asked
+Sahwah. "Would you call that a mark of quality?" But to this there was
+no answer. They had never seen or heard of anything like it before. Thus
+the summer days slipped by and Onoway House continued to shelter two
+homeless orphans, neither of whom knew what the future held in store for
+them.
+
+One afternoon when the girls had planned to go for a long walk to the
+woods Gladys read in the paper that a balloonist was to make an
+ascension over the lake. For some unaccountable reason she took a fancy
+that she would like to see the performance. "Oh, Gladys," said Sahwah,
+impatiently, "you've seen balloonists before and you'll see plenty yet;
+come with us this afternoon." But Gladys held out, even while she
+wondered to herself why she was so eager to see this not uncommon sight.
+Half offended at her, the other girls departed in the direction of the
+woods. Gladys climbed high up in the Balm of Gilead tree, from which she
+could look over the country for miles around and easily see the lake and
+the distant amusement park from which the balloonist was to ascend.
+
+The newspaper said three o'clock, but evidently the performance was
+delayed, for although Gladys was on the lookout since before that time
+nothing seemed to be happening. To aid her in seeing she took Nakwisi's
+spy glass up into the tree with her, and while she was waiting for the
+parachute spectacle she amused herself by focusing the glass on far away
+objects on the land and bringing them right before her eyes, as it
+seemed. She could look right into the back door of a distant farm house
+and see children playing in the doorway and chickens walking up and down
+the steps; she could see the men working in the fields; she could see
+the yachts out on the lake and the smoky trail of a freight steamer.
+Somewhere in the middle of her range of vision were the gleaming rails
+of the car tracks. She looked at them idly; they were like long streaks
+of light in the sun. She saw two men, evidently tramps, come out of the
+bushes along the road and bend over the rails. Somewhere along that
+stretch of track there was a derailing switch and it seemed to Gladys
+that it was at this point where the men were. Gladys looked at the pair,
+suspiciously, for a second and then decided they were track testers. One
+had an iron bar in his hand and he seemed to be turning the switch.
+Suddenly the other man pointed up the road and then the two jumped
+quickly backward into the bushes. Gladys looked in the direction the man
+had pointed. Far off down the track she could see the red body of the
+"Limited" approaching at a tremendous rate. The stretch of country past
+the Centerville Road was flat and even; the track was perfect and there
+was no traffic to block the way, and the cars made great speed along
+here. Something told Gladys that the men had had no business at the
+switch; that they meant to derail and wreck the Limited. Gladys had
+learned to think and act quickly since she had become a Camp Fire Girl,
+and scarcely had the idea entered her head that the Limited was in
+danger, than she conceived the plan of heading it off. Before the car
+reached the switch it must pass the Centerville Road. Being the Limited,
+it did not stop there. So Gladys planned to run the automobile down the
+Centerville Road and flag the car. She flung herself from the tree in
+haste, got the machine out of the barn and started down the road with
+wide-open throttle.
+
+Trees and fences whirled dizzily by, obscured in the cloud of dust she
+was raising. Across the stillness of the fields she could hear the
+Limited pounding down the track. A hundred yards from the end of the
+road the automobile engine snorted, choked and went dead. Without
+waiting to investigate the trouble, Gladys jumped out and proceeded on
+foot. Could she make it? She could see the red monster through the
+trees, rushing along to certain destruction. With an inward prayer for
+the speed of Antelope Boy, the Indian runner, she darted forward like an
+arrow from the bow. Breathless and spent she came out on the car track
+just a moment ahead of the thundering car, and waved the scarlet
+Winnebago banner, which she had snatched from the wall on the way out.
+With a quick jamming of the emergency brakes that shook the car from end
+to end it came to a standstill just beyond the Centerville Road, and
+only fifty feet from the switch.
+
+"What's the matter?" asked the motorman, coming out.
+
+"Look at the switch!" panted Gladys, sinking down beside the road,
+unable to say more.
+
+The motorman looked at the switch. "My God," he said, mopping his
+forehead, "if we'd ever run into that thing going at such a rate there
+wouldn't have been anyone left to tell the tale."
+
+The passengers were pouring from the car, eager to find out the reason
+for the sudden stoppage. "What's the matter?" was heard on every side.
+
+"You've got that girl to thank," said the motorman, moving back toward
+his vestibule, "that you're not lying in a heap of kindling wood."
+Gladys, much abashed and still hardly able to breathe, laid her head on
+her knee and sobbed from sheer nervousness and relief.
+
+"Gladys!" suddenly said a voice above the murmurings of the throng of
+passengers.
+
+Gladys raised her head. "Papa!" she cried, staggering to her feet. "Were
+you on that car?"
+
+Another figure detached itself from the crowd and hastened forward.
+"Mother!" cried Gladys. "Oh, if I hadn't been able to stop it--" and at
+the horror of the idea her strength deserted her and she slipped quietly
+to the ground at her parents' feet.
+
+When she came to the car had gone on and she was lying in the grass by
+the roadside with her head in her mother's lap. "Cheer up, you're all
+right," said her mother a little unsteadily, smiling down at her. Gladys
+now became aware of two other figures that were standing in the road.
+
+"Aunt Beatrice!" she cried. "And Uncle Lynn! What are you doing here?"
+
+"We all came out to surprise you," said her father. "We got back from
+the West last night; sooner than we expected, and decided we would run
+out without any warning and see what kind of farmers you were. The
+automobile is being overhauled so we came on the interurban. We didn't
+know it didn't stop at your road."
+
+Then, Gladys suddenly remembered her own disabled car standing in the
+road, and they all moved toward it. With a little tinkering it
+condescended to run and they were soon at Onoway House, telling the
+exciting tale to Mrs. Gardiner, who held up her hands in horror at the
+thought of the fate which the newcomers had so narrowly escaped. Aunt
+Beatrice, not being strong, was much agitated, and developed a
+palpitation of the heart, and had to lie in the hammock on the porch and
+be doctored, so Gladys had her hands full until the girls came back.
+They were much surprised at the houseful of company and very glad to see
+Mr. and Mrs. Evans, who were very good friends of the Winnebagos indeed.
+They looked with interest when Aunt Beatrice was introduced, for they
+all remembered the tragic story Gladys had told them about the loss of
+her baby in the hotel fire. Aunt Beatrice felt well enough to get up
+then and acknowledge the introductions with a sweet but infinitely sad
+smile that went straight to their hearts, and brought tears to the eyes
+of the soft-hearted Hinpoha.
+
+Ophelia came in last, having loitered on the lawn to play with Pointer
+and Mr. Bob. She had taken off her hat and was swinging it around in her
+hand when she came up on the porch. "And this is the little sister of
+the Winnebagos," said Nyoda, drawing her forward. Aunt Beatrice looked
+down at the dust-streaked little face, with her sad smile, but her eyes
+rested there only an instant. She was gazing as if fascinated at the
+strange ring of light hair on her head. She became very pale and her
+eyes widened until they seemed to be the biggest part of her face.
+
+"Lynn!" she gasped in a choking voice, "Lynn! Look!" and she sank on the
+floor unconscious. "It can't be! It can't be!" she kept saying faintly
+when they revived her. "Beatrice died in the fire. But Beatrice had that
+ring of light hair on her head! It can't be! But there never were two
+such birthmarks!"
+
+What a hubbub arose when this startling possibility was uttered!
+Ophelia, the lost Beatrice? Could it possibly be true? Uncle Lynn lost
+no time in finding out. Taking Ophelia with him he hunted up Old Grady.
+She knew nothing more save that she had gotten her from an orphan
+asylum, which she named. At the asylum he learned what he wanted to
+know. The superintendent remembered about Ophelia on account of the
+strange ring of light hair. The child had been brought to the
+institution when she was about a year old. There was a babies'
+dispensary in connection with the place, and into this a weak, haggard
+girl of about eighteen had staggered one day carrying a baby. The baby
+was sick and she begged them to make it well. While she sat waiting for
+the nurse to look at the baby the girl collapsed. She died in a charity
+hospital a few days later. On her death-bed she confessed that she had
+run away from a large hotel with the baby which had been left in her
+care, intending to hide it and get money from the parents for its
+recovery. But she feared this would lead her into trouble and left town
+with the child and never troubled the parents as she had intended, and
+kept the baby with her until it fell sick, when she had become
+frightened and sought the dispensary. She apparently never knew that the
+hotel had burned and covered up the traces of her flight. The baby was
+kept at the orphan asylum and named Ophelia. Her last name had never
+been known. Thence Old Grady had adopted her, but her right could be
+taken away from her as it was clear that she was no fit person to have
+the child.
+
+"It's just like a fairy tale!" said Hinpoha, when it was established
+beyond a doubt that the abused street waif Gladys had brought home in
+the goodness of her heart was her own cousin.
+
+"Didn't I tell you you'd find your fairy godmother if you only waited
+long enough?" said Sahwah. And Ophelia, from the depths of her mother's
+arms, nodded rapturously.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.--A GAME OF HIDE-AND-SEEK.
+
+
+"Oh, Gladys, do you have to go home, now that your mother and father are
+back?" asked Migwan, anxiously.
+
+"Not unless you want to, Gladys," said Mrs. Evans. "If you would rather
+stay out here until school opens, you may. Father and I are going to
+Boston in a few days, you know."
+
+So there was no breaking up of the group before they all went home, with
+the exception of Ophelia, or rather Beatrice, as we will have to call
+her from now on, for, of course, she was to go with her mother.
+
+"What must it be like, anyway," said Hinpoha, "not to have any last name
+until you're nine years old and then be introduced to yourself? To
+answer to the name of Ophelia one and 'Miss Beatrice Palmer' the next?
+It must be rather confusing."
+
+Little Beatrice went to Boston with her mother and father and uncle and
+aunt and Onoway House missed her rather sorely. Calvin Smalley also got
+a measure of happiness out of the restoration of the lost child, for
+Uncle Lynn was so beside himself with joy over the event that he was
+ready to bestow favors on anyone connected with Onoway House, and
+promised to see that Calvin got through school and college. He would
+give him a place to work in his office Saturdays and vacations.
+
+For several days now there had been no sign of the mysterious visitor,
+and the well digger's ghost had also apparently been laid to rest. Then
+one morning they woke to the realization that the unseen agency had been
+at work again. Pinned on the front door was a piece of paper on which
+was scrawled,
+
+  "_If you folks know what's good for you you'll get out of that
+  house._"
+
+"We'll do no such thing!" said Migwan, with unexpected spirit "I've
+started out to earn money to go to college by canning tomatoes, and I'm
+going to stay here until they're canned; I don't care who likes it or
+doesn't."
+
+"That's it, stand up for your rights," applauded Sahwah.
+
+"But what possible motive could anyone have for wanting us to get out of
+the house?" asked Migwan. Of course, there was no answer to this.
+
+"Do you suppose the house will be burned down as the tepee was?" asked
+Gladys, in rather a scared voice. This suggestion sent a shiver through
+them all.
+
+"We must get the policeman back again to watch," said Mrs. Gardiner.
+
+Accordingly, the redoubtable constable was brought on the scene again.
+
+"Well, well, well," he said, fingering the mysterious note. "Thought
+he'd come back again now that the coast was clear, did he? You notice,
+though, that he didn't make no effort while I was here. You can bet your
+life he won't get busy again while I'm here now. You ladies just rest
+easy and go on with your peeling."
+
+Scarcely had he finished speaking, when from the bowels of the earth and
+apparently under his very feet, there came the strange sound as of blows
+being struck on hard earth or stone. The expression on Dave Beeman's
+face was such a mixture of surprise and alarm that the girls could not
+keep from laughing, disturbed as they were at the return of the sounds.
+"By gum," said the constable, looking furtively around, "this is
+certainly a queer business." He had heard the story of the well digger's
+ghost and it was very strong in his mind just now. "Maybe it's just as
+well not to meddle," he said under his breath.
+
+Off and on through the day they heard the same sounds issuing from the
+ground, and at dusk the weird moaning began again. The constable showed
+strong signs of wishing himself elsewhere. When darkness fell the noises
+ceased and were heard no more that night. But another sort of moaning
+had taken its place. This was the wind, which had been blowing strongly
+all day, and early in the evening increased to the proportions of a
+hurricane. With wise forethought Sahwah and Nyoda brought the raft and
+the rowboat up on land. Leaves, small twigs and thick dust filled the
+air. Windows rattled ominously; doors slammed with jarring crashes.
+Migwan, foreseeing a devastating storm, set all the girls to picking
+tomatoes as fast as they could, whether they were ripe or not, to save
+them from being dashed to the ground. They could ripen off the vines
+later.
+
+At last the sandstorm drove them into the house, blinded. Then there
+came such a wind as none of them had ever experienced. Trees in the yard
+broke like matches; the Balm of Gilead roared like an ocean in a
+tempest. There was a constant rattle of pebbles and small objects
+against the window panes; then one of the windows in the dining-room was
+broken by a branch being hurled against it, and let in a miniature
+tempest. Papers blew around the room in great confusion. Migwan rolled
+the high topped sideboard in front of the broken pane to keep the wind
+out of the room. At times it seemed as if the very house must be coming
+down on top of their heads, and they stood with frightened faces in the
+front hall ready to dash out at a moment's notice. A crash sounded on
+the roof and they thought the time had come, but in a moment they
+realized that it was only the chimney falling over. The bricks went
+sliding and bumping down the slope of the roof and fell to the ground
+over the edge.
+
+"I pity anybody who's caught in this out in the open," said Migwan. "I
+believe the wind is strong enough to blow a horse over. I wonder where
+Calvin is now." Calvin had gone to the city with Farmer Landsdowne on
+business and intended to remain all night.
+
+"He's probably all right if he has reached those friends of the
+Landsdownes'," said Hinpoha.
+
+"The Smalleys are out, too," said Sahwah. "I saw them drive past after
+dark, going toward town, just before it began to blow so terribly. Oh,
+listen! What do you suppose that was?" A crash in the yard told them
+that something had happened to the barn. Gladys was in great distress
+about the car, and had to be restrained forcibly from running out to see
+if it was all right. The wind continued the greater part of the night
+and nobody thought of going to bed. By morning it had spent its force.
+
+Then they looked out on a scene of destruction. The garden was piled
+with branches and trunks of trees, and strewn with clothes that had been
+hanging on wash-lines somewhere along the road. Up against the porch lay
+a wicker chair which they recognized as belonging to a house some
+distance away. Everywhere around they could see the corn and wheat lying
+flat on the ground, as if trodden by some giant foot. The roof of the
+barn had been torn off on one side and reposed on the ground, more or
+less shattered. The car was uninjured except that it was covered with a
+thick coating of yellow dust. It was well that they had thought to pick
+the tomatoes, for the vines and the frames which supported them were
+demolished. All the telephone wires were down as far as they could see.
+
+Calvin was not to return until night, and they felt no great anxiety
+about him, but often during the day a disquieting thought came to
+Migwan. This was about Uncle Peter, the man who lived in the cottage
+among the trees. Suppose something had happened to him? From Sahwah's
+report, the house was very old and frail. She watched the Red House
+closely for signs of life, but apparently the Smalleys had not returned.
+The doors were shut and there was no smoke coming out of the kitchen
+chimney.
+
+"Nyoda," said Migwan, finally, "I'm going over and see if that old man
+is all right. I can't rest until I know."
+
+"All right," said Nyoda, "I'm going with you." Sahwah was over at Mrs.
+Landsdowne's, but they remembered her description of the approach to the
+cottage, and made the detour around the field where the bull was and the
+marsh beyond it, coming up to the cottage from the other side. It was
+still standing, although the big tree beside it had been blown over and
+lay across the roof.
+
+"Would you ever think," said Migwan, "that there was anyone living in
+there? I could pass it a dozen times and swear it was empty, if I didn't
+know about it."
+
+"Well," said Nyoda, the house is still standing, "so I suppose the old
+man is all right."
+
+"I wonder," said Migwan. "He may have been frightened sick, and he may
+have nothing to eat or drink, now that the Smalleys are kept away. We'd
+better have a look. He can't hurt us. If Sahwah spent the whole
+afternoon with him we needn't be afraid."
+
+They tried the door, but, of course, found it locked, and were obliged
+to resort to the same means of entrance as Sahwah had employed. They saw
+the key in the other door just as Sahwah had and turned it and opened
+the door. The old man was sitting by the table in just the position
+Sahwah had described. Apparently he was neither frightened nor hurt. He
+looked up when he saw them in the doorway and motioned them to come in.
+There was nothing extraordinary in his appearance; he was simply an old
+man with mild blue eyes. Obeying the same impulse of adventure which had
+led Sahwah across the threshold, they stepped in and sat down. The room
+was just as Sahwah had told them. The table was littered with wheels and
+rods which the old man was fitting together. As they expected, he worked
+away without taking any notice of them.
+
+"Did you mind the storm?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Storm?" said the old man. "What storm?"
+
+"He never noticed it!" said Migwan, in an aside to Nyoda.
+
+"What are you making?" asked Migwan, wishing to hear from his own lips
+the explanation he had given Sahwah.
+
+After his customary interval he spoke. "It's a machine that reclaims
+wasted moments," he explained. "Every moment that isn't made good use of
+goes down through this little trap door, and when there are enough to
+make an hour they join hands and climb up on the face of the clock
+again."
+
+Migwan and Nyoda exchanged glances. The ingenious imagination of the old
+man surpassed anything they had ever heard. They stayed awhile, amusing
+themselves by looking at the books and clocks in the cabinets, and then
+rose, intending to slip away quietly when he was absorbed in his work,
+as Sahwah had done. A dish of apples standing on one of the cabinets
+indicated that he was not without food and their minds were now at rest
+about his welfare. But when they moved toward the door he turned and
+looked at them.
+
+"What do you think of it?" he asked.
+
+By "it" they figured that he meant the machine he was working on. "It's
+a very good one indeed," said Nyoda, "very interesting."
+
+"Do you want to buy the rights?" asked the old man, taking off his hat
+and putting it on again.
+
+"He thinks he's talking to some capitalist!" whispered Migwan.
+
+"We'll talk over the plans first among ourselves and let you know our
+decision," said Nyoda, not knowing what to say and wishing to appear
+politely interested. This speech would give them an opportunity to get
+away. But to her surprise Uncle Peter drew a sheet of paper from among
+those on the table and gravely handed it to her.
+
+"Here are the plans," he said. "Take them and look them over and let me
+know in a week." Then he fell to work and forgot their presence. Holding
+the paper in her hands Nyoda walked out of the room, followed by Migwan.
+They left the house as they had entered it and returned by a roundabout
+way to Onoway House. Nyoda put the plans of the remarkable machine away
+in her room, intending to keep it as a curiosity. Soon afterward they
+saw the Smalleys driving into the yard of the Red House.
+
+It took the girls most of the day to clear the garden of the rubbish
+which had been blown into it and tie up the prostrate plants on sticks.
+Calvin came back at night safe and relieved the slight anxiety they had
+felt about him. As they sat on the porch after supper comparing notes
+about the storm they heard the muffled sounds which told that the well
+digger's ghost was at work again. It continued throughout the evening.
+
+"I'll be a wreck if this keeps up much longer," said Migwan. A perpetual
+air of uneasiness had fallen on Onoway House and it was impossible to
+get anything accomplished. How could they settle down to work or play
+with that dreadful thud, thud pounding in their ears every little while?
+Dave Beeman had taken himself home after the storm to see what damage
+had been done and they were again without the protection of the law.
+
+"Maybe it's some animal under the ground," suggested Calvin. "It
+certainly couldn't be a person down there." This seemed such an
+amazingly sensible solution of the mystery that the girls were inclined
+to accept it.
+
+"I suppose imagination does help a lot," said Migwan, "and if we hadn't
+heard that story about the well digger we would never have thought of a
+man with a pickaxe. It's undoubtedly the movements of an animal we
+hear."
+
+"But what animal lives underground without any air?" asked Sahwah.
+
+"There's probably a hole somewhere, only we haven't found it," said
+Migwan, who seemed determined to believe the animal theory.
+
+"But what about the note on the door and the lime on the tomatoes and
+the burning of the tepee?" asked Sahwah. "You can't blame that onto an
+animal, can you?"
+
+"That's very true," said Migwan, "but it is likely there is no
+connection between the two mysteries. It's just a coincidence. I for one
+am going to be sensible and stop worrying about that noise in the
+ground." And most of them followed Migwan's example.
+
+The next morning was such a beautiful one that they could not resist
+getting up early and running out of doors before breakfast. "Let's play
+a game of hide-and-seek," proposed Sahwah. The others agreed readily;
+Hinpoha was counted out and had to be "it," and the others scattered to
+hide themselves. One by one Hinpoha discovered and "caught" the players,
+or they got "in free." Calvin startled her nearly out of her wits by
+suddenly dropping out of a tree almost on top of her.
+
+"Are we all in?" asked Migwan, fanning herself with her handkerchief.
+She was out of breath from her strenuous run for the goal.
+
+"All but Sahwah," said Hinpoha. She started out again to look for her,
+turning around every little while to keep a wary eye on the goal lest
+Sahwah should spring out from somewhere nearby and reach it before she
+did. But Sahwah was evidently hidden at some distance from the goal, and
+Hinpoha walked in an ever increasing circle without tempting her out.
+The others, tired of waiting for her to be caught, joined in the search
+and beat the bushes and hunted through the barn and looked up in the
+trees. But no Sahwah did they find.
+
+Breakfast time neared and Hinpoha called loudly, "In free, Sahwah,
+game's over." But Sahwah did not emerge from some cleverly concealed
+nook as they expected.
+
+"Maybe she didn't hear you," said Migwan. "Let's all call." And they all
+called, shouting together in perfect unison as they had done on so many
+other occasions, making the combined voice carry a great distance. An
+echo answered them but that was all. The girls looked at each other
+blankly.
+
+"Do you suppose she's staying hidden on purpose?" asked Calvin.
+
+"No," said Nyoda, emphatically, "I don't. Sahwah's had enough experience
+with causing us worry by disappearing never to do it on purpose again.
+She's probably stuck somewhere and can't get out. Do you remember the
+time she was shut up in the statue and couldn't talk? Something of the
+kind has occurred again, I don't doubt. We'll simply have to search
+until we find and release her."
+
+They began a systematized search and minutely examined every foot of
+ground. Thinking that the barn was the most likely place to get into
+something and not get out again, they opened every old chest there and
+pried into every corner, and moved every article. They went up-stairs
+and looked through the lofts and corners. The roof being partly off, it
+was as light as day, and if she had been there anywhere they would
+surely have seen her. But there was no sign of her. They looked under
+the roof of the barn that lay on the ground, thinking that she might
+have crawled under that and become pinned down, but she was not there.
+
+"Could she have fallen into the river?" asked Calvin.
+
+"It wouldn't have done her any harm if she had," said Hinpoha. "Sahwah's
+more at home in the water than she is on land. It wouldn't have been
+unlike her to jump in and swim around and duck her head under every time
+I came near, but then she would have heard us calling for her and come
+out."
+
+They parted every bush and shrub, and looked closely at the branches of
+every tree, half fearing to find her hanging by the hair somewhere.
+
+"Do you suppose she went up the Balm of Gilead tree and into the attic
+window?" asked Migwan. They searched through the attic, and a laborious
+search it was, on account of the quantities of furniture and chests to
+be moved. They pulled out every drawer and burst open every trunk and
+chest, thinking she might have crawled into one and then the lid had
+closed with a spring lock. It was fully noon before they were satisfied
+that she was not up there.
+
+"Could she be in the cellar?" asked Hinpoha. Down they went, carrying
+lights to look into all the dark corners. But the search was vain. The
+girls became extremely frightened. Something told them that Sahwah's
+disappearance was not voluntary. They looked at each other with growing
+fear. What had the message on the door said?
+
+  "_If you folks know what's good for you you'll get out of that
+  house._"
+
+Was that a warning of what had happened now? Was it a friendly or a
+sinister warning? Migwan was almost beside herself to think that
+anything had happened to Sahwah while she was staying with her. The day
+dragged along like a nightmare. In the afternoon Calvin had an
+inspiration. "Why didn't I think of it before?" he almost shouted.
+"Here's Pointer; he's a hunting dog and can follow a trail. We'll set
+him to find Sahwah's trail."
+
+"That's right," said Migwan, in relief, "we'll surely find her now."
+
+They gave Pointer a shoe of Sahwah's and in a moment he had started off
+with his nose to the ground. But if they had expected him to lead them
+to her hiding-place they were disappointed, for all he did was follow
+the trail around the garden between the house and the river. Once he
+went down cellar, straining hard at the chain which held him, and they
+were sure he would find something they had overlooked in their search,
+but the trail ended in front of the fruit cellar.
+
+"Sahwah came down here early this morning to bring up those melons,
+don't you remember?" said Migwan. "That's all Pointer has found out."
+They kept Pointer at it for some time, but he never offered to leave the
+garden.
+
+"Are you sure he's on the trail?" asked Hinpoha, doubtfully.
+
+"Yes," said Calvin, "he never whines that way unless he is. That long
+howl is the hunting dog's signal that he's on the job. When he loses the
+trail he runs back and forth uncertainly."
+
+"According to that, Sahwah must be very near," said Gladys. "Are you
+sure there isn't any other place in the house, cellar or barn that she
+could have gotten into, Migwan?"
+
+"Quite sure," said Migwan, disheartened. "You know yourself the way we
+finecombed every foot of space."
+
+"There's another thing that might have made Pointer lose the trail,"
+said Nyoda. "Do you remember that he stopped short at the river once?
+Well, it is my belief that Sahwah ran down to the river and either fell
+or jumped in and swam away. That would destroy the trail, and Sahwah
+might be miles away for all we know." She carefully refrained from
+suggesting that anything had happened to Sahwah and she might have gone
+under the water and not come up again, but there was a fear tugging at
+her heart that Sahwah had dived in and struck her head on something and
+gone down.
+
+But several of the others must have had much the same thought, for
+Gladys remarked, without any apparent connection, "_You can see the
+bottom almost all the way down the river._"
+
+And Hinpoha said, "_Those tangled roots of trees in the river are nasty
+things to get into._"
+
+And Calvin set the dog free immediately and untied the rowboat. He and
+Nyoda rowed down the river while the rest followed along the banks. The
+stream was clear most of the distance and they could see to the bottom.
+Here and there were sharp rocks jutting up and casting shadows on the
+sunlit bottom, and in places the water had washed the dirt away from the
+roots of trees so that they extended out into the river like
+many-fingered creatures waiting to seize their prey. But nowhere did
+they see what they feared. In the lower part of the river, toward the
+mouth, the water was deeper and had been dredged free of all
+obstructions, so while it was muddy and they could not see into its
+depths they knew that nothing was to be found here.
+
+Vaguely relieved and yet dreadfully anxious and mystified they returned
+to Onoway House. "Do you suppose she was carried away by an automobile
+or wagon?" asked Migwan. "Does anyone recall seeing anything of the kind
+going by when we started to play?" Nobody did. While they were
+discussing this new theory, Pointer, who had been left to run loose
+while they were searching the river, came running up to them. With much
+wagging of his tail he went to Calvin and laid something at his feet For
+a moment they could not make out what it was. Migwan recognized it
+first.
+
+_It was Sahwah's shoe, completely covered and dripping with black mud._
+
+"Where did you find it, Pointer?" asked Calvin. Pointer wagged his tail
+in evident satisfaction, but, of course, he could not answer his
+master's question.
+
+"Is that the shoe Sahwah had on this morning?" asked Nyoda.
+
+"Yes," said Hinpoha. "I remember asking her why she wore those shoes
+with the red buttons to run around in and she said they were getting
+tight and she wanted to wear them out."
+
+"Where does that black mud come from around here?" asked Gladys.
+
+It was Nyoda who guessed the dreadful fact first. All of a sudden she
+remembered cleaning her shoes after she had come home from her visit to
+Uncle Peter.
+
+"_The marsh!_" she gasped. "_Sahwah's caught in the marsh!_ It's the
+same mud. I went to the edge of the marsh the other day to see it and
+got some on my shoe."
+
+Without stopping to hear more, Calvin dashed off in the direction of his
+father's farm, with Pointer at his heels and Gladys and Nyoda and
+Hinpoha and Migwan and Tom and Betty trailing after him as fast as they
+could go. Mrs. Gardiner followed a little distance behind. She could not
+keep up with them. Calvin tore a flat board from one of the fences as he
+ran along and called on the others to do the same thing. A little
+farther on he found a rope and took that along. They reached the edge of
+the marsh and looked eagerly for the figure of Sahwah imprisoned in the
+treacherous ooze. But the green surface smiled up innocently at them.
+Not a sign of a struggle, no indentation in the level, no break. To the
+unknowing it looked like the smoothest lawn lying like a sheet of
+emerald in the sun. But on second glance you saw the water bubbling up
+through the grass and then you knew the secret of the greenness. Nowhere
+could they see Sahwah.
+
+Migwan had to force herself to ask the question that was in everybody's
+mind. "Has she gone under?"
+
+"No," said Calvin, positively. "It can't be possible in so short a time.
+They say that a horse went down here once long ago, and it took him more
+than two days to be covered entirely."
+
+After being wrought up to such a pitch of expectancy it was a shock to
+find that Sahwah was not in the marsh. _But how had her shoe come to be
+covered with marsh mud, and what was it doing off her foot?_ Where had
+Pointer found it?
+
+"Oh, if only dogs could speak!" said Hinpoha. "Pointer, Pointer, where
+did you find it?" But Pointer could only wag his tail and bark.
+
+From where they stood at the edge of the marsh they could see the
+cottage among the trees. A look of inquiry passed between Nyoda and
+Migwan. Calvin saw the look and understood it.
+
+"Would you like to look in Uncle Peter's house?" he asked. His face was
+very pale, and Nyoda, watching him keenly, thought she detected a sudden
+suspicion and fear in his eyes. He looked apprehensively over his
+shoulder at the Red House as they started to skirt the bog. Nyoda
+understood that movement. Abner Smalley did not know that they knew
+about Uncle Peter, and Calvin had said he would be very angry if he
+found it out. Now he would be sure to see them going toward the house.
+But this thought did not make Nyoda waver in her determination to search
+the cottage. The urgency of the occasion released them from their
+promise of secrecy. As Calvin had no key they were obliged to enter by
+the window as on former occasions. But the front room was absolutely
+blank and bare and they saw the impossibility of anyone's being hidden
+there. It was a tense moment when they opened the door of the inner room
+and the girls who had never been there stepped behind the others and
+held their breath. Uncle Peter sat at the table just as Nyoda and Migwan
+had seen him a day or two before, playing with his rods and wheels. His
+mild blue eyes rested in astonishment on the number of people who
+thronged the doorway.
+
+"Come in, ladies," he said, politely. The room was exactly as it had
+been the other day and apparently he had not stirred from his position.
+They all felt that Sahwah had not been there and that the old man knew
+nothing about the matter. But Calvin spoke to him.
+
+"Uncle Peter," he said. The man turned at the name and stared at him but
+gave no sign of recognizing him. "Do you know me, Uncle Peter?" said
+Calvin. "It's Calvin, Jim's boy."
+
+The old man smiled vacantly and held out the bit of machinery he was
+working on. "It's a machine for saving time," he said. "As the minutes
+are ticked off----" There was nothing to be gotten out of him, and they
+withdrew again. Calvin looked around him fearfully as they returned
+through the fields, to see if his uncle had watched him take the girls
+to the cottage, but there was no sign of him anywhere, at which he
+breathed an unconscious sigh of relief. Tired out with their ceaseless
+searching and sick with anxiety, they returned to Onoway House.
+
+If we were writing an ingeniously intricate detective story the thing to
+do would be to wait until Sahwah was discovered by some brilliant piece
+of detective work and then have her tell her story, leaving the
+explanation of the mystery until the last chapter, and keeping the
+reader on the verge of nervous prostration to the end of the piece. But,
+as this is only a faithful narrative of actual events, and as Sahwah is
+our heroine as much as any of the girls, we know that the reader would
+much prefer to follow her adventures with their own eyes, rather than
+hear about them later when she tells the story to the wondering
+household. And we also think it only fair to say that if Sahwah's return
+had depended on any brilliant detective work on the part of the others
+we have very grave doubts as to its ever being accomplished. We will,
+then, leave the dwellers at Onoway House to their searching and
+theorizing and bewailing, and follow Sahwah from the time they started
+to play hide-and-seek and Hinpoha blinded her eyes and began to count
+"five, ten, fifteen, twenty."
+
+Sahwah ran across the garden toward the house, intending to swing
+herself into one of the open cellar windows. Near this window was a
+flower bed which Migwan had filled with especially rich black soil. That
+morning she had watered the bed and had done it so thoroughly that the
+ground was turned into a very soft mud. Sahwah, not looking where she
+was going, stepped into this mud and sank in over her shoe top with one
+foot. When she had entered the window she stood on the cellar floor and
+regarded the muddy shoe disgustedly. Feeling that it was wet through,
+she ripped it off and flung it out of the window. It landed back in the
+muddy bed and was hidden by the growing plants. Sahwah then proceeded to
+hide herself in the fruit cellar. This was a partitioned off place in a
+dark corner. She sat among the cupboards and baskets and watched Hinpoha
+pass the window several times as she hunted for the players. Once
+Hinpoha peered searchingly into the window and Sahwah thought she was on
+the verge of being discovered and pressed back in her corner. There was
+a basket of potatoes in the way of her getting quite into the corner and
+she moved this out. There was also a barrel of vinegar and she slipped
+in behind this. As she moved the barrel it dropped back upon her
+shoeless foot and it was all she could do to repress a cry of pain as
+she stood and held the battered member in her hand. But the pain became
+so bad she decided to give up the game and get something to relieve it.
+She pushed hard against the barrel to move it out, but this time it
+would not move. She pushed harder, bracing her back against the wooden
+wall behind her, when, without warning, the wall caved in as if by
+magic, and she fell backwards head over heels into inky darkness. The
+wall through which she had fallen closed with a bang.
+
+Sahwah sat up and reached mechanically for the hurt foot. The pain had
+increased alarmingly and for a time shut out all other sensations. Then
+it abated a little and Sahwah had time to wonder what she had fallen
+into. She was sitting on a stone floor, she could make that out. It must
+be a room of some kind, she decided, but the darkness was so intense
+that she could make nothing out. "There must have been another part to
+the cellar behind the fruit cellar, although we never knew it," thought
+Sahwah, "and the back of the fruit cellar was the door." As soon as she
+could stand upon her foot again she moved forward in the direction from
+which she thought she had come and searched with her hands for a
+doorknob. But her fingers encountered only a smooth wall surface and
+after about five minutes of careful feeling she came to the startled
+conclusion that there was no such thing. "I must have got turned around
+when I tumbled," she thought, "and am feeling of the wrong wall." She
+accordingly moved forward until her outstretched hands encountered
+another hard surface and she repeated the process of looking for a
+doorknob. No more success here. "Well, there are four walls to every
+room," thought Sahwah, "and I've still got two more trys." Again she
+moved out cautiously and with ever increasing nervousness admitted that
+there was no door in that direction. "Now for the fourth side, the right
+one at last," she said to herself. "One, two, three, out goes me!" She
+moved quickly in the fourth and last direction. Without warning she ran
+hard into something which tripped her up. She felt her head striking
+violently against something hard and then she knew no more.
+
+She woke to a dream consciousness first. She dreamed she was lying in
+the soft sand on the lake shore near one of the great stone piers, where
+a number of men were at work. They were pounding the stones with great
+hammers and the vibrations from the blows shook the beach and went
+through her as she lay on the sand. Gradually the sparkling water faded
+from her sight; the sky grew dark and night fell, but still the blows
+continued to sound on the stone. Just where the dream ended and reality
+began she never knew, but, with a rush of consciousness she knew that
+she was awake and alive; that everything was dark and that she was lying
+on her face in something soft that was like sand and yet not like it.
+And the pounding she had heard in her dream was still going on. Thud,
+thud, it shook the earth and jarred her so her teeth were on edge. For a
+long time she lay and listened without wondering much what it was. Her
+head ached with such intensity that it might have been the throbbing of
+her temples that was shaking the earth so. After a while that dulled,
+but the jarring blows still kept up. With a cessation of the pain came
+the power to think and Sahwah remembered the strange noises they had
+heard issuing from the ground. It must be the same noise; only it was a
+hundred times louder now. It was a sort of clanging thump; like the
+sound of steel on stone. Even with all that noise going on Sahwah
+slipped off into half consciousness at times. Although there did not
+seem to be any doors or windows, she was not suffering for lack of air,
+but at the time she was too dazed to notice this and wonder at it.
+
+She woke with a start from one of these dozes to the realization that
+there was a broad streak of light on the floor. Fully conscious now, she
+raised her head and looked around. She was lying in a bin filled with
+sawdust. When she held up her head her eyes came just to the top of it.
+By the light she could see that she was indeed in a sort of sub-cellar.
+It must have been older than the other cellar for the floor was made of
+great slabs of mouldy stone. Her eyes followed the beam of light and she
+saw that a door had been opened into still another cellar beyond. In
+this chamber a lantern stood on the floor, whence came the light, and
+its ray produced weird and fantastic moving shadows. These shadows came
+from a man who was wielding a pickaxe against a spot in the stone wall.
+It was this that was causing the jarring blows. Startled almost out of
+her senses at seeing a man thus apparently caged up in the sub-cellar of
+Onoway House, Sahwah could only lay back with a gasp. She could not
+raise her voice to cry out had she been so inclined.
+
+But fast on the heels of that shock came another. The worker paused in
+his exertions to wipe the perspiration from his brow, and stood where
+the light of the lantern shone full in his face. Sahwah's heart gave a
+great leap when she recognized Abner Smalley. Abner Smalley in the
+hidden sub-cellar of Onoway House, digging a hole in the wall! Sahwah
+forgot her own plight in curiosity as to what he was doing. She lay and
+watched him fascinated while he resumed his pounding. So he was the
+mysterious intruder who had wrought such terror among them! This, then,
+was the well digger's ghost! What could he be searching for in the
+cellar of his neighbor's house? Sahwah dug her feet into the soft
+sawdust as she watched the pick rise and fall. She had no idea of the
+flight of time. She thought it was only a few minutes since she had
+fallen into the sub-cellar. She lay thinking of the expressions on the
+faces of the girls when she would tell them her discovery. To think that
+she had been the one to solve the mystery! She felt a little
+disappointed that the mysterious intruder should have turned out to be
+someone they knew. It would have been more in keeping with her idea of
+romance to have found a prince shut up in the cellar.
+
+While she was thinking these thoughts the light suddenly vanished and
+she heard the bang of a door shutting. She was in darkness once more. In
+a moment she heard footsteps retreating and dying away in the distance.
+All was silent again. It took her some moments to collect her thoughts
+sufficiently to realize a new and significant fact. _Abner Smalley had
+not gone out by the door into the fruit cellar. There must be, then,
+another way of egress from the sub-cellar._ Instantly Sahwah made up her
+mind to follow him and see how he had gotten out at the other end. Her
+feet were imbedded deeply in the sawdust and she became aware of the
+fact that her shoeless foot was resting against something with a sharp
+edge. She drew it away and then carefully felt with her hands for the
+object. She could not see it when she had it but it felt like a metal
+box of some kind, possibly tin. She carried it with her and moved toward
+the place where she now knew there was a door. She found the handle
+easily and opened it. This was the side of the wall toward which she had
+moved when she had run into the bin before, and so she did not discover
+it. A strong breath of air struck her as she advanced into this chamber.
+It was scarcely more than a passage, for by reaching out her arms she
+could touch the wall on both sides. She moved cautiously, fearing to
+fall again in the dark. She felt the place in the wall where Abner
+Smalley had made an indentation with his pick. She was wondering where
+this passage led and wishing it would come to an end soon, when she
+struck the already sore foot against what must have been the pickaxe set
+against the wall and fell on her nose once more. The tin box she carried
+was rammed into the pit of her stomach and knocked the breath out of
+her, but this time she had not hit her head.
+
+She lay still for a moment trying to get her breath back. Her eyes were
+becoming accustomed to the inky darkness by this time. She looked down
+and saw a stone floor beneath her. She turned her head to one side and
+saw a stone wall beside her. She turned over altogether and looked
+up--and saw the constellation Cassiopea flashing down at her from the
+sky. For a moment she could not believe her senses. Of all the strange
+sights she had seen nothing had affected her so powerfully as the sight
+of that familiar group of stars. What she had expected to see she could
+not tell, stone perhaps, but anything except the open sky. She sat up in
+a hurry and began to investigate where she was. The wall around her
+seemed to be circular and all of a sudden Sahwah had the answer. She was
+in the cistern--the old unused cistern which was not a great distance
+from the house. This, then, was the opening of the sub-cellar, the way
+in which Mr. Smalley had made his escape. There was usually a covering
+over the cistern, but he had evidently been in a hurry and left it off.
+
+The fact that there were stars out took Sahwah's breath away. It was
+night then; had she been in that cellar all day? It was inconceivable,
+yet it was undoubtedly true. By the faint glimmer of the stars she could
+make out that there were hollows in the stone side of the cistern by
+which a person could easily climb out. She lost no time in climbing when
+she made this discovery. What a joy it was to be coming up into God's
+outdoors again! As she emerged from the cistern she saw Migwan standing
+in the garden beside the back porch. The moon shone full on her as she
+stepped out of the hole in the ground and just then Migwan caught sight
+of her. The apparition was too much for Migwan and she screamed one
+terrified scream after another until the girls came running from all
+over to see what fresh calamity had happened. Only seeing Sahwah
+standing in their midst and not having seen her appear magically out of
+the depths of the ground, they could not understand Migwan's terror.
+
+"Stop screaming, Migwan," said Sahwah, and when Migwan heard her voice
+and saw that it was really she, she quieted down and listened while
+Sahwah told her tale of adventure since going down into the cellar to
+hide. The day had passed so quickly for Sahwah, she having lain
+unconscious until late in the afternoon, that she, of course, knew
+nothing of their frantic search for her and so could not comprehend why
+they made such a fuss over her return. They laughed and cried all at
+once and hugged her until she finally protested.
+
+"What have you brought along as a souvenir of your trip?" asked Nyoda,
+who had regained her light-hearted manner now that Sahwah was safely
+back.
+
+Sahwah looked down at the box she held in her hand. "I found it in the
+bin of sawdust," she said. "It was just like playing 'Fish-pond' at the
+children's parties. You put your hand in a box of sawdust and draw out a
+handsome prize." And Sahwah laughed, her familiar long drawn-out giggle,
+that they had despaired of ever hearing again. She laid the box on the
+table. It was of tin, about nine inches long by three inches wide by
+three high, with a closely fitting cover. "Shall I open it, Nyoda?" she
+asked.
+
+"I don't see any harm in doing so," said Nyoda. Sahwah took off the
+cover. There was nothing in the box but a folded piece of paper. She
+took it and spread it before them on the table.
+
+"What is it?" they all cried, crowding around. The first thing that
+caught their eye was a slanting line drawn across the paper in heavy
+ink. There was some writing beside it, but this was so faded that it
+took some studying to make it out. Finally they got it. It read:
+
+"_Supposed extension of gas vein._" The upper end of the line was marked
+"_36 feet west of cistern._" There was a cross at that point also, and
+this was marked, "_Place where gas was struck at 300 feet._"
+
+"The Deacon's gas well!" they all exclaimed in chorus. It was true,
+then.
+
+"And there was a well digger's ghost, even if it didn't turn out to be
+the one we expected!" said Migwan.
+
+That day was never to be forgotten, although the next cleared up the
+mystery and brought still another surprise. Dave Beeman, the constable,
+was once more brought out and this time furnished with information that
+nearly caused his eyes to start from his head. Abner Smalley, the (as
+everyone supposed) respectable citizen of Centerville Road, breaking
+into his neighbor's house and deliberately trying to dig a hole in the
+stone wall. It was the sensation of his career. "Well, I'll be
+jiggered!" he gasped.
+
+But his surprise was nothing compared to Abner Smalley's when he was
+confronted with the accusation without warning. He turned so pale and
+trembled so much that it was useless to deny his guilt.
+
+"You are guilty, Abney Smalley," said the constable, in such a solemn
+tone that the girls could hardly keep straight faces. "You'd better make
+a clean breast of it and tell what you were doing in that house or it
+might go hard with you."
+
+Abner Smalley, although he was a bully by nature, was a coward when the
+odds were against him, and he had always had a wholesome fear of the
+law, so at Dave Beeman's suggestion he decided to "make a clean breast
+of it." We will not weary the reader with all the conversation that took
+place, but will simply tell the facts of the story.
+
+Some time ago, while the old caretaker lived on the place yet, the story
+of the Deacon's gas well had come to Abner Smalley's ears. He heard a
+fact connected with it, however, that was not generally known, namely,
+that the Deacon had made a record of the place where the gas was found.
+Believing that the Deacon had left it hidden somewhere in the house, he
+had devised a means of breaking in and searching for it. His first plan
+had been to frighten the dwellers in the house and make them believe
+there was a ghost in the attic so they would give the place a wide berth
+at night and leave him free to ransack the Deacon's old furniture. He
+frightened the Mitchells so that they moved. But no sooner had the
+Mitchells departed than the new caretakers had come; and they were a
+much bigger houseful than the others.
+
+He had tried the same plan with them as he had with the others, namely,
+mysterious noises around the place at night. But what had frightened
+Mrs. Mitchell into moving had no effect on these new farmers. They shot
+off a gun when he was doing his best ghost stunt, namely, blowing into a
+bottle, which had produced that weird moaning sound. He it was who had
+dressed up as a ghost and appeared to Nyoda in the tepee; throwing the
+red pepper into her face when she made as if to attack him with a pole.
+It was he whom they had seen coming out of the barn that night, and
+later it was he again whom Migwan had seen during the hail storm. He had
+disappeared so utterly by jumping down the cistern. That was the first
+time he had been down, and on this occasion he had discovered the
+passage leading to the sub-cellar. It was he the girls had heard in the
+attic on numerous occasions. He had entered and gone out after dark by
+means of the Balm of Gilead tree. One time he broke the window. He had
+been down cellar that night when Sahwah nearly caught him. He was
+looking for the other entrance to the sub-cellar, which he never found.
+He knocked over the basket of potatoes which had mystified them so. He
+had been on the point of entering the house that day when Sahwah
+suddenly returned from town after he thought the whole family was gone
+for the day. When he saw her go off along the river he went in anyway
+and was nearly caught in the attic by the girls. He had escaped
+detection by hiding in a large chest.
+
+The day they had gone for the picnic he saw them go and spent all day
+looking through the desks in the house. Finally the dog barked so he
+gave him the poisoned meat he had brought along to use if necessary.
+Then the family had returned and he had had a narrow escape into the
+cistern. He had stayed there until night, when he had set fire to the
+tepee, not knowing that anyone was sleeping in it. After starting the
+blaze he had again sought refuge in the cistern and when the crowd had
+gathered, came out in their midst so that his absence from such an
+exciting event in the neighborhood would cause no comment among the
+farmers. The cistern was in the shadow and everyone was watching the
+fire so intently that he was able to emerge unseen.
+
+He had sprayed the tomatoes with lime and written the note which they
+found on the door. He had left the chisel in the automobile on one
+occasion when he had been hunting through the things in the barn;
+forgetting to take it with him when he went out.
+
+He wanted to get hold of that record secretly and be sure whether the
+great vein of gas which the Deacon knew existed was on the property now
+owned by the Bartletts or that of the Landsdownes, and then he was going
+to buy that property before the owners knew about the gas, as the land
+would be worth a fortune if that fact ever became known. He was pretty
+sure, after discovering that sub-cellar, that the Deacon had left his
+papers down there when he went to California. By pounding on the walls
+he had discovered one place which he was sure was hollow. If the stone
+that covered the place could be removed by any trick he failed to
+discover it and had to resort to digging it out with a pick. This, as we
+already know, produced the dull thudding sound underground which had
+frightened the household almost out of their wits. The reason he could
+prowl around in the yard at night after they had set the dog to watch
+was that Pointer knew him and made no disturbance upon seeing him.
+
+Abner Smalley was marched off triumphantly by Dave Beeman, and was held
+on such a complicated charge of house-breaking, arson, assault and
+battery, and intimidating peaceful citizens, that it took the combined
+efforts of the village to draw it up. Thus ended the great mystery which
+had kept Onoway House in more or less of an uproar all summer.
+
+"I never saw anything like the way we Winnebagos have of falling into
+things," said Sahwah. "Here Mr. Smalley made such elaborate efforts to
+find that record, using up more energy and ingenuity than it would take
+to dig up the whole farm and hunt for the gas well; and he didn't find
+it in the end; and all I did was drop in on top of it without even
+suspecting its existence."
+
+"There must be a special destiny that guides us," said Migwan. "Perhaps
+we possess an enchanted goblet, like the 'Luck of Edenhall,' only it's
+'The Luck of the Winnebagos.'"
+
+"Cheer for the 'Luck of the Winnebagos,'" said Sahwah, who never lost an
+occasion to raise a cheer on any pretext. And at that Sahwah never
+dreamed of the extent of the good fortune she had brought the Bartletts
+by her lucky tumble. The vein of gas which was struck when they
+subsequently drilled proved a sensation even in that notable gas region
+and made millionaires of its owners. And the reward which Sahwah
+received for finding the record, and that which the others received
+"just for living," as Migwan expressed it--for though they had not found
+the sub-cellar themselves it was due to their game that Sahwah had found
+it--drove the memory of their fright from their heads. But we are getting
+a little ahead of our story. There is one more chapter yet to the Luck
+of the Winnebagos before that remarkable summer came to an end.
+
+After the departure of Abner Smalley things grew so quiet at Onoway
+House that Migwan, who had declared before that she would be a wreck if
+the excitement did not cease soon, was now complaining that things
+seemed flat and she wished the mystery hadn't been cleared up because it
+robbed them of their chief topic of conversation.
+
+"Well, I'm going to take advantage of the quiet atmosphere and
+straighten out my bureau drawers," said Nyoda. "I haven't been able to
+put my mind to it with all this excitement going on. And they're a sight
+since you girls went rummaging for things for the Thieves' Market." In
+doing this she came upon that strange creation of Uncle Peter's brain,
+the plan for the "Wasted Minute Saving Machine." She showed it to the
+girls and they examined it wonderingly.
+
+"What is this on the other side?" asked Migwan. "It's a will!" she
+cried, reading it through. "It says, 'I, Adam Smalley, give and
+bequeathe my farm on the Centerville Road to my son Jim, as Abner has
+already had his share in cash.'"
+
+"Let me see!" cried Calvin. "It's the latest one!" he shouted, reading
+the date. "It's dated 1902 and the one Uncle Abner found was 1900. The
+farm is mine after all! Uncle Peter had this will in his possession and
+didn't know it! How can I thank you girls for what you've done for me?"
+
+"It was all Migwan's fault," said Hinpoha. "She insisted upon going to
+see whether the old man was all right after the storm."
+
+Migwan declared that she had had nothing to do with it; it was the Luck
+of the Winnebagos that had given her the inspiration. But Calvin knew
+well that in this case the Luck of the Winnebagos was only Migwan's own
+thoughtfulness.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.--GOOD-BYE TO ONOWAY HOUSE.
+
+
+By the first of September Migwan had made enough money from the sale of
+canned tomatoes to more than pay her way through college the first year.
+"It's Mother Nature who has been my fairy godmother," she said to the
+girls. "I asked her for the money to go to college and she put her hand
+deep into her earth pocket and brought it out for me. It's like the
+magic gardens in the fairy tales where the money grew on the bushes."
+
+"What a summer this has been, to be sure," said Hinpoha, who was in a
+reflective mood. They were all sitting in the orchard, busy with various
+sorts of handwork. The day was hot and drowsy and the shade of the trees
+most inviting. "Migwan and I thought we would have such a quiet time
+together, just we two. She was going to write a book and I was going to
+illustrate it, when we weren't working in the garden. And how
+differently it all turned out! One by one you other girls came--I'll
+never forget how funny Gladys and Nyoda looked when they came out that
+night, and how surprised Sahwah was to find you here when she arrived.
+Then Gladys brought Ophelia, I mean Beatrice, and after that we never
+had a quiet moment. Then the mystery began and kept up all summer.
+Instead of these three months being a quiet rest they've been the most
+thrilling time of my life."
+
+"It seems to have agreed with you, though," said Sahwah, mischievously,
+whereupon there was a general laugh, for Hinpoha, instead of growing
+thin with all the worry and excitement, had actually gained five pounds.
+
+"As much worry as it caused me," said Migwan, "I'm glad everything
+happened as it did. The summer I had looked forward to would have been
+horribly dull and uninteresting, but now I feel that I've had some real
+experiences. I've got enough ideas for stories to last for years to
+come."
+
+"And for moving picture plays," said Hinpoha. "But," she added, "if you
+go in for that sort of thing seriously, where am I coming in? You know
+we made a compact; I was to illustrate everything you wrote, and how am
+I going to illustrate moving picture plays?"
+
+There was a ripple of amusement at her perplexity. "You'll have to
+illustrate them by acting them out," said Gladys. They all agreed
+Hinpoha would make a hit as a motion picture actress, all but Sahwah,
+who dropped her eyes to her lap when Migwan began to talk about moving
+pictures, and presently went into the house to fetch something she
+needed for her work. When she came out again the subject had been
+changed and was no longer embarrassing to her.
+
+"What will the Bartletts say when they hear the peach crop was ruined by
+the wind storm?" asked Hinpoha.
+
+"That's the only thing about our summer experience that I really
+regret," answered Migwan. "I wrote and told them about it, of course,
+when I told them about the gas well, and Mrs. Bartlett said we shouldn't
+worry about it and that we ourselves were a crop of peaches."
+
+"The dear thing!" said Gladys. "I should love to see the Bartletts again
+some time; they were so friendly to us last summer, and it is all due to
+them that we have had such a glorious time this summer."
+
+Scarcely had she spoken when an automobile entered the drive and stopped
+beside the house. Migwan ran out to see who it was. The next moment she
+had her arms around the neck of a pretty little woman. "Oh, Mrs.
+Bartlett!" she cried. "Did the fairies bring you? We just made a wish to
+see you."
+
+Soon the girls were all flocking around the car, shaking hands with Mr.
+and Mrs. Bartlett, and making a fuss over little Raymond. How the
+Bartletts did sit up in astonishment when all the events of the summer
+were told in detail! "Well, you certainly are trumps for sticking it
+out," said Mr. Bartlett, admiringly. "Nobody but a bunch of Camp Fire
+Girls would have done it." At which the Winnebagos glowed with pride.
+
+Now that the Bartletts had come to stay at Onoway House, Migwan decided
+she would go home a week earlier than she had planned, as there was not
+enough room for so many people there. Aunt Phoebe and the Doctor were in
+town again, so Hinpoha could go home if she wished; and Sahwah's mother
+had also returned. They were a little sorry to break up so abruptly when
+they had planned quite a few things for that last week to celebrate the
+finishing of the canning, but all agreed that under the circumstances it
+was the best thing they could do.
+
+"I really need a week at home," said Migwan with a twinkle in her eye,
+"to rest up from my vacation. There I'll get the peace and quiet that I
+came here to seek." Take care, O Migwan, how you talk! Once before you
+predicted peace and quiet, and see what happened!
+
+Before they went, however, they must have one more big time altogether,
+Mrs. Bartlett insisted, and she went into town on purpose to bring out
+Nakwisi and Chapa and Medmangi. Close behind them came another car which
+also stopped at Onoway House, and out of it stepped Mr. and Mrs. Evans
+and Aunt Beatrice and Uncle Lynn and little Beatrice, the latter dressed
+up in wonderful new clothes and already subtly changed, but still eager
+to romp with the girls and tag after Sahwah.
+
+"See here," said Mr. Evans, when they were all talking about going home
+the next day, "you girls have been working pretty hard this summer, and
+haven't had a real vacation yet, why don't you go for an automobile trip
+the last week? Gladys has her car; that is, if it came through all the
+excitement alive, and mother and I would be willing to let you take the
+other one. Go on a run of say a thousand miles or so, and see a few
+cities. The change will do you good."
+
+"Oh, papa!" cried Gladys, clapping her hands in rapture. "That will be
+wonderful!" And the other girls fell in love with the idea on the spot.
+
+As this was to be their last night at Onoway House nothing was left
+undone that would make the occasion a happy one. The evening was fine
+and warm and the stars hung in the sky like great jeweled lamps. With
+one accord they all sought the garden and the orchard, where Gladys
+danced on the grass in the moonlight like a real fairy. Then all the
+girls danced together, until Mrs. Evans declared that they looked like
+the dancing nymphs in the Corot picture. And Beatrice, who had been
+taught those same things during the summer, broke away from her mother
+and joined in the dance, as light and graceful as Gladys herself. It was
+plain to see that she had the gift which ran in the family, and as her
+mother watched her with a thrill of pride her heart overflowed anew in
+thankfulness to the girls who had restored her daughter to her.
+
+"On such a night," quoted Migwan, looking up at the moon, "Leander swam
+the Hellespont----"
+
+"The river!" cried Sahwah, immediately, "we must go out on the river
+once more. Oh, how can I say good-bye to the Tortoise-Crab?" And she
+shed imaginary tears into her handkerchief.
+
+"Let's go for one more float," cried all the girls.
+
+The grown-ups strolled down to the river bank and sat on the grassy
+slope, watching with indulgent interest what the girls were going to do
+next. They saw them coming far up the river and heard their song as it
+was wafted down on the scented breeze. Slowly and majestically the raft
+approached, with Sahwah standing up and guiding it with the pole. When
+it had come nearer the onlookers saw a romantic spectacle indeed. Gladys
+reposed on a bed of flowers and leaves, under a canopy of branches and
+vines, a ravishingly lovely Cleopatra. Beside her knelt Antony,
+otherwise Migwan, holding out to her a big white water lily. The other
+Winnebagos, as slave maidens, sat on the raft and wove flower wreaths or
+fanned their lovely mistress with leaf fans. It was the slaves who were
+doing the singing and their clear voices rang out with wonderful harmony
+on the enchanted air. On they came, past the spot where Sahwah had been
+hidden on the afternoon of the moving pictures; past the Lorelei Rock,
+where they had held that other pageant which had frightened Calvin so;
+past the spot where they lay concealed and watched the strange manoeuvers
+of the supposed Venoti gang. Each rock and tree along the stream was
+pregnant with memories of that eventful summer, and they could hardly
+believe that they were saying good-bye to it all.
+
+Now they were opposite the watchers on the bank and the murmurs of
+admiration reached their ears as they floated past. "What lovely
+voices----"
+
+"What wonderful imaginations those girls have----"
+
+"How beautifully they work together----"
+
+Calvin looked on in speechless admiration, his eyes for the most part on
+Migwan. Never in his life had he regretted anything so much as he did
+the fact that these jolly friends of his were going away. He was to stay
+on his farm after all and now the prospect suddenly seemed empty.
+
+The voices of the onlookers blended in the ears of the boaters with the
+murmur of the river as it flowed over the stones, and with the sighing
+of the wind in the willows as the raft passed on.
+
+And here let us leave the Winnebagos for a time as we love best to see
+them, all together on the water, their voices raised in the wonder song
+of youth as they float down the river under the spell of the magic
+moonlight.
+
+                                THE END.
+
+The next volume in this series is entitled: The Camp Fire Girls Go
+Motoring; or, Along the Road that Leads the Way.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Camp Fire Girls Series
+
+By HILDEGARD G. FREY. The only series of stories for Camp Fire Girls
+endorsed by the officials of the Camp Fire Girls Organization.
+
+PRICE, 40 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS IN THE MAINE WOODS; or,
+    The Winnebagos go Camping.
+
+This lively Camp Fire group and their Guardian go back to Nature in a
+camp in the wilds of Maine and pile up more adventures in one summer
+than they have had in all their previous vacations put together. Before
+the summer is over they have transformed Gladys, the frivolous boarding
+school girl, into a genuine Winnebago.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT SCHOOL; or,
+    The Wohelo Weavers.
+
+It is the custom of the Winnebagos to weave the events of their lives
+into symbolic bead bands, instead of keeping a diary. All commendatory
+doings are worked out in bright colors, but every time the Law of the
+Camp Fire is broken it must be recorded in black. How these seven live
+wire girls strive to infuse into their school life the spirit of Work,
+Health and Love and yet manage to get into more than their share of
+mischief, is told in this story.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS AT ONOWAY HOUSE; or,
+    The Magic Garden.
+
+Migwan is determined to go to college, and not being strong enough to
+work indoors earns the money by raising fruits and vegetables. The
+Winnebagos all turn a hand to help the cause along and the "goings-on"
+at Onoway House that summer make the foundations shake with laughter.
+
+THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS GO MOTORING; or,
+    Along the Road That Leads the Way.
+
+The Winnebagos take a thousand mile auto trip. The "pinching" of Nyoda,
+the fire in the country inn, the runaway girl and the dead-earnest hare
+and hound chase combine to make these three weeks the most exciting the
+Winnebagos have ever experienced.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Blue Grass Seminary Girls Series
+
+By CAROLYN JUDSON BURNETT
+
+Handsome Cloth Binding
+
+Price, 40c. per Volume
+
+_Splendid Stories of the Adventures of a Group of Charming Girls_
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS' VACATION ADVENTURES;
+    or, Shirley Willing to the Rescue.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS' CHRISTMAS HOLIDAYS;
+    or, A Four Weeks' Tour with the Glee Club.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS;
+    or, Shirley Willing on a Mission of Peace.
+
+THE BLUE GRASS SEMINARY GIRLS ON THE WATER;
+    or, Exciting Adventures on a Summer's Cruise Through the
+    Panama Canal.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Mildred Series
+
+By MARTHA FINLEY
+
+Handsome Cloth Binding
+
+Price, 40c. per Volume
+
+_A Companion Series to the Famous "Elsie" Books by the Same Author_
+
+    MILDRED KEITH
+    MILDRED AT ROSELANDS
+    MILDRED AND ELSIE
+    MILDRED'S NEW DAUGHTER
+    MILDRED'S MARRIED LIFE
+    MILDRED AT HOME
+    MILDRED'S BOYS AND GIRLS
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Girl Chum's Series
+
+ALL AMERICAN AUTHORS.
+
+ALL COPYRIGHT STORIES.
+
+A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by popular
+authors. These are charming stories for young girls, well told and full
+of interest. Their simplicity, tenderness, healthy, interesting motives,
+vigorous action, and character painting will please all girl readers.
+
+HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING.
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS.
+
+  BENHURST CLUB, THE. By Howe Benning.
+
+  BERTHA'S SUMMER BOARDERS. By Linnie S. Harris.
+
+  BILLOW PRAIRIE. A Story of Life in the Great West. By Joy Allison.
+
+  DUXBERRY DOINGS. A New England Story. By Caroline B. Le Row.
+
+  FUSSBUDGET'S FOLKS. A Story For Young Girls. By Anna F. Burnham.
+
+  HAPPY DISCIPLINE, A. By Elizabeth Cummings.
+
+  JOLLY TEN, THE. and Their Year of Stories. By Agnes Carr Sage.
+
+  KATIE ROBERTSON. A Girl's Story of Factory Life. By M. E. Winslow.
+
+  LONELY HILL. A Story For Girls. By M. L. Thornton-Wilder.
+
+  MAJORIBANKS. A Girl's Story. By Elvirton Wright.
+
+  MISS CHARITY'S HOUSE. By Howe Benning.
+
+  MISS ELLIOT'S GIRLS. A Story For Young Girls. By Mary Spring
+  Corning.
+
+  MISS MALCOLM'S TEN. A Story For Girls. By Margaret E. Winslow.
+
+  ONE GIRL'S WAY OUT. By Howe Benning.
+
+  PEN'S VENTURE. By Elvirton Wright.
+
+  RUTH PRENTICE. A Story For Girls. By Marion Thorne.
+
+  THREE YEARS AT GLENWOOD. A Story of School Life. By M. E. Winslow.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Girl Comrade's Series
+
+ALL AMERICAN AUTHORS.
+
+ALL COPYRIGHT STORIES.
+
+A carefully selected series of books for girls, written by popular
+authors. These are charming stories for young girls, well told and full
+of interest. Their simplicity, tenderness, healthy, interesting motives,
+vigorous action, and character painting will please all girl readers.
+
+HANDSOME CLOTH BINDING.
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS.
+
+  A BACHELOR MAID AND HER BROTHER. By I. T. Thurston.
+
+  ALL ABOARD. A Story For Girls. By Fanny E. Newberry.
+
+  ALMOST A GENIUS. A Story For Girls. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  ANNICE WYNKOOP, Artist. Story of a Country Girl. By Adelaide L.
+  Rouse.
+
+  BUBBLES. A Girl's Story. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  COMRADES. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  DEANE GIRLS, THE. A Home Story. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  HELEN BEATON, COLLEGE WOMAN. By Adelaide L. Rouse.
+
+  JOYCE'S INVESTMENTS. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  MELLICENT RAYMOND. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  MISS ASHTON'S NEW PUPIL. A School Girl's Story. By Mrs. S. S.
+  Robbins.
+
+  NOT FOR PROFIT. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  ODD ONE, THE. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+  SARA, A PRINCESS. A Story For Girls. By Fannie E. Newberry.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The AMY E. BLANCHARD Series
+
+Miss Blanchard has won an enviable reputation as a writer of short
+stories for girls. Her books are thoroughly wholesome in every way and
+her style is full of charm. The titles described below will be splendid
+additions to every girl's library.
+
+Handsomely bound in cloth, full library size.
+
+Illustrated by L. J. Bridgman. Price, 60 cents per volume, postpaid.
+
+THE GLAD LADY. A spirited account of a remarkably pleasant vacation
+spent in an unfrequented part of northern Spain. This summer, which
+promised at the outset to be very quiet, proved to be exactly the
+opposite. Event follows event in rapid succession and the story ends
+with the culmination of at least two happy romances. The story
+throughout is interwoven with vivid descriptions of real places and
+people of which the general public knows very little. These add greatly
+to the reader's interest.
+
+WIT'S END. Instilled with life, color and individuality, this story of
+true love cannot fail to attract and hold to its happy end the reader's
+eager attention. The word pictures are masterly; while the poise of
+narrative and description is marvellously preserved.
+
+A JOURNEY OF JOY. A charming story of the travels and adventures of two
+young American girls, and an elderly companion in Europe. It is not only
+well told, but the amount of information contained will make it a very
+valuable addition to the library of any girl who anticipates making a
+similar trip. Their many pleasant experiences end in the culmination of
+two happy romances, all told in the happiest vein.
+
+TALBOT'S ANGLES. A charming romance of Southern life. Talbot's Angles is
+a beautiful old estate located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland. The
+death of the owner and the ensuing legal troubles render it necessary
+for our heroine, the present owner, to leave the place which has been in
+her family for hundreds of years and endeavor to earn her own living.
+Another claimant for the property appearing on the scene complicates
+matters still more. The untangling of this mixed-up condition of affairs
+makes an extremely interesting story.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent prepaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Spies Series
+
+These stories are based on important historical events, scenes wherein
+boys are prominent characters being selected. They are the romance of
+history, vigorously told, with careful fidelity to picturing the home
+life, and accurate in every particular.
+
+Handsome Cloth Bindings
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
+
+  A story of the part they took in its defence.
+  By William P. Chipman.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE DEFENCE OF FORT HENRY.
+
+  A boy's story of Wheeling Creek in 1777.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE BATTLE OF BUNKER HILL.
+
+  A story of two boys at the siege of Boston.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT THE SIEGE OF DETROIT.
+
+  A story of two Ohio boys in the War of 1812.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH LAFAYETTE.
+
+  The story of how two boys joined the Continental Army.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES ON CHESAPEAKE BAY.
+
+  The story of two young spies under Commodore Barney.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH THE REGULATORS.
+
+  The story of how the boys assisted the Carolina Patriots to drive
+  the British from that State.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES WITH THE SWAMP FOX.
+
+  The story of General Marion and his young spies.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES AT YORKTOWN.
+
+  The story of how the spies helped General Lafayette in the
+  Siege of Yorktown.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF PHILADELPHIA.
+
+  The story of how the young spies helped the Continental Army
+  at Valley Forge.
+  By James Otis.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF FORT GRISWOLD.
+
+  The story of the part they took in its brave defence.
+  By William P. Chipman.
+
+THE BOY SPIES OF OLD NEW YORK.
+
+  The story of how the young spies prevented the capture of
+  General Washington.
+  By James Otis.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Navy Boys Series
+
+A series of excellent stories of adventure on sea and land, selected
+from the works of popular writers; each volume designed for boys'
+reading.
+
+Handsome Cloth Bindings
+
+PRICE, 60 CENTS PER VOLUME
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN DEFENCE OF LIBERTY.
+
+    A story of the burning of the British schooner Gaspee in 1772.
+    By William Pman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS ON LONG ISLAND SOUND.
+
+    A story of the Whale Boat Navy of 1776.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS AT THE SIEGE OF HAVANA.
+
+    Being the experience of three boys serving under Israel Putnam
+    in 1772.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS WITH GRANT AT VICKSBURG.
+
+    A boy's story of the siege of Vicksburg.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH PAUL JONES.
+
+    A boy's story of a cruise with the Great Commodore in 1776.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS ON LAKE ONTARIO.
+
+    The story of two boys and their adventures in the War of 1812.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE ON THE PICKERING.
+
+    A boy's story of privateering in 1780.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN NEW YORK BAY.
+
+    A story of three boys who took command of the schooner "The Laughing
+    Mary," the first vessel of the American Navy.
+    By James Otis.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS IN THE TRACK OF THE ENEMY.
+
+    The story of a remarkable cruise with the Sloop of War "Providence"
+    and the Frigate "Alfred."
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' DARING CAPTURE.
+
+    The story of how the navy boys helped to capture the British Cutter
+    "Margaretta," in 1775.
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE TO THE BAHAMAS.
+
+    The adventures of two Yankee Middies with the first cruise of an
+    American Squadron in 1775.
+    By William Chipman.
+
+THE NAVY BOYS' CRUISE WITH COLUMBUS.
+
+    The adventures of two boys who sailed with the great Admiral in his
+    discovery of America.
+    By Frederick A. Ober
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Jack Lorimer Series
+
+Volumes By WINN STANDISH
+
+Handsomely Bound in Cloth
+
+Full Library Size--Price
+
+40 cents per Volume, postpaid
+
+CAPTAIN JACK LORIMER;
+    or, The Young Athlete of Millvale High.
+
+Jack Lorimer is a fine example of the all-around American high-school
+boyfondness for clean, honest sport of all kinds will strike a chord of
+sympathy among athletic youths.
+
+JACK LORIMER'S CHAMPIONS;
+    or, Sports on Land and Lake.
+
+There is a lively story woven in with the athletic achievements, which
+are all right, since the book has been by Chadwick, the Nestor of
+American sporting Journalism.
+
+JACK LORIMER'S HOLIDAYS;
+    or, Millvale High in Camp.
+
+It would be well not to put this book into a boy's hands until the
+chores are finished, otherwise they might be neglected.
+
+JACK LORIMER'S SUBSTITUTE;
+    or, The Acting Captain of the Team.
+
+On the sporting side, the book takes up football, wrestling,
+tobogganing. There is a good deal of fun in this book and plenty of
+action.
+
+JACK LORIMER, FRESHMAN;
+    or, From Millvale High to Exmouth.
+
+Jack and some friends he makes crowd innumerable happenings into an
+exciting freshman year at one of the leading Eastern colleges. The book
+is typical of the American college boy's life, and there is a lively
+story, interwoven with feats on the gridiron, hockey, basketball and
+other clean, honest sports for which Jack Lorimer stands.
+
+For sale by all booksellers, or sent postpaid on receipt of price by the
+publishers. A. L. BURT COMPANY, 114-120 East 23d Street, New York.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Allies With the Battleships
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By ENSIGN ROBERT L. DRAKE
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+Frank Chadwick and Jack Templeton, young American lads, meet each other
+in an unusual way soon after the declaration of war. Circumstances place
+them on board the British cruiser "The Sylph" and from there on, they
+share adventures with the sailors of the Allies. Ensign Robert L. Drake,
+the author, is an experienced naval officer, and he describes admirably
+the many exciting adventures of the two boys.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES UNDER THE SEA;
+    or, The Vanishing Submarine.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALTIC;
+    or, Through Fields of Ice to Aid the Czar.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES ON THE NORTH SEA PATROL;
+    or, Striking the First Blow at the German Fleet.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES UNDER TWO FLAGS;
+    or, Sweeping the Enemy from the Seas.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE FLYING SQUADRON;
+    or, The Naval Raiders of the Great War.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE TERROR OF THE SEAS;
+    or, The Last Shot of Submarine D-16.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Allies With the Army
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By CLAIR W. HAYES
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+In this series we follow the fortunes of two American lads unable to
+leave Europe after war is declared. They meet the soldiers of the
+Allies, and decide to cast their lot with them. Their experiences and
+escapes are many, and furnish plenty of the good, healthy action that
+every boy loves.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN GREAT PERIL;
+    or, With the Italian Army in the Alps.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE BALKAN CAMPAIGN;
+    or, The Struggle to Save a Nation.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES AT LIEGE;
+    or, Through Lines of Steel.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES ON THE FIRING LINE;
+    or, Twelve Days Battle Along the Marne.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES WITH THE COSSACKS;
+    or, A Wild Dash over the Carpathians.
+
+THE BOY ALLIES IN THE TRENCHES;
+    or, Midst Shot and Shell Along the Aisne
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Scouts Series
+
+By HERBERT CARTER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON WAR TRAILS IN BELGIUM;
+    or, Caught Between the Hostile Armies.
+
+In this volume we follow the thrilling adventures of the boys in the
+midst of the exciting struggle abroad.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS DOWN IN DIXIE;
+    or, The Strange Secret of Alligator Swamp.
+
+Startling experiences awaited the comrades when they visited the
+Southland. But their knowledge of woodcraft enabled them to overcome all
+difficulties.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS AT THE BATTLE OF SARATOGA.
+
+A story of Burgoyne's defeat in 1777.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS' FIRST CAMP FIRE;
+    or, Scouting with the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+This book brims over with woods lore and the thrilling adventure that
+befell the Boy Scouts during their vacation in the wilderness.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE BLUE RIDGE;
+    or, Marooned Among the Moonshiners.
+
+This story tells of the strange and mysterious adventures that happened
+to the Patrol in their trip among the moonshiners of North Carolina.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON THE TRAIL;
+    or, Scouting through the Big Game Country.
+
+The story recites the adventures of the members of the Silver Fox Patrol
+with wild animals of the forest trails and the desperate men who had
+sought a refuge in this lonely country.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE MAINE WOODS;
+    or, The New Test for the Silver Fox Patrol.
+
+Thad and his chums have a wonderful experience when they are employed by
+the State of Maine to act as Fire Wardens.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS THROUGH THE BIG TIMBER;
+    or, The Search for the Lost Tenderfoot.
+
+A serious calamity threatens the Silver Fox Patrol. How apparent
+disaster is bravely met and overcome by Thad and his friends, forms the
+main theme of the story.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS IN THE ROCKIES;
+    or, The Secret of the Hidden Silver Mine.
+
+The boys' tour takes them into the wildest region of the great Rocky
+Mountains and here they meet with many strange adventures.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ON STURGEON ISLAND;
+    or, Marooned Among the Game Fish Poachers.
+
+Thad Brewster and his comrades find themselves in the predicament that
+confronted old Robinson Crusoe; only it is on the Great Lakes that they
+are wrecked instead of the salty sea.
+
+THE BOY SCOUTS ALONG THE SUSQUEHANNA;
+    or, The Silver Fox Patrol Caught in a Flood.
+
+The boys of the Silver Fox Patrol, after successfully braving a terrific
+flood, become entangled in a mystery that carries them through many
+exciting adventures.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Boy Chums Series
+
+By WILMER M. ELY
+
+Price. 40 Cents per Volume. Postpaid
+
+In this series of remarkable stories are described the adventures of two
+boys in the great swamps of interior Florida, among the cays off the
+Florida coast, and through the Bahama Islands. These are real, live
+boys, and their experiences are worth following.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN MYSTERY LAND;
+    or, Charlie West and Walter Hazard among the Mexicans.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS ON INDIAN RIVER;
+    or, The Boy Partners of the Schooner "Orphan."
+
+THE BOY CHUMS ON HAUNTED ISLAND;
+    or, Hunting for Pearls in the Bahama Islands.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE FOREST;
+    or, Hunting for Plume Birds in the Florida Everglades.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS' PERILOUS CRUISE;
+    or, Searching for Wreckage en the Florida Coast.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE GULF OF MEXICO;
+    or, A Dangerous Cruise with the Greek Spongers.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS CRUISING IN FLORIDA WATERS;
+    or, The Perils and Dangers of the Fishing Fleet.
+
+THE BOY CHUMS IN THE FLORIDA JUNGLE;
+    or, Charlie West and Walter Hazard with the Seminole Indians.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Broncho Rider Boys Series
+
+By FRANK FOWLER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+A series of thrilling stories for boys, breathing the adventurous spirit
+that lives in the wide plains and lofty mountain canoes of the great
+West. These tales will delight every lad who loves to read of pleasing
+adventure in the open; yet at the same time the most careful parent need
+not hesitate to place them in the hands of the boy.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH FUNSTON AT VERA CRUZ;
+    or, Upholding the Honor of the Stars and Stripes.
+
+When trouble breaks out between this country and Mexico, the boys are
+eager to join the American troops under General Funston. Their attempts
+to reach Vera Cruz are fraught with danger, but after many difficulties,
+they manage to reach the trouble zone, where their real adventures
+begin.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS AT KEYSTONE RANCH;
+    or, Three Chums of the Saddle and Lariat.
+
+In this story the reader makes the acquaintance of three devoted chums.
+The book begins in rapid action, and there is "something doing" up to
+the very time you lay it down.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS DOWN IN ARIZONA;
+    or, A Struggle for the Great Copper Lode.
+
+The Broncho Rider Boys find themselves impelled to make a brave fight
+against heavy odds, in order to retain possession of a valuable mine
+that is claimed by some of their relatives. They meet with numerous
+strange and thrilling perils and every wideawake boy will be pleased to
+learn how the boys finally managed to outwit their enemies.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ALONG THE BORDER;
+    or, The Hidden Treasure of the Zuni Medicine Man.
+
+Once more the tried and true comrades of camp and trail are in the
+saddle. In the strangest possible way they are drawn into a series of
+exciting happenings among the Zuni Indians. Certainly no lad will lay
+this book down, save with regret.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS ON THE WYOMING TRAIL;
+    or, A Mystery of the Prairie Stampede.
+
+The three prairie pards finally find a chance to visit the Wyoming ranch
+belonging to Adrian, but managed for him by an unscrupulous relative. Of
+course, they become entangled in a maze of adventurous doings while in
+the Northern cattle country. How the Broncho Rider Boys carried
+themselves through this nerve-testing period makes intensely interesting
+reading.
+
+THE BRONCHO RIDER BOYS WITH THE TEXAS RANGERS;
+    or, The Smugglers of the Rio Grande.
+
+In this volume, the Broncho Rider Boys get mixed up in the Mexican
+troubles, and become acquainted with General Villa. In their efforts to
+prevent smuggling across the border, they naturally make many enemies,
+but finally succeed in their mission.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+The Big Five Motorcycle Boys Series
+
+By RALPH MARLOW
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+It is doubtful whether a more entertaining lot of boys ever before
+appeared in a story than the "Big Five," who figure in the pages of
+these volumes. From cover to cover the reader will be thrilled and
+delighted with the accounts of their many adventures.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS ON THE BATTLE LINE;
+    or, With the Allies in France.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS AT THE FRONT;
+    or, Carrying Dispatches Through Belgium.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS UNDER FIRE;
+    or, With the Allies in the War Zone.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS' SWIFT ROAD CHASE;
+    or, Surprising the Bank Robbers.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS ON FLORIDA TRAILS;
+    or, Adventures Among the Saw Palmetto Crackers.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS IN TENNESSEE WILDS;
+    or, The Secret of Walnut Ridge.
+
+THE BIG FIVE MOTORCYCLE BOYS THROUGH BY WIRELESS;
+    or, A Strange Message from the Air.
+
+                   *       *       *       *       *
+
+Our Young Aeroplane Scouts Series
+
+(Registered in the United States Patent Office)
+
+By HORACE PORTER
+
+Price, 40 Cents per Volume, Postpaid
+
+A series of stories of two American boy aviators in the great European
+war zone. The fascinating life in mid-air is thrillingly described. The
+boys have many exciting adventures, and the narratives of their numerous
+escapes make up a series of wonderfully interesting stories.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ENGLAND;
+    or, Twin Stars in the London Sky Patrol.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN ITALY;
+    or, Flying with the War Eagles of the Alps.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN FRANCE AND BELGIUM;
+    or, Saving the Fortunes of the Trouvilles.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN GERMANY;
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN RUSSIA;
+    or, Lost on the Frozen Steppes.
+
+OUR YOUNG AEROPLANE SCOUTS IN TURKEY;
+    or, Bringing the Light to Yusef.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Camp Fire Girls at Onoway House, by 
+Hildegard G. Frey
+
+*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE CAMP FIRE GIRLS ***
+
+***** This file should be named 36833-8.txt or 36833-8.zip *****
+This and all associated files of various formats will be found in:
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