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diff --git a/old/53361-0.txt b/old/53361-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 83d87e6..0000000 --- a/old/53361-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,8100 +0,0 @@ -Project Gutenberg's Patsy Carroll Under Southern Skies, by Grace Gordon - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and most -other parts of the world 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. If you are not located in the United States, you'll have -to check the laws of the country where you are located before using this ebook. - -Title: Patsy Carroll Under Southern Skies - -Author: Grace Gordon - -Illustrator: R. Emmet Owen - -Release Date: October 25, 2016 [EBook #53361] - -Language: English - -Character set encoding: UTF-8 - -*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES *** - - - - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - - - - - - - -[Illustration: Something suddenly shot out from the table end.] - - - - - _Patsy Carroll - Under - Southern Skies_ - - _By - Grace Gordon_ - - _Illustrated by - R. Emmet Owen_ - - _New York_ - _Cupples & Leon Company_ - - - - - PATSY CARROLL SERIES - BY GRACE GORDON - - PATSY CARROLL AT WILDERNESS LODGE - PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES - - _Other Volumes in Preparation_ - - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, New York - - COPYRIGHT, 1918, BY - CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY - - Patsy Carroll Under Southern Skies - - Printed in U. S. A. - - - - -CONTENTS - - - CHAPTER PAGE - - I TIME TO GO WAYFARING AGAIN 1 - - II A HARD-HEARTED REGISTRAR 11 - - III NO LOSS WITHOUT GAIN 20 - - IV GLORIOUS NEWS 29 - - V THE LAND OF FLOWERS 43 - - VI THE BEGINNING OF NEW ADVENTURE 58 - - VII THE COTTAGE IN THE PALM GROVE 72 - - VIII PATSY SCENTS A MYSTERY 82 - - IX THE WOOD NYMPH 93 - - X GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH OLD OCEAN 105 - - XI A TIMID CALLER 113 - - XII INTERVIEWING CARLOS 122 - - XIII TWO LETTERS 134 - - XIV A REAL ADVENTURE 146 - - XV DOLORES 157 - - XVI NOTHING OR SOMETHING? 166 - - XVII PUZZLING OVER THE PUZZLE 179 - - XVIII SOMETHING! 190 - - XIX PATSY’S SCHEME 204 - - XX THE WAY THE SCHEME WORKED OUT 217 - - XXI THE GHOST 227 - - XXII THE RETURN OF DOLORES 237 - - XXIII THE MEMENTO 244 - - XXIV THE SECRET DRAWER 252 - - XXV WHAT THE SECRET DRAWER HELD 261 - - XXVI “THE TRUE SIGN OF THE ‘DRAGON’” 286 - - XXVII THE TREASURE OF LAS GOLONDRINAS 299 - - - - -_Patsy Carroll Under Southern Skies_ - - - - -CHAPTER I - -TIME TO GO WAYFARING AGAIN - - -“Oh, dear!” loudly sighed Patsy Carroll. - -The regretful exclamation was accompanied by the energetic banging of -Patsy’s French grammar upon the table. - -“Stay there, tiresome old thing!” she emphasized. “I’ve had enough of -you for one evening.” - -“What’s the matter, Patsy?” - -Beatrice Forbes raised mildly inquiring eyes from the theme she was -industriously engaged in writing. - -“Lots of things. I hate French verbs. The crazy old irregular ones most -of all. They start out one thing and by the time you get to the future -tense they’re something entirely different.” - -“Is that all?” smiled Beatrice. “You ought to be used to them by this -time.” - -“That’s only one of my troubles,” frowned Patsy. “There are others -a great deal worse. One of them is this Easter vacation business. I -thought we’d surely have three weeks. It’s always been so at Yardley -until this year. Two weeks is no vacation worth mentioning.” - -“Well, that’s plenty of time to go home in and stay at home and see the -folks for a while, isn’t it?” asked Beatrice. - -“But we didn’t intend going _home_,” protested Patsy. - -“Didn’t intend going home?” repeated Beatrice wonderingly. “_What_ are -you talking about, Patsy Carroll? _I_ certainly expect to go home for -Easter.” - -“You only think you do,” Patsy assured, her troubled face relaxing into -a mischievous grin. “Maybe you will, though. I don’t know. It depends -upon what kind of scheme my gigantic brain can think up. - -“It’s like this, Bee,” she continued, noting her friend’s expression of -mystification. “Father and I made a peach of a plan. Excuse my slang, -but ‘peach of a plan’ just expresses it. Well, when I was at home over -Christmas, Father promised me that the Wayfarers should join him and -Aunt Martha at Palm Beach for the Easter vacation. He bought some land -down in Florida last fall. Orange groves and all that, you know. This -land isn’t so very far from Palm Beach. He was going down there right -after Christmas, but a lot of business prevented him from going. He’s -down there now, though, and----” - -“You’ve been keeping all this a dead secret from your little chums,” -finished Beatrice with pretended reproach. - -“Of course I have,” calmly asserted Patsy. “That was to be part of the -fun. I meant to spring a fine surprise on you girls. Your mother knows -all about it. So does Mrs. Perry. I went around and asked them if you -and Mab and Nellie could go while I was at home during the Christmas -holidays. Aunt Martha liked my plan, too. Now we’ll have to give it up -and go somewhere nearer home. We’d hardly get settled at Palm Beach -when we’d have to come right home again. One more week’s vacation would -make a lot of difference. And we can’t have it! It’s simply too mean -for anything!” - -“It would be wonderful to go to Palm Beach,” mused Beatrice. “It would -be to me, anyway. You know I’ve never traveled as you have, Patsy. -Going to the Adirondacks last summer was my first real trip away from -home. Going to Florida would seem like going to fairy land.” - -Readers of “PATSY CARROLL AT WILDERNESS LODGE,” are already well -acquainted, not only with Patsy Carroll and Beatrice Forbes, but also -with their chums, Mabel and Eleanor Perry. In this story was narrated -the adventures of the four young girls, who, chaperoned by Patsy’s -stately aunt, Miss Martha Carroll, spent a summer together in the -Adirondacks. - -Wilderness Lodge, the luxurious “camp” leased by Mr. Carroll for the -summer, had formerly belonged to an eccentric old man, Ebeneezer -Wellington. Having died intestate the previous spring, his property -and money had passed into the hands of Rupert Grandin, his worthless -nephew, leaving his foster-daughter, Cecil Vane, penniless. - -Hardly were the Wayfarers, as the four girls had named themselves, -established at the Lodge when its owner decided, for reasons of his -own, to oust them from his property. A chance meeting between Beatrice -and Cecil Vane revealed the knowledge that the latter had been -defrauded of her rights and was firm in the belief that her late uncle -had made a will in her favor, which was tucked away in some corner of -the Lodge. - -The long-continued hunt for the missing will and the strange -circumstances which attended the finding of it furnished the Wayfarers -with a new kind of excitement, quite apart from other memorable -incidents and adventures which crowded the summer. - -In the end, Cecil came into her own, and the Wayfarers returned to -Morton, their home town, to make ready to enter Yardley, a preparatory -school, in which Mabel, Eleanor and Patsy were to put in another year -of study before entering college. - -When Beatrice Forbes had joined the chums on the eventful vacation in -the mountains, she had fully expected on her return to Morton to become -a teacher in one of the grade schools. Fortune, however, had smiled -kindly on her. Her great-aunt, whom her mother had visited that summer -for the first time, had exhibited a lively interest in the great-niece -whom she had never seen. - -Learning from Mrs. Forbes, Beatrice’s longing ambition to obtain a -college education, she had privately decided to accompany Beatrice’s -mother to the latter’s home when her visit was ended, and thus view -her ambitious young relative at close range. - -This she had done. She had found Beatrice quite up to her expectations. -She had also met Patsy Carroll and promptly fallen into the toils -of that most fascinating young person. Patsy had privately advanced -Beatrice’s cause to so great an extent that it was not long until -Beatrice was making joyful preparations to accompany Mabel, Eleanor and -Patsy to Yardley, as a result of her aunt’s generosity. - -So it was that the congenial quartette of Wayfarers had settled down -together at Yardley for a year of conscientious study. It now lacked -but ten days until the beginning of the Easter vacation and, as usual, -energetic Patsy was deeply concerned in the problem of how to make the -best of only two weeks’ recreation when she had fondly looked forward -to three. - -“It wouldn’t do us a bit of good to ask for an extra week,” mourned -Patsy. “Three girls I know have tried it and been snubbed for their -pains. What we must do is to get together and plan some sort of outing -that won’t take us so far away from here. Of course we can’t be sure -of anything unless Aunt Martha approves. She’ll be disappointed about -not going to Palm Beach. She just loves to travel around with the -Wayfarers, only she won’t say so right out. Come on, Bee. Let’s go and -see the girls. Now that the great secret has all flattened out, like a -punctured tire on my good old car, I might as well tell Mab and Nellie -the sad tale.” - -“You go, Patsy. I must finish this theme.” Beatrice cast a guilty -glance at the half-finished work on the table. “I must hand it in at -first recitation to-morrow and it’s a long way from being finished.” - -“Oh, bother your theme! You can finish it later. It’s only eight -o’clock. We’ll stay just a few minutes.” - -“Hello, Perry children!” greeted Patsy, when five minutes afterward she -and Beatrice broke in upon their chums, who roomed on the floor above -Patsy and Beatrice. - -“Hello, yourself,” amiably responded Mabel, as she ushered them into -the room. “Of course you can’t read or you would have seen the ‘Busy’ -sign on the door.” - -“Pleasure before business,” retorted Patsy. “Kindly ask us to sit down, -but not on your bed. I want a chair with a back to it. It’s strictly -necessary to my comfort.” - -“Help yourself.” - -This from Eleanor who had laid aside her book and come forward. - -“What’s on your mind, Patsy?” asked Mabel curiously. “Something’s -happened. I can tell that by the way you look.” - -“I have a heavy load on my mind,” declared Patsy with deep -impressiveness. - -Dramatically striking her forehead, she cried, “Ouch! That hurt!” -giggled and dropped down into a nearby chair. - -“You almost knocked it off,” chuckled Beatrice, seating herself on the -edge of Mabel’s bed. “The load, I mean.” - -“I did not. I almost knocked my forehead off. The load is still there. -Now to get rid of it.” - -Whereupon Patsy plunged into the subject of the great secret. - -“And Mother said we could go?” asked Eleanor eagerly when Patsy had -finished speaking. - -“Certainly, but the powers that be, here at Yardley, say you can’t,” -reminded Patsy. “Palm Beach is not for us this Easter. I’m so disgusted -over this vacation business!” - -“It’s a shame!” exclaimed Mabel. “I don’t want to go any place else. -Why can’t we go there, anyway? It would take us two or three days to go -and the same length of time to come back. We’d have a week there. That -would be better than nothing.” - -“I suppose it would,” concurred Patsy rather reluctantly. “It’s only -that I hate being torn up by the roots and hustled back here just the -very minute I’m getting used to things at the Beach. There is so much -to see there. Besides, I’m simply crazy to go to the Everglades. Father -promised that he’d hire a real Indian guide, to take us there on an -expedition.” - -“Let’s write to our people and tell them to write to the registrar, -asking if we can’t have that extra week,” proposed Eleanor eagerly. “If -your Aunt Martha, our mother and Bee’s mother would all write to her, -it might do some good.” - -“We can try it. I doubt whether it will help much,” Patsy said -gloomily. “Miss Osgood is so awfully strict, you know. It’s our only -chance and a slim one. I’m going straight to my room and write to Aunt -Martha. Bee can write to her mother as soon as she finishes a theme -she’s toiling over. You’d better write to-night, too. The sooner we -find out the best or the worst, the sooner we’ll knew what to do about -Easter. If we can only have two weeks, Aunt Martha may want to do the -Beach anyway. If she doesn’t--well, we’ll have to think up some place -nearer Yardley to go to. I’m determined to have some kind of trip, if -it’s only to Old Point Comfort. The Wayfarers have been cooped up all -winter. It’s time they went wayfaring again.” - - - - -CHAPTER II - -A HARD-HEARTED REGISTRAR - - -“If I were a registrar, I’d not be so horrid as Miss Osgood,” -wrathfully exclaimed Patsy Carroll. - -Four days had passed since the Wayfarers had despatched their letters -to their home allies. The quartette were emerging from Yardley Hall as -Patsy flung forth her disgruntled opinion of Miss Osgood. - -They had been summoned to the registrar’s office after classes that -afternoon, there to be stiffly informed by Miss Osgood that she saw no -convincing reason for granting them the privilege of an extra week’s -vacation. - -“You wish this extra week merely on account of a pleasure trip you -have planned,” she had coldly pointed out. “I have been besieged by a -dozen others with similar requests, none of which I have granted. I -have replied to the letters which I have received from Miss Carroll, -Mrs. Forbes and Mrs. Perry, stating that it is impossible to make any -exception in favor of you girls. I sent for you to come here merely to -impress upon you that I shall expect you to return to Yardley, from -your Easter vacation, _on time_. Any delay on your part will constitute -a direct defiance of my wishes. Kindly remember this and govern -yourselves accordingly.” - -Such was the chilly ultimatum that had aroused Patsy’s ire. - -“It’s too mean for anything,” she sputtered, as the four started across -the campus. “Aunt Martha says in the letter I received from her this -morning that unless we can have the extra week’s vacation it’s not -worth while making the trip to Palm Beach. We can’t have it, so that -settles our grand Florida expedition. If we could go down there in -summer it wouldn’t matter so much about losing this trip. But we can’t. -It’s too hot down there in summer time for comfort. We’ll never have a -chance to go there until we are graduated from college. We’ll be old -ladies then and have to go around in wheel chairs,” she ended ruefully. - -“Oh, that’s only four years off. We may still be able to totter about -with canes,” giggled Eleanor. “Of course, we’ll have snow-white hair -and wrinkles, but then, never mind. We can sit and do embroidery or -tatting and talk of the happy past when we were young and----” - -“Stop making fun of me, Nellie,” ordered Patsy severely. Nevertheless -she echoed Eleanor’s giggle. - -“Let’s hustle for the dormitory,” suggested practical Beatrice. “This -wind is altogether too frisky to suit me. I’ve had to hang onto my hat -every second since we left the Hall.” - -“It’s blowing harder every minute,” panted Mabel, as a fresh gust -swept whistling across the campus, caught the four girls and roughly -endeavored to jerk them off their feet. - -“It’s going to snow, I guess. It’s too cold for rain,” remarked Patsy, -squinting up at the sky. “Easter comes awfully early this year, doesn’t -it? I can’t remember when it’s ever before been in March. That’s -another reason why it would be fine to spend it at Palm Beach. The -weather there would be perfect.” - -“Oh, well, what’s the use in thinking about it,” said Eleanor. “We -might as well make the best of things and plan something else.” - -“I’m going to write to Auntie the minute I get to my room,” announced -Patsy, “and ask her where she thinks it would be nice for us to go for -Easter. I’d like it to be near the ocean, though; Old Point Comfort, -Cape May, Atlantic City, or some beach resort.” - -“I hate to give up the Palm Beach plan. Still, wherever we go, well be -together,” reminded Mabel. “You can’t down a strong combination like -the Wayfarers.” - -It being but a short walk from Yardley Hall to the large dormitory -where the students of Yardley lived, the four girls were soon running -up the broad stone steps, glad to reach shelter from the wind’s -ungentle tactics. - -As a preparatory school, Yardley was famed for its excellence. It -registered, however, but a limited number of pupils. These lived in one -large dormitory, there being no campus houses for their accommodation. - -Yardley had been at one time a select boarding school for girls. Later -it had become a preparatory school to college, and had earned the -reputation of being one of the best of its kind. - -As the high school course which the Wayfarers had completed was not -sufficiently advanced to carry them into college without additional -preparation, they had, after much discussion, chosen to enter Yardley. -A year of study there would fit them for entrance into any college -which they might select as their Alma Mater. - -The fact that Yardley occupied a somewhat isolated position of its -own, the nearest town, Alden, being five miles away, did not trouble -the Wayfarers. Being true Nature lovers they were never at a loss for -amusement during their leisure hours. They found far greater pleasure -in tramping the steep hills which rose behind Yardley than making -decorous little trips to Alden in Patsy’s car. - -Though friendly with their classmates, the Wayfarers nevertheless -hung together loyally. They were, as Patsy often declared, “a close -corporation” and quite sufficient unto themselves. - -As the little band entered the dormitory that blustering afternoon, -they were feeling keenly the disappointment so recently meted out to -them. It was decidedly hard to put away the rosy visions of Palm Beach -that each girl had conjured up in her own mind. - -“Come on up to our room, girls, and we’ll make chocolate,” proposed -Patsy. “It will probably take away our appetites for dinner, but who -cares? I don’t believe I’d have much appetite, anyhow. I’m all upset -about this vacation business.” - -Seated about the writing table which Patsy had cleared for the -occasion, the Wayfarers were presently sipping hot chocolate and -devouring sweet crackers to the accompaniment of a mournful discussion -of the situation. - -As a result none of them had any enthusiasm for either dinner or -study that evening. Dinner over they gathered once more in Patsy’s -room, still too full of their recent disappointment to banish it from -conversation. - -“We can’t make a single plan until we know what Aunt Martha wants to -do,” asserted Patsy with a sigh. “Oh, I forgot to write to her before -dinner! I must do it now. Excuse me, Perry children. Bee will amuse -you. Bee, entertain the young ladies. I’m going to be busy for a little -while.” - -“We must go,” declared Eleanor, rising. “It’s half-past eight. I really -ought to study a little bit. Mab, you’ve a whole page in Spanish to -translate. You’d better come along.” - -“All right. Just listen to the wind!” Mabel held up her hand. “How it -shrieks and whistles and wails! The banshees are out, sailing around in -the air to-night, I imagine.” - -“I’m glad we’re not out, sailing around the campus,” commented -Beatrice. “We’d certainly sail. We couldn’t keep our feet on the -ground. We’d be blown about like leaves.” - -“I think I’d like to go out and fight with the wind,” announced valiant -Patsy. “As soon as I write my letter I’m going to take it out to the -mail box.” - -“Good-bye, then. I may never see you again,” laughed Eleanor, her hand -on the door. “You’ll be blown into the next county if you venture out -to-night.” - -“Then I’ll turn around and let the wind blow me back again,” retorted -Patsy, undismayed by Eleanor’s warning. - -The two Perrys having bade their chums good night and departed for -their own room, Patsy settled down to the writing of her letter. Though -her fountain pen fled over the paper at rapid speed, it was half-past -nine when she committed the product of her industry to an envelope. - -“There!” she said, as she finished writing the address and affixed a -stamp. “I’m going to put on my fur coat and go out to the mail box with -this.” - -“Why don’t you mail it in the morning?” Beatrice advised. “I wouldn’t -go out in that wind if I were you.” - -“But you’re not Patsy Carroll,” laughed Patsy. “You’re ever so much -nicer than she is, but not half so reckless.” - -“All right,” smiled Beatrice. “Go ahead and be whisked into the next -county. I’ll send a search party after you in the morning.” - -“Farewell, farewell!” declaimed Patsy, as she dived into a closet for -her fur coat. “I sha’n’t wear a hat. The wind can’t rip off my auburn -locks no matter how hard it may try.” - -Once out of the dormitory, Patsy had not gone six yards before she -realized that Eleanor’s prediction was likely to be fulfilled. The -gale swept her along as if a great hand were at her back, forcing her -relentlessly forward. - -“It’s going to be worse coming back,” she muttered, when at last she -had reached the mail box and dropped her letter into it. “I’m certainly -going to have a real fight with this rough old wind.” - -Turning, she started defiantly toward the dormitory, forging stolidly -along in the teeth of the blast. - -Crossing the campus diagonally she was over half way to the dormitory -when of a sudden she cried out in alarm. At the shadowed rear of -the building she had glimpsed something calculated to inspire fear. -Rising from the structure was a thick cloud, unmistakably smoke. As -she hurried on, her heart pounding wildly, she saw that which fully -confirmed her fears. A long yellow tongue of flame pierced the smoke -cloud and shot high above it. The dormitory was on fire! - - - - -CHAPTER III - -NO LOSS WITHOUT GAIN - - -The few rods that lay between Patsy and the dormitory seemed miles. -Flinging open the massive front door at last, she bounded into the -corridor. To her dismay, no sounds of excited voices or running feet -were to be heard. She could not even smell smoke. - -Stopping only long enough to peer into the big living room which was -deserted of occupants, she dashed down the long corridor to the heavy -double doors leading into the dining room. As she swung one of them -open and darted through, a strong smell of burning wood assailed her -nostrils. - -Instantly she turned and fled back to the corridor. Under the stairs -hung a large gong. Next second it was clanging out its harsh command to -fire drill. Like every other modern institution of learning, Yardley -had its fire drill in which every person in the dormitory was obliged -to take part. - -[Illustration: “We--can’t--go--that--way,” declared the matron in a -choking voice.] - -Patsy’s next act was to dart to the telephone. Though her voice -quivered with excitement, as she asked Central to turn in the fire -alarm, her head was clear and her mind in good working order. She hoped -her classmates would show no signs of panic. - -Soon the steady tramp, tramp of feet announced that the fire drill -was in progress. Down the stairs and into the main corridor filed a -procession of girls, some fully dressed, others with long coats thrown -on over half-fitted negligees. Though a buzz of voices filled the air, -the girls lined up on each side of the corridor in orderly fashion to -await further developments. - -By this time the matron, Mrs. Ainslee, had gained the corridor and had -promptly taken charge of the situation. - -“The back of the dormitory is on fire!” were Patsy’s first words to the -matron. “I saw it from the campus. I had gone out to mail a letter. -I rang the gong and turned in an alarm to Central. It’s very serious -on account of the way the wind’s blowing. If the Alden Hose Company -doesn’t get here quick the fire will spread so fast that nothing can -stop it. I think we ought to get together all the buckets we can and -fight it until the fire engines get here.” - -“A good plan,” approved Mrs. Ainslee. “Girls,” she called out in a -clear, resonant voice, “the rear of the dormitory is on fire. First -I’m going to call the roll to be sure you are all here. Next I need -twenty-four girls, eight to each floor, to go after the fire buckets. I -will ask the first twelve on each side at this end of the lines to go. -Stop at the second floor bath room and fill up the buckets. We may be -unable to get to the kitchen faucets. As soon as the buckets are filled -report here for duty. The rest of you will wait until these girls have -started upstairs, then file out of the house and onto the lawn.” - -Turning to Patsy she said: “Stay here with me, Miss Carroll. I need you -for another purpose.” - -With this she hurried to her office on the same floor, returning with -her register. The roll called and everyone responding, she directed her -attention to the bucket brigade. They were soon started in good order -for the stairs. As soon as the last girl had set foot on the stairs, -the two lines began to move toward the door. Following, Mrs. Ainslee -watched them safely outside, then returned to where Patsy stood -waiting. - -“You and I will investigate the fire and see what can be done,” she -said briefly, and started down the corridor toward the dining room. In -spite of the heavy doors the smoke had now become noticeable even in -the corridor. Throwing open one of the double doors, a dense cloud of -smoke poured over both women, causing them to draw back in a hurry, -eyes and throats smarting. - -“We--can’t--go--that--way,” declared the matron in a choking voice, -as she swung the door shut. “We’ll have to fight the fire from the -outside. I’m afraid we can’t do much. It seems to have gained a good -deal of headway in a very short time. I am going to ask you to stand -in the corridor, Miss Carroll, while I go outside. As the girls come -downstairs with the buckets, count them. Send them out doors and to the -rear of the dormitory. I shall be there to tell them what to do. When -the last one is safely out, then join me.” - -Left briefly to herself, Patsy wondered what her chums thought of her -in her new position as assistant fire chief. She had seen them in the -line, but had had no chance to exchange a word with them. She knew -Beatrice to be one of the bucket brigade, and so waited impatiently -for her return. - -“Oh, Patsy, it’s terrible!” Beatrice called down to her chum, as she -began the descent of the lower flight of stairs, bucket in hand. “I -got this bucket at the end of the hall near a window. I looked out -and saw the back of the dormitory. It’s a mass of flames! Unless the -fire company comes soon the whole place will go and we’ll lose all our -clothes and belongings. I managed to snatch my handbag and yours from -the chiffonier. One of the girls outside is keeping them for me.” - -“You dear, thoughtful thing!” - -Bee had now reached the foot of the stairs. Setting down the heavy -bucket, she paused just long enough to return the hug Patsy gave her. -Then she picked up her bucket and hurried on. - -One by one the bucket brigade appeared, only to disappear out the -front door. Patsy kept careful watch until the twenty-fourth girl had -vanished. By this time the smoke in the corridor was steadily growing -more dense. She doubted if the brigade would be able to return for a -second supply of water. It was high time for her to be moving on, she -decided. - -As she ran down the front steps of the dormitory and around the corner -of the building toward its rear, she could well understand why the -corridor had begun to fill with smoke. The rear of the dormitory was -now wrapped in flames. - -Lined up as close to the fiercely blazing structure as they dared -stand, the members of the brigade were rapidly passing their buckets -on to half a dozen girls who, under Mrs. Ainslee’s direction, were -valiantly throwing the contents of the buckets on the flames. - -The burning section of the dormitory was much lower than the main part -of the building, being only two stories high. It might as well have -been four stories for all the impression that the amateur fire fighters -could make on the flames. Endeavoring to dash the water upon the -conflagration from a safe distance, a large portion of it fell on the -ground. - -While they toiled desperately at their hopeless task, the welcome -clanging of bells and the chug-chug of motors announced the arrival of -the Alden Hose Company on the scene. - -With thankful hearts, the bucket brigade promptly vacated their posts -to make way for the firemen, who soon had a hose connected with the -nearest water main and playing vigorously upon the flames. - -Despite their gallant efforts, the wind was against them and the -fire had gained too much headway prior to their arrival to be easily -quenched. - -None of the Yardley girls ever forgot that night. Drawn up in a body -at one side of the campus they watched in terrified fascination the -conflict raging between fire and water. - -It was between half-past nine and ten o’clock when Patsy discovered the -fire. It was after one in the morning when water finally reduced the -fire to a state of inactivity. At least two-thirds of the dormitory had -been demolished, leaving only the charred rafters. The front part was -still intact, due to the unceasing toil of the gallant fire fighters. -They would stick to their posts until there remained no further -possibility of the fire taking on a new lease of life. - -Over in Yardley Hall a weary company of homeless girls were endeavoring -to make themselves comfortable for the rest of the night. Aside from -money and small valuables, which the majority had had forethought -enough to hastily snatch up when the gong had sounded, everything -belonging to them had gone up in smoke. - -The pecuniary side of their losses was not troubling them. There was -hardly a girl at Yardley who had not come from a home of affluence. The -discomfort they were temporarily obliged to endure was another matter. -There was also much wild conjecturing going on among the castaways as -to what effect the disaster would have upon the school’s routine of -study. - -Lounging wearily on a long oak bench in the corridor, the Wayfarers -were discussing the situation amid frequent yawns. - -“I guess we’ll just have to stay here until morning,” Patsy was -ruefully informing her chums. “It’s after two now and we’ve no other -place to go. I’m awfully sleepy, too, but this bench is no place to -sleep.” - -“Some of the girls have stretched out on the benches in the -class-rooms,” declared Mabel. “We might as well do the same. Where do -you suppose we’re going to eat breakfast? I’m hungry now.” - -“We’re going to eat it in Alden,” announced Patsy positively. “The -minute daylight comes we’ll hop into my car and drive to the village. -I’m hungry, too. Wish it was morning now.” - -“This is going to make a big difference in our Easter vacation,” -reflectively remarked Beatrice. “We’ll probably be allowed to go home -to-morrow. With the dormitory gone there’s no other place for us to -stay until it’s rebuilt. Of course it will be, and it won’t take very -long to do it. It isn’t as though it had been burned to the ground. The -frame work’s there and the front of it is all right.” - -“How long do you suppose it will take to rebuild it?” asked Patsy -eagerly. Bee’s remarks had set her to thinking. - -“Oh, five or six weeks,” hazarded Beatrice. “A gang of skilled workmen -can rebuild it very quickly.” - -“Five or six weeks,” mused Patsy. - -Of a sudden she straightened up from her lounging attitude, her gray -eyes very bright. - -“Girls,” she said impressively, “do you know what this means to us? -It means Palm Beach after all. Miss Osgood has been foiled by fire. -Doesn’t that sound exactly like a movie title? Anyway, there’s no loss -without some gain. It’s not very pleasant to be driven from home in the -middle of the night and have all one’s clothes vanish into smoke. I’m -sorry it happened, of course. But since it _did_ happen, it certainly -didn’t happen for the worst, so far as the Wayfarers are concerned.” - - - - -CHAPTER IV - -GLORIOUS NEWS - - -Beatrice’s prediction that the night’s disaster would hasten by several -days the beginning of a prolonged Easter vacation proved accurate. The -day following the fire was a busy one for all who had suffered from -the dire calamity. At a meeting held in the chapel at two o’clock on -the following afternoon, Miss Osgood announced that a six weeks’ leave -of absence would be granted the pupils of Yardley. Those who were -sufficiently provided with clothing and funds to go to their homes -at once were requested to repair to her office immediately after the -meeting. Those who were not were requested to meet her there at four -o’clock to discuss ways and means. - -As it happened, the Wayfarers were not only ready to go home, but -wildly impatient to go. Early that morning they had driven to Alden in -Patsy’s car to purchase the few things needful for the journey. Luckily -for them they had been fully dressed when the fire alarm had sounded. -Beatrice, Mabel and Eleanor had wisely donned hats and coats before -leaving their rooms. Patsy had put on her fur coat when she had gone -out to mail a letter. She was therefore minus a hat only. An hour’s -shopping in the village provided the four girls with handkerchiefs, -gloves and the few other articles which they required. - -Four o’clock that afternoon saw them at the railway station at Alden, -waiting for the four-thirty west-bound train which would land them in -Morton shortly after ten o’clock that evening. Patsy had already sent -her aunt a lengthy telegram, informing Miss Carroll of the fire and -that the four girls would arrive in Morton that night. - -Though the journey home was not a long one, it seemed interminable to -the travelers. Patsy was burning to impart the glorious news to her -aunt. She was very sure that Aunt Martha would reconsider her decision -not to go to Palm Beach as soon as she had been informed of the new -turn in the girls’ affairs. - -“Morton at last!” sighed Mabel thankfully, when at five minutes to -ten that evening the scattered lights of the city’s suburbs began to -spring up in the darkness. “Our train is exactly on time.” - -“I hope Auntie will meet us,” Patsy said. “Maybe your mother will -be there, too, Perry children; and yours, Bee. I told Auntie in my -telegram to send them word. I guess they’ll be there, all right enough.” - -“It seems queer not to have any luggage, doesn’t it?” remarked Eleanor. - -The four girls had now begun putting on their coats, preparatory to -leaving the train, which was gradually slowing down as it neared the -station. - -“We’re lucky to be here ourselves,” returned Bee seriously. “If that -fire had started at dead of night it would have been a good deal worse -for us.” - -When the train pulled into the station, however, the Wayfarers were -doomed to disappointment. No friendly faces greeted their sight as they -stepped from the train. - -“Auntie didn’t get my telegram! I just know she didn’t!” Patsy cried -out disappointedly. “If she’s read about the fire in the evening -papers, I can imagine how worried she must be by this time. It’s -probably the fault of the operator at Alden. He looked like a sleepy -old stupid. We’d better take a taxi, children. The sooner we get home -the better it will be for our worried folks.” - -Hailing a taxicab the Wayfarers were soon driving through the quiet -streets of the little city toward the beautiful suburb in which they -lived. Beatrice was the first to alight in front of the Forbes’ -unpretentious home. Promising to run over to see Patsy the first thing -the next morning, she said “good night” and hurried up the walk. - -“Coming in, girls?” asked Patsy as the taxicab finally stopped in front -of the high, ornamental iron fence which enclosed the beautiful grounds -of the Carroll estate. - -“Not to-night. We must hustle into our own house and surprise Mother,” -returned Eleanor. - -“Good-night, then. See you in the morning. I’ll pay the driver.” - -Patsy hopped nimbly out of the taxicab, handed the driver his fare with -an additional coin for good measure, then swung open the big gate and -raced up the driveway to the house. - -Three sharp, successive rings of the electric bell had a potent effect -upon a stately, white-haired matron who sat in the living room, making -a half-hearted attempt to read. Miss Martha Carroll sprang to her feet -as the sound fell upon her ears and started for the hall at a most -undignified pace. There was but one person who rang the Carrolls’ bell -in that fashion. - -Long before the maid had time to reach the door Miss Martha had opened -it and thrown her arms about the merry-faced, auburn-haired girl on the -threshold. - -“Patsy Carroll, you bad child!” she exclaimed as she gathered her niece -closer to her. “Why didn’t you telegraph me that you were all right and -coming home?” - -“But I did, Auntie,” protested Patsy, as she energetically hugged her -relieved relative. “I telegraphed this morning. I knew you hadn’t -received the telegram the minute I got into the station. In it I asked -you to meet me.” - -“I never received it. Of course it will be delivered _to-morrow_,” -emphasized Miss Martha disgustedly. “I sent one to you directly after I -read the account of the fire in the evening paper. My nerves have been -keyed up to a high pitch, waiting for a reply to it.” - -“Poor, dear Auntie,” cooed Patsy. “It’s a shame. Never mind. I’m home -now, so everything’s lovely again. Let’s go into the living room and -I’ll tell you all about the fire and how I happened to come home -to-night. Bee and Mab and Nellie came home with me. They’ll be over to -see you in the morning.” - -“Are you hungry, Patsy?” was her aunt’s solicitous question as the two -walked slowly into the living room, arms twined about each other’s -waists. - -“No, Auntie. We had dinner on the train. I’m just crazy to talk. I’ve -some glorious news to tell you. Let’s sit on the davenport and have a -grand old talking bee.” - -“To know you are safe is sufficiently good news,” tenderly rejoiced -Miss Martha. “Really, Patricia, I am still trembling from the shock I -received when I opened the newspaper and saw the headline, ‘Fire Sweeps -Away Dormitory at Yardley.’” - -“Well, it didn’t sweep me away,” laughed Patsy, snuggling into the -circle of her aunt’s arm. The two had now seated themselves on the big -leather davenport. “Part of the dormitory is still there. We lost all -our stuff except the clothing we were wearing when the fire broke out.” - -“What started it?” questioned Miss Martha rather severely. “The paper -didn’t state the cause. A dormitory like the one at Yardley ought to -be fireproof. I am sorry that I did not visit Yardley before allowing -you to enter the school. I should certainly never countenance your -living in a place that in any way looked like a fire-trap.” - -“The fire started in the basement. The regular janitor was sick and -a new one took his place. They say it was through his carelessness -that it started. He was seen to go into the basement smoking a pipe. -Something he’d been forbidden to do. Of course, no one can be really -sure that it was his fault, though. I was the one who gave the alarm.” - -Patsy went on to recount the incidents of the eventful night. - -“Not a single girl acted scared or panicky,” she proudly boasted. “We’d -had fire drill so often that we knew just what to do when the fire -really came. But I haven’t told you the glorious news yet. We’re going -to have _six_ weeks’ vacation. Just think of it, Aunt Martha! Isn’t -that perfectly gorgeous? Now we can go to Palm Beach, can’t we?” - -“So that is the glorious news,” commented Miss Carroll. - -For an instant she silently surveyed Patsy, a half-smile touching her -firm lips. - -“What is it, Auntie?” - -Patsy was not slow to read peculiar significance in both tone and -smile. Something unusual was in the wind. - -“Would you care very much if we didn’t go to Palm Beach?” was Miss -Martha’s enigmatic question. - -“Of course I should,” Patsy cried out, her bright face clouding over. -“You’re not going to say that we can’t! You mustn’t! I’ve set my heart -on the Florida trip. All the way home I’ve been planning for it.” - -“I received a letter from your father this morning,” pursued Miss -Carroll, ignoring Patsy’s protest. “I also received another from Miss -Osgood in which she refused my request for the extra week of vacation. -I had written your father several days ago regarding the making of -arrangements for us to go to Palm Beach. You can read for yourself what -he has to say.” - -Rising, Miss Martha went over to a small mahogany writing desk. Opening -it she took a letter from one of the pigeon holes. - -“Here is Robert’s letter,” she said. Handing it to her niece she -reseated herself beside the latter. - -Very eagerly Patsy took it from its envelope and read: - - “DEAR MARTHA: - - “Your letter came to me this morning and I would be quick to - reserve rooms for yourself and the girls at one of the Palm - Beach hotels, except that I have a better plan. How would you - like to spend three weeks in a real southern mansion? There is - such a house on the estate I recently bought. - - “It is a curiously beautiful house, built after the Spanish - style of architecture, with an inner court and many balconies. - The agent from whom I purchased it informs me that it was - formerly the property of an elderly Spaniard, Manuel de Fereda. - After his death, several months ago, the property descended to - his granddaughter, who was anxious to sell it. - - “It is completely furnished, much in the fashion of houses I - saw when in Mexico. The girls will rave over it and I am very - anxious that they shall spend their holiday in it. It is not - many miles from Palm Beach and I have found a good Indian guide - who will take us on the Everglades expedition which Patsy has - set her mind on making. - - “Of course, if you prefer Palm Beach for the girls, then so - be it. If you come to Las Golondrinas (The Swallows), that is - the name of the old house, you will not need to bring so many - trunks, as you will see very little of society, except when you - make an occasional trip to the Beach. I can secure a good car - for your use while here which Patsy can drive to her heart’s - content. - - “Let me know at once what you think of my plan. If you decide - immediately to take it up, wire me and I will be on the lookout - for you. I believe you will enjoy this little adventure as much - as I shall. I know now what Patsy will say. As the girls are - to have only three weeks’ vacation, better arrange to start as - soon as possible. - - “Affectionately, - - “ROBERT.” - -“Aunt Martha, the Wayfarers are the luckiest girls in the whole world,” -was Patsy’s solemn assertion as she looked up from the letter. “First -they go through a fire and come out as safely as can be. Next they get -six weeks’ vacation. After that, Daddy plays good fairy, and finds -them a wonderful palace in the land of flowers. All they have to do -is to hurry up and take possession. _When_ are we going to start for -Florida?” - -“As soon as we can make ready,” was the prompt reply. “Since your -father seems very anxious for us to take this trip, I feel that we -ought not disappoint him. I dare say we may find this old house he -describes somewhat interesting.” - -This calm statement filled Patsy with inward amusement. She knew it to -be an indirect admission that her aunt was as anxious as she to carry -out the plan her father had made for them. - -“We won’t need a lot of new gowns,” argued Patsy. “We all have evening -frocks and plenty of wash dresses from last summer. We can wear our -corduroy suits and high boots to tramp around in. We ought to have some -of those Palm Beach hats the stores are showing, and new white shoes, -and a few other things. It isn’t as if we were going to stay at a large -hotel. We’ll be away from society and living outdoors most of the -time. This is Friday. I think we ought to start south not later than -next Wednesday morning. We can’t afford to use up more than one of our -precious weeks in getting ready and going down to Las--Las----What’s -the name of our new home?” - -Patsy hastily consulted her father’s letter. - -“Las Gol-on-drinas,” she pronounced slowly. “I suppose that’s not -the way to pronounce it. I’ll have to ask Mab about it. She’s taking -Spanish this year. It’s very necessary to know how to say the name of -our new southern home,” she added with a chuckle. “Won’t the girls be -surprised when they hear about this splendid plan of Father’s? Have you -spoken to Mrs. Perry about it yet, Auntie?” - -“No, my dear. You must remember that I received Miss Osgood’s letter, -refusing my request at the same time that I received your father’s -letter. They arrived in the first mail this morning. I intended writing -Robert this evening, explaining that it would be impossible for us -to go to Florida. Then I read about the fire in the paper and it -completely upset my nerves. I will call on the Perrys to-morrow morning -to talk things over. We must also call on Mrs. Forbes.” - -“Bee isn’t sure that her mother will let her accept another trip from -us,” confided Patsy. “That’s the only thing I worried about after I -knew we were to have the six weeks’ vacation. She said she was sure -her mother wouldn’t feel right about letting us pay her expenses at a -fashionable resort like Palm Beach. But it’s all different now. Mrs. -Forbes can’t very well refuse to let Bee accept an invitation to a -house party, can she? You must make her see it in that light, Aunt -Martha, or she won’t let Bee go with us. She’s awfully proud, you know. -We simply must have Bee along. I wouldn’t care much about the trip if -she had to stay at home.” - -“Beatrice will go with us,” assured Miss Martha in a tone that -indicated the intention to have her own way in the matter. Patsy knew -from long experience that her dignified aunt was a person not to be -easily overruled, and rejoiced accordingly. - -“I told Bee that I knew you could fix things beautifully with her -mother,” she declared happily. “We’re going to have a wonderful time in -that quaint old house. Wouldn’t it be great if it were haunted, or had -some kind of a mystery about it? I’ve read lots of queer stories about -those old southern mansions.” - -“Now, Patsy,” Miss Martha made an attempt at looking extremely severe, -“once and for all you may put such foolish notions out of your head. -That affair of the missing will at Wilderness Lodge was, of course, -quite remarkable. Nevertheless, it was very annoying in many respects.” - -Miss Martha had not forgotten her enforced hike over hill and dale on -the memorable afternoon when John, the rascally chauffeur, had set her -down in an unfamiliar territory and left her to return to the Lodge as -best she might. - -“We are going down South for recreation. Bear that in mind,” she -continued. “The majority of these tales about haunted houses down there -originate with the negroes, who are very ignorant and superstitious. -There is no such thing as a _haunted_ house. I have never yet met a -person who had actually _seen_ a ghost. Undoubtedly we shall hear a -number of such silly tales while we are in Florida. I am told that the -natives are very fond of relating such yarns. You girls may listen to -them if you like, but you must not take them seriously. You are not apt -ever again to run into another mystery like that of Wilderness Lodge.” - - - - -CHAPTER V - -THE LAND OF FLOWERS - - -“No wonder the Spaniards named this beautiful land ‘Florida’!” -rapturously exclaimed Beatrice Forbes. “I never dreamed it _could_ be -quite so wonderful as this.” - -“I suppose when first they saw it, they must have felt about it as we -do now,” returned Eleanor. “According to history they landed here on -Easter Sunday. We’re seeing Florida at about the same time of year as -they first saw it. It’s almost as wonderful to us as it was to them. -Not quite, of course, because they underwent all sorts of hardships -before they landed here. So they must have thought it like Heaven.” - -Exactly one week had elapsed since the Wayfarers had arrived in Morton -with the pleasing prospect ahead of them of a six weeks’ vacation. -Three days of hurried preparation had followed. Then had come the -long, rather tiresome railway journey to Florida. They had arrived at -Palm Beach late in the afternoon of the sixth day, had been met by Mr. -Carroll and had spent the night at one of Palm Beach’s most fashionable -hotels. - -Weary from the long railway trip, the travelers had resisted the lure -of a water fête, to be given that evening on Lake Worth, and retired -early. - -“I can secure a boat, if you girls are anxious to take in the fête,” -Mr. Carroll had informed his flock at dinner that evening. “This fête -will be nothing very remarkable, however. Later on, I understand, a -big Venetian fête is to be given. Why not wait and go to that? We can -easily run up to the Beach in the car from Las Golondrinas. I would -suggest going to bed in good season to-night. Then we can make an early -start in the morning for our new home.” - -This program being approved by all, the Wayfarers had dutifully settled -down early for the night. It was now a little after ten o’clock on the -following morning and the big touring car, driven by Mr. Carroll, was -bowling due south over a palm-lined country road, toward its objective, -Las Golondrinas. - -It was a particularly balmy morning, even for southern Florida, where -a perpetual state of fine weather may be expected to hold sway during -the winter months. Southward under tall palms, past villa after villa, -embowered in gorgeously colored, flowering vines, the touring car -glided with its load of enthusiastic beauty-worshippers. - -Seated between Miss Martha and Eleanor in the tonneau of the machine, -Beatrice was perhaps the most ardent worshipper of them all. Love of -Nature was almost a religion with her. She was a true child of the -great outdoors. - -“It’s so beautiful it makes me feel almost like crying,” she confided -to her companions as she drew in a deep breath of the exquisitely -scented morning air. “It’s so different from the Adirondacks. Up there -I felt exhilarated; as though I’d like to stand up and sing an anthem -to the mountains. But all this fragrance and color and sunlight and -warm, sweet air makes me feel--well--sentimental,” finished Bee rather -timidly. - -“It seems more like an enchanted land out of a fairy-tale than a real -one,” mused Eleanor. “No wonder the birds begin to fly south the minute -it grows chilly up north. They know what’s waiting for them down here.” - -“That’s more than we know,” smiled Beatrice, her brown eyes dreamy. -“We’re explorers, once more, setting foot in a strange, new country. -Something perfectly amazing may be waiting for us just around the -corner.” - -“I hope it won’t be a horrid big snake,” shuddered practical Mabel, -who sat opposite the trio on one of the small seats. “There are plenty -of poisonous snakes down here, you know. Moccasins and diamond-back -rattlers, coral snakes and a good many other varieties that aren’t -poisonous, but horrible, just the same.” - -“Why break the spell by mentioning anything so disagreeable as snakes, -Mab?” asked Eleanor reproachfully. “I’d forgotten that there were such -hateful, wriggly things. How do you happen to be so well up on the -snakology of Florida?” - -“There’s no such word as snakology,” retorted Mabel. “You mean -_herpetology_.” - -“Snakology’s a fine word, even if old Noah Webster did forget to put it -in the dictionary,” laughed Eleanor. “Isn’t it, Miss Martha?” - -“I can’t say that I specially admire any word pertaining to snakes,” -dryly answered Miss Carroll. “While we are on the subject, however, -I may as well say that nothing can induce me to go on any wild -expeditions into these swamps down here. I daresay these jungles are -full of poisonous snakes. I greatly doubt the advisability of allowing -you girls to trail around in such dangerous places.” - -“Oh, we’ll be all right with a real Indian guide to show us the way,” -declared Beatrice confidently. “White Heron is the name of our Indian -guide. Mr. Carroll was telling me about him last night. He is a -Seminole and a great hunter.” - -“I have no confidence in Indians,” disparaged Miss Martha. “I sincerely -hope Robert is not mistaken in this one. I shall have to see him for -myself in order to judge whether he is a fit person to act as guide on -this foolhardy expedition that Patsy is so set on making.” - -This dampening assertion warned the trio of girls that it was high time -to discuss something else. They remembered Patsy’s difficulties of the -previous summer in wringing a reluctant permission from Miss Martha to -go camping in the mountains. Now it seemed she had again posted herself -on the wrong side of the fence. It therefore behooved them to drop the -subject where it stood, leaving the winning over of Miss Martha to wily -Patsy and her father. - -Seated beside her father, who, knowing the road to Las Golondrinas, -was driving the car, Patsy was keeping up a running fire of delighted -exclamation over the tropical beauty of the country through which they -were passing. - -“I’m so glad you bought this splendid place, Dad,” she rattled along in -her quick, eager fashion. “After I’m through college maybe we can come -down to Florida and spend a whole winter.” - -“I had that idea in mind when I bought it,” returned her father. “It -will take considerable time to put Las Golondrinas in good condition -again. Old Fereda let it run down. There are some fine orange groves on -the estate, but they need attention. The house is in good condition. -It’s one of those old-timers and solidly built. The grounds were in bad -shape, though. I’ve had a gang of darkies working on them ever since -I bought the place. They’re a lazy lot. Still they’ve done quite a -little toward getting the lawns smooth again and thinning the trees and -shrubs.” - -“Who was this Manuel de Fereda, anyway?” questioned Patsy curiously. “I -know he was Spanish and died, and that’s all.” - -“I know very little about him, my dear. Mr. Haynes, the agent who sold -me the property, had never seen him. In fact, had never heard of him -until Fereda’s granddaughter put the place in his hands for sale. She -told Haynes that her grandfather was crazy. Haynes said she seemed -very anxious to get rid of the property and get away from it.” - -“There’s just enough about the whole thing to arouse one’s curiosity,” -sighed Patsy. “I’d love to know more about this queer, crazy old -Spaniard. Maybe we’ll meet some people living near the estate who will -be able to tell us more about him.” - -“Oh, you’ll probably run across someone who knows the history of the -Feredas,” lightly assured her father. “Neither the old mammy I engaged -as cook, nor the two maids can help you out, though. They come from -Miami and know no one in the vicinity. I’m still hunting for a good, -trustworthy man for general work. We shall need one while we’re here, -to run errands, see to the horses and make himself useful.” - -“You must have worked awfully hard to get things ready for us, Dad.” - -Patsy slipped an affectionately grateful hand into her father’s arm. - -“I could have done better if I had known from the start that you were -really coming,” he returned. “I had to hustle around considerably. At -least you’re here now and your aunt can be depended upon to do the -rest. I hope she will get along nicely with her darkie help. They’re -usually as hard to manage as a lot of unruly children.” - -“Oh, she will,” predicted Patsy. “She always makes everybody except -Patsy do as she says. Patsy likes to have her own way, you know.” - -“So I’ve understood,” smiled Mr. Carroll. “Patsy usually gets it, too, -I’m sorry to say.” - -“You’re not a bit sorry and you know it,” flatly contradicted Patsy. -“You’d hate to have me for a daughter if I were a meek, quiet Patsy who -never had an opinion of her own.” - -“I can’t imagine such a thing,” laughed her father. “I’m so used to -being bullied by a certain self-willed young person that I rather like -it.” - -“You’re a dear,” gaily approved Patsy. “I don’t ever really bully you, -you know. I just tell you what you have to do and then you go and do -it. That’s not bullying, is it?” - -“Not in our family,” satirically assured Mr. Carroll. - -Whereupon they both laughed. - -Meanwhile, as they continued to talk in the half-jesting, intimate -fashion of two persons who thoroughly understand each other, the -big black car ate up the miles that lay between Palm Beach and Las -Golondrinas. As the party drew nearer their destination the highly -ornamental villas which had lined both sides of the road began to grow -fewer and farther apart. They saw less of color and riotous bloom and -more of the vivid but monotonous green of the tropics. - -They turned at last from the main highway and due east into a white -sandy road which ran through a natural park of stately green pines. -Under the shadow of the pines the car continued for a mile or so, then -broke out into the open and the sunlight again. - -“Oh, look!” - -Half rising in the seat, Patsy pointed. Ahead of them and dazzlingly -blue in the morning sunshine lay the sea. - -“How near is our new home to the ocean, Dad?” she asked eagerly. - -“There it is yonder.” - -Taking a hand briefly from the wheel, Mr. Carroll indicated a point -some distance ahead and to the right where the red-tiled roof of a -house showed in patches among the wealth of surrounding greenery. - -“Why, it’s only a little way from the sea!” Patsy cried out. “Not more -than half a mile, I should judge.” - -“About three quarters,” corrected her father. “The bathing beach is -excellent and there’s an old boathouse, too.” - -“Are there any boats?” was the quick question. - -“A couple of dinghys. Both leaky. I gave them to one of my black -fellows. Old Fereda was evidently not a sea dog. The boathouse was full -of odds and ends of rubbish. I had it cleared up and repainted inside -and out. It will make you a good bath house. It’s a trim looking little -shack now.” - -Presently rounding a curve in the white, ribbon-like road, the -travelers found themselves again riding southward. To their left, -picturesque masses of jungle sloped down to the ocean below. - -Soon to their right, however, a high iron fence appeared, running -parallel with the road. It formed the eastern boundary of Las -Golondrinas. Behind it lay the estate itself, stretching levelly toward -the red-roofed house in the distance. Long neglected by its former -owner, the once carefully kept lawns and hedges had put forth rank, -jungle-like growth. Broad-fronded palms and palmettos drooped graceful -leaves over seemingly impenetrable thickets of tangled green. Bush and -hedge, once carefully pruned, now flung forth riotous untamed masses -of gorgeous bloom. - -“It looks more like a wilderness than a private estate,” was Patsy’s -opinion as her quick eyes roved from point to point in passing. - -“It looked a good deal more like a jungle a few weeks ago,” returned -Mr. Carroll. “Wait until you pass the gates; then you’ll begin to -notice a difference. The improvements my black boys have made don’t -show from the road.” - -For a distance of half a mile, the car continued on the sandy highway. -At last Mr. Carroll brought it to a stop before the tall, wrought-iron -gates of the main entrance to the estate. Springing from the -automobile, he went forward to open them. - -“Every man his own gate-opener,” he called out jovially. “Drive ahead, -Patsy girl.” - -Patsy had already slipped into the driver’s seat, hands on the wheel. -Immediately her father called out, she drove the machine slowly forward -and through the now wide-open gateway. - -“Do let me drive the rest of the way, Dad,” she implored as Mr. Carroll -regained the car. - -“All right. Follow this trail wherever it goes and you’ll finally bring -up at the house,” was the good-humored injunction. - -By “trail” Mr. Carroll meant the drive, which, flanked by hedges of -perfumed oleander, wound through the grounds, describing a sweeping -curve as it approached the quaint, grayish-white building that had for -generations sheltered the Feredas. A little beyond the house and to its -rear, they glimpsed rank upon rank of orange trees, on which golden -fruit and creamy blossoms hung together amongst the glossy green of -foliage. - -A light land breeze, freighted with the fragrance of many flowers, blew -softly upon the Wayfarers. Its scented sweetness filled them with fresh -delight and appreciation of their new home. - -Patsy brought the car to a stop on the drive, directly in front of -an arched doorway, situated at the center of the facade. Before the -travelers had time to step out of the automobile the massive double -doors were swung open by a stout, turbaned mammy, the true southern -type of negro, fast vanishing from the latter day, modernized South. -Her fat, black face radiant with good will, she showed two rows of -strong white teeth in a broad smile. Beside her stood two young colored -girls who stared rather shyly at the newcomers. - -“I done see yoh comin’, Massa Carroll!” she exclaimed. “I see yoh way -down de road. So I done tell Celia an’ Em’ly here, y’all come along -now, right smart, an’ show Massa Carroll’s folks yoh got some manners.’” - -“Thank you, Mammy Luce,” gallantly responded Mr. Carroll, his blue eyes -twinkling with amusement. Whereupon he gravely presented the gratified -old servant to his “folks.” A courtesy which she acknowledged with an -even greater display of teeth and many bobbing bows. - -Headed by Mr. Carroll, the travelers stepped over the threshold of Las -Golondrinas and into the coolness of a short stone passageway which -ended in the patio or square stone court, common to houses of Spanish -architecture. - -In the center of the court a fountain sent up graceful sprays of water, -which fell sparkling into the ancient stone bowl built to receive the -silvery deluge. Above the court on three sides ranged the inevitable -balconies. Looking far upward one glimpsed, through the square opening, -a patch of blue sunlit sky. - -“Welcome to Las Golondrinas, girls! It’s rather different from anything -you’ve ever seen before, now isn’t it?” - -Mr. Carroll addressed the question to his flock in general, who -had stopped in the center of the court to take stock of their new -environment. - -“It’s positively romantic!” declared Patsy fervently. “I feel as -though I’d stepped into the middle of an old Spanish tale. I’m sure -Las Golondrinas must have a wonderful history of its own. When you -stop to remember how many different Feredas have lived here, you can’t -help feeling that a lot of interesting, perhaps tragic things may have -happened to them. I only wish I knew more about them.” - -“Let the poor dead and gone Feredas rest in peace, Patsy,” laughingly -admonished Eleanor. “We came down here to enjoy ourselves, not to dig -up the tragic history of a lot of Spanish Dons and Donnas.” - -“A very sensible remark, Eleanor,” broke in Miss Martha emphatically. -“There is no reason that I can see why you, Patsy, should immediately -jump to the conclusion that this old house has a tragic history. It’s -pure nonsense, and I don’t approve of your filling your head with such -ideas. I dare say the history of these Feredas contains nothing either -startling or tragic. Don’t let such ridiculous notions influence you -to spend what ought to be a pleasant period of relaxation in trying to -conjure up a mystery that never existed.” - -“Now, Auntie, you know perfectly well that if we happened to stumble -upon something simply amazing in this curious old house, you’d be just -as excited over it as any of us,” gaily declared Patsy. - -“‘Sufficient unto the day is the evil thereof,’” loftily quoted Miss -Martha, refusing to commit herself. “It will take something very -amazing indeed to impress me.” - - - - -CHAPTER VI - -THE BEGINNING OF ADVENTURE - - -“The time has come, O Wayfarers, to think of many things,” gaily -declaimed Patsy, bursting into the somber, high-ceilinged, dark-paneled -sitting-room where Miss Martha, Beatrice, Mabel and Eleanor sat around -a massive mahogany table, busily engaged in writing letters. - -“Go away, Patsy,” laughingly admonished Mabel, pen suspended in mid-air -over her note paper. “You’re a disturber. You’ve made me forget what I -was going to write next. If you won’t be a letter-writer, don’t be a -nuisance.” - -“I can’t be what I never have been and could never possibly become,” -retorted Patsy. “I’ll promise to keep quiet, though, if you’ll all -hustle and finish your letters. I’m dying to go over to the orange -groves and it’s no fun going alone. Any old person will do for -company.” - -“Then we _won’t_ do,” emphasized Beatrice. “We are very distinguished -persons who don’t belong in the ‘any old’ class.” - -“Glad you told me,” chuckled Patsy. “I’ll give you ten minutes to -wind up your letters. If you’re not done then--well--I’ll give you -ten more. I am always considerate. I’m going to leave you now, but I -shall return. I’ll come buzzing around again, like a pestiferous fly, -in exactly ten minutes by my wrist watch. I’m only going as far as the -gallery to pay my respects to the dead and gone Feredas.” - -With this announcement Patsy turned and strolled from the room. The -gallery to which she referred was in the nature of a short corridor, -extending between the second-floor sitting-room and ending at the -corridor on which were situated sleeping rooms which the Wayfarers -occupied. It had evidently served as a picture gallery for several -generations of Feredas. Its walls were lined with a heterogeneous -collection of oil paintings, largely landscape and studies in still -life. At least half of one side of it, however, was devoted strictly to -portraits. It was before this particular section that Patsy halted. - -Two days had elapsed since the Wayfarers had made port at Las -Golondrinas. On the evening of their arrival, a storm had come up, -bursting over the old house in all its tropical fury. Following it, -rain had set in and for two days had continued to fall in a steady, -discouraging downpour that made out-door excursions impossible for the -time being. - -Now, on the third morning since their arrival, the sun again shone -gloriously, in skies of cerulean blue, and the air was heavy with the -sweetness of rain-washed blossoms. It was an ideal morning to spend out -of doors, and Patsy was impatient to start on an exploring tour of the -estate. - -During the two days in which the Wayfarers had been kept indoors by -the rain, they had become thoroughly acquainted with the old house. -They had wandered about it from cellar to roof, marveling at its utter -unlikeness to any other house in which they had ever set foot. Its -somber, spacious rooms with their highly polished floors and queer, -elaborately carved, foreign-looking furniture of a by-gone period, -evoked volleys of wondering comment and speculation. The cool patio -with its silver-spraying fountain, the long windows opening out onto -picturesque balconies and the dim stone corridors, all held for them -the very acme of romance. It was like being set down in a world which -they had known only in fiction. - -Each girl had found some one particular object on which to fix -her special admiration. Eleanor went into ecstasies over a huge, -carved-leather chest that stood in the sitting-room. Beatrice was -enthusiastic over a heavy mahogany book-case filled with old Spanish -volumes, bound in boards and parchment. She loudly deplored her -inability to read Spanish and announced her intention of tackling the -fascinating volumes with the aid of a Spanish-English dictionary which -Mabel had brought along. Mabel was vastly impressed by a high, frowning -old desk with many drawers and pigeon-holes. She was perfectly sure, -she declared, that it must contain a secret drawer, and in consequence -spent the great part of an afternoon in an unavailing hunt for it. - -Patsy found unending delight in the portrait section of the picture -gallery. The dark-eyed, tight-lipped men and women who stared down at -her from the wall filled her with an intense curiosity regarding who -they were and how long it had been since they had lived and played -their parts in the history of the Feredas. - -Undoubtedly they were all Feredas. Of unmistakably Spanish cast of -countenance, they bore a decided family resemblance to one another. -The difference in the style of dress worn by the pictured folk -proclaimed them to be of many generations. How far removed from the -present day, she did not know. She was of the opinion that some of them -must have lived at least two hundred years ago. She was very sure that -one portrait, that of a man, must have been painted even earlier than -that. - -It was this portrait in particular which most fascinated her. Hung in -the center of the section and framed in tarnished gilt, it depicted the -full length figure of a Spanish cavalier. Patsy thought he might easily -have been one of the intrepid, Latin adventurers who accompanied Ponce -de Leon on his unsuccessful quest into Florida for the fabled Fountain -of Youth. - -As a gallant of long ago, the man in the picture instantly arrested her -attention. The thin, sinister face above the high Spanish ruff repelled -her, however. The bright, bird-like eyes, the long, aquiline nose and -the narrow lips, touched with a mocking smile, combined to make a -countenance of such intense cruelty as filled her with a curious sense -of terror. It was as if the sharp, black eyes followed her, as she -moved along from picture to picture. There was a peculiar, life-like -quality about the painting which gave her the uncomfortable feeling -that the sinister cavalier might step down from the canvas at any -moment. - -Nevertheless she could not refrain from stopping to look at him every -time she passed through the corridor. She was convinced that he must -have been the first Fereda who landed in the New World and that he -had a record which might well match his malevolently smiling face. It -piqued her not a little to reflect, that, who he was and what he had -been would in all probability ever remain a mystery to her. - -Strolling into the corridor that morning to study again the provoking -object of her curiosity, Patsy wondered how the granddaughter of old -Manuel de Fereda could ever have been content to turn over the contents -of Las Golondrinas to strangers. She wondered what had become of her. -She was undoubtedly the only one who knew the identity of the painted -cavalier. Patsy decided that she would ask her father to write Mr. -Haynes, the agent, from whom he had purchased the property, asking him -for Eulalie Fereda’s address. Once she had obtained it, Patsy fully -intended to write to the Spanish girl for information concerning the -painted cavalier. - -Wrapped in meditation, she did not hear Beatrice’s light approaching -footsteps until her friend had traversed half of the corridor. - -“Oh, Bee!” she hailed, as the latter paused beside her. “I’m going to -try to get Eulalie Fereda’s address from Mr. Haynes, and then write her -about this picture. It seems queer that she allowed all these portraits -of her family to be sold with the house, now doesn’t it? I certainly -shouldn’t care to see the pictures of my respected ancestors pass into -the hands of strangers.” - -“Perhaps she’d lived here so long with her grandfather that she’d grown -tired of him and all the rest of the Fereda tribe,” hazarded Bee. -“Imagine how lonely it would be for a young girl in this gloomy old -house. It _is_ gloomy, you know. We don’t mind it because there are a -crowd of us. It all seems just quaint and romantic to us.” - -“All except Auntie,” reminded Patsy, smiling. “She says that the whole -house ought to be done over from top to bottom and that she intends to -come down here next fall and see to it herself. I think she only half -means it, though. She likes it the way it is, just as much as we do, -but she won’t admit it. Aunt Martha has a real love for the romantic, -but she tries hard not to let any one know it.” - -“The furniture in this house must be really valuable,” Bee said -seriously. “Most of it is antique. Goodness knows how old that desk in -the sitting-room is; and that carved-leather chest and the book-case. -Why, those books alone must be worth a good deal. A book collector -would rave over them. I wish I knew something about rare volumes and -first editions. If I were your father I’d send for an expert and have -the collection valued.” - -“I’ll tell him about it,” nodded Patsy. “Only he won’t bother to do -it while we’re here. He’s more interested in having the grounds put -in order than anything else. He says the orange groves are not worth -much because they’ve been neglected for so long. With care, he thinks -they’ll do better next year. We’ve come down here too late for the real -fruit season, you know. We should have been here in January or February -for that. Anyway, he didn’t buy this place as a money-making venture. -He thought it would be a nice winter home for us.” - -“I’m lucky to have the chance to see it,” congratulated Beatrice. “If -ever I become a writer, I shall put Las Golondrinas into a story. -That’s a pretty name; Las Golondrinas.” - -“Isn’t it, though. I suppose it was named on account of the tree -swallows,” mused Patsy. “Dad says there are flocks of them here. They -have blue backs and white breasts. I’m sure I saw some this morning. -Oh, dear! I wish the girls would hurry. I want to start out and see the -sights. Come on. Let’s remind them that time is flying.” - -Catching Bee by the hand, Patsy pulled her, a willing captive, toward -the sitting-room. - -“Time’s up and more than up!” she announced, poking her auburn head -into the big room. - -“I’m ready,” responded Eleanor, rising from her chair. - -“So am I--in another minute.” - -Hastily addressing an envelope to her mother, Mabel tucked her letter -into it, sealed and stamped it. - -“There!” she ejaculated as she laid it on the little pile of letters -which represented the fruits of the morning’s labor. “That’s off my -mind.” - -“What about you, Auntie?” questioned Patsy, noting that her dignified -relative was still engaged in letter-writing. “Don’t you want to join -the explorers?” - -“You girls can get along very well without me,” placidly returned Miss -Carroll. “I am not through with my writing. Besides, I don’t feel -inclined to go exploring this morning. I warn all of you to be careful -where you set foot. This old place may be infested with snakes.” - -“Oh, we’ll be careful. We’ll each carry a good stout stick,” assured -Beatrice. “That’s the way tourists do in the tropics, you know. On some -of the South Sea Islands, I’ve read that tourists always carry what -they call ‘snake sticks’ when they go calling. At night the coolies go -ahead of a calling party and beat the long grass aside.” - -“Very fine, Bee. I hereby appoint you chief grass-beater of the realm,” -teased Mabel. - -“I decline the high office,” retorted Bee. “Every Wayfarer will have -to do her own bit of trail beating. As I am _very_ brave, I don’t mind -walking ahead, though.” - -“I will walk with you, Bee,” graciously offered Patsy. “Woe be to the -wriggly, jiggly sarpint that crosses our path.” - -In this light strain the four girls left Miss Martha to her writing -and sallied forth from the coolness of the old house into the bright -sunlight. - -“Where shall we go first?” queried Patsy, as they paused on the drive -in front of the house. “Shall we get acquainted with our numerous acres -of front yard, or shall we make a bee-line for the orange groves?” - -“Let’s do the groves first,” suggested Eleanor. “I’m awfully anxious to -get close to real orange trees with real oranges growing on them.” - -“Come on, then.” - -Seizing Beatrice by the arm, Patsy piloted her around a corner of the -house, Mabel and Eleanor following. - -Crossing a comparatively smooth bit of lawn, at the rear of the house, -the Wayfarers halted by common consent before proceeding further. -Between them and the orange groves lay a wide stretch of ground, fairly -overrun with tangled bush and vine. Magnificent live oak, cedar and -palmetto trees, spread their noble branches over thickets of bright -bloom and living green. It was extremely picturesque, but “very snaky,” -as Mabel declared with a little shudder. - -“There’s a darkie over yonder, clipping away that thicket!” Eleanor -pointed to where an ancient, bare-footed, overalled African, wearing -a huge, tattered straw hat, was industriously cutting away at a thick -patch of sprawling green growth. - -“Hey, there, Uncle!” called out undignified Patsy. “Come here a minute, -please.” - -The old man straightened up at the hail and looked rather blankly about -him. Catching sight of the group of white-clad girls, he ambled slowly -toward them through the long grass. - -“Mornin’, young ladies,” he saluted, pulling off his ragged headgear -and disclosing a thick crop of snow-white wool. “Ah reckin mebbe yoh -wants Uncle Jemmy t’ tell yoh suthin’?” - -“Yes, we do, Uncle,” beamed Patsy. “We wish you’d show us a path to -the orange groves, if there is one. We’d like to have some good, stout -sticks, too, in case we see any snakes. Aren’t you afraid to walk -around in that jungle in your bare feet?” - -“Laws, Missie, I’se used toh it, I is. Th’ ain’t no snaikes round heah -what mounts toh much. I done see a big black snaike this mohnin’, but -that fella ain’t out toh do me no damage. He am a useful snaike, he am.” - -“We’ll be just as well satisfied not to meet his snakeship, even if he -is so useful,” muttered Eleanor in Patsy’s ear. - -“Ef yoh all young ladies’ll come along now, I’se gwine toh show yoh the -way toh git toh the orange groves,” continued Uncle Jemmy. “There am a -path ovah heah.” - -So saying, the old man took the lead and trotted along the clipped -lawn where it skirted the high grass for a distance of perhaps twenty -yards. The girls followed him, single file, every pair of bright eyes -intent on trying to catch a glimpse of the path. - -Pausing at last, Uncle Jemmy proceeded to lop off several low-growing -branches from a nearby tree. These he deftly stripped clear of twigs -and foliage and, trimming them smooth with a huge, sharp-bladed pocket -knife, presented one to each of the four explorers. - -“Heah am yoh snaike sticks, young ladies,” he declared, showing a vast -expanse of white teeth in a genial grin. “Now I’se gwine to take yoh a -little furder an’ yoh’ll see de path.” - -A few steps and they came abreast of a giant oak tree and here the path -began, a narrow trail, but beaten hard by the passing of countless feet. - -“Yoh jes’ follow de path whereber he goes and yoh-all gwine come af’er -while toh de groves,” he directed. - -“Thank you, Uncle Jemmy.” Patsy nodded radiant thanks. Seized by a -sudden thought she asked: “Do you live around here?” - -“No, Missie. I comes from Tampa, I does. Soon’s I git through this job -foh Massa Carroll I gwine toh git right back toh Tampa again. It am de -bes’ place fo’ Uncle Jemmy.” - -“Oh!” Patsy’s face fell. Then she tried again. “Do any of these boys -working with you live around here?” - -“No, Missie. They done come from Miami. We am all strangahs heah.” - -“I see. Thank you ever so much for helping us.” - -With a kindly nod to the old man, Patsy turned to her chums who had -stood listening in silence to the questions she had asked. - -“Are you ready for the great adventure?” she queried. “Come along, -then. One, two, three and away we go, Indian fashion!” - -Bidding a smiling good-bye to Uncle Jemmy, who had now turned to go, -the three girls filed into the trail behind their energetic leader. And -thus the Wayfarers started off on what really was the beginning of a -greater adventure than they dreamed. - - - - -CHAPTER VII - -THE COTTAGE IN THE PALM GROVE - - -Greatly to their relief, the Wayfarers were not called upon to do -battle with their stout snake sticks. For a quarter of a mile they -followed the narrow path. It wound in and out of the tall, coarse grass -and around wide-spreading trees and ragged clumps of bushes. At length -they reached the point for which they had been aiming. - -“It’s simply splendiferous!” exclaimed Eleanor, as the quartette halted -well inside the first grove to breathe in the fragrance of orange -blossoms and feast their eyes on the beauty of the tropical scene -spread out before them. - -“Why, it isn’t just an orange grove!” Beatrice cried out. “Look, girls! -There are _lemons_ on that tree over yonder!” - -“Yes, and see the tangerines!” Patsy pointed out. “Those stiff, funny -bushes there have kumquats on them. And I do believe--yes, sir--that -ragged old tree there is a banana tree. This is what I call a mixed-up -old grove. I supposed oranges grew in one grove and lemons in another, -etc., etc.” - -“I guess we don’t know very much about it,” laughed Eleanor. “We’ll -have to get busy and learn what’s what and why. Let’s walk on through -this grove and see what’s in the next one. There seems to be a pretty -good path down through it.” - -Amid many admiring exclamations, the Wayfarers strolled on, seeing -new wonders with every step they took. The brown, woody litter which -covered the ground under the trees was plentifully starred with the -white of fallen blossoms. To quote Mabel, “Why, we’re actually walking -on flowers!” - -Late in the season as it was they found considerable fruit growing -within easy reach of their hands. Eager to avail themselves of the -pleasure of “actually picking oranges from the trees,” the girls -gathered a modest quantity of oranges and tangerines. - -Warned by Mr. Carroll always to be on the watch for spiders, scorpions -and wood-ticks before sitting down on the ground, Beatrice and Patsy -energetically swept a place clear with a huge fallen palmetto leaf, and -the four seated themselves on the dry, clean-swept space to enjoy their -spoils. - -All of them had yet to become adepts in the art of out-door orange -eating as it is done in Florida. In consequence, they had a very -delightful but exceedingly messy feast. Picking oranges at random also -resulted in their finding some of the fruit sour enough to set their -teeth on edge. These they promptly flung from them and went on to -others more palatable. - -“No more oranges for me this morning,” finally declared Eleanor, -pitching the half-eaten one in her hand across the grove. “I’m soaked -in juice from head to foot. Look at my skirt.” - -“I’ve had enough.” Bee sprang to her feet, drying her hands on her -handkerchief. “We ought to pick a few oranges to take to Miss Martha.” - -“Let’s get them when we come back,” proposed Patsy. “What’s the use in -lugging them around with us. I want to walk all the way through these -groves to the end of the estate. Dad says it’s not more than a mile -from the house to the west end of Las Golondrinas.” - -“All right. Lead on, my dear Miss Carroll,” agreed Bee with a low bow. -“Be sure you know where you’re going, though.” - -“I know just as much about where I’m going as you do,” merrily flung -back Patsy over her shoulder. - -Headed by their intrepid leader, the little procession once more took -the trail, wandering happily along under the scented sweetness of the -orange trees. Overhead, bright-plumaged birds flew about among the -gently stirring foliage. Huge golden and black butterflies fluttered -past them. Among the white and gold of blossom, bees hummed a deep, -steady song as they pursued their endless task of honey-gathering. - -On and on they went, passing through one grove after another until they -glimpsed ahead the high, wrought-iron fence which shut in the estate on -all four sides. Reaching it, they could look through to a small grassy -open space beyond. Behind it rose a natural grove of tall palms. Set -down fairly in the middle of the grove was a squat, weather-stained -cottage of grayish stone. - -“Oh, see that funny little house!” was Mabel’s interested exclamation. -“I wonder whom it belongs to!” - -“Let’s go over and pay it a visit,” instantly proposed Patsy. “Perhaps -someone lives there who can tell us about old Manuel Fereda and -Eulalie, his granddaughter. It doesn’t look as though darkies lived -there. Their houses are mostly tumble-down wooden shacks. Still it may -be deserted. Anyway, we might as well go over and take a look at it.” - -“How are we going to get out of here?” asked Eleanor. “I don’t see a -gate.” - -“There must be one somewhere along the west end,” declared Bee. “Let’s -start here and follow the fence. Maybe we’ll come to one.” - -“We’d better walk north through the grove then. There’s no path close -to the fence and that grass is too high and jungly looking to suit me,” -demurred Eleanor. - -Traveling northward through the grove, their eyes fixed on the fence in -the hope of spying a gate, the explorers walked some distance, but saw -no sign of one. Finally retracing their steps to their starting point, -they headed south and eventually discovered, not a gate, but a gap in -the fence where the lower part of several iron palings had been broken -away, leaving an aperture large enough for a man to crawl through. - -“This means us,” called Patsy and ran toward it. - -Energetically beating down the grass under it with the stick she -carried, she stooped and scrambled through to the other side, emitting -a little whoop of triumph as she stood erect. - -One by one her three companions followed suit until the four girls were -standing on the grassy clearing, which, a few rods farther on, merged -levelly into the grove of palms surrounding the low stone cottage. - -From the point at which they now halted they could obtain only a side -view of it among the trees. - -“Judging from the big cobweb on one of those windows, I should say no -one lives there,” commented Eleanor. - -“It _does_ look deserted. Let’s go around to the front of it. Then we -can tell more about it,” suggested Patsy. - -Crossing the grassy space, the quartette entered the shady grove. A few -steps brought them abreast of the front of the cottage. - -“The door’s wide open! I wonder----” - -Patsy broke off abruptly, her gray eyes focussing themselves upon -the open doorway. In it had suddenly appeared a woman, so tall that -her head missed but a little of touching the top of the rather low -aperture. For an instant she stood there, motionless, staring or rather -glaring at her uninvited visitors out of a pair of wild black eyes. -The Wayfarers were staring equally hard at her, fascinated by this -strange apparition. - -What they saw was a fierce, swarthy countenance, broad and deeply -lined. The woman’s massive head was crowned by a mop of snow-white hair -that stood out in a brush above her terrifying features. A beak-like -nose, a mouth that was merely a hard line set above a long, pointed -chin, gave her the exact look of the proverbial old witch. Over the -shoulders of a shapeless, grayish dress, which fell in straight -ugly folds to her feet, she wore a bright scarlet shawl. It merely -accentuated the witch-like effect. - -In sinister silence she took the one stone step to the ground and began -to move slowly forward toward the group of girls, a deep scowl drawing -her bushy white brows together until they met. - -“She’s crazy!” came from Mabel, in a terrified whisper. “Let’s run.” - -“I will _not_,” muttered Patsy. “I’m going to speak to her.” - -Stepping boldly forward to meet the advancing figure, Patsy smiled -winningly, and said: “Good-morning.” - -“What you want?” demanded a harsh voice. - -Ignoring Patsy’s polite salutation, the fearsome old woman continued -to advance, halting within four or five feet of the group of girls. - -“Oh, we were just taking a walk,” Patsy brightly assured. “We saw this -cottage and thought we’d like to see who lived here. We----” - -“Where you live?” sharply cut in the woman. - -“We are staying at Las Golondrinas. My father owns the property now. -I am Patricia Carroll and these three girls are my chums,” amiably -explained Patsy. “We are anxious to find someone who can tell us -something about the Feredas. We are looking for----” - -“You will never find!” was the shrieking interruption. “It is not for -you, white-faced thieves! _Madre de Dios!_ Old Camillo has hidden it -too well. Away with you! Go, and return no more!” - -This tempestuous invitation to begone was accompanied by a wild waving -of the woman’s long arms. The gold hoop rings in her ears shook and -swayed as she wagged a menacing head at the intruders. - -“Just a minute and we will go.” - -Undismayed by the unexpected burst of fury on the part of the -disagreeable old woman, Patsy stood her ground unflinchingly. There was -an angry sparkle in her gray eyes, however, and her voice quivered -with resentment as she continued hotly: - -“I want you distinctly to understand that we are _not_ thieves, even -though we happen to be trespassers. When we saw this cottage we thought -it might belong to some one who had lived here a long time and had been -well acquainted with Manuel Fereda and his granddaughter, Eulalie----” - -“Eulalie! Ah-h! _Ingrata!_ May she never rest! May the spirit of old -Camillo give her no peace!” - -Here the strange, fierce old creature broke into a torrent of Spanish, -her voice gathering shrillness with every word. She appeared to have -forgotten the presence of the Wayfarers and directed her tirade at the -absent Eulalie, who was evidently very much in her bad graces. - -“Come on. Let her rave. She surely is crazy. She may try to hurt us,” -murmured Eleanor in Patsy’s ear. - -“All right. Come on, girls.” - -Tucking her arm in Eleanor’s, Patsy turned abruptly away from the -ancient belligerent who was still waving her arms and sputtering -unintelligibly. - -Without a word the quartette hurried out of the palm grove, across the -grassy space and made safe port on their own territory, through the gap -in the fence. This accomplished, curiosity impelled each girl to peer -through the palings for a last glimpse at the tempestuous cottager. - -She had not been too busy anathematizing the unlucky Eulalie to be -unaware of the hasty retreat of her unwelcome visitors. She had now -stopped flapping her arms and was bending far forward, her fierce old -eyes directed to where the Wayfarers had taken prudent refuge. Noting -that they were watching her, she shook a fist savagely at them, threw -up both arms menacingly as though imploring some unseen force to visit -vengeance upon them, and bolted for the cottage. - - - - -CHAPTER VIII - -PATSY SCENTS A MYSTERY - - -“Now _who_ do you suppose _she_ is?” broke from Bee, as the old woman -disappeared. - -“Ask me something easier,” shrugged Patsy. “She’s a regular old witch, -isn’t she? Dad must know who she is. Funny he never said anything about -her to us. Suppose we trot back to the house and watch for him. He -promised, you know, at breakfast, to be back from Palm Beach in time -for luncheon so as to take us down to the boathouse this afternoon. -He had a business appointment with a man at the Beach. That’s why he -hurried away so fast this morning.” - -Suiting the action to the word, the Wayfarers started back through the -orange groves, discussing with animation the little adventure with -which they had recently met. - -“That woman was Spanish, of course,” declared Beatrice. “Could you -understand her, Mab, when she trailed off into Spanish, all of a -sudden? She said ‘ingrata.’ I caught that much. What does it mean?” - -“It means ‘the ungrateful one,’” Mabel answered. “I couldn’t understand -much of what she said. I caught the words, ‘Camillo, Manuel, Eulalie,’ -and something about a spirit torturing somebody--Eulalie, I suppose she -meant. ‘Madre de Dios’ means ‘Mother of God,’ or ‘Holy Mother.’ It’s a -very common form of expression among the Mexicans. I believe this woman -is a Mexican.” - -“We know who Eulalie is. By Manuel she must have meant the Manuel -Fereda who died just a little while ago,” said Bee reflectively. “But -who in the world is or was old Camillo? And what did he hide? What made -her call us ‘white-faced thieves’? What is it that we’ll never find? -Will somebody please answer these simple questions?” - -“Answer them yourself,” challenged Patsy gaily. “We’ll be delighted to -have you do it. You know you are fond of puzzling things out.” - -“It sounds--well----” Bee laughed, hesitated, then added: “Mysterious.” - -“Exactly,” warmly concurred Patsy. “We’ve actually stumbled upon -something mysterious the very first thing. I knew, all the time, that -we were going to find something queer about this old place.” - -“I don’t think there’s anything very mysterious about a tousle-headed -old crazy woman,” sniffed Mabel. “She certainly didn’t act like a sane -person. Maybe she had delusions or something of the sort.” - -“Perhaps _her_ name is Camillo,” suggested Bee, her mind still occupied -with trying to figure out to whom the name belonged. - -“No.” Mabel shook her head. “Camillo is a _man’s_ name, not a woman’s. -She might have meant her husband or her brother. Goodness knows whom -she meant. I tell you, she’s a lunatic and that’s all there is to it. -If we hadn’t been armed with four big sticks she might have laid hands -on us.” - -“Well, Uncle Jemmy’s snake sticks were some protection, anyhow,” -laughed Eleanor. “I’m going to keep mine and lug it around with me -wherever I go. I may----” - -A wild shriek from Mabel left the sentence unfinished. Walking a pace -or two ahead of the others, Mabel had almost stumbled upon a huge -black snake, coiled in a sunny spot between the trees. Quite as much -startled as she, the big, harmless reptile uncoiled his shining black -folds in a hurry and slid for cover. - -“Oh!” she gasped. “Did you _see_ him? He was a whopper! And I almost -stepped on him! He might have bitten me.” - -“Black snakes don’t bite, you goose,” reassured intrepid Patsy. “He was -probably more scared at the yell you gave than you were to see him. He -must be the same one Uncle Jemmy saw this morning.” - -“Maybe he’s been raised a pet,” giggled Eleanor. “We may get to know -him well enough to speak to when we fall over him coiled up on various -parts of the estate. If you ever get really well acquainted with him, -Mab, you can apologize to him for yelling in his ears.” - -“First find his ears,” jeered Mabel, who had sufficiently recovered -from the scare to retaliate. - -“Our second adventure,” commented Beatrice. “Wonder what the next will -be.” - -“Nothing more weird or exciting than luncheon, I guess,” said Patsy. -“There! We forgot to pick those oranges we were going to take to -Auntie.” - -“Let’s go back and get them,” proposed Eleanor. - -“Oh, never mind. I dare say there are plenty of oranges at the house,” -returned Patsy. “Auntie won’t mind. We’ll go down to the grove -to-morrow and pick a whole basketful for her.” - -By this time the Wayfarers were nearing the house. Rounding a corner -of the building they spied Mr. Carroll some distance down the drive. -He was sitting in his car engaged in conversation with a white man who -stood beside it. Both men were too far away from the girls for them to -be able to make out plainly the stranger’s features. They could tell -little about him save that he was tall, slim, dark and roughly dressed. - -“That must be the new man,” instantly surmised Patsy. - -Pausing, she shaded her eyes with one hand, to shut out the glaring -sunlight, and stared curiously at the stranger. - -“Can’t tell much about him,” she remarked. “There; he’s started down -the drive. Now we’ll find out from Dad who he is.” - -The stranger, having turned away, Mr. Carroll had started the car and -was coming slowly up the drive. Sighting the group of white-clad girls -he waved to them. - -“Hello, children!” he saluted, as he stopped the car within a few feet -of them. “Where have you been spending the morning? Want to ride up to -the house?” - -“No, thank you,” was the answering chorus, as the girls gathered about -the automobile. - -“We’ve been exploring, Dad,” informed Patsy. “Is that the new man? I -mean the one you were just talking to.” - -“Yes. I met him at the gate. He had been up to the house looking for -me. His name is Crespo; Carlos Crespo. He’s a Mexican. He tells me he -used to work for old Fereda. That he was practically brought up on the -estate.” - -“Then he’s the very man we want!” exclaimed Beatrice eagerly. “He’ll be -able to tell us about the Feredas.” - -“I doubt your getting much information from him,” returned Mr. Carroll. -“He seems to be a taciturn fellow. To tell you the truth, I wasn’t very -favorably impressed by him. He acted sulky, it seemed to me. I’m going -to give him a trial, because it’s so hard to get a white man for the -job. I can’t afford to let this one slip without giving him a chance. -If I find him balky, and ungracious to your aunt and you girls, I’ll -let him go. He says he knows nothing about automobiles, but a great -deal about horses.” - -“Oh, well, we don’t want him as chauffeur, anyway,” declared Patsy. -“You and I can do all the driving. He’ll be handy when we go on our -trip into the jungle. He can attend to the horses. Very likely, when he -gets used to us, he’ll be fairly amiable. He can’t be any more snippy -and disobliging than John was last summer while we were at Wilderness -Lodge. He was positively _hateful_ to us. Of course, that was all on -account of his loyalty to that horrid Rupert Grandin. If this Carlos -man proves honest and dependable, we sha’n’t mind if he sulks at first. -He’ll probably get over it as he comes to know us better. We had an -adventure this morning, Dad.” - -Patsy straightway left the subject of the new man and plunged into a -colorful account of their meeting with the strange old woman. - -“Do you know who she is, Mr. Carroll? Did you ever see her?” questioned -Mabel eagerly. - -“No.” Mr. Carroll shook his head. “She must be the woman one of my -colored boys was trying to tell me about the other day. He described -the cottage you’ve just mentioned and said a ‘voodoo’ woman lived there -who was ‘a heap sight crazy.’ He claimed he saw her out in her yard -late one night ‘making spells.’ I didn’t pay much attention to him, for -these darkies are full of superstitions and weird yarns.” - -“We’ll ask Carlos about her,” decided Patsy. “That makes two things -we’re going to quiz him about; the ‘voodoo’ lady and the Feredas. When -is he to begin working for you, Dad?” - -“He’ll be back this afternoon. I’m going to set him to work at clearing -up the stable. It’s a regular rubbish shack. I’ll give him a gang of -black boys to help him. I’m anxious to have it put in trim as soon as -possible. To-morrow I must go over to the stock farm and see about -getting some horses for our use while here. I’ll take Carlos with me -and then we’ll see how much he knows about horses.” - -“We’d better be moving along. We promised Miss Martha to be back in -plenty of time for luncheon,” reminded Mabel. - -“I’ll see you girls at the house,” Mr. Carroll said. “I’m going to -take the car to the garage. We’ll hardly need it this afternoon. The -Wayfarers are such famous hikers, they’ll scorn riding to the beach,” -he slyly added. - -“Of course we are famous hikers. Certainly we intend to walk to the -beach,” sturdily concurred Patsy. - -“Scatter then, and give me the road,” playfully ordered her father. - -Moving briskly out of the way of the big machine, the chums followed -it up the drive at a leisurely pace. - -“Well have to change our gowns before luncheon.” - -Eleanor ruefully inspected her crumpled white linen skirt, plentifully -stained with orange juice. - -The others agreeing, they quickened their pace and reaching the house -hurriedly ascended to their rooms to make the desired change. As usual -Mabel and Eleanor were rooming together. Patsy and Bee shared a large -airy room next to that occupied by the two Perry girls. Miss Martha -roomed in lonely state in a huge, high-ceilinged chamber across the -corridor from the rooms of her flock. - -“I don’t care whether or not this Carlos man acts sulky,” confided -Patsy to Bee when the two girls were by themselves in their own room. -“I’m going to beam on him like a real Cheshire cat. He’ll be so -impressed by my vast amiability that he’ll be telling me all about the -Feredas before you can say Jack Robinson. I’m awfully interested in -this queer family and I simply must satisfy my curiosity. Do you really -believe, Bee, that there _is_ a mystery about them?” - -“I don’t know whether there’s any mystery about the Feredas -themselves,” Bee said slowly. “That old woman may or may not be crazy. -I was watching her closely all the time we stood there. At first she -was just suspicious of us as being strangers. It was your saying that -we were living at Las Golondrinas and that your father owned the -property that made her so furious. She had some strong reason of her -own for being so upset at hearing that.” - -“Maybe she used to be a servant in the Fereda family and on that -account can’t bear to see strangers living here in their place,” Patsy -hazarded. - -“I thought of that, too. It would account for her tirade against -Eulalie. I believe there’s more to it than that, though, else why -should she call us thieves and go on as she did?” - -Bee reflectively repeated the question she had earlier propounded. - -“That’s precisely what we are going to find out,” Patsy said with -determination. - -“But you know what your aunt said,” Bee dubiously reminded. - -“Don’t you worry about Auntie,” smiled Patsy. “When we tell her at -luncheon about our adventure she’ll probably say we had no business -to trespass. You let me do the talking. I sha’n’t mention the word -‘mystery.’ I’ll just innocently ask her what she thinks the old witch -woman could have meant. She’ll be interested, even if she pretends that -she isn’t. Last summer, at Wilderness Lodge, she was as anxious as we -for the missing will to be found. If there is truly a mystery about -Las Golondrinas, Aunt Martha will soon be on the trail of it with the -Wayfarers. Take my word for it.” - - - - -CHAPTER IX - -THE WOOD NYMPH - - -Invited by guileful Patsy at luncheon that day to advance an opinion -regarding the “witch woman” of the morning’s adventure, Miss Martha -said precisely what her niece had prophesied she would say. She added -something, however, which Patsy had not anticipated. - -“You girls should have known better than trespass on private property,” -she rebuked. “As for that woman, I should say she was mentally -unbalanced. Don’t any of you go near that cottage again. I will not -have you risking your lives in the vicinity of a lunatic. You had best -make inquiry about her, Robert,” she continued, turning to her brother. - -“I intend to,” was the reply. “This new man, Crespo, may know her -history. Very likely she is one of those queer but harmless characters -that one happens on occasionally down here. I hardly think there is -any cause for alarm, Martha. Still, it will be just as well for the -girls to steer clear of her.” - -“I know I don’t want to go near her again,” Mabel said with a slight -shudder. “She was positively savage.” - -“One call is enough for me, thank you,” smiled Eleanor. - -Patsy and Beatrice exchanged significant glances but said nothing. -Each knew the other’s thought. Both had a valiant hankering to try -their luck at a second interview with the witch woman. Unfortunately -for them, Miss Martha’s stern mandate forbade further venturesome -investigation. - -Patsy’s carefully prepared question concerning the strange old woman -Miss Martha replied to with a touch of impatience: - -“My dear child, you can hardly expect me to be able to find meaning in -the ravings of a lunatic. I have only one thing to say on the subject. -I have said it before and I repeat it. You are all to keep away from -that cottage.” - -This emphatic repetition put a quietus to Patsy’s hopes of awakening -her aunt’s interest in what she and Bee had already decided was a real -mystery. Miss Martha’s one thought on the subject seemed to be that -the society of an insane woman should be shunned rather than courted. - -“My little scheme turned out all wrong,” Patsy admitted ruefully to -Beatrice, as the two strolled into the patio after luncheon and seated -themselves on the edge of the fountain’s time-worn stone basin. “I -wanted to go to that cottage again, too.” - -“So did I,” confessed Bee. “I was sure your aunt would say we mustn’t.” - -“I’m going to make Dad take us there some day,” planned resourceful -Patsy. “He’ll be willing to, I know. Then Auntie can’t say a word.” - -“Hey, there!” suddenly called a gay voice from the balcony. - -Both Bee and Patsy cast a quick glance upward to see Mabel leaning over -the balcony rail. - -“Are we going to the beach, or not?” she inquired. “If we are, you’d -better leave off languishing beside the fountain and hurry up. We ought -to start before sunset, you know,” she added satirically. - -“It’s only one-thirty by my little watch,” calmly informed Patsy. “It’s -a long time yet until sunset, Mabsie. Didn’t you know that?” - -“What about taking our bathing suits?” demanded Mabel, ignoring Patsy’s -playful thrust. - -“Just as you like. If you and Nellie want to go bathing, then so do we.” - -“I’d rather not,” returned Mabel. “I’d rather just poke around down on -the beach and in the boat house. I think it would be more fun to get up -early to-morrow morning and go bathing.” - -“Those are golden words, my child,” grinned Patsy. “I was of the same -mind, but too polite to say so. We can prowl around the boat house -this afternoon and find out what we need to take down there in the -way of bathing comforts. Dad says we’ll have to add the final touches -ourselves. We’ll be up in a minute, Mabsie.” - -“All right.” - -Mabel promptly disappeared from the balcony. Patsy and Bee rose. -Leaving the patio they went upstairs to their room. - -A few minutes later the Wayfarers and Mr. Carroll were swinging down -the oleander drive toward the highway. Miss Martha had declined to -join the expedition. Following the highway north for about an eighth -of a mile, they turned at last into a narrow white road hedged in by -vermilion hibiscus growing rank and wild for lack of care. The road -was shaded for some distance by double rows of palms, which had been -planted on each side. Presently it entered the stretch of jungle lying -above the beach and continued almost straight ahead through the bit of -wilderness. - -“Some of the Feredas must have liked to go bathing or they never would -have had this dandy road cut through to the beach,” was Beatrice’s -opinion, as the party came at last to the end of the tropical road and -out onto the warm white sands. - -The beach itself curved inward like a new moon to meet the jungle which -surrounded it on three sides. At the left, near the water’s edge, stood -the once dilapidated boat house. It now looked very trim in its new -coat of white paint. - -The jungle road ended almost at the middle of the new moon. Emerging -from it and walking a few steps across the sands, the Wayfarers paused, -by common consent, to gaze admiringly out on the glorious expanse of -dazzlingly blue sea that lay only the breadth of the curving beach -beyond them. - -“This is the nicest bathing beach I ever saw!” exclaimed Patsy. “The -beauty of it is that it’s our very own. We’re sole proprietors of this -bit of sand and sea.” - -“It’s the first one _I_ ever saw,” laughed Bee. “You must remember -that I never saw the Atlantic Ocean until I came down here. It seems -thrilling to be so near to it.” - -“Wait until to-morrow morning and I’ll give you a good salt-water -ducking,” promised Patsy. “Won’t that be nice and thrilling?” - -“Try it if you dare,” challenged Bee, “and see who gets the ducking.” - -“I’m sorry now that we didn’t bring our bathing suits along,” lamented -Eleanor. “I’d love to have a swim in that nice blue water. It looks -fairly shallow, too.” - -“At most of these lonely beaches along the coast, I imagine the water -must be too deep for safety. This place looks safe enough,” agreed -Mabel enthusiastically. - -“We can’t tell much about it until we try it out for ourselves,” -returned Patsy. “Sometimes shallows stop all of a sudden and you get -into very deep water before you know it. I found that out once when we -were spending the summer at Wildwood. Our cottage was quite a way up -the beach. I started to wade into the surf one morning, and all at once -I felt myself going down, down, down. I had sense enough to strike out -and swim, or I wouldn’t be here now.” - -“I don’t believe the water is very deep here.” - -Mr. Carroll now broke into the conversation. He had been silently -listening to his charges, an amused smile touching his firm lips. - -“You mustn’t venture too far out, though,” he cautioned. “Remember, -there are no guards about to keep tabs on you. Besides, the mists down -here often creep up very suddenly over the sea. If you happened to -venture too far out and were caught in one, your chance of regaining -the shore would be slim. I can’t always be depended upon to be on hand -to look out for you, so you’ll have to be good children and not run any -needless risks.” - -“We’ll be as good as gold and as careful as can be,” lightly promised -Patsy. “Now take us over to the boat house. We’d like to see how it -looks inside.” - -Conducted by Mr. Carroll to the trim little house, the Wayfarers -found it as completely renovated inside as out. Mr. Carroll had gone -to considerable pains to transform the former boat house into a -comfortable bath house. Wooden benches had been built along two sides -of it. Plenty of towel racks and hooks on which to hang clothing were -in evidence. A good-sized mirror had been hung on one of the end walls. -There was also a tall rack designed to hold wet bathing suits and -numerous other minor details had been added in the way of conveniences -for bathers. - -“Why, it’s all ready for us!” exulted Patsy. “You’ve thought of almost -everything we’d need, Dad. You’re a dear.” - -“I had it fixed up as nearly like the one we had at Wildwood as I could -recall,” returned her father. “You girls will have to add the finishing -touches. Sorry there isn’t a shower bath. I intend to put one in later -when I have time to see to the piping for it.” - -“Oh, we can get along beautifully without it,” Patsy assured. “It’s -ever so much nicer than I thought it would be. You’ve done wonders to -get it ready for us on such short notice.” - -The other three girls were quick to concur with Patsy in this opinion. - -“Here’s the key.” Mr. Carroll handed it to his daughter. “I now declare -you Chief Custodian of the Bath!” - -“I accept the high office. May I be ever faithful to my trust,” -declaimed Patsy merrily as she took the proffered key, a small brass -affair on a ring. - -“The first thing we ought to do is to sit down and make a list of the -things we will have to bring from the house,” suggested practical -Beatrice. “I brought along a little memorandum pad and a pencil.” - -Extracting them from the breast pocket of her white middy blouse, Bee -offered them to Patsy. - -“You may do the writing, Bee.” Patsy declined the proffered pad -and pencil. “I’ll tell you what we’ll have to have. Any valuable -suggestions from the illustrious Perry sisters will be respectfully -received.” - -“While this important consultation is in full swing, I believe I’ll -take a walk up the beach,” announced Mr. Carroll. “My black boys tell -me there’s an old fisherman living not far above here who owns several -boats. I’m anxious to get in touch with him and, if possible, arrange a -fishing trip for us while we’re here.” - -“Go ahead, Dad. You have my permission,” saucily replied Patsy. “After -we’ve made our list, we’ll lock up the bath house and play around on -the beach until you come back.” - -The list having been finally completed, to the Wayfarers’ mutual -satisfaction, the quartette left the bath house. Up and down the white -stretch of beach they strolled for a little, enjoying the fresh sea -breeze. Finally they seated themselves on the warm sands to talk and -watch the incoming tide, interestedly trying to calculate how long it -would be before they would have to move further back to escape its slow -but steady advance. - -“It’s coming nearer and nearer,” remarked Bee, as she fascinatedly -watched the endless succession of waves break on the sand, each a -trifle higher up the beach than the preceding one. - -“I move that we move.” - -Eleanor rose, shaking the sand from her white linen skirt. Patsy and -Beatrice also got to their feet. - -“I hate to move. I’m so comfy.” - -Stretched at full length in the sand, Mabel made no attempt to follow -her companions’ example. - -“Stay where you are then and get your feet wet,” laughed Eleanor. -“There’s a good-sized wave heading straight for you now.” - -This information caused Mabel hastily to draw up her feet. Next moment -she was standing erect beside Eleanor. - -“Dad ought to be back before long.” - -Patsy stood gazing up the beach in the direction Mr. Carroll had taken. - -“Oh, look!” - -The sudden ringing cry issued from Beatrice’s lips. Her back to the -sea, she had been dreamily staring into the green depths of the jungle. -Now she was pointing excitedly toward a tangled thicket of briar -bushes and flowering vines. - -“Where? I don’t see anything! What is it, Bee?” instantly went up from -Mabel. - -“She’s gone.” Bee’s arm dropped to her side. “We scared her away. She -ducked and ran.” - -“Who ducked and ran? What are you talking about, Bee?” - -It was Patsy who now impatiently put these questions. - -“A wood nymph,” smiled Beatrice. “I was looking at that thicket up -there and all of a sudden I saw her. She stood between two bushes -watching us. Such a pretty little thing, with big black eyes and long -black hair hanging about her face. I had just caught a glimpse of her -when I called out to you. The minute she knew I’d seen her she turned -and ran off through the green. I saw her black head bobbing in and out -among the bushes; then I lost sight of her.” - -“You certainly saw more than we did,” Patsy said ruefully. “I didn’t -see anyone. Was she--well--a white person, Bee?” - -“Oh, yes. As white as you or I, and about as tall as Mab, I think,” -replied Beatrice. “She had a beautiful little face. She was wearing a -faded brown dress or apron. I couldn’t tell which. It startled me to -see her there, all of a sudden. She looked so wild and shy and pretty. -Exactly like a wood nymph. I couldn’t help calling out.” - -“Too bad we missed seeing her,” deplored Eleanor. “Maybe we’ll run -across her some other day. She must live in this vicinity or she -wouldn’t have been roaming around in the jungle. She certainly can’t be -afraid of snakes. I wouldn’t care to go dashing recklessly through that -wilderness.” - -“That’s only because you’re not used to the idea,” declared Patsy. “By -the time we’ve been here a couple of weeks, we’ll probably go tramping -around in that bit of jungle without being in the least afraid of -snakes.” - -“Never,” was Mabel’s discouraging ultimatum. - -The appearance of Mr. Carroll some distance up the beach diverted the -minds of the quartette from the shy little apparition Beatrice had -seen. With one accord the four set off on the run to meet him. - -Nor had the Wayfarers the remotest idea that, from a concealing -thicket of living green, a few yards above the spot where they had -been standing, a pair of bright, black eyes wistfully and wonderingly -watched them as they scampered across the sands toward Mr. Carroll. - - - - -CHAPTER X - -GETTING ACQUAINTED WITH OLD OCEAN - - -“Isn’t there a road to this beach wide enough for the automobile to run -on?” Miss Martha inquired of her brother at breakfast the next morning, -in a tone of long-suffering patience. - -“None that I know of,” was the discouraging reply. “That stretch of -jungle above the beach extends for miles along the coast. The only road -to the sea in this vicinity is the one cut through the woods by old -Fereda. It’s hardly more than a path. Too bad you don’t ride, Martha. -You could make it easily on horseback.” - -“Never,” was the firm assertion. “I wouldn’t trust myself to the best -behaved horse that ever lived. I suppose I shall have to resign myself -to walking.” - -“You needn’t go with us, if you’d rather not, Auntie,” broke in Patsy. -“Dad says it’s perfectly safe for us to go alone. We’re on our own -property all the way to the beach, you know.” - -“That is not the point,” calmly disagreed Miss Carroll. “I feel it my -duty to accompany you whenever your father is unable to do so. I dare -say the sea breeze will benefit me. I merely dislike the idea of this -tramp through the brush and weeds.” - -“Oh, the road’s as smooth as can be,” hastily assured Beatrice. “It’s -only narrow, that’s all. It’s really a beautiful walk, Miss Martha. I -am sure you will like it.” - -“I doubt it,” was the pessimistic response. “Nevertheless I shall go.” - -Half an hour after breakfast a luggage-laden procession set off -beachwards. Miss Martha brought up the rear with Mabel, eye-glasses -firmly astride her nose, a book in one hand, her white parasol held -over her head at a dignified angle. Beatrice and Eleanor walked just -ahead, while Patsy buoyantly led the van, calling continually back over -her shoulder to her companions with every fresh feature of interest her -bright eyes picked up along the way. - -“I must say the walking is better than I had expected to find it,” was -Miss Carroll’s grudging opinion as the party at length emerged from -the woods onto the sands. “Walking, as an exercise, has never appealed -to me, however.” - -“If you walk down to the beach and back with us every day, Auntie, -you’ll soon become a champion walker,” Patsy said lightly. - -“I have no such ambition,” was her aunt’s dry answer. “Further, I don’t -intend to come down here every day. On occasions when Robert is busy, -and I do not feel inclined to take this walk, you will have to forego -sea-bathing.” - -“Come on over and see the bath house, Auntie.” - -Patsy slipped an arm through that of her apparently disobliging -relative. She was well aware of the fact that her aunt’s bark was worse -than her bite. - -Escorted by Patsy to the little bath house, Miss Martha critically -inspected its interior and set upon it her seal of placid approval. -For a half hour the four girls busied themselves with unpacking and -arranging the various articles they had brought with them as final -furnishing touches. This done to their mutual satisfaction, they -gleefully began preparations for their swim. In an incredibly short -time they had donned their bathing suits and were ready for their -morning dip. - -“My first appearance as a deep sea swimmer,” proudly announced Bee, -making a low bow to Patsy. - -“You look sweet, Bee. That dark red suit is awfully becoming,” praised -Eleanor. “Pull your cap down well over your head. Salt water makes -one’s hair so horrid and sticky.” - -“Come on! The water’s fine! Hurrah for old Ocean!” - -Patsy held out an inviting hand to Beatrice. Attired in a sleeveless -suit of white flannel, with pale blue trimmings, one auburn curl -escaping from under her white rubber cap, her gray eyes dancing, cheeks -pink with excitement, Patsy was the embodiment of girlish prettiness -and radiant health. - -The Wayfarers made a charming picture as they caught hands and ran -down the beach and into the water four abreast. There was a pleasant -light in Miss Martha’s blue eyes as she stood watching them and heard -the concerted shout of glee that arose as they struck the water and -Patsy immediately proceeded to administer the ducking she had promised -Beatrice. - -Being a very sturdy young person, Bee had a will of her own. In -consequence a battle royal ensued in the water, punctuated by shouts of -laughter. It ended by both combatants losing their footing and sitting -down violently in the water, to the great joy of Mabel and Eleanor, -who seized the opportunity to fall upon Patsy and Bee and duck them -thoroughly on their own account. Whereupon a good-natured, free-for-all -combat waged. - -Their first exuberance subsiding the bathers settled themselves to -enjoy their swim in the buoyant salt water. Accustomed from childhood -to sea-bathing, Patsy was an expert swimmer. Bee, who had learned to -swim in fresh water, did fairly well, however. Mabel and Eleanor were -indifferent swimmers. To quote Mabel: “We can swim and that’s about -all.” - -Having watched her flock make a noisy acquaintance with old Ocean, Miss -Martha retired to a spot on the sands shaded by the overhanging palms -where beach and jungle met. Seating herself on the clean, warm sand, -she opened the novel she had brought with her and devoted herself to -its pages. - -Oblivious for the time being to the merry voices of her charges, she -was finally startled by a piercing shriek of pain. As a result of going -bathing bare-footed, one Wayfarer, at least, had met with disaster. -Eleanor had had the misfortune to run afoul of a most ungracious crab, -which had promptly shown displeasure of the intrusion by taking hold -and pinching. - -By the time Miss Martha had dropped parasol and book to rush to the -water’s edge, Eleanor had won free of her tormentor and was limping for -land. - -“What’s the matter, Eleanor?” Miss Carroll cried out concernedly. - -“A horrid crab pinched my foot,” was the doleful response. “I thought -it would never let go. I was wading near the shore and stepped on it. -My, but my foot hurts!” - -Emerging from the shallows, Eleanor dropped down on the sand and began -tenderly nursing her injured foot. - -“You should have worn bathing slippers and stockings,” was the doubtful -consolation. “They not only look well but are also a protection.” - -“But this is a private beach and it’s ever so much more fun not to wear -them, Miss Martha. I’m not really hurt much. My foot feels all right -now,” Eleanor hastily assured. “It hardly pains me at all.” - -“Oh, I sha’n’t insist on your wearing them,” Miss Martha smiled grimly -at Eleanor’s miraculous recovery. “I merely expressed my opinion.” - -By this time, Mabel, who had been some distance away from her sister -when the latter cried out, now appeared beside her. - -“What happened to you, Nellie?” she asked. “I heard you yell and came -as fast as I could.” - -“Oh, a hateful old crab pinched my foot. It wasn’t anything. I was -silly to make a fuss about it. I frightened Miss Martha and I’ve -spoiled Bee’s and Patsy’s sport. They’d started to race as far as that -upper curve of the beach. Now they’re coming back.” - -“It’s just as well.” Miss Martha consulted her wrist watch. “You girls -have been in the water over an hour. That is long enough for your first -day’s bathing.” - -Patsy and Bee presently arriving on the scene with solicitous -inquiries, they were promptly informed of Eleanor’s mishap by the -sufferer herself. - -“Poor ’ittle Nellie! Did a nasty, naughty old crab nip her -tootsey-ootsey?” deplored Patsy. “Show Patsy that wicked crabby an’ -her’ll kill him wight down dead.” - -“Oh, stop, you goose,” giggled Eleanor. “You make me feel as though I -were about three years old.” - -“That’s the way she appreciates my sympathy,” grinned Patsy. “Never -mind, Nellie. I forgive you, even if you did interrupt the grand race. -Bee was gaining on me, anyway. She might possibly have beaten me. Want -to try it over again, Bee?” - -“Not to-day, Patsy,” objected her aunt. “You’ve been in the water long -enough. By the time you girls are ready to go back to the house it will -be nearly noon. I ordered luncheon at one o’clock, as usual. It will be -one before we reach the house.” - -“All right, Auntie. We’ll postpone the great race until to-morrow.” - -As she spoke, Patsy began energetically to wring the salt water from -the skirt of her bathing suit, preparatory to retiring into the bath -house. - -Her companions following Patsy’s example, Miss Carroll strolled back -to the spot where she had left book and parasol. The white parasol -lay precisely where she had cast it aside in her hurried dash to -Eleanor’s rescue. The book----Miss Martha stared down at the sand in -sheer amazement. The red, cloth-bound volume she had been reading had -disappeared as utterly as though the earth had suddenly opened and -swallowed it. - - - - -CHAPTER XI - -A TIMID CALLER - - -“My book! Where is it?” - -Miss Martha continued to stare severely at the spot where her book had -so lately lain. - -“I saw you sitting there reading it,” affirmed Eleanor positively. “I -remember looking up toward you just before that cranky old crab nipped -my foot.” - -“Certainly I was reading it. I laid it down beside my parasol. It never -walked away by itself. Someone stole it. This is very unpleasant. I -don’t like it at all. It simply goes to show that I was right in not -allowing you girls to come down here alone. Some unknown person has -evidently been hidden back there in those woods watching us.” - -Miss Martha shook a dramatic finger toward the jungle. - -“Oh!” Bee gave a quick, startled gasp. “I wonder----” - -“What is it, Beatrice? Tell me instantly,” commanded Miss Carroll. - -“Why--nothing--only----” Bee hesitated. “Yesterday when we were down -here,” she continued, “I saw a--a young girl standing back in a thicket -watching us. She might be the one----” - -“She might indeed,” grimly concurred Miss Martha. “I haven’t the least -doubt but that she appropriated it. I have been told that the negroes -down here are a thieving lot. Strange she didn’t take my parasol.” - -“But this girl I saw was as white as Patsy or I,” protested Bee. “She -was so pretty. I don’t believe----” - -“I would far rather lay the loss of my book to her than to some -prowling tramp,” retorted Miss Martha. - -“A person who would take an ordinary cloth-bound book and not an -expensive white silk parasol can’t be a very desperate character,” -surmised Patsy gaily. “I guess there’s really nothing to worry about. -Perhaps this wood nymph of Bee’s is fond of reading.” - -“I am not inclined to pass over the incident so lightly,” disagreed -her aunt. “I shall insist on Robert’s finding out who this girl is and -all about her.” - -Some further discussion of the affair ensued during which Miss Carroll -again repeated her stern injunction: “You must never come down here -to bathe unless either my brother or I are with you. It strikes me -that this community is entirely too full of thieves and lunatics for -comfort.” - -“I’m pretty sure that it was our wood nymph who made off with Aunt -Martha’s book,” confided Patsy to Bee as they finally started for the -bath house. “I have a scheme of my own that I’m going to carry out. If -it works--well, just watch me to-morrow and see. I’m not going to tell -you about it now, so don’t ask me.” - -“All right, keep it to yourself. I’d rather not hear it, anyway,” -amiably responded Bee. “It will be more fun just to watch your -mysterious movements and----” - -“Bee,” interrupted Patsy, “things _are_ really a little mysterious, -aren’t they? First we run across that queer, terrible old woman who -talks in riddles about Eulalie and Camillo and our being thieves, etc. -Then you see a wood nymph, and next day Auntie’s book vanishes into -thin air. We simply must find someone who can tell us something about -who’s who at Las Golondrinas. The minute I get back to the house I’m -going to hunt up Dad’s new man, Carlos, and quiz him. He must certainly -know a little about things around here.” - -It being after one o’clock when the party returned to the house, -luncheon immediately claimed Patsy’s attention. Inquiry of her father -as to where she might find Carlos resulted in the disappointing -information that he had ridden out to the stock farm early that morning -and would not return until late in the evening. - -Mr. Carroll appeared somewhat concerned over his sister’s account -of the sudden disappearance of her book. Informed of the young girl -Beatrice had spied watching the Wayfarers from the bushes on the -previous day, a light of sudden recollection leaped into his eyes. - -“Was the girl you saw a black-eyed, elfish-looking youngster with long -black hair hanging about her face?” he asked Beatrice. - -“Yes,” nodded Beatrice. “You must have seen her, too,” she added with -quick interest. - -“Where did you see her, Dad?” demanded Patsy excitedly. - -“Uncle Jemmy and I surprised her the other day in the orange grove -nearest to the lower end of the estate. She was sitting under a -palmetto tree, singing to herself. She had a wreath of white flowers on -her head and looked for all the world like a mischievous wood sprite.” -Mr. Carroll smiled reminiscently. “The moment she caught sight of us -she jumped up from the ground and was off like the wind through the -grove. I haven’t the least idea where she went. I asked old Jemmy about -her, but he’d never seen her before. He’s not familiar with this part -of the country, you know.” - -“As I remarked this morning to the girls, there seem to be altogether -too many queer persons in this vicinity for comfort,” Miss Martha -commented in a displeased tone. “Have you made inquiry yet, Robert, of -your new man regarding that demented old woman?” - -“No; I forgot all about her,” Mr. Carroll admitted rather sheepishly. -“I’ll make it a point to do so to-morrow.” - -“You might inquire about this girl at the same time,” pursued his -sister. “It is very necessary that we should know exactly who these -persons are and what we may expect from them.” - -“This little girl may be the daughter of one of the fishermen. There -are a few families of fisher-folk living in shacks farther up the -beach. I noticed half a dozen bare-footed youngsters playing on the -sands when I called on old Nathan, the fisherman, yesterday.” - -“It is unfortunate that this property of yours happens to be so -isolated,” deplored Miss Carroll. “Our only neighbors are, apparently, -fisher-folk, one lunatic and a few negroes.” - -“Never mind, Auntie. The Wayfarers are sufficient unto themselves,” -consoled Patsy. “We can get along beautifully without neighbors.” - -“If you feel uneasy about staying here, Martha, then I’ll make -arrangements for you and the girls at one of the Beach hotels,” offered -Mr. Carroll solicitously. - -“I’m not in the least uneasy,” calmly assured Miss Martha. “I rather -enjoy the novelty of this old place. Certainly I would not care to -leave it now, since you have gone to so much trouble to get it ready -for us. I merely wish to be sure that we shall not be annoyed by -irresponsible or dangerous characters. The very fact that we have no -near neighbors of our own class makes it necessary for us to protect -ourselves against unpleasant intruders.” - -The Wayfarers had awaited Miss Carroll’s reply to her brother’s -offer with bated breath. When it came, each girlish face expressed -unmistakable relief. The charm of Las Golondrinas had taken hold of -them. Patsy, in particular, felt that to be torn away from it now and -returned to the artificiality of hotel life would be a cross indeed. -She was anxious to discover if the old house really held a mystery. - -“I hardly believe you will be,” responded Mr. Carroll. “A few days and -I shall have my affairs arranged so as to be with you on most of your -jaunts. Then we shall be able to find out a good deal more about Las -Golondrinas and its environments than I’ve had time, thus far, to look -into.” - -“I hope so, I’m sure,” Miss Martha replied in a tone which implied -anything but hope. - -“How would you like to drive to Palm Beach this afternoon, stop at the -Cocoanut Grove for tea and later take dinner at one of the hotels?” -proposed Mr. Carroll, with diplomatic intent to change the subject. - -This proposal met with instant enthusiastic response from the girls. -Even Miss Carroll graciously admitted that it would be pleasant. - -Luncheon over, the Wayfarers promptly scurried upstairs to decide -the momentous questions of gowns. To go to Palm Beach merely for an -afternoon and evening’s outing was an entirely different matter from -going there for the remainder of their vacation. Tea in the Cocoanut -Grove promised to be interesting. - -When, at three o’clock that afternoon, the automobile sped down the -oleander drive laden with its freight of daintily gowned girls, Miss -Martha’s equanimity had quite returned. Seated in the tonneau between -Mabel and Eleanor, she looked very stately and imposing in a smart -frock of heavy wistaria silk, a plumed hat to match setting off to -perfection her thick snowy hair and patrician features. - -Bee was wearing her best gown, a becoming affair of pale pink taffeta -which had been fashioned by her mother’s clever fingers. Mabel had -chosen a dainty little dress of pale green jersey silk, embroidered -with white daisies. Eleanor wore a fluffy blue chiffon creation, while -Patsy was radiantly pretty in white net over white taffeta. - -That the Wayfarers presented a charming appearance in their -delicately-hued finery at least one spectator to their departure could -testify. As the car swept through the gateway and onto the white public -road, from behind a flower-laden bush situated just inside the gates, -a black-haired, bare-footed girl emerged and peered wistfully through -the iron palings after the fast vanishing automobile. - -When it had entirely disappeared from view, the elfish little watcher -turned and threw herself face downward in the tangled grass and began -a low disconsolate wailing, her thin shoulders shaking with convulsive -sobs. There she continued to lie, beating the long grass with two small -brown clenched hands. - -Her emotion having finally spent itself she slowly dragged herself to -her feet, tossed her long heavy black hair out of her eyes, and sped -like a fawn across the lawn. Coming at last to a clump of low growing -bushes, she dived in under them and reappeared, holding something in -her hand. Then she was off again, this time toward the house. Slipping -through the oleander hedge with the ease of a wood sprite, she made -final port at the entrance to the patio. - -The doors stood open. Like a shadow she flitted through the doorway and -into the patio beyond. On a rustic seat near the fountain, she laid the -object which she carried in one thin brown hand. Then she turned and -ran in the direction from which she had come like a timid, hunted young -animal. - - - - -CHAPTER XII - -INTERVIEWING CARLOS - - -Strolling into the patio with Eleanor next morning, Miss Martha Carroll -was treated to a surprise. Passing one of the rustic seats set at -intervals about the patio, her eyes chanced to come to rest on an -astonishingly familiar object. It was nothing more nor less than a fat, -red-covered volume lying on the seat before which she had paused in -sheer amazement. - -“Why--where----” she stammered, adjusting her eye-glasses and staring -hard at the gilt-lettered title, “The Interrupted Quest,” which -conspicuously adorned the book’s front cover. - -“This is really amazing!” she exclaimed, addressing Eleanor, who had -halted beside her. - -“What is it, Miss Martha?” - -Eleanor looked wonderingly curious. She had not the remotest idea of -the cause of Miss Martha’s agitation. - -“_This_ is the book that disappeared from the beach yesterday morning,” -emphasized Miss Carroll. “_How_, I should like to know, does it happen -to be here?” - -“Why!” Eleanor’s blue eyes grew round with surprise. “That’s queer, -isn’t it?” - -“Too queer by far,” was the displeased answer. - -“Oh, look!” - -Eleanor had picked up the book from the seat. As she raised it, a slip -of paper fluttered to the stone floor of the patio. Stooping, she -gathered it in. Written on it in pencil was the single word: “Gracias.” - -“It’s meant for ‘gracious,’ I guess,” puzzled Eleanor, “only it isn’t -spelled correctly. I really believe it must have been that queer girl -Bee saw who took the book. She’s honest, at least. She returned it. But -why in the world did she write ‘gracious’ on that slip of paper? Here -come the girls. May I tell them, Miss Martha?” - -“Of course.” - -Miss Carroll had seated herself on the bench, a decided frown between -her brows. She did not in the least relish this latest performance on -the part of the elflike stranger. The unexpected return of the book -indicated that the odd little prowler was evidently, as Eleanor said, -honest. Yet the fact remained that she _was_ a prowler, which annoyed -Miss Martha considerably. - -“The lost is found!” Eleanor called triumphantly across the patio to -the approaching trio of girls. “What do you think of this?” - -She held up the book for them to see. - -“Why, it _is_ Auntie’s lost book, isn’t it? Where did it come from, -Nellie?” - -Patsy’s face registered a mystified surprise which was also reflected -on the features of her companions. - -“We found it lying on that seat,” explained Eleanor. “This slip of -paper was tucked into it.” - -Patsy took the bit of paper which Eleanor proffered. Mabel and Bee -eagerly peered at it over her shoulder as she held it up and inspected -the one word written on it. Her brows contracted in a puzzled frown. - -“Humph!” she ejaculated. “I don’t see---” - -“I do,” interrupted Mabel with a little laugh. “That word ‘gracias’ is -Spanish for ‘thank you.’” - -“Then my wood nymph is _Spanish_!” Bee cried out. “It was she who took -the book. The whole thing is as plain as daylight. She only borrowed -it over night to _read_. Miss Martha’s pretty white parasol didn’t -interest her at all. It was the book that took her eye. And why? -Because she wanted to read it, of course.” - -“Go ahead, Sherlock,” teased Patsy. “What next?” - -“Well----” Bee laughed and looked slightly confused. “We know, too, -that she is honest, or----” - -“That’s just what I said,” interposed Eleanor. - -“Really, Beatrice, I can hardly imagine a wild-looking girl such as you -have described as having literary tastes,” broke in Miss Martha drily. -“It is far more reasonable to assume that the bright color of my book -caught her eye. She may have thought it a picture book. Finding out -that it was not, some strange impulse of her own caused her to return -it. Her methods seem to me decidedly primitive. Why doesn’t she come -out and show herself openly, instead of dodging about under cover like -a young savage?” - -“She is probably just awfully shy,” staunchly defended Patsy. “She -can’t really be quite a savage. She wrote ‘thank you’ on that bit of -paper. That proves two things. She knows how to write and is not too -ignorant to be polite.” - -“I don’t consider prowling about in the bushes and spying upon -strangers marked indications of politeness,” was Miss Carroll’s -satirical return. “I can’t say I relish the prospect of having this -young imp bob up at us unexpectedly at every turn we make.” - -The Wayfarers giggled in unison at this remark. Miss Martha did not -resent their mirth. She even smiled a little herself, a fact which -Patsy shrewdly noted. It informed her that her aunt was not seriously -prejudiced against the will-o’-the-wisp little stranger. Like -everything else at Las Golondrinas, this new feature of mystery made -strong appeal to Patsy. She was inwardly resolved eventually to hunt -down the elusive, black-eyed sprite and make her acquaintance. - -With this idea in mind she now made energetic announcement: - -“I’m going to interview Carlos this minute and learn a few things -about the natives. Anybody who wants to come along has my gracious -permission. If nobody wants to, then I’m going just the same. He’s down -at the stable this morning. Dad said so.” - -“I’ll go,” accepted Bee. “I have almost as much curiosity as you.” - -“I don’t feel like going out in the hot sun,” Eleanor said. “It’s so -nice and cool here in the patio. I have no curiosity.” - -“You mean energy,” corrected Bee. - -“I have neither,” beamed Eleanor, “so just run along without me. You -can tell me all about what Carlos said when you come back. I’ll be -right here waiting for you.” - -“You may wait a long while,” jeered Mabel. “I’m not so lazy as you. I’m -going with the girls and practice my Spanish on Carlos.” - -“I hope he’ll survive it,” retaliated Eleanor. - -“You should worry. _Adios._” - -Mabel waved a derisive farewell to her sister as she turned to follow -Patsy and Bee, who had already started for the main exit to the patio, -which opened onto the driveway. - -Arm in arm, the trio followed the drive, coming at last to the stable, -a rambling stone structure situated at some distance below the house. - -“There’s Carlos now! He looks like a cowboy, doesn’t he?” - -Patsy had spied her father’s new man standing in front of the stable -engaged in lighting a cigarette. Attired in an open-necked flannel -shirt, brown corduroy trousers and a weather-stained sombrero, the -Mexican presented a rather picturesque appearance, or so the Wayfarers -thought. - -Immediately he caught sight of the three girls, the man’s dark features -grew lowering. He made a move as though to enter the stable door, then -stood still, regarding his advancing visitors with sullen indifference. - -“You speak to him, Mab,” urged Patsy in an undertone. “Say something to -him in Spanish.” - -“Oh, I can’t,” demurred Mabel. “What shall I say?” - -“Say ‘good-day’ in Spanish,” prompted Patsy. “Go ahead.” - -Raising her voice, Mabel called out politely: “_Buenos dias, señor._” - -The man made no effort to doff his sombrero in response to this hail. -Neither did he leave off smoking his cigarette. - -“I spik English,” he announced in a sulky tone that suggested affront -rather than appreciation of being thus addressed in his native tongue. - -“So much the better for us then.” - -Patsy now became spokesman. There was a gleam of lively resentment in -her gray eyes, born of the man’s ungracious behavior. - -For an instant the two regarded each other steadily. Something in the -girl’s resolute, unflinching gaze caused the man’s small black eyes to -waver. He glimpsed in that direct glance the same determined will he -had already discovered the “Señor Carroll” possessed. - -As if unwillingly impelled to break the silence he mumbled sulkily: -“What do you desire?” - -“To ask you a few questions,” tersely returned Patsy. “My father tells -me that you used to work for Mr. Fereda, the old Spanish gentleman who -once owned this estate. So you must know something of the Feredas, and -also of the few persons who live in this vicinity.” - -Patsy’s former intent to be affable had completely vanished. Decidedly -miffed by the man’s too evident surliness, she spoke almost imperiously. - -“Las Golondrinas covers much ground. I know a little; not much,” was -the evasive answer. - -“I am sure you must know something of the queer old woman who lives -in a little cottage outside the estate, and just beyond the orange -groves,” Patsy coolly challenged. “Who is she and how long has she -lived there?” - -“Ah, yes, I know.” - -Carlos blew a cloud of cigarette smoke into the air and indifferently -watched it drift away. - -“She is Rosita,” he shrugged. “Always she has lived there. As children -she and old Manuel played together. Her father was the servant of his -father, Enrico Fereda. Rosita is the widow for many years.” - -Three pairs of alert ears avidly picked up the name “Enrico.” Here it -seemed was still another member of the Fereda family. - -“Is she crazy?” - -It was Mabel who now tactlessly interposed with this blunt question. - -It had an electrical effect upon Carlos. His attitude of bored -indifference left him. His lax shoulders straightened with an angry -jerk. His black eyes narrowed in sinister fashion. - -“You spik of my grandmother, _señorita_!” he rebuked, drawing himself -up with an air of offended dignity. - -“I beg your pardon,” Mabel said hastily, her color rising. - -In spite of her embarrassment she was seized with an irresistible -desire to laugh. Realizing that laughter was imminent, she turned to -Patsy with: “I’m going back to the house. I’ll see you later,” and -ingloriously retired from the scene, leaving Patsy and Bee to conduct -the remainder of the interview. - -“Why the _señorita_ so spik of my grandmother? You have seen her?” - -Carlos threw away his cigarette and appeared for the first time to -take an interest in things. Bee thought she detected a faint note -of concern in his voice. She had been watching him closely and had -already decided that he knew a great deal more about Las Golondrinas -and its environments than he pretended to know. - -“We saw your grandmother’s cottage the other day from the orange -groves. We walked over to it. Your grandmother came out of the cottage -and asked us who we were. When we told her and tried to ask her some -questions about the Fereda family, she screamed and raved at us and -ordered us to go away and not come back. She behaved and talked very -much like a crazy person.” - -It was Bee who purposely made this somewhat full explanation. She had a -curious conviction that her recital of old Rosita’s wild outburst was a -piece of news to Carlos, and that it did not please him. - -“Rosita is not _loco_,” Carlos shook his head in sullen contradiction. -“What you want know ’bout the family de Fereda? Why you want know?” - -As Patsy’s original intention had been to quiz Carlos about the -Feredas, she now hailed the opportunity. The identity of Rosita having -been established and her sanity vouched for by her grandson, at least, -Patsy was eager to go on to the Feredas themselves. Carlos appeared, -too, to be thawing out a trifle. She had, at least, aroused his -curiosity. - -“We would like to know the history of the Feredas because we think it -would be interesting. We know by the portraits in the picture gallery -that they were a very old family,” she began eagerly. “Do you know -anything about those portraits? Have you ever been in the gallery?” - -“I have been; remember nothing,” was the discouraging response. “Of the -history this family know nothing.” - -Carlos’ face had resumed its mask of indifference. Only his black eyes -held a curiously alert expression which watchful Bee did not fail to -note. - -Patsy looked her disappointment. She had hoped to extract from Carlos -some information not only about the Feredas but also concerning the -portrait which so greatly interested her. Failing, she next bethought -herself of the mysterious wood nymph. - -“The other day my father saw a pretty young girl with black eyes and -long black hair in our orange groves,” she began afresh. “My friend, -Miss Forbes,” Patsy indicated Bee, “also saw her in the woods near our -bathing beach. Can you tell me who she is? She certainly must live not -far from here.” - -A swift flash of anger flitted across the Mexican’s face. It was gone -almost instantly. - -“I have not seen,” he denied. “Now I go. I have the work to do.” - -Wheeling abruptly he started off across the grass, almost on the run, -and was soon lost to view among the trees. - - - - -CHAPTER XIII - -TWO LETTERS - - -“Did you ever try to talk to a more aggravating person?” Patsy cried -out vexedly to Bee. “Does he know anything, or doesn’t he?” - -“He knows a good deal, but he won’t tell it,” returned Bee shrewdly. -“For one thing he knows who our wood nymph is. He looked awfully black -when you mentioned her. I wonder why?” - -“She may be a relative,” surmised Patsy. “She’s Spanish or Mexican, I’m -sure.” - -“I hadn’t thought of that. You’re a better deducer than I,” laughed Bee. - -“Thank you, thank you!” Patsy bowed exaggerated gratitude. - -“If this Rosita is really Carlos’ grandmother, as he says she is, -she certainly never told him about our going to the cottage that -day,” declared Beatrice. “He pretended to be indifferent, but he was -surprised. I read it in his eyes. Now why didn’t she tell him?” - -“I give it up. I give the whole thing up. Every time we try to find out -anything about these Feredas we bump up against a lot of questions that -we can’t answer,” sighed Patsy. “We might better forget the whole thing -and just enjoy ourselves.” - -“Let’s go back to the house,” proposed Beatrice, “and tell that -faithless Mab what we think of her for beating it off in such a hurry.” - -“She knew she was going to laugh. I could hardly keep my face straight. -Carlos straightened up and looked so injured. I don’t see, though, why -he should call his grandmother Rosita. I never called _my_ grandmother, -Priscilla, I’m sure, even in my ignorant infancy,” giggled Patsy. - -“It would have sounded rather disrespectful,” agreed Bee, echoing the -giggle. “I can’t say much for Carlos’ manners. He never raised his hat -to us at all, but stood there and blew smoke right in our faces.” - -“Dad would be awfully cross if he knew that. I’m not going to tell -him. He’s had so much trouble hiring a man for this place. He’d go to -Carlos and reprimand him and Carlos would leave and----Oh, what’s the -use? We won’t bother with Carlos again, anyway. He’d never tell us -anything. I’m going to write a letter to-day to Eulalie Fereda and have -Mr. Haynes, the agent, forward it. I simply must learn the history of -that dark, wicked-looking cavalier in the picture gallery. Of course -she may not answer it, but then, she may. It’s worth trying, anyway.” - -Entering the patio and finding it deserted, Bee and Patsy passed -through it and on up stairs in search of Mabel. They finally found her -in the big, somber sitting room, engaged in her favorite occupation of -hunting for the secret drawer which she stoutly insisted the quaint -walnut desk contained. This idea having become firmly fixed in her -mind she derived signal amusement in searching for the mythical secret -drawer. - -“Is she crazy?” jeered Patsy, pointing to Mabel, who was kneeling -before the massive piece of furniture, her exploring fingers carefully -going over every inch of the elaborately carved solid front of the desk. - -“Oh, so you’ve come back!” Mabel sprang to her feet, laughing. “I had -to run away,” she apologized. “I felt so silly. I didn’t want to laugh -in his very face. How was I to know that the witch woman was Carlos’ -grandmother? Did you find out anything?” - -“No.” Bee shook her head. “Carlos will never set the world on fire -as an information bureau. According to his own statements, he sees -nothing, knows nothing and remembers nothing. He is a positive clam!” - -“I’m going to write to Eulalie _now_, while it’s on my mind,” announced -Patsy. “Bee, you may play around with Mab while I’m writing. You may -both hunt for the secret drawer. When I finish my letter, I’ll read -it to you. Then I’m going to write another. When that’s done we are -all going down to the beach. A great scheme is seething in my fertile -brain. Where’s Nellie?” - -“In our room, overhauling her trunk,” informed Mabel. “We can’t go to -the beach without Miss Martha, and she said she wouldn’t go to-day.” - -“Leave that to me,” retorted Patsy. “I know what I’m doing, even if you -don’t.” - -For the next half-hour, comparative quiet reigned in the big room, -broken only by an occasional remark or giggle from Bee and Mabel as -they pursued their fruitless search. - -“There!” cried Patsy at last as she signed her name to the letter she -had just finished writing. - -“Listen to this: - - “‘DEAR MISS FEREDA: - - “‘I have heard of you from Mr. Haynes, the agent, from whom my - father, Robert Carroll, purchased Las Golondrinas. My aunt, my - father, three of my friends and myself are at present spending - a few weeks’ vacation at Las Golondrinas. We are greatly - interested in the portrait gallery and should appreciate it - if you would tell us something of the large portrait of the - Spanish cavalier which hangs in the center of the gallery. - He is a most romantic-looking person and must surely have an - interesting history. We are very curious about him. - - “‘We have wondered that you did not reserve the collection of - family portraits before selling the estate. If you would like - to have them they are at your disposal. My father and I both - feel that you have first right to them. - - “‘Las Golondrinas is an ideal place in which to spend a - vacation. We are quite in love with this quaint old house and - its furnishings. Would you object to telling us when the house - was built and how many generations of Feredas have lived in it? - Judging from the many antiques it contained and its general - plan, it must be very old indeed. - - “‘We are sorry not to have met you personally and hope some - day to have that pleasure. I understand that you are a young - girl of about my own age. No doubt we should find that we had - many interests in common. It would be a pleasure to have you - visit me while we are here and meet my father, my aunt and my - friends. Could you not arrange to pay us a visit? - - “‘I shall hope to hear from you and that we may become better - acquainted in the near future. - - “‘Yours sincerely, - - “‘PATRICIA CARROLL.’ - -“How is that for a nice, polite letter to Eulalie?” Patsy inquired. -“Any criticisms? If so, out with them now. If not, into an envelope it -goes and on its way to the last of the Feredas, wherever she may happen -to be. I’m not really counting much on an answer. I haven’t the least -idea in the world what sort of girl this Eulalie is. Anyway it will do -no harm to write her. If she should answer and we became acquainted and -she paid us a visit, it would be splendid.” - -“I think it’s a nice letter,” praised Mabel. “Go ahead and send it, -Patsy.” - -“I am sure she’ll like it,” approved Bee. “It’s thoughtful in your -father to offer her the collection of portraits.” - -“It seems funny to me that she didn’t reserve them. Maybe she didn’t -want them. She might have grown tired of seeing them every day -for so many years,” speculated Mabel. “They aren’t a particularly -cheerful-looking lot of ladies and gentlemen. They all look so cold and -stern and tragic.” - -“Auntie says they gave her the horrors,” chuckled Patsy. “When I told -her that Dad said I could write to Eulalie and ask her if she wanted -the collection, Auntie said: ‘A very sensible idea. She is welcome to -them. If she doesn’t want them I shall have the gallery cleared out -before we come down here next season.” - -“If Eulalie doesn’t want them, what will become of them?” Bee asked -thoughtfully. “Would your father sell them? Suppose you were to find -that some of them had been painted by famous artists? Then they’d be -very valuable.” - -“I don’t know what Dad would do in that case. He spoke of having an art -collector come down here and look them over, you know. Of course, if -Eulalie sends for them, that’s the end of it. If she doesn’t, Auntie -will have them taken down. I know one thing. She hates the sight of -them. Now I must write another letter. I hope I sha’n’t be disturbed -while I’m writing it.” - -Patsy beamed on her chums with owlish significance. - -“Isn’t she snippy?” sniffed Mabel. “Come on, Bee, we’ve got to find -that secret drawer. I hope we sha’n’t be disturbed while we’re hunting -for it.” - -Patsy merely grinned amiably at this thrust and settled herself to the -writing of her letter. A little smile curved her red lips as the pen -fled over the paper. - -For ten minutes she continued to write, then called out: - -“Come here, children, and sign this letter.” - -“Never put your signature to a paper until you know what it’s all -about,” Bee warned Mabel. - -“Oh, you needn’t be so cautious. I was going to let you see what I -wrote. Here!” - -Patsy handed the letter to Bee. - -Heads together, Mabel and Bee proceeded to read that which made them -smile. - - “DEAR WOOD NYMPH,” the letter said. “Why won’t you come and - play with us, instead of hiding away in the thickets? We are - just four young girls like yourself, so you need not be afraid - of us. We found the red book in the patio, so we know that you - must have paid us a call yesterday while we were away from Las - Golondrinas. - - “Why don’t you come and see us when we are at home? We’d love - to have you. The next time you see us at the bathing-beach - please come out of the woods and show us that you are not a - tricksy sprite but a real live girl like ourselves. - - “We are placing this note in a book which we are sure you will - like to read. We are going to leave the book on the sands just - where you found the red book. After you have read it, won’t you - bring it straight to us and get acquainted? - - “Your friends, - - “THE WAYFARERS.” - -Below “The Wayfarers” Patsy had signed her own name, allowing -sufficient space on the page for the names of her friends. - -“That’s sweet in you, Patsy,” lauded Mabel. “Give me your pen. I’ll -sign my name in a hurry.” - -Mabel promptly affixed her name to the letter, Beatrice following suit. - -“We must get Nellie to sign it, too. You and Bee take it to her, Mab,” -Patsy requested. “I’m going to ask Auntie if we can’t walk down to -the beach, for once, without an escort. It’s not as if we were going -bathing. We’ll just leave the book and come straight back. We won’t be -in any danger.” - -“Where’s the book?” inquired Bee. - -“In my room. I’m going to put the letter in that book we read on the -train when we were coming down here. You remember. It was ‘The Oriole.’ -It’s such a pretty story and not too grown-up for our wood nymph. I’ll -meet you girls in the patio.” - -While Bee and Mabel went to inform Eleanor of the proposed expedition -and obtain her signature to the letter, Patsy took upon herself the -delicate task of interviewing her aunt. - -She found Miss Martha on one of the balconies which overlooked the -patio, a bit of embroidery in her hands, a book open on one knee. Miss -Carroll had triumphantly mastered the difficult art of reading and -embroidering at the same time. - -Having come to the belief that it was really the girls’ wood nymph -who had taken and subsequently returned her book, Miss Martha was now -inclined to lay less stress on the incident. Her theory of tramps -having been shaken, she demurred a little, then gave a somewhat -reluctant consent to Patsy’s plea. - -“You may go this once, but be sure you keep together and don’t loiter -down there at the beach. I can’t say I specially approve of your trying -to make friends with this young heathen. Once you come to know her you -may find her very troublesome. However, you may be able to help her in -some way. Your motive is good. That’s really the only reason I can give -for allowing you to carry out your plan. Be sure you come back in time -for luncheon.” - -“You’re as good as gold, Auntie, dear.” Patsy tumultuously embraced -Miss Martha. - -“Really, Patsy, you fairly pull one to pieces,” grumbled Miss Carroll, -grabbing ineffectually for embroidery and book as she emerged from that -bear-like embrace. - -“You like it, though.” Patsy deftly garnered book and embroidery from -the balcony floor and restored them to Miss Carroll’s lap. Dropping a -kiss on her aunt’s snowy hair she light-heartedly left the balcony to -go to her own room for the book which was to play an important part in -her kindly little plan. - -Hastily securing the book, Patsy set her broad-brimmed Panama on her -auburn head at a rakish angle and dashed from the room in her usual -whirlwind fashion, banging the door behind her. - -A few steps and she had entered the picture gallery through which she -intended to pass on her way to the stairs. As she entered it a faint -sound assailed her ears. She could not place in her own mind the nature -of the sound, yet it startled her, simply because it had proceeded from -the very center of the gallery. - -An unbidden impulse caused her to direct her eyes toward the portrait -cavalier. She caught her breath sharply. A curious chill crept up -and down her spine. Was she dreaming, or had the man in the picture -actually moved? With a little gasp of terror Patsy fled for the stairs -and clattered down them, feeling as though the sinister cavalier was -directly at her heels. - - - - -CHAPTER XIV - -A REAL ADVENTURE - - -“What on earth is the matter?” - -Seated on a bench beside Mabel and Eleanor, Bee sprang up in alarm as -Patsy fairly tore into the patio and dropped limply upon another seat. - -“Oh, girls, the picture!” she exclaimed. “That cavalier! He _moved_! -I’m sure he did! It gave me the creeps! I was hustling through the -gallery and I heard a faint, queer noise. I can’t describe it. It -seemed to come right from the middle of the gallery. I looked toward -that picture and it moved, or else the cavalier moved. I don’t know -which.” - -“You just thought you saw something move,” soothed Bee, sitting down -beside her chum and patting her hand. “It was probably the way the -light happened to strike on the picture that made it seem so. As for a -queer sound! Every sound echoes and re-echoes in these old corridors. -We heard you bang your door clear down here. You must have heard an -echo of that bang in the gallery.” - -“I’m a goose, I guess.” Patsy sheepishly ducked her head. “I never -thought of the light falling like that on the picture. That’s what I -saw, I suppose.” - -“What has happened, Patsy?” called a dignified but anxious voice from -the balcony. Miss Martha stood leaning over the rail looking down -concernedly at her niece. - -“Nothing, Auntie, dear. I heard a queer noise in the gallery and it -startled me. Bee says it was only the echo from the bang I gave my -door. I’m all right,” Patsy sturdily insisted, rising from the seat and -blowing a gay little kiss to her aunt. - -“I _heard_ you bang your door,” was the significant response. “When you -come back from your walk you must take one of those capsules that Dr. -Hilliard prescribed for my nerves.” - -“All right,” Patsy dutifully agreed. “Good-bye, Auntie. We’re going -now.” - -“Good-bye. Remember to be back by one o’clock.” - -The three other girls calling a blithe good-bye to Miss Carroll, -the quartette left the patio with an alacrity that betokened their -eagerness for the proposed walk. - -“I didn’t care to tell her about thinking I saw the picture move,” -confessed Patsy. “As it is I’m in for swallowing one of those fat nerve -capsules that Auntie always keeps on hand. I need it about as much as -a bird needs a hat. We’ll have to walk fairly fast to get to the beach -and back by luncheon time, girls. We’ll lay the book on the sand, then -watch from the bath house windows to see what happens.” - -“I hope our wood nymph comes along and finds it to-day,” commented -Mabel. “Still she might not go near the beach for several days. After -all, there’s only a chance that she’ll see it and pick it up.” - -“I have an idea she goes to the beach every day,” said Beatrice. “She -may be as curious about us as we are about her. She may be so shy, -though, that she won’t come near us, even if she does read our note.” - -Thus discussing the object of their little scheme, the Wayfarers forged -ahead at a swinging pace. Soon they had left the highway and were on -the narrow, white, palm-lined road to the beach, talking busily as they -went. Once in the jungle four pairs of eyes kept up an alert watch on -both sides of the road in the hope of spying the elusive wood nymph. - -[Illustration: She caught her breath sharply, … had the man in the -picture actually moved?] - -They came at last to the beach, however, without having seen any signs -of their quarry. After they had gone through the little ceremony of -placing the book on the spot on the sands from which the other book had -disappeared, they went over to the bath house and, entering, eagerly -watched from one of its windows. - -After lingering there for half an hour, during which period the fateful -book remained exactly where it had been laid, they gave up the vigil -for that day and reluctantly started on the homeward hike. - -“Of course we couldn’t really expect anything would happen just because -we wanted it to,” declared Eleanor. - -“Of course not,” her chums concurred. In her heart, however, each girl -had been secretly hoping that something _would_ happen. - -The following morning saw the Wayfarers again on the sands. This time, -however, they had come down to the beach for a swim, Miss Martha -dutifully accompanying them. - -Almost the first object which met their gaze when they reached the -sands was the book. It still lay exactly where Patsy had deposited it, -the white edge of the letter showing above the book’s blue binding. - -“She hasn’t been here!” Patsy cried out disappointedly. “I guess our -plan isn’t going to amount to much after all.” - -“Oh, don’t be discouraged,” smiled Eleanor. “Give her time.” - -“Let’s forget all about it,” suggested Bee. “Nothing ever happens when -one’s awfully anxious for it to happen. It generally happens after one -has stopped thinking about it and gone on to something else. It’s a -glorious morning for a swim. Let’s hurry into our bathing suits and -take advantage of it.” - -This wise view of the matter appealing to the disappointed authors of -the little plot, the four girls betook themselves to the bath house to -get ready for their morning dip in the ocean. - -Having now become mildly interested in Patsy’s scheme to catch a wood -nymph, Miss Martha took pains to further it by establishing herself on -the sands at a point on the far side of the bath house. From there she -could neither see the spot where the book lay, nor could anyone who -might chance to approach it see her. This maneuver was not lost on her -charges, who agreed with Patsy’s gleeful assertion that Auntie was -just as anxious for “something to happen” as they were. - -Soon engrossed in the fun of splashing and swimming about in the -sun-warmed salt water, the Wayfarers forgot everything that did not -pertain to the enjoyment of the moment. - -True, on first entering the surf Patsy cast an occasional glance -beachward. Bee’s merry challenge, “I’ll race you again to-day as far as -the bend and back,” was the last touch needed to drive all thought of -the mysterious wood nymph from Patsy’s mind. - -Sturdy Bee proved herself no mean antagonist. When Patsy finally -arrived at the starting point only a yard ahead of her chum, she was -ready to throw herself down on the sands and rest after her strenuous -swim. Bee, however, showed no sign of fatigue. - -“You beat me, but only by a yard. To-morrow I’ll beat you.” Bee stood -over Patsy, flushed and laughing. - -“I don’t doubt it.” Patsy glanced admiringly up at her chum. “You’re a -stronger swimmer than I, Bee. With a little more practice you’ll be a -wonder. Here I am resting. You look ready to start out all over again.” - -“I’m not a bit tired,” Bee said with a little air of pride. “I’ll -prove it by swimming out there where Mabel and Nellie are.” - -Stretched full length in the sand, Patsy lazily sat up and watched her -chum as Bee waded out in the surf, reached swimming depth and struck -out for a point not far ahead where Mabel and Eleanor were placidly -swimming about. - -Indolently content to remain inactive, Patsy continued to watch her -three friends for a little, then lay down again, one arm thrown across -her eyes to shut out the sun. - -While she lay there, enjoying the luxury of thinking about nothing in -particular, tardy recollection of the blue book suddenly crossed her -brain. It impelled her to sit up again with a jerk and cast a quick -glance toward the object of her thoughts. - -Next instant a bare-footed figure in a white bathing suit flashed -across the sands toward the jungle on a wild run. In that one glance -Patsy had seen more than the blue book. She had seen a slim young girl, -her small, beautiful face framed in masses of midnight black hair, flit -suddenly out of the jungle, eagerly snatch up the book and dart off -with it. - -First sight of the strange girl and Patsy’s original intention to await -developments flew to the winds. Obeying a mad impulse to pursue the -vanishing wood nymph, Patsy plunged into the jungle after her, crying -out loudly: “Wait a minute! I want to talk to you.” - -At sound of the clear, high voice the black-haired girl ahead halted -briefly. Through the open screen of green, Patsy could see her quite -plainly. She was looking over her shoulder at her pursuer as though -undetermined whether to stand her ground or continue her flight. - -“Don’t be afraid,” Patsy called out encouragingly. “Please don’t run -away.” - -As she spoke she started quickly forward. Her eyes fixed on the girl, -her runaway feet plunged themselves into a mass of tangled green vines. -With a sharp, “Oh!” she pitched headlong into a thicket of low-growing -bushes. - -As she scrambled to her feet she became aware of a loud, metallic -buzzing in her ears. Then she felt herself being jerked out of the -thicket by a pair of strong arms and hauled to a bit of dear space -beyond. - -“Stay where you are, _señorita_,” commanded a warning, imperative -voice. “Move not, I entreat you!” - -Bewildered by the suddenness with which things had happened, Patsy -stood perfectly still, her eyes following the movements of a lithe -figure, darting this way and that, as though in search of something. - -Still in a daze she heard the voice that had addressed her utter a -low murmur of satisfaction, as its owner stooped and picked up a dead -branch from under a huge live oak. Two little brown hands played like -lightning over the thick branch, ripping off the clinging dead twigs. -Next the denuded branch was thwacked vigorously against the parent oak. - -“It is strong enough,” announced a calm voice. “Now we shall see.” - -Fascinated, Patsy watched breathlessly. She now understood the -situation. Her headlong crash into the thicket had stirred up a drowsy -rattler. The prompt action of her little wood nymph had saved her from -being bitten by the snake. Now the girl intended to hunt it down and -kill it. She looked so small and slender. It seemed too dangerous a -task for her to undertake. - -“Oh, please let it alone! It might bite you!” Patsy found herself -faltering out. “A rattle-snake’s bite is deadly.” - -“I have killed many. I am not afraid. Always one must kill the snake. -It is the sign of the enemy. One kills; so one conquers. _Comprende?_” - -The girl shook back her black hair, her red lips parting in a smile -that lighted her somber face into sunshine. Patsy thought it quite the -prettiest thing she had ever seen. - -Very cautiously the intrepid little hunter began to circle the thicket, -poking her impromptu weapon into it with every step she took. - -“Ah!” - -She uttered a shout of triumph as the sinister, buzzing sound Patsy had -so lately heard began again. - -Having located her quarry, the girl proceeded to dispatch it with the -fearlessness of those long used to the wilds. Her weapon firmly grasped -in determined hands she rained a fury of strong, steady blows upon the -rattler. Finally they ceased. Giving his snakeship a final contemptuous -prod with the branch, she called across the thicket to Patsy: - -“Come. You wish to see. He is a very large one. Of a length of eight -feet, _quisas_. Wait; I will lay him straight on the earth.” - -Approaching, Patsy shuddered as her rescuer obligingly poked the dead -reptile from the spot where it had made its last stand. She shuddered -again as a small brown hand grasped the still twitching tail and -straightened the snake out. - -“It is the diamond back,” the girl calmly informed. “See.” She pointed -with the branch, which she still held, to the diamond-shaped markings -on the snake’s back. “He carried the death in his sting. So we shall -bury the head, for the sting of a dead snake such as this is safer -covered.” - -“It’s horrible!” shivered Patsy. “It was coiled up in the thicket. I -must have disturbed it when I fell. I don’t see how I escaped being -bitten.” - -“He was resting at the edge of the thicket, _señorita_,” corrected the -girl. “Always such as he keep near the edge so that it becomes for them -thus easy to strike the small creatures they hunt. So you missed him -and he sang the song of death. I heard that song and came. He had eaten -not long ago, I believe, and was lazy. So he did not try to go away. -Now he is dead. So if the enemy comes to me, I must conquer. This is a -true saying.” - - - - -CHAPTER XV - -DOLORES - - -A sudden silence fell upon the two girls as the picturesque little -stranger made this solemn announcement. Now that the excitement was -over the wood nymph began to show signs of returning shyness. - -Fearing that she might turn and run away, Patsy stretched forth a slim -white hand and said winningly: - -“I can’t begin to tell you how grateful I am for what you did. You were -very brave, I think. I’m ever so glad to know you. Can’t we be friends?” - -The girl hesitated, a wistful look in her large dark eyes. Very slowly -she put her small brown hand into Patsy’s extended one. - -“I will give you the hand because already I like you,” she said. “I -cannot be your friend because I am too poor. Always I must wear the -old ugly dress. Always I must go with the feet bare.” - -“That has nothing to do with our being friends,” was Patsy’s gentle -assurance. “I’m bare-footed, too.” She laughed and thrust forward one -pink, bare foot. “Just look at my bathing suit. It was wet when I -started after you. Falling down didn’t improve it.” - -“Ah, but your feet are bare because you wish it,” reminded the girl -sadly. “Never I wish the bare feet, but always it must be. I have seen -you the other day in the automobile. You and your friends I saw. _Mi -madre_ you were most wonderful! You were _linda_; _hermosa_!” - -The girl clasped her brown hands in a fervent gesture as she relapsed -into Spanish by way of emphasizing her ardent admiration. - -“I was behind the hedge and saw you go,” she continued apologetically. -“With me was the red book, I would to bring it back. Was it wrong to -take it for one day? I desired it much.” - -“You were very welcome to it,” smiled Patsy. “We found it in the patio -with your thank you. Did you read it?” - -“_Si_; but not all. It was long, with such hard words. _No comprendia_ -all. It told of the _amor_. That is the love, you know. Yet _amor_ -is the more sweet word. It is the Spanish. You must know that I am -Spanish, but I speak the English quite well, though for a long time I -have spoken it little.” - -“I should say you did speak it well!” emphasized Patsy. - -As it happened, Patsy was already decidedly amazed at this fact. Though -the girl’s phraseology was a trifle clumsy at times, in the main her -English was grammatical. To Patsy she was a bewildering combination of -childish frankness, sturdy independence, shy humility and quaint charm. -Above all, there hung over her that curious air of mystery which wholly -fascinated Patsy. - -“You have said you desire to be to me the friend. So I shall tell you -why I speak the English,” pursued the wood nymph in a sudden burst of -confidence. “First, we must bury the head of this,” she pointed to the -dead snake, “then I will show you the place under the tree where we may -sit for a little.” - -“I’d love to,” eagerly responded Patsy. - -Completely wrapped up in the adventure, impetuous Patsy had entirely -forgotten the passing of time. The effect her disappearance would have -on her friends had not yet occurred to her. Her mind was centered on -her new acquaintance, who was now busily engaged in digging a hole in -the soft earth with a sharp stone she had picked up. - -“It is done,” she announced, when the crushed, ugly head of the reptile -was hidden from view and the earth pounded down over it. “Come now. I -will show you. Follow me and fear not. We shall not see another such -snake, I believe.” - -Following her lively companion for a few yards of comparatively easy -going, the two came to a wide-spreading palmetto under which was a -space clear of vines and bushes. Only the short green grass grew -luxuriantly there. - -“This place I love. I have myself made it free of the vines and weeds. -Here I love to lie and look up through the trees at the sky. Sit you -down and we will talk.” - -Only too willing to “talk,” Patsy obeyed with alacrity. The wood nymph -seated herself beside Patsy, endeavoring to cover her bare feet and -limbs with her faded brown cotton skirt. Slim hands clasped about her -knees, she stared solemnly at the white-clad girl beside her. - -“I am Dolores,” she began. “That means the sadness. I have lived here -long, but before that I lived with my father in Miami. My mother I -never knew. I was the little baby when she died. So I went to a school -and learned English. Now I have seventeen years, but in Miami, when I -was of an age of twelve years, my father, who did the work every day of -the _carpintero_, became very sick. So he died, but before he died he -wrote the letter to his friend who came for me and brought me here. So -never more I went to school but had always the hard work to do.” - -“You poor little thing!” exclaimed Patsy, her ready sympathies touched -by the wistfulness of the girl’s tones as she related her sad little -story. “Where do you live now, and why do you have to work so hard?” - -“These things I cannot tell you. It is forbidden.” The girl mournfully -shook her head. “So it is true also that I cannot be your friend. -But if you will come here sometimes, I will see you,” she added, her -lovely, somber features brightening. - -“Of course I will, and bring my friends with me. They are dandy girls, -ever so much nicer than I. My name is Patricia Carroll, but everyone -calls me ‘Patsy.’ Why can’t you come to Las Golondrinas to see us?” - -“It is forbidden. _Never_ I can go there again. I am sorry.” - -The brightness faded from the stranger’s beautiful face, leaving it -more melancholy than before. - -Patsy looked briefly baffled, then tried again with: - -“Come down to the beach with me now and meet them and my aunt.” Sudden -remembrance of Miss Martha caused her to exclaim: “Good gracious! I -wonder what time it is! None of my friends knows where I went. They’ll -be terribly worried.” - -Patsy sprang to her feet in dismay. She wondered if she had really been -away from the beach so very long. She was of the rueful conviction that -she had. - -“I would go, but I am afraid. If she saw me she would be angry and shut -me up for many days. So she has said.” - -This was even more amazing to Patsy. She longed to ask this strange -girl all sorts of questions. Courtesy forbade her to do so. She also -had a vague idea that it would be of no use. Fear of the person she had -referred to as “she” had evidently tied the wood nymph’s tongue. - -“I’d love to have you come with me,” Patsy said warmly. “But I wouldn’t -want you to do anything that might bring trouble upon yourself. Is it -right that you should obey this--this person?” - -“No; never it is right!” The answer came in bitter, resentful tones. -“Often I think to run away from here, never to return. Only I have the -no place to go. I am truly the poor one. Dolores!” She made a little -despairing gesture. “_Si_, it is the true name for me.” - -“Then if you feel that it is not right to obey a person who is treating -you unjustly, don’t do it,” was Patsy’s bold counsel. “I wish you would -tell me your trouble. Perhaps I could help you. Won’t you trust me and -tell me about it?” - -“I am afraid,” was the mournful repetition. “Not afraid of you. Oh, -never that! Already I have for you the _amor_. You are _simpatica_. I -would to go to the sands with you now and meet your friends. I cannot. -I will show you the way to the road. So you can walk more quickly to -the sands. I will try to come to this place to-morrow at this time and -wait for you.” - -“May I bring the girls with me?” petitioned Patsy. “My chum, Beatrice, -saw you in the thicket the first time we came to the beach. She is -longing to know you.” - -“Beatrice; it is the pretty name. She is perhaps that one with the true -face and the brown curls. I saw her look at me that day. She is not so -pretty as you; yet she is pretty. So, also, are those other two girls -who look alike and still not alike.” - -“They are sisters; Mabel and Eleanor,” informed Patsy. “At home, away -up North, they live next door to me. When I come here to-morrow I will -tell you more about myself. I must go now. You haven’t said yet whether -I might bring my chums with me to-morrow.” - -“I wish it,” was the brief consent. “Now I will show you the way.” - -It was not as far as Patsy had thought to the sandy road. Guided by -Dolores, who knew her ground thoroughly, Patsy found jungle travel -easy, even in her bare feet. The two girls finally came out on the road -about an eighth of a mile above the beach. - -“Thank you ever so much for showing me the way.” - -Patsy paused in the middle of the road, her hand extended. Impulsively -she leaned forward and lightly kissed Dolores. - -The vivid color in the girl’s cheeks deepened at the unexpected caress. -A mist sprang to her glorious dark eyes. She caught Patsy’s hand in -both her own. Bending, she touched her lips to it. “Oh, you are most -_simpatica_!” she murmured, then turned and darted away, leaving Patsy -standing in the middle of the white, sandy road, looking tenderly after -the lithe, fleeing form until a tangle of green hid it entirely from -her view. - - - - -CHAPTER XVI - -NOTHING OR SOMETHING? - - -Meanwhile, down on the sands, three anxious-eyed girls were holding -counsel with an equally disturbed matron. - -“When did you see Patsy last?” Miss Martha was inquiring in lively -alarm. - -“She was lying in the sand when I started to swim out to Mab and -Nellie,” replied Bee. “When I got to them, Mab began splashing water on -me and we had a busy time for a few minutes just teasing each other. -Then I looked toward the beach. I was going to call out to Patsy to -come on in, but she wasn’t there. I supposed, of course, she’d gone up -to the bath house to take off her bathing suit and dress again. She had -said she was tired.” - -“How long ago was that?” Miss Martha asked huskily. - -“An hour, I’m afraid; perhaps longer,” faltered Bee. “We’ve looked all -along the beach and called to her. We looked in the bath house first -before we told you, Miss Martha. We hated to frighten you. We kept -expecting she’d come back. We thought maybe she was hiding from us just -for fun and would pounce out on us all of a sudden.” - -“You should have told me at once, Beatrice.” - -Worry over her niece’s strange disappearance lent undue sternness to -Miss Carroll’s voice. - -“I--I--am--sorry.” - -Bee was now on the verge of tears. - -“So am I,” was the grim concurrence. “At all events, Patsy must be -found and immediately. I shall not wait for you girls to change your -bathing suits. I shall walk back to the house at once. You are to go -into the bath house and stay there until my brother comes for you. He -will bring men with him who will search the woods behind the beach.” - -“Won’t you let me try again along the edge of jungle, Miss Martha,” -pleaded Bee. “I won’t go far into it. I’ll just skirt it and keep -calling out----” - -“Who-oo!” suddenly supplemented a clear, high voice. - -It had an electrical effect upon the dismayed group. Out from the -jungle and onto the beach darted a small, bare-footed, white-clad -figure and straight into the midst of a most relieved company. - -“Patricia Carroll, _where_ have you been?” demanded Miss Martha -sternly. “No; don’t try to smooth things over by hugging me. I am -_very_ angry with you for disobeying me.” - -Nevertheless, Miss Martha made only a feeble attempt to disengage -herself from Patsy’s coaxing arms. - -“Now, Auntie, don’t be cross. A Patsy in hand is worth two in the -jungle,” saucily paraphrased the unabashed culprit. “I’ve been as safe -as safe could be. I’ve really had a wonderful time. I was so interested -I forgot that very likely you might miss me and be a little worried.” - -“_A little worried!_” - -Miss Martha raised two plump hands in a despairing gesture. - -“Why, yes. I----” - -“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” was the severe question. “Long -enough to set us all nearly distracted wondering what had become of -you. Really, Patsy, I think you’ve behaved very inconsiderately.” - -“I’m sorry, dearest Auntie; truly I am. I didn’t mean to be gone so -long. I saw her and before I knew it I was following her as fast as I -could run. She came out of the jungle after the book.” - -“Saw her? Do you mean our----” Mabel began excitedly. - -“Wood nymph,” Patsy finished triumphantly. “I surely do. I not only -_saw_ her. I talked with her.” - -“I might have known it,” came disapprovingly from Miss Carroll. “I -should have set my foot down firmly in the first place about this girl. -I thought you too sensible by far to race off into a snake-infested -jungle, bare-footed, at that, after this young savage. I see I was -mistaken.” - -“She’s not a savage, Aunt Martha.” Patsy rallied to defense of her new -friend. “She’s a perfect darling. She’s Spanish, but she speaks really -good English in such a quaint, pretty way. She likes me and I like her, -and we’re friends. We’ve shaken hands on that.” - -“What is her name, Patsy, and where does she live?” eagerly asked -Eleanor. - -“Her name is Dolores. I don’t know where she lives,” confessed Patsy. -“I asked her but she wouldn’t tell me. She said it was forbidden. I -asked her to come to Las Golondrinas to see us, but she said that was -forbidden, too. She read your book, Auntie. I told you she wasn’t -ignorant.” - -“What did she say about the ‘Oriole’?” interposed Bee, before -Miss Carroll could frame an adequate reply to Patsy’s astounding -announcement. - -“I----Why, the idea! I forgot to ask her,” stammered Patsy. “I saw her -pick up the book and run away with it. I started after her. Then I fell -almost on that horrible snake and----” - -“Snake!” went up in shocked unison from four throats. - -“Why, yes.” Patsy colored, then grinned boyishly. “I was going to tell -you about it in a minute. I caught my foot in some vines and pitched -into the bushes. I stirred up a rattler. It began to sing and Dolores -ran to me and dragged me away from the place before it had time to bite -me. Then she killed it. It was as thick as my wrist and eight feet -long. She said it was a diamond----” - -“I must say you have very peculiar ideas of safety,” interrupted her -aunt. - -Despite the dry satire of her tones, Miss Martha was feeling rather -sick over Patsy’s near disaster. In consequence, she was inclined -toward tardy appreciation of the “young savage.” - -“This girl,” she continued in a dignified but decidedly mollified -voice. “I feel that we ought to do something for her. You say she -insists that it is forbidden her to come to Las Golondrinas. Did she -explain why?” - -“No. I wanted awfully to ask her, but I felt sure that she wouldn’t -tell me a thing. There’s a mystery connected with her. I know there is.” - -“Nonsense!” Miss Martha showed instant annoyance at this theory. “I -dare say her parents have merely forbidden her to trespass upon the -property of strangers. I have been told that these persons known down -South as ‘poor whites’ still feel very resentful toward Northerners on -account of the Civil War. The old folks have handed down this hatred to -the younger generations. This girl’s parents have no doubt learned that -we are from the North.” - -“But such people as these poor whites are Americans with American -ancestors. Dolores is Spanish. Besides, her father and mother are dead. -She said so.” - -Patsy went on to repeat the meager account Dolores had given of -herself, ending with the girl’s allusion to the mysterious “she” of -whom she appeared to stand in such lively dread. - -“Very unsatisfactory,” commented her aunt when Patsy had finished her -narration. “Understand, Patsy, I am grateful to this girl for the -service she did you. As for the girl herself----” - -Miss Martha’s pause was eloquent of doubt. - -“She’s perfectly sweet,” insisted Patsy with some warmth. - -“Nevertheless, you know nothing of her beyond what she has chosen -to tell you,” firmly maintained Miss Carroll. “I don’t approve of -her dodging about in the woods like a wild young animal. For all you -know this ‘she’ may have been put to a great deal of uneasiness by -the girl’s will-o’-the-wisp behavior. She may be so headstrong and -disobedient as to require the adoption of strong measures.” - -“She’s not that sort of girl,” Patsy again defended. “She’s gentle and -dear and lovable. When she smiles her face lights up just beautifully. -Mostly, though, she’s terribly sober. Her voice is so soft and sweet. -Only it makes one feel like crying.” - -“Hmm!” The ejaculation was slightly skeptical. “She seems to have -completely turned your head, Patricia. I suppose you will give me no -peace until I have seen her for myself. I am a fairly good judge of -character, however. It will not take me long to decide whether she is a -proper person for you to cultivate.” - -“Then come with me into the woods to-morrow,” eagerly challenged Patsy. -“I promised to meet her there, at a certain place, and bring the girls. -I’m not the least bit afraid you won’t like Dolores. I know that you -will.” - -“What! flounder through that jungle and risk snake bite? No, indeed! -Furthermore, I forbid you girls to do so.” - -“Then we can’t see her!” Patsy cried out disappointedly. “I told you -she said she was afraid to meet us on the beach. Listen, dearest and -bestest Auntie. As we go back over the road to the house, I’ll show -you the place where Dolores wants us to meet her. It’s only a little -way off the road and easy to reach. There isn’t the least bit of -danger from snakes. There’s a kind of natural aisle between the trees -that leads to it. Dolores brought me back over it, so I know what I’m -talking about.” - -“You may point it out to me as we go back to the house,” was the -nearest approach to consent which Miss Carroll would give. “Now all of -you must hurry to the bath house and make up for lost time. It will be -at least two o’clock before we reach home. I will wait for you here. -Don’t stop to talk, but hurry.” - -Once in the bath house, however, the Wayfarers’ tongues wagged -incessantly as they speedily prepared for the homeward hike. - -Very naturally the conversation centered on Dolores, of whom Patsy -continued to hold forth in glowing terms. - -“Wait until Aunt Martha sees her,” she confidently predicted. “She -can’t help liking our wood nymph. She was a tiny bit peeved when I -said that I knew there was a mystery about Dolores. There is, too. I’m -sure of it. She’s not headstrong or disobedient, but she _is_ terribly -unhappy. The person she lives with, that horrible ‘she,’ I suppose, -must be awfully hateful to her.” - -“Do you think we could find out for ourselves where she lives?” Bee -asked earnestly. “Then we might be able to help her. She may need -help very badly. Your father said that she might be the daughter of a -fisherman.” - -“We’ll try to find out.” Patsy spoke with quick decision. “Day after -to-morrow we’ll make Dad take us to where those fisher folks live. -Maybe we’ll find her there. Don’t say a word about it when you meet her -to-morrow. We’ll just keep it dark and do a little sleuthing of our -own.” - -Her companions agreeing with Patsy that this would be an excellent -plan, the quartette rapidly finished dressing, locked the door of the -bath house behind them and joined Miss Carroll on the beach. - -“There’s the place where we are to meet Dolores, Auntie,” informed -Patsy when the party reached the point on the road where she had left -her new friend. “It’s right beyond those oaks. You can see for yourself -that the walking is good.” - -“It isn’t quite so bad as I had expected,” Miss Martha grudgingly -admitted. “Since you are so determined to introduce this girl to me, I -may as well resign myself to taking this walk with you to-morrow.” - -This being as good as a promise, wily Patsy accepted it as such and -said no more on the subject. Added discussion of it might result in a -change of mind on her aunt’s part. - -Reaching the house, however, a most unpleasant surprise lay in wait -for the party. To see Mammy Luce standing in the entrance to the patio -was not an unusual sight. To see her stationed there, however, her -bulky form swathed in an ancient linen duster, a shapeless black hat, -decorated with a depressed-looking ostrich plume jammed down upon her -gray wool, was another matter. More, in one hand was a section of a -turkey red tablecloth, tied together at the four corners and bulging -with her personal belongings. In the other hand she held a green -cotton umbrella which she raised in a kind of fantastic salute as the -Wayfarers approached the entrance. - -“I’se gwine away fum here, I is,” she rumbled. “I ain’t gwine stay in -no house where sperrits come sneakin’ aroun’. I done seen one this -mawnin’.” - -“What does this mean, Mammy Luce?” Miss Martha took majestic command of -the situation. “You have no right to leave me like this without giving -notice. Now tell me exactly what the trouble is.” - -“I done tell yoh a’ready, Missis. I done seen a sperrit. I wuz bakin’ -a cake, I wuz, in de kitchen. I done looks up from de oben an’ I seen -a long, tall, ole white sperrit a-sneakin’ for de back stairs. I near -fell daid, I did. When I come to, I wuz shakin’ like a leaf. So I jes’ -put mah traps togedder quick an’ now I’se gwine. I’se been awaitin’ to -tell yoh an ax yoh fer mah wages.” - -“There are no such things as ‘spirits,’ Mammy Luce,” Miss Carroll -informed the frightened servant. “You only thought you saw one.” - -Alarmed at the prospect of losing an excellent cook, Miss Martha -proceeded to do her utmost to convince the old woman that her visitant, -provided she really had seen an apparition, was not supernatural. - -“I seen it. I ain’t blind. I seen it,” Mammy Luce doggedly reiterated. -“Yoh cain’t tell this niggah it wuzn’t no sperrit, ’cause it wuz.” - -“Much more likely it was one of the maids who dressed up in a sheet -on purpose to frighten you,” was Miss Martha’s practical view of the -matter. “Where are Celia and Emily?” - -“Em’ly she am upstaihs somewhar. She don’t know nuffin’ ’bout it, an’ -this am Celia’s day off. Dey am good girls an’ don’t go for to skair -ole Mammy Luce. ’Sides, this yeah sperrit wuz ’bout seben foot high. It -wuzn’t no _pusson_. It ain’t no use talkin’, Mis’ Carroll, ’cause I’se -gwine ter git out fore dat sperrit gits after this niggah. It ain’t no -fun to be daid an’ I ain’t gwine to be it.” - -Further argument on the part of not only Miss Martha but the girls as -well proved futile. Mammy Luce had but one thought. That thought was -to put distance between herself and Las Golondrinas. The substantial -increase of wages Miss Carroll felt impelled to offer her did not -interest the superstitious old woman. - -“I jes’ want what’s acomin’ to muh an’ git out,” she declared with -finality. “I’se gwine ober yander ’bout three mile toh see mah brudder. -He’ll hitch up his ole yaller mule an’ tote ole Luce toh the station.” - -“Go upstairs, Patsy, to my room and bring me my handbag. It is in the -tray of my trunk. Here is the key.” - -From the white crocheted bag swinging from one arm, Miss Carroll took a -small brass key which she handed to Patsy. - -As she passed through the patio and thence on upstairs, recollection of -the curious impression she had received that morning in walking through -the portrait gallery came back to Patsy. - -She had been absolutely sure at the moment that the pictured cavalier -had moved. Mammy Luce, it seemed, was equally sure that she had seen a -“sperrit.” The question that now obtruded itself in Patsy’s mind was, -had she and Mammy Luce seen _nothing_, or had both of them really seen -_something_? - - - - -CHAPTER XVII - -PUZZLING OVER THE PUZZLE - - -Now minus a cook, it remained to the Wayfarers to prepare their own -luncheon. Not stopping to bewail their cookless state, the four girls, -under the direction of Miss Martha, attacked the task with the utmost -good humor. - -Miss Carroll, however, was not so optimistically inclined. Mammy Luce’s -sudden departure had deprived her of a skilled cook, whom she could not -easily replace. She was thankful that the panic had not extended to the -maids. Providentially, Celia was absent for the day. According to Mammy -Luce, Emily was still in ignorance of the “sperrit’s” visitation. She -had eaten her noonday meal and gone back to her upstairs work before -Mammy Luce had seen the dread apparition. - -In the midst of preparations for the belated luncheon, she appeared -in the kitchen, broom and duster in hand, her black eyes round with -curiosity at the unusual sight which met them. - -In as casual a tone as she could muster, Miss Carroll informed the girl -that Mammy Luce had left Las Golondrinas. This news appeared not to -surprise Emily so much as had the sight of the “young ladies an’ the -Missis aworkin’ in de kitchen.” - -“Huh!” was her scornful ejaculation. “I guess ole Luce done got skairt -’bout dat ere ghos’. Carlos wuz tellin’ her ’bout it t’other day. That -Spanish fellah in the queer duds up thar in the pitcher gallery done -walk aroun’ this house. He go fer to say he’s seen it. He am a liar. -They ain’t no sech things ’s ghos’es, I says, but Luce, she says they -is. She wuz ’fraid she’d see it.” - -“Certainly there are no such things as ghosts, Emily,” Miss Martha made -haste to agree. “I am glad to find you so sensible on the subject. -Since you have mentioned it, I might as well say that it was this ghost -idea which caused Mammy Luce to leave us.” - -Miss Martha diplomatically avoided making a direct explanation of -the affair. Once Emily learned Mammy Luce had insisted that she had -actually _seen_ a ghost, she might not remain firm in her conviction -that there were “no sech things.” - -“I hope Celia has no such foolish ideas about ghosts as Mammy Luce,” -Miss Carroll continued inquiringly. - -“Celie, she’s ’bout half an’ half. She says as thar might be or -mightn’t. Only she says she ain’t gwine to git skairt ’less she sees -one. Celie’n me, we don’t take no stock in that good-fer-nuffin’ -Carlos. He am a sorehead, he am. Ef it’s ’greeable, Mis’ Carroll, I -reckon I ain’t sech a bad cook. Leastways, I don’ mind tryin’. Ef yoh -likes mah cookin’ mebbe I can git mah sister t’ come an’ do mah work.” - -This was joyful news indeed. Needless to mention, Miss Carroll was not -slow to take good-natured Emily at her word. - -“I shall be very glad to have you try, Emily,” she said. “If you can -get along with the cooking it will save us the trouble of sending -to Miami for another cook. Where does your sister live? Perhaps she -wouldn’t care to come here for so short a time.” - -“She lives home with mah mudder, Mis’ Carroll. Jes’ a little ways from -Miami. She am only fifteen, but she am right smaht. I done gwine t’ -write her t’night,” assured Emily, showing her white teeth in a wide -grin. - -“Do so, Emily. To have your sister come here will simplify matters -wonderfully.” - -Miss Martha looked her relief at this unexpected solution of the -domestic problem. - -With the deft assistance of Emily, the luncheon which the Wayfarers had -busied themselves in preparing was soon on the dining-room table. It -consisted of bread and butter, bacon, an omelet, and a salad, composed -of tomatoes, green sweet peppers and lettuce, with French dressing. The -fateful cake which Mammy Luce was removing from the oven when she saw -the “sperrit” now figured as dessert along with oranges which Patsy had -painstakingly sliced and sugared. - -Previous to Emily’s disappearance, the preparation of luncheon had been -accompanied by much talk and laughter on the part of the Wayfarers. -Presently seated at table, they had considerably less to say. Emily’s -revelation concerning Carlos had set them all to wondering and -speculating. - -“It strikes me that this Carlos has very little good sense,” Miss -Martha criticized the moment Emily had left the dining-room. “He should -have known better than tell such a tale to old Mammy Luce. I shall -speak to your father about him, Patsy.” - -“When we asked him about the portrait gallery he said he didn’t know a -thing,” Patsy replied with a puzzled frown. “Do you suppose he really -told Mammy Luce about the picture and the ghost? If he did, that proves -he wasn’t telling us the truth. Now why should he lie to us?” - -“Very likely to get rid of answering your questions,” responded her -aunt. “Undoubtedly he knew better than to tell you girls such a silly -story. He knew you would refer to it to your father and that Robert -would be displeased. I believe Emily, of course. As to Mammy Luce, I -don’t know. It is exactly the sort of foolish yarn that I warned you we -were likely to hear down South. I am sorry that it should have cost us -our cook.” - -The tale of the ghostly cavalier was not disturbing Miss Carroll in the -least. The loss of a cook was of far greater importance to her. - -The Wayfarers, however, were more impressed by Mammy Luce’s ghost than -they dared allow Miss Carroll to guess. During luncheon four pairs -of bright eyes continually exchanged significant glances. They were -burning to talk things over among themselves. - -Miss Carroll’s announcement that she intended to take a nap directly -after luncheon gave them the longed-for opportunity. Patsy’s demure -invitation, “Come on into Bee’s and my room, Perry children,” held -untold meaning. - -“Girls,” began Patsy solemnly, the instant the door of the room closed -behind the quartette, “there’s something queer about this old house. -There’s something queer about that picture. Carlos knows more than he -pretended to know. I wouldn’t feel so--well, so funny about it if I -hadn’t thought I saw that cavalier in the picture move. It gives me the -shivers. Do you suppose there is----Oh, there simply can’t be a _ghost_ -in this house!” - -“Of course there isn’t,” smiled Bee. “Brace up, Patsy. You’re just -nervous over that picture business this morning. I think perhaps Carlos -told Mammy Luce that story just to be malicious and scare her. He -looks like that sort of person. Maybe he dislikes us as much as his -grandmother appeared to, and just because we live in the house that -belonged to his former employer.” - -“If that’s the case, he may have told the yarn to Mammy Luce on purpose -to get her to leave, and so inconvenience us,” suggested Eleanor. “He -may have thought she’d leave in a hurry without telling us why she was -going.” - -“Let’s begin at the beginning and see what we know,” proposed Bee. -“First, there’s crazy old Rosita who called us thieves and said we’d -never find something or other that Camillo, whoever he is or was, had -hidden. Second, there’s Carlos, who turned out to be the grandson -of Rosita, who said she was not crazy but pretended to know nothing -else about anything here. Third, there’s Mammy Luce, who went off and -left us because she saw, or thought she saw, a ghost. Fourth, there’s -Emily, who said Carlos told Mammy Luce that the ghost of the cavalier -in the picture gallery walked about this house. Fifth, there’s Patsy, -who heard an odd noise in the gallery and saw, or thought she saw, the -cavalier picture move. Put it all together. Does it mean something or -nothing?” - -“No one except Carlos can answer that question. The whole thing, except -Patsy’s scare, centers on him,” declared Mabel. - -“I’m going to have a private talk with Dad,” announced Patsy. “I’m -going to ask him not to speak to Carlos about the ghost story, but to -let him alone and see what happens next. If he really has a grudge -against us he’ll be sure to do something else to bother us. We’ll be on -the watch and in that way we’ll catch him at it. Then maybe Dad can -make him tell what he wouldn’t tell us.” - -“But what about your aunt, Patsy?” conscientiously reminded Eleanor. -“She’s going to ask your father to speak to Carlos, you know.” - -“I’ll see Dad first and explain things. I’ll ask him to tell Auntie, -when she mentions Carlos to him, that he thinks it would be a good idea -to let Carlos alone for the present and watch him. It _is_ a good idea, -and I know Dad will agree with me. I’d say so to Auntie myself if I -were sure she wouldn’t mind. She would, though, because she’s not in -sympathy with us when it comes to mysteries.” - -“If any more queer things happen, Miss Martha will have to admit that -there _is_ a mystery hanging over Las Golondrinas,” Bee predicted. “I -forgot to add Dolores to the list. She’s another mystery.” - -“She surely is, but she doesn’t belong to the Carlos puzzle,” returned -Patsy. “Never mind, give us time and we’ll put all the pieces of all -the puzzles together. We’re determined to do it. That’s half the -battle.” - -“We may even find the secret drawer,” supplemented Mabel hopefully. - -This remark was received with derisive chuckles. Her companions had -come to regard the mythical secret drawer as a huge joke. - -“Laugh at me if you want to. When I find it, then it will be _my_ turn -to laugh at _you_,” Mabel emphasized. - -“_When_ you do, we’ll stand in line and let you laugh at us,” jeered -Eleanor. - -“I’ll remember that,” retorted her sister. “I’m going to the -sitting-room now to patiently pursue my indefatigable investigations. -Ahem! ‘Never despair’ is my motto.” - -“‘Sleep, sweetly sleep,’ is going to be mine,” yawned Eleanor. “I’m -going to take a nap.” - -“I’d _like_ to go down to the orange groves.” Patsy beamed -significantly upon Beatrice. “I’m not supposed to trail around this -vast tract of terrestrial territory alone. If some one will kindly -volunteer----” - -“I’ll take pity on you,” laughed Bee. “Come on. While we’re about it we -might as well lug a basket along and fill it with oranges. ‘Try to be -useful as well as ornamental.’ That’s _my_ motto.” - -“Mine is: ‘Be thankful for small favors,’” retaliated Patsy with an -impish grin. “Allow me to escort you to the kitchen for the basket. -Good-bye, Perry children. We’ll see you later.” - -Patsy offered her arm to Bee with an extravagant flourish and the two -girls left the room laughing. Mabel promptly made a bee-line for the -sitting-room, while Eleanor went to her own room for her nap. - -Bee and Patsy spent an enjoyable but uneventful hour in the orange -groves, returning with their basket piled high with luscious fruit. -Mindful of her intent to have first audience with her father on his -return that afternoon, Patsy posted herself on a balcony overlooking -the drive to watch for him. - -When, at five o’clock, he drove the car up the drive, he was met -halfway to the house by his daughter who imperiously demanded a ride to -the garage. - -Informed of all that had recently occurred and the course of action -Patsy had laid out for him, Mr. Carroll looked decidedly grave. - -“I’m sorry to hear this of Carlos,” he said. “So far as work goes, -he’s an excellent man. I’m going to adopt your suggestion, Patsy, to -say nothing to him at present about this ghost business. I’ll explain -to your Aunt Martha so that she’ll be satisfied to let matters stand -as they are. Of course, if he continues to stir up trouble among the -maids or my black boys by frightening them with ridiculous yarns about -ghosts, then I shall feel obliged to come down on him for it.” - -“Have you asked him yet about either old Rosita or Dolores?” - -Having related to her father all she knew of both, Patsy now referred -to them by name. - -“Yes.” Mr. Carroll smiled. “I described them to him this morning and -inquired about them. He had nothing to say beyond that this Rosita was -his grandmother and not insane. He swears that he never saw this girl -Dolores.” - -“I don’t believe him,” Patsy said with a vigorous shake of her auburn -head. “She has lived in this neighborhood several years. She told -me so. He was brought up here. He must have seen her often. He’s a -Spanish-speaking Mexican and she’s Spanish. He must certainly know who -she is. Why he should deny knowing her I can’t imagine. Just the same, -it’s something I intend to find out, if only for my own satisfaction.” - - - - -CHAPTER XVIII - -SOMETHING! - - -“There’s to be a Venetian fête on Lake Worth on Thursday evening. Would -you like to attend it?” - -Mr. Carroll made this announcement at the breakfast table one Monday -morning to an interested group of listeners. A week had elapsed -since the eventful morning on which Patsy had made the acquaintance -of Dolores and the Wayfarers had returned from the beach in time to -witness the departure of ghost-ridden Mammy Luce. - -On the following morning they had gone, accompanied by Miss Carroll, -to keep tryst with their wood nymph at the spot she had designated. As -Patsy had predicted, her chums immediately succumbed to the charm of -the little Spanish girl. - -Even Miss Martha had no fault to find with her so far as behavior -went. She found the young girl neither ill-bred nor uncouth. Instead, -Dolores exhibited toward stately Miss Carroll a shy deference that -would have impressed in her favor a far more critical judge. - -What Miss Martha did not quite like, however, was Dolores’ wistful but -absolutely firm refusal to reveal where she lived or with whom she -lived. - -“I would to answer and thus please you,” she had sadly said, lifting -bright, brave eyes to meet squarely those of her dignified questioner. -“I would to make you the visit to Las Golondrinas and thus be made so -happy. I cannot. It is forbidden.” - -At the conclusion of the interview they had left her standing under the -fronded green of the palmettos, hands crossed over her breast, dark -eyes eloquent with longing. Before they parted from her, however, Patsy -obtained her reluctant promise to come to them on the beach for a few -minutes, at least, whenever she chanced to see the Wayfarers bathing -there. - -Two mornings afterward she had kept her word. With her she had brought -the blue book, voicing eager praise of the “very sweet story” and her -thanks for the “_simpatica_” letter. Though the Wayfarers had pressed -her to stay, she remained with them but a few moments. During that -time she had cast frequent timid glances toward the jungle as though in -lively fear of something or someone known to herself alone. - -Unable to withstand Patsy’s coaxing plea of: “Come again to-morrow -morning and I’ll have another nice story book here for you,” she had -paid them a brief call on the next day. Since that time she had not -again appeared on the beach at their bathing hour, and the Wayfarers -did considerable wondering as to what had become of her. - -The past three days having, therefore, been particularly uneventful -beyond the healthy pleasures of outdoors, the four girls now hailed Mr. -Carroll’s proposal with acclamation. - -“What is a Venetian fête?” inquired Bee. “It’s held on the water. I -know that much. What do we have to do? Do we dress in fancy costumes?” - -“Only the boats dress up in fancy costumes at Venetian fêtes, Bee,” -informed Patsy, laughing. “We wear our best bib and tucker, of course, -and sail around in a motor launch or some kind of boat that’s all -decorated with Chinese lanterns, colored lights, etc. Am I right, Dad?” - -“Right-o,” smiled Mr. Carroll. “As it happens, your fairy bark awaits -you. I’ve engaged a power boat for the evening. Had a hard time -getting hold of it, too. We’ll run the car down to the beach during the -afternoon of Thursday. I’ll have the lanterns and festoonings aboard -the launch and you girls can spend the time before dinner decorating -it. How will that suit you?” - -The loud babble of appreciation that arose caused Mr. Carroll playfully -to put his hands over his ears. - -“My, what a noisy crowd!” he exclaimed. - -“We’re only trying to express our all-around joyfulness,” Patsy -defended. “You wouldn’t have liked it a bit if we had just said primly, -‘How nice!’ We believe in noise and lots of it.” - -“So I’ve noticed,” was the pertinent retort. “Well, I’m glad you’re -pleased. You’ll have to excuse me now. I’ve an engagement with a man at -ten at the Ponciana. I must be hiking.” - -“Really, Robert, I haven’t had a chance to utter a sound since you told -us about the fête,” came plaintively from Miss Martha, though her eyes -twinkled. As a matter of fact she had purposely kept silent, allowing -the Wayfarers to bubble forth their jubilation uninterrupted. “Do you -consider this boat you’ve engaged perfectly safe? I hope you know how -to run it.” - -“Oh, I sha’n’t run it. The man from whom I rented it will be on hand -to do that. It’s absolutely safe, so don’t worry, Martha, but make up -your mind to enjoy yourself.” - -With this assurance, Mr. Carroll hastily departed. After he had gone -the others lingered at table, further to discuss the prospective -pleasure in store for them. - -“I wish we could take Dolores with us,” Patsy said generously. “She’d -love the fête. If only we could coax her to go she could wear one of my -gowns. Maybe she’ll be at the beach this morning. If she is, I’m going -to tease her good and hard to go with us. You wouldn’t mind, would you, -Auntie?” - -“No. Invite her if you choose. I don’t doubt she would behave as well -as the rest of you,” Miss Carroll placidly opined. “If she should -accept (I doubt it), you must make her understand, Patsy, that she will -have to appear in one of your gowns, not to mention pumps and hose. We -shall probably meet a number of persons we know at Palm Beach.” - -“Oh, that part of it will be all right,” Patsy answered with the -supreme confidence of one who can remove mountains. “It’s whether -she’ll promise to go that’s bothering me.” - -Greatly to the disappointment of the Wayfarers, Dolores did not appear -on the beach that morning. Nor did they see any signs of her on the -next day or the next. Thursday morning did not bring her to the sands. - -On the way back to the house from the beach the party even went so far -as to visit the spot in the jungle which Dolores had claimed as her own -special nook. But she was not there. Though the girls called out her -name repeatedly in their fresh young voices, only the twitter of the -birds and the sighing of the light breeze among the leaves answered -them. Dolores had evidently forsaken her forest haunt for a time at -least. - -“Very likely that horrible ‘she’ is keeping Dolores in and making her -work,” grumbled Patsy to Bee when the party finally returned to the -road and started for the house. “You know, Dolores told me that she had -had to do very hard work ever since she came here to live after her -father died. It’s too bad Dad has been so busy lately. We can’t go to -see those fisher folks until he can find time to go with us. I do wish -Auntie would allow us to go there by ourselves. We could walk straight -up the beach and never come to a bit of harm.” - -“Well, she won’t, so we might as well be resigned,” replied Bee -ruefully. “She’s right, of course. My mother would feel the same about -it; so would Mrs. Perry.” - -“I know it. I’m not complaining of Aunt Martha. She’s as good as gold. -She’s been perfectly angelic about Dolores. Auntie isn’t the least tiny -bit snobbish. She and Dad are alike in that.” - -Returned to the house before noon the Wayfarers lunched early. Luncheon -over, they dutifully obeyed Miss Carroll’s mandate to retire to their -rooms for a brief siesta before dressing for the fête. Mr. Carroll’s -parting injunction to them that morning had been: - -“I’ll have the car at the door at three-thirty sharp. Be ready to hop -into it, girls. The earlier we arrive at Palm Beach, the more time -you’ll have before dinner to decorate the launch.” - -Three-thirty not only found the car on the drive at the entrance to the -patio, it also saw Miss Martha being helped into it by her brother. -She was followed by the Wayfarers, all looking their best in their -smart summer finery. The four girls were in exuberant spirits as one -after another they skipped nimbly into the automobile. The Venetian -fête promised to be an item of pleasant variation on their program of -enjoyment. - -The drive to Palm Beach was, as always, a delightful one. Coming at -last to the famous shell road the car followed it for a short distance. -Presently the yachting party arrived at the point on the lagoon where -their boat was docked. - -Boarding it in a flutter of happy anticipation, the Wayfarers -temporarily hid the glory of their dainty frocks under substantial -gingham pinafores which they had purposely brought along. - -Then the engrossing occupation of dressing-up their boat began. What -seemed to the girls an unlimited supply of gay Chinese lanterns and -bright-hued bunting had been brought aboard for them to dispose as they -fancied. Fore and aft the enthusiastic toilers strung the lanterns, and -hung the bunting in graceful festoons, until the trim craft blossomed -into a rainbow of color. - -“I can hardly wait for it to get dark!” exclaimed Mabel. “With all -these lanterns glowing and those strings of little electric lights -winking all colors, our boat’s going to be simply gorgeous.” - -“I hope we’ll have some simply gorgeous eats for dinner,” was Patsy’s -unaesthetic but heartfelt yearning. “I’m terribly hungry. I hope, too, -that we sha’n’t bump against a lot of people Auntie and I know the -minute we walk into the hotel. I want to gobble my dinner in a hurry -and get back here before dark so as to see everything that goes on.” - -Patsy’s fervent hopes met with a realization that pleased her not a -little. The “eats,” which consisted in an elaborate course dinner, -were quite “gorgeous” enough to evoke her pronounced approval. More, -the diners encountered none they knew among the endless succession -of people strolling in and out of the vast dining-room. Neither in -the imposing foyer of the great hotel, on the veranda or under the -colonnade did they spy a single familiar face. It was as though -they had stepped into a world of easy-going strangers, all bent on -extracting the same amount of pleasure out of life as themselves. - -Dinner eaten they lingered for a while on one of the hotel’s many -verandas which overlooked magnificent gardens, aglow with fragrant -tropical blooms. - -Just before dark they drove again to the lagoon and were presently -aboard their launch, watching with eager eyes the beauty of the scene. -Everywhere the scented dusk was pierced by winking, multi-colored -lights. They dotted the wall of the lagoon and sprang up from hundreds -of craft, large and small, which plied the lake’s placid waters. - -From off shore came the singing overtones of violins, proceeding from -an orchestra stationed under the colonnade of a not far distant hotel. -Now and then their ears caught the tinkle of mandolins mingled with -care-free voices raised in song. Across the still waters occasional -shouts rose above the harmony of sound, as gay occupants of boats -hailed passing craft and were hailed in return. - -As it grew darker, rockets began to hiss skyward, lighting up the -lagoon into greater beauty and revealing white-clad groups of -spectators sauntering along the shell road or resting on the sea wall. - -With the ascent of the first rocket, boat after boat rushed off across -the water to join the rapidly forming carnival procession which would, -when completely formed, circle the lake. Presently came a fan-fare of -trumpets, a burst of music from many bands playing in unison, and the -procession started on its way around the lake, gliding along like a -huge, glowing serpent. - -The Wayfarers thought it great fun to be an actual part of that -fairy-like pageant. As the majority of the occupants of other boats -were lifting up their voices in song, the four girls sang, too. -Patsy’s clear, high soprano voice led off in a boat song with which her -companions were familiar. After that they sang everything they could -remember from “Sailing” to “Auld Lang Syne.” - -Later, when the boats began dropping out of line, their launch also -left the procession and scudded farther out on the lake to a point from -where its lively passengers could obtain a more satisfying view of the -gorgeous spectacle. - -There they lingered for some time, well content to breathe in the -flower-perfumed night air, listen to the frequent bursts of harmonious -sound that drifted to their ears, and watch the firefly boats as they -darted here and there on the bosom of fair Lake Worth. - -It was well toward eleven o’clock when the launch docked at her pier -and the voyagers went ashore to where their automobile awaited them. -Followed a short drive to one of the great hotels, where the party -stopped for a late supper, then took the homeward road through the -balmy darkness of the tropical night. - -Midnight came and went and one o’clock drew on before a happy but -sleepy company made port at Las Golondrinas. - -“Go straight to bed, girls,” commanded Miss Martha as she marshalled -the small procession of drowsy revelers down the echoing corridors to -their rooms. “Don’t sit up to talk. You can do that to-morrow morning.” - -“I don’t want to talk. I want to sleep,” assured Eleanor with a yawn. -“If Mab tries to talk to me after I’m in bed, I’ll rise in my might and -put her out of the room.” - -“See that _you_ don’t talk to _me_,” warned Mabel. “If you do, _you_ -may find yourself wandering around in the corridor until morning.” - -“Glad we’re of the same mind,” giggled Eleanor. “Our chances for sleep -seem to be good.” - -“Don’t worry about _me_, Aunt Martha,” Patsy declared, as, her arm in -Bee’s, the two girls halted at the door of their room. “You won’t hear -a sound from Bee or me after we’ve put out our light. Here’s my very -nicest good-night kiss, dear. We’ve all had a wonderful evening and -we’re ready to subside until morning without a murmur.” - -Shut in their room, Patsy and Bee beamed sleepily at each other and -went about their preparations for bed in commendable silence, broken -now and then by a soft exchange of remarks pertaining to the evening’s -entertainment. - -Lights out shortly became the order of things with them. Almost as soon -as their heads touched the pillow they were off and away to dreamland. - - * * * * * - -There comes sometimes to a peaceful dreamer a curious sense of -impending danger which breaks through the curtain of slumber and -arouses the sleep-drugged faculties to alert wakefulness. - -Just how long she had slept, Patsy had no definite idea. She knew -only that she was sitting up in bed, broad awake, her horrified eyes -staring at something tall and white which stood in the center of the -moonlight-flooded room. - -She tried to cry out, but her voice was gone. She could only gaze, half -paralyzed with terror, at the fearsome white shape. For a moment it -remained there, a shapeless, immovable thing of dread. - -Suddenly, it raised a long, white-swathed arm in a menacing gesture -toward the trembling girl in the big four-poster bed. It took one -sliding step forward. - -Patsy succeeded in uttering a desperate, choking sound, intended for a -shout. One groping hand reached over and found Bee. - -The dread apparition came no nearer the bed than the length of that -one sliding step. It halted briefly, turned, then glided to the -half-opened door and vanished into the corridor. - - - - -CHAPTER XIX - -PATSY’S SCHEME - - -“Bee, wake up! Oh, please wake up!” - -Patsy had not only regained her voice, but the use of her arms as well. -Hands on Bee’s shoulders, she now shook her companion gently in an -effort to waken her. - -“What--y-e-s,” Bee mumbled, then opened her eyes. - -In the moonlight she could see Patsy quite clearly as her chum sat -crouched at her side. Blinking wonderingly up at Patsy, Bee began dimly -to realize that something unusual must have happened. - -“What is it, Patsy? Are you sick?” she anxiously questioned, sitting up -in bed with apprehensive energy. - -“No; I’m not sick. I’m scared. I saw it, Bee. I woke up all of a sudden -and saw it standing in the middle of the room.” - -“Saw what?” - -“The ghost; Mammy Luce’s ‘sperrit,’” Patsy returned solemnly. - -“You’ve been dreaming, Patsy, dear.” Beatrice dropped a reassuring arm -about Patsy’s shoulders. - -“No, Bee. I wasn’t dreaming. I was as wide awake as I am now when I -saw it. I tell you it woke me from a sound sleep. It didn’t make a -sound. Just the same it woke me. I wish now that I’d been brave enough -to climb out of bed and follow it. But I wasn’t. It frightened me so I -couldn’t move or speak.” - -“What was it? What did you see?” - -Bee had now become convinced that Patsy had not been dreaming. - -“I saw a figure standing right there,” Patsy pointed. “I can’t tell you -what it looked like except that it was just an enormous white shape. I -tried to call you, but I couldn’t. I did manage to sit up in bed. It -raised a long, white arm and started toward me. Then I tried again and -made a sort of sound and reached out to you. It didn’t come any nearer. -It turned and went out the door. It must have come in that way, for the -door stood half open. It was closed when we went to bed. You remember -that. Now I believe that Mammy Luce saw what I saw. No wonder it -frightened her. It frightened me, too, and I don’t believe in ghosts.” - -“Well,” Bee drew a long, sighing breath, “whatever you and Mammy Luce -saw was not a _ghost_. Make up your mind to that. It was a real, live -person _playing_ ghost. You and I, Patsy, must find out who it is and -why the person is doing it. This ghost business has begun, all of a -sudden. Nothing of the kind appeared when we first came here. There’s a -motive behind it that we’ve got to discover.” - -“What can it be?” wondered Patsy. Her brief terror had now given place -to curiosity. “Someone might be trying to play a practical joke on us. -But who? Not the maids or Dad’s black boys or----” Patsy stopped. “Bee, -do you suppose it could be--_Carlos_?” she asked with a little gasp. -“The figure looked too tall and broad to be _him_.” - -“Still it might be.” Bee had avidly seized upon Patsy’s sudden -inspiration. “Draped in a sheet, he’d look ever so much taller and -bigger. It was he who told Mammy Luce about the ghost, you know.” - -“But why should Carlos want to do such a despicable thing? We’ve never -done him an injury. Why, we never even _spoke_ to him except on that -one morning when we tried to get him to tell us about Las Golondrinas.” - -“We can’t possibly know _yet_ what his object may be. We may be doing -him a wrong by suspecting him. Just the same, he’s the only person we -have any reason to suspect.” - -“He might have done it to get even with us because Mab asked him if -Rosita was crazy. I’ve always heard that Latins are very vengeful.” - -Racking her agile brain for a motive, Patsy now advanced this theory. - -“Let’s go back a little farther,” replied Bee. “Carlos is old Rosita’s -grandson. Rosita must hate us or she wouldn’t have called us names and -treated us as she did. Granted, _she_ hates us. Maybe Carlos hates -us, too. We know he doesn’t like us. He showed us that much and very -plainly.” - -Bee paused, mentally trying to fit Patsy’s theory to her own. - -“There’s more to it than spite because Mab asked Carlos whether Rosita -was crazy,” she continued reflectively. “Now I believe I begin to see. -Neither Carlos nor Rosita wants us to live here. Why wouldn’t that -account for this ghost affair? Carlos might have done it to scare us, -believing we wouldn’t stay in a haunted house. He frightened Mammy Luce -out of here. I’m sure if Emily or Celia had seen----” - -Bee’s low-toned discourse was suddenly interrupted by a wild shriek of -mortal terror from somewhere below stairs. It floated up to the two -girls through the half-open door, echoing and re-echoing through the -corridors. It was followed by a succession of shrieks, each rising a -trifle higher than the preceding one. - -“Come on.” - -Leaping out of bed, Bee snatched her kimono from a nearby chair, -slipped her arms into it and darted, bare-footed, from the room. - -Patsy was only an instant behind her. As the two dashed madly along -the corridor and downstairs, the sound of opening doors and alarmed -voices was heard. That eerie, piercing scream could hardly have failed -to rouse the entire household. By the time three frightened women and -one considerably startled man had reached their doors and opened them, -Patsy and Bee were out of sight. - -Straight for the servants’ quarters at the rear of the house the -valiant runners headed. Their mad dash received a most unexpected -check. A door suddenly opened. A figure bounced into the narrow -hallway just in time to collide violently with the advancing duo. A new -succession of frenzied yells rent the air, accompanied by a resounding -thump as rescuers and rescued went down in a heap. - -“Oh, lawsy, lawsy!” moaned a voice. “Oh, please, Massa ghos’, I ain’t -done nothin’.” - -A prostrate form swathed in a brilliant pink calico night gown writhed -on the floor. Above it, Bee and Patsy, now on their feet, stood -clinging to each other, speechless with laughter. - -“Get--up--Celia!” gasped Patsy. “We--we--aren’t--ghosts. Oh, Bee!” - -Patsy went off into another fit of laughter. - -Somewhat calmed by the sound of a familiar voice, Celia raised her -head. In the pale light shed by a bracket lamp she now recognized -“Missie Patsy.” Very slowly, and a trifle sheepishly, she scrambled to -her feet. - -By this time Mr. Carroll, Miss Martha, Mab and Eleanor had reached the -scene of action. - -“What on earth is the matter, Celia?” demanded Mr. Carroll. “Was that -you we heard screaming? What’s happened to you?” - -“I done gwine t’ tell yoh in a minute.” - -Overcome by the awful realization that she was not suitably clothed for -the occasion, Celia made a wild dive into her room and banged the door. - -Meanwhile the door of the next room had opened just enough to allow a -chocolate-colored head to peer forth. - -“Celie she done see the ghos’,” explained Emily. “I jes’ lock myself in -so I done be safe. It am gone now.” - -“Naturally. No self-respecting ghost could stand such a racket as I -heard,” dryly declared Mr. Carroll. “Now tell me about this so-called -ghost. What does Celia think she saw?” - -“I done _seen_ it!” - -Celia now reappeared, wrapped from chin to toes in the ample folds of a -striped summer blanket. Not being the proud possessor of a kimono, she -had chosen the blanket as most highly suitable to her present needs. - -“I was dreaming nice as anything’, ’bout a gran’ ball I was gittin’ -ready foah,” she blurted forth. “Suddin’ like I wakes up ’case I done -feel suthin’ cold on my face. It war an ole cold dead hand and a -whoppin’ big white ghos’ was bendin’ over me. I lets out a yell, ’case -I was skairt to die an’ it jes’ laffs terrible like an’ floats right -out the doah. I’m gwine away from heah the minute it gits daylight. I -ain’t gwine to live no moah in this place. I reckon I know now what was -ailin’ Mammy Luce. She done seen it, too, same’s me.” - -Celia having thus put two and two together and announced her departure, -it became Miss Martha’s task to endeavor to soothe and cajole the -badly-scared maid to reconsider her decision. Her efforts were not -a success. Neither did the added coaxing of the Wayfarers have any -effect. Celia remained firm in her resolve. Emily, however, was made of -firmer stuff. She stoutly reiterated her disbelief in “ghos’es” and, -much to Miss Martha’s relief, declared her intent to “stick it out, -’case no ghos’ ain’t gwine to git me.” - -In the end, a much disturbed party, consisting of five women and one -man, repaired to the sitting-room for a consultation. - -During the excitement both Beatrice and Patsy had deemed it wise to say -nothing, while in the presence of the maids, of what Patsy herself had -seen. - -As they were about to go upstairs, Patsy whispered to Bee: “Don’t say a -word about--well, you know. I’ll tell you why, later.” - -“Robert,” began Miss Martha severely, when the little company had -settled themselves in the sitting-room, “I insist now on your speaking -to that Carlos man of yours about this ghost story he told Mammy Luce. -Someone is evidently trying to play practical jokes upon the servants. -I believe he knows something about it. It may be he who is doing it.” - -“That can’t be. Only yesterday morning Carlos asked me for two days -off. His brother, in Miami, died and he felt it his duty to go there to -console the family and attend the funeral. So you see he had nothing to -do with to-night’s affair. It’s more likely one of my black boys has -done a little ghost walking just to be funny. You notice that no one -except the servants has been visited by apparitions.” - -“There is no telling how soon the rest of us may be startled half out -of our senses,” acidly reminded Miss Martha. “You had better hire a -guard to patrol the grounds around the house at night. He ought to be -able to catch this scamp who has frightened the servants.” - -“I’ll do it,” promised Mr. Carroll. “I’ll have a plain clothes man from -Palm Beach up here to-morrow evening. He’ll stay here, too, until we -catch the rascal who is causing all this commotion.” - -“And will you speak to Carlos?” persisted Miss Carroll. “I am more -suspicious of him than of your blacks.” - -“As soon as he comes back,” reassured her brother. - -The serious part of the discussion having come to an end, Mabel and -Eleanor hurled a volley of eager questions at Bee and Patsy concerning -what had happened before they reached the hallway. Patsy therewith -proceeded to convulse her hearers with a description of Bee’s and -her own untimely collision with Celia. Mabel giggled herself almost -hysterical and had to be playfully shaken into sobriety by Eleanor, who -declared that the ghost walk had gone to Mab’s head. - -The will to sleep overcoming their dread of living midnight visitants -in ghostly garments, the ways and means committee adjourned in favor of -rest. As a last word, Miss Martha cautioned the Wayfarers to lock their -doors, which had hitherto been allowed to remain unlocked. - -“I don’t know whether it was exactly fair not to tell Auntie about -my seeing the ghost,” was Patsy’s first remark to Bee after they had -regained their room. “It’s like this, Bee. I’ve thought of a plan I’d -like to try. I have an idea the ghost will come back and I’m going -to be ready for it. If Auntie knew that I’d actually seen it, she’d -probably have our bed moved into her room. Mab and Nellie’s room is -almost across the corridor from hers, you know. We’re farther away, so -she’d worry if she knew what we know. I’m going to tell her sometime, -of course, but not now. Will you stand by me, Bee, and help me catch -the ghost?” - -“I will,” vowed Beatrice, too much carried away by the scheme to -reflect that she and Patsy were perhaps pitting themselves against a -dangerous opponent. “Do you believe, Patsy, that Carlos really has gone -away?” - -“No; I don’t. I think Carlos is the ghost,” calmly asserted Patsy. -“Furthermore, he knows a way to get into this house that we don’t. -All the men in Florida sent to guard Las Golondrinas won’t catch him. -When Dad spoke of getting a guard, I had half a mind to speak up about -seeing the ghost. Then I decided not to. I wanted to see what we could -do by ourselves.” - -“What _are_ we going to do? You said you had a plan.” - -“I have. I’m going to lasso the ghost,” Patsy announced with a boyish -grin. “I learned to handle a lariat when I was out West three years ago -visiting Pauline Barry. One of the cowboys on her father’s ranch taught -me the way to do it. There’s a coil of light, thin, tough rope in the -stable. I saw it the other day. That’s going to be my lariat. I’ll -smuggle it up here and practice with it. This is such a big room I can -swing it easily in here.” - -“I don’t see how you can carry out that plan,” was Bee’s doubting -answer. “How can you possibly know when the ghost is going to appear? -Besides, you mayn’t have time, perhaps, or a chance to do any lassoing.” - -“That’s the only hard part of it. You and I will have to take turns -sitting up and watching, Bee. Suppose we go to bed at eleven o’clock, -as we usually do. Well, from eleven until two I’ll sit up and watch. -From two until five it will be your turn. After five no ghost will be -silly enough to walk. I’ll take the part of the night when it’s more -likely to appear, because I know how to swing the lariat. If it appears -during your watch----Let me see. I guess I’d better teach you how to -lasso. No; that won’t do. It takes a long time to learn the trick. -You’d be apt to miss the ghost. Then we’d never catch it.” - -“I think we’d both better sit up until a little after two for a few -nights,” proposed Bee. “If we’re sleepy the next day we can take a nap. -It was just about two this morning when the ghost came. If Carlos _is_ -the ghost, he may appear to your aunt or Mab and Nellie another time -and not come near us. If he’s trying to scare us away from here, that’s -what he’d be apt to do.” - -“He may have wandered into their rooms, too, for all we know, only they -didn’t happen to wake up and see him,” surmised Patsy. “There’s only -a bare chance that anything will come of it, but it will be exciting -to try out our plan for a few nights while it’s bright moonlight. Our -scheme wouldn’t work during the dark of the moon. Now while the moon’s -full you can see for yourself how light it makes this room. Then, too, -a big white ghost is an easy mark,” finished Patsy with a giggle. - -“All right, Patsy. I pledge myself to become a valiant ghost catcher,” -laughed Bee. “Now let’s go bye-bye or we’ll never be able to sit up -to-morrow night. The only thing that bothers me is not telling your -aunt.” - -Bee had begun to feel a belated twinge of conscience. - -“It bothers me, too,” admitted Patsy, “but I’m going to stifle my -conscience for a few days. If nothing remarkable happens, then we’ll go -to Auntie and confess and let her scold us as much as she pleases.” - - - - -CHAPTER XX - -THE WAY THE SCHEME WORKED OUT - - -The next morning witnessed the departure of Celia, bag and baggage. -Aside from that one item of interest, nothing occurred that day to -disturb the peace of the household of Las Golondrinas. With Emily now -installed as cook and a very good cook, at that, the loss of Celia’s -services was not so vital, particularly as Emily’s sister, Jennie, had -promised her services the following week. - -What signally worried and annoyed Miss Martha, however, was Mr. -Carroll’s regretful announcement at dinner that evening to the effect -that he would not be able to obtain the services of a guard for at -least three days. An unusually large number of private details had -rendered headquarters short of men used for such duty, he explained. - -“I’m sorry, Martha, but it can’t be helped,” he consoled. “I’d turn -the job over to one of my black boys, but it wouldn’t be advisable. If -one of them has really been playing ghost, depend upon it, the others -know it. Result, the ghost wouldn’t appear. He’d be warned to lie -low. I’ll stay up myself to-night and watch, if you feel in the least -afraid. Say the word and I’ll stand guard.” - -“Certainly not,” promptly vetoed his sister. “I’m not _afraid_. I -merely wish this disagreeable foolishness stopped. We will lock our -doors and barricade them, if necessary. As for the windows opening onto -the patio, I hardly know what to do. It’s not healthful to sleep with -closed windows. They are so high from the floor of the patio, a ghost, -or rather this idiotic person who is playing ghost, would find it hard -work to climb up to them. We may as well leave them open.” - -“We can set rows of tinware on the inner edge of the window sills in -such a way that a touch would upset the whole business. If anyone tries -to climb in a window, all the pots and pans will fall into the room -with a grand crash and wake us up,” proposed Mabel. “Besides, the ghost -won’t linger after such a rattle and bang.” - -“A good idea,” approved Miss Carroll solemnly. - -Eleanor, Bee and Patsy received it with laughter in which Mr. Carroll -joined. - -“We’d better make a raid on the kitchen and select our tinware,” said -Eleanor gaily. “I’m proud to have such a resourceful sister. There’s -nothing like getting ready for his ghostship.” - -“I don’t imagine you’ll be troubled to-night by spectral intruders,” -Mr. Carroll said seriously. “Such a thing is hardly likely to occur two -nights in succession.” - -“Emily’s not afraid, that’s certain,” declared Beatrice. “She’s going -to sleep all alone downstairs to-night. She says she’s ‘not gwine to -git skairt of no ghos’.’” - -“I told her she might sleep in that little room at the end of the -portrait gallery, but she said she preferred her own room,” commented -Miss Martha. “I am agreeably surprised to find her not in the least -cowardly or superstitious. It’s fortunate for us.” - -“She told me she was going to lock her door and her windows and sleep -with a club and a big bottle of ammonia beside her bed,” informed -Patsy. “If the ghost comes she’s going to give him a warm reception.” - -“We all seem to be planning for the ghost’s welfare,” chuckled Mabel. -“Poor ghost. If he knows when he’s well off he’ll stay away from here -to-night.” - -Much open discussion of the spectral visitor had served to rob the idea -of its original horror. Instead of a serious menace to tranquillity the -ghost was rapidly becoming a joke. - -“We’ve done a little secret preparing of our own,” boasted Patsy in a -whisper to Bee as they strolled out of the dining room, arms twined -about each other’s waists. - -True to her determination, Patsy had slipped down to the stable that -morning, commandeered the desired coil of rope and successfully -smuggled it into her room. That afternoon, while Mabel and Eleanor were -taking a walk about the grounds with Miss Carroll, the two conspirators -locked their door and proceeded to test out the most important feature -of their plan. - -Patsy found the thin, tough rope admirable for her purpose. The -sleeping room, spacious and square, also lent itself to her plan. The -bed being in one corner left ample room for a free casting of the -lariat. With the quaint mahogany center table moved back against the -wall, she had a clear field. - -For an hour Bee patiently allowed herself to be lassoed, moving from -point to point, thereby to test Patsy’s skill. She soon discovered -that her chum was an adept at the art. Wonderfully quick of movement -and sure of aim, Patsy never failed to land the noose over her head, -letting it drop below her shoulders and drawing it taut about her arms -with almost incredible swiftness. At the conclusion of the practice -both agreed that the ghost’s chances were small against “Lariat Patsy,” -as Bee laughingly nicknamed her. - -Despite their numerous jests concerning the ghost, the Wayfarers’ -hearts beat a trifle faster that night as they went to their rooms. -Earlier in the evening the kitchen had been raided and amid much -mirthful comment a goodly supply of tin and agate ware had been -selected and carried upstairs for window decorations. - -Patsy and Bee took part in these preparations merely, as Patsy confided -to her chum, “for the looks of things.” Both considered their own -private scheme as much more likely to bear fruit. - -On retiring to their room for the night the door was dutifully locked. -For half an hour the two sat talking with the lamps burning, waiting -for the house to grow absolutely quiet. At ten minutes to twelve, Patsy -brought forth the lariat from its hiding place in her trunk. Next, -both girls slipped out of their white frocks only to don dark gowns -which would not betray their presence in the room to the nocturnal -intruder they were planning to receive. - -“Shall I put out the lights?” whispered Bee. - -“Yes. Then stand in that space opposite the door and see if I can rope -you,” breathed Patsy. - -Quickly Bee extinguished the two oil bracket lamps and a large oil -lamp that stood on a pedestal in a corner. Into the room the moonlight -poured whitely, lighting it fairly well except in the corners. - -“All ready?” softly questioned Patsy, moving back toward the end of the -room farthest from the door. - -“Yes,” came the sibilant whisper. - -An instant and Patsy had made a successful cast. - -“It works splendidly,” she softly exulted. “Lets try it again.” - -A few more trials of her prowess and she was satisfied to recoil the -rope and sit down on the bed beside Bee. - -“It’s time to unlock the door, Bee,” she murmured as the chime of -midnight rang faintly on their ears from a tall clock at the end of the -corridor. - -“All right.” - -Bee rose, tiptoed softly to the door and turned the key. Stealing back -across the room she took up her position of vigilance a few feet from -Patsy, seating herself upon a little low stool. - -Patsy had posted herself on the edge of her trunk, lariat coiled, ready -to spring into action at a moments notice. Over the house now hung the -uncanny silence of midnight, so tense in its stillness that the two -watchers could hear each other breathe. - -For the first half hour neither experienced any Special discomfort. By -the time that one o’clock had come and gone, both were beginning to -feel the strain of sitting absolutely still in one position. - -The distant note of the half hour found them weary, but holding their -ground. Patsy was worse off than Bee. Bee could relax, at least -a little, while she had to sit on the extreme edge of her trunk, -constantly on the alert. Should their expected visitor enter the room, -she must act with the swiftness of lightning or all their patient -watching would have been in vain. - -As she sat there it suddenly occurred to her how horrified her aunt -would be, could she know what was going on only a few yards from where -she slumbered so peacefully. Patsy could not resist giving a soft -little chuckle. - -“What is it?” whispered Bee. - -“Nothing. Tell you to-morrow. I guess we can go to bed soon.” - -“I guess so. It’s almost two o’clock.” - -Silence again descended. The clock chimed three-quarters of the hour. -Its plaintive voice ceased and the hush deepened until it seemed to -Patsy almost too profound for endurance. And then it was broken by a -sound, as of a door being softly opened. - -Bee’s heart nearly skipped a beat as she listened. Patsy felt the cold -chills race up and down her spine. Two pairs of eyes were now fastened -in strained attention on the door. Was it opening? Yes, it surely was; -slowly, very slowly. It was open at last! A huge white shape stood -poised on the threshold. It moved forward with infinite caution. It had -halted now, exactly on the spot where Bee had lately stood while Patsy -tried out her prowess with the lariat. - -Over in the corner Patsy was gathering herself together for the fateful -cast. Up from the trunk she now shot like a steel spring. Through the -air with a faint swishing sound the lariat sped. She pulled it taut -to an accompaniment of the most blood-curdling shrieks she had ever -heard. Next instant she felt herself being jerked violently forward. - -“Bee!” she shouted desperately. “Take hold. I’m going!” - -Bee sprang for the rope and missed it. Patsy shot past her across the -room, headed for the door. Stubbornly clinging to the rope, she was -bumped violently against the door casing, dragged through the doorway -and on into the corridor. - -As she shot down the stone passageway she was dimly conscious of doors -opening along it and voices crying out in alarm. On she went, propelled -by that sinister, terrible force ahead. Now she had bumped around -another corner and was entering the picture gallery. At the ends and in -the center of it bracket lamps burned dimly. - -She could see the enormous white shape. It had paused in the center of -the gallery. The relentless force had slackened. The rope now lay in -loose coils along the gallery. And then something happened which nearly -took Patsy’s breath. - -Even in that faint light she saw the picture of the cavalier move -forward. The huge white shape leaped straight to meet it. The rope -began to move along the floor again. Patsy braced herself and tightened -her grasp on the end she still held. Wonder of wonders! The apparition -had disappeared. - -Patsy heard an oddly familiar sound. Next she realized that the savage -jerking of the rope had not begun again. As she stood staring at it, -still clutching it tightly, there began again those same awful shrieks, -mingled with snarls such as a cornered wild beast might utter. - -In the midst of them she was suddenly surrounded by a frantic little -group of persons. She heard her father saying: “Thank God, she’s safe!” -She felt consciousness slipping from her like a cloak. - -“The rope--hold the rope,” she mumbled, and pitched forward into a pair -of extended arms. - - - - -CHAPTER XXI - -THE GHOST - - -When Patsy came to herself she was still in the picture gallery. She -was leaning against Miss Martha, who was engaged in holding smelling -salts to her niece’s nose. To her right clustered Bee, Mabel and -Eleanor, anxious, horror-filled faces fixed upon her. Back of them -stood Emily, her black eyes rolling, her chocolate-colored features -seeming almost pale in the brighter light the lamps now gave. - -As Patsy’s gray eyes roved dully from one face to another, she became -again alive to sounds which had assailed her ears at the moment when -consciousness had briefly fled. She was still hearing those demoniac -shrieks, mingled with savage snarls. Now there was something vaguely -familiar about them. But what? Patsy could not think. - -“What--is it?” she stammered. “Where--is--it?” - -She had begun to realize that the horror she glimpsed in her -companions’ faces had to do with those same shrieks rather than her own -momentary swoon. - -“It’s behind this picture.” - -It was her father’s voice that grimly answered her. He stood at one -side of the tarnished gilt frame, examining a rope. The rope appeared -to spring from halfway down the frame, between the canvas and the -frame itself. It ended in loose coils, which lay upon the floor of the -gallery. - -Patsy stared at the picture, from behind which rose the tumult of -horrid sound. For an instant she listened intently. - -“Why--why--I know _who_ it is! It’s old _Rosita_. I’m _sure_ that’s her -voice.” - -“So the girls here think,” replied her father. “Bee tells me _you_ -lassoed her.” - -Mr. Carroll’s tones conveyed active disapproval of his daughter’s -foolhardy exploit. - -“I--I----” began Patsy, then became silent. - -“Well, this is not the time to discuss that side of the affair,” her -father continued. “There’s a secret room or cubby-hole, I don’t know -which, behind the picture. Rosita is in there and can’t get out. You -attended to her arms, I judge. That’s the reason for those frenzied -howls. Undoubtedly she’s insane. You’ve had a very narrow escape.” - -“How could she get behind the picture without the use of her arms?” -broke in Bee. “There’s a secret lever to the picture, of course.” - -“She may have been able to work it with her foot,” surmised Mr. -Carroll. “Again, she may have purposely left the door open. There may -be another way out of the place besides this one. She can’t take it as -long as the rope holds. When the door closed, the rope caught. It’s -tough, but then, the door must have closed with a good deal of force -or it could never have shut on the rope. She’s trying to break it and -can’t. That’s why she’s in such a rage. We’ve got her, but we must act -quickly. I hate to leave you folks alone here. Still, I must go for -help. I can bring half a dozen of my black boys here in twenty minutes. -If I could be sure she’d stay as she is now until I came back----” - -Mr. Carroll paused, uncertain where his strongest duty lay. - -“I will go for the help, _señor_,” suddenly announced a soft voice. - -Absorbed in contemplation of the problem which confronted them, no -one of the little company had heard the noiseless approach down the -gallery of a black-haired, bare-footed girl. She had come within a few -feet of the group when her musical tones fell upon their amazed ears. - -“_Dolores!_” exclaimed Patsy and sprang forward with extended hands. -“How came _you_ here?” - -Immediately Mab, Bee and Nellie gathered around the girl with little -astonished cries. - -“Soon I will tell all. Now is the hurry.” - -Turning to Mr. Carroll, whose fine face mirrored his astonishment at -this sudden new addition to the night’s eventful happenings, she said -earnestly: - -“I stood in the shadow and heard your speech, _señor_. There is but one -way into the secret place. It is there.” She pointed to the picture. -“I bid you watch it well. She is most strong. She has the madness. -Thus her strength is greater than that of three men. If you have the -firearm, _señor_, I entreat you, go for it, and also send these you -love to the safe room. Should she break the rope of which you have -spoken she will come forth from behind the picture and kill. Now I will -go and return soon with the men. You may trust me, for I will bring -them. Have no fear for me, for I shall be safe.” - -Without waiting for a response from Mr. Carroll, Dolores turned and -darted up the gallery. An instant and she had disappeared into the -adjoining corridor. - -“Dolores is right,” declared Mr. Carroll. “Martha, take our girls and -Emily into your room. Lock the door and stay there until I come for -you. I don’t like the idea of this child, Dolores, going off into the -night alone, but she went before I could stop her.” - -“Oh, Dad, why can’t we stay here with you?” burst disappointedly from -Patsy. - -Patsy had quite recovered from her momentary mishap and was now anxious -to see the exciting affair through to the end. - -“That’s why.” - -Mr. Carroll made a stern gesture toward the picture. From behind it now -issued a fresh succession of hair-raising screams interspersed with -furious repetitions of the name, “Dolores.” It was evident that Rosita -had heard Dolores’ voice and, demented though she was, recognized it. - -“Come with us this instant, Patsy. You have already run more than -enough risks to-night.” - -Miss Martha’s intonation was such as to indicate that she, too, was yet -to be reckoned with. - -“We’re in for it,” breathed Bee to Patsy as the two girls followed -Miss Carroll, and the Perry girls out of the gallery and into the -corridor which led to Miss Martha’s room. Emily, however, had declared -herself as “daid sleepy” and asked permission to return to her own room -instead of accepting the refuge of Miss Carroll’s. - -“I don’t care,” Patsy returned in a defiant whisper. “Our plan worked. -We caught the ghost. And that’s not all. What about Dolores? Did -you ever bump up against anything so amazing? Now we know who the -mysterious ‘she’ is. No wonder poor Dolores was afraid of her.” - -Now arrived at Miss Carroll’s door, the chums had no time for further -confidences. Miss Martha hustled them inside the room, hastily closed -the door and turned the key. - -That worthy but highly displeased woman’s next act was to sink into an -easy chair and in the voice of a stern judge order Bee and Patsy to -take chairs opposite her own. - -“Now, Patsy, will you kindly tell me why I was not taken into your -confidence regarding yours and Beatrice’s presumptuous plans? Do you -realize that both of you might have been killed? What possessed you -to do such a thing? I _know_ that you are far more to blame than -Beatrice, even though she insisted to me that she was equally concerned -in your scheme. She merely followed your lead.” - -“I’m to blame. I planned the whole thing,” Patsy frankly confessed. -“I don’t know how much Bee has told you, but this is the story from -beginning to end.” - -Without endeavoring to spare herself in the least, Patsy began with -an account of the fearsome apparition she had seen on the previous -night and went bravely on to the moment when she had seen old Rosita -disappear behind the picture. - -“I shall never trust either of you again,” was Miss Carroll’s succinct -condemnation when Patsy had finished. - -“But, Auntie----” - -“Don’t Auntie me,” retorted Miss Martha. “The thought of what might -have happened to you both makes me fairly sick. I sha’n’t recover from -the shock for a week. The best thing we can do is to pack up and go to -Palm Beach. I’ve had enough of this house of horrors. Who knows what -may happen next. Just listen to that!” - -Briefly silent, the imprisoned lunatic had again begun to send forth -long, piercing screams. For a little, painful quiet settled down on -the occupants of Miss Carroll’s room. At last Eleanor spoke. - -“I don’t believe anything else that’s bad will happen here, Miss -Martha.” - -Eleanor had come nobly forward to Patsy’s aid. Standing behind Miss -Carroll’s chair, she laid a gentle hand on the irate matron’s plump -shoulder. Eleanor could usually be depended upon to pour oil on -troubled waters. - -“Nothing further of an unpleasant nature will have _time_ to happen -here,” was the significant response. - -“But nothing _bad_ has really happened,” persisted Eleanor. “Patsy -captured the ghost, who turned out to be old Rosita. Pretty soon she’ll -be taken away where she can’t harm anyone. If Patsy and Bee hadn’t been -awake and on the watch to-night she might have slipped in and murdered -them and us.” - -“Not with our doors locked and the keys in them,” calmly refuted Miss -Carroll. “True, Patsy and Beatrice might have been murdered. _They_ -disobeyed me and left _their_ door _unlocked_.” - -This emphatic thrust had its effect on the culprits. They blushed -deeply and looked exceedingly uncomfortable. - -“Well, she might have gone slipping about the house in the daytime and -pounced upon some of us.” Mabel now rallied to the defense. “Didn’t -Mammy Luce see her cross the kitchen and disappear up the back stairs -right in the middle of the day? That proves she came here in the -daytime too. By those yells we just heard you can imagine how much of -a chance we would have had if we’d happened to meet her roaming around -the house.” - -Patsy took heart at this brilliant effort on her behalf. - -“That’s why I saw the cavalier picture move the other day,” she said -eagerly. “Rosita had just disappeared behind it. That’s another proof -she came here in the daytime.” - -“Hmph! Here is something else I seem to have missed hearing,” -satirically commented Miss Carroll. - -“I would have told you _that_, truly I would have, Auntie, but I didn’t -want to worry you. I thought I must have been mistaken about it at the -time and so didn’t say anything. It was the day we found the book in -the patio and you asked me what was the matter,” Patsy explained very -humbly. - -Something in the two pleading gray eyes fixed so penitently upon her, -moved Miss Martha to relent a trifle. She considered herself a great -deal harder-hearted than she really was. - -“My dear, you and Beatrice did very wrong to conceal these things and -attempt to take matters into your own hands. You are two extremely rash -venturesome young girls. You are altogether too fond of leaping first -and looking afterward. I must say that----” - -“They’re coming!” Mabel suddenly held up her hand in a listening -gesture. - -Even through the closed door the tramp of heavy footsteps and the deep -bass of masculine voices came distinctly to the ears of the attentive -listeners. Shut in as they were, they could glean by sound alone an -idea of what was transpiring in the gallery. - -Soon, above the growing hum of voices, came a crashing, splintering -sound, accompanied by the most ear-piercing shrieks they had yet heard. -A babble of shouts arose, above which that high, piercing wail held -its own. Again the tramping of feet began. The frenzied wailing grew -even higher. The footsteps began to die out; the cries grew fainter and -yet fainter. An almost painful silence suddenly settled down over the -house. - - - - -CHAPTER XXII - -THE RETURN OF DOLORES - - -It was shattered by a gentle knock at Miss Carroll’s door. Light as was -the rapping, it caused the occupants of the room to start nervously. - -“It’s Dad.” - -Patsy ran to the door, turned the key and opened it. - -It was not Mr. Carroll, however, who had rapped. Instead a shy little -figure stood in the corridor. Patsy promptly reached out and hauled the -newcomer into the room with two affectionate arms. - -“Dolores, you brave little thing!” she cried out admiringly. “You went -all the way in the dark alone for help. Come over here, dear, and sit -down by Auntie. You must be all tired out.” - -Patsy led Dolores to a deep chair beside Miss Martha and pushed her -gently into it. The girl leaned wearily back in it. For a moment -she sat thus, eyes closed, her long black lashes sweeping her tanned -cheeks. Then she opened her eyes, looked straight up at Miss Martha and -smiled. - -“It is the heaven,” she said solemnly. - -“You poor, dear child.” - -Miss Martha reached over and took one of the girl’s small, brown hands -in both her own. The Wayfarers had gathered about Dolores looking down -at her with loving, friendly faces. She was, to use her own expression, -so “_simpatica_.” Their girlish affections went out to her. - -“There is much to tell,” she said, straightening up in her chair, her -soft eyes roving from face to face. - -“We’d love to hear it if you aren’t too tired to tell us,” assured -Patsy eagerly. “Where is my father, Dolores? Did he go with the men who -took Rosita away?” - -“Yes. First the _señor_ showed me the way here. He gave me the message. -He will take Rosita away in the automobile. So it may be long before he -returns. With him went three black men and Carlos.” - -“Carlos!” went up the astonished cry. - -“Yes. You must know it was for Carlos I went as well as the others. I -had said to him many times that Rosita was mad. He would not believe. -It was Carlos who brought me to the house of Rosita when my father had -the death. Rosita had always for me the hate and abused me much. Carlos -cared not. Perhaps he had for me the hate, too. I believe it. - -“I have not come to the beach to have the talk with you because of -Rosita. She watched me too much of late,” Dolores went on. “She had -the hate for you because you came to Las Golondrinas. She was afraid I -would see you and tell you she had the hate. She was mad, but yet most -cunning.” - -“But why did she hate us, Dolores?” questioned Bee. - -The Wayfarers had now drawn up chairs and seated themselves in a half -circle, facing the little Spanish girl. - -“Soon I will tell you. First I must tell you that two days ago Carlos -went away. Then Rosita shut me in the cellar. Ah, I knew she had -the wickedness planned! All the day I heard her above me, speaking, -speaking to herself. Sometimes she laughed and shouted most loud. Then -I could hear her words. She cried out often of Las Golondrinas and -Eulalie and old Manuel. So I knew what was in her mind.” - -“Then perhaps _you_ can tell us who Camillo is or was!” exclaimed -Patsy. “You seem to know a good deal about the Feredas.” - -“How knew you _his_ name?” Dolores turned startled eyes on Patsy. - -Briefly Patsy related the Wayfarers’ one conversation with Rosita. - -“I never knew.” Dolores shook her black head. “_Comprendo mucho._” - -Unconsciously she had dropped into Spanish. - -“_We_ don’t understand,” smiled Mabel. - -“Ah, but you shall soon know. Now I must speak again of myself. In -the cellar I remained until this night. But on the night before this, -Rosita went away. She came not back. This night late came Carlos home. -I cried out to him and so he released me. He was very tired and would -sleep. So he slept and I came here, because I had the fear that Rosita -was hiding in the secret place to do you the harm. She had known of it -long. Yet she knew not that I knew it, too. It was Eulalie who showed -me, once when I came here to see her. We were friends. Rosita was the -nurse of Eulalie in her childhood. Eulalie was _simpatica_, but she was -most unhappy. Her grandfather was the cross, terrible old one. He, too, -had the madness. He was _loco_.” - -Dolores nodded emphatic conviction of her belief that Manuel de Fereda -had been insane. - -“It was the midnight when I came here,” she resumed. “I lay in the -long grass to listen, but heard nothing. So my thought was that Rosita -might be far away and not in the house. I wished it to be thus, for I -had the shame to knock on the doors late and say, ‘Beware of Rosita who -is mad.’ I knew that in the daylight I should do that and tell you all -before harm came. So I lay still and watched the house where all was -dark and quiet. Then I heard the voice of Rosita as I have heard it -never before. I knew not what had come to her, but I wished to see and -give you the help such as I could give.” - -“But how did you get into the house, Dolores?” questioned Patsy. “All -the doors were locked.” - -“I climbed the vines, which grow upward to the small balcony on the -western side,” Dolores said simply. “The window stood open and thus I -came in the time to help.” - -“You certainly did, little wood nymph,” declared Patsy affectionately. -“What happened when you came back with the men? We’re crazy to know.” - -“The _señor_ asked Carlos of the secret door. Was it the true door, or -but the canvas? Carlos knew not. Of the door he knew from Rosita, but -not the secret. Never had he passed through it. But I knew that it was -the true door with strong wood behind the canvas. So the picture door -must be shattered by blows. Thus was loosed the rope which had shut in -the door and held Rosita fast so that she could move but a little. It -was the surprise when I saw her wrapped in the white sheets. On the -floor I saw her long black cloak. I understood all.” - -Dolores’ sweeping gesture indicated her complete comprehension of a -situation which still baffled her audience not a little. - -“How did they get her out of this cubby-hole?” inquired Miss Carroll -interestedly. - -Fortunately for Patsy, the arrival of Dolores had turned her aunt’s -attention temporarily from her reckless niece’s transgressions. -Practical Miss Martha was of the private opinion that she had been -living through a night of adventure far stranger than fiction. The -thought gave her an undeniable thrill. - -“She herself leaped out like the wild beast,” Dolores answered. “She -sprang at Carlos, but he was ready. The wise _señor_ had said she would -do this, because the mad turn fiercest against those they love. The -_señor_ and the black men caught her and the _señor_ wound the rope -round and round her body. Then they carried her down the stairs and -held her fast, while the _señor_ went for the automobile. The _señor_ -said she must go to the police station at Miami. Carlos was sad for -Rosita had loved him much. He had not believed she was mad.” - -“I don’t see how he could _help_ knowing it!” cried Patsy. “Why, we -thought her crazy the first time we ever saw her! Mabel asked Carlos -about her. It made him angry. I guess he knew it then, but wouldn’t -admit it. I’m sure he must have told Rosita about us. That must have -been one reason why she forbade you to come near us. Please tell us, -Dolores, why she hated us. You promised you would.” - -“It was because of the treasure of Las Golondrinas.” Dolores lifted -solemn eyes to Patsy. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIII - -THE MEMENTO - - -“The _treasure_!” rose in an incredulous chorus. - -“Do you mean that there’s a treasure hidden somewhere about Las -Golondrinas?” almost shouted Patsy. - -“It is truth,” the girl affirmed. “All his life old Manuel sought but -never found. He had the despair, so he was most cruel to Eulalie, -_pobrecita_. How she hated that treasure!” - -“Now we know what Rosita meant that day,” put in Bee. “When she said -old Camillo had hidden it well. Was Camillo a Fereda?” - -“_Si; el caballero Camillo de Fereda_,” nodded Dolores, then laughed. -“Always I think of Camillo in Spanish,” she apologized. “I would say in -English: ‘Yes, the gentleman, Camillo de Fereda.’ He lived long long -ago. He was _el caballero_ of the painting this night destroyed. I am -glad he is gone. He had the wicked face. He _was_ wicked; the pirate -and the murderer. Eulalie has told me of him.” - -“Then he must have been one of those Spanish buccaneers who sailed -the seas and attacked English ships about the time when Ponce de Leon -landed here in Florida,” declared Beatrice. - -“But that was away back in fifteen something or other,” objected -Eleanor. “Las Golondrinas hasn’t been the home of the Feredas nearly -so long as that. In those days there was nothing here but swamps and -wilderness. Do you happen to know just how old this house is, Dolores?” - -“Eulalie has said that many, many Feredas have lived here,” Dolores -replied. “All knew of the treasure but could not find. It was the -secret which passed from the father to the son. Manuel knew it, but -he would never tell Eulalie because she was not the son. She knew -only from him that there was the treasure for which old Manuel always -searched. She had not the belief in it.” - -“Then how did Rosita come to learn of it?” interrupted Bee quickly. - -“I heard her tell Carlos that long ago she spied upon Manuel. Once, -while he wandered in the woods looking for the treasure, she followed -him all the day. He lay down under the trees to sleep. While he slept -she crept to him and took from his pocket the letter and the small -paper. What was written on the small paper she could not understand, -for it was not the Spanish. The letter was the Spanish. For the many -long words she could not read it well. So she put them again in -Manuel’s pocket. But she swore to Carlos that old Camillo wrote the -letter and that he wrote of the treasure which he had hidden.” - -“Did you tell Eulalie what Rosita said?” pursued Bee with lawyer-like -persistence. - -“I dared not. I had the fear she might question Manuel. Then he would -have had the great anger against Rosita. Then Rosita would have killed -me. When Eulalie was the small child, Rosita was the nurse and lived -in Las Golondrinas. It was then that she followed Manuel and read the -letter. When Eulalie had the age of fourteen years, Manuel sent Rosita -away to the cottage to live. Soon after I came here.” - -“Rosita couldn’t have liked Eulalie very well. When we asked her about -Eulalie that day she raved and shrieked ‘_ingrata_’ and goodness knows -what else,” related Mabel. “I can understand enough Spanish to know -that she was down on Eulalie.” - -“She had the anger because Eulalie wished Las Golondrinas to be sold. -While Manuel lived Rosita dared not look here for the treasure. When -he died she was glad. She wished Eulalie to let her come here again to -live. Eulalie was weary of this place of sorrow. She cared not that -she was the Fereda. So she sold Las Golondrinas to the _señor_, your -father.” - -Dolores inclined her head toward Patsy. - -“Now I begin to see why Rosita had no use for us,” smiled Patsy. “She -must have had a fine time hunting the treasure before we came down here -and spoiled sport.” - -“It is truth,” concurred Dolores. “All the day and often in the night -she searched everywhere. She had the keys to this house. She came here -much while it was empty. It was then, I believe, that the greatest -madness fell upon her. She knew nothing that Eulalie had sold Las -Golondrinas to the _señor_ until he came here to live. I remember how -angry she was. Still she watched and went to the house when the _señor_ -was not there.” - -“I have no doubt she was tucked away somewhere in the grounds watching -when we arrived,” frowned Miss Martha. “We have had a narrow escape.” - -“She saw you,” instantly affirmed Dolores. “It was the surprise. She -thought the _señor_ would live here alone. Then fell the rain and for -two days she went not out of the cottage. I, also, went not out until -the sunshine returned. Then I ran away into the woods. So you came to -the cottage and I never knew.” - -“It’s strange she never said a word to you about it,” mused Beatrice. - -“Ah, no! She spoke to me but little; only the harsh words. It was to -Carlos she would talk, but not before me. Now I understand why she was -in the great rage when I returned to the cottage on that morning when -you had been there. You had spoken of these Feredas and Eulalie. She -was afraid you had come here to hunt for the treasure. She wished to -frighten you away.” - -“Our theory was not as wild as it might have been, Patsy,” smiled Bee. - -“I suppose Carlos was hunting for the treasure, too, and so helped -along this lunatic’s plans to play ghost. She could never have thought -out the idea herself. I shall have Carlos arrested and locked up as a -dangerous character,” announced Miss Carroll with stern determination. - -“Carlos has no belief in the treasure.” Dolores paused uncertainly. -“I will tell you the truth. Carlos will not return. He will slip away -from the _señor_ at Miami. So he called out to me in Spanish when he -went away with Rosita. He had no plans with Rosita to play the ghost. -She only had that thought.” - -“Then why did he allow her to do so?” asked Miss Carroll severely. “He -knew it. He warned our cook to beware of a ghost that walked here.” - -“Carlos hates the _Americanos_. Once he was to marry the Mexican -_señorita_. She left him and married the _Americano_. Now he hates them -all. Thus he was glad to have Rosita make the trouble. He believed it -was for the sake of him more than the treasure. She told him this. She -was mad, but cunning. She deceived him. He is most stupid and easy to -deceive. He did not believe she would harm anyone. He thought she had -the malice; not the madness. Now he knows, because she sprang at him.” - -“Well, I must say it’s the most preposterous affair all around that -I’ve ever heard of,” sharply opined Miss Carroll. “To come to Florida -for a vacation and be picked out as victims by a vengeful Mexican and a -lunatic! It’s simply appalling.” - -“Oh, look!” - -Patsy had risen and was pointing toward a window. - -“What is it?” burst simultaneously from Bee, Mabel and Eleanor. Miss -Martha was sitting bolt upright in her chair as though preparing to -face the worst. - -Dolores, alone, did not stir. She lay back in her chair, eyes closed. -Her strenuous watch on the house, her brave run for help through the -darkness and the fact that she had never before in her life talked -so much at one time, had combined to reduce her to a state of utter -exhaustion. All in a minute she had dropped fast asleep. She had not -even heard Patsy cry out. - -“Why--did you ever! See! It’s _daylight_!” - -Patsy’s voice had risen to a little wondering squeal on the last word. - -Daylight it surely was. Through the windows the soft rays of dawn were -stealing, heralding the fact that day was breaking upon a company of -persons who had been too much occupied to notice the flight of time. - -“Look at that child!” Miss Martha dramatically indicated the slumbering -wood nymph. “I should have put her to bed the instant she stepped -into this room, instead of allowing her to tell that long story. I am -ashamed of my lack of judgment.” - -“She wanted to tell it, and we wanted to hear it,” Patsy said. “It’s -been a weird night, hasn’t it?” - -“Weird, yes; altogether too weird. Go to bed every one of you, and -_lock your doors_!” - -“Where will Dolores sleep, Auntie? She can’t go home. She hasn’t any -home now. She’ll have to stay with us. Won’t that be fine?” exulted -Patsy. - -“Dolores will remain here with me. We’ll discuss her future later. This -is certainly not the time to discuss it. Good night, or, rather, good -morning. Off to bed, all of you.” - -Miss Martha fairly shooed her flock out of the room. They departed -with laughter, their cheerful voices echoing through a corridor lately -filled with sounds of an entirely different nature. - -“Enter without fear, my dear Miss Forbes,” salaamed Patsy, bowing Bee -into the room in which had been staged the first act of the night’s -drama. “The ghost is forever laid.” - -Laughing, Bee stepped over the threshold. The laugh suddenly trailed -into a gasp. At the precise spot where Patsy had lassoed Rosita lay a -sinister memento of the mad “ghost.” It was a long, sharp, two-edged -knife. - - - - -CHAPTER XXIV - -THE SECRET DRAWER - - -Instead of a one o’clock luncheon that day the Wayfarers sat down to -a one o’clock breakfast. It was noon before they awoke from the sound -sleep they were so much in need of after their all-night vigil. - -That day there was a new face at the breakfast table. It was a vividly -beautiful face lighted by a pair of soulful, dark eyes. Dolores, the -wood nymph, had been transformed over night into Dolores, the young -woman. Dressed in one of Patsy’s white morning frocks, her heavy black -hair rolled into a graceful knot at the nape of her neck, Dolores bore -small resemblance to the ragged, bare-footed waif of the night before. - -Now those small bare feet which had sped so swiftly through the -darkness for help were for the first time in years covered by -slippers and stockings. Though Dolores was too shy to say it this -one particular feature of the transformation seemed to her the most -wonderful of all. “To go always with the feet bare” had been her -greatest cross. - -Seated between Bee and Patsy at table her gaze wandered questioningly -from one to another of the Wayfarers, as though unable to credit the -evidence of her own eyes. She could hardly believe that she was in the -midst of reality. It all seemed like a dear dream from which she would -soon awaken, only to find again the old life of poverty, harsh words -and blows. - -Naturally, the Wayfarers had a good deal to say. They were still -brimming over with the excitement of the night’s events, the final -touch of melodrama having been furnished by the finding of the knife on -the floor of Patsy’s and Bee’s room. - -Recovered from the momentary shock sight of the murderous weapon had -given them, the finders had agreed that there was no use in exhibiting -it to the others just then and stirring up fresh excitement. - -Patsy reserved it as a breakfast surprise. She created not a little -commotion when she produced it at the table for her companions’ -inspection, coolly announcing that Rosita had left her a keepsake. -The weapon went the round of the table to the tune of much horrified -exclamation, as its formidable, razor-like double edge was shudderingly -noted. - -“I can’t imagine why your father hasn’t returned, Patsy,” remarked Miss -Carroll for the fifth time since they had sat down to breakfast. “I am -beginning to feel very uneasy over his continued absence.” - -“I don’t believe we’ll see him until evening,” returned Patsy. “It must -have been daylight before he got through with Rosita’s case. He had two -business engagements in Miami to-day. Don’t you remember? He mentioned -them to us at dinner last night?” - -“I had forgotten that,” admitted Miss Carroll. “It’s hardly to be -wondered at. I wish he would come home. I am all at sea about what we -ought to do. Now that this horrible lunatic has been removed from here -and her villainous grandson has decamped, it is just possible we may -have a little peace and quiet. Do you think this rascal Carlos meant -what he said to you, Dolores?” - -“Yes, Señora Martha. He will never return,” Dolores assured. “He will -sell the cottage which old Manuel gave to Rosita and never come here -more. I am glad. Now I shall go myself soon to Miami and find the work -to do. I am strong and not afraid of the work.” - -“My dear child, you will do nothing of the sort,” contradicted Miss -Carroll. “You will stay with us for the present.” - -“And when we go north, Dolores, you’re going too,” broke in Patsy. “You -haven’t any folks now, except us, so you’ve just got to be good and -hang around with the crowd.” - -“It is too much,” Dolores protested. “I will stay for a little because -you wish it. I wish it, also,” she added with shy honesty. “Soon I must -go away. I am not the burden.” - -“Of course you aren’t. You don’t look a bit like a burden,” gaily -retorted Patsy. “Let’s not talk about your going away. Let’s talk about -the treasure of Las Golondrinas. Do you suppose there really _is_ a -treasure?” - -“_Quien sabe?_” shrugged Dolores. - -“That means literally, ‘Who knows?’” translated Mabel, smiling at -Dolores. “But _you_ really mean, ‘I doubt it.’” - -“I have little belief,” confessed Dolores. “Many Feredas have searched -but never found. Perhaps, then, there is none to find.” - -“I wish we knew something of its history,” sighed Bee. “What do you -suppose old Manuel did with the letter and the paper that Rosita took -from him while he was asleep?” - -“Very likely he put them in the secret drawer,” chuckled Eleanor, -casting a teasing glance at Mabel. - -“Well, he might have,” stoutly defended Mabel. “I guess I’ll have -another try at the old desk this afternoon. If there’s a treasure in -this house we must do our best to find it.” - -“You girls had best stay quietly indoors to-day.” admonished Miss -Carroll. “None of you are half rested from last night.” - -“Señora Martha, I have the wish to go to the cottage,” requested -Dolores timidly. “I have there the few things which were my father’s. I -desire them. When I have them I will go to that cottage no more.” - -“My dear, you must feel that you are free to go and come as you -choose,” returned Miss Carroll, “except that I would prefer, while you -are here with us, that you let me know beforehand where you intend to -go. I wish you to feel that I have the same interest in you that I have -in Patsy’s friends, Bee, Mabel and Eleanor. If you were to go away -without telling anyone where you were going we would be uneasy until -you returned.” - -“I _desire_ to give the obedience to you, Señora Martha! It will be -most beautiful,” Dolores made fervent response. - -“I wish others felt the same about it,” commented Miss Carroll -pointedly, yet with a smile, as she rose from the table. - -Patsy merely laughed, though she colored slightly at the roundabout -rebuke. - -“It’s too late for regrets, Auntie,” she declared. “I promise to do -better in future. May Bee and I go to the cottage with Dolores?” - -Miss Martha, having demurred a little, finally gave a reluctant -consent. Patsy and Bee ran upstairs for their hats. Having gone hatless -for years, Dolores had declined Patsy’s offer of one of her own. - -Presently the three girls left the house and took the path to the -orange groves through which they must pass in order to reach old -Rosita’s cottage. - -Coming at last to the cottage, they saw that the door stood wide open. -The two Wayfarers experienced a sense of dread as they followed Dolores -across the stone threshold into a big, cheerless room which occupied -the greater part of the ground floor. Both had an uncomfortable -feeling that Rosita might suddenly appear and pounce upon them. They -were surprised to find extreme neatness where they had expected to -view disorder. The floor was immaculately clean and the few pieces of -old-fashioned furniture stood stiffly in place. - -“I had an idea we’d find everything upside down,” Patsy remarked. -“Rosita was a good housekeeper even if she was crazy.” - -“Ah, but it was I who must do the work,” sighed Dolores. “All must -be clean save the windows. These Rosita purposely kept dark with the -cobwebs so that strangers might not see into the room. Of herself she -did nothing, yet she made me to do all. She was indeed mad for long. -Always she feared strangers, but none ever came. It is past. I am glad. -Wait here for me. I must go up the stairs to the place where I slept. -There I have the few things I wish to take away.” - -With this Dolores disappeared up a short staircase which opened into -the rear wall of the room and led to a loft. As there was nothing in -the ugly bare-walled room to attract their interest, Bee and Patsy -presently sat down on a wooden bench outside the house to await -Dolores’ return. - -She soon appeared, carrying an antiquated canvas telescope which she -proudly assured them had belonged to her father. - -“When we return to Las Golondrinas I will show you the picture of my -father,” she promised. “He was the good man and loved me much. Now we -shall leave this place. I have the hope never to enter it again.” - -Dolores raised her hand in a solemn gesture toward the sky. - -“The God in the Heaven heard me pray,” she said, then reverently -crossed herself. “He has given me the freedom.” - -The trio were rather silent on the walk back to Las Golondrinas. -Dolores’ thoughts were upon the great change that had come to her. -Patsy and Bee had been deeply impressed by her little act of reverence -and divine faith toward the Almighty. In consequence, they, too, were -absorbed in thought. - -Accompanying Dolores to the room which Miss Martha had that day given -the little girl for her own, they watched her unpack the satchel and -showed kindly interest in the few keepsakes she possessed, which had -belonged to her father. Viewing the faded photograph of the latter, -they could trace in Dolores’ beautiful face a distinct likeness to the -handsome photographed features. - -“Old Rosita could teach us a lesson in neatness,” Patsy said to Bee as -they entered their own room. “Emily was so busy, I told her we’d fix up -our room to-day. We might as well move the table back to the center of -the room. The ghost won’t walk ever again.” - -“Come on, then. I’ll help you.” - -Tossing her hat on the bed, Bee crossed the room and took hold with -both hands of one end of the heavy mahogany center table. As she stood -waiting for Patsy to come to her, her hands played absently along the -table’s edge. - -“Coming in a minute,” called Patsy, who had stopped to retie her white -buckskin Oxford. - -“Oh!” - -Bee gave a sharp little scream. She had felt the wood move under her -straying fingers. Something suddenly shot out from the table end. Sheer -surprise caused her to take a stumbling backward step. - -“Patsy, look here!” she cried out shrilly. - -Instantly Patsy left off tying her shoelace and obeyed the call in a -hurry. What she saw was sufficiently amazing to warrant her haste. - -While Mabel had spent long hours of patient search for a secret drawer -in the old desk, Bee had come upon one unawares. - - - - -CHAPTER XXV - -WHAT THE SECRET DRAWER HELD - - -The secret drawer, which Bee’s straying fingers had unwittingly -released from its hiding place, projected about six inches from the -table end. It measured perhaps eight inches across and two in depth. -When closed its front formed one of the carved oblong designs which -repeated itself at intervals of two inches apart on the overhanging -mahogany strips constituting the two ends of the table. The oblong -which masked the secret drawer was the last to the left on the end -on which Bee had taken hold when about to move the table back to its -original place. - -These facts relative to the secret drawer were, for the time being, -lost on the two girls. Heads together, they were wonderingly examining -a square, thin little book, bound in stained sheepskin, which Bee had -snatched from the drawer. - -“‘The Private and Personal Diary of one Sir John Holden, Passenger on -His Majesty’s Ship _Dragon_,’” Bee was reading aloud from the book’s -first page. The words were inscribed in faded ink in a fine running -hand. - -“Why, this is a _real_ diary!” she exclaimed. “It was kept by an -_Englishman_! It must be awfully old!” - -“Turn over to the next page,” eagerly commanded Patsy, “and let’s see -what it’s all about.” - -Holding the book in both hands, Bee let go of it with her right and -started to turn the first leaf. As she did so a folded paper slid from -the back of the book to the floor. - -Patsy made a quick dive for it and picked it up with: “It’s a letter, I -guess. Shall we look at it first or go on with the diary?” - -“Let’s not look at either, just yet. Let’s call the folks in here and -read the diary and the letter when we’re all together,” proposed Bee -generously. “It will be more fun. They’ll be awfully surprised to see -the secret drawer; Mab especially.” - -“All right,” amiably agreed Patsy. “You go for Mab, Eleanor and -Dolores. I’ll see if Auntie has had her nap and is awake. If she’s -sleeping I won’t disturb her. We may find nothing very interesting, -after all, in this old diary. Anyhow we can show it to her afterward.” - -Carefully laying letter and diary on the table from which both had -emanated, the two Wayfarers sped from the room on their respective -errands. - -Patsy returned first and without her aunt. Finding Miss Martha sleeping -peacefully, she had foreborne to disturb her. - -When Beatrice presently appeared in company with the three others, they -found Patsy busily examining the secret drawer which still stood open. - -“You were on the wrong trail, Mab,” she laughingly greeted. “Bee beat -you to it after all.” - -“So I hear. Lets see your wonderful find.” - -The newcomers crowded about the drawer, exclaiming over it, girl -fashion. They were also duly impressed by the sheepskin book and the -letter which, Patsy informed them, had been tucked away in the drawer. -Mabel, however, was more interested in the drawer itself. - -“It takes up exactly the same amount of space as one of those oblongs,” -she cried out, as her observing eyes traveled the length of the -table end. Having spent so much time on the antiquated desk she was -naturally much interested in the mechanics of the secret drawer Bee had -discovered. - -“Never mind the drawer now, Mab. You can play with it later. We’ll -leave it open. If we were to shut it, very likely we couldn’t open it -again.” - -This from Patsy, who was impatiently longing to start a reading of the -old diary. - -“Be seated, ladies,” she merrily ordered. “Miss Patricia Carroll has -kindly consented to read you a few interesting excerpts from the diary -of one Sir John Holden. Goodness knows who he was. We’ll know more -about him after we’ve read what he’s written about himself.” - -“I thought you told us you two hadn’t read the diary,” playfully -accused Eleanor. “You seem to know all about it.” - -“We read only the first page,” Bee explained. “We didn’t go on with it -because we wanted you girls to be in on it, too. There’s nothing stingy -about us.” - -“So I observe. We are nothing if not appreciative.” - -“This was the room of old Manuel,” irrelevantly remarked Dolores. She -had been silently listening to the girls’ lively chatter, her great -dark eyes roving curiously about the spacious room. - -“It _was_!” Bee exclaimed. “That’s interesting to know. It explains why -Rosita paid us those two midnight visits. She may have thought Manuel -de Fereda had found the treasure and tucked it away in his room. Are -you sure this was _his_ room, Dolores?” - -“_Si._” Dolores wagged an emphatic head. “Once Eulalie showed it to me. -We came only to the door. Still I remember. It was truly his room.” - -“Then Manuel must have put this book in the drawer,” declared Patsy. -“Well, let’s find out what an English passenger on ‘His Majesty’s Ship -_Dragon_’ had to do with the Feredas.” - -Her companions having drawn up chairs and seated themselves in a half -circle, Patsy picked up the little sheepskin book and eagerly turned to -the second page. - -“‘August the fifth,’” she began, then gave a little amazed gasp. -“Girls,” she said in awed tones, “this date is ‘_sixteen_ hundred and -eighteen!’” - -A murmur of surprise ascended at this announcement. - -“Go on, Patsy,” urged Bee. “What happened on August the fifth, sixteen -hundred and eighteen?” - -“‘One hour after sunrise,’” Patsy resumed, “‘we weighed anchor and -blessed by a fair wind we set sail from the port of Southampton, bound -for Virginia, His Most Gracious Majesty’s colony in the New World, -which, by the aid and mercy of God, we hope to reach in safety and -before many weeks have elapsed. It is now evening and the good wind -still continues to fill the _Dragon’s_ sails. I shall retire at once as -the events of the day have been somewhat fatiguing.’” - -“That’s all for August the fifth,” she said. “The next is August the -tenth, so it’s really a journal instead of a diary.” - -“This John Holden probably intended to keep a diary and then didn’t,” -surmised Bee. - -“How funny!” ejaculated Patsy. “That’s almost exactly what he’s -written. Listen: - -“‘My original intention consisted in the resolve to chronicle -faithfully the events of each day. I am deeply regretful that divers -matters have completely engaged my attention which have thus caused -it to be impossible for me to perform this duty which I laid upon -myself. Thus far the Almighty hath indeed favored us. We were for a -day becalmed, but since that time we have encountered exceptionally -favoring winds, which have steadily furthered us on our course. If -Providence wills a continuation of this remarkably fine weather we -shall accomplish the voyage sooner, perhaps, than we had the temerity -to hope.’” - -“He certainly used a lot of words to express himself,” smiled Eleanor. - -“Long words and lots of them were the fashion in those days,” commented -Bee. “Go on, Patsy.” - -“‘August the twelfth. The fine weather still prevails. We are inspired -to believe that God is with us. Among the hundred and ten males on -board our good ship, not one now suffereth the slightest indisposition. -During the first three days of the voyage a small number were afflicted -with the malady of seasickness, which is grievously unpleasant in -that it is attended by extreme nauseation of the stomach. Fortunately -this annoying complaint is always of short duration. All those thus -distressed have recovered and appear to be in better health than ever. -I trust that this felicitous state of affairs may continue. - -“‘August the twentieth: This day a sad accident occurred. By some dire -mischance one of our crew, a faithful fellow but one whose clumsiness -I have frequently noted, fell overboard. Immediately our captain -bestirred himself to accomplish his rescue, but in vain. Being a poor -swimmer, the unfortunate fellow was unable to sustain himself above -the waves until succor came, and thus perished in the sea before our -very eyes. I trust that this distressing event is not a forerunner of -greater disaster. The crew, who are inclined somewhat toward silly -superstition, appear to regard it as an ill omen. - -“‘August the twenty-ninth: Our favoring winds have ceased to blow. This -day we have made no progress worth recording. As I gazed out over the -vast expanse of ocean this evening, during the setting of the sun, I -was reminded of the words of the beloved Apostle John: “And I saw a sea -of glass mingled with fire.” We should give thanks devoutly, inasmuch -as while we are thus irritatingly becalmed, such a condition is to be -preferred to foul weather and heavy seas. - -“‘September the fourth: After five days of such feeble progress -as maketh the heart sick, we are speeding forward once more under -billowing sails. On board ship all are in excellent spirits at this -welcome dispensation of divine Providence. We now entertain high hopes -of reaching our destination ere the coming of the dreaded equinoctial -gales which are well able to send the stoutest ship to the bottom of -the sea. - -“‘I fear these tempests far more than the possibility that we may be -attacked by the Spanish. We are, I believe, well prepared to meet the -Spanish villains and worst them, should they appear against us. We have -on board the _Dragon_ no mean defense in the way of cannon, powder, -some hundred rounds of great artillery and divers small armament. All -this, of course, being vitally necessary, inasmuch as among us we are -possessed of enough in the way of gold, silver and precious stones to -excite the greed of these inhuman cut-throats should they get wind of -our coming.’” - -“This is getting wildly interesting!” exclaimed Bee. “At last we -have with us a _treasure_. I believe it must be the treasure of Las -Golondrinas, else why would old Manuel have kept this diary hidden -away?” - -“But this ship, the _Dragon_, was bound for Virginia, not Florida,” -reminded Mabel. “I don’t see much connection between this John Holden’s -diary and Las Golondrinas. Besides, there couldn’t have been such a -place as Las Golondrinas at the time he made this voyage.” - -“Stop interrupting me and maybe we’ll find out something more about -things,” laughingly rebuked Patsy. “The next entry is as follows: - -“‘September the fifteenth: Until yesterday all progressed with such -remarkable serenity that I had nothing of import to inscribe upon the -pages of this book. Last evening at sunset we encountered a small -Spanish galleon which villainously opened fire upon us, killing two -of our crew and slightly wounding four others. Our master gunner -immediately retaliated with a fierceness of fire which presently caused -our enemy to abandon the attack and sail away with all speed. When the -retreating galleon had become but a distant speck on the wide sea we -gathered on deck and offered our profound thanks to God for his mercy -in thus preserving us from our enemies. May He continue thus to bestow -his favor upon us. - -“‘September the sixteenth: This day we committed to the depths of -the ocean the bodies of the two poor fellows, slain by the dastardly -Spanish. We buried them with such honors and reverence as befitted -the brave death which they had suffered. I have hopes that those who -received wounds will quickly recover. Our hearts are exceedingly heavy -over the loss of two excellent men, both having ever been sober, -industrious, God-fearing fellows. - -“‘September the twentieth: According to the reckonings, which, for -my own satisfaction, I have computed privately with the utmost -carefulness, we are still many hundred miles from land. Since morning -the wind hath risen to a considerable strength and velocity. The sky -to-night presents a lowering aspect, thus causing us to entertain dark -misgivings. The sea is becoming tumultuous and the height of the waves -is greater than at any time since we embarked upon this voyage. I fear -that we shall yet taste the fury of the equinoctial gales. I believe -to-day’s change but heralds the commencement of this trial. We must be -of stout heart and ready arm, placing our trust in the Almighty who -hath thus far so abundantly safeguarded us. - -“‘September the thirtieth: We have fallen upon evil days. I sadly -mistrust that it will be long ere our eyes behold the goodly colony of -Virginia. On the night of September the twenty-first the storm, which I -had rightly predicted, burst fiercely upon us. Against the fury of the -blast and the seas which rose mountain-high to engulf us, the _Dragon_ -prevailed only by a miracle wrought by Providence. - -“‘For three days we labored in the teeth of the tempest, which ripped -bare certain of our masts and flung us far off our course. Since then -the wind hath continued to blow with exceeding roughness, and the waves -yet remain of unpleasant height. Day upon day hath seen our ship tossed -about like a cork on the waters. - -“‘My private computations lead me to entertain the dismaying -apprehension that we must be very far south of Virginia. Ere long I -fear we shall see the coast of that debatable land, Florida, which -harboreth the inhuman Spaniard. Should this misfortune encompass us we -shall find ourselves hard put to escape falling into their clutches, -for their pirate ships continually scour the southern waters in quest -of rich booty. - -“‘October the fourth: This morning we sighted land and were concerned -altogether as to what should be our course of action. A fairly -stiff breeze drove us steadily toward shore until we could plainly -distinguish white sands and a profuseness of tropical vegetation that -accordeth well with the faithful description of Florida made public by -that gallant knight, Sir Walter Raleigh, whom His Majesty hath so illy -recompensed for his great services. The warmth of the atmosphere also -tended to confirm our judgment. - -“‘Whereas our good ship had suffered hard buffeting by wind and sea, -we took counsel together and were of one mind that we should proceed -toward shore and drop anchor until we could encompass such labor as was -needful to render the ship seaworthy once more. For we were desirous of -turning the _Dragon_ about in order to pursue a course due north which -would, after many days, bring us to Virginia. And we weighed carefully -the peril in which we stood that we might at any hour be attacked by -hostile galleons and mayhap find ourselves overwhelmed and delivered -into the cruel and merciless hands of the Spaniard. Yet we knew that we -had no choice save to incur this hazard. Now it draweth toward sunset. -This day we have labored diligently and accomplished much. Neither have -we been molested.’” - -“The next entry is so dim I can hardly make it out,” Patsy announced. -“It looks as though it might have been written in pencil. I didn’t know -there were any lead pencils as early as 1618.” - -“There were, though,” Bee affirmed. “I remember reading in a magazine -awhile ago that the first lead pencils were made in fifteen hundred and -something. I can’t recall the exact date.” - -“Well, I’m sure this was written in pencil,” returned Patsy. “Don’t be -impatient if I stumble a little in reading the entry for it’s awfully -dim.” - -“Do go on,” implored Eleanor. “We’re keyed up to a high pitch of -suspense to hear what happened next.” - -“‘October the fifth,’” Patsy obediently resumed. “‘This morning at -sunrise we were attacked by a Spanish galleon which inflicted sore -injuries to our good ship. Yet we rendered such sturdy account of -ourselves as to force our enemy to draw off and speed away, I doubted -not in order to bring other galleons against us. All that which we -accomplished yesterday hath been undone by the divers volleys of shots -which the enemy hurled against us. - -“‘The galleon having been put to flight we again took counsel. Rather -than permit the passing of such valuables as each of us possessed into -the greedy fingers of the Spaniard, we made haste to place all together -in a strong chest. Each man attended to the gathering of his gold, -silver and jewels into a small bag, his name being written upon paper -and placed within the bag on top of his wealth. These bags we placed in -the seaman’s chest together with a fine gold service which His Majesty -had entrusted to our captain, to be delivered to a certain knight in -Virginia. - -“‘When all was done the weight of the box was so great six men could -scarcely bear it to the ship’s boat. To me was intrusted the command of -these men, who were ordered to row to shore and there bury the box in -the earth against the time when we might be able to return for it. This -we did and found for the treasure a secure hiding place and buried it -at the true sign of the _Dragon_, which was also His Majesty’s ship, -sunk this day, so that we could not mistake it on our return. Our -interest was then to proceed speedily to the ship, for we had agreed to -weigh anchor and sail away, crippled though we were. - -“‘Yet while we floundered our way back to the shore, through well-nigh -impassable green growths, infested with loathsome serpents which we -slaughtered in numbers, we heard shots and knew that disaster had -come upon our ship. So we made haste to gain the shore, but bethought -ourselves to hide at the edge of the jungle rather than show ourselves -before we had learned the cause of the firing. And we saw a mighty -Spanish galleon bearing down on the _Dragon_ and knowing that we could -do nothing were compelled to lie where we were and watch the unequal -fight between our gallant ship and the great, high-built galleon. - -“‘But the _Dragon_ fought on until her masts were beaten overboard -and all her tackle cut asunder and her upper work altogether razed, -until, in effect, she evened with the water, nothing of her being left -overhead either for flight or defense. - -“‘Then our captain, who well knew what torture awaited those on board -the _Dragon_ when the Spaniard should set foot upon her, must surely -have ordered the master gunner to split and sink the ship. This I -believe, because suddenly on board the _Dragon_ a terrific explosion -took place and she broke in two and sank with all her crew and -passengers. - -“‘Then those of us who survived because of our errand on shore took -counsel among ourselves and there seemed naught to be done save to go -deeper into the jungle and hide ourselves until such time as we might -be safe to come forth and trust ourselves to the mercy of the sea -in our frail boat. For we had bethought ourselves when we landed to -carry our boat across the sands and conceal it in the bushes. We were -convinced that of the two the sea was possessed of more mercy than the -Spaniard. - -“‘So we lay for a little and watched the galleon which went not away -but hovered near where our ill-fated ship had disappeared beneath the -waters. Presently we saw that which gave us sore alarm. We observed -the putting down of a boat from the galleon’s side, and we counted ten -men, all stoutly armed, who quickly betook themselves over the side and -manned this boat as soon as it rode the waters. Then we were of the -belief that this galleon had been lurking in the waters behind a small -but thickly wooded tongue of land to the north of us, this tongue of -land forming one end of a curve in the sands which in shape bore the -likeness to a new moon. - -“‘We doubted not that the first galleon which we had worsted was in -complicity with this second. We were convinced that both these had -stolen upon us in the night. Whereas the first had been driven off by -us, but with dear loss to ourselves. Those on board the second galleon -must surely have observed our plight and thus bided their hour to -attack us and complete our destruction. And while they thus waited it -is certain they must in some manner have become aware of the lowering -of the strong box into our boat and this same boat putting off to shore. - -“‘And we knew that we were undone and must seek such refuge as we -might find in the jungle. Thereupon we set off in great haste, this -time paying no heed to the disgusting serpents which frequently -wriggled under our feet and hissed their displeasure of us, though by -miracle we were stung by none of them. - -“‘Thus we continued to struggle deeper into the jungle with as much -speed as we could, and we marveled that we had not yet heard our -pursuers behind us. For we were determined to push ever forward until -we discovered a fitting place of concealment in the hope that there we -might escape being hunted out by them. We were resolved, should they -discover us, to fight to the death, for we were well armed. - -“‘And after much painful wandering we came into a ravine and found a -natural cavern the mouth of which was so overhung with broad-leaved -green vines and obscured by bushes as to deceive us at first that aught -of a cave was there. And we were overjoyed at this unexpected gain, for -we reckoned that even as it had deceived us so it might deceive the -Spaniard. Whereupon we severed with exceeding care enough of the vines -as would permit us room to pass into the cavern and crept therein, one -after another. And by good fortune one of the men had with him a bit -of wax candle which we lighted by means of a flint and steel. And we -were relieved to find the cave dry and free from scorpions and serpents. - -“It is now well past midday and still we are undiscovered. Having -naught else to do I have taken my book, which never leaveth my person, -and inscribed these facts therein by such dim light as filtereth -through a little between our sheltering curtain of vines. If, by the -grace of God, I survive this trial I shall ever regard this record as -of higher interest than those which I have on divers occasions previous -to this derived pleasure in inscribing herein. Should we escape the -Spaniard we shall be still in an evil case to procure food, and defend -ourselves against wild beasts and savages. These last we have not yet -seen, yet I doubt not their presence in this untamed wilderness which -now encompasseth us. We are resolved to be of steady courage and good -cheer. Our faith reposeth in the Almighty who holdeth us in the hollow -of His hand and who will deal with us as He deemeth best. We hold----’” - -Patsy suddenly stopped reading. - -“That’s all!” she exclaimed disappointedly. “It breaks off at ‘We -hold’ with a long scrawl of the ‘d’ as though Sir John Holden had been -suddenly interrupted.” - -“It’s wonderful!” Bee drew a long breath. “While Patsy was reading -that last entry I imagined I could see those poor men fleeing for -their lives through the jungle. The queer part of it is that it must -be _true_. It’s almost as though this Sir John Holden, who lived three -hundred years ago, had suddenly come back and spoken to us.” - -“Do you suppose the Spaniards found their hiding place and killed -them?” asked Eleanor. “Do let me look at the ending of that last entry, -Patsy.” - -Patsy handed the open book to Eleanor. Peering over her shoulder, -Bee, Dolores and Mabel scrutinized it with her. For a time a lively -discussion went on among the five girls concerning the book and the -amazing narrative it contained. Its abrupt ending pointed to disaster -to the fugitive Englishmen. - -“I believe the strong box these men buried was the treasure that old -Manuel Fereda spent his life hunting for,” finally asserted Bee. -“According to description, the place where they went ashore corresponds -to the new moon curve of our bathing beach. Don’t you remember how the -north end of the curve runs out to a point? The beach goes deep in -above there in another shorter curve that makes a natural harbor. I -noticed it the other day when we had the race. We swam just a little -way past that point.” - -“I remember it now,” Patsy looked up, an almost startled expression in -her eyes. “It doesn’t seem possible that all this I’ve been reading -about ever happened on the very shore we’ve been using for a bathing -beach. If it did happen there, then they buried the treasure somewhere -in the woods back of it. How did Manuel come by this journal? That’s -what I’d like to know.” - -“This journal has been handed down from one generation of Feredas to -another,” returned Bee promptly. “What about Camillo de Fereda, the -portrait cavalier? Judging from his costume in the picture he must -have lived at about the same time as this journal was written. Eulalie -told Dolores that he was a pirate and a murderer. He might have been -on the very galleon that fought the _Dragon_. He might have been among -the Spaniards who went ashore after Sir John and his men. Maybe the -Spaniards found them and killed them all and brought back this book to -the galleon. I’ve been trying to figure it out and that’s the way I -think it was.” - -“It sounds very plausible,” agreed Patsy, much impressed. “Isn’t it -maddening to find out this much only to realize that we’ll never know -the rest? If there’s a treasure no wonder the Feredas could never find -it. All Sir John says about it is that they buried it at the true sign -of the _Dragon_. Now what did he mean by that?” - -“Well never know, nor will anyone else. If there’s really a treasure -buried in the woods behind the beach it will probably stay there -forever,” predicted Mabel. - -“I guess it will,” agreed Patsy. “I know we’ll never hunt for it. I can -imagine Auntie’s face if I proposed digging up those woods to find it. -I wonder what she’ll say about this journal? It’s a treasure in itself. -It really belongs to you, Bee. You found it.” - -“Yes; but in your room,” reminded Beatrice. - -Nevertheless she looked rather wistfully at the little -sheepskin-covered book. It was indeed a treasure worth having. - -“I’ll offer it to Auntie, Bee,” Patsy replied, noting the wistful look -in Bee’s eyes. “We ought to consider her first. If she doesn’t care for -it, it’s yours.” - -“Oh, no, _you_ keep it,” protested Bee. “I couldn’t accept it, really.” - -“We’ll settle that later. Oh, I forgot! We haven’t looked at the folded -paper yet that fell out of the book.” - -Patsy turned to the table and picked up the forgotten paper. - -“It’s a letter,” she informed. Then her face clouded. “It’s written in -Spanish,” she added disgustedly. “You can read it, Mab, I suppose.” - -“Patsy, _querida_, give me the letter,” eagerly begged Dolores, who as -usual had played the silent but always avidly interested listener. “I -would read it for you.” - -“Why, that’s so! I forgot all about your being Spanish, Dolores,” -smiled Patsy. - -“Let Dolores read it,” urged Mabel. “She can make a much better -translation of it than I.” - -“Go ahead, Dolores,” Patsy handed her the letter. Eleanor and Bee also -echoed the request. - -Shyly delighted at being thus importuned by the girls she so greatly -loved and admired, Dolores took the letter and scanned it with knitted -brows: - -“‘_Mi querido hijo_,’” she read aloud. “That means, ‘My dear son.’ I -will not read more of this in the Spanish, but try to tell you of it in -the English as I read it in my own language. This it says: - - “‘It is long since I have written to you. I have waited for - you to come to me, but you have not come. I grow old and but - last month I received the wound in the side from an accursed - English captain whose ship we set upon and captured. But he - paid dearly for this outrage to my person. We put him and all - on board to the torture. - - “‘But my wound heals not and promises yet to prove my death. - Therefore I charge you to continue to search for the treasure - which the accursed English brought ashore and buried on - the morning when my galleon fought them and caused their - destruction. You know well how we hunted down those who - concealed the treasure and put them to torture. Stubborn pigs - that they were, they perished, unconfessed. - - “‘Since that time I have searched long and frequently for this - box which I doubt not to be filled with gold. I have wasted - many hours over the stupid book, but understand not at all. - Neither dare I give it to any who have knowledge of English - lest the secret hiding place of the treasure thus become known - to him who reads. - - “‘Therefore I charge you to come to me soon in order that I may - deliver this book into your hands with such instructions as - I have for you. For I am unable to come to you. When I shall - have passed out of this life and into the eternal darkness, as - I must surely do, since I have no belief in life after death, - cease not to search for the treasure. From His Majesty I have - received full title to the portion of land we marked off for - our own. Thus it becomes yours when I have finished with it. - Delay not, but come speedily if you would see your father once - more. - - “‘DON CAMILLO DE FEREDA.’” - -“It’s the one thing we needed to complete our case.” - -It was Bee who shattered the hush that had fallen upon the group. - -“Yes. We know now that Don Camillo de Fereda _was_ really a pirate. -That he commanded the galleon that finished the _Dragon_. We know what -happened to Sir John Holden and his men and how the book came into the -possession of the Feredas,” enumerated Patsy. “The letter and the book -have been handed down from generation to generation because none of the -Feredas ever found the treasure of Las Golondrinas.” - -“That was because of the wickedness of Don Camillo de Fereda,” asserted -Dolores. “It was not intended that either he or any of this family -should find. Because of it old Manuel died bitter and without faith. -To Rosita it brought the madness. I believe that it has the curse laid -upon it.” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVI - -“THE TRUE SIGN OF THE ‘DRAGON’” - - -The story of the treasure of Las Golondrinas was not to be thus -easily dismissed from the minds of the Wayfarers. Quite the contrary, -it became paramount as a topic of conversation. The journal of the -unfortunate Englishman, Sir John Holden, and the letter written by Don -Camillo de Fereda were duly exhibited to and read by Miss Martha and -Mr. Carroll. - -Though both were considerably impressed by the girls’ find neither was -in sympathy with Patsy’s half-jesting, half-earnest assertion: “It -would be fun to poke around in the woods a little and hunt for the -treasure, if we had the least bit of an idea what ‘the sign of the -_Dragon_’ was.” - -Miss Carroll had promptly vetoed the “poking around in the woods” -plan, appealing to Mr. Carroll to support her in prohibiting such a -proceeding. He had been equally ready on his own account, however, to -decry Patsy’s proposal. - -“Don’t allow this treasure story to take hold on your minds,” he had -discouraged. “It’s highly interesting, of course, but that’s all. -You’re not apt to discover a treasure that generations of Feredas -failed to locate. They knew the ground thoroughly and failed. You know -nothing of that jungle behind the beach.” - -With no one save Bee as an ally, Patsy’s ambition saw no prospect of -realization. Still the treasure story remained uppermost in her mind. -It haunted her, particularly during the morning excursions to and from -the bathing beach. The portion of jungle through which the white, sandy -beach-road ran became invested with new interest. Its green depths -concealed a treasure, once the treasure of the Dragon, now the treasure -of Las Golondrinas. - -“Do you suppose this part of the coast has changed very much since -1618?” Patsy reflectively questioned one morning, as she and Bee lay on -the warm sands sunning themselves after a long swim. - -“I don’t know.” Bee was gazing absently seaward. “You’re thinking about -the treasure, of course,” she added with a smile. - -“Yes,” Patsy admitted. “Too bad Sir John wasn’t captain of the -_Dragon_. He’d have kept a log instead of a journal, and in it he would -have set down the ship’s exact position. How far it was from shore, I -mean, and all that.” - -“I have an idea that the _Dragon_ anchored quite a way below this part -of the beach,” declared Beatrice, “and not so very far from land. It’s -just as Sir John said, the beach along here curves a little like a new -moon. The upper end of the curve runs farther out into the water than -the lower end. Above the upper end is the little bay where the galleons -must have anchored in the night. You know how deep the water is there. -If the _Dragon_ had been directly opposite this curve, those on board -would have probably sighted the galleons and the captain would have -tried to get away when the first one attacked him. They’d been fixing -up the ship all that day, you know.” - -“Yes, that’s so,” nodded Patsy. “But where do you think the men landed -who went ashore in the row-boat?” - -“That’s hard to guess,” returned Bee. “If the ship were anchored down -there, they might have rowed in a straight line to land without being -seen by the Spaniards. If the beach was then just as it is now, right -along here would have been a better place for them to land than down -there. Maybe the Spaniards had a lookout posted in the woods watching -them.” - -“If they had, it’s funny that Don Camillo didn’t send some of his men -to follow them right then, instead of waiting until after the attack,” -argued Patsy. - -“I suppose he thought he had those poor Englishmen just where he wanted -them,” replied Bee. “He knew that they couldn’t escape him. He thought, -perhaps, that it would be easy to make them confess where they’d buried -the box. You know history says that the Spanish adventurers who first -came over here made a practice of torturing the Indians to find out -where they kept their gold. Sir John and his men knew they’d be killed -by Don Camillo even if they confessed, so they preferred to die by -torture rather than tell the secret.” - -“It’s horrible to think of, isn’t it?” shuddered Patsy. “I’m glad we -were born three hundred years later than those dangerous times. No -one’s life was safe then. Say, Bee,” Patsy sat up with sudden energy. -“I’m going to ask Auntie if we can’t walk a little way down the beach -this morning. If she says ‘yes’ we’ll change our bathing suits and ask -Dolores to go with us. I’m anxious to see how it looks down there at -that lower end of the curve. Come on.” - -Springing to her feet, Patsy raced across the sands to where her aunt -and Dolores were quietly sitting, each absorbed in a book. Dolores’ -fondness for Nature did not include any desire whatever for a close -acquaintance with the ocean. No amount of persuasion on the part of the -Wayfarers could induce her to go bathing with them. - -“Auntie, dear,” began Patsy in coaxing tones, as she and Bee came to -a pause before the two on the sands, “do you care if we change our -bathing suits and go for a little walk down the beach? We want you to -go with us, Dolores. We won’t go far, Aunt Martha, and will be back in -just a little while.” - -“Very well.” Miss Carroll looked up placidly from her reading. “I trust -you, Dolores, to keep these two reckless girls out of mischief,” she -added, turning to her companion. - -Dolores laid her book aside and rose in instant acquiescence to Patsy’s -plea. - -“Surely, I will go with you, Patsy, _querida_,” she said in her soft -voice. “Have no fear, Señora Martha, that I shall not keep the very -stern eyes upon these two,” she mischievously assured Miss Carroll. - -“Wait a minute till I see if Mab and Nellie want to go,” Patsy said. -Running down to the water’s edge, she called out her invitation to the -Perry girls, who were industriously practising a new swimming stroke -which Mr. Carroll had taught them on the previous day. - -“No, we don’t want to go,” declined Mabel. “We’re just beginning to get -this stroke down fine. Go away, Patsy Carroll.” - -“Come along, Bee. The Perry children don’t appreciate us,” Patsy -commented satirically. - -A little later, Bee and Patsy emerged from the bath house, ready for -their walk. Accompanied by Dolores the trio started off down the beach. - -“We’ve been quite a little way up the beach, Dolores, but we’ve never -gone a dozen yards down it,” remarked Patsy, as they strolled along in -the sunshine. “We’re going as far as that point down there and maybe -farther. We want to see how it looks on the other side of it. We were -talking about the _Dragon_ this morning and----” - -“I beg of you, Patsy, _querida_, think no more of that horrible -treasure.” Dolores had stopped short, her dark eyes full of distress. -“It is forbidden by the _señora_ that you should walk in the jungle. I -have given the promise to keep the care of you. So must I----” - -“Come along, goosie, dear.” Patsy laid gentle hold on Dolores’ arm. -“We’re not going into the jungle to hunt for the stupid old treasure. -We just want to go a little way and see things. Bee and I have an idea -that the men from the _Dragon_ might have touched shore on the other -side of the point when they rowed to land. We only want to see how it -looks there.” - -“It is not so different from this,” Dolores declared, “except that -beyond the point is the small inlet.” - -“Is that so?” Bee remarked in surprise. “I supposed that beyond the -point was only a little bay. The beach is narrow at the point on -account of the woods coming down so close to the water. That’s the way -it is with the upper end of the curve, you know. Can we walk around -the point and along the shore of the inlet for a little way without -actually getting into the jungle?” - -“_Si_,” returned Dolores, “but not very far.” - -“Then let’s go as far as we dare,” proposed intrepid Patsy. “You lead -the way, Dolores.” - -Presently arriving at the place where the beach itself was merely a -strip of sand extending out into the water, the three girls rounded -the point and walked along the sandy shore of the inlet. - -They had gone only a few steps when Bee stopped short and pointed out -to sea. - -“The _Dragon_ might have been anchored right over there, Patsy,” she -asserted. “This would have been a splendid place for the men in the -row-boat to land.” - -“Maybe they did land here, and struck off into the jungle, right there, -where the inlet begins,” surmised Patsy. “Let’s follow the shore of the -inlet. It’s almost as wide as this bit of beach and doesn’t look snaky. -As long as we don’t get into the jungly part of the jungle we’re safe -enough.” - -“I think it will be all right for us to go up it a few rods if we stick -to the shore,” decided Bee. “It looks so pretty up there under those -trees that hang over the water. Truly, Dolores, we’re not thinking -about the treasure now. It certainly wasn’t buried along the shore of -the inlet. Why, the journal never mentioned an inlet. You go ahead and -we’ll follow. You know the ground.” - -Reassured by Bee’s words, Dolores first hunted about for a good-sized -snake stick, then reluctantly took the lead. The trio soon reached -the mouth of the inlet and continued up one side of it for a short -distance. The farther they went the narrower grew the sandy shore, -lying even with the jungle itself. Over the inlet hung a kind of white -haze, appearing to rise from the water. - -“We’re in the jungle and yet not in it,” cheerfully commented Patsy. -“How misty that water looks.” - -She had hardly spoken when Bee uttered a sharp exclamatory “Oh!” - -Walking ahead, Dolores had come upon a noisy puff adder curled up on -the shore. While it puffed its resentment at being disturbed, she -deftly caught it up on the end of the stick and tossed it, hissing, -into the water. - -“It is not harmful,” she explained, “yet I have the sorrow to see it, -because it is the snake, and all snakes are the sign of evil. Now we -should perhaps turn back. You have seen----” - -Her low, musical voice suddenly trailed off into a horrified gasp. -Simultaneously three pairs of eyes had glimpsed a terrifying something -rising up through the mist from the inlet’s quiet waters. As it -continued to rise they caught a fleeting impression of a grotesque, -flat, wrinkled head, composed chiefly of a heavy upper lip from which -depended a long trail of green. In its flipper-like arms the ugly -monster held a grayish object, clasped close to its vast, shapeless -body. - -“It is an evil thing!” shrieked Dolores. Panic-stricken, she reverted -to her old wood nymph tactics and bolted straight into the jungle, -Patsy and Beatrice following wildly after. - -“Dolores!” at last screamed Bee in desperation. “Wait for us!” - -The shrill appeal checked the badly scared wood nymph’s headlong flight -long enough for Bee and Patsy to come up with her. Breathless though -she was, Bee’s brief terror had apparently taken wing. She was now -smiling broadly. - -“We’re a set of geese!” she exclaimed. “Do you know what our horrible -monster is? I do. It’s nothing but a meek, harmless manatee!” - -“What, then, is a manatee?” inquired Dolores, in tones that indicated -doubt that so terrible a monster as she had just seen could possibly be -harmless. - -“Oh, it’s an animal something like a seal, only a lot larger, that -lives in the sea. It eats nothing but plants and grass and is as -harmless as a kitten. I’ve seen pictures of manatees, but never saw a -real one before,” explained Bee. “The minute after we started to run, -I guessed what it was we’d seen. They live in lagoons and the mouths -of rivers that run into the sea and inlets like this. The poor thing -was holding up its baby manatee for us to see and we never stopped to -admire it!” - -“Let’s go back and look at it,” said Patsy. “We’ve got to get out of -this jungle as soon as ever we can. We’ll have to go back the way we -came, I suppose. Auntie will be awfully cross with me for this. She’ll -blame me for the whole business.” - -“From here it is not so far to the jungle road,” informed Dolores. -“I know the little path to it. That will be best for us to take, I -believe.” - -“All right,” acquiesced Bee, “only do let’s stop and rest a little -first. That wild run of ours took most of my breath. There’s a nice, -clean place under that big tree. A five-minutes’ stop there won’t do us -any harm.” - -Pausing only to break off a leafy branch from a stunted sapling, Bee -walked over to the spot she had designated and energetically swept it, -a precautionary measure against lurking wood-ticks and scorpions. Then -she dropped down on the dry ground with a little sigh of relief. - -Dolores seated herself beside Bee. Patsy, however, made no move to sit -down. Instead, she stopped half way to the tree and gazed about her -with alert, interested eyes. - -“Look at that dandy big rock!” she exclaimed, pointing to a huge -boulder a little to the left of where she was standing. “I can climb -up on it as easy as anything. It will be a fine perch. No snakes or -scorpions or horrid old wood-ticks can get me up there.” - -The rock on which Patsy proposed to perch was perhaps five feet high -and correspondingly thick through. It measured at least eight feet -across. One end of it tapered down to a blunt point, thereby furnishing -Patsy an easy means of reaching its rather flat top. - -“Hurray!” was her jubilant exclamation when a moment later she stood on -top of the boulder and waved a triumphant hand to her companions. “The -world is mine!” - -Patsy made an elaborate bow, first to the right, then to the left. Her -eyes coming to rest on the pointed end of the boulder she called out: - -“What does this end of the rock make you think of?” - -“It reminds me of a rock,” jibed Bee. “I can’t see that it looks like -anything else.” - -“That’s because you’re not up here,” retorted Patsy. “Standing on the -top, looking down, this end is like an alligator’s head. No it isn’t, -either. It’s more like the head of a queer, prehistoric monster. Why, -girls!” Patsy’s voice suddenly rose to an excited squeal. “Come up -here, quick! I want to _show_ you something!” - -Quite in the dark regarding the cause of Patsy’s agitation, Bee and -Dolores lost no time, however, in scrambling up on the boulder. - -“Look!” Patsy pointed a shaking finger downward. “Can’t you see it? -Don’t you know what it’s like?” - -“It does look a little like one of those prehistoric monster’s heads,” -agreed Bee. - -“It looks like more than that. It looks like a _dragon’s_ head. Now -I know what Sir John Holden meant when he wrote, ‘And we buried the -treasure at the true sign of the Dragon, which was also His Majesty’s -ship sunk this day.’ He and his men came here with the box and -found this rock. He must have climbed to the top of it to take an -observation. He must have seen the queer resemblance of this end of the -rock to a dragon’s head. He thought it would be a good thing to bury -the box near it, because then they couldn’t mistake the place if they -came back again. I truly believe that somewhere in the ground around -this rock and close to it is the treasure of Las Golondrinas!” - - - - -CHAPTER XXVII - -THE TREASURE OF LAS GOLONDRINAS - - -Two mornings after Patsy’s amazing discovery of what she believed to -be the place where Sir John Holden had buried the treasure box, an -interested but not entirely credulous delegation set out for the jungle. - -It consisted of the Wayfarers, Dolores, Mr. and Miss Carroll, Uncle -Jemmy and two negro laborers. These last were laden with picks and -shovels. It had taken lengthy and insistent pleading on Patsy’s part to -bring about this much-desired state of affairs. - -Despite the fact that she had been soundly taken to task by her aunt -and her father for disobedience of orders, her reiterated plea was: -“You may scold me as much as you like, Dad, if only you’ll send -somebody to dig up the earth around Dragon Rock.” Thus Patsy had named -the big boulder. She was firmly convinced that her theory concerning -the location of the treasure would prove correct, if investigated -thoroughly. - -Demurring at first, the fascination of treasure hunting had finally -laid sufficient hold on Mr. Carroll to the point of consenting to humor -Patsy’s belief. Hence the party that, guided by Dolores, was now on its -way to Dragon Rock. - -To the Wayfarers it was the great hour of their young lives. They -regarded the expedition as the very height of adventure. Miss Martha -was also rather stirred up over it, though she maintained her usual -lofty attitude of pretending she was not. Dolores was solemnly -superstitious lest evil might overtake the whole party. Mr. Carroll -was frankly sceptical. As for the darkies, they had no inkling of what -it was all about. Neither were they in the least concerned. Sufficient -that Massa Carroll “wanted dem woods dug up.” - -Finally arrived at Dragon Rock, Patsy constituted herself master of -ceremonies, gravely escorting her father to the top of the boulder to -show him the dragon’s head. Mabel and Eleanor also clambered up to see -and were duly impressed. Miss Martha, however, had too much dignity for -rock climbing. - -[Illustration: “Look!” Patsy pointed a shaking finger downward. “Can’t -you see it?”] - -“Well, Patsy, I guess the boys might as well start digging,” was Mr. -Carroll’s opinion after a brief inspection of the ground around the -boulder. “Better stand well back, all of you. I’m going to have a -circular ditch dug around the rock, say about four feet wide and four -deep. If there is really a box buried there, it is probably buried -close to the rock. That’s the theory I’m going to proceed on.” - -With this, Mr. Carroll left her and went over to where Uncle Jemmy and -his two assistants stood leaning on their picks, indolently awaiting -his orders. Instructing them as to the width and depth of the ditch he -purposed they should dig, he set them to work and stood watching them -for a moment, a half-amused smile on his face. - -“We never thought we’d ever go treasure-hunting, did we, Martha?” he -remarked as he joined the interested group of spectators, drawn up a -little to the left of the rock. “It takes me back to the days when we -were youngsters and read dozens of treasure stories and wondered if we -should ever be lucky enough to stumble upon a real treasure.” - -“Judging from appearances, I should say our ideas haven’t changed -much,” dryly returned his sister. “We are as deep in the mud as Patsy -is in the mire.” - -“What are you going to do with this great treasure, when we find it, -Patsy?” humorously questioned her father. - -“Give half of it to Dolores, and then we’ll divide the other half among -us,” returned Patsy. - -This immediately evoked a chorus of laughing approval on the part of -everyone save Dolores, who protested stoutly against any such division. - -Meanwhile the three darkies had proceeded stolidly with their task. -The loose sandy soil made digging comparatively easy and before long a -shallow ditch circled the rock. As they continued to work at deepening -it, conversation among the watchers died out and a curious hush fell -upon the group, broken only by the forest sounds around them and the -dull grating of pick and shovel coming in contact with the sand. - -Patsy, however, could not resist going over to the ditch from time to -time for a close-up view of it. She was beginning to feel a keen sense -of disappointment. It looked as though her wonderful treasure theory -was about to tumble down. - -“I guess I was away off on my sign of the Dragon,” she ruefully -admitted, as she returned to her friends after a gloomy inspection of -the sandy ditch. “Where Uncle Jemmy’s digging, he’s got down at least -three feet and there’s not a sign of----” - -Patsy did not finish. A sudden hail from Uncle Jemmy of: “Ah reckon, -Massa Carroll, dey am suthin’ heah ’sides dirt!” caused her to dash -back to the ditch. Immediately the others hurried after her to the spot. - -Standing in the ditch the old man was tapping lightly with his shovel -on a partially uncovered oblong of wood that appeared to form the top -of a box or casket. As nearly as could be seen it was about three feet -long and eighteen inches wide. - -“Oh, Uncle Jemmy, do please hurry and dig it out!” implored Patsy, -almost tumbling into the ditch in her excitement. “It’s the treasure -box! It truly is! I was right after all about the sign of the Dragon!” - -“Move back, girls,” ordered Mr. Carroll. “Give Jemmy room to get at the -thing. This certainly dashes me.” - -Amid a babble of excited comment, the party moved back from the -opening, breathlessly watching Uncle Jemmy as he loosened the earth -around the box. It was so tightly packed as to suggest the labor of -purposeful hands. It needed but a little more effort on the part of the -old man to reveal what was undoubtedly a seaman’s chest, belonging to a -remote period. - -Next instant Mr. Carroll had stepped into the ditch beside the old man -and was bending over the old chest. Above, a circle of eager faces -peered down at him. The other two darkies had also dropped shovels and -rushed to the scene, mouths agape with curiosity, eyes wildly rolling. - -Grasping one end of the chest with both hands, Mr. Carroll received -a surprise. The lid of the chest moved under his hands. A concerted -murmur came from above as he lifted it free. Then the murmur welled to -a united shout. What the watchers had expected to see, none of them had -been prepared to state. What they really saw was something entirely -different from any idea each might have formed of the lost treasure of -Las Golondrinas. - -Following the shout that had ascended, came an instant of silence. It -was Patsy who first spoke. - -“Lift the box out of there, Dad,” she said in a rather unsteady tone. -“Let us have it up where we can get a good look at the wonderful -treasure.” - -Suddenly she burst into a peal of high, clear laughter which went the -rounds of the amazed treasure-seekers. Amid almost hysterical mirth the -chest was raised from its resting place. - -“It’s ready to fall to pieces,” commented Mr. Carroll, as he carefully -set the box on the ground. “It’s made of good tough wood or it wouldn’t -have held together all these years. Well, Patsy, what do you think of -your treasure now?” - -“Not much, except that Sir John Holden never put that stuff in there. -It tells its own story, though.” - -Kneeling beside the chest she reached into it and fished up a rudely -fashioned tomahawk, the blade of which was merely a sharp stone. - -“This, and this,” she again reached down and added a long, -wicked-looking arrow-head to the tomahawk, “tell me that the people who -really found the treasure were the Indians. Don’t you remember that Sir -John wrote in the journal that he didn’t doubt that there were Indians -lurking about in this jungle? They were watching when Sir John and his -men buried the treasure. After they’d gone, the Indians came here and -dug it up.” - -“It seems queer that they didn’t just throw the chest away instead of -burying it again with those queer weapons in it,” declared Mabel. - -The Wayfarers were now down on their knees in a little circle about the -chest, interestedly lifting and inspecting the few articles it still -contained. There was another tomahawk, a murderous-looking mace and -a number of stone arrow-heads of various sizes. This, then, was the -treasure of Las Golondrinas. For it, one Fereda had taken many lives, -and because of it, his descendants had wasted long years of bitter, -unavailing search. - -“It strikes me that the Indians of three hundred years ago liked to -play jokes,” was Mr. Carroll’s opinion. “That seems to be about the -only explanation of this stuff being here in the box. They took the -treasure and decided to leave a grim message for the other fellows if -they ever came back for their valuables. It was their way of saying -‘Stung!’ I guess.” - -“We’ve all been _stung_,” giggled Patsy. - -“Too bad it wasn’t that wicked old Camillo instead of nice harmless -people like us,” said Bee. - -“And we were going to give Dolores half of it,” mourned Patsy. “Now -we’ve nothing to give her except a war-club and a couple of old -tomahawks which she certainly won’t have any use for.” - -This raised a laugh in which even Dolores joined. She had looked unduly -solemn since the beginning of the expedition. Now for the first time -her sober face lighted into its wonderful radiant beauty. - -“For this I am glad,” she declared earnestly. “To find in this box gold -and jewels would have been the sorrow, because such treasure cost some -lives. So it was surely evil. Now we know all and thus Las Golondrinas -which was always the unlucky place becomes the lucky. So shall good -fortune stay here now, for always. - -“I have read in the books the stories of the princesses who, because -they were good and lovely, broke the wicked spells of the bad ones. -So is _querida_ Patsy, the dear princess, who because she would not -give up seeking the treasure, broke the spell and made all good again -here. There is now no more of mystery, so there will be no more of the -unhappiness. _Querida_ princess, I kiss your hand.” - -Carried away by her own fanciful comparisons, Dolores caught Patsy’s -hand and kissed it. - -“You’re the sweetest old dear alive.” Patsy wound her arms about -Dolores. “Since you will have it that I am a princess, I’ll add a -little more to the tale. Princess Patsy freed a wood nymph from a -wicked witch. Then the wood nymph was so grateful to the princess that -she promised never to go away from her. She said, ‘I will go to the far -North with you and the Señora Martha and the Señor Carroll and live in -your house and become your very own sister.’ Isn’t that what she said, -Dolores?” - -A flood of color rushed to Dolores’ cheeks. Her great dark eyes grew -misty. For a moment she stood silent, fighting for self-control. Then -she raised her eyes timidly to Miss Martha’s dignified countenance. It -was a smiling face now and very tender. Next her glance wandered to -Mr. Carroll as though in question. What she saw in his face was also -reassuring. - -“Isn’t that what she said, Dolores?” repeated Patsy encouragingly. - -“_Si_,” was the soft answer. - -And thus the future of Dolores the wood nymph was settled, thereby -proving that for her at least the era of good fortune had begun. - -“Dad,” began Patsy that evening at dinner, “when are we going on that -expedition into the Everglades? We’ve only two more weeks’ vacation, -you know.” - -“We can go next week, if you like,” amiably responded her father. - -“I was in hopes you had forgotten all about that, Patsy,” complained -her aunt. “Haven’t you had enough excitement? Why not settle down -quietly for the rest of the time we are to be here? I can’t say I enjoy -the prospect of such a jaunt.” - -“Why, Auntie!” Patsy stared across the table at Miss Martha in beaming -amazement. “Are _you_ really going with us? I thought you said----” - -“So I did,” cut off her aunt, “but I have changed my mind. I’ve -discovered that I can walk around in a jungle as well as the rest of -you. In fact, I prefer it to staying alone in this house. I shall never -feel easy until that hobgoblin collection of portraits is cleared out -of the gallery and the whole place renovated.” - -“That reminds me, Eulalie never answered our letter,” commented -Beatrice. - -“Well, we don’t care now. We solved all the mysteries of Las -Golondrinas for ourselves,” asserted Patsy. “We know all about the -painted cavalier, we captured the ghost, found a secret door, a secret -drawer and the treasure of Las Golondrinas. We’ve got the journal of -Sir John Holden. It’s a perfect jewel in itself, and I’ve found a -foster-sister. Can you beat it?” - -She cast a roguish glance at her aunt as she perpetrated this slangy -offense. - -“Our vacation’s almost over, but we’ve another one coming next summer,” -she continued. “We’re five Wayfarers now, and we’ll wayfare into -strange lands and find new and curious things. The Wayfarers can’t be -like other people, you know. They just have to do startling things -and live in startling places. They’ve proved that twice--and oh, joy! -Summer’s coming. When it does come and the Wayfarers take the road -again, who knows what wonderful things may happen to them?” - -How the Wayfarers spent the summer vacation, to which Patsy was already -looking forward with eager zest, will be told in the third volume of -this series entitled, “PATSY CARROLL IN THE GOLDEN WEST.” - -THE END - - - - -THE JANE ALLEN COLLEGE SERIES - -BY EDITH BANCROFT - -_12mo. Illustrated. With cover inlay and jacket in colors_ - -_Price per volume, $1.00_ - -[Illustration] - -_This series is a decided departure from the stories usually written of -life in the modern college for young women. An authoritative account of -the life of the college girl as it is lived today._ - -1. JANE ALLEN OF THE SUB TEAM - -When Jane Allen left her home in Montana, to go East to Wellington -College, she was sure that she could never learn to endure the -restrictions of college life. - -2. JANE ALLEN: RIGHT GUARD - -Jane Allen becomes a sophomore at Wellington College, but she has to -face a severe trial that requires all her courage and character. The -result is a triumph for being faithful to an ideal. - -3. JANE ALLEN: CENTER - -Lovable Jane Allen as Junior experiences delightful days of work and -play. Jane, and her chum, Judith, win leadership in class office, -social and athletic circles of Sophs and Juniors. - -4. JANE ALLEN: JUNIOR - -Jane Allen’s college experiences, as continued in “Jane Allen, Junior,” -afford the chance for a brilliant story. A rude, country girl forces -her way into Wellington under false pretenses. - -5. JANE ALLEN: SENIOR - -Jane and Judith undertake Social Service, wherein they find actual -problems more thrilling than were those of the “indoor sports.” - -_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - -CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York - - - - -THE PATSY CARROLL SERIES - -BY GRACE GORDON - -_12mo. Illustrated. With cover inlay and jacket in colors_ - -_Price per volume, $1.00_ - -[Illustration] - -_This fascinating series is permeated with the vibrant atmosphere -of the great outdoors. The vacations spent by Patsy Carroll and her -chums, the girl Wayfarers, in the north, east, south and west of the -wonderland of our country, comprise a succession of tales unsurpassed -in plot and action._ - -PATSY CARROLL AT WILDERNESS LODGE - -Patsy Carroll succeeds in coaxing her father to lease one of the -luxurious camps at Lake Placid, for the summer. Established at -Wilderness Lodge, the Wayfarers, as they call themselves, find they are -the center of a mystery which revolves about a missing will. How the -girls solve the mystery makes a splendid story. - -PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES - -Patsy Carroll and her three chums spend their Easter vacation in an -old mansion in Florida. An exciting mystery develops. It is solved by -a curious acrostic found by Patsy. This leads to very exciting and -satisfactory results, making a capital story. - -PATSY CARROLL IN THE GOLDEN WEST - -The Wayfarers journey to the dream city of the Movie World in the -Golden West, and there become a part of a famous film drama. - -PATSY CARROLL IN OLD NEW ENGLAND - -Set in the background of the Tercentenary of the landing of the -Pilgrims, celebrated in the year 1920, the story of Patsy Carroll -in Old New England offers a correct word picture of this historical -event and into it is woven a fascinating tale of the adventures of the -Wayfarers. - -_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - -CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York - - - - -THE MOTOR GIRLS SERIES - -By MARGARET PENROSE - -Author of the highly successful “Dorothy Dale Series” - -12mo. Illustrated. Price per volume, $1.00 postpaid. - -[Illustration] - -Since the enormous success of our “Motor Boys Series,” by Clarence -Young, we have been asked to get out a similar series for girls. No -one is better equipped to furnish these tales than Mrs. Penrose, who, -besides being an able writer, is an expert automobilist. - - THE MOTOR GIRLS - _or A Mystery of the Road_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS ON A TOUR - _or Keeping a Strange Promise_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS AT LOOKOUT BEACH - _or In Quest of the Runaways_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS THROUGH NEW ENGLAND - _or Held by the Gypsies_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CEDAR LAKE - _or The Hermit of Fern Island_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS ON THE COAST - _or The Waif from the Sea_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS ON CRYSTAL BAY - _or The Secret of the Red Oar_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS ON WATERS BLUE - _or The Strange Cruise of the Tartar_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS AT CAMP SURPRISE - _or The Cave in the Mountain_ - - THE MOTOR GIRLS IN THE MOUNTAINS - _or The Gypsy Girl’s Secret_ - -CUPPLES & LEON CO., Publishers, NEW YORK - - - - -THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES - -BY MARGARET PENROSE - -Author of “The Motor Girls Series,” “Radio Girls Series,” &c. - -_12 mo. Illustrated_ - -_Price per volume, $1.00, postpaid_ - -[Illustration] - -_Dorothy Dale is the daughter of an old Civil War veteran who is -running a weekly newspaper in a small Eastern town. Her sunny -disposition, her fun-loving ways and her trials and triumphs make -clean, interesting and fascinating reading. The Dorothy Dale Series is -one of the most popular series of books for girls ever published._ - - DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY - DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL - DOROTHY DALE’S GREAT SECRET - DOROTHY DALE AND HER CHUMS - DOROTHY DALE’S QUEER HOLIDAYS - DOROTHY DALE’S CAMPING DAYS - DOROTHY DALE’S SCHOOL RIVALS - DOROTHY DALE IN THE CITY - DOROTHY DALE’S PROMISE - DOROTHY DALE IN THE WEST - DOROTHY DALE’S STRANGE DISCOVERY - DOROTHY DALE’S ENGAGEMENT - DOROTHY DALE TO THE RESCUE - -_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - -CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York - - - - -THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES - -BY ALICE B. EMERSON - -[Illustration] - -_12mo. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_ - -_Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle. -Her adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest of -every reader. - -Ruth Fielding is a character that will live in juvenile fiction. - - 1. RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL - 2. RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL - 3. RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP - 4. RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT - 5. RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH - 6. RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND - 7. RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM - 8. RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES - 9. RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES - 10. RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE - 11. RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE - 12. RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE - 13. RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS - 14. RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT - 15. RUTH FIELDING HOMEWARD BOUND - 16. RUTH FIELDING DOWN EAST - 17. RUTH FIELDING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST - 18. RUTH FIELDING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE - 19. RUTH FIELDING TREASURE HUNTING - 20. RUTH FIELDING IN THE FAR NORTH - 21. RUTH FIELDING AT GOLDEN PASS - 22. RUTH FIELDING IN ALASKA - 23. RUTH FIELDING AND HER GREAT SCENARIO - -CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York - - - - -THE BETTY GORDON SERIES - -BY ALICE B. EMERSON - -_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors._ - -_Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid_ - -[Illustration] - - 1. BETTY GORDON AT BRAMBLE FARM - _or The Mystery of a Nobody_ - - At twelve Betty is left an orphan. - - 2. BETTY GORDON IN WASHINGTON - _or Strange Adventures in a Great City_ - - Betty goes to the National Capitol to find her uncle and - has several unusual adventures. - - 3. BETTY GORDON IN THE LAND OF OIL - _or The Farm That Was Worth a Fortune_ - - From Washington the scene is shifted to the great oil - fields of our country. A splendid picture of the oil field - operations of today. - - 4. BETTY GORDON AT BOARDING SCHOOL - _or The Treasure of Indian Chasm_ - - Seeking treasures of Indian Chasm makes interesting reading. - - 5. BETTY GORDON AT MOUNTAIN CAMP - _or The Mystery of Ida Bellethorne_ - - At Mountain Camp Betty found herself in the midst of a - mystery involving a girl whom she had previously met in - Washington. - - 6. BETTY GORDON AT OCEAN PARK - _or School Chums on the Boardwalk_ - - A glorious outing that Betty and her chums never forgot. - - 7. BETTY GORDON AND HER SCHOOL CHUMS - _or Bringing the Rebels to Terms_ - - Rebellious students, disliked teachers and mysterious - robberies make a fascinating story. - - 8. BETTY GORDON AT RAINBOW RANCH - _or Cowboy Joe’s Secret_ - - Betty and her chums have a grand time in the saddle. - - 9. BETTY GORDON IN MEXICAN WILDS - _or The Secret of the Mountains_ - - Betty receives a fake telegram and finds both Bob and - herself held for ransom in a mountain cave. - - 10. BETTY GORDON AND THE LOST PEARL - _or A Mystery of the Seaside_ - - Betty and her chums go to the ocean shore for a vacation - and there Betty becomes involved in the disappearance of a - string of pearls worth a fortune. - -_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_ - -CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York - - - - - -End of Project Gutenberg's Patsy Carroll Under Southern Skies, by Grace Gordon - -*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK PATSY CARROLL UNDER SOUTHERN SKIES *** - -***** This file should be named 53361-0.txt or 53361-0.zip ***** -This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: - http://www.gutenberg.org/5/3/3/6/53361/ - -Produced by Juliet Sutherland and the Online Distributed -Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United -States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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