diff options
| author | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:28:42 -0700 |
|---|---|---|
| committer | Roger Frank <rfrank@pglaf.org> | 2025-10-15 05:28:42 -0700 |
| commit | 0f51f47f2dde732e17cad88ed5b3556b8eafaa85 (patch) | |
| tree | 076f9ab8d2cec77bd94f2dc7452bdfc837c3556e | |
| -rw-r--r-- | .gitattributes | 3 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6998-8.txt | 7693 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6998-8.zip | bin | 0 -> 141692 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6998.txt | 7693 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | 6998.zip | bin | 0 -> 141651 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | LICENSE.txt | 11 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | README.md | 2 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/7spch10.txt | 8041 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/7spch10.zip | bin | 0 -> 144159 bytes | |||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/8spch10.txt | 8041 | ||||
| -rw-r--r-- | old/8spch10.zip | bin | 0 -> 144192 bytes |
11 files changed, 31484 insertions, 0 deletions
diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/6998-8.txt b/6998-8.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..bac5b94 --- /dev/null +++ b/6998-8.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7693 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +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: The Spanish Chest + +Author: Edna A. Brown + +Posting Date: September 14, 2014 [EBook #6998] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 20, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ISO-8859-1 + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + + + + +Produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "WHAT IS IS THIS TINY DOTTED LINE ACROSS THE GROUNDS?" +WIN INQUIRED] + + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + +BY + +EDNA A. BROWN + +ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN GOSS AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF FLORENCE AND CLARA + +who shared a winter spent in the Channel Islands and have now gone on a +longer journey. + + This little book I wrote for thee + Thy friendly eyes will never see. + It was not meant for critics' reading, + Nor for the world that scans unheeding. + For there are lines washed in with tears, + As well as nonsense, mocking fears. + Alas! thine eyes will never see + This little book I wrote for thee. + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Once upon a time a clever Japanese artist drew a sketch of a man who +sat industriously painting, when, to his great amazement, all the +little figures on his canvas came to life and began to walk out of the +picture. + +Something like that happened to this book. Books grow, you know, +because somebody thinks so hard about the different characters that +gradually they turn into lifelike people, who often insist on doing +things that weren't expected. When this especial book began to grow, +two persons who hadn't been invited, came and wanted to be in the story. + +The author politely remarked that they were grown-up and couldn't +expect to be in a book for young people. + +They said that they were not so very grown-up, only twenty-three and a +half and that they still knew how to play. + +Connie said that her home was in the Island of Jersey where the story +was going to be, and if she came in, she could make things much more +pleasant for the other characters. + +Max said that the story would go to smash without him, because he +should be needed at an important moment. + +So, because they looked most wistful and promised very earnestly to +behave as though they were nice children, and not be silly, the author +said they might have a share in the story. + +Connie at once offered to lend her collie. So that is how the beach dog +happens to be in the book. + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. AT ROSE VILLA + II. FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + III. ST. HELIER'S + IV. THE BEACH DOG + V. MONT ORGUEIL + VI. A RACE WITH THE TIDE + VII. MR. MAX + VIII. RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + IX. CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + X. THE BUN WORRY + XI. THE MANOR CAVE + XII. WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + XIII. ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + XIV. IN THE VAULTS + XV. THE HAUNTED ROOM + XVI. THE MANOR GHOST + XVII. THE DOTTED LINE + XVIII. ROGER THE MAROONED + XIX. AT CORBIERE + XX. WIN WONDERS + XXI. THE TWO CHAINS + XXII. THE CHEST ITSELF + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired + +The Village of St. Aubin's + +"For a long time people supposed they were called Martello towers from +the man who built them" + +Above and behind towered the ruined castle of Orgueil + +"Look there is a Jersey cow among the cabbages" + +"He'll come for us! He means us to climb this rock and wait" + +A most interesting little Church almost on the water's edge + +The old Norman gateway leading to Vinchelez Manor + +They came upon the loveliest of little beaches + +Plémont is the spot where the cable comes in from England + +Win's plan of the Manor cellars + +What was undoubtedly the Spanish Chest + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AT ROSE VILLA + + +The silence in the little drawing-room had lasted for some moments +before being broken by the man seated in the big wicker chair. His +dress indicated a clergyman of the Church of England, his face betrayed +lines of kindliness and forbearance, but its present expression showed +a perplexity not unmixed with disapproval. + +"I suppose, Miss Pearce," he said at length, "there is no use in trying +further to dissuade you from your plan, and of course it may work out +for the best. But--you will excuse me, my dear, for I have daughters of +my own--you seem too young to undertake a lodging-house. Now a position +as governess in a nice family--" + +Estelle Pearce interrupted him quickly. + +"There is Edith, you know. Should I try teaching, it would mean +separation from her. And I _must_ keep Edith with me. We have only each +other now. No, Mr. Angus, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for +your interest in us, but I am sure it is best to try my plan. You see I +have the house on my hands. When we came to Jersey, Father leased it +for the winter and I can't afford to forfeit thirty pounds. And there +is Nurse as well as Annette. Surely Nurse lends dignity to any family. +But I am older than you think," she ended with a smile and a pretty +blush. "I am twenty-four, Mr. Angus." + +A kindly look came into the eyes bent on her slender, black-robed +figure. "You do not look it, my dear," her visitor said after a pause. +"Well, with two good servants, the plan may be successful. Much depends +on what class of lodgers comes your way. I am told that Americans are +rather desirable inmates, that they pay well and are not exacting. If +you could let your rooms to some refined American ladies, things might +adjust themselves very satisfactorily. To be sure, few Americans visit +the Channel Islands; they are given to wandering farther afield. But I +will speak of your plans to the postmaster and one or two others. It +might be advisable to put a card in the circulating library at St. +Helier's. Rest assured that both Mrs. Angus and I will do all we can +for your father's girls. Lionel and I were good friends at Oxford +though we saw so little of each other afterwards. I did not think when +he wrote me scarcely six weeks ago that it was to be Hail and Farewell. + +"I must go," he added quickly, seeing that Estelle's eyes were +brimming. "Where is Edith? I hoped to see her also." + +"She has gone to the sands," replied Estelle. "It is dull for her, +moping here, so I sent her for an errand and told her to run down and +see whether the tide had turned. She begins school on Monday." + +Mr. Angus took his leave, and still looking doubtful, went down the +steps of Rose Villa, a quaint little house, covered with tinted +plaster, as is the pretty custom of the Channel Islands, and appearing +even to a masculine ignorance of details much more neat and attractive +than its neighbors. + +So Mr. Angus thought, as he turned from his puzzled survey of its +exterior, to walk slowly down the short street at the end of which +glittered the waters of the English Channel. + +The tide was on the turn but the expanse of sandy beach lay yet broad. +Far toward St. Helier's the curve of the port showed the high sea-wall, +for this same innocent-looking tide that ebbs and leaves behind miles +of sandy stretches and rocks, can return with force sufficient to dash +over even the lofty breakwater and surprise the placid Jerseymen at +times, by scattering large stones in the esplanade. + +But here at St. Aubin's the curve of Noirmont Point sheltered the +little town from the full force of the waves. Dr. Angus looked from the +end of Noirmont Terrace straight down to the sands and saw in the +distance the sunset air filled with wheeling gulls, a group of boys +playing football on the wide level, and somewhat nearer, a slender girl +of fourteen, dressed in black, with long fair hair floating over her +shoulders. + +She was walking slowly and the kind clergyman attributed her leisurely +pace to dejection, but as a matter of fact, Edith was feeling quite +happy and much interested in the tiny bright yellow snail shells the +beach was providing for entertainment. She had been spared all that was +possible of the depression and sorrow of the past weeks. Daddy had been +poorly for years and Edith could not remember him as ever well and +strong. His loss affected her more because it grieved Estelle, the only +mother she had known. + +There had been a few sad confused days when nothing seemed real, and +strangers had been kind in a way that Estelle accepted with a sort of +resentful patience, plain even to Edith. But since then, life had been +rather cheerful, with a great deal of attention from Nurse, and +Estelle's time almost wholly given to her. It was gratifying to share +Sister's confidence and to help arrange the rooms attractively for the +possible delightful people who ought to come to lodge with them. + +That they might not be delightful, Sister would not admit for a moment, +so of course they would be. St. Aubin's itself was far more desirable +as a place of residence than the noisy Exeter street where Edith had +spent much of her life. Far back in the past she could just remember a +charming Surrey village with a pretty vine-covered church where Daddy +used to preach. She could recall exactly how her fat legs dangled +helplessly from the high pew seat. Directly behind sat a stout farmer +with four sons. The boys made faces at Edith on the sly; their mother +sometimes gave her peppermints. + +Edith's thoughts had wandered rather far afield, though still alert for +any gleam of the yellow shells, when she arrived opposite Noirmont +Terrace and reluctantly left the sands. A light shone from the +drawing-room and she knew that Annette would be bringing in supper, and +Sister would be found poring over a little account book with a "don't +speak just now" look in her eyes. + +But Estelle proved to be waiting at the open door and as Edith began to +run on catching sight of her, she thought that Sister somehow looked +happier. + +"Did you meet Mr. Angus?" Estelle inquired. "He went toward the sands." + +"I saw him in the distance," replied Edith. "Why, Star, you look +like--like a star," she ended laughing. "Was Mr. Angus agreeable? Did +he say you oughtn't to take people?" + +"I think he doesn't wholly disapprove now," answered Estelle gently. +"And he is going to do what he can toward sending pleasant lodgers. +Wouldn't it be nice if some dear old ladies should come and want to +stay with us all winter?" + +"Just ladies?" queried Edith. "Do they have to be old?" + +"I shouldn't take gentlemen," said Estelle. "Nurse wouldn't approve, +and ladies would be pleasanter. Perhaps there might be a young mother +and some ducky little children. How would you like that?" + +"Much better," responded Edith. "I don't want any fussy old freaks with +false fronts and shawls. They'd expect to be read aloud to and waited +on within an inch of their lives. I'd like some babies to take down to +dig and paddle. Do say you'll have children, Sister." + +"Well, as a matter of fact, I think we'll have to take the people who +want to come," replied Estelle sensibly. "Let's just hope that somebody +very nice will think we'd be nice to stay with. Come in now, Edith. +Annette has shrimps for supper and after we are finished, we will put a +card in the window and see what happens next." + +But the little white card that most modestly announced "Lodgings" +remained in the drawing-room casement for a week, and every day as +Edith came from school, she looked anxiously to see whether it was +gone. Its absence would mean that some one had looked at the rooms with +approval. + +One afternoon as she came up the Terrace, the sight of an unknown face +at an upper window sent a thrill down her back. The card was yet in +evidence but the presence of strangers indicated that some one had felt +attracted by Rose Villa. Yes, there was a cab at the door. + +As Edith entered quietly a voice struck her ear, struck it +unpleasantly, an English voice, high-pitched and rather supercilious. + +"I should require to see your kitchen, Miss Pearce, and your servants. +I am most particular. In fact, I must be free at any time to inspect +the scullery. There must be a definite arrangement about Marmaduke's +meals. He likes a light breakfast with plenty of cream, and for dinner +a chop or a bit of chicken. His dinner must be served with my luncheon. +Then for tea--" + +"I am afraid my servants would be unwilling to cook especially for a +dog," interposed Estelle's voice, courteous but with a chilling tone +Edith had never suspected it possessed. "It is useless for you to +consider the lodgings." + +"Oh, your rooms are very passable," said the voice. "Small, of course, +and underfurnished, but some pictures and antimacassars would take off +that bare look. And Marmaduke is adorable. Your cook would soon be +devotion itself. Why, at my last lodgings--" + +"I really cannot undertake the care of a pet animal," said Estelle +firmly. "I hope to have other lodgers and his presence might be +objectionable to them. You will excuse me now, as I have an engagement. +I will ring for Nurse to show you out." + +"Well, really, Miss Pearce," began the voice, but Nurse appeared on the +scene so promptly that one might have suspected her of being all the +time within hearing distance. Edith scuttled into the drawing-room, +just avoiding a very large, over-dressed person, who came ponderously +down the stairs, a moppy white dog festooned over one arm. Her face was +red and perspiring and she seemed to be indignantly struggling with +feelings too strong for words. Edith could not suppress a stifled laugh +as she was ushered from the house in Nurse's grandest manner. + +Emerging from her refuge, Edith saw Estelle on the landing, her face +pale except for a tiny red spot on either cheek, her eyes unnaturally +bright. + +"My word, Star!" said Edith, giggling, "didn't you get rid of her +finely? What a fearful person!" + +"She was impossible," said Estelle. "Oh, Nurse," she exclaimed +impetuously, seeing the old family servant still lingering in the hall, +"do you suppose only people like that will want lodgings?" + +"No, indeed, my lamb," replied Nurse, casting a glance of satisfaction +after the cab disappearing from the terrace. "Don't you fret, Miss +Star, and don't you take the first people who come. Just bide your +time, and there'll be some quality who will be what you ought to have." + +"Mr. Angus thought Americans might be rather desirable," said Estelle +hesitatingly. To prepare Nurse for such a possibility might be wise. + +Nurse pursed her lips significantly. "Well, it's not for me to disagree +with the reverend gentleman," she remarked. "And I haven't been in +contact with Americans. No doubt they're well enough in their country, +but I hope, Miss Star, it'll be some of our people that want to come. +Now an elderly couple or some middle-aged ladies would be quite +suitable and proper, but Americans--Well, I don't know." + +Nurse shook her head dubiously as she left the room. Edith came to put +her arms about Estelle. + +"What a fearful woman that was!" she repeated, drawing her sister +toward the window. "Poor Star, I'm sorry you had to talk to her. Rooms +underfurnished, indeed! And you tried so hard not to have them crowded +and messed with frightful crocheted wool things. She'd want a tidy on +every chair and extra ones for Sunday. And you've made things so +pretty, Star!" + +"We think so, don't we!" replied Estelle, kissing her little comforter. +"Somebody may yet come who will agree with us. We won't give up hope." + +Estelle was silent for a moment. She did not want Edith to suspect how +very necessary it was that those rooms should prove attractive to +somebody. + +"Is that the Southampton boat just rounding the point?" she added. +"She's extremely late." + +"They must have had a rough passage," agreed Edith, looking at the +steamer ploughing into the smooth water of St. Aubin's bay. "Let's put +a wish on her, Star. Let's wish, _hard_, that she has on board the +nicest people that ever were and that they're coming straight out here +and say they'd like to spend the winter with us!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + + +"I positively refuse," said Mrs. Thayne, "to go out again to-day. And I +wish you wouldn't go either, Wingate," she added to her older son. +"That steamer trip was frightful. What a night we did have! As for you +two," she went on to Frances and Roger, "I suppose you won't be happy +until you are off for an exploring expedition, but I don't see how you +can feel like it." + +"Why, Mother, I wasn't seasick," said Roger, a handsome, +mischievous-looking boy about twelve. "I slept like a log till I heard +Win being--hmm--unhappy. That woke me but I turned over and didn't know +anything more till daylight." + +"I shouldn't have been sick if you hadn't begun it, Mother," observed +Frances, turning from the window overlooking the esplanade. "I feel all +right now. Mayn't Roger and I go down on the beach or take a car ride?" +she asked, eagerly. + +"I don't imagine there are any electric cars on the island," said Mrs. +Thayne. + +"But out here is a funny little steam tram marked St. Aubin's," +interposed Frances. "It's going somewhere. Look at the dinky cars with +a kind of balcony and that speck of an engine." + +"That's a pony engine for sure," drawled Win, joining his sister at the +window. Except that he was thin and fragile no one could have known +from Win's clever, merry dark face, how greatly he was handicapped by a +serious heart trouble. But the contrast between his tall, loosely-knit +figure and Fran's compact little person brought a wistful expression +into Mrs. Thayne's observant eyes. Win was seventeen and had never been +able to play as other boys did. Probably all his life would be +different, yet he was so plucky and brave over his limitations. + +"There's the _Lydia_ down in the harbor," exclaimed Frances. "My, +didn't she wiggle around last night!" + + "Lydia, Lydia, why dost thou tremble? + Answer me true. + Traveler, traveler, I'll not dissemble, + 'Tis but the screw. + + Lydia, Lydia, why this commotion? + Answer me quick. + Traveler, traveler, 'tis but a notion. + You must be sick!" + +drawled Win, following the direction of his sister's glance. + +"Win, how bright of you!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could think of +things like that. But, Mother, mayn't we go out and take that little +train wherever it's going?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," agreed Mrs. Thayne. "Take care of Fran, Roger, and +don't get separated. You might notice any attractive places offering +lodgings. We don't want to stay in this hotel all winter and the sooner +we are settled the better." + +"Come along, Fran," exclaimed Roger. "That infant train is getting a +move on." + +The two tore impetuously from the sitting-room. "Such energy!" Mrs. +Thayne remarked with a sigh. "Will you lie down here, Win?" + +"No, I think I'll write a bit," replied her son. "I'm not so done up as +you are, Mother." + +"Why Roger wasn't ill after the strange combination of food he ate at +Winchester last evening is a miracle," remarked Mrs. Thayne. "Were you +planning to write to Father?" + +"I will," replied her son. "Mother, do go and rest. You look like the +latter end of a wasted life. But I hope the kids will light on some +lodgings. I've had enough of hotels. Nothing on earth is so deadly dull +and so deadly respectable as a first-class English hotel." + +"Why, of course it is respectable," said Mrs. Thayne, looking rather +puzzled. + +"Thunder, yes! But it's so _fearfully_ proper! That head-waiter +down-stairs, with his side-whiskers and his velvet tread and his +confidential voice--why, when he came to take my order, I wanted to +pull his hair or do something to turn him into a human being." + +Mrs. Thayne smiled. Much as she loved Win, she did not always +understand him. Shut out from active sports, Win had early taken refuge +in the world of books and his quick perceptions were often those of a +mature mind. + +When his mother had gone into her room, Win settled himself by the west +window overlooking the bay where Castle Elizabeth rose on its rock in +the middle distance. Win looked at it approvingly, promising himself +later the fun of finding out its history and present use. Just now, he +would devote himself to getting the family journal up to date for +Father, on duty with the _Philadelphia_, somewhere near Constantinople. +It was to be on the same side of the Atlantic that the Thaynes had come +to England and a slight attack of bronchitis on Win's part had resulted +in this additional trip. Jersey was reported to possess a mild climate +as well as good schools where Roger and Frances might have new and +probably interesting experiences. Win himself was not equal to school +routine, but there would doubtless be some tutor available to give him +an hour or two every day, a pleasant and easy task for some young man, +for Win was always eager to study when health permitted. + +Deep in his heart was the ever-present regret that he could not enter +Annapolis nor follow in the footsteps of his father, but if an elder +brother had any influence, Roger was going into the naval service. At +present, Roger showed no inclination to such a future, and was but +mildly interested in his father's career, but Captain Thayne and Win +shared an unspoken hope that a change would come with the passing years. + +For some time after finishing his letter, Win sat with eyes on Castle +Elizabeth, idly speculating about the coming winter. This old-world +island, with its differing customs and ancient traditions seemed a +place where most interesting things might happen, a land of romance and +fairy gold, offering possibilities of strange adventure. Just because +Win was debarred from most boyish fun, his mind turned eagerly to deeds +of daring. Visions of pirates, smugglers, and buried hoards often +danced through his brain, and the least suggestion of any mystery was +enough to excite his keen interest. That hoary old castle on its island +proved a source of many romantic ideas to Win, who presently fell into +a day-dream. + +The sun set in crimson splendor behind the castle towers and Win's +reverie changed to genuine slumber from which he was roused by the +reappearance of Mrs. Thayne. + +"I'm sorry I waked you," she said. "I didn't notice that you were +asleep." + +"Why, I didn't know I was," said Win lazily. "I must have been dreaming +and yet I thought I was awake. It was such an odd dream about a young +man or rather a boy, in queer clothes ornamented with silver buttons +and wearing his hair in curls over his shoulders. I was following him +somewhere through a passage, very dark and narrow. Then suddenly we +were in a room with a big fireplace and books around the walls. It was +a beautiful old room but I never remember seeing a place like it. Some +other people came, all men, also in queer clothes and very quiet and +serious. On a table was food of some kind and this boy I had been +following began to eat but the others stood about, apparently +consulting over something. Then I woke. Wasn't it a crazy dream? Oh, +the reason we were in that passage was because something was lost. I +don't know what it was nor how I knew it was lost but we were trying to +find it." + +"That was odd. You must have read something that suggested it," Mrs. +Thayne began, just as Fran and Roger came into the room, bursting with +suppressed excitement. For a few moments they talked in a duet. + +"Mother, it's lovely over at St. Aubin's, ever so much nicer than +here," Fran began breathlessly, her brown eyes sparkling. "And such a +funny little train running along the esplanade!" + +"You couldn't believe there was such a beach," put in Roger. "Why, the +tide goes out forever, clear to the horizon! Fellows were playing +football down there, two games. How much does this tide rise, Win?" + +"This book I've been reading says forty feet," replied his brother. + +"And the houses!" Fran went on breathlessly, "all colors, cream and +brown and blue and pink." + +"Oh, draw it mild, Sis," interrupted Win. "I should admire a pink +house." + +"It's out there," said Frances, "and what's more, it's very pretty!" + +"That's right," corroborated Roger. "Wouldn't a pink house look +something fierce at home? But here it's swell and kind of--of +appropriate," he ended lamely. + +"And flowers, Mother," Frances took up the tale. "_Hedges_ of fuchsia, +real live tall hedges, not measly little potted plants. Geraniums as +tall as I am, and ever so many roses and violets. Oh, and we've found +some lodgings. You're to see them to-morrow." + +"Frances!" exclaimed her horrified mother. "You haven't been in strange +houses, inspecting rooms?" + +"Why, you told us to look for them, didn't you, Mother?" replied her +astonished and literal daughter. "Roger was with me. It was perfectly +all right." + +"I simply meant you to notice from the outside any attractive houses +that advertised lodgings," explained Mrs. Thayne. "Well--" she ended +helplessly, "I suppose there's no harm done." + +"Why, no," Frances agreed. "What could happen? Let me tell you about +them. We took the baby cars and got off at St. Aubin's because that +especial train didn't go any farther. It's lovely there, Mother, and +plenty of lodgings to let. We walked along and saw one house that +looked pleasant, so we went up and rang and a maid showed us into a +parlor. We knew right off we didn't want to come there, because the +place was so dark and stuffy and there were fourteen hundred family +photographs and knit woolen mats and such things around. I was going to +sit down but just as I got near the chair,--it was rather dark, you +see,--something said 'Hello!' and there was a horrid great parrot +sitting on the back of the chair. I jumped about a foot." + +"You screamed, too," said Roger. + +"I may have exclaimed," admitted Frances judicially. "It was not a +scream. If I had yelled, you would have known it. Well, a messy old +woman came who called me 'dear,' but when I said I didn't believe my +mother would care for the rooms, she got huffy and said she was +accustomed to rent her rooms to ladies, only she pronounced it _lydies_. + +"We left that place," went on Frances, paying no attention to the look +of silent endurance on her mother's face, "and walked some distance +without seeing anything we liked. But suddenly we came to a tiny street +going down to the sea. There were only six houses and one had a card in +the window. They faced the bay and just big rocks were on the other +side of the street. Now, listen." + +Frances went on dramatically. "The house with the card was the dearest +thing, all cream-color and green, with a pink rambler rose perfectly +enormous, growing 'way up to the eaves, and a rough roof of red tiles +and steep gables. The windows were that dinky kind that open outward +and had little bits of panes. Everything was clean as clean, the steps +and the curtains and the glass. While we were looking, the door opened +and a girl came out. She was about my age, Mother, but _so_ pretty, +with gray eyes and yellow hair and _such_ a complexion. I'd give +anything to look like her." + +Frances shook her head with disapproval over her own brown hair and +eyes. To be sure the one was curly and the others straightforward and +earnest, while her gipsy little face and figure were considered +attractive by most people and by those who loved her, very satisfactory +indeed. + +"Well, this girl came out and we sort of smiled at each other and I +asked if that card meant that there were rooms to let. I told her you +were seasick, and at the hotel, and my brother and I saw the card and +we were looking for lodgings and all the rest, you know. She said yes, +there were rooms and she'd call Sister. + +"Sister came and she was a love, tall and sweet and just beautiful, +only she looked sad and wore a black dress. The younger girl went away +but Sister showed us the rooms and they are just what we'd like, I'm +sure. There wasn't any messy wool stuff nor ugly vases,--I forgot to +mention that in the other place there were eight pair of vases on the +mantel, truly, for Roger counted them. These rooms were clean and +rather bare, with painted floors and washable rugs and fresh curtains +and flowers, just one vase in each room and a clear glass vase at that. +The beds had iron frames and good springs and mattresses, for I punched +them to see. Aren't you proud to think I knew enough to do that?" Fran +interrupted her story. + +"Two bedrooms had the furniture painted white and the rest had some old +mahogany," she went on. + +"How many rooms were there?" inquired Mrs. Thayne, attracted by Fran's +enthusiasm and interested by the pleasant picture she was describing. + +"On the first floor is the drawing-room, which will be at our +disposal," began Frances, evidently quoting "Sister." "It's pretty and +sweet, Mother dear, very simple with a little upright piano and quite a +number of books and a fireplace. Just behind is a room where we can +have our meals. We can use as many bedrooms as we like; there are five +and Sister said if we wished, one could be made into an +up-stairs-sitting-room. The bathroom was really up-to-date, and looking +_very_ clean." + +"And how much does Sister expect for all this?" inquired her mother. + +"Well," admitted Frances, "I asked and she smiled so sweetly and said +it depended upon how much service we required and whether we wanted to +do our own marketing and perhaps it would be better to discuss the +terms after you saw whether you liked the rooms. I told her we were +Americans and she said yes, she had thought so. I don't see why," +Frances ended reflectively. + +Win gave a chuckle. "Easy enough to guess," he remarked. "I imagine +English girls of fourteen don't go around on their own hook, engaging +lodgings for the family." + +"I am almost fifteen," said his sister severely. "And I understood that +Mother wanted me to look for rooms, so I did, but of course she will +make the final arrangements. I thanked Sister and said I'd try to bring +my mother in the morning, for I felt sure she would like the rooms. And +Sister said she'd be very glad to have young people in the house and +that if you wanted references, Mother, you could apply to some +clergyman,--I forget his name,--but I know it's all right. You'll think +so, too, the minute you see Sister. I fell in love with her. Oh, her +name is Pearce, Estelle Pearce. She gave me her card." + +Frances produced it. "You will come and see the rooms to-morrow, won't +you, Mother? Win can come too, for that tiny train is very comfortable +and the walk to the house is short. Rose Villa, Noirmont Terrace. Isn't +that a sweet name?" + +[Illustration: THE VILLAGE OF ST. AUBIN'S] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ST. HELIER'S + + +The moment she entered Rose Villa, Mrs. Thayne heartily agreed with +Frances as to its desirability. To Estelle's amazement, she proceeded +to engage all the rooms, offering to pay for the privilege of having +the whole house for her family. + +This was better fortune than Estelle had dreamed of and scarcely two +days passed before she realized that a kindly star was favoring her. +Frances and Edith became friends on the spot; Nurse, who might have +proved a problem, took an instant fancy to delicate Win and started on +a course of coddling that luckily amused Win quite as much as it +satisfied Nurse. Blunt, downright Roger appealed especially to Estelle, +who also found Mrs. Thayne charming. + +"Aren't we in luck, little sister?" she confided to Edith. "Even our +wildest expectations couldn't have pictured anything more pleasant than +this. If they only stop the winter! But where are you going now?" + +"On the sands with the others," said Edith happily. "Fran asked me. The +boys have gone ahead to the end of the terrace." + +Win was singing softly to himself as he stood looking down upon the +sandy beach that stretched for miles towards St. Helier's at the left, +and on the right, though showing more warm red granite rocks, to +Noirmont Point. "Britannia needs no bulwarks, no towers along the +steeps," he hummed just above his breath. + +"There's a tower right in front of you," commented Roger, between the +throwing of two stones. + +Win cast a glance at the deserted castle of St. Aubin's, a miniature +Castle Elizabeth on its isolated rock off shore, another at the +martello tower on the point. + +"I was talking to a man about those little towers," he remarked. "One +can be rented for a pound a year, and there are thirty-two of them +around the island. But they didn't amount to much when it came to +actual fighting. The rocks and tides are what makes Jersey safe. That's +what I meant by this place needing no bulwarks." + +"One of those martello towers would make a fine wireless station," +commented Roger. "Why did they build them if they aren't any use?" + +"They thought they were going to be," replied Win, looking to see +whether the girls were coming. "About two centuries ago there was a +battle down in the Mediterranean that was decided by the possession of +one of those little towers, so England built a good many. But they +weren't much use after all." + +"I never knew that before," said Edith, as she and Frances joined the +boys. + +"England wasn't the only nation that was taken in by them," Win went +on. "Italy has a number on her southern coast. For a long time people +supposed they were called martello towers from the man who built them, +but I found in a book that the name came from a vine that grew over +this one in Corsica. Before many moons pass I'm going to get into one +of them. Smugglers must have used them and there may be things left +behind." + +Frances cast a glance at the tower in question. At first inspection it +looked like a stony mushroom sprouting from the rocks. Some distance +above the base opened a rough entrance and a low parapet encircled the +top. To scramble over the exposed rocks to the base of this especial +tower appeared a hard climb, to say nothing of the difficulties of +ascending. The feat looked beyond Win's accomplishment but Frances said +nothing. To argue with Win about whether he could or ought to attempt +anything was never wise. Left to himself he would stop within the +bounds of prudence but resented solicitude from others. + +"Well, where are we going?" she asked. + +"Let's take the train into St. Helier's," suggested Win. "We've +scarcely seen the town." + +Edith looked doubtful. "I ought to ask Sister," she said. "Star thought +we were just going on the sands." + +"And so we are," replied Roger. "We're taking a train that runs on the +sands," he mimicked in a teasing, boyish way. "Why don't you call it a +beach?" + +"Because it _is_ sands," retorted Edith with a pretty flash of spirit +that Roger already delighted to arouse. "The tram-line is far beyond +the shingle." + +[Illustration: "FOR A LONG TIME PEOPLE SUPPOSED THEY WERE CALLED +MARTELLO TOWERS FROM THE MAN WHO BUILT THEM."] + +"Shingle!" gasped Roger, staring in that direction. "I don't see any." + +"The pebbles, cobbles, beyond the sands," explained Edith. + +"Oh, excuse _me_," chuckled Roger. "I thought they were plain stones. +Didn't see anything particularly wooden about them." + +Edith looked at him. A few days had made her feel very well acquainted +with these friendly young people, but Roger was often surprising. + +"Oh, cut it short, Roger," drawled Win. "Run back, will you, and tell +Mother that we want to go into town. She won't care and I don't believe +Miss Estelle will either, but we ought to mention it. Hustle, because I +think that train is coming." + +Roger obligingly bolted back, received a nod of possible comprehension +from a mother very much absorbed in an important letter, and arrived +just as the others boarded the steam tram, a funny affair with a kind +of balcony along one side where people who preferred the air could stay +instead of going inside. Edith and Frances exchanged smiles of +happiness. + +"I haven't been to St. Helier's often," Edith confided. "Just to market +once with Nurse, and once to choose curtains with Sister. We thought +the drapers' shops quite excellent." + +Fran's attention was held for an instant, but after all it seemed only +reasonable that draperies should be purchased at a draper's. + +"Isn't the beach lovely?" she confided. "It would be fun to walk back." + +"We might," said Edith. "Would Win care if we did? Or could he do it +too?" + +"He couldn't walk so far," said Fran, "but he won't mind if we want to. +Win is angelic about not stopping us from doing things he can't do +himself." + +"Has he always had to be so careful?" asked Edith. She and Frances sat +at a little distance from the boys. Roger was peering around into the +cab of the tiny engine; Win watched the water as it broke on the beach. + +"Always," said Frances. "He was just a tiny baby when they knew +something was wrong with his heart. It isn't painful and may never be +any worse. Only he must take great care not to get over-tired. Ever so +many doctors have seen him and they all say the same thing,--that if he +is prudent and never does too much, he may outlive us all. Just now in +London, he and Mother went to a specialist but all he told Win was that +he must cultivate the art of being lazy. Mother says the worst was when +he was too little to realize that he mustn't do things. Now, of course, +he understands and takes care of himself. It's hard on Win but Mother +says it's good for Roger and me. It does make Roger more thoughtful. He +says anything he likes to Win and pretends to tease him, but if you +notice, you'll see that he does every single thing Win wants and always +looks to see if he's all right. It helps me too, for I'm ashamed to +fuss over trifles when Win has so much to bear." + +The little tram was traveling at a moderate pace toward town, stopping +at several tiny stations where more and more people entered. + +"I can't get used to hearing people talk French," said Frances. "It +seems so odd when Jersey is a part of England." + +"The French spoken here isn't that of Paris," remarked her brother, +rising from his seat. "It's Norman French." + +"I know I can't understand it easily," confessed Edith, "and Sister has +always taken pains to teach me. I'm glad it isn't all my fault." + +The train came to a stand on the esplanade of St. Helier's. The four +stopped to look over the sea-wall, to the beach far below, across to +the long stone piers forming the artificial sea basin and up to Fort +Regent overhanging the town like a war-cloud. + +"That fort looks stuck on the cliff like a swallow's nest," commented +Roger. "Look, there's a snow-white sea-gull!" + +"There's another with a black tail," exclaimed Edith. "Oh, aren't they +beautiful!" + +"In the United States is a city that put up a monument to the +sea-gulls," said Win. "Salt Lake City, ever so far inland. A fearful +plague of grasshoppers ate everything green and turned the place into a +desert. They came the second summer, but something else came too. Over +the Rocky Mountains, away from the Pacific Ocean, flew a great flock of +gulls and ate the grasshoppers. Their coming seemed so like a miracle +that the city erected a beautiful monument to them." + +"Did they ever come again?" asked Edith, greatly impressed. + +"No," said Win. "Just that once." + +"Without doubt it was a miracle," said Edith so reverently that the +three looked at her. + +Roger gave a little snort, started to say something, looked again at +Edith's rapt face and changed his mind. "Boston ought to put up a +monument, too," he remarked at length. "Miracles happen every summer in +Boston. The city swelters with the mercury out of sight and then along +steps the east wind. In ten minutes, everybody puts on coats and stops +drinking ice-water. Some tidy miracle-worker, our east wind." + +"Especially in winter," said Win laughing. "I'm afraid a monument to +the east wind wouldn't be popular along in January. Shall we come on? +Let's go up this street. I've a map, but things look rather crooked, so +we'd better keep together." + +The quartette started, Roger and Win leading the way. St. Helier's +streets are indeed crooked, and paved with cobble stones of alarming +size and sonorous qualities. Numerous men and boys tramped along in +wooden sabots which made a most unearthly clatter. Even little girls +wore them, though otherwise their dress was not unusual. Outside one +shop hung many of the clumsy foot-gear, the price explaining their +evident popularity. + +Signs over shops were as often French as English and sometimes both. At +one corner, the party met a man ringing a bell and uttering a +proclamation in French. At the next corner he stopped to announce it in +English and the interested boys found that he was advertising a public +auction. No one else seemed in the least attentive to his remarks. + +Fifteen minutes' loitering through narrow, ill-paved streets, crowded +with hurrying people and a great number of dogs, brought the four to an +open square of irregular shape with a gilded statue at one end. Its +curious draperies caught Win's observant eye and he walked around it +thoughtfully. + +"What a very queer costume!" he remarked as he completed his circuit. +"What is it doing on a statue of an English king?" + +Win spoke aloud, not noticing that the others were beyond hearing, but +his inquiry was answered by a gentleman who chanced to be passing. + +"It is a Roman statue," he volunteered, "rescued from a shipwreck. The +thrifty Jerseymen considered it too good to be wasted, so they gilded +it and placed it here in the Royal Square in honor of George the +Second." + +Win smiled as he turned to the speaker, a tall, thin Englishman in +riding dress. His bearing suggested a military training and a second +glance showed an empty coat-sleeve. + +"This group of buildings may interest you," the speaker added. "They +contain the Court House, Parliament rooms and a small public library." + +Touching his riding-crop to his hat in response to Win's thanks, he +turned into a side street where a young man mounted on a handsome horse +sat holding the bridle of another. With interest Win watched them ride +away. Even from a distance, something about the younger man struck a +chord of recollection in Win's usually reliable memory. He was almost +certain that somewhere, at some time, they had met. Yet he could not +think of any American acquaintance of that age who would be at all +likely to be riding about the island of Jersey, his companion not only +an Englishman, but obviously an ex-army officer. + +Still, the impression of familiarity was strong and Win was yet +wondering about it as he slowly climbed the stairs leading to the +public library. + +Protesting somewhat, the others followed to look at a rather uninviting +room, appealing to them far less than to Win, already on the trail for +local history. The attendant proved obliging and after supplying Win +with several books brought out a shabby brown volume. + +"We have one of your writers on our shelves," he remarked with a smile, +offering the book to Frances. + +"Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes," she read aloud. "Haven't you any +other American authors?" she demanded in amazement. "And how did you +know I was an American?" + +The librarian shook his head. "I have often thought we should have more +American books," he replied, "but they are so extremely dear as +compared with those published on this side of the Atlantic that we have +not afforded them. How did I know your nationality? By the way you +speak." + +Frances looked disgusted. She said little more, but soon persuaded the +reluctant Win to postpone his investigations and come down again into +the Royal Square. + +"Now, Sis, what's the matter with you?" Win inquired on seeing her +flushed face. + +"Oh, you didn't hear that man say he knew I was an American by the way +I talked," sniffed Frances indignantly. + +"Anybody would think you didn't want to be one," commented Roger +bluntly. + +"I wouldn't be anything else," retorted Frances, "only I don't care to +have fun poked at the way I talk." + +Win's glance traveled from his sister's annoyed face to Edith's, which +wore a look of perplexity. + +"We're polite," he remarked. "Here's Edith, who wouldn't be anything +but English." + +"No," said Edith gravely. "One always feels that way about one's +country. But I understand what Frances means. And I see why people know +you are not English. It isn't so much your pronunciation, but you put +words in odd places in the sentence and some of your expressions are +most unusual," she ended apologetically. "I like them. It is +interesting to hear things called by new names. Just now Fran said +'poke fun' when she meant 'criticise,' and Roger says a thing is 'fine +and dandy' when I should call it 'top-hole.' That is the difference, is +it not?" + +The others laughed and Edith's attempt to bridge a dangerous situation +ended successfully. Presently their whereabouts absorbed their +attention for Win had left the map behind him on the library table. + +For a time they wandered at random, following one narrow street after +another, seeing interesting shop windows, but presently discovered that +they did not know where they were. + +"The esplanade must lie at our left," said Win. "If we keep turning in +that direction we shall surely strike it." + +"Look at that candy," exclaimed Roger, attaching himself to a +confectioner's window. "Here's a chance to acquire some choice English. +What is black-jack, Edith? Looks like liquorice. Bismarck marble, +Gladstone rock, toffy,--what's toffy?" + +"It is sweets made of treacle instead of sugar," explained Edith, +turning surprised eyes upon him. + +"Sweets! treacle!" exclaimed Roger after a petrified instant. "Bring me +a fan! Give me air!" + +"Why," said Frances, a sudden light dawning on her. "Treacle! I never +knew before what Alice in Wonderland meant by her treacle well. It's +molasses, Edith. There are some chocolate peppermints!" + +Without stopping for further speech Frances dashed into the shop. +Presently she emerged, carrying a white paper bag, or "sack" as Edith +designated it, and with an odd expression of face. + +"Joke?" inquired Win. "What did you ask for?" he demanded, accepting a +piece of candy. + +"I got what I wanted," said Fran evasively. "It's always possible to +walk behind a counter and help yourself if you don't know the names of +things." + +Later she drew Edith aside. "What do you call these?" she asked +confidentially. + +"Peppermint chocolate drops," replied Edith. "What else could they be?" + +Turning constantly to the left did not bring them to the sea. Instead +they walked a long distance only to find themselves in a poorer part of +the town, with increasing crowds of children inclined to follow. Their +appearance seemed a source of interest to older people as well and +presently Win was induced to inquire his way to the boulevard. + +To his surprise the reply came in French, but between his own knowledge +and that of Edith, they made out that they were traveling inland +instead of toward the shore. This sounded impossible unless they had +completely lost all sense of direction. + +But a second inquiry brought the same answer, so they followed the +offered advice, coming at last to the bay of St. Aubin's more than a +mile below St. Helier's, fortunately near one of the tram +stopping-places. Edith was good for a walk home and Roger would have +gone also if challenged, but both Win and Frances were tired so Edith +did not propose to return by the beach. Indeed, the tide was now so +high that they would have been forced to go part of the way by the road. + +"School for us to-morrow," said Frances dismally. "But I think we +should plan to do something very interesting every holiday all winter." + +"We will take a tea-basket and lunch out of doors," replied Edith +happily. "There are beautiful spots to visit in Jersey." + +Win looked up suddenly. "Fran," he asked, "did you notice those +gentlemen who rode out of the square while we were looking at the +statue? Had you ever seen the younger one before?" + +Fran shook her head. "I noticed only the one who spoke to you," she +replied. "I was looking at their horses." + +"All the same," mused Win thoughtfully, "I've seen that young fellow +before and it must have been in the United States, for I know I should +remember encountering him over here." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BEACH DOG + + +"You would certainly smile if you could see the school I am going to," +Frances wrote to her chum, Marjorie Benton, "but when I think of you +and the other girls back at the dear old Boston Latin, I feel more like +crying. + +"First I must tell you about Edith Pearce, the girl in the house where +we are staying. She has long flaxen hair which hangs over her shoulders +in the most childish way, though she's our age. Her eyes are gray with +dark lashes and when she looks at you they are like surprised stars. +And she has the most beautiful complexion in the world, just pink and +white. She is lovely to look at and I feel like a tanned, homely gipsy +beside her. She's sweet too, but very easily shocked and I'm afraid +she's not only good but pious. She can never take your place so don't +worry, only, as I have to be here, I might as well have some fun with +her. + +"I go to school with Edith and it is as unlike the Latin School as the +North Pole and Boston Common. There are about thirty boarders, some of +them little bits of things--Edith calls them 'tinies'--who have been +sent home from India where their parents couldn't keep them any longer. +About fifty day-scholars attend, from kindergarten age up. + +"I'm the only American and I can tell you I was well stared at. At +first the girls couldn't believe it, insisted that I must be Scotch or +at least Canadian, so now I wear a little United States flag pin all +the time. Gracious, but things are different, especially clothes! Mine +are the prettiest in school, if I do say it, and Edith thinks so too. +She says my 'frocks' are 'chic.' + +"Most of the girls, even the big ones almost eighteen, wear their hair +hanging and have _such_ dresses,--frocks, I mean. They fit like meal +bags, and being combinations of many colors, look perfectly dreadful. +And yet the girls are very nice, some of them from really important +families. + +"To cap the climax, most of them sport ugly black mohair aprons which +they call 'alpaca pinnies.' Marjorie, can you imagine what they look +like? I told Mother if she wanted me to be English to the extent of +wearing a pinafore, I should lie down and die and I'm thankful to say +that she simply grinned. But many of the girls have wonderful yellow or +red-gold hair and stunning peachy complexions, so they aren't such +frights as you'd think. + +"Instead of going around from one class to another as in any sensible +school, the girls stay in one room and teacher after teacher,--I mean +mistress, comes to them. I get so everlastingly tired sitting still. +Never before did I realize what a rest it was to walk from class to +class and get a chat on the way. The only exceptions to this rule are +preparation, when we sit at desks under the eye of a monitress, and +gymnasium work. + +"Marjorie, when I first beheld that gymnasium teacher, I nearly +fainted. Her molasses-colored hair was frizzed hard in front and pinned +in a round bun at the back of her head. She had on tight-fitting knee +trousers, not bloomers, believe me. Over these she wore a white sweater +of a very fancy weave. Over this was a weird tunic of alpaca with two +box-plaits in front and three in back. This fell an inch or so below +her knees, and every time she bent over or stretched up, those queer +tight trousers showed. Her shoes were ordinary ones with heels. The +girls wear either their usual frocks or an arrangement like this. I can +tell you my pretty brown gym suit was the event of the day when I +appeared in it. + +"Everybody wears slippers at school, puts them on when she first comes +and no wonder, because the English shoes are the worst-looking and +clumsiest things ever invented by man. Edith's feet look twice as big +in her boots as in slippers. You'd think by their appearance that +English feet were a different shape from ours, but they are not; it is +only the shoes. They make them so thick and stout that they last for +years. Edith was plainly shocked when I told her I had a new pair every +few months. She thinks mine suitable only for the house. Well, I will +admit that English girls can out-walk me. + +"The other mistresses aren't so queer as the gym teacher but look more +like other people except that they wear too much jewelry. Everybody +wears a great deal and you know what we think at home of ladies who +appear on the street with rings and chains and lockets. Edith and her +sister Estelle don't dress so, but Mother says they are quite +exceptional. + +"As for lessons, we have to study. They expect a lot of grammar and +parsing, and dates in history and solid facts in geography and all +that. Mother approves; she thinks the English system much less faddy +than at home. We have Bible instruction in regular lessons. I'll admit +that these English girls know more than I do about things in books, but +they haven't any idea what's going on in the present world. They didn't +know much about the Panama canal and the tolls. Win howled when I said +I explained it to them and vowed he'd give a dollar to have heard me. +And several didn't know who was president of the United States. Imagine +that, when we're the most important republic in the world! I knew their +old king. + +"We begin school at half-past eight and have prayers and a Bible +exercise. Different classes follow until eleven when a gong rings and +everybody rushes into the garden, a lovely place with box-edged beds +and a sun dial and gravel walks. There are myrtles and geraniums, great +big bushes of them, and japonicas and heavenly wall-flowers and _trees_ +of lemon verbena and fuchsias up to the eaves. This is solid truth, and +in November, too. + +"In the garden we find a table with jugs of milk,--notice my English, +please--and biscuit, that is, crackers, and we gobble and faith, we +have reason! Studying so hard makes one famished. Then recreation +follows for half an hour and we play ball or tennis. Some of the girls +are splendid players. School again until two, when we day-scholars +leave. + +"Three afternoons a week, we have to go back for gym work and English +composition, which is beastly. On Wednesday there is no school. + +"Do you want to know what I've learned in one week of school in Jersey? + +"Well, I can speak three sentences in French. I'll write you in French +next time. + +"I know that Amos and Hosea and Isaiah were all prophets and said that +Israel was a very bad place. + +"I know that Paleolithic man was probably the first inhabitant of Great +Britain. + +"I know how few people like to join mission study classes. + +"And I know that I love you." + +Fran finished her letter, directed and sealed the envelope, affixed a +stamp, sniffing slightly at the head of King George instead of George +Washington, and ran down-stairs. + +"Do you know where Edith is?" she asked of Nurse. + +"She is out in front, Miss Frances," replied Nurse. "Are you going for +a walk?" + +"Just to the beach. We'll be back for tea." + +Edith stood at the gate and the two ran down to the shore. The tide, +half-way out, left bare a tremendous expanse of wet sand, iridescent +under the sun's rays. The water showed wonderful shades of blue, green +and turquoise, and in the edge of the retreating waves walked hundreds +of gulls, searching for food. + +The girls started up the beach toward St. Helier's, chatting happily as +they watched the water and the birds. Little sandpipers appeared and +some huge gray cormorants. + +Presently a handsome collie ran up to them, dropped a stone before +Frances and stood looking at her, his head cocked on one side, all but +speaking. + +"You darling," said Frances, picking up the pebble. "Does he want to be +played with? Well, he shall." + +She threw the stone down the beach and the collie shot after it at full +speed, his beautiful tawny coat shining in the sunlight. + +"Twice before," said Edith, "when I've been on the sands, he has begged +me to throw stones for him to chase. He's a thorough-bred. Such fine +markings! He looks like one of the Westmoreland sheep dogs. You've +heard of them, haven't you? They are so intelligent about taking care +of sheep and they understand everything their masters want. We saw one +once that separated and brought to his master three sheep out of a big +flock and the man didn't say one word, only motioned to him. He wants +you to throw it again." + +"I can't throw stones for you all night," said Fran at last. "You take +a turn, Edith." + +Edith threw a pebble picked up at random. The collie raced for it and +after a sniff, returned without it. + +"He wants his own stone and no other," laughed Frances. "See, he's +hunting all about. There, he's found it!" + +For a good mile down the beach the collie accompanied them, till both +were tired of play. Convinced that they would throw his stone no +longer, the dog reluctantly left them. Looking back, they saw him +accosting a young man, who promptly yielded to the mute coaxing. + +"I wonder whose dog he is," said Edith. "He didn't seem to belong to +any one we passed. I fancy he's here on his own." + +"We really ought to go over to Castle Elizabeth soon," observed +Frances. "Doesn't it look like a huge monster stranded out there in the +harbor?" + +"Sister is afraid of the tides," replied Edith. "A soldier was drowned +there the other day, trying to cross the causeway after the tide had +turned. Look, Fran, I believe that must be his funeral up on the road +now. It is a military one at any rate." + +Frances looked with interest. First marched a guard of soldiers, two by +two, then a band with muffled drums, playing the Dead March. After the +band came a gun-carriage drawn by four horses and bearing the coffin, +over which was draped the English flag. Several barouches followed with +officers in uniform, and then the rest of the regiment, walking very +slowly, their guns reversed. + +As the procession approached, every man on the route uncovered and did +not replace his hat until it had passed, a mark of respect which struck +Frances forcibly. "They have better manners than we have," she +acknowledged half to herself. + +Edith looked surprised. "Men always uncover on meeting a funeral," she +remarked. "This was a private, but if he had been an officer, his +helmet and sword would be on the flag, and directly behind the +gun-carriage, his orderly would lead his riderless horse. A military +wedding is so pretty, Frances. I saw one once in Bath Abbey. The +officers were all in full uniform and after the ceremony they formed in +the aisle, two lines going way down out of the church and at a signal, +drew their swords and crossed them with a clash above their heads and +the bride and groom came down this path through the glittering swords. +I was just a tiny then, but I decided I'd marry a soldier so I could +have the arch of swords." + +"It must have been very pretty," Frances agreed. "Why, what are those? +See, like immense horseshoes in the water." + +"The bathing pools," explained Edith. "They show only when the tide is +very low. They keep back water for bathing." + +"And a good job, too, when you have a tide that goes out of sight," +commented Frances approvingly, as she looked at the two huge masonry +walls near St. Helier's, set in the expanse of wet sand. "Look at the +boys sailing boats." + +"Sometimes there are real races with little model yachts," said Edith. +"There's a club of the young officers and some of the townspeople and +they have the prettiest little miniature boats with keels about a metre +long, rigged exactly like real racing yachts. It's great sport to see +them. But ought we not to go back?" + +The girls turned for they were already far from home. To their surprise +they were presently greeted again by the collie who tore up to hail +them rapturously. + +"Still chewing your stone?" Frances inquired. "Come along. I suppose +we'll have to take you part way back." + +The collie flew for the pebble as though for the first time of the +afternoon. Before they had gone more than a quarter of a mile, a pretty +young lady came up. + +"I'm afraid my bad Tylo has been bothering you," she said +apologetically. "He is forever coming on the sands and badgering people +into playing with him." + +"Oh, we liked to play," said Frances, smiling. "I think he's a brick. +What did you call him?" + +"Tylo," replied the young lady. "After the dog in the 'Blue Bird,' you +know." + +Edith also smiled. Their new acquaintance was looking from one to +another, a charming and rather mischievous expression lighting a sweet +face. + +"You're a little sister compatriot," she said to Edith; "but I fancy +this little lady comes from across the ocean." + +"Yes, I do," said Frances, "but how did you know?" + +The young lady laughed merrily. "Oh, I've knocked about a good bit. And +I happen to have known one American boy very well. Indeed, we really +grew up together in Italy and England. 'Brick' is rather an American +word, isn't it? I've surely heard my friend use it. Americans seldom +find their way to Jersey. Are you stopping long?" + +"Perhaps all winter," replied Frances. + +"There are many delightful excursions to make in the island," said the +young lady. "Come along, Tylo. We must go home to tea. Oh," she added +to the girls, "when you go on picnics, don't forget to look for caves." + +With another smile and a charming little nod, she left them. + +"I wonder who she is," said Frances, frankly looking after her. The +erect lithe figure was crowned by a finely poised head and a wealth of +beautiful fair hair, prettily arranged. Something in her face suggested +possibilities of good comradeship, and her dress, while simplicity +itself, betrayed a French origin. + +"She looks nice enough and ladylike enough to be an American," thought +Frances approvingly and with a sudden stab of homesickness. + +"I wish she'd told us her name," she went on aloud, "and who the +American boy was. Perhaps we might know him." + +"He can scarcely be a boy now if they grew up together," observed +Edith. "Wasn't she sweet? I hope we'll see her again." + +"And what did she mean by caves?" Frances continued, pursuing her train +of thought. "That sounded very interesting and mysterious." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MONT ORGUEIL + + +To find a tutor for the boys proved less easy than Mrs. Thayne +anticipated. There seemed a dearth of available young men in Jersey and +she had about decided to send Roger to the best school and let Win work +as he chose by himself, when Mr. Angus heard of a young Scotchman, +already acting as secretary to a gentleman in St. Helier's and who +could give the boys his afternoons. + +Such an arrangement was not ideal, but Win took an instant liking to +the tall raw-boned person, who announced himself in a delightful manner +as "Weelyum Feesher." + +Roger promptly dubbed him Bill Fish and refused to speak of him by any +other term, causing his mother to live in terror lest Mr. Fisher should +in some way learn of the disrespectful abbreviation. Roger was not at +all enthusiastic about Bill Fish but liked still less the two schools +he visited. To accept the tutor seemed the lesser of two evils. + +The chief drawback proved that the boys were occupied at just the time +when the girls were free, with the exception of Wednesday, a holiday +for all. + +The result was that Edith and Frances were thrown much together. +Frances found it fortunate that she had a companion of her own age, for +the island ladies soon called upon Mrs. Thayne and drew her into +numerous social engagements. The little community had a strong army and +navy tinge and naturally welcomed Mrs. Thayne. She would have taken far +less part in the various festivities had she been leaving her daughter +alone, but the two girls proved so congenial and Mrs. Thayne was so +well satisfied with Edith as a companion for Frances that she felt free +to indulge her own social instincts and enjoy the pleasant circle so +invitingly opened. + +Whenever they went out, the girls kept a close watch for the "collie +lady" and the "beach dog." Twice Tylo came to hail them on the sands, +once apparently entirely alone. The other time he merely greeted them +and bounded away to rejoin two riders on the road. One was his lady, +her companion a slender young man of distinctly foreign aspect, dark +and distinguished-looking. Their horses were walking slowly, the riders +engaged in deep conversation and the beach dog's mistress did not see +the eager faces of the girls. + +They talked a good deal about her, wondering who she was, where she +lived and whether they would ever know her. After seeing her on +horseback, they fell more and more under the spell of her charm and +began to picture her the heroine of all sorts of stories. + +Day-dreams and romantic stories however, had but a small place in a +world so busily filled with lessons of various kinds. One Tuesday +evening, Frances was openly groaning over the need of writing an essay +upon Julius Caesar. + +"Wouldn't you like him better if you saw something he did?" inquired +Win, hearing her lamentations. "There's a castle in Jersey, part of +which he built." + +Fran's eyes opened incredulously and Roger whistled. "Is that one of +Bill Fish's yarns?" he demanded. + +"Ante-dates him," replied Win. "It's Mont Orgueil, over the other side +of the island. Let's have a picnic there to-morrow, take our lunch and +stay all day. Mother, you must come. Don't say you've promised to make +calls." + +"I can go perfectly well," said Mrs. Thayne. "Only there is Roger's +appointment with the dentist in the afternoon. He'll have to keep that, +but there will be plenty of time for the picnic if we start early." + +"Think of having an outdoor picnic in December," exclaimed Frances. +"We'll take Edith, of course." + +"Of course," assented her mother. "And Estelle, if she will go. I wish +she would. She shuts herself up so closely and seems to shrink from +seeing people, but perhaps she will go to Orgueil just with us." + +Even Edith could not persuade her sister to join the party though +Estelle was touched by their regret, evidently genuine. + +"If you only would, Star," begged Edith. "You would enjoy it. You don't +know how funny and nice they are to go with." + +"I couldn't, little sister," said Estelle gently. "You go and tell me +about it afterwards." + +Edith was not satisfied but all persuasion proved useless. She had a +vague idea that Star was worried. Just why, Edith did not see, since +the plan of letting lodgings had come out so pleasantly. Everything was +going smoothly at present; why should Star borrow trouble from the +future? + +Mont Orgueil is reached by a miniature railway leading from St. +Helier's to the fishing village of Gorey. By this time the young people +were all well accustomed to the absurd little narrow gauge tramways +with their leisurely trains. But if the train into St. Helier's +crawled, the one to Gorey snailed, to quote Roger. Time was ample to +note the pretty stuccoed houses, pink, cream or brown, with gardens and +climbing vines that even in December made them spots of beauty. They +passed under the frowning cliffs of Fort Regent and saw several lovely +turquoise-blue bays with shining sandy beaches. Farther on farms +succeeded the villas, stone farmhouses with tiled or thatched roofs, +some with orange or other fruit trees trained against their southern +walls. Suddenly Frances rose to her feet. + +"What on earth are those?" she demanded. "Just look at those cabbages +on top of canes." + +The others looked and saw something answering exactly to Fran's graphic +description. + +"Oh, yes" said Mrs. Thayne, "those are the cow cabbages of Jersey. They +are common in the interior of the island. It's a peculiar kind of +cabbage growing five or six feet high. The farmers pick the leaves on +the stalk and leave just the head on top. These stalks are made into +the canes we have seen in shops." + +"I saw them," said Win, "but I didn't realize what they were. Look, +there's a Jersey cow among the cabbages." + +"The Jersey cattle are so pretty," said Frances admiringly. + +"They are very valuable," said Edith. "The farmers coddle them like +children." + +Gorey proved a picturesque village with many schooners and boats of +different kinds drawn up on the beach and in every direction fish nets +drying. Above and behind towered the ruined castle of Orgueil, rising +more than three hundred feet sheer from the sea. + +Mrs. Thayne sent Roger to find and engage a donkey which Win mounted +without protest, after one glance at the climb before him, though he +insisted on swinging the boxes of luncheon before him on the little +animal's neck. Its owner was dismissed, Roger agreeing to pull the +beast up the hill. + +Mont Orgueil forms the crest of a lofty conical rock and looks down +like a grim giant upon the blue waters that stretch away to the coast +of France. Tier after tier the fortifications mount the cone, crowned +at the apex by a flagstaff. + +At the castle entrance, gained after a steady climb, a small boy +appeared, sent by the castle keeper to act as guide. He tied the donkey +to an iron post and led the way into the interior. + +"This is the oldest part," he began shyly. "They do say this tower was +built by Julius Caesar." + +"Gracious, that's some story!" whistled Roger, looking with all his +might. + +"I believe it is true," said Mrs. Thayne. "Win, you were reading about +the castle before we started." + +"Yes," said Win. "That's straight about Caesar. That's why I wanted +Fran to see it. And most of the place was built a thousand years ago. +Is it ever used now!" + +[Illustration: ABOVE AND BEHIND TOWERED THE RUINED CASTLE OF ORGUEIL] + +"In summer the signal service is quartered here," replied the boy. +"This is the well, ninety feet deep." + +As he spoke, he dropped a pebble over a low parapet. Some seconds later +came a hollow splash. + +The guide showed them a cell where condemned prisoners were once kept, +a ruined chapel with a very old crypt, and above the chapel a room +reached by winding stairs. The girls entered with a simultaneous shriek +of delight. + +"What a love of a room!" said Edith. + +"Mother, isn't this too sweet for words?" demanded Frances. + +"This is the Cupola room," explained their guide. "Charles the Second +stopped here during his exile from England." + +"Prince Charles!" exclaimed Win, his imagination fired at once. "Oh, I +read that in the guide book, but this--his room--" + +Win's voice trailed into silence. To read a fact in a book was +different from standing under the very roof that had once sheltered +bonnie Prince Charlie. He looked about him, trying to picture to +himself those far past days. + +The ceiling rose in a huge dome and one immense window framed a +wonderful view. From a little sally-port leading to a platform one +could look sheer down to the rocks or across fourteen miles of tossing +water to beautiful France. By using a little imagination the girls +agreed that they could detect the spire of the cathedral of Coutances +easily visible in clear weather. + +"In the French revolution the governor of Jersey signalled to the army +of the Vendée by means of a flagpole held in place by chains," said +Mrs. Thayne. + +"Yes," said their small guide. "The chains are still on the wall but +the pole is new. The naval men use it in summer." + +"Do they sleep here?" asked Win. + +"Down in the chapel, sir." + +"I'd stay here," said Win. "Say, how much would you rent this room for?" + +"Three and six a week, sir, with the platform thrown in," replied their +small guide so gravely that they all looked to see whether he was +really in earnest. + +"That's cheap enough, considering the view," said Mrs. Thayne, smiling. + +Fascinated by the picturesque old castle, Win wandered off by himself, +deciphering the inscriptions placed on the many doors. There is no +guard in the guard-room, no stores are kept in the storeroom, and the +chapel never hears a sermon save those preached by its own stones to +those who have ears to hear. But the sunlight falling on the green +platforms, the pigeons cooing on the walls, the blue sea stretching to +the shining cliffs of France, the glamour of old-world romance struck +impressionable Win. Dreamily he recalled that whether Caesar built the +tower or not, no reasonable doubt exists that Orgueil was occupied if +not built by the mighty Prince Rollo, grandfather of William the +Conqueror. Over the main entrance to the castle-keep his coat of arms +survives the centuries. For centuries to come, Orgueil will remain +gathering more legendary charm as the slow years pass. + +Win shook off the feeling of awe gently creeping over him and joined +the others, investigating a tiny cell where Prynne the Puritan leader +was confined for three years. Roger was immensely impressed by the +ruins of a secret staircase, connecting a dungeon where the criminals +were executed, with the keep and sally-port. + +"There's a many secret stairs in the old Jersey houses," volunteered +their guide, noticing his interest. + +"Where can we see them?" demanded Roger at once, but this their small +informer could not tell. + +"Gentry lives in those houses," he volunteered. "They'se not open to +trippers." + +"To what?" demanded Roger. + +"Visitors, strangers like," explained the boy. + +"I like that," said Roger, flushing indignantly. + +"Hush, Roger," interposed his mother. "No offense was meant. What are +these chains? They seem very old." + +"They were used long time ago to hang criminals. They do say they put +'em there alive and left 'em to the corbies." + +"Corbies? Oh, crows," interpreted Win. "Nice custom! Mother, look at +the heaps of rocks exposed by the tide." + +"There's more this side," said their guide, turning a corner of the +rampart with Roger close at his heels. The rest were about to follow +when suddenly Mrs. Thayne gave an exclamation. + +"Listen!" she said. "That must be a skylark." + +From somewhere in the blue above fell a rain of happy music, so liquid +and so sweet that it scarcely seemed to come from any earthly bird. + +"Where is it?" asked Frances excitedly, peering into the air and +dropping on her knees the better to look up. Mrs. Thayne did the same +and both stared into the sky, trying to detect the tiny spot of +feathered joy, the source of all this melody. Presently Edith and Win +joined them. + +Back around the corner came Roger and the guide, both stopping short at +sight of the rest of the party down on their knees on the daisy-starred +turf. + +"Whatever are they doing?" ejaculated the boy. + +"Oh, it's a skylark!" exclaimed Frances enthusiastically. "Come and +see." + +Mouth open in amazement, their small guide stood rooted to the spot. "A +skylark!" he muttered, staring at the four in their attitude of +devotion. "Lookin' at a skylark!" he repeated as though unable to +credit the testimony of his own eyes. + +Win burst out laughing and rose to his feet. "Take this," he said, +producing a shilling. "Thank you for showing us about. We'll stay a +while longer and eat lunch here." + +The boy pocketed the coin and withdrew, his face still a picture of +incredulous astonishment over the actions of this singular and +apparently insane group of excursionists. At last sight, he was still +slowly shaking his head and murmuring, "Lookin' at a skylark!" + +[Illustration: "LOOK, THERE IS A JERSEY COW AMONG THE CABBAGES."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A RACE WITH THE TIDE + + +After luncheon, time passed too quickly. Before it seemed possible, +Mrs. Thayne declared the hour had come for Roger to keep his +appointment with the dentist in St. Helier's. + +"Let him go alone, Mother," said Win. "He's no kid. We want you to stay +with us." + +"Of course he could go alone," agreed Mrs. Thayne, "but I ought to +consult the dentist myself and do an errand or two. There's no reason +why you and the girls should cut short your stay. This is a lovely +place to spend the afternoon and the day too perfect to hurry home. +Just be back for dinner." + +"Let Roger return the donkey," suggested Win. "I sha'n't need him going +down hill and very likely we shall strike across beyond the village." + +Mrs. Thayne departed, Roger clattering ahead on the donkey, and the +three were left in the meadow by the castle entrance, a meadow starred +with most fascinating pink-tipped English daisies. + +"Just see the dears and then think that it's really winter," sighed +Frances. "I can't believe that at home everybody is wearing furs and +the ground is frozen. It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is so +near." + +Win was lying flat on the close-cropped turf, his attitude indicating +that he contemplated a nap. After a glance at his prostrate figure, the +girls wandered to a little distance, seeking the pinkest daisies. +Presently they were surprised by the sudden arrival of a beautiful +collie, who poked a cold nose into Edith's face. + +"O-oh!" she exclaimed. "Go to Frances. She's the one who likes dogs. I +prefer nice soft little pussy-cats." + +"It's the beach dog," said Frances. "Do you suppose his lady is with +him?" + +Edith looked eagerly about. The elevated castle meadow commanded a +rather extended view but in no direction was any one visible. + +"I don't see her anywhere. Come here, Tylo. Oh, Fran, let's read the +plate on his collar. Perhaps it will have her name." + +Hot and panting from a run, Tylo willingly lay down by the girls and +made not the least objection to having his collar examined. The +unusually long plate bore considerable lettering. + +"Laurel Manor, St. Brelade's," read Frances in excitement. "Here's some +French, Edith." + +"It's Italian, Fran. 'Palazzo Grassi, Via Ludovisi, Roma.' Just two +addresses and no name!" Edith ended in disappointment. + +"Oh, but wait!" exclaimed Frances. The light struck the plate at such +an angle as to make visible to her some additional lettering, not +engraved but apparently scratched with a knife. Though small, the words +were extremely neat and legible and the girls deciphered them eagerly. + +"Connie--her dog. + +"Max--his mark." + +"Her name must be Connie!" Edith declared, turning excited eyes upon +her companion. "Speak, Tylo! Is your mistress called Constance?" + +Tylo vouchsafed no answer, only pricked his ears, hearing something +inaudible to the girls. The next instant came a distinct though faint +whistle. + +The beach dog departed at once, tearing down over the meadow in a +graceful curve to leap a hedge into a shady lane beyond. + +"Well, we've learned a little," sighed Frances. "His mistress is called +Connie and she lives at Laurel Manor. The rest ought to be easy. Let's +go down to the shore. I want to explore that point of rocks." + +"But Win's asleep," said Edith hesitatingly. "Ought we to leave him?" + +"It's all right," said Frances. "He couldn't scramble on the rocks and +it's splendid for him to sleep in this fine air. I'll leave a note +telling him where to look for us." + +Edith supplied a blunt pencil and Fran wrote her message on a bit of +paper torn from the luncheon box, pinning it carefully to her brother's +coat where he could not fail to see it. Then they ran down to the cove +beyond Orgueil. + +The water, far on the horizon, showed only as a gleaming line of light, +leaving bare heaps and piles of rocks, inextricably turned on end in +some prehistoric upheaval. In places the rocks were continuous, in +others separated by spaces of wet sand. + +Over the rocks grew masses of vari-colored seaweed, brown, yellow, +blue-green, even pink. Footing proved both slippery and treacherous, +but offered the fascination of exploring an unknown region. As they +walked farther out, curious shell-fish were clinging to the stone. + +"These are ormers and limpets," said Edith. "I saw them the day Nurse +and I went to market. What a huge winkle!" + +Fran stared at this new specimen. "Is that a winkle?" she demanded in +disgust. "I call it a plain snail. Why, all my life, I've read about +winkles and thought I'd like to eat some but I'd die before I'd eat a +snail. Oh! Oh! Oh!" + +Edith turned so quickly that she almost fell on the slippery weed. +Frances was fairly dancing with excitement, wholly however of pleasure. + +In the hollowed rock lay a pool of clear sea water, at first sight +filled with bright-hued flowers, pink, purple, orange. The next glance +showed them to be living organisms. + +"Sea-anemones!" breathed Edith softly. "I never saw anything so +beautiful." + +The anemones were pulpy brown bodies varying in size from a pea to a +tomato. From their anchorage on the rock they stretched waving +tentacles of soft iridescent hues, transforming the little pool into a +marine fairyland. Between the anemones a bright yellow lichen-like +growth almost covered the warm red granite, and tiny yellow, rose, and +black and white striped snails were set like jewels on this background. +Two or three sharp limpet shells waved feathery seaweed fans. + +A long time passed and the girls still lingered. They discovered that +most of the pools boasted anemones, some not unlike an ordinary land +daisy with light-colored tentacles stretching ray-shaped from a yellow +centre. When touched with an empty shell, the anemone would close over +it, folding both the shell and itself into a tight brown ball, then +open slowly and drop the shell. The only food the girls had with them +was some sweet chocolate, so they experimented with this, watching the +lovely living sea-flowers seize upon fragments held within reach of +their feelers. + +"I suppose it will give them frightful pains," remarked Frances at +last, rising from her cramped position. "Goodness! the tide is coming!" + +"Yes, but it's far out," replied Edith, casting a glance at the line of +water, still distant a full half-mile. "Look, Frances, here's a tiny +pink crab." + +For a moment Frances again bent over the aquarium but soon started to +her feet. + +"Let's go back, Edith. We're a long way from shore and you know how +very fast the tide comes in." + +"Oh, is that crab gone? I thought you would mind where he went," said +Edith as she reluctantly rose. "I wanted to take him to Win." + +The two began to retrace their way, at first over piles of red rock +covered with seaweed, farther on over stretches of sand surrounding +rock islands. + +Just as they left the last of the solid rock a big wave came curling +lazily along its side. For a second the water clung to it like fingers, +then withdrew. + +"Fran, we must run," said Edith quietly, but her face had grown pale. + +Frances made no reply. Both ran as fast as they could across the +stretch of level hard sand. Before they reached the first rock island, +long fingers of foam again darted past at one side. + +Neither girl spoke. Automatically they seized hands and redoubled their +efforts. One island after another was left behind, then Edith, looking +over her shoulder, saw that the tide was gaining. Its next incoming +heave would overtake them. + +"We'll have to climb these rocks!" she gasped. + +"_No!_" said Fran, giving her hand a tug. "Keep on. No matter if we do +get wet. We _must_ get nearer in. These rocks will be covered." + +Edith kept pace. They seemed to have reached a higher ridge of the +beach since presently the water, instead of pursuing directly, passed +on either side, stretching shorewards. + +Too terrified to consider what this would mean when the tongues of +water should meet before them, the girls pressed on blindly. + +Suddenly there came a shout from shore, now measurably nearer. Down the +beach sped a galloping horse, his rider waving to attract their +attention. + +Fran's quick wits grasped the situation. "He'll come for us!" she +exclaimed. "He means us to climb this rock and wait." + +This seemed what the rider meant for as they scrambled up the ledge, he +ceased to call and merely urged his horse to greater effort. Edith +reached the top without accident, but Frances slipped and soaked both +feet. + +The horse, a beautiful chestnut thoroughbred with tossing mane, came at +quick speed. In the distance, his rider looked a mere boy, but as he +approached, the girls saw that he was a young man of twenty-three or +four, with a fine, clean-cut face, who sat his horse as though a part +of it. + +Arriving by their rock, the chestnut checked himself in full gallop and +turned almost in his stride. + +"Give me your hand," said the young man to Edith. "Step on my foot. +Swing round behind me and hold on any way you can." + +Edith instantly obeyed. "Here," he added to Frances, "scramble up in +front. Quick! There's no time to lose. Steady on, Saracen!" he added as +the horse jumped and snorted at touch of the water curling about his +heels. + +They were perhaps a quarter-mile from shore and the return was made at +a fast pace, yet as they came up above tide mark, the waves were +lapping the shingle and only a rock here and there remained uncovered. + +During the hurried trip the young man had spoken only to his horse, +words of encouragement uttered in a pleasant voice, and both girls were +still too stunned by the sudden peril and their equally sudden rescue +to realize their very unconventional situation; Edith with both arms +around the stranger, her cheek pressed into his shoulder; Fran sitting +on the saddle-bow, held in position by his left arm while his right +hand clasped the reins. + +Once in safety, Saracen stopped of his own accord, looking around as +though, now the hurry was over, he would like to know what sort of +unaccustomed load he had been carrying. + +"Right we are!" said the young man cheerily. "Now I wonder if you can +slide down." + +Still speechless, Frances did so. The young man swung himself from the +saddle and turned to lift Edith from her perch as though she was a +little child. Again on firm ground, she began to utter incoherent +thanks. + +[Illustration: "HE'LL COME FOR US! HE MEANS US TO CLIMB THIS ROCK AND +WAIT"] + +"I think you must be strangers to the island," he said rather gravely, +"else you would know that the Jersey tides come in as rapidly as they +ebb. This isn't a safe coast to experiment with." + +"It was the anemones," began Frances. "We never saw any before and +forgot to watch the water." + +The young man smiled. "Those anemones!" he said. "I was once in a +similar fix for the same reason. Better remember that the only safe +time to watch sea anemones is when the tide is just going out. There's +a place up here where the farmer's wife is a friend of mine. I think +you'd better let me take you over to Mother Trott and she'll dry you +out." + +"I'm not wet," said Edith. "Frances fell, that's why she's drippy." + +"Oh, but Win!" Frances exclaimed. "He'll find that note saying we're on +the rocks and he'll see the water and be frightened. My brother," she +added to the stranger, who was looking at her inquiringly. "He's in the +meadow." + +The young man's clear gray eyes grew rather stern. "And what is this +brother doing while his little sister gets into danger?" he asked. + +"Oh, it's not his fault. He was asleep and he _mustn't_ be frightened," +Fran began. She spoke rapidly, her explanation banishing from the +inquirer's face all look of disapproval. + +"I'll go and tell Win," said Edith. "I'm not a bit wet. You go on to +the farm, Frances. Which house is it?" + +"Do you see the long low one with the vines about half a mile up the +hill?" replied their rescuer. "That's it." + +"If Win's still asleep, for goodness' sake don't wake him," directed +Frances as Edith set off toward the castle. "Perhaps I can get dry and +be there before he need know what has happened." + +"Would you be willing to ride in front of me again, Miss Frances?" +asked the young man, as Edith vanished around the wall. "We could reach +the farm much more quickly." + +Without demur, Frances consented. She felt queerly shaken and ill and +to her consternation, as Saracen crossed the highroad and entered the +farm lane, a sudden burst of sobs overcame her. She struggled bravely +to control herself. + +"That was a beastly experience," said the pleasant voice, "but you were +so near shore when Saracen and I saw you, that you'd probably have made +it with merely a wetting." + +"We haven't really thanked you," said Frances incoherently. "I do--so +much--Mother--" + +"Thank Saracen. He did it. It's nothing at all, and you mustn't let it +trouble you. Hello, Tylo. Been off again on your own?" + +Obedient to touch, his horse stopped at the cottage gate. Frances slid +from her perch and the young man dismounted, throwing the reins to the +beach dog, whose sudden reappearance did not surprise nor interest +Frances, as ordinarily it would have done. + +"Come round to the back," said her companion, opening the gate. "Mother +Trott will probably be in her kitchen. She'll put you to rights in no +time. No mess too bad for her to take on." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR. MAX + + +Frances accompanied her guide along a pebbled path neatly edged with +big scallop-shells measuring fully six inches across. Beside the walk +stretched garden borders still gay with geraniums, japonicas and other +hardy plants in full bloom. As they passed the front door of the +cottage with its whitewashed steps gleaming in the afternoon sun, a +roughly outlined heart surrounding some initials caught Frances' +attention. The design was carved in the stone top of the door-frame and +looked very old. + +"That's a pretty custom of the island," said her companion, noticing +Fran's glance. "The people who first made a home had their initials cut +over the door. Many of the Jersey farmhouses have several sets of +initials on the door-stones." + +Around the corner of the house lay a neat kitchen garden full of +vegetables in thrifty green rows, a patch of the curious cabbages and +in a field just over a fence, was tethered a pretty, soft-eyed Jersey +cow. Beside the entrance stood a bench glittering with shiny copper +pails and milk-cans. + +Without stopping to knock, the young man stepped directly into a clean, +low-ceiled kitchen, where white sand was scattered on the stone floor. + +"Are you there, Mrs. Trott?" he inquired. + +Hastily setting down the pan of potatoes she was peeling, a +pleasant-looking stout woman rose to her feet with a curtsy. + +"If it isn't Mr. Max!" she exclaimed, her voice expressing both +surprise and delight. + +"And as usual seeking help, Mrs. Trott. This young lady, Miss Frances, +has been unlucky enough to be overtaken by the tides--" + +"Poor dear!" interrupted Mrs. Trott. "Bess!" she called, "come you +down. Ah, 'tis the tides that make the Jersey heartaches. Ye did quite +right to bring her, Mr. Max. Bess, be quick!" + +A rosy-cheeked girl of seventeen came clattering down the tiny stair, +to smile at the visitors and drop an awkward, blushing curtsy to each. + +"Why, Bess, you're quite grown up," said the young man, smiling back at +her. + +"A year does make a differ, sir," said Mrs. Trott. "Lead the young +leddy up the stair, Bess, and dry her feet and give her your Sunday +socks and shoon. Mr. Max, you'll drink tea? Sure, now, and taste my +fresh wonders. The young leddy'll be down directly and a cup of tea +will set her up." + +"Indeed, I could do with some tea, Mrs. Trott, and I've not had any +wonders since--" + +Frances did not hear the end of the sentence for she was following Bess +up the narrow, winding stone stairs to emerge in a little room with +slanting caves and dormer windows in its thatched roof. The place was +bare but spotlessly clean and through the open western casement +shimmered the blue sea. + +"Sit down, Miss," said Bess in a soft voice with curious musical +intonations that made up for imperfect pronunciation. + +With a sigh of relief, Frances sank into the straight chair. The +reaction from her late adventure was still upon her. Before she knew +what was happening, Bess approached with a basin of water and a towel, +and knelt to unfasten the soaked shoes. + +"Oh, I can do that for myself," Frances protested with the independence +of an American girl. + +"Sit ye still, Miss," said Bess pleasantly. "'Tis bad for the nerves to +race the tides. It shakes one a good bit." + +Her deft fingers made short work of their task. Presently, Frances was +comfortable in white cotton stockings and black slippers far too large +and wide. + +"Twill serve," said Bess, smiling at the way they slid around on Fran's +slender feet. "Dry at least. Now come ye down and drink your tea. 'Tis +not lately we've seen Mr. Max. Mother'll be rarely pleased." + +Frances had it on her tongue's end to inquire into the identity of her +rescuer, but the difficulty of keeping on those heavy leather shoes +with their big silver buckles distracted her attention. She came +carefully down the stair to find Mr. Max seated on the big black oak +settle, his hat and riding-crop beside him and Mrs. Trott arranging her +table before the fire. + +"Come, Miss, to your tea," she exclaimed. "Bess, fetch the cream." + +Frances tried to protest, feeling already under great obligations to +these total strangers, but Mr. Max promptly rose to give her a seat. + +"Tea will do you good, Miss Frances," he said with a most engaging +smile. "Try Mrs. Trott's wonders. Have you ever eaten a Jersey wonder?" + +"It looks like a doughnut," said Frances, taking a fried cake from the +proffered plate. + +A sudden, mischievous grin crossed the young man's face. "A plain New +England doughnut disguised by an old-world name," he said. + +"New England!" repeated Frances, stopping with the cake halfway to her +mouth. "How do you know about New England doughnuts?" + +Mr. Max seated himself, looking boyishly amused. + + "'Land where our fathers died, + Land of the Pilgrims' pride,'" + +he quoted, seriously enough but with gray eyes dancing with fun. "Oh, I +know the whole thing. Shall we sing it together?" + +"Are you really an American?" Frances demanded in utter amazement. +"Then how--what--You don't talk--But that accounts for it." + +She stopped, feeling suddenly shy of questioning him. "Well," she added +after a second, "that's the reason I didn't feel a bit strange about +coming with you. It seemed all right--just as though you were somebody +I knew." + +"Thank you, Miss Frances," said her companion. "That is a very lovely +way to express your appreciation. Yes, we are fellow-countrymen, though +I have spent much of my life in Europe. In fact, my first visit to the +United States was when I was around your age. Since then I've put in +four years at Yale and one in Washington. Now, I'm attached to the +American Embassy in Paris and came over here to spend the Christmas +holidays with old friends. Jersey has seen me many times before this. +That's how I happen to know about the sea anemones and the tides." + +Mrs. Trott came bustling back with jam, followed by Bess with a covered +jar. "And how's Miss Connie?" she inquired. + +"She seems very well," replied Mr. Max. "Your tea is as good as ever, +Mrs. Trott. Clotted cream, Bess? You know my weak spots, don't you?" + +"They do be saying that the Colonel fails since his lady died," went on +Mrs. Trott, regarding her table anxiously. "Couldn't you fancy an egg +now, Mr. Max, or a bit of bacon?" as he raised a protesting hand. + +Frances also declined. She did not feel hungry but after Mrs. Trott had +brought water to dilute the strong tea, she drank it willingly. + +Neither did Mr. Max eat enough to satisfy his hostess. After a few +moments he rose and looked at his watch. + +"I think I'll ride over to the Manor and exchange Saracen for another +horse and the trap and give myself the pleasure if I may, Miss Frances, +of driving you and the others back to St. Aubin's. Your boots will +hardly be dry for you to wear on the train. I'd really like to do so," +he added, seeing that Frances looked disturbed. "You know it is the +business of the American Embassy to look after its fellow countrymen in +a foreign land, so this is only my plain duty." + +"Best let him, Miss," said Mrs. Trott approvingly. "Mr. Max do always +take thought for others. But where happens Miss Connie to-day?" + +"Oh, Miss Connie's gone to a tea-fight of some kind," replied Mr. Max, +giving Frances another mischievous glance. "She said I couldn't go, so +I annexed her dog and her father's horse and went out on my own. I +shall be back before long." + +Frances gave an anxious thought to Edith, concluded that she probably +found Win asleep and was following instructions not to wake him. This +conjecture proved correct for Edith soon came hurrying down the path. + +"I took the first note and left one saying we were at this cottage," +she explained. "Are you all right, Fran? Do you think you've caught a +chill?" + +Frances explained that they were to be driven home and Mrs. Trott +pressed tea and wonders upon Edith, who accepted both gratefully. + +"Is it far to the Manor--to where Mr. Max is going?" Frances inquired +of Mrs. Trott. + +"Not for a good horse, Miss, though 'tis beyond St. Aubin's. I'm +thinking you must have marked the place, a big old stone house with +many a laurel tree about it and open to the cliffs beyond." + +"Oh, we know it," said Fran eagerly. "There are iron gates with a coat +of arms and the grounds are lovely." + +"That's Laurel Manor, Miss," assented Mrs. Trott. + +The girls looked at each other in delight. In one afternoon they had +learned where lived the mistress of the beach dog and what her name. + +"'Tis good to lay eyes on Mr. Max again," Mrs. Trott went on. "A pity +he and Miss Connie couldn't content themselves with each other. 'Tis +not to our liking to have our young leddy takin' up with a foreign +prince." + +"Oh, please tell us about it," demanded Frances. "We met Miss Connie on +the beach and we think she's perfectly lovely. Is she really to marry a +prince?" + +"He's not a prince of a royal house," replied Mrs. Trott. "He's an +Eyetalian and in that country, they tell me, there's a different kind +of royalty. I don't rightly know, Miss, but I'm thinking they are +Romish princes." + +"Is Miss Connie marrying a Catholic?" inquired Edith in great interest. + +"That's the question," said Mrs. Trott, reflectively resting both hands +on the table. "I could see Mr. Max didn't want to talk, but we hear +considerable through the housekeeper at the Manor. This young man that +they say Miss Connie's tokened to is the son of one of these princes. +But his mother was an Englishwoman and a Protestant and so when two +boys had been baptized as Catholics, the third son,--Miss Connie's +young man,--was brought up in his mother's faith, our English church. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott went on meditatively, "they thought he'd never +succeed to his father's title and position, bein' the third son. But +the oldest, Prince Santo-Ponte, or some title like that, was killed in +a motor mishap--they say he was racin' something shameful,--and soon +the next brother died of pneumonia. So that leaves the Protestant son +the heir. And the story is that he's to be made to turn Catholic." + +"But they can't make him if he won't," protested the shocked Edith. +Both she and Frances were listening eagerly to this romantic story. +Their wildest flights of imagination concerning Miss Connie fell short +of the truth,--if this was truth. + +"I don't know, Miss, I don't know," said Mrs. Trott doubtfully. "Turn +the young leddy's boots, Bess,--don't ye scent the smell o' scorchin'? +'Tis hard on the poor fellow. There's his father urgin' him to do it +for the sake of the family, and there's a title and a great fortune +waitin' when he does. They'll be tellin' him it's his duty as they +tell't the Princess Alix, own granddaughter of Queen Victoria, when she +married with the Czar of all the Russias. 'Twas the Greek church she +went over to." + +"But will Miss Connie marry the prince if he does give up his own +church?" asked Edith eagerly. + +Again Mrs. Trott shook her head. "There's no mention of any weddin'," +she admitted, "and it may be they're not even tokened, but the prince +has been visitin' a sight of times at the Manor. Now, I'm thinkin' it's +a good sign Mr. Max is here again. The Colonel, Miss Connie's father, +loves him like a son. Why, he and Miss Connie grew up together, brother +and sister-wise. The way of it was that Mr. Max's mother died when he +was but a tiny and Mrs. Lisle, Miss Connie's mother, about took him for +her own. He's fair lived with them. Many's the time he and Miss Connie +have run in here for their tea or to dry their feet. You see I was +parlor-maid at the Manor before I married Trott. That was when Mr. +Eichard was living Miss Connie's brother. He was near fifteen years +older and he died in South Africa, poor lad! Ah, when he was killed it +nigh broke the Colonel's heart. Well, I've often helped out at the +Manor when extra service was needed. Far rather would I see Miss Connie +wedded to Mr. Max." + +"But how did Miss Connie happen to know the prince?" asked Frances. + +"In Rome. Till her mother died, they spent part of every winter there, +but the Colonel can't bear the place now and they stop here the season. +I keep hopin' Mr. Max will get her yet. Such a pretty well-mannered boy +he always was and never above passin' a friendly word with us all. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott concluded, "when you come to think of it, Mr. +Max is a foreigner, too, but the best I can say is that he's just like +an honest English gentleman." + +Frances flushed, choking back a hot comment. She had so quickly felt a +bond of kinship with this young American. Yet, in spite of her +momentary anger, she realized that Mrs. Trott was paying the highest +compliment in her power. Well, pride in her own country could teach +Frances to value like loyalty in another. + +"What is his other name?" she inquired. + +"I couldn't rightly tell you, Miss. He was but a wee lad when he first +came to the Manor. He calls the Colonel, uncle, and we forget he isn't +really of the family. Yet his father has been here, too. He's famous +for something very wise indeed. Could I speak the name, you might know, +for he's well-spoken of outside our island." + +At this moment, Win appeared, strolling up the lane and looking annoyed +to find the girls so far in the opposite direction from the railway. +Nor did his vexation lessen on hearing their adventures, softened and +smoothed though the version was. In fact, self-controlled Win was +inclined to be decidedly cross and to disapprove emphatically +acceptances of further favors from a stranger. Fran was still arguing +when a smartly-appointed trap drawn by a shiny horse turned into the +lane. + +"Now, you can see for yourself," declared Fran. "He's an American and a +gentleman and it's all right for us to let him drive us home." + +"As if we couldn't hire a carriage in Gorey," Win retorted, but with a +second glance at the driver, his attention was distracted. + +"Oh-h!" he said in perplexity, "that's the fellow who was in the Royal +Square that morning. Now, where in the wide world have I seen him +before?" + +Thinking hard, Win stared with puckered brows. Suddenly his face +cleared. "Why, he's that young chap Father introduced me to the time he +took me to Washington," he said accusingly to Fran. "Why didn't you +tell me?" + +"How on earth could I know?" demanded Fran, but her brother had turned +with a smile to greet the trap just drawing up by the gate. Mr. Max +looked at Win with a puzzled glance which gradually changed to a look +of recognition. + +"I do know you, don't I?" he said. "Well, I never suspected when I was +detailed to entertain Captain Thayne's son for an hour or so, that we'd +meet again in Gorey village. Why, that makes us old friends!" + +Win grasped the cordially offered hand and having bestowed Edith and +Frances in the seat behind, climbed up beside Max, his face beaming. +With many thanks to Mrs. Trott and promises to come again, they drove +off. + +"Hasn't this been the most exciting afternoon?" Frances confided to +Edith. "We've learned the collie lady's name and met the boy she told +us of, and heard about her Italian prince. Look at Win! He's crushed on +Mr. Max,--I can tell by the way he's looking at him. I should think +Miss Connie would much rather marry an American." + +"Perhaps he hasn't asked her," said Edith sensibly. "Perhaps, if she +really is engaged to the prince, she did it before Mr. Max came back +from America and he couldn't help himself because it was too late." + +Max's back did not look as though it belonged to a specially unhappy +person and the expression of his face as he talked pleasantly with Win +was not that of a young man whose enjoyment in life has been seriously +darkened, but it pleased the girls to fancy him as a blighted being, so +keenly had Mrs. Trott's rather injudicious confidences appealed to +their youthful ideas of romance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + + +"Why, I've met Miss Lisle several times," said Mrs. Thayne after +hearing Fran's account of the exciting end of the picnic. "She's a +charming girl and her father is the finest type of an English +gentleman. At the lawn party this afternoon she spoke of meeting two +girls on the beach and asked if one wasn't my daughter." + +"Oh, I do hope I can know her," said Frances happily. "I think she's +the sweetest thing I ever saw. But, Mother, do you suppose what Mrs. +Trott said about her and the Italian prince is true?" + +"That was a bit of gossip which Mrs. Trott should not have repeated to +girls of your age," commented her mother, "but since you have heard it, +I suppose it will do no harm to say that Prince Santo-Ponte undoubtedly +does visit at the Manor, though I do not believe that any engagement +exists between him and Miss Lisle. As for Mr. Max, as you call him, his +father is Professor Rodney Hamilton, the noted scientist. Max has been +much with the Lisles and to all purposes is the son of the house." + +"The day when I really meet Miss Connie will be the happiest of my +life," declared Frances solemnly. Later, her amused mother learned that +Edith was equally smitten. + +In his quiet way, Win was most anxious to see more of Max and it was +partly with this wish in mind that he set off one morning shortly after +the picnic at Orgueil, to stroll on the road leading past the Manor. On +so pleasant a day he might encounter the young people riding or walking. + +When Win reached the Manor gates, no one was in sight, and he sauntered +past, not caring to intrude on private grounds. One longing glance he +cast at the chimneys above the laurels, twelve that he could count from +that angle. What a rambling old structure the Manor house must be! +Surely in its existence stretching back through the centuries, many +interesting things had happened under that roof. What fun it would be +to try to find them out! + +Absorbed in pleasant thought, Win walked farther than he realized, +lured by the blue sea and a most interesting little church almost on +the water's edge. The doors proved locked, but Win resolved to come +again when he could gain admittance, for from outward appearance the +building was extremely old. + +On turning, Win was soon aware that he had overtaxed his strength and +was in no shape to walk to St. Aubin's. Pleasant as the sky still was, +a strong sea breeze had risen, bringing difficulties for a person who +required very favorable conditions for any prolonged exercise. Only +slow progress was possible and when he again reached the iron gates of +the Manor, he was really too tired to go on. Choosing the sunny slope +of the hedge, he sat down to rest. + +Before long, voices approached on the other side of the laurels, voices +speaking in French, and Max came through the arch, accompanied by a +gardener carrying tools. + +"Why, Win," he said. "You're not stopping at the gate, I hope. The +house is just beyond." + +[Illustration: A MOST INTERESTING LITTLE CHURCH ALMOST ON THE WATER'S +EDGE.] + +Win smiled. "I sat down to get my breath," he explained. "I've been for +a stroll and the wind knocked me about a trifle." + +Max looked at him keenly. "It's a bit cool to stop there," he said. +"Come up to the house. We'll slip into the library and you can rest +properly." + +Win demurred, thinking he would detain Max from his business. + +"Uncle only asked me to direct Pierre about some planting around the +cottages," Max replied. He added some words in French to his companion, +who nodded and struck off toward the shore. "I'll not stop for you," +Max went on, taking Win's arm. "There isn't a person at home, and you +will have the library to yourself." + +Win yielded at once. Aside from the pleasure of seeing Max again, the +suggestion of books acted as a magnet. + +They crossed the beautiful Manor lawn,--green as in June,--not toward +the main entrance but in the direction of some big French windows +opening on the terrace. The casement yielded to Max's touch and the two +entered a room that would have made Win gasp with pleasure had he been +less exhausted. He received only the impression of spacious beauty and +countless books, as he was established on a big old settle beside a +fireplace where cheery flames were flashing. Before he knew precisely +what was happening, Win found himself tucked among comfortable cushions. + +"There, go to sleep now," said Max, flinging over him a soft blue +Italian blanket. "I've an idea this thing belongs in Connie's room, but +since she left it here we will make use of it. There's no one at home +and the only person likely to come is Yvonne, one of the maids. If she +appears to look after the fire, just tell her you are my friend." + +Max departed and Win soon fell into a reverie. He did not sleep +immediately but as his physical discomfort lessened under the influence +of rest and quiet, he began to look about him. + +The three rooms composing the library were very high and opened into +one another by arches. From floor to ceiling the books climbed, rank on +rank, on the upper shelves in double tiers, in some places overflowing +window seats. Narrow stained-glass casements threw pleasant patches of +color on the polished floor. Age had blackened the oak ceiling and the +handsome wall paneling where books did not conceal it. Here and there +hung portraits, evidently of the family, judging from certain recurring +resemblances. Their quaint costumes dated from the days of the Stuart +kings. + +The utter quiet of the place, the time-faded bindings, the old +pictures, the spots of crimson and blue light, the faint odor of +leather, mingled with the scent of fresh flowers from some invisible +source, all had their effect upon Win, who sank into a state of mind +where he was neither awake nor quite asleep. His last wholly conscious +thought was for the curious coat of arms above the fireplace, a shield +that bore the date 1523. + +An hour later, Win came to full consciousness and at the same time to a +sense of familiarity with his surroundings. "Of all queer things!" he +thought as he sat up and looked around him. "The first day I was in +Jersey I dreamed of this room or of some room like it. That man up +there in the picture is mighty like the old Johnny that was around. +I've been dreaming about him now, only I can't remember what." + +Try as he might, Win could not recall that dream, a fantastic jumble of +persons and an impression, almost painful, of a fruitless search. + +"This is a house where anything might have happened," his thoughts ran. +"How I wish I could have a chance at these books!" + +Shelves framed even the ancient fireplace, their contents within easy +reach of Win's settle. His eye ran idly along the titles, a History of +the World, an edition of Defoe, some old hour-books. Tucked in with +these were two volumes of very modern philosophy, their bright cloth +bindings looking curiously out of place. With their exception, nothing +in sight looked less than a century old and examination proved most to +be even older. Many bore marks of ownership by Lisles dead and gone. + +His enthusiasm thoroughly aroused, Win examined volume after volume, +lingering over the quaint bookplates. Finally he took down a book +unlettered on the back, but with a rubbed leather binding that showed +marks of use. It proved a very old copy of the Psalms, a book that some +one had once read often, for its pages were worn not only by time but +by constant turning. + +Opening to the front, Win searched for a bookplate. There was none, but +in fine handwriting appeared: "Richard Lisle His Valued Book." As Win +replaced the volume a paper slipped from its pages. + +Picking it up, he glanced idly at the single sheet which seemed a page +perhaps lost from some letter written long before, possibly a leaf from +a diary. The penmanship was like the autograph in the Psalter, the ink, +though faded, perfectly legible on the yellowed paper. + +The extract began in the middle of a sentence. Win, who started to +decipher it from mere curiosity, ended by reading it five or six times. +It ran as follows: + +"having fed my Prince and Eased him after his hard Flight we took +Counsel anent his Refuge. + +"That he should lye at ye Manor looked not wise. Ye Castel seemed ye +better Place. + +"Lest he be curiously viewed of Many we did furnishe Other garb and a +Strong Bigge Cloake. And those who knew did safely lead him through ye +Towne. + +"Ye honoured Relicks my Sonne and I did place in ye Spanish Chest and +convey by Lantern light to that safe Place beyond ye Walls. So shall +they Reste till happier Times shall Dawne. + +"Strange that this Day should bring such Honour to Mine House." + +Win's eyes grew interested and excited as he studied this message from +the past. For whom was it meant and why had it lain all these years in +the old Psalter? Did the Manor family know of its existence? The +prince, the castle, the town, mentioned by a Lisle of Laurel Manor, +must refer to events of island history. + +After thinking a few minutes, Win drew out his notebook and made a +careful copy. Surely that was not abusing Max's hospitality and could +do no harm. If he discovered anything interesting in looking up the +matter in some history of Jersey at the public library, he would share +his knowledge. Or there surely must be books of that kind here at the +Manor. Perhaps he would be permitted to come again and investigate this +fascinating room more thoroughly. He wished he knew Max better. If he +only did, he could show his find at once and ask for an opinion. Well, +that might come later. Anyway, it would be great fun to study the +enigmatic paper and see what he could make of it. + +When Max came quietly a few minutes later, Win made no mention of his +discovery. Surprised to find it so late, he thanked his host, and +declared himself entirely fit to walk back to Rose Villa. + +"Come again," said Max as they parted at the gates. "I know you liked +the library and that will please Uncle Dick. You must come when he's at +home and he'll show you all his special treasures." + +Win went on with a happy face. That meant he would certainly have +another opportunity to browse in that fascinating old book-room, and +perhaps become so well acquainted with the Manor family that he could +share his puzzle with somebody who would be equally interested in +finding out what it meant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + + +Fran's "happiest day" soon dawned, for not long after the Orgueil +picnic, she and Edith were walking down one of Jersey's lovely lanes. +Enclosed by high ivy-covered earthen banks, it ran, a straight white +road between green walls, and so narrow that at regular intervals, +little bays were provided that carriages might pass. Evergreen oaks, +often growing from the banks themselves, and drooping vines made the +lane a bower of beauty even on a December afternoon. The girls had +stopped to admire the old Norman gateway leading to Vinchelez Manor, +when suddenly around a corner, bounced the beach dog. Close behind came +Constance Lisle and Maxfield Hamilton. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORMAN GATEWAY LEADING TO VINCHELEZ MANOR] + +"We've been to call on your respective mother and sister," declared +Connie, "and were desolated not to find the little ladies. What luck to +meet you! Max, you don't need an introduction, do you, after playing +Lord Lochinvar with both girlsat once?" + +At this sweeping characterization, they all laughed and walked along +together, Tylo galloping ahead or falling behind as his sweet will led. + +"I'm giving a treat to the Sunday-school children after Christmas," +Connie confided, as at the end of a brisk walk, they came to the +parting of the ways. "I should like you girls, if you will, to help me +with the kiddies. The brothers are invited too, if they would fancy it." + +"Win would like to help," Frances said quickly, her face lighted with +pleasure at this request. "He's very good at things like that, but +Roger's only twelve, you know." + +"Oh, Roger can hand buns," said Connie at once. "No harm if he does +tread on a few. I shall count on you then next week Thursday, three +days after Christmas. Take care not to stir abroad on Christmas eve for +that's when the Jersey witches hold their meeting at the rock up by St. +Clement's." + +She waved a laughing adieu and the girls went back to Rose Villa, +bubbling over with pleasure and anticipation. + +It was fortunate for Frances that she did have this expectation of a +visit to the Manor to buoy her spirits, for the season scarcely seemed +Christmas. Warm weather and plentiful flowers did not appeal to one +accustomed to the holiday in wintry Boston, but not the weather alone +disturbed Fran. For some foolish reason she disliked intensely the +differences of celebration that marked this holiday in another land. +Her state of mind both worried and distressed Mrs. Thayne. + +"Why, little daughter, don't you see the fun of having Christmas under +strange conditions?" she asked one evening, when she went to +investigate a sound of woe from Fran's room. + +"No, I don't see any fun in it," replied Frances stubbornly. "I could +stand Thanksgiving, even though I had to go to school, because Miss +Estelle knew it was an important day to us and had a turkey for dinner +and put little American flags around. But Christmas here in St. +Aubin's, without Father, is too impossible." + +Mrs. Thayne was silent for a moment. Then she sat down on the bed and +took Frances in her arms. + +"Listen, now," she said. "I want you to think about somebody else for a +moment. There's Edith. Just remember how sad this season must be for +her and Estelle. Yet Estelle goes about with a smiling face that gives +me a heartache because her eyes are so pitiful. She's planning hard to +make things pleasant for us and to have it seem Christmas to Edith. I +know some of her plans, Fran. Then, even if Father isn't with us, we +know he is well and that it is only a question of time before the +_Philadelphia_ is where we can be nearer. Win is always self-controlled +and naturally he and Roger don't miss the home conditions as you do, +but their enjoyment is going to depend largely upon their sister. Why, +Fran, you usually like new experiences and here they are looming thick +and fast." + +"That's just the trouble," sobbed Fran. "I don't want them all piled on +top of Christmas. I want to be with Grandmother and the cousins. I +can't believe it is Christmas when it's so green and so hot." + +"Many nice things are going to happen," her mother went on. "Just think +what fun you and Edith will have helping Miss Connie with her school +treat. You are going to find that very English." + +Frances smiled. "Oh, I won't be a pig, Mother," she said at last. "Miss +Connie is a dear and of course we must make the boys have a nice time." + +"The climate agrees so well with Win that I am very thankful to spend +Christmas here," replied Mrs. Thayne. "To-morrow, Nurse is going into +town to the French market and I think you will like to go with her." + +Win and Edith joined the marketing expedition next morning and even +Frances was impressed with the holiday spirit overhanging the place. +They left Nurse carefully inspecting fat geese in a poulterer's stall +and started to explore. + +Any number of plump chickens and ducks hung about, together with little +pigs decorated by blue rosettes on their ears, a touch that struck Win +as extremely funny. In the vegetable market were heaped huge piles of +potatoes, scrubbed till their pink skins shone, great ropes of red +onions braided together by their dried tops, turnips, artichokes, +garlic, winter squashes, white and purple cabbages, celery and egg +plant and many varieties of greens and early vegetables. The stalls +themselves were prettily arranged and fragrant with nice smells but +their keepers were the great attraction. Many were in charge of old +women dressed in white peasant caps and clean starched aprons above +full wool skirts and wooden sabots. Little tow-headed grandchildren, +comical replicas in miniature, smiled shyly or dropped bobbing curtsys +as the girls stopped to speak. + +Fruit stalls proved even more fascinating with the hothouse grapes, +red, white, and dark purple, showing a hazy bloom. Fresh figs and dates +abounded, alternating with baskets of Italian chestnuts and oranges, +forty for a shilling. Every stall seemed to have vied in decorations +with its neighbor, being bowers of myrtle and laurestinus. One sported +a shield showing three leopards in daffodils against a green background. + +"Look at the English coat of arms," said Frances, catching sight of it. + +"That's not English," said Edith. "Those are the leopards of Jersey, +the old Norman insignia." + +"I can't understand," observed Frances as they sauntered on, "why, when +Jersey belongs to England, it has a different coat of arms and +government and everything." + +"Because the islands are all little self-governing communities," +supplied Win. "It's a privilege they have always had, and even England +wouldn't dare take it from them now. Jersey is desperately jealous of +Guernsey. They say that even a Jersey toad will die if it is taken to +Guernsey." + +"Neither will Guernsey flowers blossom here," Edith added. "Oh, there's +Miss Connie!" + +The little lady of Laurel Manor was standing before one of the +flower-stalls, chatting in French with a very clean, rosy-cheeked old +woman in a white cap. Behind Constance stood a servant carrying a +basket and as the girls watched she purchased an enormous bunch of +daffodils, a sheaf of calla lilies, and a quantity of narcissus. + +"Isn't she sweet in that soft green suit," commented Edith admiringly. + +Turning from the stall, Connie saw and hailed them. "Have you seen the +fish-market?" she asked after greeting them gayly. "Oh, you must not +miss that. I always go there." + +She led them past a long bench where sat several nice white-capped old +women beside huge baskets of spotlessly washed eggs or round rolls of +fresh, unsalted butter wrapped in cool green cabbage leaves. Some of +them nodded and smiled and once Connie stopped to ask after a sick +child. Everybody spoke in French and seemed most kind and cordial. + +Arrived at the fish-market, conger eels as big as Win's wrist, and four +or five feet long, crabs two feet across the shells, lobsters blue +rather than green, enormous scallops, huge stacks of oysters, cockles +and snails, the so-called winkles, greeted the astonished eyes of the +young people. In other directions were heaped piles of smelts, plaice +and unknown fish. + +"These are what I dote on," said Constance, calling their attention to +piles of tiny crabs, neatly tied by the claws into bunches. Most were +alive, but owing to the fact that all chose to walk in different +directions, the bunches remained fairly stationary. One might purchase +two, four, six or a dozen, according to the size of one's appetite. + +"I'm so glad we met," said Connie, when in addition they had made the +round of the flower market and exclaimed over its treasures of color +and fragrance. "I thought of you this morning and wondered if you young +people wouldn't like to help decorate the church. There are never too +many helpers and we have ordered such lovely greens and flowers. +Several of us are to be at the church at two this afternoon and you'll +be very welcome if you care to come. It's pretty work and we always +have a nice time." + +"Indeed, we should like to help," said Frances promptly. "Is it Mr. +Angus's church at St. Aubin's?" + +"No, the one I mean is a tiny stone church not far beyond the Manor. +Just take the highroad inland from the village and turn once to the +left." + +"Oh, I know," said Win quickly. "It stands almost on the shore." + +"That's it," said Connie. "I'll expect you then." + +Win declared himself quite equal to helping with the decorations that +afternoon. When they arrived, the beach dog lay in the porch, thumping +his tail by way of welcome, so they knew his mistress was already +within. For a few moments, the three lingered to look at the quaint +French inscriptions on the churchyard stones, but finally entered +rather shyly. They were not given one moment to feel themselves +strangers. + +"I'm delighted to see you," exclaimed Constance, coming down the aisle +with a long vine trailing after. "So glad you came. Rose," she called +to a pretty young girl working near by, "here are some helpers for your +windows. Oh, you know Rose LeCroix, don't you? She goes to your school. +Win," she added quickly, "won't you come and help struggle with this +tiresome pulpit?" + +Win followed at once, glad to see Max already busy over the designated +task, but Constance sent him to seek a certain wire frame reputed to +exist in the sacristy. Win found himself twining myrtle wreaths around +the pillars of the stone pulpit, yet stealing constant glances at the +interior of the old church. + +Part of it was very ancient, with round Norman pillars and a rounded +vault, speaking of very distant days. Everything save pews and choir +stalls was of granite, its rosy color making the stone seem warm rather +than cold. Vines, holly and flowers heaped about the interior +emphasized by their ephemeral beauty the solemn enduring majesty of the +church itself. Ten or twelve young people were working more or less +steadily to the accompaniment of much gay conversation. + +"Oh, Max, that's the wrong frame," Constance said suddenly. + +Win turned to see her sorting lilies where she knelt on the chancel +steps. + +"This isn't Easter, ducky," she added. "We want a star, not a cross." + +Max smiled at Win, an indulgent, rather amused smile, and when the +proper frame had been substituted, came back to the pulpit. + +"Tell me," said Win, indicating the stone vault. "What are those little +pointed things up there?" + +"You mean the limpet shells?" asked Max, looking up. + +"Are they shells?" said Win in amazement. "They looked it, but I +couldn't imagine how shells could be scattered about up there." + +"Some thousand years ago when the original builders quarried this stone +from the Jersey shore, they didn't trouble to scrape off the limpets +that clung to it. Nobody has removed them since; now it would seem +sacrilege to do so." + +"A thousand years!" repeated Win in awe. He stopped work for a moment +to look at the pointed shells on the roof. + +"Does jar a fellow and makes him feel mighty transitory and +insignificant, doesn't it?" commented Max, with a friendly glance of +understanding. "I think there's no place quite like this church. The +Manor lies in its parish and Uncle Dick would know if a single limpet +was knocked off. The only time I ever saw him really angry was once +when some Americans--I'm an American, too, you know, so I can tell this +story--tried to bribe the verger to scrape one down for them. There was +rather a row and Uncle was in a fine fizz. + +"There's one interesting thing common to all these old churches," Max +went on, seeing that Win appreciated the place. "The island is divided +into twelve parishes. From the church of each there was originally a +road, leading directly to the sea. In feudal times, a criminal was safe +if he took sanctuary in the church and by the old custom, after he had +abjured his crime, he could go down by this one road to the shore and +leave the island. But if he strayed never so little aside, he lost the +benefit of the sanctuary and was liable to the law. Just imagine some +old robber or cut-throat marching down his path to the sea, escorted by +the churchwardens, with other men watching his every step, ready to +seize him if he swerved. Some of these sanctuary roads are still the +main highways." + +"I think the island history is so interesting," said Win. "I suppose it +is a fact that Prince Charles did take refuge here?" + +"No doubt of it," Max replied, looking critically at the almost +completed pulpit decorations. "Indeed, there is a story that he was +entertained at Laurel Manor. Ask Uncle about it," he added, not +noticing Win's start of interest. "He's awfully keen on that legend. I +suppose it is very likely true though I don't know that there is any +real proof. There, do you think her ladyship will approve our efforts? +Excuse me,--Connie wants her star put in place." + +Left alone, Win stood thinking hard. So Prince Charles was reputed to +have visited Laurel Manor! What if that chance letter were the proof? +If so, was there not more in its message than confirmation of the +prince's stay? One thing was certain--he _must_ get acquainted with +Colonel Lisle. + +So many industrious hands soon completed their task. After the gay +workers departed, Connie lingered for a last look. + +"Come and see it to-morrow morning," she said to the three. "Probably +you'll wish to go into town at eleven, but come here for the early +service at six." + +Edith looked doubtful. "Sister planned to go to St. Aubin's," she said. + +"I couldn't come alone," said Frances, her disappointment showing in +her face. + +"I'll come with you," offered Win so unexpectedly that his sister +frankly stared. + +"Good!" said Constance. "There'll be no music and only candle-light, +but you'll love it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." + +That very evening Fran was forced to admit that a Jersey Christmas had +its compensations. The doors of the back parlor, mysteriously locked +for days, were opened and in the room, gay with holly, mistletoe, and +laurestinus, appeared a most delightful little Christmas tree, itself +rather foreign in appearance since it was a laurel growing in a big +pot. Real English holly concealed the base and merry tapers twinkled a +welcome. + +Estelle had spent much time and thought, coupled with anxious fears +lest these young Americans whose lives seemed so sunny, might not care +for so simple a pleasure. Their appreciation, not in the least put on +for the occasion, quite repaid her. Inexpensive little gifts adorned +the tree, each bearing a number. + +"Draw a slip," commanded Roger, appearing before his mother with a box. +"Take a chance and see what you'll get." + +When all the slips were distributed, Roger as instructed by Estelle, +took a gift at random from the tree and called its attached number. + +"Who has eight?" he demanded. + +"Here," said Win, giving up his slip in exchange for the tiny package, +and presently laughing heartily over an absurd mechanical mouse. +Ridiculous misfits in the presents made the distribution all the +funnier, and the rejoicing was great when Roger, who didn't believe in +washing his hands without being told to do so, drew a wee cake of soap. +He took it good-naturedly and considered as an added joke, Estelle's +hasty and shocked assurance that it was not meant especially for him. + +Strange to say, some packages appeared on that tree of which Estelle +was ignorant, conveyed by Roger to the proper persons. Edith was +rendered speechless with joy over several lovely gifts, and tears +filled Estelle's eyes. Nor were Nurse and Annette forgotten. The +Thaynes had certainly lived up to the American reputation for +generosity. + +Then Nurse brought a big bowl filled with darting blue flames. The +courageous shut one or both eyes, stuck in a fearful finger and +extracted a fig or a fat raisin. Egg-nog and roasted Italian chestnuts +completed Estelle's entertainment save for the holiday dinner of roast +beef and plum pudding to follow on the morrow. + +Unexpected by Estelle, her plans were supplemented by a group of parish +school-children, led by the old organist, who came through the streets, +singing Christmas carols: "God save you, merry gentlemen," "Good King +Wenceslaus" and "As Joseph was a-waukin'" + +In fascination Fran lingered on the steps long after the singers were +gone, pleased with her distribution of pennies from her mother's purse +and biscuit provided by Estelle. Far in the distance she could hear +their voices. Yes, after all, an English Christmas had its points. + +Next morning, Nurse's call seemed incredibly early to Frances, though +she found the whole household awake and exchanging greetings. Mrs. +Thayne decided to accompany Win and Fran, and Roger alone remained in +bed. + +The stars still shone brightly, making it seem the middle of the night, +save for the hurrying groups bound for church, some still singing +carols or hymns. + +"It's like October weather at home, isn't it, Mother?" said Frances as +they walked on through the crisp, clear air. "See, there are lights in +the windows and people leaving lanterns in the porch." + +The moment she entered, Frances understood what Connie meant by not +missing that service for "anything in the world," and Win felt it even +more keenly, being by nature more impressionable. + +The utter quiet, broken only by a distant wash of waves,--waves that +sometimes broke over the stones in the churchyard,--the candles in the +chancel, throwing into high relief Constance's Christmas star and +touching with light the jonquils banking steps and altar rail; the dusk +in the nave of the church half-revealing scattered groups of people as +they knelt in silence under the arched vault where clung the limpets +dead a thousand years,--all contributed to the age-old Christmas +miracle. + +"I feel as though I'd never realized what Christmas meant before," +thought Win, and somewhat the same feeling came to Frances as her eyes +became accustomed to the gloom and she discerned among the kneeling +figures her fellow-workers of the day before. Half-way down the nave +was the family from the Manor, Constance and Max on either side of a +tall gray-haired gentleman. Fran recognized him as the one who had +spoken to Win that day in the Royal Square. + +Win recognized him also, knew him to be Colonel Lisle and was quickly +reminded of that curious old document, as yet a mystery. How he hoped +Miss Connie's school treat would afford an opportunity to meet the +owner of the Manor and to take some step toward the solution of that +puzzle. + +As the service began, Frances stole a glance at the windows banked with +glossy laurel and holly, over which she and Edith had worked with Rose +LeCroix and her sister Muriel. Just because she had helped do something +for that little church in a foreign land, Fran experienced a sudden +blessed feeling of belonging a bit. A pleasant glow crept into her +heart, a sense of the spirit that makes the world akin at Christmas. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BUN WORRY + + +"I have helped you very nicely all the morning, Connie, and I hope you +appreciate my goodness. But as for messing about the lawn with a bun +worry in full blast,--thank you, Maxfield is not on. One doesn't want +to let one's self in for everything." + +"Your goodness isn't such as to alarm me," sighed Constance, casting a +worried glance about the Manor green. "You're in no danger of acquiring +saintship. Dad has balked, too. What'll I do alone?" + +"Being on toast yourself, why do you want to have me there?" said Max +mischievously. "Aren't all the Sunday school mistresses coming to help +and didn't you ask those nice American kiddies?" + +"I did, and that's another reason why I want you," retorted Connie, +flying to adjust to her better satisfaction the basket of narcissus +decorating the chief table. "Max, I don't know where to have you. Since +you came from the States, I can't make out whether you are English or +American. Here you are shying either at an English school treat or at +some nice American children. Which is it?" + +"Neither, I think," Max replied after a survey of the close-clipped +lawn, boasting that velvety turf which only centuries of care can +perfect. Great groups of laurel proudly proclaimed the right of the +Manor to its name; carefully trimmed hedges of yew and box protected +borders already gay with spring flowers, and beyond the grounds +shimmered the sea. Max's glance was one of affection, for this was the +scene of many happy boyhood days. + +"I think I'd shy just as quickly at an American tea-fight," he said at +length. "As for being neither English nor American, I love both +countries. I would certainly be loyal to my own, but I would also take +up arms for England, if the time ever came that she needed me and the +two duties didn't conflict." + +"You're a duck," said Constance promptly. "Come, take up arms and carry +a basket of buns for me this afternoon." + +"Too many petticoats coming," said Max. "I'm afraid of those freaks +from the rectory. But I'll agree to furnish a substitute who will more +than take my place. The kiddies will be thrilled to a peanut. Come now, +let me off?" + +"I suppose so," agreed Constance. "Don't bother about letting me down +softly. Trot off and do anything you think you have to do. Here are the +Marqué children already. And there come the Thaynes." + +"I will perform a vanishing act," said Max quickly. "Connie, I really +am booked for an hour with Uncle Dick, but I'll send that substitute. +Watch for him." + +Constance looked after him suspiciously, but Max was already half +across the sunken garden, whistling to Tylo as he went. + +"Are we too early, Miss Connie?" asked Frances as they came up. + +"Just on the dot," replied Connie, greeting them all. "The children are +arriving. We will play games first and then have tea. Excuse me, +please, while I go and speak to the Reverend Fred." + +Constance departed to greet the curate thus disrespectfully designated, +a youthful individual of rather prepossessing appearance. Just behind +him appeared Rose and Muriel LeCroix and other girls whom Frances knew +at school. + +Soon the children came thick and fast, shy youngsters propelled by +older brothers and sisters, independent groups, a few babies in arms, a +scattering of older people. + +Two white-draped tables by the yew hedge were the target for the +children's eyes as they wondered what those linen-covered baskets +concealed. There would be tea of course, buns in plenty, possibly cake. + +Presently the children, poked and pulled into line were started playing +London Bridge, two of the biggest girls forming the bridge. + +For a moment Frances stood apart, watching the marching, shouting +youngsters, scrubbed till they shone, clothed in clean though often +clumsy garments and heavy shoes. No great poverty was indicated by +their apparel, and some, evidently of French origin, were dressed with +real taste and daintiness. These were also remarkable for a more +vivacious appearance than the stolid little Anglo-Saxons. Some few were +of striking beauty. + +As one game succeeded another, the children grew less stiff and +self-conscious. The Reverend Fred was joining in the sport with +conscientious zeal, as were his two sisters and Edith and Miss Connie. +Fran caught the contagion and found herself flying about the Manor +lawn, tying a handkerchief over one child's eyes to lead in Blindman's +Buff, helping another group play King of the Castle, finally organizing +a game of Drop the Handkerchief. + +With amused surprise she saw Roger actually helping Muriel LeCroix with +a number of the smallest children, and this fact so impressed Frances +that she failed to note Win's absence. + +Her brother was not far away. Had Frances been nearer the opening in +the hedge, leading into the sunken garden in its season full of roses, +she might have seen an interesting picture, for with great glee, Win +was helping prepare for appearance Max's promised substitute. + +Down in the rose-garden, where an old sundial marked "only the sunny +hours," the afternoon shadows grew long. The older people, somewhat +exhausted by strenuous play, seated the children in a big circle ready +for tea. From the Manor emerged Yvonne, Pierre, and Paget, Constance's +old nurse, armed with shiny copper cans, to fill cups for distribution. + +Frances seized a basket of buns and for a time was so occupied with +playing Lady Bountiful to a host of little hands, now rather grimy, +that it seemed quite natural to be sharing in this unusual festivity. +But as she was hurrying back to the table to refill her empty basket, +she met Edith on a similar errand. Suddenly it struck her as very odd +that she should be helping. + +"This is the funniest affair I ever saw," she confided merrily. + +"Why?" asked the puzzled Edith, lifting grave eyes to look at her. +"Don't you give the Sunday school children treats in America?" + +"Oh, yes," admitted Frances, "but we'd never fill them up on weak tea +and buns. They'd expect ice-cream and cake." + +Edith looked much shocked. "Ices are very dear," she remarked, "and not +fitting for these children. Would you really serve ices in winter?" she +asked incredulously. + +"On the very coldest day of the year," asserted Frances emphatically. +"Oh, America is so _different_, Edith! Why there's scarcely a town so +tiny that you can't buy ice-cream any time of the day or any time of +year." + +"It must indeed be different," Edith agreed. Basket refilled, she +returned to her charges. + +For a minute Frances lingered, looking around at the circle of +hilarious children, each with a mug, more or less precariously clasped, +each stuffing big plummy buns; looked at the older people so anxiously +attending to them. Yes, it was very different, very English, but also +very interesting. + +As Frances passed the entrance to the sunken garden, her basket filled +this time by solid-looking pieces of cake, she heard her name. + +"Fran," came Win's voice, "call Tylo. Get him to come out on the lawn." + +Frances called. She could see no one in the garden, only hear amused +voices trying to induce Tylo to answer the summons. + +"He won't start," said Win again. "Ask Miss Connie to whistle for him, +Fran." + +On receiving Fran's message, Constance looked puzzled. + +"I'd as soon Tylo would stop away," she said. "The kiddies may not +fancy him begging for their cake. Still, I'll call." + +At the summons from his mistress, Tylo instantly came, causing a sudden +silence among the chattering children, silence succeeded by wild +shrieks of pleasure. + +The beach dog emerged from the garden wearing a wreath of roses around +his neck, with an open pink silk parasol fastened to his collar and +tipped at a fashionable and coquettish angle over his head and holding +firmly in his mouth the handle of a basket filled with as varied an +assortment of English "sweets" as Max could secure in his hasty gallop +into St. Helier's. + +Connie, too, gave an exclamation of laughter. "Oh, look at my best +Paris brelly!" she groaned. "Max stole that. Yvonne never gave it to +him." + +Fully conscious that he held the center of the stage, Tylo advanced, +waving his tail and casting amiable glances upon the children as they +came crowding around, buns and cake forgotten. He seemed perfectly to +understand what was expected and held the basket until the last sugar +plum was secured by little searching hands, then employed to caress the +bearer. Max's substitute certainly scored the greatest hit of the Manor +"bun worry." + +From their seclusion in the rose-garden, the two conspirators watched +Tylo's successful appearance. + +"Let's come in and wash," said Max, seeing that no further +responsibility remained to them. "Or are you keen on a bun worry? I +like them, like them awfully, you know, but somehow, I'm afraid Uncle +Dick may be lonely. I feel it's my duty to look him up." + +Win would have seen through this flimsy excuse without the betrayal of +Max's merry eyes, but the proposal chanced to be what he most wished to +do. Very gladly he followed Max through the gardens to a side entrance +to the house, where they went up to Max's room, a high oak-paneled +chamber that would have been sombre were it not for three sunny +mullioned casements overlooking the sea. Cases crowded with books stood +by the fireplace, fishing rods, cricket bats and oars decorated the +walls. + +"Those aren't mine," said Max, noticing Win's glance as he stood drying +his hands; "only the skiis and racquets. This was Richard's room, Uncle +Dick's only son. He was a subaltern in the British army, just twenty +when he was killed in the charge on Majuba Hill. They have always given +me his room at the Manor. I fancy Uncle liked to have it occupied by a +boy again." + +"Colonel Lisle himself must have done some fighting," observed Win. +"How did he lose his arm?" + +"For years he was an officer in India. He lost his arm defending the +Khyber Pass against the Afghans." + +Max took his guest down the main staircase to the great entrance hall, +with its high raftered roof, and stone floor half covered by valuable +Oriental rugs. Suits of shining armor lent glints of light; curious +spears, ancient swords and firearms, many of them very old, were +fastened on walls dark with age. Win stopped to look at the carved +mantel over the great fireplace, sporting the leopards of Jersey, the +Lisle coat of arms and the date 1509. + +"Imagine living in a house built all those centuries ago," he sighed. +"This is older than the library, isn't it?" + +"Somewhat," replied Max. "The wing here is the oldest part of the +house. Let's come to Uncle's study. I fancy he'll be there." + +Colonel Lisle was lounging near the fire, but appeared very willing to +put aside his book and welcome the two. + +"And have you had tea, Uncle?" Max inquired. "We haven't, and I could +do nicely with a cup." + +"With all those gallons of tea on the lawn, it is a pity if an +able-bodied young gentleman couldn't secure one cup," said the Colonel +smiling. "Now you mention it, I believe I have had none either. Ring +the bell by all means and order it. I was absorbed in verifying some +points of old Norman law," he added to Win. "Our islands have an +interesting history." + +"Win is pleased that Prince Charles has left his mark on Jersey," +observed Max, giving the bell-pull a vigorous twitch. "Tell him, Uncle, +about his stopping here." + +"Such is the legend handed down from father to son," replied the +Colonel. "The story goes that the prince was brought to the Manor +immediately after landing in Jersey. Just where he landed and how he +was conveyed here is not known, but his stay was short. The owner of +the Manor at that date, another Richard Lisle,--he whose portrait hangs +in the library,--was an ardent Royalist who would have risked +everything to serve his prince. Authorities agree that Charles spent +the period of his stay in one of the castles, some say Orgueil, others +Elizabeth. Probably the Manor roof sheltered him but for a few hours. I +should very much like to see the legend of his stop in this house +authenticated beyond question. Max tells me you are fond of books," the +speaker continued. "After tea, I will show you some of our special +treasures." + +Win's face, already alight with interest, grew even more responsive to +this offer, yet as the tea came, he felt unaccountably stupid and +idiotic. Utter disgust with himself filled his mind to think he +couldn't get to the point then and there of telling his kind host about +that letter he had discovered. + +Max noticed that Win was ill at ease, attributed it to shyness or +perhaps awe of the Colonel, who was, as Max put it, "a bit impressive +till a fellow knew him," and tried to help matters by talking nonsense +that amazed Win and evidently amused the Colonel. Gradually, as he saw +that Max was not in the least afraid of the dignified owner of the +Manor, Win began to feel less tongue-tied. + +Presently came a sound of gay voices, a tap at the door and Constance, +the girls, and Roger entered. + +"The tea-party is gone and in its place is peace," said Connie. "Daddy +dear, I want you to meet Frances and Edith. And this is Roger. Max, why +didn't you have tea with us and the kiddies?" + +"Because of buns," said Max. "My bun-eating days are past." + +"Not so long past!" retorted Constance with a mischievous smile. "Not +so many years ago that I bribed you with a penny bun to steal a tooth +for me out of a skull in the Capuchin church! He did it, too," she +added to the girls, laughing delightedly at this charge. "You haven't +been in Rome? The Capuchin monks have a church there with some holy +earth brought from Jerusalem. Years ago,--they don't do it now, because +modern sanitary laws have invaded Rome,--the monks who died were buried +in this earth. Only of course as the centuries passed, there wasn't +room for them all, so the monks longest buried had to get up and give +place to others. Their bones were arranged in nice neat patterns on the +walls, and the skulls heaped in piles. It was a tooth from one of these +skulls that I fancied. Max ate the bun and stole the tooth for me, but +Daddy wouldn't let me keep it and made Max put it back." + +"Oh, how could you ever want such a thing, Miss Connie!" exclaimed +Edith, shuddering with horror. + +"I wonder, why did I?" said Constance reflectively. "It certainly +doesn't appeal to me now. Mother was shocked; she disinfected +everything that tooth had touched. Are you through tea, Daddy? I want +to take the girls into the library." + +Once again in the old book-room, Win recovered his self-possession in +admiration of its treasures of illuminated missal and manuscript. His +interest pleased his host, who ended by cordially inviting the boy to +visit the Manor library whenever and as often as he chose to come. +Win's genuine delight over this permission touched the Colonel, who +from his own physical handicap, guessed that life was not always smooth +for Win. + +Win's pleasure arose not merely from the enjoyment of the library +itself but because he would surely grow better acquainted with the +Manor family and have a more favorable opportunity to show his +discovery in the old Psalter. + +He was very quiet on the way home and scarcely spoke while Fran was +giving her mother a graphic account of the afternoon. Win hardly knew +she was talking until his attention was caught by a dramatic remark. + +"Miss Connie told us something so exciting, Mother," Fran was saying. +"Roger asked her if there was a ghost. He blurted it right out and I +was quite mortified, because you know if they did have one and were +sensitive, it would have seemed impolite. But Miss Connie said right +away that the Manor had all modern improvements, including a +well-behaved and most desirable ghost. Then she and Mr. Max looked at +each other and laughed. She said the haunted room was above the library +and promised to give us a chance to investigate some day. I wanted +dreadfully to ask about secret stairs,--you remember what that boy at +Orgueil said--but perhaps when we are looking for the ghost there will +be a chance to speak of the stairs." + +"Indeed, you've had a most interesting afternoon," agreed Mrs. Thayne, +"the discovery of a haunted room at the Manor being not the least." + +"And what have you done all by yourself, _poor_ Mother?" said Frances, +suddenly sympathetic and affectionate. + +"Part of the afternoon I was out and since then I have been talking +with Estelle. If she only felt she could, it would be so much better +for her to go more among people, for the constant effort to be brave +when she is so much alone, is very wearing. She seems so pathetically +grateful that we chanced to come to her this winter instead of other +less congenial lodgers. Sometime I hope she will speak frankly of just +how they are situated and whether she has plans beyond this season, for +I might be able to further them. And I hope, too, I shall succeed in +placing the something familiar that always strikes me in Estelle. Have +you ever noticed it, Fran? To my surprise, Win said the other day that +Estelle reminded him of some one." + +"No," said Fran. "I never noticed it. But I might ask Edith whether +they have any relatives in the United States." + +"That could do no harm," assented Mrs. Thayne thoughtfully. "Since Win +spoke of it also, the resemblance must be to some one we know over +there." + +Frances and her mother went away but Win sat thinking for some moments. +The mention of secret stairs recalled to him, though he could not say +why, that odd dream twice experienced since he came to Jersey, of a +search in a narrow unfamiliar passage, with unknown companions, for +something unspecified. + +With a start he finally roused himself and went upstairs. Before going +to bed he read again the copy of Richard Lisle's letter. + +"There's more to this than just the coming of the prince," he thought. +"That's a fact, but if that 'safe place' can be discovered, I'll +warrant we shall find the Spanish Chest and whatever 'relicks' Richard +and his 'Sonne' put into it." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE MANOR CAVE + + +A few days after the school treat, Maxfield Hamilton was sauntering +slowly across the Manor grounds. The January sky above shone blue as in +a New England June, gay crocuses starred the short green grass, +snowdrops and bluebells were already budded. From heights unknown +floated the song of a skylark; in the holly hedge sat an English robin. + +Max heard the skylark but did not notice the robin as he stopped at the +gates to look down to the sea, stretching to shining horizons under the +afternoon sun. His face was thoughtful and rather sober. + +The robin gave a little cheep and Max turned to discover the bird +almost at his elbow, a tiny scrap of olive feathers and bright red +breast, considering him with soft wise eyes, head on one side. + +"Hello, old chap," Max remarked. "What do _you_ think of this world?" + +From the tone, the robin might have inferred that the speaker's opinion +was anything but favorable. Considering him for a second, he concluded +him inoffensive and began to peck at the glowing holly berries. + +Max wandered slowly through the gates and across the Manorhold to the +shore, distant at this point about a quarter of a mile. Two or three +stone cottages with picturesque straw-thatched roofs lay near the +cliffs, property of the Manor and usually occupied by employees. + +With the thoughtful expression still on his face, Max passed the +cottages to stop on the edge of the cliffs already showing yellow with +gorse. Should the tide serve, he had it in mind to revisit a haunt of +his boyhood. A moment's scrutiny showed him right in thinking that the +tide was on the ebb and he started rapidly down a rough, rather +slippery path. As he rounded an outlying rock he came full on Roger +Thayne. + +Sprawled flat on the sloping cliff, Roger was watching so intently the +doings of a spider that he did not look up until a shadow fell squarely +across the web. + +"That you, Roger?" said Max. "Alone? Where are Win and the girls?" + +"I don't know," replied Roger, flushing uncomfortably. "That is, I +don't know where the girls are." + +"Win's not ill, I hope?" + +"No, he isn't." Roger rolled over to look at his visitor. The young +face wore a pleasant smile and the gray eyes were friendly, but somehow +Roger had a suspicion that Mr. Max wasn't the sort to approve outright +truancy. + +"Win's all right," he added evasively. "He's studying or something." + +A queer little expression crossed Max's lips. "Then since you have a +holiday,--well-deserved, no doubt,--come on exploring with me." + +Roger was on his feet in a second, the arrow of reproof glancing off +unnoted. "Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"Oh, just down here a few rods. We may have to hold up for the tide. It +won't be low water for some time yet." + +The faint path presently ended in piles of red granite, still wet from +the sea, in places slippery with vraic, as the Jerseymen call the +seaweed used as fertilizer for their land. + +"We shall have to stop a bit," said Max, after a short steep descent. +As he spoke he sat down and began to crush a bit of vraic between his +fingers. + +"This seaweed is one of the biggest assets the farmers have," he said +to Roger. "You'll enjoy being here in February when the great vraic +harvest comes. The farmers go down to the shore with carts and a sort +of sickle. At low tide the southern shore is black with people cutting +the seaweed from the rocks. The carts are used to carry it up beyond +tide-mark. Men, women and young people all turn out and it's one of the +sights of the island. The harvest lasts for several weeks and for the +first few days there is a continual picnic with dancing and all sorts +of jollifications." + +"But I've often seen men gathering seaweed on the beach," said Roger. +"It isn't February yet." + +"They are gathering the loose weed that is washed ashore. Any one may +take that between the hours of sunrise and sunset, but he must stop at +sound of the sunset gun. The cutting from the rocks is regulated by a +hallowed custom. In June there's a second harvest when only the poor +people may cut the vraic for a few weeks. After they have had their +turn anybody may cut it till the last of August." + +As he concluded, Max threw away the seaweed and picked up one of the +abundant black flint pebbles. For some moments he amused himself by +striking sparks from it with the back of a knife blade. + +"I haven't lost the knack," he remarked. "By the way, have you found +any flint knives? They turn up occasionally, though more often inland +than in a place like this. They are relics of the days when the Druids +were in Jersey. You've seen the burial mounds, haven't you,--the +Dolmens?" + +"I have," said Roger briefly. "In Bill Fish's company. Liked the stones +all right enough, but Bill can't talk, you know. He expounds." + +Max grinned. "Bad Writ, that," he agreed. "Come along. We can get +through now." + +[Illustration: THEY CAME UPON THE LOVELIEST OF LITTLE BEACHES] + +Climbing carefully around a slippery projecting rock, its base yet +submerged, they came upon the loveliest of lovely little beaches, in +shape almost a semi-circle, the water forming the bisector and the +frowning red cliffs the arc. Near the centre of the half-circle stood +two tall pinnacles of red granite. Behind them yawned an entrance about +five feet high and under this Max bent his tall head. Roger followed +and uttered a whistle of pleasure and amazement. + +They stood in a large cave, floored by fine bright yellow sea sand, +broken irregularly by out-croppings of rose-pink rock, sand and rock +alike wet and glistening. Away to the back of the cave, Roger saw that +the floor rose higher. The roof was iridescent with green and yellow +lichens; pebbles of jasper, cornelian and agate strewed the sand. + +In the twelve years of his existence, Roger had never seen anything +like this and surprise rendered him inarticulate. + +"Some cave!" he commented at length. "Look, Mr. Max, what are these?" + +"Oh, haven't you met any sea-anemones? The pools are full of them. +Jolly little beggars." + +Roger was naturally less enthusiastic over the charming water-gardens +than the girls when they chanced upon them, but he was considerably +interested in the numerous and varicolored snails, their shells bright +green or delicate pink, truly entrancing to pick up and examine. By the +time Roger finished a somewhat minute inspection his companion was out +of sight. + +"Hello!" he shouted in some concern. + +"Right-oh!" came a quiet reply. + +Bather abashed by the startling echoes he had evoked, Roger climbed +over fallen rocks to the back of the cave. There the floor rose +sharply, affording a level apparently beyond reach of the tide, for +some tiny land plants had found a lodging, ferns waved from the +crannied vault and there was no sign of any marine growth. + +"This used to be a favorite resort of mine," said Max, who was sitting +on the high ledge, some five feet wide. Beyond, the cave ended in a +mass of stone and rubble. + +Roger's eyes grew wide. "What a dandy place!" he exclaimed. + +"Not much compared with the Plémont caves," replied his companion. +"You'll probably go there before leaving the island. There are five or +six of them and one has a waterfall dividing it into two distinct +caves. Plémont is the spot where the cable comes in from England, +crawls out of the ocean like a great dripping hoary old sea-serpent to +trail through a cleft to the station on the cliff above. This is a +rat-hole beside those caves." + +"I'll take steps to go there," said Roger earnestly. "Say, does the +water ever come up here?" + +"I don't think so. Even at the spring tides, it would probably not +reach within two feet of this ledge. Only a rip-snorter of a tempest +could endanger goods stored here, or even anybody who chose this cave +to hide in." + +"Some hiding-place," admitted Roger. + +"So I've found it. When I was about your age, I came down here because +I was annoyed with the world in general and stopped between two tides." + +"Really?" gasped Roger. "Did you get wet?" + +"Not a bit. I'll admit that things seemed spooky when I'd waited so +long that I couldn't get out. I took solid comfort in the ferns and in +a sea pink that had put out a scared little blossom right where we are +sitting. I was shut in the better part of six hours and time proved a +bit slow. I remember coming to the conclusion that perhaps the people +I'd left behind weren't so utterly unreasonable after all. I fancy it's +a rather sure sign that when you can't rub along with anybody, the +trouble isn't altogether with them." + +Roger looked at him suspiciously but Max's gaze was bent on the cave +entrance, arching over a wonderful view of blue sea. + +"Do you like to live in Paris?" he asked hastily. + +"I'd rather stop in Rome where my father is," Max replied, suppressing +a smile over the sudden change of subject. "But Dad runs up +occasionally. I feel as though I'd be more use in Rome because there I +know everybody who is anybody, you see, and it would be a help to the +Embassy. Dad thinks I may be able to work a transfer after a year or +so. If the Ambassador to Italy remarks to the State Department at +Washington that Maxfield Hamilton seems a likely young chap with both +eyes open and that he wouldn't mind having him on his staff, why Max +may receive a document telling him to pack his little box and attach +his person to the Embassy at Rome." + +Roger laughed. "Then you don't like Paris?" + +"Oh, yes," said Max thoughtfully. "I've had a jolly time socially. I +can't imagine anybody in my circumstances not enjoying himself. But +it's not where I most want to be. It's up to me to make good so +emphatically that they'll hand me on to Rome with a word in my favor." + +"I expect they will," said Roger. + +"Not if I don't buckle down," said Max half to himself. "Something +happened last October that gave me a jolt and it has been hard to stick +to work. I came over here for the holidays determined to get myself in +hand again. I think I've succeeded, old chap, so I'd better go back and +dig in. A man mustn't whine, you know, if it looks jolly final that he +isn't going to have everything he wants. I've wasted time enough. I +must go back to Paris now and keep my mind on my job." + +"I bunked Bill Fish this afternoon," admitted Roger suddenly. + +"No doubt he was a frightful bore," commented Max without showing the +least surprise. "Probably I'd have done the same in your place. The +only disadvantage about shying at disagreeable things like tutors is +that one hardly ever gets rid of them after all. I'm becoming convinced +that the only way to get round a difficulty is to hit it in the head +and walk over its flattened corpse." + +Roger grinned. "Shall I bat Bill Fish?" he asked. + +"Bill Fish might be worse. Don't blame you for feeling him a freak, but +the schools in Jersey are footy affairs. If you want a fair sample of a +school you'd have to try England proper. We've messed about here long +enough. Let's take a swim." + +"Does the cave end here?" asked Roger, looking at the pile of broken +stone beyond the shelf. + +"I suppose so. It's the only one on the Manor lands so Connie and I +liked to come. Uncle Dick wouldn't permit it unless a grown person was +with us to watch the tide. How about a dip? No one can see us." + +Max left the ridge to saunter toward the entrance, stopping to +investigate more than one pool of anemones. "By the way," he added, "I +wouldn't tell the girls of this cave. They'll be keen on searching for +it afternoons when they are free and you aren't, and may get into a +mess with the tides. Really it's not quite safe." + +[Illustration: PLÉMONT IS THE SPOT WHERE THE CABLE COMES IN FROM +ENGLAND] + +"All right," agreed Roger, sliding from the shelf. As he did so, a +sudden current of warm air struck him, quite unlike the rather damp, +salty atmosphere of the cave. His curiosity was sufficiently aroused to +cause him to stop and look back, but Max had already begun to undress +and there seemed no possible place for a sweet land breeze to find +entrance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + + +Max's abrupt departure two days later was a great disappointment to +Win, who admired him greatly and coveted a closer acquaintance. That he +should cut short his stay on the plea of work to be done seemed +reasonable to the others but his going quite upset Win. Nor was this +disappointment lightened by a period of semi-invalidism when all +exertion was difficult and patience very far to seek. Not for some +weeks after Max left was Win able to take advantage of the Colonel's +prized invitation to use the Manor library. + +He made his first visit, fully determined to broach the discovery of +Richard Lisle's letter to either the Colonel or his daughter, whichever +should appear, but Yvonne, who admitted him with a smiling welcome, +reported neither at home. + +Nor did fortune favor his second attempt. The Colonel was in St. +Helier's and Constance entertaining a group of young people on the +lawn. Win dodged these visitors and from the library windows looked +down upon a lively set of tennis. Players and spectators alike seemed +to know one another extremely well. The inference Win drew was correct, +that for some reason, the little lady of the Manor chose just now to +crowd her life with social engagements and gay festivities. + +Time had been when Win didn't care to watch others play games he could +not share, but Win was learning that every life has its compensations; +when one is debarred from one thing, he is sure to have another in its +place. Without envy Win watched them for a time before turning to the +books. + +His third visit was made on a morning in early February when walking +was rather difficult owing to a penetrating rain. Wintry weather seemed +to have visited the Island, but the cold was deceptive, for though a +heavy coat was acceptable, plenty of flowers were in blossom, even a +number of surprised-looking roses. + +On reaching the Manor, Win was admitted by cordial Yvonne, who at once +conducted him to his sanctuary. The room was empty, but a cheery fire +glowed on the hearth, and on the long bare black oak table stood an +enormous copper bowl full of fresh daffodils, making a spot of light +and beauty in the sombre room. + +Win spent a few moments warming his hands at the fire and considering +thoughtfully the back of the old Psalter in which was shut Richard +Lisle's letter. Perhaps opportunity would favor him to-day, some chance +be provided to show that discovery to either Miss Connie or her father. + +That its contents referred to Prince Charles was established beyond +doubt by the existing legend of his entertainment at the Manor, but the +letter said much more than that. Only some one thoroughly familiar with +the Manor and its possessions could interpret further. As the rain beat +on the terrace outside, Win chanced to look up at the portrait near the +fireplace, and instantly recalled that curious dream. + +"I dreamed all that stuff just because I've always been crazy to go +treasure-hunting," he thought, "and because that old Cavalier was the +last thing I saw before I went to sleep. Well, I might go and read for +a while." + +With a glance of admiration at some fine old armor passed on the way, +Win went into the farther room to settle himself on the comfortable +window seat with a fat history of the island of Jersey. + +Fully an hour passed before the sound of low voices penetrated his +consciousness. Gradually he became aware that two people were now +occupying the seat before the smouldering fire. One was Constance +Lisle, the other some one Win had never seen before, a dark +distinguished-looking young man, evidently of foreign blood. + +Connie was leaning back in the corner of the old settle, her white +dress and the neighboring bowl of daffodils standing out as high lights +in the shadowy surroundings. Her companion, beside her, was bending +slightly forward, his face turned eagerly toward hers. + +Had he wished to listen, Win could not distinguish the low words. That +fact absolved him from the necessity of making his presence known, for +leave he could not without passing through the room. Presently the +young man raised his voice and Win realized that he was speaking in +Italian. + +For the moment, interest in the present dismissed the past. Win had +heard the girls' chatter about their adored Miss Connie and the romance +attributed to her by Mrs. Trott, but boy-like, paid very little +attention to what he considered the foolish fancies of sentimental +kids. Now he was startled into sudden interest. + +That stranger must be Miss Connie's Italian prince. Very handsome and +very much of a gentleman he looked and most earnest their conversation. +Yet even to an inexperienced observer, it was not that of two happy +young people, entering a sunny stretch of life, but of a boy and girl +confronted with some stern and very present problem. Connie's hands +were clasped too tightly, there was a sense of strain in the poise of +her head. Her companion's pose was one of perplexity and doubt. + +Win remembered what else he had heard of that rumored engagement, not +much to be sure, save that strong pressure was being put upon the last +of the Santo-Pontes in order to secure the estates and title of a great +Roman house to the church of his ancestors. + +Presently Win realized that he had no right even to look on. He turned +his face to the storm and again buried himself in his old volume. + +A long time later he heard his name and Constance strolled alone +through the arch from the other room. She looked pale and tired but +otherwise composed. + +"I didn't know you were here, Win," she said as she came to his chosen +window. + +"I've been stuck in this book for ages. Miss Connie, I've found the +most interesting thing ever." + +"What is it?" Connie inquired listlessly, wondering, but not +particularly caring whether Win knew of her interview with Louis di +Santo-Ponte. She looked sweet and wistful as she stood leaning against +the window seat, her mind down in the town where the boat for St. Malo +was getting up steam. "Tell me about it, Win," she added, recalling her +wandering thoughts. She liked Win as she liked most young people. + +"Come and see," said Win, replacing his history in its case. Connie +accompanied him to the fireplace in the main room. + +"Did you ever look at that book?" he inquired, indicating the worn old +Psalter. + +"There are several thousand books here that I never looked at," said +Connie promptly. "Max is the one who browses in this part of the +library. Ah, he's been here lately, reading his horrid old German +philosophers." With an air of disgust she pointed to the blue-bound +modern volumes. + +"What is this book that interests you so much!" she went on, taking It +from the shelf. "Oh, an old copy of the Psalms. Look at its odd type." + +"It isn't the book that interests me," said Win, "but this paper. I +found it accidentally. Do read it, Miss Connie, and see what you make +of it." + +After her first perusal, Constance grew as excited as Win. With the +deliberate purpose of putting her troubles from her mind, she +concentrated her attention on this discovery. + +"The prince of course refers to Charles, because it is an historical +fact that he took refuge in Jersey," began Win. + +"Yes, and there's the legend that he was entertained here at the +Manor," exclaimed Connie. "Why Dad will be crazy about this, for it +proves that story!" + +"I hoped he'd be pleased," said Win happily. + +"Oh, he will!" replied Connie. "Charles was just a boy, only sixteen, +at the time he fled from England." + +"Ever since I saw two letters in the British Museum, Charles the Second +has seemed a very real person to me," said Win smiling. "Do you know +them, Miss Connie? One is from Queen Henrietta Maria to Prince Charles, +expressing great regret that the prince has refused to take the +'physick' prescribed for him, and hoping that he will consent to do so +on the following day, for if he didn't she should be obliged to come to +him and she trusted he would not give her that 'paine.' She had also +requested the Duke of Newcastle to report to her whether he took it or +not and so she 'rested.' + +"But what I liked best," Win went on, "was the letter Prince Charles +wrote. He evidently didn't reply to his mother, but sent a note to the +Duke of Newcastle in which he flatly refused to take the 'physick' and +advised the Duke not to take any either!" + +Connie laughed. "That does seem a touch of real boy nature, doesn't it? +But I'm afraid Prince Charles was rather a rotten young cub, not worth +the affection expended on him nor the good lives laid down in his +cause. The Richard Lisle who wrote this letter was my great-great--oh, +I don't know how many times removed--grandfather! It's plain that +Prince Charles came here to the Manor, was fed and provided with a +change, and escorted to the castle, probably Orgueil. But what the +'relicks' are and what the 'safe place,' I can't tell. Nor do I know +what is meant by the Spanish chest. If there was anything of that +description around the Manor I'd jolly well know it." + +"Would Colonel Lisle know?" asked Win eagerly. + +"I wonder, will he?" mused Connie after a pause spent in close scrutiny +of the document. "We'll ask. Anyway, he'll be awfully interested +because here it is in black and white that Prince Charles was brought +to the Manor. Win, it's storming desperately and I'm bored to death. +I'm going to send Pierre to St. Aubin's to tell your mother that you +won't be back for luncheon. We'll show Dad your find and bring our +united minds to bear on the problem." + +Win was sorely tempted. The walk through the storm had taxed his +strength. Should he struggle back, the chances were that he would be +too tired for any lessons after his arrival. + +"Your tutor won't matter, will he?" asked Connie. "You're not expected +to be so regular as Roger." + +Wingate grinned. "I was thinking how angry Roger will be if he finds +himself the sole object of Bill Fish's attention this afternoon. Thank +you, Miss Connie. I want mightily to stay. I ought not to have come up +here today when it was storming, but since I'm here the wisest thing is +to wait for a time. And I'm wild to know what your father thinks of +this paper. I will send a note to Mother if I may." + +"I'll write, too," said Constance, "and I shall tell her that we'll +keep you all night if the rain continues. I need somebody to play with +me, Win. I'm jolly glad you did brave the storm." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + + +Roger's state of mind at finding himself destined to be the sole object +of Bill Fish's ministrations that afternoon was laughable. He vowed to +Frances that he also would take French leave and bitterly denounced Win +for absconding, declaring it a "put up job." + +"Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't come," consoled Frances. "The storm has +really grown much worse since morning." + +"Indeed he will," said Roger darkly. "Fishes like water. I only hope +he'll wipe his fins when he comes in. The last rainy day he dripped all +over the room. I was 'most drowned before we finished. But it was mean +and sneaky of Win to go up to the Manor this morning. He might have +known that I wanted help with my arithmetic." + +"Perhaps I can help," offered Frances. Luncheon just over, the +unwelcome Mr. Fisher was due in twenty minutes. + +"Oh, you may try," conceded Roger ungraciously. "But if Win stays up +there all night, I'll pay him out." + +"Mother thinks from Miss Connie's note that they were doing something +very interesting and she really wanted him," Fran said lazily, her face +pressed against the pane. "How angry and gray the water looks." + +"I've a great mind to bunk," said Roger gloomily. "It's not fair for me +to work alone all the afternoon." + +"Edith and I have been at school all the morning," said the +peace-making Frances. "And Win does work when he can; he never really +shirks, Roger." + +"He _likes_ to study," grumbled Roger. "I don't." + +"There are so many things you can do that Win can't," reminded his +sister. + +"Don't preach," retorted Roger, but Fran's comment recalled to his mind +the conversation with Max in the cave. Boy-like, Roger would not admit +even to himself any repentance for his short-comings on that occasion, +but the recollection served to smooth his present ruffled feelings. Win +had worked alone with Bill Fish all that afternoon and Roger remembered +most distinctly how Mr. Max looked when he said he was going back to +Paris and waste no more time. + +"Win is having fun, I'm sure," said Fran at length. "Miss Connie +promised Edith and me that we shall come up and sleep in the haunted +room some night if we like." + +"What's it haunted by?" demanded Roger. + +"She wouldn't tell us. Says if we know, we'll be sure to see things. +But she is going to have a bed put up for herself and come in with us, +so I'm sure it's nothing very dreadful. I'm so glad we came to Jersey +just so we could know Miss Connie." + +"Some girl," admitted Roger. "But she can't hold a candle to Mr. Max. +He's a corker." + +"He is nice," Frances agreed. "But show me your arithmetic. And would +you like me to sit in the room? Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't be so fierce +if I am there." + +"I would not," was her brother's concise reply. "He isn't fierce +either; he's merely flappy. I tell you he _is_ a fish. He looks exactly +like one of those flatfish we catch down in Maine. Eyes both on one +side." + +Nothing more unlike the tall, angular Scotch tutor could possibly have +been mentioned, but Fran suppressed a laugh as she inspected Roger's +problems in mathematics. + +"Me doing arithmetic!" he groaned. "And Win having the time of his life +at the Manor!" + +If not exactly experiencing such bliss, Win was thoroughly enjoying +himself. After luncheon in the charming old Manor dining-room with a +cheerful fire dispelling all gloom caused by the rain on the windows, +the three adjourned to Colonel Lisle's study, where Win placed upon the +table his discovery. The Colonel read it with great interest. + +"Well, that is a valuable document, Win," he admitted. "It is evidently +a page from a letter that Richard Lisle, fourth, wrote to some one and +never sent. I am the ninth Richard, so you see how far back that was. +Of course it refers to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II of +England. It is a curious fact in the history of the Channel Islands +that Guernsey sided with the Parliament in its dispute with the king, +while Jersey remained royalist to the core. I am under great +obligations to you for discovering this paper, for it proves beyond +doubt the legend that I have always wished to see substantiated, that +Prince Charles came to Laurel Manor." + +"Don't you make out, Daddy, that they gave him other clothes and took +him to the castle?" asked his daughter. + +"Without doubt. Orgueil, or possibly Castle Elizabeth. I believe that +the consensus of opinion now favors Elizabeth as having been the +prince's refuge." + +"What do you make of the rest of it, sir?" asked Win, who was still +beaming with happiness over the Colonel's appreciation. "It says in so +many words that they put something in a chest and hid it until the +trouble was over." + +"That much is plain," replied his host thoughtfully. The paper was +spread upon his desk and the young people sat on either side. Win's +attention was distracted for a moment by his view of the Colonel's +distinguished face, the face of an high-bred English gentleman. With +all the impetuosity of his American birth and training, Win felt the +charm of this gentleman of other race and another generation. He +admired the Colonel's complete repose, his courteous ways and softly +modulated voice. They were not in the least effeminate and the empty +sleeve and the little bronze Victoria cross bore witness that the +Colonel was a very gallant officer. + +"I think," began Constance, "that Great-great-grandfather Dick and his +'Sonne' put the prince's clothes and perhaps some other things in a +chest and hid them. Dad, did you ever know of anything answering to the +description of 'ye Spanish chest'?" + +The Colonel thoughtfully smoothed his gray mustache. "There is the box +that came from the Armada," he remarked. "But that cannot be the one +referred to, since that belonged to your mother, my dear, and comes +from her side of the house." + +"Mummy was Irish," Connie explained to Win. "I'll show you that box. It +really was washed up on the coast of Ireland and has been in her family +for centuries. No, of course, it couldn't be that." + +"A Spanish chest does not necessarily mean a relic of the Armada," went +on the Colonel. "There might possibly be a box of Spanish workmanship, +but I know of none in the Manor to which that description could be +applied. That big black oak chest in the upper hall is English. The one +in my room is Flemish." + +"Oh, those are both too big, anyway," declared Constance. "Even men in +a hurry wouldn't take a box as big as those to pack a suit of clothes +in. No, it was something that could be easily carried and concealed. It +takes four servants to move those great arks." + +"Then, if there isn't anything in the Manor that answers the +description, don't you believe the chest and the things in it are still +hidden?" Win asked rather shyly, but with keen interest. + +The Colonel smiled kindly. "Sorry to quench your enthusiasm, Win," he +said, "but I doubt it. Prince Charles landed in Jersey in 1646 if my +memory serves. Subtract that date from this year of our Lord. I'm +afraid that chest, whatever it was, has long since emerged from its +hiding-place. According to the document here, it was concealed only +till 'happier times should dawne.' Prince Charlie came to his own +again, you remember. This Richard Lisle died somewhere where about +1675. He lived to see the Restoration, so surely he or his son brought +to light again the things that there was no longer reason to conceal." + +"But, Daddy," said Constance quickly, noticing the look of +disappointment on Win's expressive face. "People forget. Let's think of +all the possibilities. It says some place outside the walls. And they +needed a lantern." + +"There is the cave, daughter, at the edge of the Manor estates, but you +know all about that. Why, I know that cave myself, I was going to say, +every grain of sand in it." + +"That's true," admitted Connie. "And of course in all the centuries, +numbers of people have been there." + +"Considering the brisk trade in smuggling that was done in Jersey +during the 1700's, I think the chances of finding anything in the Manor +cave are very small," agreed her father. "There is one thing, though, +we might look at." + +As he spoke, he rose and produced his keys. Swinging back a portrait on +hinges, he disclosed a small safe built into the wall. Win was silent +through interest in this novel way of concealing a strong-box, but +Constance jumped up. + +"What are you looking for. Daddy? Oh, the plans of the Manor." + +"You see," said the Colonel to Win as he sat clown again, a discolored +roll of papers in his hand, "the original Manor house has been added to +from time to time. Let us see what it comprised in the days when +Richard Lisle read his Psalter and wrote his letter. It is possible +that something then outside the wall may now be inside the house." + +"There's a number of queer things about this old place," said Connie, +sharing Win's look of expectation. "Max and I have run a good many of +them to earth, but there may be something yet. Certainly we never +stumbled on any Spanish chest." + +The two young people helped the Colonel spread the plans and arrange +paper-weights to keep them flat. + +"This comprises not only the house itself but the grounds," he began. +"They run as you see to the cliffs of the bay. The cave is there." + +"I never knew that," said Win. "Is it large?" + +"Nothing like Plémont or even La Grecq," Constance replied. "Those are +the show caves of Jersey. There are many as big as ours. It's a rather +rough walk, Win, and the cave is accessible only at low tide. I did say +something about it once to Edith and Frances, but they didn't +understand, and after they were caught by the tide, I thought it would +be better for them not to know of it. You see one can get shut in till +the next low water. There's no danger because the vault is so high that +the tide doesn't fill it. In fact, Max deliberately stopped there once." + +"Was he shut in?" asked Win. + +"No," said the Colonel smiling. "He was annoyed with me and took that +method of expressing his displeasure. I fancy he was a trifle surprised +that no fuss was made over his exploit. You see, I knew he was +perfectly safe. Connie, I think that path is possible for Win some day +when the weather and tide both serve. Well, this is the extent of the +original house. It includes this wing where we are and the main +portion. These shaded partitions show distinctly where later additions +have been made." + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired. + +"That? It is a footpath toward the shore and the gardener's cottage. I +should say that the present path curves more, but that is its direction +in general." + +Win was puzzled by this explanation. Why should only one of the Manor +paths be marked? That it was the sole one existing at the time the +plans were drawn seemed scarcely possible. + +"That 'safe place,' if it was outside the walls in those days would +probably have been somewhere underground," commented Connie, after the +map had been exhaustively discussed. "That might mean that it is now in +the cellars somewhere. Dad, have we your permission to explore all the +subterranean caverns?" + +"If there are any that you haven't already investigated," said the +amused Colonel. "I didn't suppose there was a square inch of the place +that you and Max hadn't by heart." + +"I thought so, too," said Constance, "but if Win's theories are +correct, there must be something we have overlooked. What do you say +about an exploration, Win?" + +"Oh, I should like nothing better," said Win eagerly. "It will be great +sport to hunt for that chest. And it's so interesting to look around a +house that has been in the same family for centuries." + +"There has been a Richard Lisle of Laurel Manor for over four hundred +years," said the Colonel rather sadly. "I am the last of a long line." + +"The only solution," said Constance quickly, "is for your unworthy +daughter to marry some perfectly insignificant person, who will as a +part of the marriage contract, take the name of Lisle." + +"The man who marries my daughter," replied the Colonel with gentle +dignity, "will have an honorable and, I trust, an honored name of his +own to offer her." + +"Else he will never get her," commented Connie with charming +impertinence. "Daddy dear, if I could find a man one half as nice as +you are, I'd marry him on the spot! Win, we'll arrange to head an +exploring expedition. It's too cold and spooky in the cellars to do it +this afternoon. We'll plan for a time when Roger and the girls can +share the sport. I wish Max was here, too. He would simply dote on it." + +"I wish he was!" sighed Win. "I was dreadfully disappointed when I +heard he had gone. I think he's about right." + +A sudden very charming smile broke over Connie's face. Up to that time, +it had been rather serious. "If we don't solve the problem before the +Easter holidays," she said, "Max will be keen on running it down. I +hope he can come then. He took so long at Christmas that I'm afraid +they'll dock him at Easter, and I shall be completely desolated if that +happens." + +"I think he will come," said the Colonel. "In fact he told me he might +be able to get away for an occasional week-end. With a fast car it is +not so far to Granville or even St. Malo and he need waste no time +waiting for the steamer." + +Constance suddenly sat up straight. "Max mustn't neglect his duties," +she declared. "Either he has a very indulgent chief or he is hedging." + +Her attitude was so comically severe that Win laughed, and her father +looked up with a smile. + +"I can't be responsible for what Max tells his chief," he remarked, +"but I know enough about the diplomatic service to feel sure he is +giving satisfaction." + +Constance still looked stern. "It's all right, of course, if he really +earns his week-end," she conceded, "but I won't have him shirking. In +October he was so serious and quiet that I didn't know what to think of +him, but at Christmas he was the same dear boy he used to be. Didn't +you think he was just like his old self?" + +The Colonel thus appealed to, returned her smile. "There were moments," +he gravely replied, "when I doubted whether either one of you was more +than sixteen." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN THE VAULTS + + +When Win finally appeared at Rose Villa, driven down in a closed +carriage, the tale he related was of sufficient interest to banish from +even Roger's mind the resentment he considered but just, after his long +afternoon with Mr. Fisher. Those hours had been profitable, did Roger +only choose to admit the fact, for the tutor had managed to galvanize +into life the dry bones of an epoch in history. Roger would not +acknowledge it even to himself, but on that stormy day he came rather +near liking Bill Fish. + +"That's a most exciting discovery, Win," said Mrs. Thayne when the tale +was concluded. "But I'm afraid I agree with Colonel Lisle that the +chances of finding anything are small, though you will have fun +exploring. It is very kind of the Colonel and Miss Connie to permit +such a troop to invade the Manor." + +"I think they are just as interested themselves," Win replied. "The +Colonel was immensely pleased to have that legend confirmed." + +Mrs. Thayne looked at him rather wistfully, wondering how much of the +interest displayed by the Manor family was due to sympathy with Win. No +doubt they liked him, for people always did. Well, she was glad that +this unusual experience was coming his way. + +"I'm crazy to see that cave!" Frances was saying. "Don't you remember, +Edith, when we first met Miss Connie on the beach, she said something +about looking for caves? I suppose she was thinking of this one." + +"I've been in it," Roger suddenly announced. "Mr. Max took me. It's a +very decent cave but there's only one place where a box could be +hidden, on a sort of ledge above the water. We climbed up and if there +had been so much as a snitch of a chest about, it couldn't have escaped +us." + +"You've been _in_ the cave?" demanded Frances, pouncing upon him. "When +did Mr. Max take you? Where were the rest of us? Why didn't you tell +us?" + +Roger looked uncomfortable. He had never mentioned that expedition, not +even to his mother during a very serious conversation on the sin of +truancy. + +"Oh, I met him on the cliff," he said evasively. "He showed me the cave +and we went swimming. He is a corking swimmer." + +"But why didn't you tell us about it?" persisted Frances. + +Roger saw no way out. Being a truthful individual he blurted forth the +facts. + +"Because Mr. Max told me not to. He said it wasn't safe and he was +afraid you girls would go fooling around and get caught by the tide. It +isn't a fit place for girls, either!" he added largely. + +"It is!" retorted the exasperated Frances. "If it wasn't, Miss Connie +wouldn't have been there." + +"I'd wager that Miss Connie did everything Mr. Max did," chuckled Win. +"But the Colonel said to-day that the cave was out of the question so +far as any hidden chest was concerned,--that it couldn't have escaped +discovery all these years. I don't really expect to find anything, +Mother, but it will be great fun to look. I've always wanted to search +for hidden treasure, you know. And Miss Connie seemed as interested as +I was. She has appointed next Wednesday afternoon to explore the +vaults. We are all to come at three and stay for tea afterwards. At +first she suggested that we have it in the cellars, said it would be +nice and cobwebby and befitting a treasure hunt, but then she +remembered that Yvonne was afraid of spiders and wouldn't fancy taking +the tea things down," he ended with a laugh. + +Win was tired that evening and went upstairs early. When Roger +clattered into the adjoining room half an hour later, his brother +called. + +"Oh, you, Roger," he said, "come in here a jiff." + +With a terrific yawn, Roger appeared in the doorway. Win was in bed, a +lighted lamp on a table by his pillow. + +"Could I get down to that cave?" he asked. + +"You could get down," Roger remarked judicially. "It's rather steep but +there's only one bad rock. Still," he added, "if you waited till the +tide was even lower, yon could walk round that. When we came back from +our swim, that bit of cliff was out of water. It would be some tug +crawling up, but you could take it easy." + +"I'd give a good deal to get down there," said Win thoughtfully. "How +was it inside? Much climbing? Any place where a box could be tucked out +of sight?" + +Roger proceeded to describe the interior of the cave, arousing Win's +interest still more. + +"I don't suppose there's hide nor hair of that chest around," he +admitted, "but all the same, I want to take a look. The tide is full +every morning now and it will be the end of the week before we can get +down. As soon as we can, I wish you'd do the pilot act." + +"Oh, I'll show you," assented Roger, again yawning prodigiously. "I +don't take any special stock in this hidden chest, but the cave is fine +and I'll like to take a whack at the Manor cellars. Are you going to +burn that lamp all night?" + +"I am going to read for a while," said his brother, taking a book from +under his pillows. "Shut the door into your room if it annoys you." + +"It doesn't," answered Roger. "I can see to undress by it better than +with my candle. Ridiculous to have only candles in bedrooms! Mother +would give me Hail Columbia if I read in bed the way you do." + +Win suppressed a sigh. "Mother knows I read only when I can't sleep," +he said shortly. "You may not believe it, but I'd much rather sleep." + +Wednesday afternoon found an expectant quartette walking up the Manor +road, slowly because Win paused occasionally to regain breath, but +there were so many lovely things to look at that no delay seemed +irksome. To begin with were fascinating cottages with neat little +box-edged gardens and straw-thatched roofs; curious evergreen trees +with stiff jointed branches known locally as monkey-puzzles; there were +pretty children, some of whom waved hands of recognition; there were +skylarks singing in the blue above, their happy notes falling like +musical rain; there were big black and white magpies and black choughs, +rooks and corbies, now known to the young people by their English +names. And always there were glimpses of the ever-changing, changeless +sea. + +Roger, who had gradually forged ahead, remained leaning over a low +cottage wall until the others came up. In the yard sat a woman milking +one of the pretty, soft-eyed Jersey cows, but what held Roger's +fascinated attention was her milk-pail. + +Instead of the ordinary tin receptacle familiar to Roger during country +summers, she had an enormous copper can with a fat round body, rather +small top and handle at one side like a bloated milk-jug. Over the top +was tied loosely a piece of coarse cloth and on this rested a clean sea +shell. Streams of milk directed into the shell slowly overflowed its +edges to strain through the cloth and subside gently into the can. + +"That's something of a milk pail," observed Roger approvingly. + +"It's just like the hot-water jugs Annette brings in the morning," said +Frances, "only ten times bigger. Wouldn't it be lovely for goldenrod +and asters? I'm going to ask Mother to buy one." + +"Pretty sight you'll be walking up the dock at Boston with that on your +arm," jeered Roger. "It will never go in any trunk and you'll have to +carry it everywhere you go. You needn't ask me to lug it, either." + +"It can be crated and sent that way," said Frances calmly. + +"Those hot-water jugs make me tired," Roger went on as they continued +their walk. "I'm sick to death of having a quart of lukewarm water in a +watering-pot dumped at my door every morning. Think of the hot water we +have at home, gallons and gallons of it, steaming, day or night!" + +Edith looked politely incredulous. "How can that be?" she asked. "Do +you keep coals on the kitchen fire all night?" + +"Coals!" snorted Roger. "All we have to do is to turn a faucet and that +lights a heater and the water runs hot as long as you leave it turned +on. No quart pots for us!" + +"But surely," said Edith, "only very wealthy people can have luxuries +like that." + +"We're not made of money but we have it," retorted Roger. "Even workmen +have hot-water heaters in their houses." + +From Edith's face it was plain that she frankly didn't believe him and +Win tried to make matters better. + +"You see, Edith," he explained, "it is much more difficult in the +United States to get satisfactory servants and so we have all sorts of +clever mechanical devices that make it easier to manage with fewer +maids." + +Edith's brow cleared. "Oh, I see," she said. "I thought there must be +some reason. Of course, if we needed them, we would have such +arrangements in England." + +"England," declared Roger bluntly, "in ways of living is about two +hundred years behind the United States!" + +"Roger!" exclaimed the shocked Frances. + +"Cut it out!" ordered Win. + +"It's true, anyway," retorted the annoyed Roger, "and there's another +thing. We licked England for keeps in the Revolutionary War!" + +"Only because you were English yourselves!" flashed Edith before +Roger's scandalized family could remind him of his forgotten manners. + +This retort disconcerted Roger and delighted Win. + +"You've hit the nail on the head, Edith," he declared approvingly. +"England could never have been beaten except by her own sons. And +England's navy has always ruled the seas." + +"How about Dewey wiping out the Spanish fleet at Manila?" demanded +Roger still huffily. + +"That reminds me," said Win coolly. "I believe it was an English +admiral who backed Dewey up at Manila when the Germans tried to butt +in. After that battle somebody wrote a poem about it and wrote the +truth, too. This is what he said: + + "'Ye may trade by land, ye may fight by land, + Ye may hold the land in fee; + But go not down to the sea in ships + To battle with the free; + For England and America + Will keep and hold the sea!'" + +As Win concluded, Edith's high color lessened and Roger looked less +pugnacious. Presently, each stole a sly glance at the other, both were +caught in the act and simultaneously laughed. So the party reached the +Manor without disruption by the way. + +Constance, with a soft green sweater over her frock, came to meet them. + +"All ready for the fray? Leave your hats in the hall. You will need +your woollies for we are going where sunlight never comes. There's good +store of candles and two lanterns. Anything else needed, Win?" + +"A hammer perhaps," suggested Win. "We may want to sound walls." + +"A hammer there shall be," and Constance rang the bell to order it. +"Dad says he will come down if we make any startling discovery, but +being an elderly person, he's a bit shy of damp." + +Provided with lights and the hammer, the gay party started, filing +through a kitchen so fascinating with its red-bricked floor and shining +copper cooking utensils that Fran found it hard to pass. Several maids +and a jolly cook smiled on them as they vanished down the cellar stairs. + +"I suppose you want to see the oldest part of the Manor vaults," Connie +said to Win as she led the way with a candle in a brass reflector. "We +shall come back through here." + +To Edith and Frances it seemed that they traversed numberless dark +rooms, dry but chilly, some stored with vegetables and barrels, while +others were empty or showed dusky apparitions of old lumber. Constance +stopped at last. + +"We are under the library now, Win. This is the original cellar and you +can see how much rougher the workmanship is than in the newer parts." + +Walls were rough and floor uneven, indeed, a part of it was composed of +an outlying ledge of the Jersey granite. Obedient to suggestion, Roger +and the girls began to inspect the walls for traces of some former +exit; Roger by himself, the girls, rather fearfully, together. Win +stood looking at the ledge in the floor. + +"That settles there being any hiding-place underneath," he remarked. + +"Yes," said Connie, "but the paper said 'beyond the walls,' you know. +So wouldn't it more likely be in one of the cellars not built at that +time?" + +"Well, probably," assented Win. "But I was looking at the way this rock +runs." He produced a pocket-compass. "It's much thicker at this end and +the direction is approximately north and south. What is to the east, +Miss Connie?" + +"Nothing at all. That wall is still the outer one." + +"And the wall farthest from the water?" asked Win quickly. + +Constance nodded. + +"Then it is the western wall I want," said Win, turning toward it. + +Somewhat mystified, Connie watched him make a minute examination, +tapping with the hammer on its entire length. + +"I suspect that it's frightfully thick," she said as he stopped, +looking disappointed. + +"What is on the other side?" he inquired. "Is this whole partition now +included in the house?" + +Constance led the way to the opposite side of the wall. There lay a +large apartment, dimly lighted, but of better workmanship and finish. +Win went immediately to the eastern side of this cellar and bestowed +upon the partition stones the same minute inspection. + +"This wall must really be several feet through," he observed to the +watching Constance. + +"Probably. But I don't see, Win, what you are trying to get at." + +"I hardly know myself, Miss Connie. It's just an idea I had. This would +have been the wall nearest the cave. You see I'm not used to having a +cave as a sort of household annex, so I can't help thinking it may +figure yet in this business." + +Connie shook her head. "Perhaps it did once," she said. "Only that cave +is more or less common property; many people know of it. We can be sure +of one thing; that nothing will be found in it now. How about this +floor?" + +Win left the wall to inspect by aid of his lantern the huge, +roughly-squared blocks forming the cellar floor. Damp, dark and +numerous they showed under the light. + +"It's possible that any one might conceal some cavity," said Connie. +"But that one would surely differ in some way from the others. Let us +spread out and inspect them. Anybody who finds a flag in any way +peculiar, speak." + +Constance herself began to peer at the stone flooring, not at all +because she expected to find anything in the least unusual, but because +she did not want disappointment to fall upon Win too quickly. If he +really searched thoroughly, he would be better satisfied to acknowledge +the quest as useless. + +Among the many scenes those centuries-old walls had looked upon, it is +a question whether they had witnessed so gay a sight as the five young +people, wandering slowly up and down the uneven floor, looking for some +stone raised higher or sunken lower than the others, more carefully +fitted; perhaps, though this could scarcely be hoped, provided with an +iron ring for a handle. + +Nothing happened. No two of the many flags were alike, yet none seemed +of sufficient distinction to mark it as worth further investigation. +All looked as though they had never been moved. + +The other and more recent cellars received scanty attention. Of lesser +age, they were also cleaner, drier and better lighted. + +"Our adventure seems fruitless," sighed Connie as they stood at last +among bins and bottles near the kitchen stairs. "Why, where is Win?" + +Both Frances and Roger started back, ashamed to have forgotten him if +only for a moment. Suppose poor Win had had one of his attacks alone +back there in that shadow-filled vault! + +Win was found in the original cellar of the old Manor, not pacing the +floor or tapping the stones, but meditatively staring at one of its +walls, not the one he had devoted so much attention to, but the +northern boundary. + +"What luck?" asked Connie as they came in, relieved at sight of him. + +"None," said Win, turning to her with curiously bright eyes. "But, Miss +Connie, do you think your father would show me those plans again!" + +"Why, of course he will. Has some idea struck you?" + +"I don't quite know," said Win. "But I should like to see the plans and +perhaps some other day, you'll let me come down here again for a few +moments." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE HAUNTED ROOM + + +"There is a letter for you, Miss Edith," said Nurse as the girls came +in from school, the next Saturday. "It is for Miss Frances, too." + +"For us both?" exclaimed Frances. "Where from?" + +"Pierre brought it from the Manor," replied Nurse. + +"I can't get over there being no telephones in the houses here," +remarked Frances, snatching off her hat. "Imagine having to send a man +with a note instead of just taking down a receiver and talking. Not to +have telephones is so very English." + +"The English don't hold much with new inventions, Miss," Nurse agreed. +"What was good enough for those before us does us very well." + +"I know it!" sighed Fran, "but think of the _convenience_ of a +telephone." + +Edith was holding a dainty square note bearing the inscription: + + "Miss Edith Pearce, + Miss Thayne, + Rose Villa. + À la main de Pierre." + +"From Miss Connie, of course," said Edith delightedly. Each took a +corner of the enclosed card and with several little squeals of amused +pleasure, Frances read it aloud. + + "Miss Lisle presents her compliments to Miss Pearce and Miss + Thayne and requests them to grant her the favor of attending + a meeting of the Society for the Suppression of Ghosts to be + held in the haunted room of Laurel Manor this evening at ten. + + Notes: + + Dinner 7:30. + Beds provided at 9:45 (Ghost _not_ guaranteed to appear). + Very best nighties because of looking pretty for spooks. + Breakfast any old hour." + +Screaming with delight, Edith ran to find Estelle, Frances for her +mother. + +"But I don't know that I want you to sleep in a room that has the +reputation of being haunted, Edith," protested Estelle. "Will Mrs. +Thayne permit Frances to go?" + +"Oh, Sister, there's some joke about it," pleaded Edith. "There must +be, because Miss Connie always laughs whenever the ghost is mentioned. +And would her father let her sleep in that room if it was anything to +frighten people? Oh, Star, it will be such fun!" + +Up-stairs, Frances was besieging her amused mother. Two minutes later, +the girls met in the hall, dancing with glee, for each might go were +the other permitted. + +"Dinner at the Manor, too!" sighed Frances. "What bliss!" + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne had much peace from then until it was +time to start. Finally the hour arrived and the family assembled in the +hall to see them off, Win interested and Roger openly envious. "I'd +like a chance at that ghost just once," he vowed. "I'd settle him." + +"Perhaps later, Miss Connie will invite you boys," said Edith. "Why, +here's Pierre. Oh, he's come for our bags." + +To have a servant sent for their light luggage again struck Frances as +most charmingly English, and two very happy girls waved farewell to +Rose Villa as they turned out of the terrace. + +In the great hall of the Manor, Constance greeted them, ceremoniously +enough, but with mysterious smiles and twinkles. In person she +conducted them to a pretty guest-room near her own apartments. + +"We won't invade the ghost's domain until time for bed," she announced +gayly. "You'll find a bath adjoining and would you like Paget to do +your hair or fasten your dinner frocks?" + +"We will help each other," said Edith, as full of twinkles as Connie +herself. + +"Then I will dress and come for you in about half an hour." + +"Isn't Miss Connie the dearest thing!" said Edith enthusiastically as +the door closed. "I never saw anybody just like her before." + +"Mother thinks her charming," replied Frances, brushing her curly hair. +"Edith, do you suppose we shall ever know the truth about that story of +the Italian prince?" + +"It doesn't seem as though it were true," observed Edith. "Or at least, +as though she cared very much if she had to break her engagement, for +she is always so gay and happy." + +The face that was looking just then from the mirror in Connie's room +did not precisely correspond to these adjectives, but the young +mistress of the Manor was the daughter of a brave soldier and the +descendant of a long line of gallant gentlemen. Those slow weeks since +Christmas that Constance crowded with gayety were bringing gradual +healing. The heart under the fluffy frock she slipped on to-night was +not so heavy as the one under the white gown worn that day when she +stood by Win in the Manor library and watched the boat for St. Malo +leave the harbor. + +Frances and Edith were ready when she came for them, also prettily +dressed in white. + +"Nice little English flappers," Constance remarked approvingly. "Why, +what is the matter with Frances?" + +"I don't know what a flapper is," confessed Frances, sure however, that +it could be nothing very dreadful. + +Constance laughed and patted the brown cheek. "Merely a jolly little +English school girl with her hair down her back. Yours is tidily +braided but Edith looks the typical flapper." + +She took a hand of each and three abreast they went down to the hall +where Colonel Lisle was standing in a soldierly attitude before the +fire. He greeted them with charming courtesy, offered Fran his arm and +conducted her to the dining-room. + +Both girls were supremely happy, Edith quietly so, Frances fairly +radiating enjoyment in the stately room with its fine old portraits and +windows open to admit the sweet odors of myrtle and daffodils. + +"Don't think the Island winters are all as mild as this," the Colonel +was saying as Yvonne removed the soup plates. "I have seen both snow +and hail in Jersey and sometimes we have extremely cold weather. But +you were asking, Frances, why French is the official language here. The +Channel Islands came to the English crown with William the Conqueror, +and have always remained one of the crown properties. So while the +islanders are English they have French blood in their veins and each +island has retained its peculiar historic customs, the official use of +French being one. When Normandy was regained by France, the islands +remained with England and though Jersey was frequently attacked and +sometimes invaded by the French they never held more than a portion of +it temporarily. Indeed, so much was a Norman or French invasion feared, +that the islanders inserted in the Litany an additional petition: 'From +the fury of the Normans, good Lord, deliver us!'" + +"We have seen the tablet in the Royal Square, marking the spot where +Major Pierson fell in the battle of Jersey," said Edith, who shared +Win's liking for history. + +"Ah, in 1781. That was the last French invasion. Speaking of the Royal +Square," the Colonel went on, "there is a curious custom connected with +the Royal Court there, that might interest you. Any person with a +grievance relating to property has a right to come into a session of +the court and call aloud upon Rollo the Dane. The Cohue Royale,--the +Court,--_must_ listen and _must_ heed. That is a very ancient relic of +Norman rule in the Island. Oh, no, it is seldom resorted to. One does +not lightly call Prince Rollo to one's aid. That is the final appeal +when all other justice fails." + +Yvonne, who was waiting upon the table, reappeared from a brief absence +with a beaming face. + +"It is Monsieur Max who arrives," she said confidentially to Constance. + +"Max!" exclaimed Connie. "Why, how nice! Sha'n't he come directly, Dad? +Tell him not to dress, Yvonne." + +"By all means, tell him to come as he is," said the Colonel, his face +lighting with pleasure at this news. + +"Pardon, m'sieur," said Yvonne. "Monsieur Max already hastens to his +room and says the dinner shall not delay, that he shall be fast,--ver' +queeck." + +"Max can be fast," said Constance smiling. "Well, we will dawdle over +our fish. I never thought of his coming," she went on, watching Yvonne +as she deftly laid another place beside Frances. "This must be one of +the week-ends he promised. I wonder why he didn't warn us?" + +"I suppose there was no time to do so," said the Colonel. "Max knows he +is welcome at any hour." + +Max was "queeck." The fish was only just finished when he came quietly +into the room, dressed for dinner and looking not in the least as +though he had recently stepped from a steamer. Edith and Frances +watched eagerly. If they were still in deep ignorance concerning Miss +Connie's Italian prince, this was surely their chance to discover how +matters stood between their adored little lady and Mr. Max. + +Disappointment awaited them, for nothing could have been more +commonplace than the greeting exchanged. Even the fancy of fourteen +years could not construe Constance's "Hello, old boy!" and Max's +nonchalantly offered hand into the slightest foundation for a romance. +So far as outward appearances went Max was much more affectionate +towards the Colonel, who did not disguise his marked pleasure at seeing +him. + +With gay words for both girls, the newcomer slid into his seat. "I'm as +hungry as a hunter, Connie," he announced. "Soup, Yvonne? Anything and +everything that's going. Oh, it was rather a rough crossing, but it +merely gave me an appetite. Where are the boys? Couldn't they come to +this exclusive dinner? Or am I butting in myself?" + +"You are," replied Constance mischievously, "but for Dad's sake, we +will forgive you. The boys are not here for the simple reason that they +were not invited. Having fortified ourselves with strong meat, the +girls and I are going to brave the Manor ghost to-night." + +Darkness had fallen and with it a sense of the eerie over Fran. She was +distinctly relieved to hear Max laugh at this announcement. + +"Do you really want to see the ghost?" he asked, turning to her. + +"Crazy to," was Fran's prompt reply. "I wouldn't dare stay alone in +that room, but with Miss Connie and Edith, I sha'n't be afraid. Indeed, +I want dreadfully to see the ghost." + +"You know yourself, Max, that it doesn't materialize every time it is +invoked," began Constance. + +"I know it," said Max. "I only wanted to ascertain how keen the +spook-hunters are. I slept in that room once for two weeks when the +house was full and became much attached to his ghost-ship." + +"So I told the girls," replied Constance with equal gravity. + +Edith and Frances were looking at each other in puzzled bewilderment +but Max suddenly changed the subject. His eye had fallen upon Grayfur, +the big cat that had purred himself into the room in the shelter of +Yvonne's skirts. + +"Hello, old chap!" he said, snapping his fingers. "Do you like cats, +Frances?" + +"No," confessed Frances. "I love dogs. Edith is the one who likes +pussies. She is always bringing stray kittens home." + +For some reason this statement seemed to amuse Max. To the surprise of +the girls, he and Constance exchanged a smile. + +Ten o'clock struck before Edith and Frances found themselves, after a +happy evening, again in the pretty guest-room. + +"Miss Connie, I am afraid you weren't ready to come up," said +thoughtful Edith. "Didn't you want to stop longer with your father and +Mr. Max?" + +"Max doesn't leave until Tuesday morning," Constance replied. "Dad will +love to have him all to himself for a good talk and smoke, and if Max +has anything especial to say to me, there will be plenty of +opportunities. I'm quite glad to come up." + +When she came for them, the girls were ready and the little procession +started, three kimonoed figures each bearing a lighted candle along the +echoing halls to the haunted room above the library. Electricity had +not trailed its illuminating coils above the first floor of the house +so the big apartment looked spooky and shadowy enough, the candles +placed on the mantel, quite lost in immense distances. Three white cots +stood side by side in its centre. + +"First, we will fasten the door securely," said Constance, suiting the +action to the word. "Then we will take this electric torch and look +about a bit." + +Careful inspection showed the room undoubtedly tenantless, the handsome +old-fashioned furniture offering no hiding-place for any intruder. Like +the library below, its walls were of paneled oak, with three large +portraits set into the wood-work. One, a Lisle of Queen Elizabeth's +time, looked down benignly, attired in doublet and ruff. + +"Miss Connie, how shall we know what to look for or expect?" asked +Frances when the three were settled in their beds, lights out and the +room illuminated only by the moon. + +"It wouldn't be wise to tell you," said Constance mysteriously. "All +I'll say is that it is nothing at all disturbing or frightful. The few +people who have seen or heard anything never knew at the time that it +was a ghost." + +"But you will tell us in the morning?" asked Edith. + +"Yes," replied their hostess. "I will tell you then, whether you see +anything or not, and very likely you will not. But if you want to have +the creeps and would truly enjoy them, I'll tell you something that +really happened to me once in Italy." + +"Oh, do, do!" begged both girls in unison. "That would be simply +perfect," added Edith, sitting up in bed, her fair hair floating about +her shoulders and turning her more than ever into the likeness of an +angel. + +"Some years ago, when I was about your age," began Constance slowly, +"Dad and Mother and I were traveling in southern Italy, and Max was +with us. He was with us a great deal, you know. We stopped one night at +an old hotel that had once been a monastery, though it was different +from the usual monasteries because it was a place where sick monks came +to be cured and to rest. + +"The location was wonderful, on a cliff overlooking the sea and though +the place had been altered for the purposes of a hotel, it was still a +good bit churchly. The partitions between the cells had been knocked +out and additions built, but the hotel dining-room was the old +refectory with stone walls and floor, and the wonderful garden was much +as the monks left it. Such roses you never saw and such climbing vines +and flowering trees. Oh, there's no place like Italy!" + +Constance stopped. The moonlight falling across her bed touched her +face into almost unearthly beauty. + +"We had connecting rooms that night," she went on. "Dad and Mother took +the corner one with two beds. Next was a tiny room where I was to sleep +and Max's was beyond mine. All were originally cells opening on a +terrace, covered with roses and passion-flowers and looking down to the +sea, which was shining with little silver ripples. + +"We'd had an especially happy day and I was so keyed up with enjoyment +that I couldn't go to sleep right away, but lay looking out at the +flowers and the waves. Mother went through to see that Max was all +right and then came back to kiss me. She closed the door into his room, +but left open the one from mine into hers. + +"I remember hearing Mother and Dad laugh a little about something and I +suppose I went to sleep, because I woke very suddenly with a start, all +awake in a minute." + +Connie paused, this being the proper moment for a thrill. "What do you +think I saw?" she asked impressively. + +"Oh, I can't imagine!" gasped Frances, shivering in delighted +anticipation. "Do go on!" + +"Have you chills down your spine!" laughed Constance. "In the moonlight +right beside my bed, I saw a monk, dressed in white, the usual robe of +the Dominicans. He had a wise, kind face, with a pleasant expression, +and as I looked at him, he took my wrist very gently, and put his +finger on my pulse." + +"Oh-h!" said Edith, pulling the covers about her more tightly. "Oh, +Miss Connie, what did you do?" + +"That frightened me," said Connie. "Up to that time, I noticed only his +pleasant, gentle look, but it seemed as though a bit of ice touched me +and I gave a scream that brought Mother and Dad up standing. Of course, +when they came hurrying in, nobody was visible. I made a big fuss, +presumably because I wanted to be petted and coddled. + +"I told them about the monk and Dad at once thought that Max had been +playing a joke on me. He stepped into Max's room, intending to be +severe, but Max was sound asleep and besides, the door into his room +squeaked so that he couldn't possibly have opened it without waking us +all. + +"Then they said I had the nightmare. Perhaps I did," said Constance +with a smile, "but I can see yet the kindly face of that old monk. I +didn't want to stay in my room, so Dad told me to go in with Mother and +he'd take my bed. We all settled ourselves again. + +"I was asleep or nearly so, feeling so comfy and safe in my bed close +to Mother's when suddenly she sat up straight and said 'Richard!' in +such an odd, startled tone. I woke and heard poor Dad piling out of bed +again to come into our room. Mother sat there looking very troubled and +holding one wrist in the other hand. She didn't say anything +more,--neither of them did,--but I knew perfectly well that the old +monk had been feeling her pulse." + +"And what happened in the morning?" demanded Frances breathlessly. + +"Nothing at all," said Constance cheerfully. "In the morning everything +was beautiful and lovely as in no other country but Italy. Mother and I +merely agreed that we had an odd dream. We did not stay a second night, +for we were on our way back to Rome." + +"Did you ever hear anything more about the monk?" asked Edith. + +"Years after," said Connie dreamily, "we met some Americans in +Switzerland who told us of a similar experience in this hotel. Later, I +learned that Dad found out at the time that the place was reputed to be +haunted by an old monk physician who turns up at intervals and feels +people's pulses, and is often seen pottering about the garden in broad +daylight. Monks are such a common sight in Italy that the hotel guests +stop and converse with him, thinking him a gardener and never +suspecting that he is a ghost." + +"But the Manor ghost isn't like that?" asked Edith, who wanted +reassurance. + +"Not a bit," said Constance. "As for that, there was nothing so very +frightful or repellent about the monk. Don't you think we should go to +sleep now and give his spookship his innings?" + +The girls agreed and silence fell over the big room with its three +white beds. Outside the open casements a vine waved within Fran's line +of vision, tapping gently against a window pane. + +Presently a slight sound caught Fran's wakeful ear, as of steps on a +somewhat unfamiliar stair where it was necessary to grope one's way. +Touching Edith's shoulder, she sat up in bed. They had entered the +haunted room by a door now locked, opening on a big stone staircase; +these steps seemed upon muffled wood. + +Next moment there came a sudden convulsive sneeze that sounded in her +very ear. Frances gasped but Constance sat up laughing. + +"No fair!" she exclaimed. + +For a second there was absolute silence, then somebody laughed, +extremely close at hand, though yet behind a partition. The laugh was +followed by the soft sound of retreating footsteps. + +"What happened, Miss Connie?" begged Edith. + +"No ghost," said their hostess merrily. "I had forgotten. That was +clever of Max." + +Silence again followed for a period, succeeded by the sound of music in +the garden below the windows, soft and very sweet. + +"Oh, is _that_ the ghost?" demanded Frances in great excitement. + +"Your mother will bless me for letting you stop awake all night," said +Constance. She sat up, wrapped a white robe about her and stuck her +feet into slippers. Upon the music came the sudden unearthly miaow of a +cat. + +The noise sounded directly in the room and all three girls jumped. +Constance laughed again. + +"I might have known Max did not come into that passage for nothing," +she sighed. "Where's that electric torch?" + +Having turned on the flash-light, Connie approached the large oil +painting set into one side of the gloomy room, its base about a foot +above the floor. She touched a knob on its frame and the portrait +became a door opening outward and revealing a narrow, dusty winding +stair descending to the floor below. On its top step sat the big cat, +just opening its mouth for another howl. + +"Come in, Grayfur," said Constance. "Max brought you, didn't he? If he +hadn't sneezed and given himself away, he'd have opened the door a +crack and let you in." + +"Is it a secret stair?" asked Frances, her eyes big with excitement. +"Where does it go? Wouldn't Roger be crazy over it?" + +"We will let him go up it," answered Connie, swinging the portrait into +place again. "The passage comes out below in the library. Max thought +he would provide one ghost anyway." + +Putting the cat into the hall, she locked the door again and then stuck +her pretty head from the window. + +"Max," she said severely, addressing the unseen musician, "you are +spoiling your fiddle and breaking your promise. You said you wouldn't +be silly. Go to bed now like a good boy." + +The fiddle responded with two ear-splitting squawks. + +"Stop it!" commanded Constance. "There goes a string and it serves you +quite right. You'll have the bobbies coming to investigate if you don't +leave off." + +The unappreciated serenader appeared squelched by this threat, for +complete silence followed. + +"Nothing more is at all likely to happen tonight," said Constance, +coming back to bed. "And I hope Max will go properly to his room. Now +go to sleep, girlies, and in the morning, I'll tell you how the Manor +ghost disports itself." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MANOR GHOST + + +In spite of a firm intention to remain awake, Frances soon fell into +quiet slumber and knew nothing more until the next morning. February +dawns in England are dark, but when she finally opened her eyes, the +room was faintly lighted by the coming sun and her watch told her that +it was after eight. + +Edith still seemed asleep, but from the bed at the left, Connie smiled +back at her. For some reason known only to herself, their gay little +hostess had decreed that Frances should take the centre bed. + +"Awake?" she whispered. "How's Edith? Is she still off?" + +As though she heard her name, Edith stirred, turned over and finally +rose on one elbow. + +"Did you sleep well?" asked Constance. "We needn't get up unless you +like. When we are ready, Yvonne is to bring us breakfast in my +sitting-room. We'll wash and put on boudoir caps and eat _en negligée_." + +At this delightful programme both girls became wide awake in an instant. + +"And you will tell us about the ghost?" asked Frances. + +"I will," replied Constance, sitting up and gathering her pretty kimono +about her, a lovely white Japanese crepe embroidered in gold with +fire-eating dragons of appalling size. One stretched across the front +as she fastened the folds. The girls also rose and put on their +dressing-gowns. Unlocking the door, Constance looked into the hall. + +"I'll just see that the coast is clear before the procession forms," +she remarked. "Daddy's rooms are down-stairs but Max's is on our way. +I'm quite sure though that he and Dad are already out, for Dad likes to +attend early service and Max has probably gone with him like a dutiful +young man." + +As the three started, Edith turned to glance searchingly around. + +"What are you looking for?" asked Frances. + +"For the pussy," replied Edith, hurrying to overtake them. "I thought +there was one in the room." + +"Miss Connie put it out," said Frances, laughing. "Wake up, Edith!" + +As Edith spoke, Constance stopped to look at her rather oddly, then +went on quickly. + +"When you are ready, come to my sitting-room," she said on reaching +their door. "It is at the end of this hall." + +When the girls appeared ten minutes later, Constance was yet invisible. +In the sitting-room a table stood before a couch piled with pillows, +and two cushioned chairs opened luxurious arms. + +"Isn't this the dearest room," said Frances appreciatively as she +settled herself. "I suppose this is Miss Connie's own especial place +where no one comes without an invitation." + +In some respects the room was very unlike the sanctum of the average +girl. While not lacking in the daintiness bestowed by fresh flowers, +gay chintz and white draperies, it contained a number of objects not +often seen in a boudoir. On a teakwood stand in one corner, against the +background of a valuable Oriental rug in shimmering greens and blues, +sat a curious Indian idol. Constance's desk might once have been used +by some Italian princess in the days of Dante, and above it hung a +beautiful silver lamp that could well cause envy in the breast of +Aladdin. Pictures and ornaments alike spoke of wanderings in distant +lands and from their unusual individuality indicated a wide range of +interest in their possessor. + +The door into the adjoining bedroom opened and Constance came out +attired in a lounging-robe that made both girls gasp with admiration. + +"Oh, Miss Connie," Frances exclaimed, "what a beautiful kimono. And +what color is it?" + +"Guess," said Constance merrily. "For a long time I didn't know myself +what to call it." + +"It isn't blue nor gray," said Edith admiringly. + +"Nor green nor violet," added Frances reflectively, "and yet it is all +of them. I've seen something like it but I can't think what." + +"I suppose only an Oriental artist could conceive such a combination," +said Constance, ringing the bell for Yvonne and then curling into a +little heap on the couch. "Dad brought it to me from Paris and I keep +it for very special occasions. I couldn't make out what color it was +but I loved it the minute I opened the box and I knew you girls would. +I've thought very seriously of having it made into an evening coat, for +it is too lovely to be used only in my room. But about its color. One +day this Christmas vacation I was feeling a bit poorly, so I had tea up +here and let Dad and Max come. I slipped on this robe to receive them +in state and the minute Max saw it, he told me what it was like. The +thing is in plain sight." + +The girls glanced about the room. Edith's eyes lingered for a second on +a brass bowl full of blue hyacinths, but passed on. + +"I have it!" exclaimed Frances, noticing a slight inclination of +Connie's fair head toward the open casement. "It's the color of the +ocean!" + +"Right!" said Constance. "The moment Max said so, I knew it. He did it +very prettily, too, with some remark about the 'lady from the sea.' The +silk really does change and shade as the water under storm and sun." + +There came a tap and Yvonne, bearing a most tempting tray, entered with +a smiling "_Bon jour, mes demoiselles._" Fruit, a fat little chocolate +pot sending forth a delicious odor, and flanked by delicate china and +shining silver, whipped cream, marshmallows, French rolls, sweet +unsalted butter and raspberry jam, made the girls feel hungry at the +mere sight. Dainty green and white snowdrops, tucked here and there by +Yvonne's artistic fingers added the final touch. + +"I think this is the greatest fun," said Frances. "Do you always have +your breakfast this way?" + +"Bless you, no," replied Constance. "This is an occasional Sunday +morning indulgence. Every other day of the week, I am up, dressed and +in my right mind to breakfast with my Dad. He'd think the world was +coming down about his ears if his Connie wasn't there to pour his +coffee. I warned him that we were going to have a debauch this morning +and he won't care anyway, because he has Max. What did you mean, Edith, +about a cat? Did you dream of Grayfur?" + +"Why, no, it wasn't Grayfur," said Edith, dropping a marshmallow into +her chocolate and watching it dissolve. "I thought Mr. Max succeeded in +carrying out his joke. He must have come back much later and put +another pussy in from behind the portrait. I woke some time in the +night, oh, hours after, because the moonlight was 'way across the room, +and sitting in it, washing its face, was the prettiest little +half-grown kitten. It was a perfect beauty, white with a plumy tail. I +spoke to it very softly so as not to wake either of you, and it looked +at me and purred but would not come. I watched it chase its tail for a +little and then it jumped in a big chair and curled itself up to sleep. +I suppose it must have gone out when the door was opened this morning. +May we see it again, Miss Connie? It was much prettier than Grayfur. +But do tell us now about the ghost. We are in such a hurry to hear." + +"You know practically all there is to know," said Constance whimsically. + +Both girls stared at her. "What do you mean!" asked Edith. "Is it a +joke? Isn't there any ghost?" + +"You know better than I do," replied Constance, tasting her chocolate +critically. "Did you have sugar, Frances? Why, you've seen the ghost, +Edith, which is more than I can say." + +Edith's face was a picture of surprise. "_Seen_ it!" she repeated. +"Why, I saw nothing at all." + +"I told you, didn't I, that the people who saw the ghost never knew it +at the time? This is the legend. About a century ago, the Richard +Lisle, then owner of the Manor, married a very charming young wife. He +was madly in love with her and was inclined to be rather jealous. The +story runs that he couldn't bear to have her lavish affection on +anything but him, was jealous of her dog and her horse and even of her +flower-garden. Winifred Lisle had a very pretty white Persian kitten--" + +Constance stopped, for Edith's spoon fell with a clatter. "You don't +mean that darling purry little pussy was the _ghost!"_ she exclaimed. + + +"Listen to the story," Constance went on smiling. "Dick Lisle objected +to even this wee kit since it took some of his Winifred's time and +attention and he gave orders that it was never to be admitted to the +room where they spent the evening, presumably the library. The kitten +disappeared and Winifred mourned for it. Months later, its little +corpse was found on the secret stairs behind the portrait." + +"Then Mr. Max didn't put a cat into the room?" asked Frances eagerly. + +"I think not, unless he took the trouble to bring a white kitten with +him from Paris. Max is quite capable of doing it for a joke, but he +could not know, you see, that we were planning to sleep in that room +last night. And there is no white kitten about the Manor." + +"Isn't that the oddest story!" said Edith in deep interest. "Why, Miss +Connie, I'm as sure as I am of anything that I saw that pussy playing +in the moonlight. It was the sweetest little thing and I did wish it +would come and cuddle by me in bed. Is it really a ghost? How do you +account for it?" + +"I don't account for it," said Constance. "You can consider it a pretty +dream if you wish. I never saw it and I have a fancy that it is because +I am not fond of cats. When Frances said she did not like them, I knew +that she would not see the little ghost kit either, and so I wanted you +to take the bed nearest the moonlight." + +"That's the most interesting thing that ever happened to me," said +Edith. "I'm so glad I saw it." + +"Whether it is imagination or dream, I rather like to think of the +kitten ghost playing so gayly with its tail on moonlight nights," said +Connie. "No, only three or four people have seen it. The room is not +often used, and like Edith, they supposed it a kitten that had somehow +got in. Well, is the Manor ghost satisfactory?" + +"I think it's the dearest thing I ever heard of," said Edith happily. +"But do you suppose that Winifred's husband shut it in there +deliberately?" + +"We'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Cats are always poking about +in odd places. The door in the library may have been open a crack and +the kit gone in to investigate. Once I accidentally shut a kitten into +a drawer in the linen closet. Luckily Paget happened to open it within +an hour and she was surprised enough to find a pussy there. Now for the +rest of the morning. I heard Frances say that she wanted to hear a +church service in French just to see whether she could follow. If you +like, I'll get Max to take us into town and we will find a French +church to attend." + +"That would be lovely," declared Fran enthusiastically. "I really +believe I could understand quite a little now." + +"Thank you, Miss Connie," said Edith. "I'm afraid I ought to go home. +Fran can stay just as well as not, but Sister depends upon me to go to +church with her. I always do, you know." + +Edith colored and looked uncomfortable, feeling that perhaps she was +being ungracious. + +"You're a good little sister," said Constance quickly. "And you would +not care so much as Frances because you have always spoken French. I +imagine Dad will go to St. Aubin's and he'll take you home. I'll make +Max go with us." + +Max was perfectly willing to play escort, but looked dubious when +Constance declared her intention of stopping at a tiny French church +just inside the town of St. Helier's. "Have you ever been here?" he +demanded. + +"No," admitted Constance. "Of course we might go to the Convent of St. +André. I forgot, though, they wouldn't let you in. Frances only wants +to hear a sermon in French and this will answer very well." + +Max still looked disapproving. "You won't like it," he said. "It's a +queer, non-conformist sect of some kind. There's a place the other side +of town where they have the Church of England service in French. Let's +go there." + +"Why not stop here?" persisted Constance. "More exciting when one +doesn't know what's coming next." + +"One may get more than one bargains for," commented Max. "Connie, I +have a premonition that we'll land in some mess." + +Connie made a delightful little face. "Come in," she said to Frances. +"I was under the impression that we invited Max to escort _us._" + +When Frances returned home from church, she was distressed to find Win +in bed. + +"He overdid yesterday," said Mrs. Thayne in reply to her anxious +questioning. "I can't discover exactly what happened, but he and Roger +were out together and Win walked too far. That's all he will admit. No, +he isn't as badly off as sometimes, and says he only needs a rest. Come +up in his room, Fran, to tell your adventures." + +To Fran's eyes Win looked decidedly ill when she saw him lying against +his pillows, but he evaded all inquiries and demanded to know about the +Manor ghost. + +"That wasn't the end of our experiences," Frances went on laughing, +when the events of the night had been thoroughly discussed. "We had a +funny time in that little church. Mr. Max didn't want to go there in +the beginning, but Miss Connie insisted. Inside, it didn't look much +like a church for it was a great bare room, with not many people +present. The usher made us sit rather far front, so we had a good view +of the minister, who was a little man with black hair that stood +straight up, and his manner was very excited. + +"The service seemed unusual for different people kept getting up and +talking. I couldn't understand much and Mr. Max looked annoyed and Miss +Connie amused. Finally a boy about my age began to speak. He wore the +oddest vest and trousers of rose-pink sateen plaided with purple. We +could see distinctly because the minister made him come out in front +and face the people. Well, the clothes he had on were enough to make +any one smile, but when he finished speaking, the minister bounced out +of the pulpit and kissed him on both cheeks! He did, honest!" Fran +insisted in answer to Roger's whistle of incredulity. + +"I don't know what would have happened next, for the service was really +very strange, but when the minister kissed that boy, Mr. Max gave a +little grunt and took up his hat. I was sitting between them, and he +leaned forward and said in such a disgusted tone, 'My word, Connie, +_will_ you come?' + +"I think Miss Connie was trying not to laugh but I guess she'd had +enough herself for she rose and we went out very quietly so as not to +disturb anybody. + +"When we reached the street," Frances went on, "Mr. Max was so funny. +He didn't say a word, only stalked along looking quite cross. Miss +Connie sat down on a wall and laughed till she cried. Then she told Mr. +Max to smile and show his dimple. But he wouldn't. I don't see how he +could help it when she was so pretty and sweet. Well, after she laughed +some more, she begged him please to look affectionate. + +"At that he couldn't help smiling, and then he asked Miss Connie if she +was ever going to stop getting herself and him into scrapes. She called +him 'old boy' and said she was sorry,--she wasn't really," Fran +interpolated with a wise nod,--"and promised to stick to the Church of +England service ever after. Mr. Max inquired how much I understood and +when I told him only a little, he said it was lucky. That was certainly +a very peculiar church," Frances ended reflectively. "I'm quite sure +that Mr. Max wanted to come out long before we did, and that Miss +Connie persisted in staying just to tease him." + +Win was smiling over his sister's story, but though he evinced interest +both in the Manor ghost and in the amusing experience Connie had +furnished with her little French church, the point that most impressed +him was Max's presence at the Manor. + +"I wish I could see him," he observed. "I want so much to ask a +question or two. Did Miss Connie tell him about the paper I found and +how we explored the vaults and sounded the walls?" + +"She did," assented Frances. "We talked about it after dinner. Mr. Max +was as interested as could be and said he was going down himself to +take a look." + +"Mother," said Win suddenly. "I really need to see him. Don't you +believe he'd come in for a minute if he knew I was used up so I +couldn't get to the Manor?" + +"Indeed, I do," assented Mrs. Thayne. "Write a note, dear. Roger shall +take it for you." + +Roger, who for some reason haunted his brother's room in a subdued mood +not at all common to his usual attitude toward life, was very willing +to act as messenger. Toward night, Max appeared at Rose Villa. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE DOTTED LINE + + +"Sorry you are laid by, old man," Max said cheerfully as he was shown +into Win's room. "Better luck soon." + +"It's good of you to come," replied Win, grasping the hand so cordially +offered and relieved to see that the pleasant young face bore no +expression of the sympathetic pity Win so often read in older +countenances. + +"Well, my being here is as much of a surprise to me as to any one," +said Max, sitting down by the bed. "On Friday I expected to spend my +Sunday in Paris. But it chanced that I successfully engineered a rather +ticklish job for the Embassy, and the Chief was pleased. As a +figurative pat upon the head he gave me the week-end off. You should +have seen the way my car went to Granville! Jean drove till we were +clear of Paris and then I took the wheel and things began to hum. From +the tail of my eye I could see Jean devoutly crossing himself whenever +we hit the earth, but we made the boat and didn't so much as run down a +hen. I did wonder that we weren't held up anywhere for exceeding the +speed limit, but the mystery was explained when we reached the +Granville pier." + +Max stopped with a mischievous laugh. "The Embassy has several official +machines," he explained, "and of course they are so marked they are +easily recognizable. I always use my own car, and am authorized to +sport the Embassy insignia when on official business. I forgot to +remove it before starting and that was why not a single gendarme did +more than salute as we tore past. Good joke, so long as it ended well, +but if we'd come a cropper on the way, there'd have been rather a row +and Max would have stood for an official wigging, to say the least. +Lucky for us that nothing went wrong. What's done you up, old fellow?" + +Win looked at him wistfully. "Just exploring the Manor cave," he said +with a sigh. "I did so want to see it, and I made Roger take me. I +managed to get down all right, but it took over an hour to climb the +cliff. The kid is wild because he thinks he's half-killed me." + +"Oh, say, that's a shame," said Max. "I wish I'd known that you wanted +to go. Pierre and I could have rigged a rope somehow and helped you get +back." + +Win's face just then was pitiful. Max's eyes grew very gentle but he +did not utter one word of sympathy. "I've been led a lively pace since +I reached the Manor," he went on. "Between Connie's ghost hunt and the +extraordinary church she chose to attend this morning and your +discovery in the library, my existence hasn't lacked variety. Gay Paris +is quiet beside this! But there's nothing in the world I'm so keen on +as hidden treasure. I'm pretty sure I have a special talent for hunting +it down. To be sure the only time I ever tried, I made a giddy ass of +myself and got into a jolly mess, but I wonder will I succeed with +this. Connie thinks you've the tail of an idea. Can't you put me on?" + +"That was what I wanted to see you for," replied Win, his +self-possession quite restored. "Please open the lower drawer of that +desk. Right on top is a roll of tracing paper." + +"Why, this is a copy of the Manor plans," said Max, as he spread out +the thin sheet. + +"Yes," said Win. "Colonel Lisle let me trace them. Tell me, does +anything about them strike you as odd?" + +Max considered the plan carefully. "I can't say it does," he admitted +after a minute survey. "Give me a lead." + +"That dotted line," said Win, pointing to it with Max's pencil, +"according to Colonel Lisle, marks the path down to the cottages on the +shore, only the path curves more now than it did when the plan was +first made. Don't you think it strange that it was the _only_ path put +on the plans? Even the state driveway isn't indicated." + +"That, I suppose, wasn't made then." + +"But surely," persisted Win, "there was some driveway to the main road. +Why should this especial path be marked? It couldn't have been the most +important, even at that time." + +"That does seem true," replied Max thoughtfully. + +[Illustration: WIN'S PLAN OF THE MANOR CELLARS.] + +"Now look at the point where the dotted line comes to the house," Win +went on, tracing its course as he spoke. "This is the very oldest vault +of all, under the library, you know. On the plan, its northern wall is +continued flush by the northern side of the addition made later, and +this dotted line runs parallel to it, but--it runs _inside_ the +foundations." + +"So it does," Max agreed. "But isn't that due to clumsy drawing? +There's an axiom, you know, about it being impossible for two bodies to +occupy the same space. Two lines couldn't occupy the same location on a +plan." + +"Yes," said Win, "but if this is a _path_, what is it doing _inside_ +the house?" + +There followed a second of silence and then Max gave a low whistle. +"I'm on," he announced. "Clever reasoning, Win." + +"There's another thing, too," said Win, lying flushed and pleased +against his pillows. "I spent a lot of time on that dividing partition +wall. I'm sure there is no space in it unless it is so thick that even +a hollow place wouldn't sound any different. But after I looked again +at the plans, I saw that what I should have put my time on wasn't that +wall at all, but the northern one, indicated here as parallel to the +dotted line. Mr. Max, I'm quite certain that the old original cellar +extends farther to the north than this newer part. I mean that the +north wall of the new cellar isn't on a line with the old one, not in +reality, though here it is intended to look so." + +"You mean," said Max, bringing intelligent brows to bear on this +explanation, "that this was an underground passage rather than a +surface path and that its northern side is the one flush with the +original cellar?" + +"That's exactly it," said Win. "I think there is a passage running +along outside that northern wall down to the cave and the beach. There +seems a space on the plan that isn't accounted for in any other way, +and that explains why this dotted line runs inside the foundations." + +"But, old chap," said Max kindly, "I know that cave from top to bottom. +Truly there is no exit. I've spent hours in exploring the place." + +"But when I was on the ledge at the back, there was a draught of fresh +warm air from somewhere," Win pleaded. "And Roger said he noticed it +when you took him there. Behind the ledge is a big pile of stones and +rubble. Couldn't that air get in somehow?" + +"It must, since you felt it," agreed Max sensibly. "If I can possibly +manage it, I'll make an investigation. But I am booked to sail on +Tuesday morning. It may have to stand over until the Easter holidays. I +will take a squint at the cellar though this very evening. Did you +sound that north wall?" + +"No, I didn't," Win admitted. "I spent all my time on the west one. Not +until I studied the plans again, did it fully dawn on me that perhaps +that line was a passage instead of a path. If that is true, it is the +other wall that will bear investigation." + +Max still surveyed the plans, his fine young face intent on this +problem. He glanced up to meet a very wistful look from Win. + +"On the whole, let's wait until Easter," he suggested. "Then you'll be +feeling more fit and can come down in the vaults with me." + +"I wish you'd inspect that wall," Win replied. "If you find it does +sound hollow, will Colonel Lisle let us punch a hole?" + +"Sure," said Max encouragingly. "I know jolly well he will. Uncle Dick +will be game for any investigation. Only he'll have to be convinced +that I'm not pulling his leg. If that north wall resounds like a tomb, +I'll tow Uncle down to hark for himself. Why, man, we're getting on +swimmingly! That was a mighty clever idea of yours about the dotted +line. Connie'll be keen on it too, and anyway she owes me one after +getting me into such a beastly mess as she did to-day. I didn't even +use unkind language about it either. If the sea is decent tomorrow, +I'll trot her down to the cave to see where your fresh air comes from." + +"Perhaps it can be felt only when the wind is from a certain +direction," observed Win. + +"That's more than likely. Yesterday it was south, wasn't it? Very +probably it takes a south wind to strike in there. I'm afraid we can't +hope for that to-morrow because there seems a storm brewing, on purpose +probably to give me a rough trip on Tuesday." + +"Weren't you glad of the chance to come?" asked Win. + +"I was," said Max expressively, "not only because I always like to get +back to the Manor, but because I was pleased with myself to think I'd +scored with this especial bit of work, a job of smoothing down an +elderly ass who was inclined to be a trifle footy. You see when I +decided to go in for the diplomatic service, Dad told me that he would +use his influence only to get me an appointment, a try-out. After that +it was up to me; if I received promotion it would be because I earned +it, not because I was his son. He makes me an allowance because one +really couldn't manage on the salary of an attaché, but so far as my +profession goes, I stand absolutely on my own merits. So Max is feeling +proud of himself just now!" he added whimsically. "So's my Dad, if my +telegram reached him." + +"He must be proud of you," said Win rather soberly. "I so much hope +that Roger will condescend to go to Annapolis. You see I can't, and Dad +would like one of us in the navy." + +"Roger will wake up to a sense of his privileges some day," said Max. +"Do you know, Win, some of the finest work in the world has been done +by the fellows who were handicapped. Prescott, for instance, writing +all his histories, blind in one eye and sometimes half crazed by pain; +Milton, too, dictating to his daughters, and Scott, producing so much +when he was old and burdened with grief and trouble. And Stevenson, who +was ill half his life." + +"But they were geniuses," said Win. + +"They were also too courageous in spirit to yield to circumstances. To +come down to more ordinary people, I think Uncle Dick is mighty fine. +He is crippled, useless for the work he expected to grow old in; he saw +his only son die for England. You have seen enough of him to know what +he is and what he means not only to Laurel Manor but to the Island. I +respect and admire him tremendously and I shall owe much of whatever +success I score, to him as well as to Dad. There are careers open to +you, Win. You are clever and have a fine mind. Roger defers to your +opinion. Through your influence, he may accomplish far more than he +might alone." + +"I don't amount to very much with Roger. Still, I did make him square +things with Fisher that day he played truant and went off with you," +admitted Win with the ghost of a smile. "Mother only lectured him for +bunking, but I persuaded him to apologize and to put in the next +Wednesday doing the work he skipped." + +"Good for you!" said Max cordially. His gray eyes were very kind and +friendly as he rose to leave. + +"I hope you'll feel more fit to-morrow," he said, shaking hands. "If I +possibly can, I'll run in and make a report; if not, I'll drop a line +when I get home to the lurid lights of Paris." + +"Shall you drive back with the Embassy insignia on your car?" inquired +Win smiling. He looked much brighter and happier than before his +visitor came. + +Max laughed. "I fancy not," he said as he gathered hat, gloves and +riding-crop. "I'm rather anxious to be on my good behavior. No, I'll +let Jean drive which will be prudently slow, and I'll meditate about +your hidden chest and the dotted path and other things back at the +Manor." + +"I believe Mr. Hamilton did you more good than the doctor," declared +Mrs. Thayne, entering Win's room after his caller had mounted Saracen +and ridden away. "You look fifty per cent brighter." + +"He's a crackerjack," said Win briefly. "He's promised to do some +investigating on his own account and I feel sure that he can induce +Colonel Lisle to let us try an experiment if it is needed. But, Mother, +there's something I've been meaning to tell you all day, not about the +Spanish chest or anything to do with it. You know we spoke once of how +Miss Estelle reminded us of some one at home. This morning instead of +sending a servant with my breakfast, she brought it herself, and when +she was arranging things, I remembered whom it is she looks like. It is +your friend, Mrs. Aldrich." + +"Win, you're right," said Mrs. Thayne suddenly. "Estelle _is_ like +Carrie Aldrich, and not in looks alone, but in manner. Now how can that +possibly be? Of course it is only a chance resemblance but it must +exist since you notice it, too. I wonder whether Fran ever carried out +her intention of asking Edith whether they had any relatives in the +United States. She spoke of doing so." + +"What good would that do, if Mrs. Aldrich is the person Estelle +resembles?" asked Win. "Haven't you known her all her life?" + +"I met her at school," replied his mother, "when we both were young +girls and then knew her intimately. Of later years, we have seen less +of each other, though we have always kept up the friendship. There +seems no possible connection between Carrie Aldrich and Estelle and the +likeness must be only in our minds. They say, you know, that every +person in the world has a double somewhere." + +"I'd like mighty well to be Mr. Max's double if I could only choose," +muttered Win to himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ROGER THE MAROONED + + +No word came from the Manor the next day, only a big bunch of fragrant +lilies for Win and some jelly of which Paget alone knew the secret +recipe. Early Tuesday morning Max's prophesied storm arrived in earnest +and the young people at Rose Villa saw the Granville boat leave her +pier amid sheets of driving rain. Her decks looked dreary and deserted, +for all the passengers were inside. + +"I suppose Mr. Max is on board for he was obliged to go," observed +Frances, as the steamer disappeared in low-hanging banks of fog +drifting continually nearer shore. + +"Yes," agreed Win, who was dressed and about, though still looking ill. +"There will be some word when he gets back to Paris. It stormed so +yesterday that he probably couldn't go into the cave as he planned." + +"Life seems very tame after all the interesting things that happened +last week," sighed Frances, gathering her French grammar and other +school books. "Rain or no rain, there will be school, and English rain +seems somehow _wetter_ than American. You'd better eat that jelly, Win. +According to Nurse, it is the elixir of life and warranted to cure +every ill known to man." + +Win smiled as he watched his sister and Edith down the steps, and waved +a listless hand as they turned inquiring faces under bobbing umbrellas +at the end of the terrace. He looked enviously after Roger, a tall slim +clothespin in black rubber coat and boots, sou'wester pulled firmly +over his head, tramping sturdily toward the beach, evidently on some +definite errand. Win would have liked mightily to be swinging along +with him through the storm, but the fun of facing a tempest was not for +Win. + +For a few moments he stood idly by the window, wondering whether Connie +knew what Max had possibly discovered in his inspection of cave and +vaults. Then he turned with a sigh, reminding himself that with the +weather what it was, and in this land of few telephones, there was no +chance of hearing anything from the Manor. + +Gradually the stormy morning passed, somewhat dully for Win, who still +felt unfit to study or even to occupy himself with a book, and lay upon +the couch while his mother read aloud. + +Frances returned from school, ravenously hungry and quite rosy with the +rain that had beaten in her face. + +"Mother, I am nearly starved!" she announced. + +"Why, it is time for luncheon," said Mrs. Thayne, awakening to a +realization of that fact. "But where is Roger? He can't have taken the +whole morning just to deliver that message for Estelle." + +"He could easily, Mother," said Win. "Why, if I had a chance to get out +in this storm, I feel sure it would take me forever to do the simplest +errand. He'll come home when he's hungry." + +The gong for luncheon sounded and the three sat down to Annette's +delicious scallops, daintily creamed in their own big shells, her +French bread and perfect chocolate. Still Roger did not come. + +Nurse took the plates, and brought dessert; fruit, clotted cream with +plum jam, and a special glass of egg-nog for Win. + +"Shall we put Mr. Roger's lunch to the fire?" she asked of Mrs. Thayne. + +"I don't see why he doesn't come. He can't have gone to the Manor and +if he had, they would have sent word if he were staying. No, you +needn't keep it warm, Nurse. Unless he has some very good excuse when +he comes, he may lunch upon bread and milk. It's really very naughty of +him to go off like this when he had lessons to learn." + +"It's queer where he can be," observed Fran. "He started on his errand +just after Edith and I came out and saw Annette buying scallops of the +fish-woman. He's crazy about them you know, and he asked particularly +if they were for luncheon, and told her to be sure to get plenty." + +"Oh, I don't suppose anything has happened," said Mrs. Thayne quietly, +for she did not wish Win to worry. + +When Roger was still missing half an hour later, Mrs. Thayne sought +Estelle. + +"Whatever can have happened?" said Estelle helplessly. "I can't think. +Did he have any money?" + +"Why, perhaps a few pence, not much anyway," replied Mrs. Thayne. "You +think he went into St. Helier's and had to walk back? That's possible. +Fran, it's not storming so hard now. Put on your rain-coat and run out +to the end of the terrace. Perhaps with the field-glasses you can make +out whether he is coming down the beach or is anywhere in sight." + +Frances returned with the report that there was practically no beach, +owing to the high tide, and no foot-farers on the narrow strip that was +visible in the fog. + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne knew what was best to do. Estelle +suggested the police and then the rector, but neither seemed to Mrs. +Thayne likely to offer a solution. + +"We will wait a while," she said with an anxious glance at the clock +just striking two. "Don't do or say anything to let Win think I am +worried, Fran. Let me take your coat. I'll go down to the beach myself. +I really think that Roger should be punished for causing us such +anxiety." + +Had his mother only known, Roger was already enduring considerable +self-inflicted penance for getting into a predicament which made it +impossible for him to return. + +Delivering Estelle's message at a cottage by the shore had taken but a +few moments and with most of the morning before him, Roger set out +along the beach, glorying in the force of wind and rain. True, there +were lessons to be prepared for Bill Fish, who would come cheerfully +swimming in at the appointed hour, but there was surely time for a +stroll toward Noirmont Point. + +The tide was far out and wet hard sand stretched in every direction, +very pleasing to stamp over, and retaining little trace of any +footprint. Only gray gulls and drifting fog banks distinguished the +immediate surroundings. + +As Roger tramped on, he noticed that the fog grew steadily thicker and +that his path included occasional seaweed-covered rocks, but not until +a black mass loomed up before him, did he realize that he had left the +true beach and was walking straight out to sea. The bulk he had +encountered was not the martello tower on Noirmont Point but the old +castle of St. Aubin's, at high tide an island in the bay. + +No thought of any danger in his position struck Roger. He had always +intended to investigate that island but somehow had never yet done so. +Here it lay before him. + +Climbing the rocks upon which the castle stands, he made a careful +survey of its outside and finally gained access to the interior, much +disappointed to find nothing at all remarkable, though St. Aubin's +castle is not wholly a ruin and was once rented and occupied for a +season by an eccentric Englishman. + +Nothing was now visible save swirling fog and for the first time, Roger +realized what that fog meant. He hastily made his way to the little +beach, where the tide, still out, would permit him to cross to the +mainland. To start in the right direction was simple enough, for he +very well knew which side of the castle faced the shore, but he had +taken scarcely twenty steps down the sand when he saw that he had no +certainty of keeping his bearings once the island was left behind. + +Roger was only twelve, but he was possessed of common-sense and +self-reliance. Though the youngest of the family he had been so +thoroughly impressed with the necessity of considering "safety first" +in regard to Win, that in an emergency of any kind he was usually +level-headed. He stopped where he was, searching his pockets for the +compass Captain Thayne had given to each of his three children. + +Roger's pockets yielded a strange and varied assortment of objects, +presumably of value, but no compass. He looked irresolutely behind +where the castle was just visible as a darker spot in the fog. Nothing +at all could be distinguished ahead. + +From the lighthouse on the point came the tolling of a bell, but its +warning tones were so scattered and disguised by the fog, that its +sound was of no use as a guide. + +For several moments Roger stood where he was. The distance to shore was +not great if he was only certain of going straight ahead. To swerve +from that direction meant wandering out to meet the cruel Jersey tide, +presently coming in like a hunter on its prey. To remain where he was +meant anxious hours for his mother and for Win, about whom Roger was +already so much concerned. + +Having weighed the alternatives, he took five steps forward and stood +absolutely surrounded by the whirling mist. A sort of horror came over +him, a keen realization of his helplessness before one of the great +elemental forces of nature. The risk was too great! There was a chance +that he might keep in the right direction with nothing to guide him, +but it was only a chance. Worried as his mother would doubtless be, +better that she endure a few hours of anxiety than lasting grief. + +Turning squarely about, Roger retraced his footsteps, already faint, to +the castle, where he perched forlornly on a high rock. A little later, +he heard for he could not see, the low hiss and gurgle of the coming +tide. Roger was a big, strong, brave boy, but at the sound, he could +not suppress a few tears, and they were not wholly for his own plight. + +Mrs. Thayne returned from her fruitless expedition to the beach, +looking still more distressed. + +"I can't imagine where Roger is," she said anxiously to Frances. "Of +course, there may be some good excuse for this performance, but I don't +see what it can be. He knows that he is not to go into town without +permission and it seems as though he would have come home for luncheon +unless he was in St. Helier's. If he really has been disobedient and +played truant again into the bargain, I shall ask Mr. Fisher to punish +him." + +"Oh, Mother," said Frances, "Roger wouldn't deliberately frighten us, +especially when he's been so upset over Win." + +"But where _is_ he?" said Mrs. Thayne again. "Thank goodness! Here's +Mr. Fisher." + +She hurried down to intercept the tutor at the door. Lingering at the +head of the stair, Frances heard her name called from Win's room. + +"Is Mother dreadfully troubled?" he asked as she entered. "I think +Roger went back to the cave and has been shut in." + +"Oh, I hope not," said Frances. "Mother's annoyed but it seems to me he +must be all right. When he gets ready he will turn up with some +wonderful tale of adventure." + +"I suspect he's in some scrape," said Win. "Might not be such a bad +idea to appeal to the police after all. I only wish I wasn't such a +helpless stick," he added rather bitterly. + +"Mr. Fisher has gone down to the beach," reported Frances from the +window. "I'm glad he's come, for Mother will feel better to have him to +consult." + +Both were silent for a moment, thinking of Roger, blunt, loyal, +impulsive Roger, hoping that nothing serious had befallen him. + +Presently Mrs. Thayne came, her face expressing a calm she did not +feel. "Mr. Fisher thinks there is no cause for us to worry," she +remarked placidly. "He is going to take what he calls a 'turn about the +town.' Frances, suppose you go on reading to Win while I sew a little." + +Frances took the book Win held out to her, and Mrs. Thayne's fingers +twitched the needle through her embroidery, both ears alert for sound +of returning steps. The clock struck three and then four. Nothing +happened. Roger did not come and Mr. Fisher did not reappear. + +Over on St. Aubin's tiny island, Roger watched the water creep steadily +up the rocks, up and up until it broke almost at the foundations of the +castle. Cruel, cold, and gray it looked and hungry and chilly was the +boy who watched. Once a gull flew so close that he could almost touch +it as it vanished like a ghost into the fog. + +At intervals Roger inspected his watch, counting the moments till the +tide should cease to make. At last the water stopped climbing the +rocks, remained stationary, fell an inch. The next wave broke still +farther below. + +But unless the fog should lift, ebb tide would only duplicate Roger's +predicament of the morning. Toward four he saw that the mist was +gradually growing lighter; saw water visible fifty feet from the +island. Presently a breeze sprang into being, the most welcome wind +Roger had ever known. Before it the fog thinned, grew filmy, dispersed +in shreds of trailing vapor. Noirmont Point and St. Aubin's village +came gradually into distinct view, and with them a man walking along +the sand. + +Water ten feet deep and many wide still barred Roger from the shore and +he could not make himself heard above the slow heave of the rollers +lazily breaking on the beach. Was there no way to attract the +saunterer's attention? + +Finding a long branch, relic of some storm-wrecked tree, Roger tied his +handkerchief to it and waved vigorously. After a time, the man on the +beach noticed the flag and stood looking toward it. + +A bright idea struck Roger. At home he had belonged to a troop of boy +scouts and knew the signals. He would experiment on this stranger. + +Just by chance, Mr. Fisher at one time had been a scout-master and +instantly realized that Roger, marooned on St. Aubin's island, was +trying to send a message. Hastily improvising a flag, he responded. + +Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Thayne, still nervously sewing, heard Mr. +Fisher run up the steps and Estelle hurry to the door. A few brief +seconds sufficed to give the explanation Roger had so painstakingly +signaled. + +"I didn't stop to rescue him, Mrs. Thayne," explained Mr. Fisher, +"because his one thought was for you and Win, not to let you worry a +moment longer." + +"Can't you get a boat and row out for him?" asked Estelle, seeing that +Mrs. Thayne was unable to speak. "Poor dear boy, he must be cold and +famished." + +"I'm off to Noirmont Point," replied Mr. Fisher briefly. "It shouldn't +take long to pull over and back, provided that I pick up a boat +quickly." + +In spite of the tutor's best efforts, darkness had fallen before the +marooned prisoner was returned to his anxious family, who sat around to +see him eat everything pressed upon him. Roger was pale and very +subdued. Strangest of all, he had come up Noirmont Terrace pressed +close to the side of the obnoxious Bill Fish and not in the least +resenting the hand that rested on his shoulder. + +Having consumed all the food in sight, he yielded without protest to +his mother's desire that he should go to bed in order to ward off +possible chill. When Mr. Fisher, heartily thanked, had taken his +departure, Mrs. Thayne started for Roger's room. On its threshold she +stopped for the boys were talking. + +"I hated it like time out there," said Roger, now reposing luxuriously +in bed. "But I hated worse to have you and Mother worried. I didn't +purposely go over to the island, Win." + +"I know you didn't," said his brother. "I was sure that something you +couldn't help had happened." + +"It did," sighed Roger. "I guess I'll never again do anything that +worries Mother, now I know how it feels to worry over somebody myself. +And I say, Win, Bill Fish is all right! To think of his knowing the +scout signals! And he pulled out for me himself in a heavy old dory +that weighed a ton. Why, Bill Fish isn't so bad!" + +"And have you just found that out?" asked Win laughing. "I've known it +all the time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AT CORBIÉRE + + +Not until Friday did Win receive the longed-for letter from Paris. He +tore it open eagerly. + +"DEAR WIN," it ran, "I've just arrived in town and am wishing I was +back in Jersey. As the steamer sailed, I looked over at St Aubin's and +thought of you. You couldn't see me of course, both for fog and because +I was in the wheel-house with the pilot, Jim Trott, a fellow from Gorey +village. + +"Probably you thought that we didn't get into the cave on Monday on +account of the weather. It was beastly, but I decided to try, and when +Connie knew my plan, she insisted on going with me. Pierre came too, +with a lantern and we went down without much trouble. + +"Pierre and I tackled your stone pile at once and we pitched quantities +aside, but couldn't finish because Connie, who was watching the tide, +called a halt too soon. But we cleared enough rocks away to feel rather +sure there is an opening of some kind beyond; just possibly the passage +you are so keen on, more probably connecting with another cave. The +Jersey cliffs are honey-combed with them. How's that for exciting news? + +"Connie haled us out before there was really any need and of course the +tide did not serve for us to go again. When I come at Easter, I'll +finish the job if necessary. After playing ball with several tons of +stone, we then explored the vaults, armed with a hammer and a long line. + +"Well, old fellow, I pounded that north wall inch by inch and I can't +conscientiously say I struck anything that sounded at all hollow. But +still, it's not like tapping on plaster or wood; one couldn't +reasonably expect the same result for the stone is probably some feet +thick. And if the whole wall is the side of the tunnel, naturally it +would all sound alike, so that test doesn't really prove or disprove +anything. + +"The discovery Connie and I did make, and to my mind it is rather +important, is that you are right in thinking that there is a +discrepancy between the walls of the oldest vault and the adjacent +cellar. Outside the house, the foundation wall runs flush the length of +the library and the wing beyond; inside, that same foundation wall +doesn't jibe. According to our measurements, there is a difference of +over a metre, almost four feet, in the length of the partition at right +angles to the north wall as reckoned on either side. This certainly +bears out your theory of a passage running along that wall. + +"We looked very carefully but could not detect that there had ever been +any opening, but all the masonry is so rough that perhaps we couldn't +expect to find it. + +"Uncle Dick is interested but sceptical, says the difference in +measurement may be accounted for by walls built at different times. +When he thinks it over a little, he will see that no Lisle in his +senses,--and the Lisles possess sense,--would have put four extra feet +of solidity into a wall which had no earthly reason to need such +treatment. But he said that when I came at Easter, we may have a mason +and knock a hole wherever we choose. Messing about in the cellar is a +harmless amusement that may keep us out of mischief and provide +employment for some deserving workman. Before that date, I trust you +will succeed in getting Uncle Dick into a less doubting frame of mind. +Easter is but a month away and if all goes well, I'll surely be back +and we will hunt that Spanish chest to its lair. + +"Had no adventures coming here. Jean seemed relieved when I told him to +drive. When I reached my rooms, I found a note directing me to report +for duty to-morrow prepared to show some important American from the +western States the sights of Paris. That means a gay and giddy day. I +only hope I sha'n't have to interpret while he buys hats for Madam and +the young ladies at home. Once I was let in for that and it was pretty +sickening. I've often wondered what the ladies thought of those hats. I +also hope he won't be keen on climbing the Eiffel tower, for that's one +of the things that's not done in Paris. + +"I must go to bed for it is after two and my day to-morrow, or rather +to-day, may include an evening as well. + +"Till Easter then adieu, and all best wishes, + +"M. R. HAMILTON." + +This letter naturally afforded Win a great deal of satisfaction and his +interest and pleasure were shared by the others. To wait a whole month +to solve the mystery of the Spanish chest when so distinct a clue +appeared already in his hand, was a trial of patience. Naturally +Colonel Lisle would not be likely to go ahead in the matter until Max +returned to inspire action by his youthful enthusiasm, and it was only +fair that Max should be in at the finish. Win wondered whether Connie +shared the Colonel's scepticism. This proved not the case, only that +Connie and her father were going to London for a week or two and the +little lady of the Manor had other ideas to occupy her pretty head. + +"We may even run over to Paris," she announced during a farewell call +at Rose Villa. "Max has been begging us ever since he was sent there, +so it's possible we may cross for a few days and plan so that we come +back together at Easter." + +"Wouldn't it be jolly to go around Paris with Mr. Max," said Win almost +enviously. "I haven't forgotten how dandy he was to me in Washington. +Dad took me along when he was calling on some official and then found +he was in for a morning's conference. The Secretary sent for a young +man, who proved to be Mr. Max and told him to look after me. I was only +fifteen, but Mr. Max took as much pains to give me a good time as +though I'd been somebody really important." + +"That's like Max," said Connie briefly, her eyes showing pleasure at +Win's tribute. "I think he's detailed for service such as that more +often than the other young men of the Embassy because he gets on so +well with all sorts of people. It's a real gift and a very valuable one +for a prospective diplomat. But you are celebrating one of your great +national days this week, aren't you?" + +"Yes, Washington's birthday," said Frances. "Luckily it comes on +Wednesday, so we have a holiday. We were going to have a picnic at +Corbiére and invite you, Miss Connie." + +"Indeed, I wish I could be there," said Constance with genuine regret +in her voice, "but I'll be in London. We'll keep up our spirits by +remembering that it's only a brief time to Easter and then we are to +start again on the trail of the Spanish chest." + +Estelle consented to join the holiday celebration, and when the +twenty-second dawned bright and sunny, Rose Villa was the scene of an +animated flurry. In the dining-room, Edith, Frances and Estelle were +putting up the lunch, while Win collected painting traps for the +picture he hoped to sketch, and Roger departed to bring the pony and +cart engaged for the day. + +Corbiére Point was distant about four miles and all except Win and his +mother proposed to walk, since the little carriage could take lunch +baskets and wraps. + +Roger appeared with a plump stubborn Welsh pony, attached to a funny +little cart which he gayly informed them was a "gingle." Neither Edith +nor Estelle, who were familiar with the term as used in Cornwall, +thought it odd but Roger considered it most absurd. + +Even the short legs of a tiny pony could cover the ground more rapidly +than the walking party, and when the pedestrians reached their +destination, no sign of Win, his mother, pony or gingle was visible. + +"Oh, what a wonderful view!" exclaimed Estelle stopping short. + +Before them lay Corbiére lighthouse, built on a bold rock, at flood +tide an island, but at this hour approachable from the mainland by a +causeway. In the foreground stretched an expanse of jagged red reefs +and shining pools with a single martello tower rising in dignified +grandeur. At the right lay a hill, its summit crowned by one stone +cottage with a thatched roof, and down the hill a narrow road wandered +to disappear in a cleft between two gigantic red granite boulders +sprinkled with glittering quartz and partly covered with gray and +bright orange lichens. Green grass and turquoise blue sea with a single +white sail dipping to the horizon completed the color scheme. Near at +hand hovered several of the sea-crows, _corbiéres_, which have given +the point its name. + +Estelle's soft eyes grew wide and a pretty pink flush came into her +usually pale cheeks as she gazed into the distance. Roger and the girls +were looking for the rest of the party. + +The thatched cottage seemed utterly without life, windows blank and no +sign of any domestic proceedings. + +"It must be deserted," said Edith as they strolled on. + +"Here's a shed with something black in it," said Roger. "I can just see +its head. It's a goat." + +"It's a black stocking hung to dry," declared Edith. + +"Stocking, nothing," replied Roger. "I know it's a goat." + +The two hung over the gate and deliberately stared into the little +shed. "No goat ever stopped still for so long," persisted Edith, when +three full minutes had passed without motion in the shed. + +"I'll go in and see," began Roger, about to climb the gate. A sudden +exclamation from Frances deterred him. + +"Goodness, here's a black cat! Where did it come from?" + +Upon the doorstep now sat a perfectly motionless black cat. + +"Look at the black hens!" added Edith, bursting into laughter. + +At either corner of the stone cottage two coal black hens were visible, +also like statues, and possessing bright yellow eyes. + +"_And_ a black dog in a barrel!" Frances fairly shrieked. + +"Well, a dog has some sense!" said Roger, whistling and calling. +Strange to say, the dog neither stirred nor lifted its head. Nose on +its paws it remained absolutely still. + +"This is a bum lot of animals," observed Roger. "I never saw a dog +before that wouldn't at least bark at strangers." + +"It's probably dumb as well as deaf," commented Frances. + +"But it might at least _move_," expostulated Roger. "Perhaps it's +paralyzed." + +"Perhaps this cottage and everything about it is enchanted," suggested +Edith. "Miss Connie said something, don't you remember, about a place +where the Jersey witches hold their meetings?" + +"That is 'way the other end of the island," retorted Roger, "down at +St. Clement's." + +There was something uncanny about that collection of dusky, motionless +animals and the three were conscious of real relief when the two hens +at last walked off in quite a hen-like, not to say human manner. But +cat, dog and goat remained as though petrified. + +"Mother's calling," said Frances. "Come along, Roger. Lunch!" + +Roger postponed his intention of stirring up the dog to see whether it +was stuffed or paralyzed, and they turned in the direction of the call. + +Luncheon was already spread on the grass in shelter of a big rock, the +Stars and Stripes forming the table decoration. At sight of the flag, +Roger and Fran stopped and saluted gravely as their father had taught +them. + +"Mother!" exclaimed Roger, his eyes widening. "Is that a chocolate +layer-cake? Where did it come from?" + +"I made it," said Mrs. Thayne. "Miss Estelle said I might and Annette +was quite pleased to watch me, and see how an American cake was +constructed." + +No doubt that the young people were frankly happy, though spending this +holiday in so unusual a fashion. After luncheon, Win prepared to sketch +the lighthouse and the other three proposed to visit it. + +As they ran down the hill toward the causeway and the heap of +picturesque red rocks bared by the water, Mrs. Thayne settled herself +with her embroidery and Estelle produced her netting. + +After a few moments spent consulting with Win as to the exact angle +desirable for his sketch, Mrs. Thayne felt for her watch, remembered +that she did not bring it and looked at Estelle. + +"Will you tell me the time?" she asked. "Win's hands are full with his +palette and block." + +"Certainly," said Estelle. "It's just two." + +As she replaced her watch, a sudden look of interest crossed Mrs. +Thayne's face. + +"What a curious chain you have, Estelle," she remarked. "Is it an old +one? May I take it a moment?" + +"It belonged to my grandmother, my mother's mother," replied Estelle, +unfastening the chain and holding it out to Mrs. Thayne. "I think it is +very old for I never saw another like it." + +Mrs. Thayne examined the trinket carefully. It was hand-made, of pale +yellow gold, and the links, instead of being round, were rectangular, +yet so fastened in a series of three as to produce the effect of a +round cable. + +"It is an awkward thing to use," said Estelle, "because sometimes those +links get turned and it is very difficult to work them into place." + +Mrs. Thayne looked up, a curiously intent expression on her face. +"Estelle," she said abruptly, "have you any relatives in America?" + +"Not that I know of," Estelle replied, surprised by the sudden +question, "though I suppose it is quite possible. Grandmother's sister +married a young man who went out to the colonies, somewhere near +Toronto, I think. We have known nothing of them since Grandmother died +and that was before I was born. I think Mother completely lost touch +with Great-aunt Emma. It is easy, you know, when one belongs to a +different generation and has never seen one's aunt." + +"Then you don't know whether your Great-aunt Emma had children?" asked +Mrs. Thayne, twisting the odd chain reflectively between her fingers. + +"Oh, yes," said Estelle. "I do happen to know that. There were two, a +girl and a boy. Now I think of it, I recall that the girl married and +went to the States. I do not know how one speaks of your counties, but +it was not the city of New York,--perhaps New Yorkshire?" + +"New York State," put in Win so abruptly that his mother jumped. To all +appearances he had been completely absorbed in his painting. + +"But you don't know the name of the man she married?" Mrs. Thayne asked. + +"I do not," replied Estelle. "But I could find out, for it will be +among Father's papers. I think he had a hazy idea of writing some time +to Canada to get in touch if possible with Mother's relatives. But it +was never done, and I should hesitate to do it,--especially now." + +"Lest they might think you were seeking aid," Mrs. Thayne thought, with +a tender appreciation of Estelle's proud independence, but she kept her +inference to herself. + +"Do you know whether your grandmother's sister who went to Canada also +possessed a chain like this?" she asked. + +"Why, yes," said Estelle, laying down her work and looking out to sea. +"I know she did. Great-grandfather Avery once bought two just alike in +Paris and gave one to each of his daughters. This came to me through +Mother." + +Mrs. Thayne started to speak but caught Win's eyes fixed upon her +inquiringly. Something in their expression checked the words she was +about to utter. + +"After all, better be sure," she thought. "It is a very curious old +trinket, Estelle," she said, returning the chain. "Some time when you +think of it, I wish you would look in your father's papers and find the +married name of that cousin who went to New York State." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WIN WONDERS + + +"Mother," said Win solemnly, "I shook in my shoes this afternoon. +Didn't you notice the lurid mixture of colors I was daubing on my +block? And all because I knew you were having psychic thoughts and I +was so afraid you would say what I thought you were thinking and +startle Estelle. I wanted so much to know myself just what you were +driving at with your watch-chains that I almost chewed my tongue off +trying not to speak." + +"I know it," said Mrs. Thayne. "I felt you quaking, Win, and decided to +keep still. After all, the only sensible way was to find out definitely +that name. Estelle is so proud and so reluctant to accept help that one +must move carefully in trying to smooth her pathway." + +The two were alone in Mrs. Thayne's room after the happy picnic at +Corbiére. Through the open window floated the occasional sound of +voices from the end of the terrace where Roger, Edith, and Frances +stood watching the steamer for Southampton round Noirmont Point. + +"And now that I do know the name, I am still uncertain what is best to +do," reflected Mrs. Thayne. "But you asked about the chain, Win. The +moment I saw that one of Estelle's I knew that I had seen a similar one +in the United States. For a time I could not place it, and really it is +a thing of unusual workmanship and not likely to be largely duplicated. +Then it came to me in a flash that Carrie Aldrich often wears a chain +like that and once told me that it had belonged to her mother." + +"But I never knew that Mrs. Aldrich was English," said Win wonderingly. +"I thought she'd always lived in Boston." + +"I knew that she was a Canadian," replied his mother, "but she was +educated in the United States and married an American. To trace her +ancestry never occurred to me. She is so thoroughly and completely +American that one would never think of her forefathers as being +anything else. + +"I can hardly keep silent," she went on. "When I think of Carrie alone +in that huge house in Boston, with her big income and her still bigger +heart and only her charities to fill it and to occupy her time, and +then think of Estelle, so proudly trying to support herself and Edith +in a land where self-support for women is not easy,--why, Win, it seems +as though I must tell her on the spot. And yet, if I do, I am quite +sure Estelle will just shut herself up in the armor of her pride and +refuse to make herself known. Taking both the testimony of the chains +and the very pronounced family resemblance, there can be no reasonable +doubt of the identity." + +"I think Estelle would refuse," said Win slowly. "She's foolishly +proud. She thinks, Mother, that you pay more than the house is worth +and so she does her level best to make it up to us in other ways." + +"I believe I will write to Carrie," mused Mrs. Thayne. "She'd be +interested and anxious to see the girls. I'm sure she doesn't realize +that she has any cousins in England." + +"Mother," said Win with deliberation, "why don't you ask Mrs. Aldrich +to come over and visit us for a little? You'd like to have her and so +would we. Probably she has nothing especial to keep her at home and +might be glad to be let out of a month or two of winter." + +"That's a bright idea, Win!" exclaimed his mother. "Only I suppose she +has several pet charities that she will feel she can't leave at short +notice." + +"In that case," replied Win, "probably you'd better write her about the +girls, only do tell her to come and see for herself. It strikes me that +nothing but knowing each other would ever really bring them together." + +"Win, you are so like your father," said Mrs. Thayne affectionately. +"Your minds work alike. I find I'm growing to depend more and more upon +your judgment." + +In the dusk Mrs. Thayne could not see the flush that spread over her +son's thin face. To be likened in any way to Captain Thayne was praise +indeed for Win. + +"I only wish I could take more off your shoulders, Mother," he said +briefly, "instead of being a great lazy lump that the whole family has +to take thought for." + +"Here's Annette with letters," said Mrs. Thayne. "Why, I did not expect +mail until tomorrow." + +Some moments passed until Win was aroused from his own correspondence +by a sudden surprised exclamation from his mother. + +"Never say you don't believe in special providences. This seems almost +incredible, but here is a note from Mrs. Aldrich, written from London! +She's come over to attend some charity congress and wants me to run up +for a few days." + +"Then it is meant that you should, Mother," said Win, smiling. "That +coincidence hasn't happened for nothing. You can tell her about the +girls much more convincingly than it could be written, and bring her +back with you to see them. It will all be natural and Estelle will +never suspect." + +"I'll do it," said Mrs. Thayne, but the next second a shadow crossed +her face. Her sharp-eyed son instantly saw and interpreted. + +"I'll not overdo, Mother," he said immediately. "Trust me to rival the +sloth in idleness. I promise you that I won't stir one step out of my +usual routine." + +"But there's Roger," mused his mother. + +"Oh, Roger is walking the straight and narrow path of virtue. Ever +since ex-scoutmaster Bill Fish rescued him from a desert island, he's +been meekness itself. Makes me smile to see his star-eyed devotion. +This plan is too evidently designed, for you to give it the cold +shoulder." + +"It does seem so," agreed his mother. "Well, I'll go by Saturday's +boat. Win, don't you think it would be best not to say anything to Fran +and Roger? We will tell them after I have seen Carrie." + +"I certainly do," Win declared. "Fran couldn't keep that secret one +half day. It wouldn't interest the kid." + +The absence of the family did not prevent Win's enjoyment of the Manor +library and during his mother's stay in London, he paid it several +visits. Evidently the servants had been instructed to expect and make +him welcome, should he appear, for a smiling face answered his ring and +the fire in the library was invariably lighted on his arrival. But +Win's conscience would not allow him to neglect Roger even for these +delightful hours of solitude, so this pleasure was only occasional. + +With the pony and gingle they explored many of the lovely Jersey lanes +and headlands, for driving seldom tired Win. Half a morning passed in +this fascinating occupation left Roger ready to spend the time before +luncheon in preparing his lessons. When they were over in the +afternoon, Mr. Fisher usually suggested kicking football on the beach +or led Roger a walk sufficiently strenuous to leave him disposed for a +quiet evening. Estelle and Nurse both thought Roger "good as gold," and +did not realize how much of his virtue was due to the forethought of +brother and tutor. + +One morning Estelle had errands in town and invited Roger to go with +her. Hearing his joyful acceptance, Win as gladly betook himself to the +Manor. + +Spring was far advanced now, potatoes were being planted and other +early vegetables already showing in green rows. Under the trees on the +Manor grounds wild snow-drops starred the grass. Win wandered into the +formal garden enclosed by a hedge of box so clipped as to form a solid +wall with square pillars topped by round balls of living green. In the +background posed two peacocks, also clipped from box. What patience, +time and care had been required to bring that hedge to such perfection! +Early roses were now plentiful and as Win sauntered through their +fragrant mazes, he realized how much loving thought had been expended +through the centuries on this old garden. Sad indeed that the present +owner of Laurel Manor was the last Richard Lisle. + +Win's reverie was broken by the passing of Pierre, with a pleasant +"_Bon jour, M'sieur_," and a touch of his cap. Pierre carried a rope +and crowbar, unusual implements for a gardener's assistant. + +Win watched him idly down the laurel-bordered drive and then went into +the library, followed by Tylo, who seemed depressed in the absence of +his mistress. + +About eleven, Win was visited by Yvonne, bringing a glass of milk and a +plate of biscuit, which she placed beside him with a politely murmured +"M'sieur labors so diligently!" + +"Thank you, Yvonne," said Win. "It's good of you to bring that. Do you +know when the Colonel and Miss Connie are expected?" + +"No word since they arrived at Paris," replied Yvonne in her daintily +accented English. + +"It is Pierre who hears from M'sieur Max, a letter, brief indeed, but +explicit, that certain matters may arrange themselves in readiness for +the coming of M'sieur Max." + +Win looked puzzled. For a second Yvonne stood regarding him, her head +slightly on one side. + +"Word will perhaps arrive on the morrow," she volunteered. "Is the milk +to M'sieur's liking?" + +"Very much. Thank you, Yvonne." + +The trim little maid replenished the fire, replaced a daffodil fallen +from a vase, patted Tylo, gave him a biscuit and vanished as +noiselessly as she came. + +Left alone, Win began to walk slowly up and down the library, wondering +about the matters which were "to arrange themselves." The tools Pierre +carried, the direction in which he was walking, to Win's alert mind +suggested the Manor cave. Had Max told Pierre to complete clearing away +that heap of stones and if so, why? + +Never in his life had Win been so tempted to break his word. In spite +of the voluntary promise to his mother to do nothing in the least +unusual, it seemed as though he _must_ go and see what was taking place +in the cave. + +"Pierre would help me up," he told himself. + +"Yes," came the instant answer, "but Roger gave you all the help he +could and yet you were in bed two days and felt ill for a week." + +Win thought of questioning Pierre, but abandoned the idea as not quite +on the level. A note from Max had come on yesterday's steamer +presumably in company with the directions to Pierre. There was not a +word in it about the cave and if the writer had wanted Win to know what +was going on, he would have told him. No, Win's code of honor would not +permit him to find out by asking Pierre. And yet two weeks until Easter! + +Win gave a long whistle, looked wistfully down to the sea and again +took up his book. + +When he returned for luncheon at Rose Villa, he found Roger convulsing +Frances by his account of the morning spent in town with Estelle. + +"It's lucky I don't have to do the marketing for this family," he +announced. "If you wanted cream now, where would you get it?" + +"A dairy, of course, or a market," replied Frances. + +"Wrong. Much cream you'd get! Try a fish-monger's." + +At Roger's disgusted tone, Fran giggled, "Oh, I've learned a lot," he +went on. "Where would you ask for one of those paper patterns to cut +out a dress?" + +"A dry-goods store," answered his sister. + +"Do say a draper's if that is what you mean," continued Roger. "You +would only waste time. Go to a book-shop." + +"I will," said Fran. "Thanks for the tip." + +"I wanted to get weighed," said Roger, "because I know I am becoming a +shadow studying so hard. I asked Miss Estelle where to go and told her +I didn't think the nickel-in-the-slot machines were very +accurate--Well, what's wrong with that?" + +Roger stopped for both Win and Frances were laughing at him. + +"Here you are knocking English customs," said Win at last. "As though +Miss Estelle knew what a nickel was, let alone a slot machine, although +I have seen some of them." + +"I don't see anything so funny," said Roger huffily. "Perhaps she +didn't know, but she was polite enough not to laugh and said the place +to get weighed was the hair-dresser's--" + +"Oh, come off," said Win. "That's too much, even for us." + +"Well, it is where we went and where the scales were," retorted Roger, +"but there weren't any pounds to it, only what they call stones. I +weigh exactly seven stone and I won't tell you how many pounds that is." + +"Ninety-eight," said Win so promptly that Roger looked disconcerted. + +"How did you know?" he demanded. + +"From a book," replied his brother. "A little article that you don't +yet value as highly as you might. What next?" + +"Oh, that was about all," said Roger, "except that Miss Estelle told me +I might choose some crackers, I mean biscuit, and to buy half a kilo. I +forgot and asked for half a litre and the clerk grinned very +disagreeably." + +"Liquid measure instead of dry," commented Win in amusement. "After +luncheon, Roger, permit me to introduce you to some parts of your +arithmetic that you have evidently never examined. But go on." + +"Then I stopped to look in a window and hurried to catch Miss Estelle +and ran into a big fat man who was wearing stiff leather gaiters and a +tam o' shanter. We came together rather hard," admitted Roger. "I +didn't hurt myself much because he was quite soft, but his tam fell off +and he said, 'Bless my soul, by George!" + +"Roger, I can't stand any more," implored Frances. + +"I don't follow the logic of that hair-dresser and the scales," mused +Win, when he had stopped laughing. "Is it before and after a hair-cut +or to see how much flesh the barber gouges out in a shave?" + +"Give it up," said Fran. "There's the gong for luncheon and Edith +bringing the mail. I hope there's a letter from mother." + +"There is," said Edith. + +"Please excuse me, Miss Estelle, if I read it now," begged Frances, +settling into her seat at the table. + +"Of course, dear," was the reply as Estelle took Mrs. Thayne's usual +place, for she and Edith were having their meals with the young people. + +"Now, Roger, pause," exclaimed Win, suddenly. "What are you going to do +with that?" he added, as the attention of all was concentrated on the +surprised Roger who sat with arrested hand suspending above his plate a +spoon heaped with sugar. + +"Whatever is he doing?" protested Estelle gently. "Such a mixture! How +can he eat sugar on his eggs?" + +"Thought it was pancakes," explained Roger, indicating the omelet +before him, but relinquishing the sugar. + +"Mother's coming on Wednesday," Frances announced happily. "And she's +met a friend in London, Mrs. Aldrich, who's coming with her for a few +days. Isn't that splendid, boys? You'll like her, Miss Estelle. She's +sweet." + +"I shall be glad to see any friend of your mother's," said Estelle +cordially. Looking to see whether Roger was sufficiently supplied with +butter, she did not notice the smile with which Win glanced at her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE TWO CHAINS + + +"Estelle, will you do me a favor?" asked Mrs. Thayne, following her +young landlady into the hall. The travelers from London had just +arrived and in the drawing-room, Mrs. Aldrich was expatiating to the +boys upon the roughness of the trip. + +"Why, of course I will! You don't need to ask," replied Estelle +affectionately. + +"You and Edith have been taking your meals with the children during my +absence. Please keep on doing it. Let us all be one family for the rest +of our stay." + +"It is lovely of you to want us, Mrs. Thayne," said Estelle, her face +flushing. "We stopped with the children because I thought it would be +better and then I could personally see that they had all they wanted. +But now that you have a guest--" + +"I want you and Mrs. Aldrich to know each other," said Mrs. Thayne +quickly. "And this will be one of the easiest ways to get acquainted." + +"I think Mrs. Aldrich is charming," remarked Estelle. "Isn't it odd, +how sometimes a likeness in a total stranger strikes one? For a second, +just as you introduced us, she reminded me so much of my dear mother +that I could hardly pull myself together to speak. She must have +thought me quite awkward." + +"I know she didn't," said Mrs. Thayne, with difficulty keeping her face +under control. She had seen Estelle start and noticed her amazed +expression when Mrs. Aldrich greeted her. So Estelle had not been +conscious of Mrs. Aldrich's constrained manner! "Then you will have +luncheon with us?" she added. + +"I will since you wish it," replied Estelle, vanishing to give +directions to Nurse. + +"Now, what is there to do this morning?" Mrs. Aldrich was asking the +boys. "I propose to stay in this island exactly one week. Your mother +was seasick so she ought to lie down and rest but I feel as fit as a +fiddle. Frances is at school, you tell me. No, I don't want to drive +this morning. Suppose you take me for a short walk, Roger and Win, and +show me what is to be seen on the beach." + +"We might take you to Noirmont Point," suggested Roger as they stopped +at the end of the terrace to look at the view which was never twice the +same. "What are those big vessels over beyond Castle Elizabeth?" + +"They are English warships," replied Mrs. Aldrich. "Coming into the +harbor we passed close to them. The captain said it was a part of the +Channel squadron, whatever that is." + +"Oh, did you see their names?" demanded Roger eagerly, as he counted +the great gray ships in the offing. "Fourteen, no, fifteen." + +"Only a few. One was the _Princess Royal_ and I saw the _Thunderer_, +the _Revenge_, the _Black Prince_ and the _Camperdown_." + +Roger's eyes opened at this list of awe-inspiring names. "I wish we +could get over to Elizabeth," he remarked. "We could see them better +then." + +"Tide's not right," said Win, casting a critical glance at the sea. + +"What, to walk over to that island?" asked Mrs. Aldrich. "Is it ever +possible?" + +"We've been over," said Roger. "When the tide is 'way out, there is a +raised causeway, quite smooth and easy." + +"What is the place anyway?" asked Mrs. Aldrich, looking curiously +across to the castle. + +"Once it was an old abbey," Win explained, "dedicated to St. Elericus, +the patron saint of Jersey. I suppose the town was named for him." + +"How did the island itself get its name?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. "The +derivation of these charming old English names is a fascinating study." + +"It was the old Roman Caesarea," said Win. "Jersey is a corruption of +that. The ruined hermitage of St. Elericus is still over near +Elizabeth, at least they call it that, though it's a kind of +combination of a watch-tower and a cave. But the castle, as it stands, +was built when Edward VI was king of England. There's a story to the +effect that all the bells in the island except one for each of the +twelve churches were seized by royal authority and ordered sold to help +pay for building the castle. They were shipped to St. Malo and expected +to bring a high price, but the vessel went down on the way and all the +good church people thought it was because of sacrilege in taking those +bells." + +"What is the castle used for now?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. + +"Barracks," replied Roger. "The place is full of soldiers. It's no good +now as a fortification, because Fort Regent up above St. Helier's--over +there on the cliffs--could knock Castle Elizabeth and all those +warships into fits in no time. Nothing can enter the bay if the Fort +Regent guns don't approve. And that heap of rocks where Elizabeth +stands is 'most a mile around,--it is, honest. Fran and Edith and I +walked it." + +"They say," said Win, "that the space between the castle and the town +was once a meadow. For that matter, they also say that the whole +channel between here and France was once so narrow that the Bishop of +Coutances used to cross to Jersey on a plank." + +"Tell that to the marines," protested Roger. "You do find the weirdest +yarns in those books you're always grubbing in." + +"Oh, I can tell a bigger one than that," said Win laughing, "but +perhaps you'll swallow it because your friend Bill told it to me. He +said that some time in the sixteenth century there was an abnormally +low tide, lower than any one had ever known. Some fishermen who +happened to be out between Orgueil and the coast of France came in and +reported that they had distinctly seen down in the channel the towers +and streets and houses of an old town, forty feet or more under water." + +"There are stories like that in Brittany," said Mrs. Aldrich. "The +fishermen declare that they can hear the tolling of the submerged +church bells. Now, when legends like that exist on both sides of a +channel, it stands to reason that there is likely some foundation in +truth." + +"Then why don't they send divers down to find out?" demanded Roger +bluntly. "Any enterprising country would." + +"We'll import a few Americans to do the investigating," laughed Mrs. +Aldrich. "Is this Frances coming? Who is with her?" + +"Edith," replied Win. "Miss Estelle's sister." + +"Bless me!" murmured Mrs. Aldrich. "The other was startling enough but +this resemblance is even stronger." + +Win smiled. It was great fun to look on, knowing what he did of his +mother's innocent little conspiracy, all the more fun because the other +young people were unsuspecting. + +At luncheon, where Estelle appeared with a pretty dignity, Win was +supplied with still more secret amusement. Mrs. Aldrich talked a good +deal, rather inconsequently at times, but continually looked from one +sister to the other in a way that would have aroused suspicion had +either the slightest idea that any plot was on foot. As it was, Win saw +Estelle occasionally glancing at their guest in a puzzled manner as +though trying to account for something she found unexpected. After the +meal he waylaid his mother. + +"What is Mrs. Aldrich going to do?" he asked laughingly. "I had hard +work not to give myself away during luncheon. You looked so unnatural, +Mother, that if you hadn't been seasick, Fran and Roger would have +caught on. As it was, they thought you weren't quite rested." + +"I don't know what she is going to do," replied his mother, "but it is +working as we hoped. She is strongly attracted to the girls, and +Estelle confided to me that our guest in some unaccountable way, +reminded her of her mother. We have done our part in bringing Carrie +here; it is for her to take the next step. I rather imagine that she +won't be able to hold in very much longer, though I think she is +enjoying the situation." + +It was not until dinner of her third day in St. Aubin's, that Mrs. +Aldrich made herself known. To please Win, who had ascertained that she +chanced to have the old chain with her, she wore it when she entered +the dining-room. + +Win watched Estelle intently, disappointed that she did not immediately +notice the ornament. Indeed, they were finishing dessert before +anything happened. Perhaps purposely, Mrs. Aldrich looked at her watch +and Fran in all innocence touched the match that fired the explosion. + +"Why, how odd!" she exclaimed. "Miss Estelle has a chain just like that +one, Mrs. Aldrich." + +Win and his mother exchanged a glance; the others naturally looked at +the chain. + +"It's precisely like it, Sister," said Edith, who sat near Mrs. +Aldrich. "Isn't that queer?" + +"It's an old keepsake," said Mrs. Aldrich with deliberation. "It +belonged to my mother. See, here are her initials on the slide, E. A. +for Emma Avery." + +Edith looked with interest but Estelle turned pale. Thoughtful Win +pushed a glass of water within reach. + +"Star's has initials too," Edith remarked innocently. "A. A., I think +they are. Anyway, it was Grandmother's chain." + +Mrs. Aldrich turned to Estelle, who perfectly colorless, was staring at +her. "Child," she said rather peremptorily, "come up to my room and let +us compare these old trinkets." + +Still speechless, Estelle mechanically arose. Amid dead silence the two +left the dining-room. Fran turned to her mother, amazed at the look of +excited pleasure on her face. "What _does_ it all mean?" she demanded. +"Is it a secret?" + +"Just a mild little conspiracy," replied Mrs. Thayne. "What it means, +is that Mrs. Aldrich was your mother's first cousin, Edith, so she is +your and Estelle's second cousin. Just by chance I guessed from +Estelle's unusual chain that the one Carrie Aldrich wears came from the +same source. When Estelle told me that her great-grandfather gave one +to each of his two daughters, the whole thing flashed on me." + +"But that," said Edith, with her sweet childish faith, "is a miracle." + +"Perhaps," smiled Mrs. Thayne. "I only know that we shall leave St. +Aubin's happier because you and Mrs. Aldrich have found each other out." + +A shower of eager questions fell from Frances and Roger but a long time +passed before anything was seen of Estelle and Mrs. Aldrich. When they +reappeared to the group awaiting them in the drawing-room, Estelle had +plainly been crying and Mrs. Aldrich's eyes looked suspiciously red. + +"Come and kiss me, Edith," she said. "I want to be Cousin Carrie from +now on. Yes, Estelle, she does look more like the Averys than you, +though I saw the resemblance in your face also." + +"Isn't the whole thing just like a story?" Frances confided to her +mother at bed-time. "What do you think will happen now?" + +"I don't know," admitted Mrs. Thayne. "Estelle is so very proud that it +will be hard for her to accept help from any one, but Carrie will +arrange things if it can be done. I know that Estelle has been +dreadfully worried because some of the little money her father left her +has been lost through an imprudent investment and that she has not felt +sure she could manage to keep the house through another season. And yet +she must find some way of supporting herself and Edith. Things will +work themselves out, for Carrie is perfectly capable of inventing some +very necessary work for Estelle to do, which will preserve her +self-respect and let Carrie have her way. I think Carrie usually has +some young person acting as secretary and Estelle could do that easily. +I am not at all worried about the future since Estelle fortunately saw +the resemblance to her own mother in Mrs. Aldrich. I imagine that will +make it easier for her to consider whatever plan is proposed." + +"Wasn't it lucky that we came here!" sighed Frances. "And doesn't it +seem odd that we did come, just because Roger and I wanted to take that +little train the first day and chanced to find Rose Villa? If it hadn't +been for that, we might not have looked for lodgings in St. Aubin's at +all, nor known Miss Estelle and Edith. Why, Mother!" she went on, with +intenser surprise in her voice. "It's just like the House that Jack +built. If we hadn't come here, we wouldn't have met the beach dog, nor +known Miss Connie, nor visited the Manor, nor be hunting for the +Spanish chest!" + +Fran stopped, looking so comically aghast that Mrs. Thayne laughed as +she kissed her. + +"So much depended upon a passing wish to take that little train! It is +remarkable on looking back, to realize how often life turns upon some +apparently trivial incident, some insignificant choice." + +"It's time though, that we went home, Mother," said Frances merrily. +"While you were in London, Miss Estelle wanted change for half a crown, +so I tipped the money out of my purse. One piece rolled on the floor +and Roger picked it up, and said: 'Why, this isn't a shilling! What is +it?' So I took it, and, Mother, both of us looked at it hard for +several seconds before we realized that it was a United States +quarter-dollar! Don't you think it is time that we went home?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CHEST ITSELF + + +Mrs. Aldrich's stay did not exceed her limit of a week, but she left +for London with Estelle's willing promise to come to her when the +Thaynes returned to Boston and leaving behind her two girls with +gladdened hearts. After her departure Win's interest was again +concentrated on the coming of the Manor family and the search for the +Spanish chest. + +Twice as he came or went from his visits to the library, he saw Pierre +in the distance, once actually disappearing over the cliff edge, but +Easter was close at hand when Yvonne, bringing the usual lunch, +volunteered the information that the Colonel, Miss Connie and Mr. Max +were expected on Saturday's steamer. + +Win reported this news with joy and when the day arrived the young +people began to watch for the Granville boat hours before she could +possibly arrive, hoping to distinguish familiar figures on the deck. To +their disappointment, when the steamer was finally detected in the +distance, dusk was at hand. + +"I shall do it!" said Roger firmly. "There are three packages and we +may not be in England on the Fourth of July. Besides I forgot it on +Washington's birthday." + +Fran and Win looked after him in amazement as he suddenly tore back to +the house and rushed upstairs, spreading noise on his way and +devastation in his room, where he jerked the very vitals out of his +steamer trunk, scattering its contents to the four corners. + +Nor was Edith enlightened when Roger reappeared with a pasteboard tube +in one hand, and a box of matches in the other, but Win laughed and +Frances gave a shriek of delight. + +"Bed fire!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Roger, I never knew you had it. Do wait +until the boat is a little nearer." + +"It will be darker, too," Win advised. "Make more of a show if you +wait." + +"I only hope they will know it is for them," said Roger anxiously. + +"They'll see where it comes from and perhaps they'll understand," said +Win. "But don't expect the steamer to salute as one at home would." + +At the proper second, a flare of red illuminated the end of Noirmont +Terrace, greatly amazing not only St. Aubin's staid population but such +inhabitants of St. Helier's as chanced to be on the water front, and +affording Roger two full moments of complete and exquisite satisfaction. + +"Real United States!" he said. "I suppose an English boat doesn't know +enough to whistle--" + +Roger stopped with his mouth open. From the _Alouette_ came two +distinct blasts of the steam siren. + +"Oh, that's Mr. Max," burst out Win in delight. "He's been in America +and understands the etiquette of red fire. And you remember he said he +knew personally all the captains on the Channel boats. Probably he went +up to the bridge and got somebody to acknowledge our salute! Isn't that +simply corking of him?" + +"That was surely meant for us," agreed the pleased Frances. "Oh, how +long shall we have to wait before we see them?" + +That very evening Pierre brought a note from Constance, expressing +appreciative thanks for their fiery welcome, the source of which Max +had guessed and which he had easily induced Captain Lefevre to +acknowledge. The note ended with an invitation to tea on Monday and +promised a solution of some kind to Win's theories concerning the +Spanish chest. + +"How nice of Miss Connie to set the very first possible day," said +Frances. "I suppose we shall not see them before then." + +"Not unless we go to the little old church tomorrow," replied her +brother. "If you want to, and it's a still day, we might get up there." + +But the travelers had returned on an evening of clouds and threatening +winds. Easter Sunday dawned with Jersey in the grip of a terrific +southeast storm. All day the rain beat on the panes of Rose Villa, all +day the wind howled and snatched at the shutters, the house at times +fairly quivering with its force. As dusk came, the gale increased to +the proportions of a hurricane. Roger, going out to the pillar +post-box, came struggling back with difficulty. + +"I met one of the Noirmont fishermen," he reported. "He said it is the +worst gale in thirty years and when the weather clears the surf will be +worth seeing." + +"Fisher told me that a southeast storm kicked up a fine sea," replied +Win. "I only hope it won't stop our going to the Manor to-morrow." + +All night the wind raged though the rain finally ceased. It seemed as +though the reputed witches of Jersey were holding high carnival with +the unloosed elements of air and water. Day broke, still without rain, +but the violence of the wind was not lessened. Roger ran out to the end +of the terrace and came hurrying back. + +"Come out, everybody, and look," he shouted above the uproar. "The +waves are coming over the breakwater. There isn't one inch of beach to +be seen." + +Roger's report was literally true. Though the sea wall protecting the +town of St. Helier's rose twenty-five feet above the sands, the rollers +were breaking beyond the wall on the esplanade itself, the white foam +even running up some of the side streets. Only an inky howling mass of +white-capped water stretched between the town and Elizabeth Castle. + +Win, who had managed to make slow progress to a point of vantage, stood +fascinated by the wild whirl of wind and water. The tide was at the +flood and the spectacle at its finest. Just a few moments sufficed to +lessen its grandeur as the waves, yielding to the law of their being, +were dragged away from the land. Presently, instead of dashing over the +wall, they broke against it, and then came a scene of different +interest. The water, forcibly striking the masonry, was flung back on +the next incoming roller, with a collision that sent spray forty feet +into the air from the violence of the shock. This phenomenon was +repeated as the rollers crashed down the curve of the wall, continuing +for its full length, the flying spray looking like consecutive puffs of +steam from a locomotive. + +"Look, there comes the train from St. Helier's!" exclaimed Roger, +dancing excitedly about. "Doesn't it look as though the ocean was +trying to catch it?" + +The little train had prudently delayed its starting until after the +turn of the tide. As it crept slowly around the curve of the +breakwater, great white tongues of foam constantly shot over the wall +like fingers frantically trying to seize and draw it into the sea. But +always the hands fell back baffled, to the accompaniment of a roar that +sounded almost like human disappointment. The train reached St. Aubin's +dripping with salt water. + +"Five stones are torn out of the coping in the wall," reported Roger, +coming back from his inspection of the adventurous little engine. "The +guard says they are sweeping pebbles and stones by the ton out of the +streets beyond the esplanade. And coming down here, he twice had a +barrel of water slapped right at him. He is as wet as a drowned rat." + +"The surf must be wonderful at Corbiére," said Estelle. "They say there +is an undertow off that point which produces something this effect of +the water flung back by the wall." + +"Why, here's Miss Connie!" exclaimed Frances in excitement. Max and +Constance on horseback were coming down the terrace. + +"We've been half round the island," Connie announced after her first +greetings. Well prepared for wind as they were, both looked disheveled. +Connie's hair was braided in a thick club down her back, evidently the +only way she could keep it under control; Max's was plastered back by +wind and spray, for he had lost his hat, and their horses were blown +and spattered with salt brine. + +"Oh, but it is grand!" Constance went on. "Corbiére light is smothered +in spray to the very top of the tower. We haven't had a storm like this +since I was a tiny kiddie." + +To talk above the uproar of the surf was difficult. Asking them to be +at the Manor promptly by three, the two rode away. + +"Why three?" asked Frances as they regained the shelter of the house. + +"I think we are going down into the cave," said Win happily. "Mr. Max +told me just now that we were to begin exploring there and that things +would be arranged so that it would not be hard for me. I suppose he and +Pierre have some plan." + +"But you aren't going into the cave on a day like this?" exclaimed Mrs. +Thayne, quite horrified at this announcement. + +"Why, yes, Mother," said Win. "The tide will be as low as usual when it +does ebb." + +"Of course," assented his mother. "I forgot. But how about this wind? +You must have the pony, Win." + +"I will if it keeps up, but I imagine the gale will blow itself out by +noon." + +Win's prophecy proved correct. When the four started to keep their +engagement, the wind was greatly abated and the only trace of the +tempest was the ruined vines and gardens that marked their road. At the +Manor gates, Colonel Lisle, Constance and Max met them. + +"It is to be the cave," Connie said gayly. "Max has things all mapped +out for us." + +Arrived at the cliff, the party stopped. Marks of the storm were +visible in one or two landslides and in a great amount of debris +strewing the uncovered beach and rocks. Even large stones seemed to +have been displaced. + +Max looked rather serious as he saw so much change in conditions +usually stable. "I think you'd better let me go down and report whether +matters are as I expect," he said. "There seems to have been +considerable doing in this vicinity last evening." + +"Let us wait, Win," said Constance quickly. "No use in going down until +we see how he finds things." + +Colonel Lisle also elected to await the report, but Roger and the girls +accompanied Max. They were gone almost half an hour and the watchers on +the cliff were beginning to wonder what had happened. When they did +appear, they called to the others not to come. + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men!'" sighed Max as he reached the +top of the cliff. "Uncle, the storm has picked up all the stones I had +Pierre clear out of the tunnel and wedged them in tight again like a +cork in a bottle." + +"There was a passage and we can't get into it?" demanded Win eagerly, +his face reflecting the disappointment visible on the faces of the +other young people. + +"There was," replied Max, looking at him sympathetically, "not merely +into another cave but striking inland. Pierre cleared its mouth and +reported it passable for fifty feet. Beyond that he did not go. Now, it +is stopped as tight as ever. This shows, Uncle, how it came to be lost +to the recollection of everybody about the Manor." + +"Yes," said Colonel Lisle. "Very likely it was stopped by a similar +storm a century or more ago. So far as I know there has never been a +legend of any tunnel. But, Max," he added, "there is yet the cellar +where you and Win have decided that the passage enters the house." + +"May we knock a hole there?" Max asked quickly. Win had said nothing +more but his disappointment was evident. + +"Certainly, if you like," assented the Colonel, smiling. "Only be +prepared for another disillusion when you get the wall down. The +existence of the tunnel doesn't ensure that of the chest." + +Max whistled, evidently a signal, for Pierre promptly appeared with a +rope over his shoulder. + +"We sha'n't need that now," said Max. He proceeded to add some rapid +directions in French. Pierre nodded, grinned cheerfully and set off at +a fast pace. + +"I've told him to get another man and come to knock in the vault wall," +Max explained as they started toward the Manor. "We may not get it down +this afternoon, but that's all that's left to try. I'm beastly annoyed +about that tiresome hole. Why should a ripsnorter of a storm come on +the one day when it could spoil our plans?" + +"It's provoking." agreed Win. "Do you suppose there is really anything +in the passage?" + +"Blessed if I know!" replied Max. "The one thing sure is that there is +a passage. There must be since we located one end of it in the cave. If +it hadn't been for that, we might not be permitted to tear down the +wall, but even Uncle is convinced now that the tunnel exists." + +"Come and have tea," said Connie as they reached the Manor. "It's a bit +early, but we may as well begin, for nobody knows how long it will take +to pierce the vault." + +Max went down to show the men where to work and reported that the stone +seemed soft and inclined to break easily. "This isn't going to be much +of a job," he reported. "I told Pierre to send word as soon as he +struck through." + +"What do you suppose the chest will look like?" asked Frances. "Will it +be silver?" + +"No such luck," Max replied. "Possibly metal, probably wood, always +provided that we find it." + +"You mustn't throw cold water, Max," reproved Connie from behind the +tea-table. "Since we have found the passage, why not the chest? Let's +have it a gorgeous one while we are about it, gold studded with uncut +rubies and the Spanish crown in diamonds." + +Frances and Edith shrieked at thought of such sumptuousness and one by +one each expressed an opinion as to what the box would resemble and its +probable contents. Roger decided that the chest was of solid iron, +fastened by seven locks of which they would have to find the seven keys +and that inside would be discovered a complete suit of royal armor. + +"I fear that Prince Charles would not have made good his escape from +England clad in a clanking suit of mail," said the amused Colonel. + +Just then Yvonne entered with her usual pretty air of importance. "It +is Pierre who desires M'sieur to attend in the cellar," she said, +addressing herself to Max. + +The entire party rose, hastily placing tea-cups on any convenient +article of furniture. Roger found the floor most accessible for his, +but with prudent foresight took with him such easily conveyed articles +as the jam sandwiches and plum cake upon his plate. + +Down in the cellar, Pierre and McNeil, the Scotch gardener, stood +facing the northern wall just where the newer wing joined the oldest +Manor vault. Before them yawned a hole already two feet in diameter. + +With a grin on his face, Pierre thrust his crowbar through and showed +that a space not quite a yard wide intervened before the tool brought +up against what was in reality the outer wall of the cellar. The +partition itself was only a foot thick, but because it was of equal +thickness throughout its length, Max had not been able to detect any +difference in resonance. + +"_Bien, Pierre!_" exclaimed Max eagerly. "_En avant!_" + +Pierre and McNeil attacked the wall again, Pierre all smiles and gay +glances over this remarkable whim of M'sieur Max, whose whims as a rule +he found enjoyable; McNeil looking perhaps not grimmer than usual, but +as though the whole affair was quite below his dignity. To knock a hole +in a perfectly good stone partition which would require a mason to fill +and put in proper shape again at an expense of solid Jersey shillings, +struck his thrifty Scotch soul as folly. Still, if Colonel Lisle wished +to indulge Mr. Max in this youthful eccentricity, it was not McNeil's +place to protest. + +After fifteen minutes a cavity yawned in the cellar wall, disclosing a +passage leading to the left. + +"That will do, McNeil," said the Colonel. "That's enough for the +purpose. Go ahead, boys. It was through your efforts that the tunnel +was located, so it is for you to see this out." + +"Win shall be first," said Max. "Step in, old fellow." + +Pale with excitement, Win took the offered lantern and approached the +hole. Once inside the opening he found that he could stand erect for +the passage ran straight along the cellar wall about three feet wide +and over five feet high. It seemed dry and the air was not musty. Rough +stones formed its floor and roof but the crude workmanship had been +strong and only a few scattered stones had fallen during the centuries. + +Max followed with another lantern, and Roger made the third explorer. +The excited heads of the girls were thrust into the passage but only +Frances actually stepped within. + +Win went slowly down the gently sloping tunnel, and presently the eager +watchers who could catch only glimpses of shadowy roof and walls in the +fitful light of the lanterns, saw the three stop. In her excitement, +Fran forgot her fear of the distance stretching before her and ran to +them. The next second came a wild warwhoop from Roger. + +"It's here!" Max called more quietly. + +At this wonderful news the rest entered the passage, the Colonel as +eager as the others. Fifty feet from the opening at one side of the +tunnel was a rough niche or alcove and in it stood a box about two feet +square. Upon its cover lay the dust of ages, and it was scarcely to be +distinguished in color from the stones about it. + +"We'll bring it out, Uncle," said Max. "No place to open it here. You +hold the lanterns, Win. Lend a hand, Roger. Go easy; we don't know how +much knocking it will stand." + +His eyes almost starting from his head, Roger took one of the handles, +the girls stepped back and in two minutes the party stood in the open +cellar, looking at what was undoubtedly the Spanish chest. + +[Illustration: WHAT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE SPANISH CHEST] + +"Is it heavy?" asked Fran breathlessly, while Pierre went for a brush +to remove the silted dust. + +"Rather," said Max, looking boyishly excited. "Ah, now we know the +style of the chest. No gold box nor uncut rubies, Connie!" + +Relieved of its heavy coating of dust, the box proved of dark wood, +carefully finished and ornamented by plates and corners of steel. Upon +its cover was inlaid a scroll engraved with the Manor arms and the name +of Richard Lisle. + +"Gracious, what great-grandfather bought that bit of bric-a-brac!" +exclaimed Connie, seeing her father's eyes light with interested +pleasure. "It must have been the original Richard himself. Is it +locked?" + +Max tried the lid. "No," he said, straightening up and looking at the +Colonel. "It is your play, Uncle Dick. Only a Lisle of Laurel Manor +should open Richard's chest." + +The Colonel smiled, stepped forward and with his single hand lifted the +lid. The excited group about him bent forward eagerly. + +At first glance a roll of dark cloth was all that appeared. When +Colonel Lisle lifted this, it unfolded into a long-skirted coat +ornamented with many buttons. The fabric was stained and rotten, in +places moth-eaten. Below the coat lay a pair of leather gloves with +long wrists, stiff as boards, and two blackened bits of metal that +proved to be spurs. + +For a moment no one spoke. The young people were silent, impressed with +the fact that long years ago these things had been the property of a +prince of England. + +With a smile the Colonel looked first at Max and then at Win. "Are you +satisfied?" he asked. "Though the contents of the Spanish chest have no +value in money, they certainly are rich in historical interest." + +"Oh, it was the fun of finding it that I cared about," said Win +quickly. "That was the point for me. And I am so glad there is +something in it." + +"Let's take it up-stairs," suggested Connie. "We can see so much +better." + +The boys and Max delayed to inspect the empty secret passage, following +to the spot where it was blocked by its stopper of stone. Then they +joined the group in the study. In bright daylight, the fine workmanship +on the Toledo steel trimmings of the chest stood out in full beauty. + +"The design on these buttons is very significant," remarked Colonel +Lisle, who was inspecting the wreck of the once handsome coat. "And I +suspect that they are of silver." + +Examination showed on the tarnished metal the three ostrich feathers +that have marked the badge of the Prince of Wales since the far-off +days of Edward the Black Prince. Below was the motto, "Ich dien," and +the single letter C. + +"On my next new suit I guess I'll have buttons marked R," said Roger +solemnly. + +The others laughed. A feeling of real awe had been creeping over them +to think that garment had once been worn by Prince Charles. + +"Here's a loose button," said Max, picking it out of the box. "The +whole coat is falling in pieces." + +"The buttons will last indefinitely," said Colonel Lisle, regarding +thoughtfully the one Max had just rescued. "Thanks to Win's clever +brain, the Manor has acquired an unsuspected secret passage and a +valuable antique; of especial value to me because of the name it bears. +I want you to keep this button, Win, for I think you, almost more than +any one I know, will appreciate it and what it stands for." + +Win turned pale. To possess a silver button once the property of bonnie +Prince Charlie rendered him speechless. + +"Oh, Colonel Lisle," he said after a minute, "I oughtn't to take a +thing of such value. It belongs here." + +"I want you to have it, my boy," replied the Colonel kindly. "I really +am indebted to you, for we have positive proof now that the Manor walls +once sheltered the Prince." + +"I should value that button above all things," said Win simply, "if you +really wish me to have it. Only it seems as though Mr. Max had done +much more toward solving the mystery." + +"I merely followed the lead you gave me," said Max, who was looking at +him with a very friendly expression. "You played a pretty fine game +yourself, Win." + +"As for that," said the Colonel smiling, "Maxfield may have a button +too, if he cares for it." + +"Thank you, Uncle Dick," Max replied promptly. "I do value it, but +perhaps for the present, it would better stop with the others." + +As Max spoke, he looked not at the Colonel but at Constance, leaning +against the table beside him. Something in their attitude struck Win's +always acute perception. For the first time he doubted whether the +young people of the Manor had been as genuinely absorbed in that search +as he supposed. About Max, half-sitting on the corner of the study +table, about Connie, with her hands loosely clasped before her, there +was a certain air of quiet detachment, as of those who politely look on +at some interesting comedy, but who, as soon as courtesy permits, will +return to affairs of more importance. + +"You need not have the least scruple about accepting it, Win," the +Colonel went on. "We hope this will not be your last visit to the +island, but in any case, whenever you look at that old relic, you will +have to give us a thought as well." + +Win turned the tarnished button on his palm. Yes, the sight of it would +always bring back memories of the green lanes, the red cliffs, the +turquoise sea of Jersey, not least the hours in the library, the +Spanish chest and the Lisles of Laurel Manor. + + + * * * * * + + + + +AFTERWORD + + +After the story was finished and the characters were going away, Max +and Connie turned back. + +"We have kept our promise?" they asked. "We have played quite nicely +and haven't been silly?" + +"You have really been very good," admitted the author. "If Max hadn't +appeared just when he did to rescue Edith and Frances from the tide, +probably the story must have stopped there. And Connie has been most +helpful about lending the Manor house and the beach dog." + +"May we play again?" Max asked. + +"I think not," decided the author. "This is five months later. You +really must be grown-up now and stay so." + +"We have been all the time," said Connie. "We've pretended just to +please you. But since you let us come into the story when we weren't +expected nor invited, it is only polite to tell you what we are going +to do now." + +They looked at each other and smiled. + +"Every girl who reads this story will want to know," Connie went on. +"It would indeed be very diverting to be Princess Santo-Ponte, but +somehow I think the chances of 'living happily ever after' are greater +with Max. There's nothing at all romantic about marrying Max, but you +might just mention that I'm going to do it." + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + +***** This file should be named 6998-8.txt or 6998-8.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/9/6998/ + +Produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + +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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive +specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this +eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given +away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks +not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the +trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country outside the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + 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. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The +Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its +volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous +locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt +Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to +date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and +official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/6998-8.zip b/6998-8.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..ac18a36 --- /dev/null +++ b/6998-8.zip diff --git a/6998.txt b/6998.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0b7dccf --- /dev/null +++ b/6998.txt @@ -0,0 +1,7693 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +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: The Spanish Chest + +Author: Edna A. Brown + +Posting Date: September 14, 2014 [EBook #6998] +Release Date: November, 2004 +First Posted: February 20, 2003 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: ASCII + +*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + + + + +Produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + + + + + + + +[Illustration: "WHAT IS IS THIS TINY DOTTED LINE ACROSS THE GROUNDS?" +WIN INQUIRED] + + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + +BY + +EDNA A. BROWN + +ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN GOSS AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF FLORENCE AND CLARA + +who shared a winter spent in the Channel Islands and have now gone on a +longer journey. + + This little book I wrote for thee + Thy friendly eyes will never see. + It was not meant for critics' reading, + Nor for the world that scans unheeding. + For there are lines washed in with tears, + As well as nonsense, mocking fears. + Alas! thine eyes will never see + This little book I wrote for thee. + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Once upon a time a clever Japanese artist drew a sketch of a man who +sat industriously painting, when, to his great amazement, all the +little figures on his canvas came to life and began to walk out of the +picture. + +Something like that happened to this book. Books grow, you know, +because somebody thinks so hard about the different characters that +gradually they turn into lifelike people, who often insist on doing +things that weren't expected. When this especial book began to grow, +two persons who hadn't been invited, came and wanted to be in the story. + +The author politely remarked that they were grown-up and couldn't +expect to be in a book for young people. + +They said that they were not so very grown-up, only twenty-three and a +half and that they still knew how to play. + +Connie said that her home was in the Island of Jersey where the story +was going to be, and if she came in, she could make things much more +pleasant for the other characters. + +Max said that the story would go to smash without him, because he +should be needed at an important moment. + +So, because they looked most wistful and promised very earnestly to +behave as though they were nice children, and not be silly, the author +said they might have a share in the story. + +Connie at once offered to lend her collie. So that is how the beach dog +happens to be in the book. + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. AT ROSE VILLA + II. FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + III. ST. HELIER'S + IV. THE BEACH DOG + V. MONT ORGUEIL + VI. A RACE WITH THE TIDE + VII. MR. MAX + VIII. RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + IX. CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + X. THE BUN WORRY + XI. THE MANOR CAVE + XII. WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + XIII. ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + XIV. IN THE VAULTS + XV. THE HAUNTED ROOM + XVI. THE MANOR GHOST + XVII. THE DOTTED LINE + XVIII. ROGER THE MAROONED + XIX. AT CORBIERE + XX. WIN WONDERS + XXI. THE TWO CHAINS + XXII. THE CHEST ITSELF + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired + +The Village of St. Aubin's + +"For a long time people supposed they were called Martello towers from +the man who built them" + +Above and behind towered the ruined castle of Orgueil + +"Look there is a Jersey cow among the cabbages" + +"He'll come for us! He means us to climb this rock and wait" + +A most interesting little Church almost on the water's edge + +The old Norman gateway leading to Vinchelez Manor + +They came upon the loveliest of little beaches + +Plemont is the spot where the cable comes in from England + +Win's plan of the Manor cellars + +What was undoubtedly the Spanish Chest + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AT ROSE VILLA + + +The silence in the little drawing-room had lasted for some moments +before being broken by the man seated in the big wicker chair. His +dress indicated a clergyman of the Church of England, his face betrayed +lines of kindliness and forbearance, but its present expression showed +a perplexity not unmixed with disapproval. + +"I suppose, Miss Pearce," he said at length, "there is no use in trying +further to dissuade you from your plan, and of course it may work out +for the best. But--you will excuse me, my dear, for I have daughters of +my own--you seem too young to undertake a lodging-house. Now a position +as governess in a nice family--" + +Estelle Pearce interrupted him quickly. + +"There is Edith, you know. Should I try teaching, it would mean +separation from her. And I _must_ keep Edith with me. We have only each +other now. No, Mr. Angus, I thank you from the bottom of my heart for +your interest in us, but I am sure it is best to try my plan. You see I +have the house on my hands. When we came to Jersey, Father leased it +for the winter and I can't afford to forfeit thirty pounds. And there +is Nurse as well as Annette. Surely Nurse lends dignity to any family. +But I am older than you think," she ended with a smile and a pretty +blush. "I am twenty-four, Mr. Angus." + +A kindly look came into the eyes bent on her slender, black-robed +figure. "You do not look it, my dear," her visitor said after a pause. +"Well, with two good servants, the plan may be successful. Much depends +on what class of lodgers comes your way. I am told that Americans are +rather desirable inmates, that they pay well and are not exacting. If +you could let your rooms to some refined American ladies, things might +adjust themselves very satisfactorily. To be sure, few Americans visit +the Channel Islands; they are given to wandering farther afield. But I +will speak of your plans to the postmaster and one or two others. It +might be advisable to put a card in the circulating library at St. +Helier's. Rest assured that both Mrs. Angus and I will do all we can +for your father's girls. Lionel and I were good friends at Oxford +though we saw so little of each other afterwards. I did not think when +he wrote me scarcely six weeks ago that it was to be Hail and Farewell. + +"I must go," he added quickly, seeing that Estelle's eyes were +brimming. "Where is Edith? I hoped to see her also." + +"She has gone to the sands," replied Estelle. "It is dull for her, +moping here, so I sent her for an errand and told her to run down and +see whether the tide had turned. She begins school on Monday." + +Mr. Angus took his leave, and still looking doubtful, went down the +steps of Rose Villa, a quaint little house, covered with tinted +plaster, as is the pretty custom of the Channel Islands, and appearing +even to a masculine ignorance of details much more neat and attractive +than its neighbors. + +So Mr. Angus thought, as he turned from his puzzled survey of its +exterior, to walk slowly down the short street at the end of which +glittered the waters of the English Channel. + +The tide was on the turn but the expanse of sandy beach lay yet broad. +Far toward St. Helier's the curve of the port showed the high sea-wall, +for this same innocent-looking tide that ebbs and leaves behind miles +of sandy stretches and rocks, can return with force sufficient to dash +over even the lofty breakwater and surprise the placid Jerseymen at +times, by scattering large stones in the esplanade. + +But here at St. Aubin's the curve of Noirmont Point sheltered the +little town from the full force of the waves. Dr. Angus looked from the +end of Noirmont Terrace straight down to the sands and saw in the +distance the sunset air filled with wheeling gulls, a group of boys +playing football on the wide level, and somewhat nearer, a slender girl +of fourteen, dressed in black, with long fair hair floating over her +shoulders. + +She was walking slowly and the kind clergyman attributed her leisurely +pace to dejection, but as a matter of fact, Edith was feeling quite +happy and much interested in the tiny bright yellow snail shells the +beach was providing for entertainment. She had been spared all that was +possible of the depression and sorrow of the past weeks. Daddy had been +poorly for years and Edith could not remember him as ever well and +strong. His loss affected her more because it grieved Estelle, the only +mother she had known. + +There had been a few sad confused days when nothing seemed real, and +strangers had been kind in a way that Estelle accepted with a sort of +resentful patience, plain even to Edith. But since then, life had been +rather cheerful, with a great deal of attention from Nurse, and +Estelle's time almost wholly given to her. It was gratifying to share +Sister's confidence and to help arrange the rooms attractively for the +possible delightful people who ought to come to lodge with them. + +That they might not be delightful, Sister would not admit for a moment, +so of course they would be. St. Aubin's itself was far more desirable +as a place of residence than the noisy Exeter street where Edith had +spent much of her life. Far back in the past she could just remember a +charming Surrey village with a pretty vine-covered church where Daddy +used to preach. She could recall exactly how her fat legs dangled +helplessly from the high pew seat. Directly behind sat a stout farmer +with four sons. The boys made faces at Edith on the sly; their mother +sometimes gave her peppermints. + +Edith's thoughts had wandered rather far afield, though still alert for +any gleam of the yellow shells, when she arrived opposite Noirmont +Terrace and reluctantly left the sands. A light shone from the +drawing-room and she knew that Annette would be bringing in supper, and +Sister would be found poring over a little account book with a "don't +speak just now" look in her eyes. + +But Estelle proved to be waiting at the open door and as Edith began to +run on catching sight of her, she thought that Sister somehow looked +happier. + +"Did you meet Mr. Angus?" Estelle inquired. "He went toward the sands." + +"I saw him in the distance," replied Edith. "Why, Star, you look +like--like a star," she ended laughing. "Was Mr. Angus agreeable? Did +he say you oughtn't to take people?" + +"I think he doesn't wholly disapprove now," answered Estelle gently. +"And he is going to do what he can toward sending pleasant lodgers. +Wouldn't it be nice if some dear old ladies should come and want to +stay with us all winter?" + +"Just ladies?" queried Edith. "Do they have to be old?" + +"I shouldn't take gentlemen," said Estelle. "Nurse wouldn't approve, +and ladies would be pleasanter. Perhaps there might be a young mother +and some ducky little children. How would you like that?" + +"Much better," responded Edith. "I don't want any fussy old freaks with +false fronts and shawls. They'd expect to be read aloud to and waited +on within an inch of their lives. I'd like some babies to take down to +dig and paddle. Do say you'll have children, Sister." + +"Well, as a matter of fact, I think we'll have to take the people who +want to come," replied Estelle sensibly. "Let's just hope that somebody +very nice will think we'd be nice to stay with. Come in now, Edith. +Annette has shrimps for supper and after we are finished, we will put a +card in the window and see what happens next." + +But the little white card that most modestly announced "Lodgings" +remained in the drawing-room casement for a week, and every day as +Edith came from school, she looked anxiously to see whether it was +gone. Its absence would mean that some one had looked at the rooms with +approval. + +One afternoon as she came up the Terrace, the sight of an unknown face +at an upper window sent a thrill down her back. The card was yet in +evidence but the presence of strangers indicated that some one had felt +attracted by Rose Villa. Yes, there was a cab at the door. + +As Edith entered quietly a voice struck her ear, struck it +unpleasantly, an English voice, high-pitched and rather supercilious. + +"I should require to see your kitchen, Miss Pearce, and your servants. +I am most particular. In fact, I must be free at any time to inspect +the scullery. There must be a definite arrangement about Marmaduke's +meals. He likes a light breakfast with plenty of cream, and for dinner +a chop or a bit of chicken. His dinner must be served with my luncheon. +Then for tea--" + +"I am afraid my servants would be unwilling to cook especially for a +dog," interposed Estelle's voice, courteous but with a chilling tone +Edith had never suspected it possessed. "It is useless for you to +consider the lodgings." + +"Oh, your rooms are very passable," said the voice. "Small, of course, +and underfurnished, but some pictures and antimacassars would take off +that bare look. And Marmaduke is adorable. Your cook would soon be +devotion itself. Why, at my last lodgings--" + +"I really cannot undertake the care of a pet animal," said Estelle +firmly. "I hope to have other lodgers and his presence might be +objectionable to them. You will excuse me now, as I have an engagement. +I will ring for Nurse to show you out." + +"Well, really, Miss Pearce," began the voice, but Nurse appeared on the +scene so promptly that one might have suspected her of being all the +time within hearing distance. Edith scuttled into the drawing-room, +just avoiding a very large, over-dressed person, who came ponderously +down the stairs, a moppy white dog festooned over one arm. Her face was +red and perspiring and she seemed to be indignantly struggling with +feelings too strong for words. Edith could not suppress a stifled laugh +as she was ushered from the house in Nurse's grandest manner. + +Emerging from her refuge, Edith saw Estelle on the landing, her face +pale except for a tiny red spot on either cheek, her eyes unnaturally +bright. + +"My word, Star!" said Edith, giggling, "didn't you get rid of her +finely? What a fearful person!" + +"She was impossible," said Estelle. "Oh, Nurse," she exclaimed +impetuously, seeing the old family servant still lingering in the hall, +"do you suppose only people like that will want lodgings?" + +"No, indeed, my lamb," replied Nurse, casting a glance of satisfaction +after the cab disappearing from the terrace. "Don't you fret, Miss +Star, and don't you take the first people who come. Just bide your +time, and there'll be some quality who will be what you ought to have." + +"Mr. Angus thought Americans might be rather desirable," said Estelle +hesitatingly. To prepare Nurse for such a possibility might be wise. + +Nurse pursed her lips significantly. "Well, it's not for me to disagree +with the reverend gentleman," she remarked. "And I haven't been in +contact with Americans. No doubt they're well enough in their country, +but I hope, Miss Star, it'll be some of our people that want to come. +Now an elderly couple or some middle-aged ladies would be quite +suitable and proper, but Americans--Well, I don't know." + +Nurse shook her head dubiously as she left the room. Edith came to put +her arms about Estelle. + +"What a fearful woman that was!" she repeated, drawing her sister +toward the window. "Poor Star, I'm sorry you had to talk to her. Rooms +underfurnished, indeed! And you tried so hard not to have them crowded +and messed with frightful crocheted wool things. She'd want a tidy on +every chair and extra ones for Sunday. And you've made things so +pretty, Star!" + +"We think so, don't we!" replied Estelle, kissing her little comforter. +"Somebody may yet come who will agree with us. We won't give up hope." + +Estelle was silent for a moment. She did not want Edith to suspect how +very necessary it was that those rooms should prove attractive to +somebody. + +"Is that the Southampton boat just rounding the point?" she added. +"She's extremely late." + +"They must have had a rough passage," agreed Edith, looking at the +steamer ploughing into the smooth water of St. Aubin's bay. "Let's put +a wish on her, Star. Let's wish, _hard_, that she has on board the +nicest people that ever were and that they're coming straight out here +and say they'd like to spend the winter with us!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + + +"I positively refuse," said Mrs. Thayne, "to go out again to-day. And I +wish you wouldn't go either, Wingate," she added to her older son. +"That steamer trip was frightful. What a night we did have! As for you +two," she went on to Frances and Roger, "I suppose you won't be happy +until you are off for an exploring expedition, but I don't see how you +can feel like it." + +"Why, Mother, I wasn't seasick," said Roger, a handsome, +mischievous-looking boy about twelve. "I slept like a log till I heard +Win being--hmm--unhappy. That woke me but I turned over and didn't know +anything more till daylight." + +"I shouldn't have been sick if you hadn't begun it, Mother," observed +Frances, turning from the window overlooking the esplanade. "I feel all +right now. Mayn't Roger and I go down on the beach or take a car ride?" +she asked, eagerly. + +"I don't imagine there are any electric cars on the island," said Mrs. +Thayne. + +"But out here is a funny little steam tram marked St. Aubin's," +interposed Frances. "It's going somewhere. Look at the dinky cars with +a kind of balcony and that speck of an engine." + +"That's a pony engine for sure," drawled Win, joining his sister at the +window. Except that he was thin and fragile no one could have known +from Win's clever, merry dark face, how greatly he was handicapped by a +serious heart trouble. But the contrast between his tall, loosely-knit +figure and Fran's compact little person brought a wistful expression +into Mrs. Thayne's observant eyes. Win was seventeen and had never been +able to play as other boys did. Probably all his life would be +different, yet he was so plucky and brave over his limitations. + +"There's the _Lydia_ down in the harbor," exclaimed Frances. "My, +didn't she wiggle around last night!" + + "Lydia, Lydia, why dost thou tremble? + Answer me true. + Traveler, traveler, I'll not dissemble, + 'Tis but the screw. + + Lydia, Lydia, why this commotion? + Answer me quick. + Traveler, traveler, 'tis but a notion. + You must be sick!" + +drawled Win, following the direction of his sister's glance. + +"Win, how bright of you!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could think of +things like that. But, Mother, mayn't we go out and take that little +train wherever it's going?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," agreed Mrs. Thayne. "Take care of Fran, Roger, and +don't get separated. You might notice any attractive places offering +lodgings. We don't want to stay in this hotel all winter and the sooner +we are settled the better." + +"Come along, Fran," exclaimed Roger. "That infant train is getting a +move on." + +The two tore impetuously from the sitting-room. "Such energy!" Mrs. +Thayne remarked with a sigh. "Will you lie down here, Win?" + +"No, I think I'll write a bit," replied her son. "I'm not so done up as +you are, Mother." + +"Why Roger wasn't ill after the strange combination of food he ate at +Winchester last evening is a miracle," remarked Mrs. Thayne. "Were you +planning to write to Father?" + +"I will," replied her son. "Mother, do go and rest. You look like the +latter end of a wasted life. But I hope the kids will light on some +lodgings. I've had enough of hotels. Nothing on earth is so deadly dull +and so deadly respectable as a first-class English hotel." + +"Why, of course it is respectable," said Mrs. Thayne, looking rather +puzzled. + +"Thunder, yes! But it's so _fearfully_ proper! That head-waiter +down-stairs, with his side-whiskers and his velvet tread and his +confidential voice--why, when he came to take my order, I wanted to +pull his hair or do something to turn him into a human being." + +Mrs. Thayne smiled. Much as she loved Win, she did not always +understand him. Shut out from active sports, Win had early taken refuge +in the world of books and his quick perceptions were often those of a +mature mind. + +When his mother had gone into her room, Win settled himself by the west +window overlooking the bay where Castle Elizabeth rose on its rock in +the middle distance. Win looked at it approvingly, promising himself +later the fun of finding out its history and present use. Just now, he +would devote himself to getting the family journal up to date for +Father, on duty with the _Philadelphia_, somewhere near Constantinople. +It was to be on the same side of the Atlantic that the Thaynes had come +to England and a slight attack of bronchitis on Win's part had resulted +in this additional trip. Jersey was reported to possess a mild climate +as well as good schools where Roger and Frances might have new and +probably interesting experiences. Win himself was not equal to school +routine, but there would doubtless be some tutor available to give him +an hour or two every day, a pleasant and easy task for some young man, +for Win was always eager to study when health permitted. + +Deep in his heart was the ever-present regret that he could not enter +Annapolis nor follow in the footsteps of his father, but if an elder +brother had any influence, Roger was going into the naval service. At +present, Roger showed no inclination to such a future, and was but +mildly interested in his father's career, but Captain Thayne and Win +shared an unspoken hope that a change would come with the passing years. + +For some time after finishing his letter, Win sat with eyes on Castle +Elizabeth, idly speculating about the coming winter. This old-world +island, with its differing customs and ancient traditions seemed a +place where most interesting things might happen, a land of romance and +fairy gold, offering possibilities of strange adventure. Just because +Win was debarred from most boyish fun, his mind turned eagerly to deeds +of daring. Visions of pirates, smugglers, and buried hoards often +danced through his brain, and the least suggestion of any mystery was +enough to excite his keen interest. That hoary old castle on its island +proved a source of many romantic ideas to Win, who presently fell into +a day-dream. + +The sun set in crimson splendor behind the castle towers and Win's +reverie changed to genuine slumber from which he was roused by the +reappearance of Mrs. Thayne. + +"I'm sorry I waked you," she said. "I didn't notice that you were +asleep." + +"Why, I didn't know I was," said Win lazily. "I must have been dreaming +and yet I thought I was awake. It was such an odd dream about a young +man or rather a boy, in queer clothes ornamented with silver buttons +and wearing his hair in curls over his shoulders. I was following him +somewhere through a passage, very dark and narrow. Then suddenly we +were in a room with a big fireplace and books around the walls. It was +a beautiful old room but I never remember seeing a place like it. Some +other people came, all men, also in queer clothes and very quiet and +serious. On a table was food of some kind and this boy I had been +following began to eat but the others stood about, apparently +consulting over something. Then I woke. Wasn't it a crazy dream? Oh, +the reason we were in that passage was because something was lost. I +don't know what it was nor how I knew it was lost but we were trying to +find it." + +"That was odd. You must have read something that suggested it," Mrs. +Thayne began, just as Fran and Roger came into the room, bursting with +suppressed excitement. For a few moments they talked in a duet. + +"Mother, it's lovely over at St. Aubin's, ever so much nicer than +here," Fran began breathlessly, her brown eyes sparkling. "And such a +funny little train running along the esplanade!" + +"You couldn't believe there was such a beach," put in Roger. "Why, the +tide goes out forever, clear to the horizon! Fellows were playing +football down there, two games. How much does this tide rise, Win?" + +"This book I've been reading says forty feet," replied his brother. + +"And the houses!" Fran went on breathlessly, "all colors, cream and +brown and blue and pink." + +"Oh, draw it mild, Sis," interrupted Win. "I should admire a pink +house." + +"It's out there," said Frances, "and what's more, it's very pretty!" + +"That's right," corroborated Roger. "Wouldn't a pink house look +something fierce at home? But here it's swell and kind of--of +appropriate," he ended lamely. + +"And flowers, Mother," Frances took up the tale. "_Hedges_ of fuchsia, +real live tall hedges, not measly little potted plants. Geraniums as +tall as I am, and ever so many roses and violets. Oh, and we've found +some lodgings. You're to see them to-morrow." + +"Frances!" exclaimed her horrified mother. "You haven't been in strange +houses, inspecting rooms?" + +"Why, you told us to look for them, didn't you, Mother?" replied her +astonished and literal daughter. "Roger was with me. It was perfectly +all right." + +"I simply meant you to notice from the outside any attractive houses +that advertised lodgings," explained Mrs. Thayne. "Well--" she ended +helplessly, "I suppose there's no harm done." + +"Why, no," Frances agreed. "What could happen? Let me tell you about +them. We took the baby cars and got off at St. Aubin's because that +especial train didn't go any farther. It's lovely there, Mother, and +plenty of lodgings to let. We walked along and saw one house that +looked pleasant, so we went up and rang and a maid showed us into a +parlor. We knew right off we didn't want to come there, because the +place was so dark and stuffy and there were fourteen hundred family +photographs and knit woolen mats and such things around. I was going to +sit down but just as I got near the chair,--it was rather dark, you +see,--something said 'Hello!' and there was a horrid great parrot +sitting on the back of the chair. I jumped about a foot." + +"You screamed, too," said Roger. + +"I may have exclaimed," admitted Frances judicially. "It was not a +scream. If I had yelled, you would have known it. Well, a messy old +woman came who called me 'dear,' but when I said I didn't believe my +mother would care for the rooms, she got huffy and said she was +accustomed to rent her rooms to ladies, only she pronounced it _lydies_. + +"We left that place," went on Frances, paying no attention to the look +of silent endurance on her mother's face, "and walked some distance +without seeing anything we liked. But suddenly we came to a tiny street +going down to the sea. There were only six houses and one had a card in +the window. They faced the bay and just big rocks were on the other +side of the street. Now, listen." + +Frances went on dramatically. "The house with the card was the dearest +thing, all cream-color and green, with a pink rambler rose perfectly +enormous, growing 'way up to the eaves, and a rough roof of red tiles +and steep gables. The windows were that dinky kind that open outward +and had little bits of panes. Everything was clean as clean, the steps +and the curtains and the glass. While we were looking, the door opened +and a girl came out. She was about my age, Mother, but _so_ pretty, +with gray eyes and yellow hair and _such_ a complexion. I'd give +anything to look like her." + +Frances shook her head with disapproval over her own brown hair and +eyes. To be sure the one was curly and the others straightforward and +earnest, while her gipsy little face and figure were considered +attractive by most people and by those who loved her, very satisfactory +indeed. + +"Well, this girl came out and we sort of smiled at each other and I +asked if that card meant that there were rooms to let. I told her you +were seasick, and at the hotel, and my brother and I saw the card and +we were looking for lodgings and all the rest, you know. She said yes, +there were rooms and she'd call Sister. + +"Sister came and she was a love, tall and sweet and just beautiful, +only she looked sad and wore a black dress. The younger girl went away +but Sister showed us the rooms and they are just what we'd like, I'm +sure. There wasn't any messy wool stuff nor ugly vases,--I forgot to +mention that in the other place there were eight pair of vases on the +mantel, truly, for Roger counted them. These rooms were clean and +rather bare, with painted floors and washable rugs and fresh curtains +and flowers, just one vase in each room and a clear glass vase at that. +The beds had iron frames and good springs and mattresses, for I punched +them to see. Aren't you proud to think I knew enough to do that?" Fran +interrupted her story. + +"Two bedrooms had the furniture painted white and the rest had some old +mahogany," she went on. + +"How many rooms were there?" inquired Mrs. Thayne, attracted by Fran's +enthusiasm and interested by the pleasant picture she was describing. + +"On the first floor is the drawing-room, which will be at our +disposal," began Frances, evidently quoting "Sister." "It's pretty and +sweet, Mother dear, very simple with a little upright piano and quite a +number of books and a fireplace. Just behind is a room where we can +have our meals. We can use as many bedrooms as we like; there are five +and Sister said if we wished, one could be made into an +up-stairs-sitting-room. The bathroom was really up-to-date, and looking +_very_ clean." + +"And how much does Sister expect for all this?" inquired her mother. + +"Well," admitted Frances, "I asked and she smiled so sweetly and said +it depended upon how much service we required and whether we wanted to +do our own marketing and perhaps it would be better to discuss the +terms after you saw whether you liked the rooms. I told her we were +Americans and she said yes, she had thought so. I don't see why," +Frances ended reflectively. + +Win gave a chuckle. "Easy enough to guess," he remarked. "I imagine +English girls of fourteen don't go around on their own hook, engaging +lodgings for the family." + +"I am almost fifteen," said his sister severely. "And I understood that +Mother wanted me to look for rooms, so I did, but of course she will +make the final arrangements. I thanked Sister and said I'd try to bring +my mother in the morning, for I felt sure she would like the rooms. And +Sister said she'd be very glad to have young people in the house and +that if you wanted references, Mother, you could apply to some +clergyman,--I forget his name,--but I know it's all right. You'll think +so, too, the minute you see Sister. I fell in love with her. Oh, her +name is Pearce, Estelle Pearce. She gave me her card." + +Frances produced it. "You will come and see the rooms to-morrow, won't +you, Mother? Win can come too, for that tiny train is very comfortable +and the walk to the house is short. Rose Villa, Noirmont Terrace. Isn't +that a sweet name?" + +[Illustration: THE VILLAGE OF ST. AUBIN'S] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ST. HELIER'S + + +The moment she entered Rose Villa, Mrs. Thayne heartily agreed with +Frances as to its desirability. To Estelle's amazement, she proceeded +to engage all the rooms, offering to pay for the privilege of having +the whole house for her family. + +This was better fortune than Estelle had dreamed of and scarcely two +days passed before she realized that a kindly star was favoring her. +Frances and Edith became friends on the spot; Nurse, who might have +proved a problem, took an instant fancy to delicate Win and started on +a course of coddling that luckily amused Win quite as much as it +satisfied Nurse. Blunt, downright Roger appealed especially to Estelle, +who also found Mrs. Thayne charming. + +"Aren't we in luck, little sister?" she confided to Edith. "Even our +wildest expectations couldn't have pictured anything more pleasant than +this. If they only stop the winter! But where are you going now?" + +"On the sands with the others," said Edith happily. "Fran asked me. The +boys have gone ahead to the end of the terrace." + +Win was singing softly to himself as he stood looking down upon the +sandy beach that stretched for miles towards St. Helier's at the left, +and on the right, though showing more warm red granite rocks, to +Noirmont Point. "Britannia needs no bulwarks, no towers along the +steeps," he hummed just above his breath. + +"There's a tower right in front of you," commented Roger, between the +throwing of two stones. + +Win cast a glance at the deserted castle of St. Aubin's, a miniature +Castle Elizabeth on its isolated rock off shore, another at the +martello tower on the point. + +"I was talking to a man about those little towers," he remarked. "One +can be rented for a pound a year, and there are thirty-two of them +around the island. But they didn't amount to much when it came to +actual fighting. The rocks and tides are what makes Jersey safe. That's +what I meant by this place needing no bulwarks." + +"One of those martello towers would make a fine wireless station," +commented Roger. "Why did they build them if they aren't any use?" + +"They thought they were going to be," replied Win, looking to see +whether the girls were coming. "About two centuries ago there was a +battle down in the Mediterranean that was decided by the possession of +one of those little towers, so England built a good many. But they +weren't much use after all." + +"I never knew that before," said Edith, as she and Frances joined the +boys. + +"England wasn't the only nation that was taken in by them," Win went +on. "Italy has a number on her southern coast. For a long time people +supposed they were called martello towers from the man who built them, +but I found in a book that the name came from a vine that grew over +this one in Corsica. Before many moons pass I'm going to get into one +of them. Smugglers must have used them and there may be things left +behind." + +Frances cast a glance at the tower in question. At first inspection it +looked like a stony mushroom sprouting from the rocks. Some distance +above the base opened a rough entrance and a low parapet encircled the +top. To scramble over the exposed rocks to the base of this especial +tower appeared a hard climb, to say nothing of the difficulties of +ascending. The feat looked beyond Win's accomplishment but Frances said +nothing. To argue with Win about whether he could or ought to attempt +anything was never wise. Left to himself he would stop within the +bounds of prudence but resented solicitude from others. + +"Well, where are we going?" she asked. + +"Let's take the train into St. Helier's," suggested Win. "We've +scarcely seen the town." + +Edith looked doubtful. "I ought to ask Sister," she said. "Star thought +we were just going on the sands." + +"And so we are," replied Roger. "We're taking a train that runs on the +sands," he mimicked in a teasing, boyish way. "Why don't you call it a +beach?" + +"Because it _is_ sands," retorted Edith with a pretty flash of spirit +that Roger already delighted to arouse. "The tram-line is far beyond +the shingle." + +[Illustration: "FOR A LONG TIME PEOPLE SUPPOSED THEY WERE CALLED +MARTELLO TOWERS FROM THE MAN WHO BUILT THEM."] + +"Shingle!" gasped Roger, staring in that direction. "I don't see any." + +"The pebbles, cobbles, beyond the sands," explained Edith. + +"Oh, excuse _me_," chuckled Roger. "I thought they were plain stones. +Didn't see anything particularly wooden about them." + +Edith looked at him. A few days had made her feel very well acquainted +with these friendly young people, but Roger was often surprising. + +"Oh, cut it short, Roger," drawled Win. "Run back, will you, and tell +Mother that we want to go into town. She won't care and I don't believe +Miss Estelle will either, but we ought to mention it. Hustle, because I +think that train is coming." + +Roger obligingly bolted back, received a nod of possible comprehension +from a mother very much absorbed in an important letter, and arrived +just as the others boarded the steam tram, a funny affair with a kind +of balcony along one side where people who preferred the air could stay +instead of going inside. Edith and Frances exchanged smiles of +happiness. + +"I haven't been to St. Helier's often," Edith confided. "Just to market +once with Nurse, and once to choose curtains with Sister. We thought +the drapers' shops quite excellent." + +Fran's attention was held for an instant, but after all it seemed only +reasonable that draperies should be purchased at a draper's. + +"Isn't the beach lovely?" she confided. "It would be fun to walk back." + +"We might," said Edith. "Would Win care if we did? Or could he do it +too?" + +"He couldn't walk so far," said Fran, "but he won't mind if we want to. +Win is angelic about not stopping us from doing things he can't do +himself." + +"Has he always had to be so careful?" asked Edith. She and Frances sat +at a little distance from the boys. Roger was peering around into the +cab of the tiny engine; Win watched the water as it broke on the beach. + +"Always," said Frances. "He was just a tiny baby when they knew +something was wrong with his heart. It isn't painful and may never be +any worse. Only he must take great care not to get over-tired. Ever so +many doctors have seen him and they all say the same thing,--that if he +is prudent and never does too much, he may outlive us all. Just now in +London, he and Mother went to a specialist but all he told Win was that +he must cultivate the art of being lazy. Mother says the worst was when +he was too little to realize that he mustn't do things. Now, of course, +he understands and takes care of himself. It's hard on Win but Mother +says it's good for Roger and me. It does make Roger more thoughtful. He +says anything he likes to Win and pretends to tease him, but if you +notice, you'll see that he does every single thing Win wants and always +looks to see if he's all right. It helps me too, for I'm ashamed to +fuss over trifles when Win has so much to bear." + +The little tram was traveling at a moderate pace toward town, stopping +at several tiny stations where more and more people entered. + +"I can't get used to hearing people talk French," said Frances. "It +seems so odd when Jersey is a part of England." + +"The French spoken here isn't that of Paris," remarked her brother, +rising from his seat. "It's Norman French." + +"I know I can't understand it easily," confessed Edith, "and Sister has +always taken pains to teach me. I'm glad it isn't all my fault." + +The train came to a stand on the esplanade of St. Helier's. The four +stopped to look over the sea-wall, to the beach far below, across to +the long stone piers forming the artificial sea basin and up to Fort +Regent overhanging the town like a war-cloud. + +"That fort looks stuck on the cliff like a swallow's nest," commented +Roger. "Look, there's a snow-white sea-gull!" + +"There's another with a black tail," exclaimed Edith. "Oh, aren't they +beautiful!" + +"In the United States is a city that put up a monument to the +sea-gulls," said Win. "Salt Lake City, ever so far inland. A fearful +plague of grasshoppers ate everything green and turned the place into a +desert. They came the second summer, but something else came too. Over +the Rocky Mountains, away from the Pacific Ocean, flew a great flock of +gulls and ate the grasshoppers. Their coming seemed so like a miracle +that the city erected a beautiful monument to them." + +"Did they ever come again?" asked Edith, greatly impressed. + +"No," said Win. "Just that once." + +"Without doubt it was a miracle," said Edith so reverently that the +three looked at her. + +Roger gave a little snort, started to say something, looked again at +Edith's rapt face and changed his mind. "Boston ought to put up a +monument, too," he remarked at length. "Miracles happen every summer in +Boston. The city swelters with the mercury out of sight and then along +steps the east wind. In ten minutes, everybody puts on coats and stops +drinking ice-water. Some tidy miracle-worker, our east wind." + +"Especially in winter," said Win laughing. "I'm afraid a monument to +the east wind wouldn't be popular along in January. Shall we come on? +Let's go up this street. I've a map, but things look rather crooked, so +we'd better keep together." + +The quartette started, Roger and Win leading the way. St. Helier's +streets are indeed crooked, and paved with cobble stones of alarming +size and sonorous qualities. Numerous men and boys tramped along in +wooden sabots which made a most unearthly clatter. Even little girls +wore them, though otherwise their dress was not unusual. Outside one +shop hung many of the clumsy foot-gear, the price explaining their +evident popularity. + +Signs over shops were as often French as English and sometimes both. At +one corner, the party met a man ringing a bell and uttering a +proclamation in French. At the next corner he stopped to announce it in +English and the interested boys found that he was advertising a public +auction. No one else seemed in the least attentive to his remarks. + +Fifteen minutes' loitering through narrow, ill-paved streets, crowded +with hurrying people and a great number of dogs, brought the four to an +open square of irregular shape with a gilded statue at one end. Its +curious draperies caught Win's observant eye and he walked around it +thoughtfully. + +"What a very queer costume!" he remarked as he completed his circuit. +"What is it doing on a statue of an English king?" + +Win spoke aloud, not noticing that the others were beyond hearing, but +his inquiry was answered by a gentleman who chanced to be passing. + +"It is a Roman statue," he volunteered, "rescued from a shipwreck. The +thrifty Jerseymen considered it too good to be wasted, so they gilded +it and placed it here in the Royal Square in honor of George the +Second." + +Win smiled as he turned to the speaker, a tall, thin Englishman in +riding dress. His bearing suggested a military training and a second +glance showed an empty coat-sleeve. + +"This group of buildings may interest you," the speaker added. "They +contain the Court House, Parliament rooms and a small public library." + +Touching his riding-crop to his hat in response to Win's thanks, he +turned into a side street where a young man mounted on a handsome horse +sat holding the bridle of another. With interest Win watched them ride +away. Even from a distance, something about the younger man struck a +chord of recollection in Win's usually reliable memory. He was almost +certain that somewhere, at some time, they had met. Yet he could not +think of any American acquaintance of that age who would be at all +likely to be riding about the island of Jersey, his companion not only +an Englishman, but obviously an ex-army officer. + +Still, the impression of familiarity was strong and Win was yet +wondering about it as he slowly climbed the stairs leading to the +public library. + +Protesting somewhat, the others followed to look at a rather uninviting +room, appealing to them far less than to Win, already on the trail for +local history. The attendant proved obliging and after supplying Win +with several books brought out a shabby brown volume. + +"We have one of your writers on our shelves," he remarked with a smile, +offering the book to Frances. + +"Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes," she read aloud. "Haven't you any +other American authors?" she demanded in amazement. "And how did you +know I was an American?" + +The librarian shook his head. "I have often thought we should have more +American books," he replied, "but they are so extremely dear as +compared with those published on this side of the Atlantic that we have +not afforded them. How did I know your nationality? By the way you +speak." + +Frances looked disgusted. She said little more, but soon persuaded the +reluctant Win to postpone his investigations and come down again into +the Royal Square. + +"Now, Sis, what's the matter with you?" Win inquired on seeing her +flushed face. + +"Oh, you didn't hear that man say he knew I was an American by the way +I talked," sniffed Frances indignantly. + +"Anybody would think you didn't want to be one," commented Roger +bluntly. + +"I wouldn't be anything else," retorted Frances, "only I don't care to +have fun poked at the way I talk." + +Win's glance traveled from his sister's annoyed face to Edith's, which +wore a look of perplexity. + +"We're polite," he remarked. "Here's Edith, who wouldn't be anything +but English." + +"No," said Edith gravely. "One always feels that way about one's +country. But I understand what Frances means. And I see why people know +you are not English. It isn't so much your pronunciation, but you put +words in odd places in the sentence and some of your expressions are +most unusual," she ended apologetically. "I like them. It is +interesting to hear things called by new names. Just now Fran said +'poke fun' when she meant 'criticise,' and Roger says a thing is 'fine +and dandy' when I should call it 'top-hole.' That is the difference, is +it not?" + +The others laughed and Edith's attempt to bridge a dangerous situation +ended successfully. Presently their whereabouts absorbed their +attention for Win had left the map behind him on the library table. + +For a time they wandered at random, following one narrow street after +another, seeing interesting shop windows, but presently discovered that +they did not know where they were. + +"The esplanade must lie at our left," said Win. "If we keep turning in +that direction we shall surely strike it." + +"Look at that candy," exclaimed Roger, attaching himself to a +confectioner's window. "Here's a chance to acquire some choice English. +What is black-jack, Edith? Looks like liquorice. Bismarck marble, +Gladstone rock, toffy,--what's toffy?" + +"It is sweets made of treacle instead of sugar," explained Edith, +turning surprised eyes upon him. + +"Sweets! treacle!" exclaimed Roger after a petrified instant. "Bring me +a fan! Give me air!" + +"Why," said Frances, a sudden light dawning on her. "Treacle! I never +knew before what Alice in Wonderland meant by her treacle well. It's +molasses, Edith. There are some chocolate peppermints!" + +Without stopping for further speech Frances dashed into the shop. +Presently she emerged, carrying a white paper bag, or "sack" as Edith +designated it, and with an odd expression of face. + +"Joke?" inquired Win. "What did you ask for?" he demanded, accepting a +piece of candy. + +"I got what I wanted," said Fran evasively. "It's always possible to +walk behind a counter and help yourself if you don't know the names of +things." + +Later she drew Edith aside. "What do you call these?" she asked +confidentially. + +"Peppermint chocolate drops," replied Edith. "What else could they be?" + +Turning constantly to the left did not bring them to the sea. Instead +they walked a long distance only to find themselves in a poorer part of +the town, with increasing crowds of children inclined to follow. Their +appearance seemed a source of interest to older people as well and +presently Win was induced to inquire his way to the boulevard. + +To his surprise the reply came in French, but between his own knowledge +and that of Edith, they made out that they were traveling inland +instead of toward the shore. This sounded impossible unless they had +completely lost all sense of direction. + +But a second inquiry brought the same answer, so they followed the +offered advice, coming at last to the bay of St. Aubin's more than a +mile below St. Helier's, fortunately near one of the tram +stopping-places. Edith was good for a walk home and Roger would have +gone also if challenged, but both Win and Frances were tired so Edith +did not propose to return by the beach. Indeed, the tide was now so +high that they would have been forced to go part of the way by the road. + +"School for us to-morrow," said Frances dismally. "But I think we +should plan to do something very interesting every holiday all winter." + +"We will take a tea-basket and lunch out of doors," replied Edith +happily. "There are beautiful spots to visit in Jersey." + +Win looked up suddenly. "Fran," he asked, "did you notice those +gentlemen who rode out of the square while we were looking at the +statue? Had you ever seen the younger one before?" + +Fran shook her head. "I noticed only the one who spoke to you," she +replied. "I was looking at their horses." + +"All the same," mused Win thoughtfully, "I've seen that young fellow +before and it must have been in the United States, for I know I should +remember encountering him over here." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BEACH DOG + + +"You would certainly smile if you could see the school I am going to," +Frances wrote to her chum, Marjorie Benton, "but when I think of you +and the other girls back at the dear old Boston Latin, I feel more like +crying. + +"First I must tell you about Edith Pearce, the girl in the house where +we are staying. She has long flaxen hair which hangs over her shoulders +in the most childish way, though she's our age. Her eyes are gray with +dark lashes and when she looks at you they are like surprised stars. +And she has the most beautiful complexion in the world, just pink and +white. She is lovely to look at and I feel like a tanned, homely gipsy +beside her. She's sweet too, but very easily shocked and I'm afraid +she's not only good but pious. She can never take your place so don't +worry, only, as I have to be here, I might as well have some fun with +her. + +"I go to school with Edith and it is as unlike the Latin School as the +North Pole and Boston Common. There are about thirty boarders, some of +them little bits of things--Edith calls them 'tinies'--who have been +sent home from India where their parents couldn't keep them any longer. +About fifty day-scholars attend, from kindergarten age up. + +"I'm the only American and I can tell you I was well stared at. At +first the girls couldn't believe it, insisted that I must be Scotch or +at least Canadian, so now I wear a little United States flag pin all +the time. Gracious, but things are different, especially clothes! Mine +are the prettiest in school, if I do say it, and Edith thinks so too. +She says my 'frocks' are 'chic.' + +"Most of the girls, even the big ones almost eighteen, wear their hair +hanging and have _such_ dresses,--frocks, I mean. They fit like meal +bags, and being combinations of many colors, look perfectly dreadful. +And yet the girls are very nice, some of them from really important +families. + +"To cap the climax, most of them sport ugly black mohair aprons which +they call 'alpaca pinnies.' Marjorie, can you imagine what they look +like? I told Mother if she wanted me to be English to the extent of +wearing a pinafore, I should lie down and die and I'm thankful to say +that she simply grinned. But many of the girls have wonderful yellow or +red-gold hair and stunning peachy complexions, so they aren't such +frights as you'd think. + +"Instead of going around from one class to another as in any sensible +school, the girls stay in one room and teacher after teacher,--I mean +mistress, comes to them. I get so everlastingly tired sitting still. +Never before did I realize what a rest it was to walk from class to +class and get a chat on the way. The only exceptions to this rule are +preparation, when we sit at desks under the eye of a monitress, and +gymnasium work. + +"Marjorie, when I first beheld that gymnasium teacher, I nearly +fainted. Her molasses-colored hair was frizzed hard in front and pinned +in a round bun at the back of her head. She had on tight-fitting knee +trousers, not bloomers, believe me. Over these she wore a white sweater +of a very fancy weave. Over this was a weird tunic of alpaca with two +box-plaits in front and three in back. This fell an inch or so below +her knees, and every time she bent over or stretched up, those queer +tight trousers showed. Her shoes were ordinary ones with heels. The +girls wear either their usual frocks or an arrangement like this. I can +tell you my pretty brown gym suit was the event of the day when I +appeared in it. + +"Everybody wears slippers at school, puts them on when she first comes +and no wonder, because the English shoes are the worst-looking and +clumsiest things ever invented by man. Edith's feet look twice as big +in her boots as in slippers. You'd think by their appearance that +English feet were a different shape from ours, but they are not; it is +only the shoes. They make them so thick and stout that they last for +years. Edith was plainly shocked when I told her I had a new pair every +few months. She thinks mine suitable only for the house. Well, I will +admit that English girls can out-walk me. + +"The other mistresses aren't so queer as the gym teacher but look more +like other people except that they wear too much jewelry. Everybody +wears a great deal and you know what we think at home of ladies who +appear on the street with rings and chains and lockets. Edith and her +sister Estelle don't dress so, but Mother says they are quite +exceptional. + +"As for lessons, we have to study. They expect a lot of grammar and +parsing, and dates in history and solid facts in geography and all +that. Mother approves; she thinks the English system much less faddy +than at home. We have Bible instruction in regular lessons. I'll admit +that these English girls know more than I do about things in books, but +they haven't any idea what's going on in the present world. They didn't +know much about the Panama canal and the tolls. Win howled when I said +I explained it to them and vowed he'd give a dollar to have heard me. +And several didn't know who was president of the United States. Imagine +that, when we're the most important republic in the world! I knew their +old king. + +"We begin school at half-past eight and have prayers and a Bible +exercise. Different classes follow until eleven when a gong rings and +everybody rushes into the garden, a lovely place with box-edged beds +and a sun dial and gravel walks. There are myrtles and geraniums, great +big bushes of them, and japonicas and heavenly wall-flowers and _trees_ +of lemon verbena and fuchsias up to the eaves. This is solid truth, and +in November, too. + +"In the garden we find a table with jugs of milk,--notice my English, +please--and biscuit, that is, crackers, and we gobble and faith, we +have reason! Studying so hard makes one famished. Then recreation +follows for half an hour and we play ball or tennis. Some of the girls +are splendid players. School again until two, when we day-scholars +leave. + +"Three afternoons a week, we have to go back for gym work and English +composition, which is beastly. On Wednesday there is no school. + +"Do you want to know what I've learned in one week of school in Jersey? + +"Well, I can speak three sentences in French. I'll write you in French +next time. + +"I know that Amos and Hosea and Isaiah were all prophets and said that +Israel was a very bad place. + +"I know that Paleolithic man was probably the first inhabitant of Great +Britain. + +"I know how few people like to join mission study classes. + +"And I know that I love you." + +Fran finished her letter, directed and sealed the envelope, affixed a +stamp, sniffing slightly at the head of King George instead of George +Washington, and ran down-stairs. + +"Do you know where Edith is?" she asked of Nurse. + +"She is out in front, Miss Frances," replied Nurse. "Are you going for +a walk?" + +"Just to the beach. We'll be back for tea." + +Edith stood at the gate and the two ran down to the shore. The tide, +half-way out, left bare a tremendous expanse of wet sand, iridescent +under the sun's rays. The water showed wonderful shades of blue, green +and turquoise, and in the edge of the retreating waves walked hundreds +of gulls, searching for food. + +The girls started up the beach toward St. Helier's, chatting happily as +they watched the water and the birds. Little sandpipers appeared and +some huge gray cormorants. + +Presently a handsome collie ran up to them, dropped a stone before +Frances and stood looking at her, his head cocked on one side, all but +speaking. + +"You darling," said Frances, picking up the pebble. "Does he want to be +played with? Well, he shall." + +She threw the stone down the beach and the collie shot after it at full +speed, his beautiful tawny coat shining in the sunlight. + +"Twice before," said Edith, "when I've been on the sands, he has begged +me to throw stones for him to chase. He's a thorough-bred. Such fine +markings! He looks like one of the Westmoreland sheep dogs. You've +heard of them, haven't you? They are so intelligent about taking care +of sheep and they understand everything their masters want. We saw one +once that separated and brought to his master three sheep out of a big +flock and the man didn't say one word, only motioned to him. He wants +you to throw it again." + +"I can't throw stones for you all night," said Fran at last. "You take +a turn, Edith." + +Edith threw a pebble picked up at random. The collie raced for it and +after a sniff, returned without it. + +"He wants his own stone and no other," laughed Frances. "See, he's +hunting all about. There, he's found it!" + +For a good mile down the beach the collie accompanied them, till both +were tired of play. Convinced that they would throw his stone no +longer, the dog reluctantly left them. Looking back, they saw him +accosting a young man, who promptly yielded to the mute coaxing. + +"I wonder whose dog he is," said Edith. "He didn't seem to belong to +any one we passed. I fancy he's here on his own." + +"We really ought to go over to Castle Elizabeth soon," observed +Frances. "Doesn't it look like a huge monster stranded out there in the +harbor?" + +"Sister is afraid of the tides," replied Edith. "A soldier was drowned +there the other day, trying to cross the causeway after the tide had +turned. Look, Fran, I believe that must be his funeral up on the road +now. It is a military one at any rate." + +Frances looked with interest. First marched a guard of soldiers, two by +two, then a band with muffled drums, playing the Dead March. After the +band came a gun-carriage drawn by four horses and bearing the coffin, +over which was draped the English flag. Several barouches followed with +officers in uniform, and then the rest of the regiment, walking very +slowly, their guns reversed. + +As the procession approached, every man on the route uncovered and did +not replace his hat until it had passed, a mark of respect which struck +Frances forcibly. "They have better manners than we have," she +acknowledged half to herself. + +Edith looked surprised. "Men always uncover on meeting a funeral," she +remarked. "This was a private, but if he had been an officer, his +helmet and sword would be on the flag, and directly behind the +gun-carriage, his orderly would lead his riderless horse. A military +wedding is so pretty, Frances. I saw one once in Bath Abbey. The +officers were all in full uniform and after the ceremony they formed in +the aisle, two lines going way down out of the church and at a signal, +drew their swords and crossed them with a clash above their heads and +the bride and groom came down this path through the glittering swords. +I was just a tiny then, but I decided I'd marry a soldier so I could +have the arch of swords." + +"It must have been very pretty," Frances agreed. "Why, what are those? +See, like immense horseshoes in the water." + +"The bathing pools," explained Edith. "They show only when the tide is +very low. They keep back water for bathing." + +"And a good job, too, when you have a tide that goes out of sight," +commented Frances approvingly, as she looked at the two huge masonry +walls near St. Helier's, set in the expanse of wet sand. "Look at the +boys sailing boats." + +"Sometimes there are real races with little model yachts," said Edith. +"There's a club of the young officers and some of the townspeople and +they have the prettiest little miniature boats with keels about a metre +long, rigged exactly like real racing yachts. It's great sport to see +them. But ought we not to go back?" + +The girls turned for they were already far from home. To their surprise +they were presently greeted again by the collie who tore up to hail +them rapturously. + +"Still chewing your stone?" Frances inquired. "Come along. I suppose +we'll have to take you part way back." + +The collie flew for the pebble as though for the first time of the +afternoon. Before they had gone more than a quarter of a mile, a pretty +young lady came up. + +"I'm afraid my bad Tylo has been bothering you," she said +apologetically. "He is forever coming on the sands and badgering people +into playing with him." + +"Oh, we liked to play," said Frances, smiling. "I think he's a brick. +What did you call him?" + +"Tylo," replied the young lady. "After the dog in the 'Blue Bird,' you +know." + +Edith also smiled. Their new acquaintance was looking from one to +another, a charming and rather mischievous expression lighting a sweet +face. + +"You're a little sister compatriot," she said to Edith; "but I fancy +this little lady comes from across the ocean." + +"Yes, I do," said Frances, "but how did you know?" + +The young lady laughed merrily. "Oh, I've knocked about a good bit. And +I happen to have known one American boy very well. Indeed, we really +grew up together in Italy and England. 'Brick' is rather an American +word, isn't it? I've surely heard my friend use it. Americans seldom +find their way to Jersey. Are you stopping long?" + +"Perhaps all winter," replied Frances. + +"There are many delightful excursions to make in the island," said the +young lady. "Come along, Tylo. We must go home to tea. Oh," she added +to the girls, "when you go on picnics, don't forget to look for caves." + +With another smile and a charming little nod, she left them. + +"I wonder who she is," said Frances, frankly looking after her. The +erect lithe figure was crowned by a finely poised head and a wealth of +beautiful fair hair, prettily arranged. Something in her face suggested +possibilities of good comradeship, and her dress, while simplicity +itself, betrayed a French origin. + +"She looks nice enough and ladylike enough to be an American," thought +Frances approvingly and with a sudden stab of homesickness. + +"I wish she'd told us her name," she went on aloud, "and who the +American boy was. Perhaps we might know him." + +"He can scarcely be a boy now if they grew up together," observed +Edith. "Wasn't she sweet? I hope we'll see her again." + +"And what did she mean by caves?" Frances continued, pursuing her train +of thought. "That sounded very interesting and mysterious." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MONT ORGUEIL + + +To find a tutor for the boys proved less easy than Mrs. Thayne +anticipated. There seemed a dearth of available young men in Jersey and +she had about decided to send Roger to the best school and let Win work +as he chose by himself, when Mr. Angus heard of a young Scotchman, +already acting as secretary to a gentleman in St. Helier's and who +could give the boys his afternoons. + +Such an arrangement was not ideal, but Win took an instant liking to +the tall raw-boned person, who announced himself in a delightful manner +as "Weelyum Feesher." + +Roger promptly dubbed him Bill Fish and refused to speak of him by any +other term, causing his mother to live in terror lest Mr. Fisher should +in some way learn of the disrespectful abbreviation. Roger was not at +all enthusiastic about Bill Fish but liked still less the two schools +he visited. To accept the tutor seemed the lesser of two evils. + +The chief drawback proved that the boys were occupied at just the time +when the girls were free, with the exception of Wednesday, a holiday +for all. + +The result was that Edith and Frances were thrown much together. +Frances found it fortunate that she had a companion of her own age, for +the island ladies soon called upon Mrs. Thayne and drew her into +numerous social engagements. The little community had a strong army and +navy tinge and naturally welcomed Mrs. Thayne. She would have taken far +less part in the various festivities had she been leaving her daughter +alone, but the two girls proved so congenial and Mrs. Thayne was so +well satisfied with Edith as a companion for Frances that she felt free +to indulge her own social instincts and enjoy the pleasant circle so +invitingly opened. + +Whenever they went out, the girls kept a close watch for the "collie +lady" and the "beach dog." Twice Tylo came to hail them on the sands, +once apparently entirely alone. The other time he merely greeted them +and bounded away to rejoin two riders on the road. One was his lady, +her companion a slender young man of distinctly foreign aspect, dark +and distinguished-looking. Their horses were walking slowly, the riders +engaged in deep conversation and the beach dog's mistress did not see +the eager faces of the girls. + +They talked a good deal about her, wondering who she was, where she +lived and whether they would ever know her. After seeing her on +horseback, they fell more and more under the spell of her charm and +began to picture her the heroine of all sorts of stories. + +Day-dreams and romantic stories however, had but a small place in a +world so busily filled with lessons of various kinds. One Tuesday +evening, Frances was openly groaning over the need of writing an essay +upon Julius Caesar. + +"Wouldn't you like him better if you saw something he did?" inquired +Win, hearing her lamentations. "There's a castle in Jersey, part of +which he built." + +Fran's eyes opened incredulously and Roger whistled. "Is that one of +Bill Fish's yarns?" he demanded. + +"Ante-dates him," replied Win. "It's Mont Orgueil, over the other side +of the island. Let's have a picnic there to-morrow, take our lunch and +stay all day. Mother, you must come. Don't say you've promised to make +calls." + +"I can go perfectly well," said Mrs. Thayne. "Only there is Roger's +appointment with the dentist in the afternoon. He'll have to keep that, +but there will be plenty of time for the picnic if we start early." + +"Think of having an outdoor picnic in December," exclaimed Frances. +"We'll take Edith, of course." + +"Of course," assented her mother. "And Estelle, if she will go. I wish +she would. She shuts herself up so closely and seems to shrink from +seeing people, but perhaps she will go to Orgueil just with us." + +Even Edith could not persuade her sister to join the party though +Estelle was touched by their regret, evidently genuine. + +"If you only would, Star," begged Edith. "You would enjoy it. You don't +know how funny and nice they are to go with." + +"I couldn't, little sister," said Estelle gently. "You go and tell me +about it afterwards." + +Edith was not satisfied but all persuasion proved useless. She had a +vague idea that Star was worried. Just why, Edith did not see, since +the plan of letting lodgings had come out so pleasantly. Everything was +going smoothly at present; why should Star borrow trouble from the +future? + +Mont Orgueil is reached by a miniature railway leading from St. +Helier's to the fishing village of Gorey. By this time the young people +were all well accustomed to the absurd little narrow gauge tramways +with their leisurely trains. But if the train into St. Helier's +crawled, the one to Gorey snailed, to quote Roger. Time was ample to +note the pretty stuccoed houses, pink, cream or brown, with gardens and +climbing vines that even in December made them spots of beauty. They +passed under the frowning cliffs of Fort Regent and saw several lovely +turquoise-blue bays with shining sandy beaches. Farther on farms +succeeded the villas, stone farmhouses with tiled or thatched roofs, +some with orange or other fruit trees trained against their southern +walls. Suddenly Frances rose to her feet. + +"What on earth are those?" she demanded. "Just look at those cabbages +on top of canes." + +The others looked and saw something answering exactly to Fran's graphic +description. + +"Oh, yes" said Mrs. Thayne, "those are the cow cabbages of Jersey. They +are common in the interior of the island. It's a peculiar kind of +cabbage growing five or six feet high. The farmers pick the leaves on +the stalk and leave just the head on top. These stalks are made into +the canes we have seen in shops." + +"I saw them," said Win, "but I didn't realize what they were. Look, +there's a Jersey cow among the cabbages." + +"The Jersey cattle are so pretty," said Frances admiringly. + +"They are very valuable," said Edith. "The farmers coddle them like +children." + +Gorey proved a picturesque village with many schooners and boats of +different kinds drawn up on the beach and in every direction fish nets +drying. Above and behind towered the ruined castle of Orgueil, rising +more than three hundred feet sheer from the sea. + +Mrs. Thayne sent Roger to find and engage a donkey which Win mounted +without protest, after one glance at the climb before him, though he +insisted on swinging the boxes of luncheon before him on the little +animal's neck. Its owner was dismissed, Roger agreeing to pull the +beast up the hill. + +Mont Orgueil forms the crest of a lofty conical rock and looks down +like a grim giant upon the blue waters that stretch away to the coast +of France. Tier after tier the fortifications mount the cone, crowned +at the apex by a flagstaff. + +At the castle entrance, gained after a steady climb, a small boy +appeared, sent by the castle keeper to act as guide. He tied the donkey +to an iron post and led the way into the interior. + +"This is the oldest part," he began shyly. "They do say this tower was +built by Julius Caesar." + +"Gracious, that's some story!" whistled Roger, looking with all his +might. + +"I believe it is true," said Mrs. Thayne. "Win, you were reading about +the castle before we started." + +"Yes," said Win. "That's straight about Caesar. That's why I wanted +Fran to see it. And most of the place was built a thousand years ago. +Is it ever used now!" + +[Illustration: ABOVE AND BEHIND TOWERED THE RUINED CASTLE OF ORGUEIL] + +"In summer the signal service is quartered here," replied the boy. +"This is the well, ninety feet deep." + +As he spoke, he dropped a pebble over a low parapet. Some seconds later +came a hollow splash. + +The guide showed them a cell where condemned prisoners were once kept, +a ruined chapel with a very old crypt, and above the chapel a room +reached by winding stairs. The girls entered with a simultaneous shriek +of delight. + +"What a love of a room!" said Edith. + +"Mother, isn't this too sweet for words?" demanded Frances. + +"This is the Cupola room," explained their guide. "Charles the Second +stopped here during his exile from England." + +"Prince Charles!" exclaimed Win, his imagination fired at once. "Oh, I +read that in the guide book, but this--his room--" + +Win's voice trailed into silence. To read a fact in a book was +different from standing under the very roof that had once sheltered +bonnie Prince Charlie. He looked about him, trying to picture to +himself those far past days. + +The ceiling rose in a huge dome and one immense window framed a +wonderful view. From a little sally-port leading to a platform one +could look sheer down to the rocks or across fourteen miles of tossing +water to beautiful France. By using a little imagination the girls +agreed that they could detect the spire of the cathedral of Coutances +easily visible in clear weather. + +"In the French revolution the governor of Jersey signalled to the army +of the Vendee by means of a flagpole held in place by chains," said +Mrs. Thayne. + +"Yes," said their small guide. "The chains are still on the wall but +the pole is new. The naval men use it in summer." + +"Do they sleep here?" asked Win. + +"Down in the chapel, sir." + +"I'd stay here," said Win. "Say, how much would you rent this room for?" + +"Three and six a week, sir, with the platform thrown in," replied their +small guide so gravely that they all looked to see whether he was +really in earnest. + +"That's cheap enough, considering the view," said Mrs. Thayne, smiling. + +Fascinated by the picturesque old castle, Win wandered off by himself, +deciphering the inscriptions placed on the many doors. There is no +guard in the guard-room, no stores are kept in the storeroom, and the +chapel never hears a sermon save those preached by its own stones to +those who have ears to hear. But the sunlight falling on the green +platforms, the pigeons cooing on the walls, the blue sea stretching to +the shining cliffs of France, the glamour of old-world romance struck +impressionable Win. Dreamily he recalled that whether Caesar built the +tower or not, no reasonable doubt exists that Orgueil was occupied if +not built by the mighty Prince Rollo, grandfather of William the +Conqueror. Over the main entrance to the castle-keep his coat of arms +survives the centuries. For centuries to come, Orgueil will remain +gathering more legendary charm as the slow years pass. + +Win shook off the feeling of awe gently creeping over him and joined +the others, investigating a tiny cell where Prynne the Puritan leader +was confined for three years. Roger was immensely impressed by the +ruins of a secret staircase, connecting a dungeon where the criminals +were executed, with the keep and sally-port. + +"There's a many secret stairs in the old Jersey houses," volunteered +their guide, noticing his interest. + +"Where can we see them?" demanded Roger at once, but this their small +informer could not tell. + +"Gentry lives in those houses," he volunteered. "They'se not open to +trippers." + +"To what?" demanded Roger. + +"Visitors, strangers like," explained the boy. + +"I like that," said Roger, flushing indignantly. + +"Hush, Roger," interposed his mother. "No offense was meant. What are +these chains? They seem very old." + +"They were used long time ago to hang criminals. They do say they put +'em there alive and left 'em to the corbies." + +"Corbies? Oh, crows," interpreted Win. "Nice custom! Mother, look at +the heaps of rocks exposed by the tide." + +"There's more this side," said their guide, turning a corner of the +rampart with Roger close at his heels. The rest were about to follow +when suddenly Mrs. Thayne gave an exclamation. + +"Listen!" she said. "That must be a skylark." + +From somewhere in the blue above fell a rain of happy music, so liquid +and so sweet that it scarcely seemed to come from any earthly bird. + +"Where is it?" asked Frances excitedly, peering into the air and +dropping on her knees the better to look up. Mrs. Thayne did the same +and both stared into the sky, trying to detect the tiny spot of +feathered joy, the source of all this melody. Presently Edith and Win +joined them. + +Back around the corner came Roger and the guide, both stopping short at +sight of the rest of the party down on their knees on the daisy-starred +turf. + +"Whatever are they doing?" ejaculated the boy. + +"Oh, it's a skylark!" exclaimed Frances enthusiastically. "Come and +see." + +Mouth open in amazement, their small guide stood rooted to the spot. "A +skylark!" he muttered, staring at the four in their attitude of +devotion. "Lookin' at a skylark!" he repeated as though unable to +credit the testimony of his own eyes. + +Win burst out laughing and rose to his feet. "Take this," he said, +producing a shilling. "Thank you for showing us about. We'll stay a +while longer and eat lunch here." + +The boy pocketed the coin and withdrew, his face still a picture of +incredulous astonishment over the actions of this singular and +apparently insane group of excursionists. At last sight, he was still +slowly shaking his head and murmuring, "Lookin' at a skylark!" + +[Illustration: "LOOK, THERE IS A JERSEY COW AMONG THE CABBAGES."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A RACE WITH THE TIDE + + +After luncheon, time passed too quickly. Before it seemed possible, +Mrs. Thayne declared the hour had come for Roger to keep his +appointment with the dentist in St. Helier's. + +"Let him go alone, Mother," said Win. "He's no kid. We want you to stay +with us." + +"Of course he could go alone," agreed Mrs. Thayne, "but I ought to +consult the dentist myself and do an errand or two. There's no reason +why you and the girls should cut short your stay. This is a lovely +place to spend the afternoon and the day too perfect to hurry home. +Just be back for dinner." + +"Let Roger return the donkey," suggested Win. "I sha'n't need him going +down hill and very likely we shall strike across beyond the village." + +Mrs. Thayne departed, Roger clattering ahead on the donkey, and the +three were left in the meadow by the castle entrance, a meadow starred +with most fascinating pink-tipped English daisies. + +"Just see the dears and then think that it's really winter," sighed +Frances. "I can't believe that at home everybody is wearing furs and +the ground is frozen. It doesn't seem possible that Christmas is so +near." + +Win was lying flat on the close-cropped turf, his attitude indicating +that he contemplated a nap. After a glance at his prostrate figure, the +girls wandered to a little distance, seeking the pinkest daisies. +Presently they were surprised by the sudden arrival of a beautiful +collie, who poked a cold nose into Edith's face. + +"O-oh!" she exclaimed. "Go to Frances. She's the one who likes dogs. I +prefer nice soft little pussy-cats." + +"It's the beach dog," said Frances. "Do you suppose his lady is with +him?" + +Edith looked eagerly about. The elevated castle meadow commanded a +rather extended view but in no direction was any one visible. + +"I don't see her anywhere. Come here, Tylo. Oh, Fran, let's read the +plate on his collar. Perhaps it will have her name." + +Hot and panting from a run, Tylo willingly lay down by the girls and +made not the least objection to having his collar examined. The +unusually long plate bore considerable lettering. + +"Laurel Manor, St. Brelade's," read Frances in excitement. "Here's some +French, Edith." + +"It's Italian, Fran. 'Palazzo Grassi, Via Ludovisi, Roma.' Just two +addresses and no name!" Edith ended in disappointment. + +"Oh, but wait!" exclaimed Frances. The light struck the plate at such +an angle as to make visible to her some additional lettering, not +engraved but apparently scratched with a knife. Though small, the words +were extremely neat and legible and the girls deciphered them eagerly. + +"Connie--her dog. + +"Max--his mark." + +"Her name must be Connie!" Edith declared, turning excited eyes upon +her companion. "Speak, Tylo! Is your mistress called Constance?" + +Tylo vouchsafed no answer, only pricked his ears, hearing something +inaudible to the girls. The next instant came a distinct though faint +whistle. + +The beach dog departed at once, tearing down over the meadow in a +graceful curve to leap a hedge into a shady lane beyond. + +"Well, we've learned a little," sighed Frances. "His mistress is called +Connie and she lives at Laurel Manor. The rest ought to be easy. Let's +go down to the shore. I want to explore that point of rocks." + +"But Win's asleep," said Edith hesitatingly. "Ought we to leave him?" + +"It's all right," said Frances. "He couldn't scramble on the rocks and +it's splendid for him to sleep in this fine air. I'll leave a note +telling him where to look for us." + +Edith supplied a blunt pencil and Fran wrote her message on a bit of +paper torn from the luncheon box, pinning it carefully to her brother's +coat where he could not fail to see it. Then they ran down to the cove +beyond Orgueil. + +The water, far on the horizon, showed only as a gleaming line of light, +leaving bare heaps and piles of rocks, inextricably turned on end in +some prehistoric upheaval. In places the rocks were continuous, in +others separated by spaces of wet sand. + +Over the rocks grew masses of vari-colored seaweed, brown, yellow, +blue-green, even pink. Footing proved both slippery and treacherous, +but offered the fascination of exploring an unknown region. As they +walked farther out, curious shell-fish were clinging to the stone. + +"These are ormers and limpets," said Edith. "I saw them the day Nurse +and I went to market. What a huge winkle!" + +Fran stared at this new specimen. "Is that a winkle?" she demanded in +disgust. "I call it a plain snail. Why, all my life, I've read about +winkles and thought I'd like to eat some but I'd die before I'd eat a +snail. Oh! Oh! Oh!" + +Edith turned so quickly that she almost fell on the slippery weed. +Frances was fairly dancing with excitement, wholly however of pleasure. + +In the hollowed rock lay a pool of clear sea water, at first sight +filled with bright-hued flowers, pink, purple, orange. The next glance +showed them to be living organisms. + +"Sea-anemones!" breathed Edith softly. "I never saw anything so +beautiful." + +The anemones were pulpy brown bodies varying in size from a pea to a +tomato. From their anchorage on the rock they stretched waving +tentacles of soft iridescent hues, transforming the little pool into a +marine fairyland. Between the anemones a bright yellow lichen-like +growth almost covered the warm red granite, and tiny yellow, rose, and +black and white striped snails were set like jewels on this background. +Two or three sharp limpet shells waved feathery seaweed fans. + +A long time passed and the girls still lingered. They discovered that +most of the pools boasted anemones, some not unlike an ordinary land +daisy with light-colored tentacles stretching ray-shaped from a yellow +centre. When touched with an empty shell, the anemone would close over +it, folding both the shell and itself into a tight brown ball, then +open slowly and drop the shell. The only food the girls had with them +was some sweet chocolate, so they experimented with this, watching the +lovely living sea-flowers seize upon fragments held within reach of +their feelers. + +"I suppose it will give them frightful pains," remarked Frances at +last, rising from her cramped position. "Goodness! the tide is coming!" + +"Yes, but it's far out," replied Edith, casting a glance at the line of +water, still distant a full half-mile. "Look, Frances, here's a tiny +pink crab." + +For a moment Frances again bent over the aquarium but soon started to +her feet. + +"Let's go back, Edith. We're a long way from shore and you know how +very fast the tide comes in." + +"Oh, is that crab gone? I thought you would mind where he went," said +Edith as she reluctantly rose. "I wanted to take him to Win." + +The two began to retrace their way, at first over piles of red rock +covered with seaweed, farther on over stretches of sand surrounding +rock islands. + +Just as they left the last of the solid rock a big wave came curling +lazily along its side. For a second the water clung to it like fingers, +then withdrew. + +"Fran, we must run," said Edith quietly, but her face had grown pale. + +Frances made no reply. Both ran as fast as they could across the +stretch of level hard sand. Before they reached the first rock island, +long fingers of foam again darted past at one side. + +Neither girl spoke. Automatically they seized hands and redoubled their +efforts. One island after another was left behind, then Edith, looking +over her shoulder, saw that the tide was gaining. Its next incoming +heave would overtake them. + +"We'll have to climb these rocks!" she gasped. + +"_No!_" said Fran, giving her hand a tug. "Keep on. No matter if we do +get wet. We _must_ get nearer in. These rocks will be covered." + +Edith kept pace. They seemed to have reached a higher ridge of the +beach since presently the water, instead of pursuing directly, passed +on either side, stretching shorewards. + +Too terrified to consider what this would mean when the tongues of +water should meet before them, the girls pressed on blindly. + +Suddenly there came a shout from shore, now measurably nearer. Down the +beach sped a galloping horse, his rider waving to attract their +attention. + +Fran's quick wits grasped the situation. "He'll come for us!" she +exclaimed. "He means us to climb this rock and wait." + +This seemed what the rider meant for as they scrambled up the ledge, he +ceased to call and merely urged his horse to greater effort. Edith +reached the top without accident, but Frances slipped and soaked both +feet. + +The horse, a beautiful chestnut thoroughbred with tossing mane, came at +quick speed. In the distance, his rider looked a mere boy, but as he +approached, the girls saw that he was a young man of twenty-three or +four, with a fine, clean-cut face, who sat his horse as though a part +of it. + +Arriving by their rock, the chestnut checked himself in full gallop and +turned almost in his stride. + +"Give me your hand," said the young man to Edith. "Step on my foot. +Swing round behind me and hold on any way you can." + +Edith instantly obeyed. "Here," he added to Frances, "scramble up in +front. Quick! There's no time to lose. Steady on, Saracen!" he added as +the horse jumped and snorted at touch of the water curling about his +heels. + +They were perhaps a quarter-mile from shore and the return was made at +a fast pace, yet as they came up above tide mark, the waves were +lapping the shingle and only a rock here and there remained uncovered. + +During the hurried trip the young man had spoken only to his horse, +words of encouragement uttered in a pleasant voice, and both girls were +still too stunned by the sudden peril and their equally sudden rescue +to realize their very unconventional situation; Edith with both arms +around the stranger, her cheek pressed into his shoulder; Fran sitting +on the saddle-bow, held in position by his left arm while his right +hand clasped the reins. + +Once in safety, Saracen stopped of his own accord, looking around as +though, now the hurry was over, he would like to know what sort of +unaccustomed load he had been carrying. + +"Right we are!" said the young man cheerily. "Now I wonder if you can +slide down." + +Still speechless, Frances did so. The young man swung himself from the +saddle and turned to lift Edith from her perch as though she was a +little child. Again on firm ground, she began to utter incoherent +thanks. + +[Illustration: "HE'LL COME FOR US! HE MEANS US TO CLIMB THIS ROCK AND +WAIT"] + +"I think you must be strangers to the island," he said rather gravely, +"else you would know that the Jersey tides come in as rapidly as they +ebb. This isn't a safe coast to experiment with." + +"It was the anemones," began Frances. "We never saw any before and +forgot to watch the water." + +The young man smiled. "Those anemones!" he said. "I was once in a +similar fix for the same reason. Better remember that the only safe +time to watch sea anemones is when the tide is just going out. There's +a place up here where the farmer's wife is a friend of mine. I think +you'd better let me take you over to Mother Trott and she'll dry you +out." + +"I'm not wet," said Edith. "Frances fell, that's why she's drippy." + +"Oh, but Win!" Frances exclaimed. "He'll find that note saying we're on +the rocks and he'll see the water and be frightened. My brother," she +added to the stranger, who was looking at her inquiringly. "He's in the +meadow." + +The young man's clear gray eyes grew rather stern. "And what is this +brother doing while his little sister gets into danger?" he asked. + +"Oh, it's not his fault. He was asleep and he _mustn't_ be frightened," +Fran began. She spoke rapidly, her explanation banishing from the +inquirer's face all look of disapproval. + +"I'll go and tell Win," said Edith. "I'm not a bit wet. You go on to +the farm, Frances. Which house is it?" + +"Do you see the long low one with the vines about half a mile up the +hill?" replied their rescuer. "That's it." + +"If Win's still asleep, for goodness' sake don't wake him," directed +Frances as Edith set off toward the castle. "Perhaps I can get dry and +be there before he need know what has happened." + +"Would you be willing to ride in front of me again, Miss Frances?" +asked the young man, as Edith vanished around the wall. "We could reach +the farm much more quickly." + +Without demur, Frances consented. She felt queerly shaken and ill and +to her consternation, as Saracen crossed the highroad and entered the +farm lane, a sudden burst of sobs overcame her. She struggled bravely +to control herself. + +"That was a beastly experience," said the pleasant voice, "but you were +so near shore when Saracen and I saw you, that you'd probably have made +it with merely a wetting." + +"We haven't really thanked you," said Frances incoherently. "I do--so +much--Mother--" + +"Thank Saracen. He did it. It's nothing at all, and you mustn't let it +trouble you. Hello, Tylo. Been off again on your own?" + +Obedient to touch, his horse stopped at the cottage gate. Frances slid +from her perch and the young man dismounted, throwing the reins to the +beach dog, whose sudden reappearance did not surprise nor interest +Frances, as ordinarily it would have done. + +"Come round to the back," said her companion, opening the gate. "Mother +Trott will probably be in her kitchen. She'll put you to rights in no +time. No mess too bad for her to take on." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR. MAX + + +Frances accompanied her guide along a pebbled path neatly edged with +big scallop-shells measuring fully six inches across. Beside the walk +stretched garden borders still gay with geraniums, japonicas and other +hardy plants in full bloom. As they passed the front door of the +cottage with its whitewashed steps gleaming in the afternoon sun, a +roughly outlined heart surrounding some initials caught Frances' +attention. The design was carved in the stone top of the door-frame and +looked very old. + +"That's a pretty custom of the island," said her companion, noticing +Fran's glance. "The people who first made a home had their initials cut +over the door. Many of the Jersey farmhouses have several sets of +initials on the door-stones." + +Around the corner of the house lay a neat kitchen garden full of +vegetables in thrifty green rows, a patch of the curious cabbages and +in a field just over a fence, was tethered a pretty, soft-eyed Jersey +cow. Beside the entrance stood a bench glittering with shiny copper +pails and milk-cans. + +Without stopping to knock, the young man stepped directly into a clean, +low-ceiled kitchen, where white sand was scattered on the stone floor. + +"Are you there, Mrs. Trott?" he inquired. + +Hastily setting down the pan of potatoes she was peeling, a +pleasant-looking stout woman rose to her feet with a curtsy. + +"If it isn't Mr. Max!" she exclaimed, her voice expressing both +surprise and delight. + +"And as usual seeking help, Mrs. Trott. This young lady, Miss Frances, +has been unlucky enough to be overtaken by the tides--" + +"Poor dear!" interrupted Mrs. Trott. "Bess!" she called, "come you +down. Ah, 'tis the tides that make the Jersey heartaches. Ye did quite +right to bring her, Mr. Max. Bess, be quick!" + +A rosy-cheeked girl of seventeen came clattering down the tiny stair, +to smile at the visitors and drop an awkward, blushing curtsy to each. + +"Why, Bess, you're quite grown up," said the young man, smiling back at +her. + +"A year does make a differ, sir," said Mrs. Trott. "Lead the young +leddy up the stair, Bess, and dry her feet and give her your Sunday +socks and shoon. Mr. Max, you'll drink tea? Sure, now, and taste my +fresh wonders. The young leddy'll be down directly and a cup of tea +will set her up." + +"Indeed, I could do with some tea, Mrs. Trott, and I've not had any +wonders since--" + +Frances did not hear the end of the sentence for she was following Bess +up the narrow, winding stone stairs to emerge in a little room with +slanting caves and dormer windows in its thatched roof. The place was +bare but spotlessly clean and through the open western casement +shimmered the blue sea. + +"Sit down, Miss," said Bess in a soft voice with curious musical +intonations that made up for imperfect pronunciation. + +With a sigh of relief, Frances sank into the straight chair. The +reaction from her late adventure was still upon her. Before she knew +what was happening, Bess approached with a basin of water and a towel, +and knelt to unfasten the soaked shoes. + +"Oh, I can do that for myself," Frances protested with the independence +of an American girl. + +"Sit ye still, Miss," said Bess pleasantly. "'Tis bad for the nerves to +race the tides. It shakes one a good bit." + +Her deft fingers made short work of their task. Presently, Frances was +comfortable in white cotton stockings and black slippers far too large +and wide. + +"Twill serve," said Bess, smiling at the way they slid around on Fran's +slender feet. "Dry at least. Now come ye down and drink your tea. 'Tis +not lately we've seen Mr. Max. Mother'll be rarely pleased." + +Frances had it on her tongue's end to inquire into the identity of her +rescuer, but the difficulty of keeping on those heavy leather shoes +with their big silver buckles distracted her attention. She came +carefully down the stair to find Mr. Max seated on the big black oak +settle, his hat and riding-crop beside him and Mrs. Trott arranging her +table before the fire. + +"Come, Miss, to your tea," she exclaimed. "Bess, fetch the cream." + +Frances tried to protest, feeling already under great obligations to +these total strangers, but Mr. Max promptly rose to give her a seat. + +"Tea will do you good, Miss Frances," he said with a most engaging +smile. "Try Mrs. Trott's wonders. Have you ever eaten a Jersey wonder?" + +"It looks like a doughnut," said Frances, taking a fried cake from the +proffered plate. + +A sudden, mischievous grin crossed the young man's face. "A plain New +England doughnut disguised by an old-world name," he said. + +"New England!" repeated Frances, stopping with the cake halfway to her +mouth. "How do you know about New England doughnuts?" + +Mr. Max seated himself, looking boyishly amused. + + "'Land where our fathers died, + Land of the Pilgrims' pride,'" + +he quoted, seriously enough but with gray eyes dancing with fun. "Oh, I +know the whole thing. Shall we sing it together?" + +"Are you really an American?" Frances demanded in utter amazement. +"Then how--what--You don't talk--But that accounts for it." + +She stopped, feeling suddenly shy of questioning him. "Well," she added +after a second, "that's the reason I didn't feel a bit strange about +coming with you. It seemed all right--just as though you were somebody +I knew." + +"Thank you, Miss Frances," said her companion. "That is a very lovely +way to express your appreciation. Yes, we are fellow-countrymen, though +I have spent much of my life in Europe. In fact, my first visit to the +United States was when I was around your age. Since then I've put in +four years at Yale and one in Washington. Now, I'm attached to the +American Embassy in Paris and came over here to spend the Christmas +holidays with old friends. Jersey has seen me many times before this. +That's how I happen to know about the sea anemones and the tides." + +Mrs. Trott came bustling back with jam, followed by Bess with a covered +jar. "And how's Miss Connie?" she inquired. + +"She seems very well," replied Mr. Max. "Your tea is as good as ever, +Mrs. Trott. Clotted cream, Bess? You know my weak spots, don't you?" + +"They do be saying that the Colonel fails since his lady died," went on +Mrs. Trott, regarding her table anxiously. "Couldn't you fancy an egg +now, Mr. Max, or a bit of bacon?" as he raised a protesting hand. + +Frances also declined. She did not feel hungry but after Mrs. Trott had +brought water to dilute the strong tea, she drank it willingly. + +Neither did Mr. Max eat enough to satisfy his hostess. After a few +moments he rose and looked at his watch. + +"I think I'll ride over to the Manor and exchange Saracen for another +horse and the trap and give myself the pleasure if I may, Miss Frances, +of driving you and the others back to St. Aubin's. Your boots will +hardly be dry for you to wear on the train. I'd really like to do so," +he added, seeing that Frances looked disturbed. "You know it is the +business of the American Embassy to look after its fellow countrymen in +a foreign land, so this is only my plain duty." + +"Best let him, Miss," said Mrs. Trott approvingly. "Mr. Max do always +take thought for others. But where happens Miss Connie to-day?" + +"Oh, Miss Connie's gone to a tea-fight of some kind," replied Mr. Max, +giving Frances another mischievous glance. "She said I couldn't go, so +I annexed her dog and her father's horse and went out on my own. I +shall be back before long." + +Frances gave an anxious thought to Edith, concluded that she probably +found Win asleep and was following instructions not to wake him. This +conjecture proved correct for Edith soon came hurrying down the path. + +"I took the first note and left one saying we were at this cottage," +she explained. "Are you all right, Fran? Do you think you've caught a +chill?" + +Frances explained that they were to be driven home and Mrs. Trott +pressed tea and wonders upon Edith, who accepted both gratefully. + +"Is it far to the Manor--to where Mr. Max is going?" Frances inquired +of Mrs. Trott. + +"Not for a good horse, Miss, though 'tis beyond St. Aubin's. I'm +thinking you must have marked the place, a big old stone house with +many a laurel tree about it and open to the cliffs beyond." + +"Oh, we know it," said Fran eagerly. "There are iron gates with a coat +of arms and the grounds are lovely." + +"That's Laurel Manor, Miss," assented Mrs. Trott. + +The girls looked at each other in delight. In one afternoon they had +learned where lived the mistress of the beach dog and what her name. + +"'Tis good to lay eyes on Mr. Max again," Mrs. Trott went on. "A pity +he and Miss Connie couldn't content themselves with each other. 'Tis +not to our liking to have our young leddy takin' up with a foreign +prince." + +"Oh, please tell us about it," demanded Frances. "We met Miss Connie on +the beach and we think she's perfectly lovely. Is she really to marry a +prince?" + +"He's not a prince of a royal house," replied Mrs. Trott. "He's an +Eyetalian and in that country, they tell me, there's a different kind +of royalty. I don't rightly know, Miss, but I'm thinking they are +Romish princes." + +"Is Miss Connie marrying a Catholic?" inquired Edith in great interest. + +"That's the question," said Mrs. Trott, reflectively resting both hands +on the table. "I could see Mr. Max didn't want to talk, but we hear +considerable through the housekeeper at the Manor. This young man that +they say Miss Connie's tokened to is the son of one of these princes. +But his mother was an Englishwoman and a Protestant and so when two +boys had been baptized as Catholics, the third son,--Miss Connie's +young man,--was brought up in his mother's faith, our English church. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott went on meditatively, "they thought he'd never +succeed to his father's title and position, bein' the third son. But +the oldest, Prince Santo-Ponte, or some title like that, was killed in +a motor mishap--they say he was racin' something shameful,--and soon +the next brother died of pneumonia. So that leaves the Protestant son +the heir. And the story is that he's to be made to turn Catholic." + +"But they can't make him if he won't," protested the shocked Edith. +Both she and Frances were listening eagerly to this romantic story. +Their wildest flights of imagination concerning Miss Connie fell short +of the truth,--if this was truth. + +"I don't know, Miss, I don't know," said Mrs. Trott doubtfully. "Turn +the young leddy's boots, Bess,--don't ye scent the smell o' scorchin'? +'Tis hard on the poor fellow. There's his father urgin' him to do it +for the sake of the family, and there's a title and a great fortune +waitin' when he does. They'll be tellin' him it's his duty as they +tell't the Princess Alix, own granddaughter of Queen Victoria, when she +married with the Czar of all the Russias. 'Twas the Greek church she +went over to." + +"But will Miss Connie marry the prince if he does give up his own +church?" asked Edith eagerly. + +Again Mrs. Trott shook her head. "There's no mention of any weddin'," +she admitted, "and it may be they're not even tokened, but the prince +has been visitin' a sight of times at the Manor. Now, I'm thinkin' it's +a good sign Mr. Max is here again. The Colonel, Miss Connie's father, +loves him like a son. Why, he and Miss Connie grew up together, brother +and sister-wise. The way of it was that Mr. Max's mother died when he +was but a tiny and Mrs. Lisle, Miss Connie's mother, about took him for +her own. He's fair lived with them. Many's the time he and Miss Connie +have run in here for their tea or to dry their feet. You see I was +parlor-maid at the Manor before I married Trott. That was when Mr. +Eichard was living Miss Connie's brother. He was near fifteen years +older and he died in South Africa, poor lad! Ah, when he was killed it +nigh broke the Colonel's heart. Well, I've often helped out at the +Manor when extra service was needed. Far rather would I see Miss Connie +wedded to Mr. Max." + +"But how did Miss Connie happen to know the prince?" asked Frances. + +"In Rome. Till her mother died, they spent part of every winter there, +but the Colonel can't bear the place now and they stop here the season. +I keep hopin' Mr. Max will get her yet. Such a pretty well-mannered boy +he always was and never above passin' a friendly word with us all. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott concluded, "when you come to think of it, Mr. +Max is a foreigner, too, but the best I can say is that he's just like +an honest English gentleman." + +Frances flushed, choking back a hot comment. She had so quickly felt a +bond of kinship with this young American. Yet, in spite of her +momentary anger, she realized that Mrs. Trott was paying the highest +compliment in her power. Well, pride in her own country could teach +Frances to value like loyalty in another. + +"What is his other name?" she inquired. + +"I couldn't rightly tell you, Miss. He was but a wee lad when he first +came to the Manor. He calls the Colonel, uncle, and we forget he isn't +really of the family. Yet his father has been here, too. He's famous +for something very wise indeed. Could I speak the name, you might know, +for he's well-spoken of outside our island." + +At this moment, Win appeared, strolling up the lane and looking annoyed +to find the girls so far in the opposite direction from the railway. +Nor did his vexation lessen on hearing their adventures, softened and +smoothed though the version was. In fact, self-controlled Win was +inclined to be decidedly cross and to disapprove emphatically +acceptances of further favors from a stranger. Fran was still arguing +when a smartly-appointed trap drawn by a shiny horse turned into the +lane. + +"Now, you can see for yourself," declared Fran. "He's an American and a +gentleman and it's all right for us to let him drive us home." + +"As if we couldn't hire a carriage in Gorey," Win retorted, but with a +second glance at the driver, his attention was distracted. + +"Oh-h!" he said in perplexity, "that's the fellow who was in the Royal +Square that morning. Now, where in the wide world have I seen him +before?" + +Thinking hard, Win stared with puckered brows. Suddenly his face +cleared. "Why, he's that young chap Father introduced me to the time he +took me to Washington," he said accusingly to Fran. "Why didn't you +tell me?" + +"How on earth could I know?" demanded Fran, but her brother had turned +with a smile to greet the trap just drawing up by the gate. Mr. Max +looked at Win with a puzzled glance which gradually changed to a look +of recognition. + +"I do know you, don't I?" he said. "Well, I never suspected when I was +detailed to entertain Captain Thayne's son for an hour or so, that we'd +meet again in Gorey village. Why, that makes us old friends!" + +Win grasped the cordially offered hand and having bestowed Edith and +Frances in the seat behind, climbed up beside Max, his face beaming. +With many thanks to Mrs. Trott and promises to come again, they drove +off. + +"Hasn't this been the most exciting afternoon?" Frances confided to +Edith. "We've learned the collie lady's name and met the boy she told +us of, and heard about her Italian prince. Look at Win! He's crushed on +Mr. Max,--I can tell by the way he's looking at him. I should think +Miss Connie would much rather marry an American." + +"Perhaps he hasn't asked her," said Edith sensibly. "Perhaps, if she +really is engaged to the prince, she did it before Mr. Max came back +from America and he couldn't help himself because it was too late." + +Max's back did not look as though it belonged to a specially unhappy +person and the expression of his face as he talked pleasantly with Win +was not that of a young man whose enjoyment in life has been seriously +darkened, but it pleased the girls to fancy him as a blighted being, so +keenly had Mrs. Trott's rather injudicious confidences appealed to +their youthful ideas of romance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + + +"Why, I've met Miss Lisle several times," said Mrs. Thayne after +hearing Fran's account of the exciting end of the picnic. "She's a +charming girl and her father is the finest type of an English +gentleman. At the lawn party this afternoon she spoke of meeting two +girls on the beach and asked if one wasn't my daughter." + +"Oh, I do hope I can know her," said Frances happily. "I think she's +the sweetest thing I ever saw. But, Mother, do you suppose what Mrs. +Trott said about her and the Italian prince is true?" + +"That was a bit of gossip which Mrs. Trott should not have repeated to +girls of your age," commented her mother, "but since you have heard it, +I suppose it will do no harm to say that Prince Santo-Ponte undoubtedly +does visit at the Manor, though I do not believe that any engagement +exists between him and Miss Lisle. As for Mr. Max, as you call him, his +father is Professor Rodney Hamilton, the noted scientist. Max has been +much with the Lisles and to all purposes is the son of the house." + +"The day when I really meet Miss Connie will be the happiest of my +life," declared Frances solemnly. Later, her amused mother learned that +Edith was equally smitten. + +In his quiet way, Win was most anxious to see more of Max and it was +partly with this wish in mind that he set off one morning shortly after +the picnic at Orgueil, to stroll on the road leading past the Manor. On +so pleasant a day he might encounter the young people riding or walking. + +When Win reached the Manor gates, no one was in sight, and he sauntered +past, not caring to intrude on private grounds. One longing glance he +cast at the chimneys above the laurels, twelve that he could count from +that angle. What a rambling old structure the Manor house must be! +Surely in its existence stretching back through the centuries, many +interesting things had happened under that roof. What fun it would be +to try to find them out! + +Absorbed in pleasant thought, Win walked farther than he realized, +lured by the blue sea and a most interesting little church almost on +the water's edge. The doors proved locked, but Win resolved to come +again when he could gain admittance, for from outward appearance the +building was extremely old. + +On turning, Win was soon aware that he had overtaxed his strength and +was in no shape to walk to St. Aubin's. Pleasant as the sky still was, +a strong sea breeze had risen, bringing difficulties for a person who +required very favorable conditions for any prolonged exercise. Only +slow progress was possible and when he again reached the iron gates of +the Manor, he was really too tired to go on. Choosing the sunny slope +of the hedge, he sat down to rest. + +Before long, voices approached on the other side of the laurels, voices +speaking in French, and Max came through the arch, accompanied by a +gardener carrying tools. + +"Why, Win," he said. "You're not stopping at the gate, I hope. The +house is just beyond." + +[Illustration: A MOST INTERESTING LITTLE CHURCH ALMOST ON THE WATER'S +EDGE.] + +Win smiled. "I sat down to get my breath," he explained. "I've been for +a stroll and the wind knocked me about a trifle." + +Max looked at him keenly. "It's a bit cool to stop there," he said. +"Come up to the house. We'll slip into the library and you can rest +properly." + +Win demurred, thinking he would detain Max from his business. + +"Uncle only asked me to direct Pierre about some planting around the +cottages," Max replied. He added some words in French to his companion, +who nodded and struck off toward the shore. "I'll not stop for you," +Max went on, taking Win's arm. "There isn't a person at home, and you +will have the library to yourself." + +Win yielded at once. Aside from the pleasure of seeing Max again, the +suggestion of books acted as a magnet. + +They crossed the beautiful Manor lawn,--green as in June,--not toward +the main entrance but in the direction of some big French windows +opening on the terrace. The casement yielded to Max's touch and the two +entered a room that would have made Win gasp with pleasure had he been +less exhausted. He received only the impression of spacious beauty and +countless books, as he was established on a big old settle beside a +fireplace where cheery flames were flashing. Before he knew precisely +what was happening, Win found himself tucked among comfortable cushions. + +"There, go to sleep now," said Max, flinging over him a soft blue +Italian blanket. "I've an idea this thing belongs in Connie's room, but +since she left it here we will make use of it. There's no one at home +and the only person likely to come is Yvonne, one of the maids. If she +appears to look after the fire, just tell her you are my friend." + +Max departed and Win soon fell into a reverie. He did not sleep +immediately but as his physical discomfort lessened under the influence +of rest and quiet, he began to look about him. + +The three rooms composing the library were very high and opened into +one another by arches. From floor to ceiling the books climbed, rank on +rank, on the upper shelves in double tiers, in some places overflowing +window seats. Narrow stained-glass casements threw pleasant patches of +color on the polished floor. Age had blackened the oak ceiling and the +handsome wall paneling where books did not conceal it. Here and there +hung portraits, evidently of the family, judging from certain recurring +resemblances. Their quaint costumes dated from the days of the Stuart +kings. + +The utter quiet of the place, the time-faded bindings, the old +pictures, the spots of crimson and blue light, the faint odor of +leather, mingled with the scent of fresh flowers from some invisible +source, all had their effect upon Win, who sank into a state of mind +where he was neither awake nor quite asleep. His last wholly conscious +thought was for the curious coat of arms above the fireplace, a shield +that bore the date 1523. + +An hour later, Win came to full consciousness and at the same time to a +sense of familiarity with his surroundings. "Of all queer things!" he +thought as he sat up and looked around him. "The first day I was in +Jersey I dreamed of this room or of some room like it. That man up +there in the picture is mighty like the old Johnny that was around. +I've been dreaming about him now, only I can't remember what." + +Try as he might, Win could not recall that dream, a fantastic jumble of +persons and an impression, almost painful, of a fruitless search. + +"This is a house where anything might have happened," his thoughts ran. +"How I wish I could have a chance at these books!" + +Shelves framed even the ancient fireplace, their contents within easy +reach of Win's settle. His eye ran idly along the titles, a History of +the World, an edition of Defoe, some old hour-books. Tucked in with +these were two volumes of very modern philosophy, their bright cloth +bindings looking curiously out of place. With their exception, nothing +in sight looked less than a century old and examination proved most to +be even older. Many bore marks of ownership by Lisles dead and gone. + +His enthusiasm thoroughly aroused, Win examined volume after volume, +lingering over the quaint bookplates. Finally he took down a book +unlettered on the back, but with a rubbed leather binding that showed +marks of use. It proved a very old copy of the Psalms, a book that some +one had once read often, for its pages were worn not only by time but +by constant turning. + +Opening to the front, Win searched for a bookplate. There was none, but +in fine handwriting appeared: "Richard Lisle His Valued Book." As Win +replaced the volume a paper slipped from its pages. + +Picking it up, he glanced idly at the single sheet which seemed a page +perhaps lost from some letter written long before, possibly a leaf from +a diary. The penmanship was like the autograph in the Psalter, the ink, +though faded, perfectly legible on the yellowed paper. + +The extract began in the middle of a sentence. Win, who started to +decipher it from mere curiosity, ended by reading it five or six times. +It ran as follows: + +"having fed my Prince and Eased him after his hard Flight we took +Counsel anent his Refuge. + +"That he should lye at ye Manor looked not wise. Ye Castel seemed ye +better Place. + +"Lest he be curiously viewed of Many we did furnishe Other garb and a +Strong Bigge Cloake. And those who knew did safely lead him through ye +Towne. + +"Ye honoured Relicks my Sonne and I did place in ye Spanish Chest and +convey by Lantern light to that safe Place beyond ye Walls. So shall +they Reste till happier Times shall Dawne. + +"Strange that this Day should bring such Honour to Mine House." + +Win's eyes grew interested and excited as he studied this message from +the past. For whom was it meant and why had it lain all these years in +the old Psalter? Did the Manor family know of its existence? The +prince, the castle, the town, mentioned by a Lisle of Laurel Manor, +must refer to events of island history. + +After thinking a few minutes, Win drew out his notebook and made a +careful copy. Surely that was not abusing Max's hospitality and could +do no harm. If he discovered anything interesting in looking up the +matter in some history of Jersey at the public library, he would share +his knowledge. Or there surely must be books of that kind here at the +Manor. Perhaps he would be permitted to come again and investigate this +fascinating room more thoroughly. He wished he knew Max better. If he +only did, he could show his find at once and ask for an opinion. Well, +that might come later. Anyway, it would be great fun to study the +enigmatic paper and see what he could make of it. + +When Max came quietly a few minutes later, Win made no mention of his +discovery. Surprised to find it so late, he thanked his host, and +declared himself entirely fit to walk back to Rose Villa. + +"Come again," said Max as they parted at the gates. "I know you liked +the library and that will please Uncle Dick. You must come when he's at +home and he'll show you all his special treasures." + +Win went on with a happy face. That meant he would certainly have +another opportunity to browse in that fascinating old book-room, and +perhaps become so well acquainted with the Manor family that he could +share his puzzle with somebody who would be equally interested in +finding out what it meant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + + +Fran's "happiest day" soon dawned, for not long after the Orgueil +picnic, she and Edith were walking down one of Jersey's lovely lanes. +Enclosed by high ivy-covered earthen banks, it ran, a straight white +road between green walls, and so narrow that at regular intervals, +little bays were provided that carriages might pass. Evergreen oaks, +often growing from the banks themselves, and drooping vines made the +lane a bower of beauty even on a December afternoon. The girls had +stopped to admire the old Norman gateway leading to Vinchelez Manor, +when suddenly around a corner, bounced the beach dog. Close behind came +Constance Lisle and Maxfield Hamilton. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORMAN GATEWAY LEADING TO VINCHELEZ MANOR] + +"We've been to call on your respective mother and sister," declared +Connie, "and were desolated not to find the little ladies. What luck to +meet you! Max, you don't need an introduction, do you, after playing +Lord Lochinvar with both girlsat once?" + +At this sweeping characterization, they all laughed and walked along +together, Tylo galloping ahead or falling behind as his sweet will led. + +"I'm giving a treat to the Sunday-school children after Christmas," +Connie confided, as at the end of a brisk walk, they came to the +parting of the ways. "I should like you girls, if you will, to help me +with the kiddies. The brothers are invited too, if they would fancy it." + +"Win would like to help," Frances said quickly, her face lighted with +pleasure at this request. "He's very good at things like that, but +Roger's only twelve, you know." + +"Oh, Roger can hand buns," said Connie at once. "No harm if he does +tread on a few. I shall count on you then next week Thursday, three +days after Christmas. Take care not to stir abroad on Christmas eve for +that's when the Jersey witches hold their meeting at the rock up by St. +Clement's." + +She waved a laughing adieu and the girls went back to Rose Villa, +bubbling over with pleasure and anticipation. + +It was fortunate for Frances that she did have this expectation of a +visit to the Manor to buoy her spirits, for the season scarcely seemed +Christmas. Warm weather and plentiful flowers did not appeal to one +accustomed to the holiday in wintry Boston, but not the weather alone +disturbed Fran. For some foolish reason she disliked intensely the +differences of celebration that marked this holiday in another land. +Her state of mind both worried and distressed Mrs. Thayne. + +"Why, little daughter, don't you see the fun of having Christmas under +strange conditions?" she asked one evening, when she went to +investigate a sound of woe from Fran's room. + +"No, I don't see any fun in it," replied Frances stubbornly. "I could +stand Thanksgiving, even though I had to go to school, because Miss +Estelle knew it was an important day to us and had a turkey for dinner +and put little American flags around. But Christmas here in St. +Aubin's, without Father, is too impossible." + +Mrs. Thayne was silent for a moment. Then she sat down on the bed and +took Frances in her arms. + +"Listen, now," she said. "I want you to think about somebody else for a +moment. There's Edith. Just remember how sad this season must be for +her and Estelle. Yet Estelle goes about with a smiling face that gives +me a heartache because her eyes are so pitiful. She's planning hard to +make things pleasant for us and to have it seem Christmas to Edith. I +know some of her plans, Fran. Then, even if Father isn't with us, we +know he is well and that it is only a question of time before the +_Philadelphia_ is where we can be nearer. Win is always self-controlled +and naturally he and Roger don't miss the home conditions as you do, +but their enjoyment is going to depend largely upon their sister. Why, +Fran, you usually like new experiences and here they are looming thick +and fast." + +"That's just the trouble," sobbed Fran. "I don't want them all piled on +top of Christmas. I want to be with Grandmother and the cousins. I +can't believe it is Christmas when it's so green and so hot." + +"Many nice things are going to happen," her mother went on. "Just think +what fun you and Edith will have helping Miss Connie with her school +treat. You are going to find that very English." + +Frances smiled. "Oh, I won't be a pig, Mother," she said at last. "Miss +Connie is a dear and of course we must make the boys have a nice time." + +"The climate agrees so well with Win that I am very thankful to spend +Christmas here," replied Mrs. Thayne. "To-morrow, Nurse is going into +town to the French market and I think you will like to go with her." + +Win and Edith joined the marketing expedition next morning and even +Frances was impressed with the holiday spirit overhanging the place. +They left Nurse carefully inspecting fat geese in a poulterer's stall +and started to explore. + +Any number of plump chickens and ducks hung about, together with little +pigs decorated by blue rosettes on their ears, a touch that struck Win +as extremely funny. In the vegetable market were heaped huge piles of +potatoes, scrubbed till their pink skins shone, great ropes of red +onions braided together by their dried tops, turnips, artichokes, +garlic, winter squashes, white and purple cabbages, celery and egg +plant and many varieties of greens and early vegetables. The stalls +themselves were prettily arranged and fragrant with nice smells but +their keepers were the great attraction. Many were in charge of old +women dressed in white peasant caps and clean starched aprons above +full wool skirts and wooden sabots. Little tow-headed grandchildren, +comical replicas in miniature, smiled shyly or dropped bobbing curtsys +as the girls stopped to speak. + +Fruit stalls proved even more fascinating with the hothouse grapes, +red, white, and dark purple, showing a hazy bloom. Fresh figs and dates +abounded, alternating with baskets of Italian chestnuts and oranges, +forty for a shilling. Every stall seemed to have vied in decorations +with its neighbor, being bowers of myrtle and laurestinus. One sported +a shield showing three leopards in daffodils against a green background. + +"Look at the English coat of arms," said Frances, catching sight of it. + +"That's not English," said Edith. "Those are the leopards of Jersey, +the old Norman insignia." + +"I can't understand," observed Frances as they sauntered on, "why, when +Jersey belongs to England, it has a different coat of arms and +government and everything." + +"Because the islands are all little self-governing communities," +supplied Win. "It's a privilege they have always had, and even England +wouldn't dare take it from them now. Jersey is desperately jealous of +Guernsey. They say that even a Jersey toad will die if it is taken to +Guernsey." + +"Neither will Guernsey flowers blossom here," Edith added. "Oh, there's +Miss Connie!" + +The little lady of Laurel Manor was standing before one of the +flower-stalls, chatting in French with a very clean, rosy-cheeked old +woman in a white cap. Behind Constance stood a servant carrying a +basket and as the girls watched she purchased an enormous bunch of +daffodils, a sheaf of calla lilies, and a quantity of narcissus. + +"Isn't she sweet in that soft green suit," commented Edith admiringly. + +Turning from the stall, Connie saw and hailed them. "Have you seen the +fish-market?" she asked after greeting them gayly. "Oh, you must not +miss that. I always go there." + +She led them past a long bench where sat several nice white-capped old +women beside huge baskets of spotlessly washed eggs or round rolls of +fresh, unsalted butter wrapped in cool green cabbage leaves. Some of +them nodded and smiled and once Connie stopped to ask after a sick +child. Everybody spoke in French and seemed most kind and cordial. + +Arrived at the fish-market, conger eels as big as Win's wrist, and four +or five feet long, crabs two feet across the shells, lobsters blue +rather than green, enormous scallops, huge stacks of oysters, cockles +and snails, the so-called winkles, greeted the astonished eyes of the +young people. In other directions were heaped piles of smelts, plaice +and unknown fish. + +"These are what I dote on," said Constance, calling their attention to +piles of tiny crabs, neatly tied by the claws into bunches. Most were +alive, but owing to the fact that all chose to walk in different +directions, the bunches remained fairly stationary. One might purchase +two, four, six or a dozen, according to the size of one's appetite. + +"I'm so glad we met," said Connie, when in addition they had made the +round of the flower market and exclaimed over its treasures of color +and fragrance. "I thought of you this morning and wondered if you young +people wouldn't like to help decorate the church. There are never too +many helpers and we have ordered such lovely greens and flowers. +Several of us are to be at the church at two this afternoon and you'll +be very welcome if you care to come. It's pretty work and we always +have a nice time." + +"Indeed, we should like to help," said Frances promptly. "Is it Mr. +Angus's church at St. Aubin's?" + +"No, the one I mean is a tiny stone church not far beyond the Manor. +Just take the highroad inland from the village and turn once to the +left." + +"Oh, I know," said Win quickly. "It stands almost on the shore." + +"That's it," said Connie. "I'll expect you then." + +Win declared himself quite equal to helping with the decorations that +afternoon. When they arrived, the beach dog lay in the porch, thumping +his tail by way of welcome, so they knew his mistress was already +within. For a few moments, the three lingered to look at the quaint +French inscriptions on the churchyard stones, but finally entered +rather shyly. They were not given one moment to feel themselves +strangers. + +"I'm delighted to see you," exclaimed Constance, coming down the aisle +with a long vine trailing after. "So glad you came. Rose," she called +to a pretty young girl working near by, "here are some helpers for your +windows. Oh, you know Rose LeCroix, don't you? She goes to your school. +Win," she added quickly, "won't you come and help struggle with this +tiresome pulpit?" + +Win followed at once, glad to see Max already busy over the designated +task, but Constance sent him to seek a certain wire frame reputed to +exist in the sacristy. Win found himself twining myrtle wreaths around +the pillars of the stone pulpit, yet stealing constant glances at the +interior of the old church. + +Part of it was very ancient, with round Norman pillars and a rounded +vault, speaking of very distant days. Everything save pews and choir +stalls was of granite, its rosy color making the stone seem warm rather +than cold. Vines, holly and flowers heaped about the interior +emphasized by their ephemeral beauty the solemn enduring majesty of the +church itself. Ten or twelve young people were working more or less +steadily to the accompaniment of much gay conversation. + +"Oh, Max, that's the wrong frame," Constance said suddenly. + +Win turned to see her sorting lilies where she knelt on the chancel +steps. + +"This isn't Easter, ducky," she added. "We want a star, not a cross." + +Max smiled at Win, an indulgent, rather amused smile, and when the +proper frame had been substituted, came back to the pulpit. + +"Tell me," said Win, indicating the stone vault. "What are those little +pointed things up there?" + +"You mean the limpet shells?" asked Max, looking up. + +"Are they shells?" said Win in amazement. "They looked it, but I +couldn't imagine how shells could be scattered about up there." + +"Some thousand years ago when the original builders quarried this stone +from the Jersey shore, they didn't trouble to scrape off the limpets +that clung to it. Nobody has removed them since; now it would seem +sacrilege to do so." + +"A thousand years!" repeated Win in awe. He stopped work for a moment +to look at the pointed shells on the roof. + +"Does jar a fellow and makes him feel mighty transitory and +insignificant, doesn't it?" commented Max, with a friendly glance of +understanding. "I think there's no place quite like this church. The +Manor lies in its parish and Uncle Dick would know if a single limpet +was knocked off. The only time I ever saw him really angry was once +when some Americans--I'm an American, too, you know, so I can tell this +story--tried to bribe the verger to scrape one down for them. There was +rather a row and Uncle was in a fine fizz. + +"There's one interesting thing common to all these old churches," Max +went on, seeing that Win appreciated the place. "The island is divided +into twelve parishes. From the church of each there was originally a +road, leading directly to the sea. In feudal times, a criminal was safe +if he took sanctuary in the church and by the old custom, after he had +abjured his crime, he could go down by this one road to the shore and +leave the island. But if he strayed never so little aside, he lost the +benefit of the sanctuary and was liable to the law. Just imagine some +old robber or cut-throat marching down his path to the sea, escorted by +the churchwardens, with other men watching his every step, ready to +seize him if he swerved. Some of these sanctuary roads are still the +main highways." + +"I think the island history is so interesting," said Win. "I suppose it +is a fact that Prince Charles did take refuge here?" + +"No doubt of it," Max replied, looking critically at the almost +completed pulpit decorations. "Indeed, there is a story that he was +entertained at Laurel Manor. Ask Uncle about it," he added, not +noticing Win's start of interest. "He's awfully keen on that legend. I +suppose it is very likely true though I don't know that there is any +real proof. There, do you think her ladyship will approve our efforts? +Excuse me,--Connie wants her star put in place." + +Left alone, Win stood thinking hard. So Prince Charles was reputed to +have visited Laurel Manor! What if that chance letter were the proof? +If so, was there not more in its message than confirmation of the +prince's stay? One thing was certain--he _must_ get acquainted with +Colonel Lisle. + +So many industrious hands soon completed their task. After the gay +workers departed, Connie lingered for a last look. + +"Come and see it to-morrow morning," she said to the three. "Probably +you'll wish to go into town at eleven, but come here for the early +service at six." + +Edith looked doubtful. "Sister planned to go to St. Aubin's," she said. + +"I couldn't come alone," said Frances, her disappointment showing in +her face. + +"I'll come with you," offered Win so unexpectedly that his sister +frankly stared. + +"Good!" said Constance. "There'll be no music and only candle-light, +but you'll love it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." + +That very evening Fran was forced to admit that a Jersey Christmas had +its compensations. The doors of the back parlor, mysteriously locked +for days, were opened and in the room, gay with holly, mistletoe, and +laurestinus, appeared a most delightful little Christmas tree, itself +rather foreign in appearance since it was a laurel growing in a big +pot. Real English holly concealed the base and merry tapers twinkled a +welcome. + +Estelle had spent much time and thought, coupled with anxious fears +lest these young Americans whose lives seemed so sunny, might not care +for so simple a pleasure. Their appreciation, not in the least put on +for the occasion, quite repaid her. Inexpensive little gifts adorned +the tree, each bearing a number. + +"Draw a slip," commanded Roger, appearing before his mother with a box. +"Take a chance and see what you'll get." + +When all the slips were distributed, Roger as instructed by Estelle, +took a gift at random from the tree and called its attached number. + +"Who has eight?" he demanded. + +"Here," said Win, giving up his slip in exchange for the tiny package, +and presently laughing heartily over an absurd mechanical mouse. +Ridiculous misfits in the presents made the distribution all the +funnier, and the rejoicing was great when Roger, who didn't believe in +washing his hands without being told to do so, drew a wee cake of soap. +He took it good-naturedly and considered as an added joke, Estelle's +hasty and shocked assurance that it was not meant especially for him. + +Strange to say, some packages appeared on that tree of which Estelle +was ignorant, conveyed by Roger to the proper persons. Edith was +rendered speechless with joy over several lovely gifts, and tears +filled Estelle's eyes. Nor were Nurse and Annette forgotten. The +Thaynes had certainly lived up to the American reputation for +generosity. + +Then Nurse brought a big bowl filled with darting blue flames. The +courageous shut one or both eyes, stuck in a fearful finger and +extracted a fig or a fat raisin. Egg-nog and roasted Italian chestnuts +completed Estelle's entertainment save for the holiday dinner of roast +beef and plum pudding to follow on the morrow. + +Unexpected by Estelle, her plans were supplemented by a group of parish +school-children, led by the old organist, who came through the streets, +singing Christmas carols: "God save you, merry gentlemen," "Good King +Wenceslaus" and "As Joseph was a-waukin'" + +In fascination Fran lingered on the steps long after the singers were +gone, pleased with her distribution of pennies from her mother's purse +and biscuit provided by Estelle. Far in the distance she could hear +their voices. Yes, after all, an English Christmas had its points. + +Next morning, Nurse's call seemed incredibly early to Frances, though +she found the whole household awake and exchanging greetings. Mrs. +Thayne decided to accompany Win and Fran, and Roger alone remained in +bed. + +The stars still shone brightly, making it seem the middle of the night, +save for the hurrying groups bound for church, some still singing +carols or hymns. + +"It's like October weather at home, isn't it, Mother?" said Frances as +they walked on through the crisp, clear air. "See, there are lights in +the windows and people leaving lanterns in the porch." + +The moment she entered, Frances understood what Connie meant by not +missing that service for "anything in the world," and Win felt it even +more keenly, being by nature more impressionable. + +The utter quiet, broken only by a distant wash of waves,--waves that +sometimes broke over the stones in the churchyard,--the candles in the +chancel, throwing into high relief Constance's Christmas star and +touching with light the jonquils banking steps and altar rail; the dusk +in the nave of the church half-revealing scattered groups of people as +they knelt in silence under the arched vault where clung the limpets +dead a thousand years,--all contributed to the age-old Christmas +miracle. + +"I feel as though I'd never realized what Christmas meant before," +thought Win, and somewhat the same feeling came to Frances as her eyes +became accustomed to the gloom and she discerned among the kneeling +figures her fellow-workers of the day before. Half-way down the nave +was the family from the Manor, Constance and Max on either side of a +tall gray-haired gentleman. Fran recognized him as the one who had +spoken to Win that day in the Royal Square. + +Win recognized him also, knew him to be Colonel Lisle and was quickly +reminded of that curious old document, as yet a mystery. How he hoped +Miss Connie's school treat would afford an opportunity to meet the +owner of the Manor and to take some step toward the solution of that +puzzle. + +As the service began, Frances stole a glance at the windows banked with +glossy laurel and holly, over which she and Edith had worked with Rose +LeCroix and her sister Muriel. Just because she had helped do something +for that little church in a foreign land, Fran experienced a sudden +blessed feeling of belonging a bit. A pleasant glow crept into her +heart, a sense of the spirit that makes the world akin at Christmas. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BUN WORRY + + +"I have helped you very nicely all the morning, Connie, and I hope you +appreciate my goodness. But as for messing about the lawn with a bun +worry in full blast,--thank you, Maxfield is not on. One doesn't want +to let one's self in for everything." + +"Your goodness isn't such as to alarm me," sighed Constance, casting a +worried glance about the Manor green. "You're in no danger of acquiring +saintship. Dad has balked, too. What'll I do alone?" + +"Being on toast yourself, why do you want to have me there?" said Max +mischievously. "Aren't all the Sunday school mistresses coming to help +and didn't you ask those nice American kiddies?" + +"I did, and that's another reason why I want you," retorted Connie, +flying to adjust to her better satisfaction the basket of narcissus +decorating the chief table. "Max, I don't know where to have you. Since +you came from the States, I can't make out whether you are English or +American. Here you are shying either at an English school treat or at +some nice American children. Which is it?" + +"Neither, I think," Max replied after a survey of the close-clipped +lawn, boasting that velvety turf which only centuries of care can +perfect. Great groups of laurel proudly proclaimed the right of the +Manor to its name; carefully trimmed hedges of yew and box protected +borders already gay with spring flowers, and beyond the grounds +shimmered the sea. Max's glance was one of affection, for this was the +scene of many happy boyhood days. + +"I think I'd shy just as quickly at an American tea-fight," he said at +length. "As for being neither English nor American, I love both +countries. I would certainly be loyal to my own, but I would also take +up arms for England, if the time ever came that she needed me and the +two duties didn't conflict." + +"You're a duck," said Constance promptly. "Come, take up arms and carry +a basket of buns for me this afternoon." + +"Too many petticoats coming," said Max. "I'm afraid of those freaks +from the rectory. But I'll agree to furnish a substitute who will more +than take my place. The kiddies will be thrilled to a peanut. Come now, +let me off?" + +"I suppose so," agreed Constance. "Don't bother about letting me down +softly. Trot off and do anything you think you have to do. Here are the +Marque children already. And there come the Thaynes." + +"I will perform a vanishing act," said Max quickly. "Connie, I really +am booked for an hour with Uncle Dick, but I'll send that substitute. +Watch for him." + +Constance looked after him suspiciously, but Max was already half +across the sunken garden, whistling to Tylo as he went. + +"Are we too early, Miss Connie?" asked Frances as they came up. + +"Just on the dot," replied Connie, greeting them all. "The children are +arriving. We will play games first and then have tea. Excuse me, +please, while I go and speak to the Reverend Fred." + +Constance departed to greet the curate thus disrespectfully designated, +a youthful individual of rather prepossessing appearance. Just behind +him appeared Rose and Muriel LeCroix and other girls whom Frances knew +at school. + +Soon the children came thick and fast, shy youngsters propelled by +older brothers and sisters, independent groups, a few babies in arms, a +scattering of older people. + +Two white-draped tables by the yew hedge were the target for the +children's eyes as they wondered what those linen-covered baskets +concealed. There would be tea of course, buns in plenty, possibly cake. + +Presently the children, poked and pulled into line were started playing +London Bridge, two of the biggest girls forming the bridge. + +For a moment Frances stood apart, watching the marching, shouting +youngsters, scrubbed till they shone, clothed in clean though often +clumsy garments and heavy shoes. No great poverty was indicated by +their apparel, and some, evidently of French origin, were dressed with +real taste and daintiness. These were also remarkable for a more +vivacious appearance than the stolid little Anglo-Saxons. Some few were +of striking beauty. + +As one game succeeded another, the children grew less stiff and +self-conscious. The Reverend Fred was joining in the sport with +conscientious zeal, as were his two sisters and Edith and Miss Connie. +Fran caught the contagion and found herself flying about the Manor +lawn, tying a handkerchief over one child's eyes to lead in Blindman's +Buff, helping another group play King of the Castle, finally organizing +a game of Drop the Handkerchief. + +With amused surprise she saw Roger actually helping Muriel LeCroix with +a number of the smallest children, and this fact so impressed Frances +that she failed to note Win's absence. + +Her brother was not far away. Had Frances been nearer the opening in +the hedge, leading into the sunken garden in its season full of roses, +she might have seen an interesting picture, for with great glee, Win +was helping prepare for appearance Max's promised substitute. + +Down in the rose-garden, where an old sundial marked "only the sunny +hours," the afternoon shadows grew long. The older people, somewhat +exhausted by strenuous play, seated the children in a big circle ready +for tea. From the Manor emerged Yvonne, Pierre, and Paget, Constance's +old nurse, armed with shiny copper cans, to fill cups for distribution. + +Frances seized a basket of buns and for a time was so occupied with +playing Lady Bountiful to a host of little hands, now rather grimy, +that it seemed quite natural to be sharing in this unusual festivity. +But as she was hurrying back to the table to refill her empty basket, +she met Edith on a similar errand. Suddenly it struck her as very odd +that she should be helping. + +"This is the funniest affair I ever saw," she confided merrily. + +"Why?" asked the puzzled Edith, lifting grave eyes to look at her. +"Don't you give the Sunday school children treats in America?" + +"Oh, yes," admitted Frances, "but we'd never fill them up on weak tea +and buns. They'd expect ice-cream and cake." + +Edith looked much shocked. "Ices are very dear," she remarked, "and not +fitting for these children. Would you really serve ices in winter?" she +asked incredulously. + +"On the very coldest day of the year," asserted Frances emphatically. +"Oh, America is so _different_, Edith! Why there's scarcely a town so +tiny that you can't buy ice-cream any time of the day or any time of +year." + +"It must indeed be different," Edith agreed. Basket refilled, she +returned to her charges. + +For a minute Frances lingered, looking around at the circle of +hilarious children, each with a mug, more or less precariously clasped, +each stuffing big plummy buns; looked at the older people so anxiously +attending to them. Yes, it was very different, very English, but also +very interesting. + +As Frances passed the entrance to the sunken garden, her basket filled +this time by solid-looking pieces of cake, she heard her name. + +"Fran," came Win's voice, "call Tylo. Get him to come out on the lawn." + +Frances called. She could see no one in the garden, only hear amused +voices trying to induce Tylo to answer the summons. + +"He won't start," said Win again. "Ask Miss Connie to whistle for him, +Fran." + +On receiving Fran's message, Constance looked puzzled. + +"I'd as soon Tylo would stop away," she said. "The kiddies may not +fancy him begging for their cake. Still, I'll call." + +At the summons from his mistress, Tylo instantly came, causing a sudden +silence among the chattering children, silence succeeded by wild +shrieks of pleasure. + +The beach dog emerged from the garden wearing a wreath of roses around +his neck, with an open pink silk parasol fastened to his collar and +tipped at a fashionable and coquettish angle over his head and holding +firmly in his mouth the handle of a basket filled with as varied an +assortment of English "sweets" as Max could secure in his hasty gallop +into St. Helier's. + +Connie, too, gave an exclamation of laughter. "Oh, look at my best +Paris brelly!" she groaned. "Max stole that. Yvonne never gave it to +him." + +Fully conscious that he held the center of the stage, Tylo advanced, +waving his tail and casting amiable glances upon the children as they +came crowding around, buns and cake forgotten. He seemed perfectly to +understand what was expected and held the basket until the last sugar +plum was secured by little searching hands, then employed to caress the +bearer. Max's substitute certainly scored the greatest hit of the Manor +"bun worry." + +From their seclusion in the rose-garden, the two conspirators watched +Tylo's successful appearance. + +"Let's come in and wash," said Max, seeing that no further +responsibility remained to them. "Or are you keen on a bun worry? I +like them, like them awfully, you know, but somehow, I'm afraid Uncle +Dick may be lonely. I feel it's my duty to look him up." + +Win would have seen through this flimsy excuse without the betrayal of +Max's merry eyes, but the proposal chanced to be what he most wished to +do. Very gladly he followed Max through the gardens to a side entrance +to the house, where they went up to Max's room, a high oak-paneled +chamber that would have been sombre were it not for three sunny +mullioned casements overlooking the sea. Cases crowded with books stood +by the fireplace, fishing rods, cricket bats and oars decorated the +walls. + +"Those aren't mine," said Max, noticing Win's glance as he stood drying +his hands; "only the skiis and racquets. This was Richard's room, Uncle +Dick's only son. He was a subaltern in the British army, just twenty +when he was killed in the charge on Majuba Hill. They have always given +me his room at the Manor. I fancy Uncle liked to have it occupied by a +boy again." + +"Colonel Lisle himself must have done some fighting," observed Win. +"How did he lose his arm?" + +"For years he was an officer in India. He lost his arm defending the +Khyber Pass against the Afghans." + +Max took his guest down the main staircase to the great entrance hall, +with its high raftered roof, and stone floor half covered by valuable +Oriental rugs. Suits of shining armor lent glints of light; curious +spears, ancient swords and firearms, many of them very old, were +fastened on walls dark with age. Win stopped to look at the carved +mantel over the great fireplace, sporting the leopards of Jersey, the +Lisle coat of arms and the date 1509. + +"Imagine living in a house built all those centuries ago," he sighed. +"This is older than the library, isn't it?" + +"Somewhat," replied Max. "The wing here is the oldest part of the +house. Let's come to Uncle's study. I fancy he'll be there." + +Colonel Lisle was lounging near the fire, but appeared very willing to +put aside his book and welcome the two. + +"And have you had tea, Uncle?" Max inquired. "We haven't, and I could +do nicely with a cup." + +"With all those gallons of tea on the lawn, it is a pity if an +able-bodied young gentleman couldn't secure one cup," said the Colonel +smiling. "Now you mention it, I believe I have had none either. Ring +the bell by all means and order it. I was absorbed in verifying some +points of old Norman law," he added to Win. "Our islands have an +interesting history." + +"Win is pleased that Prince Charles has left his mark on Jersey," +observed Max, giving the bell-pull a vigorous twitch. "Tell him, Uncle, +about his stopping here." + +"Such is the legend handed down from father to son," replied the +Colonel. "The story goes that the prince was brought to the Manor +immediately after landing in Jersey. Just where he landed and how he +was conveyed here is not known, but his stay was short. The owner of +the Manor at that date, another Richard Lisle,--he whose portrait hangs +in the library,--was an ardent Royalist who would have risked +everything to serve his prince. Authorities agree that Charles spent +the period of his stay in one of the castles, some say Orgueil, others +Elizabeth. Probably the Manor roof sheltered him but for a few hours. I +should very much like to see the legend of his stop in this house +authenticated beyond question. Max tells me you are fond of books," the +speaker continued. "After tea, I will show you some of our special +treasures." + +Win's face, already alight with interest, grew even more responsive to +this offer, yet as the tea came, he felt unaccountably stupid and +idiotic. Utter disgust with himself filled his mind to think he +couldn't get to the point then and there of telling his kind host about +that letter he had discovered. + +Max noticed that Win was ill at ease, attributed it to shyness or +perhaps awe of the Colonel, who was, as Max put it, "a bit impressive +till a fellow knew him," and tried to help matters by talking nonsense +that amazed Win and evidently amused the Colonel. Gradually, as he saw +that Max was not in the least afraid of the dignified owner of the +Manor, Win began to feel less tongue-tied. + +Presently came a sound of gay voices, a tap at the door and Constance, +the girls, and Roger entered. + +"The tea-party is gone and in its place is peace," said Connie. "Daddy +dear, I want you to meet Frances and Edith. And this is Roger. Max, why +didn't you have tea with us and the kiddies?" + +"Because of buns," said Max. "My bun-eating days are past." + +"Not so long past!" retorted Constance with a mischievous smile. "Not +so many years ago that I bribed you with a penny bun to steal a tooth +for me out of a skull in the Capuchin church! He did it, too," she +added to the girls, laughing delightedly at this charge. "You haven't +been in Rome? The Capuchin monks have a church there with some holy +earth brought from Jerusalem. Years ago,--they don't do it now, because +modern sanitary laws have invaded Rome,--the monks who died were buried +in this earth. Only of course as the centuries passed, there wasn't +room for them all, so the monks longest buried had to get up and give +place to others. Their bones were arranged in nice neat patterns on the +walls, and the skulls heaped in piles. It was a tooth from one of these +skulls that I fancied. Max ate the bun and stole the tooth for me, but +Daddy wouldn't let me keep it and made Max put it back." + +"Oh, how could you ever want such a thing, Miss Connie!" exclaimed +Edith, shuddering with horror. + +"I wonder, why did I?" said Constance reflectively. "It certainly +doesn't appeal to me now. Mother was shocked; she disinfected +everything that tooth had touched. Are you through tea, Daddy? I want +to take the girls into the library." + +Once again in the old book-room, Win recovered his self-possession in +admiration of its treasures of illuminated missal and manuscript. His +interest pleased his host, who ended by cordially inviting the boy to +visit the Manor library whenever and as often as he chose to come. +Win's genuine delight over this permission touched the Colonel, who +from his own physical handicap, guessed that life was not always smooth +for Win. + +Win's pleasure arose not merely from the enjoyment of the library +itself but because he would surely grow better acquainted with the +Manor family and have a more favorable opportunity to show his +discovery in the old Psalter. + +He was very quiet on the way home and scarcely spoke while Fran was +giving her mother a graphic account of the afternoon. Win hardly knew +she was talking until his attention was caught by a dramatic remark. + +"Miss Connie told us something so exciting, Mother," Fran was saying. +"Roger asked her if there was a ghost. He blurted it right out and I +was quite mortified, because you know if they did have one and were +sensitive, it would have seemed impolite. But Miss Connie said right +away that the Manor had all modern improvements, including a +well-behaved and most desirable ghost. Then she and Mr. Max looked at +each other and laughed. She said the haunted room was above the library +and promised to give us a chance to investigate some day. I wanted +dreadfully to ask about secret stairs,--you remember what that boy at +Orgueil said--but perhaps when we are looking for the ghost there will +be a chance to speak of the stairs." + +"Indeed, you've had a most interesting afternoon," agreed Mrs. Thayne, +"the discovery of a haunted room at the Manor being not the least." + +"And what have you done all by yourself, _poor_ Mother?" said Frances, +suddenly sympathetic and affectionate. + +"Part of the afternoon I was out and since then I have been talking +with Estelle. If she only felt she could, it would be so much better +for her to go more among people, for the constant effort to be brave +when she is so much alone, is very wearing. She seems so pathetically +grateful that we chanced to come to her this winter instead of other +less congenial lodgers. Sometime I hope she will speak frankly of just +how they are situated and whether she has plans beyond this season, for +I might be able to further them. And I hope, too, I shall succeed in +placing the something familiar that always strikes me in Estelle. Have +you ever noticed it, Fran? To my surprise, Win said the other day that +Estelle reminded him of some one." + +"No," said Fran. "I never noticed it. But I might ask Edith whether +they have any relatives in the United States." + +"That could do no harm," assented Mrs. Thayne thoughtfully. "Since Win +spoke of it also, the resemblance must be to some one we know over +there." + +Frances and her mother went away but Win sat thinking for some moments. +The mention of secret stairs recalled to him, though he could not say +why, that odd dream twice experienced since he came to Jersey, of a +search in a narrow unfamiliar passage, with unknown companions, for +something unspecified. + +With a start he finally roused himself and went upstairs. Before going +to bed he read again the copy of Richard Lisle's letter. + +"There's more to this than just the coming of the prince," he thought. +"That's a fact, but if that 'safe place' can be discovered, I'll +warrant we shall find the Spanish Chest and whatever 'relicks' Richard +and his 'Sonne' put into it." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE MANOR CAVE + + +A few days after the school treat, Maxfield Hamilton was sauntering +slowly across the Manor grounds. The January sky above shone blue as in +a New England June, gay crocuses starred the short green grass, +snowdrops and bluebells were already budded. From heights unknown +floated the song of a skylark; in the holly hedge sat an English robin. + +Max heard the skylark but did not notice the robin as he stopped at the +gates to look down to the sea, stretching to shining horizons under the +afternoon sun. His face was thoughtful and rather sober. + +The robin gave a little cheep and Max turned to discover the bird +almost at his elbow, a tiny scrap of olive feathers and bright red +breast, considering him with soft wise eyes, head on one side. + +"Hello, old chap," Max remarked. "What do _you_ think of this world?" + +From the tone, the robin might have inferred that the speaker's opinion +was anything but favorable. Considering him for a second, he concluded +him inoffensive and began to peck at the glowing holly berries. + +Max wandered slowly through the gates and across the Manorhold to the +shore, distant at this point about a quarter of a mile. Two or three +stone cottages with picturesque straw-thatched roofs lay near the +cliffs, property of the Manor and usually occupied by employees. + +With the thoughtful expression still on his face, Max passed the +cottages to stop on the edge of the cliffs already showing yellow with +gorse. Should the tide serve, he had it in mind to revisit a haunt of +his boyhood. A moment's scrutiny showed him right in thinking that the +tide was on the ebb and he started rapidly down a rough, rather +slippery path. As he rounded an outlying rock he came full on Roger +Thayne. + +Sprawled flat on the sloping cliff, Roger was watching so intently the +doings of a spider that he did not look up until a shadow fell squarely +across the web. + +"That you, Roger?" said Max. "Alone? Where are Win and the girls?" + +"I don't know," replied Roger, flushing uncomfortably. "That is, I +don't know where the girls are." + +"Win's not ill, I hope?" + +"No, he isn't." Roger rolled over to look at his visitor. The young +face wore a pleasant smile and the gray eyes were friendly, but somehow +Roger had a suspicion that Mr. Max wasn't the sort to approve outright +truancy. + +"Win's all right," he added evasively. "He's studying or something." + +A queer little expression crossed Max's lips. "Then since you have a +holiday,--well-deserved, no doubt,--come on exploring with me." + +Roger was on his feet in a second, the arrow of reproof glancing off +unnoted. "Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"Oh, just down here a few rods. We may have to hold up for the tide. It +won't be low water for some time yet." + +The faint path presently ended in piles of red granite, still wet from +the sea, in places slippery with vraic, as the Jerseymen call the +seaweed used as fertilizer for their land. + +"We shall have to stop a bit," said Max, after a short steep descent. +As he spoke he sat down and began to crush a bit of vraic between his +fingers. + +"This seaweed is one of the biggest assets the farmers have," he said +to Roger. "You'll enjoy being here in February when the great vraic +harvest comes. The farmers go down to the shore with carts and a sort +of sickle. At low tide the southern shore is black with people cutting +the seaweed from the rocks. The carts are used to carry it up beyond +tide-mark. Men, women and young people all turn out and it's one of the +sights of the island. The harvest lasts for several weeks and for the +first few days there is a continual picnic with dancing and all sorts +of jollifications." + +"But I've often seen men gathering seaweed on the beach," said Roger. +"It isn't February yet." + +"They are gathering the loose weed that is washed ashore. Any one may +take that between the hours of sunrise and sunset, but he must stop at +sound of the sunset gun. The cutting from the rocks is regulated by a +hallowed custom. In June there's a second harvest when only the poor +people may cut the vraic for a few weeks. After they have had their +turn anybody may cut it till the last of August." + +As he concluded, Max threw away the seaweed and picked up one of the +abundant black flint pebbles. For some moments he amused himself by +striking sparks from it with the back of a knife blade. + +"I haven't lost the knack," he remarked. "By the way, have you found +any flint knives? They turn up occasionally, though more often inland +than in a place like this. They are relics of the days when the Druids +were in Jersey. You've seen the burial mounds, haven't you,--the +Dolmens?" + +"I have," said Roger briefly. "In Bill Fish's company. Liked the stones +all right enough, but Bill can't talk, you know. He expounds." + +Max grinned. "Bad Writ, that," he agreed. "Come along. We can get +through now." + +[Illustration: THEY CAME UPON THE LOVELIEST OF LITTLE BEACHES] + +Climbing carefully around a slippery projecting rock, its base yet +submerged, they came upon the loveliest of lovely little beaches, in +shape almost a semi-circle, the water forming the bisector and the +frowning red cliffs the arc. Near the centre of the half-circle stood +two tall pinnacles of red granite. Behind them yawned an entrance about +five feet high and under this Max bent his tall head. Roger followed +and uttered a whistle of pleasure and amazement. + +They stood in a large cave, floored by fine bright yellow sea sand, +broken irregularly by out-croppings of rose-pink rock, sand and rock +alike wet and glistening. Away to the back of the cave, Roger saw that +the floor rose higher. The roof was iridescent with green and yellow +lichens; pebbles of jasper, cornelian and agate strewed the sand. + +In the twelve years of his existence, Roger had never seen anything +like this and surprise rendered him inarticulate. + +"Some cave!" he commented at length. "Look, Mr. Max, what are these?" + +"Oh, haven't you met any sea-anemones? The pools are full of them. +Jolly little beggars." + +Roger was naturally less enthusiastic over the charming water-gardens +than the girls when they chanced upon them, but he was considerably +interested in the numerous and varicolored snails, their shells bright +green or delicate pink, truly entrancing to pick up and examine. By the +time Roger finished a somewhat minute inspection his companion was out +of sight. + +"Hello!" he shouted in some concern. + +"Right-oh!" came a quiet reply. + +Bather abashed by the startling echoes he had evoked, Roger climbed +over fallen rocks to the back of the cave. There the floor rose +sharply, affording a level apparently beyond reach of the tide, for +some tiny land plants had found a lodging, ferns waved from the +crannied vault and there was no sign of any marine growth. + +"This used to be a favorite resort of mine," said Max, who was sitting +on the high ledge, some five feet wide. Beyond, the cave ended in a +mass of stone and rubble. + +Roger's eyes grew wide. "What a dandy place!" he exclaimed. + +"Not much compared with the Plemont caves," replied his companion. +"You'll probably go there before leaving the island. There are five or +six of them and one has a waterfall dividing it into two distinct +caves. Plemont is the spot where the cable comes in from England, +crawls out of the ocean like a great dripping hoary old sea-serpent to +trail through a cleft to the station on the cliff above. This is a +rat-hole beside those caves." + +"I'll take steps to go there," said Roger earnestly. "Say, does the +water ever come up here?" + +"I don't think so. Even at the spring tides, it would probably not +reach within two feet of this ledge. Only a rip-snorter of a tempest +could endanger goods stored here, or even anybody who chose this cave +to hide in." + +"Some hiding-place," admitted Roger. + +"So I've found it. When I was about your age, I came down here because +I was annoyed with the world in general and stopped between two tides." + +"Really?" gasped Roger. "Did you get wet?" + +"Not a bit. I'll admit that things seemed spooky when I'd waited so +long that I couldn't get out. I took solid comfort in the ferns and in +a sea pink that had put out a scared little blossom right where we are +sitting. I was shut in the better part of six hours and time proved a +bit slow. I remember coming to the conclusion that perhaps the people +I'd left behind weren't so utterly unreasonable after all. I fancy it's +a rather sure sign that when you can't rub along with anybody, the +trouble isn't altogether with them." + +Roger looked at him suspiciously but Max's gaze was bent on the cave +entrance, arching over a wonderful view of blue sea. + +"Do you like to live in Paris?" he asked hastily. + +"I'd rather stop in Rome where my father is," Max replied, suppressing +a smile over the sudden change of subject. "But Dad runs up +occasionally. I feel as though I'd be more use in Rome because there I +know everybody who is anybody, you see, and it would be a help to the +Embassy. Dad thinks I may be able to work a transfer after a year or +so. If the Ambassador to Italy remarks to the State Department at +Washington that Maxfield Hamilton seems a likely young chap with both +eyes open and that he wouldn't mind having him on his staff, why Max +may receive a document telling him to pack his little box and attach +his person to the Embassy at Rome." + +Roger laughed. "Then you don't like Paris?" + +"Oh, yes," said Max thoughtfully. "I've had a jolly time socially. I +can't imagine anybody in my circumstances not enjoying himself. But +it's not where I most want to be. It's up to me to make good so +emphatically that they'll hand me on to Rome with a word in my favor." + +"I expect they will," said Roger. + +"Not if I don't buckle down," said Max half to himself. "Something +happened last October that gave me a jolt and it has been hard to stick +to work. I came over here for the holidays determined to get myself in +hand again. I think I've succeeded, old chap, so I'd better go back and +dig in. A man mustn't whine, you know, if it looks jolly final that he +isn't going to have everything he wants. I've wasted time enough. I +must go back to Paris now and keep my mind on my job." + +"I bunked Bill Fish this afternoon," admitted Roger suddenly. + +"No doubt he was a frightful bore," commented Max without showing the +least surprise. "Probably I'd have done the same in your place. The +only disadvantage about shying at disagreeable things like tutors is +that one hardly ever gets rid of them after all. I'm becoming convinced +that the only way to get round a difficulty is to hit it in the head +and walk over its flattened corpse." + +Roger grinned. "Shall I bat Bill Fish?" he asked. + +"Bill Fish might be worse. Don't blame you for feeling him a freak, but +the schools in Jersey are footy affairs. If you want a fair sample of a +school you'd have to try England proper. We've messed about here long +enough. Let's take a swim." + +"Does the cave end here?" asked Roger, looking at the pile of broken +stone beyond the shelf. + +"I suppose so. It's the only one on the Manor lands so Connie and I +liked to come. Uncle Dick wouldn't permit it unless a grown person was +with us to watch the tide. How about a dip? No one can see us." + +Max left the ridge to saunter toward the entrance, stopping to +investigate more than one pool of anemones. "By the way," he added, "I +wouldn't tell the girls of this cave. They'll be keen on searching for +it afternoons when they are free and you aren't, and may get into a +mess with the tides. Really it's not quite safe." + +[Illustration: PLEMONT IS THE SPOT WHERE THE CABLE COMES IN FROM +ENGLAND] + +"All right," agreed Roger, sliding from the shelf. As he did so, a +sudden current of warm air struck him, quite unlike the rather damp, +salty atmosphere of the cave. His curiosity was sufficiently aroused to +cause him to stop and look back, but Max had already begun to undress +and there seemed no possible place for a sweet land breeze to find +entrance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + + +Max's abrupt departure two days later was a great disappointment to +Win, who admired him greatly and coveted a closer acquaintance. That he +should cut short his stay on the plea of work to be done seemed +reasonable to the others but his going quite upset Win. Nor was this +disappointment lightened by a period of semi-invalidism when all +exertion was difficult and patience very far to seek. Not for some +weeks after Max left was Win able to take advantage of the Colonel's +prized invitation to use the Manor library. + +He made his first visit, fully determined to broach the discovery of +Richard Lisle's letter to either the Colonel or his daughter, whichever +should appear, but Yvonne, who admitted him with a smiling welcome, +reported neither at home. + +Nor did fortune favor his second attempt. The Colonel was in St. +Helier's and Constance entertaining a group of young people on the +lawn. Win dodged these visitors and from the library windows looked +down upon a lively set of tennis. Players and spectators alike seemed +to know one another extremely well. The inference Win drew was correct, +that for some reason, the little lady of the Manor chose just now to +crowd her life with social engagements and gay festivities. + +Time had been when Win didn't care to watch others play games he could +not share, but Win was learning that every life has its compensations; +when one is debarred from one thing, he is sure to have another in its +place. Without envy Win watched them for a time before turning to the +books. + +His third visit was made on a morning in early February when walking +was rather difficult owing to a penetrating rain. Wintry weather seemed +to have visited the Island, but the cold was deceptive, for though a +heavy coat was acceptable, plenty of flowers were in blossom, even a +number of surprised-looking roses. + +On reaching the Manor, Win was admitted by cordial Yvonne, who at once +conducted him to his sanctuary. The room was empty, but a cheery fire +glowed on the hearth, and on the long bare black oak table stood an +enormous copper bowl full of fresh daffodils, making a spot of light +and beauty in the sombre room. + +Win spent a few moments warming his hands at the fire and considering +thoughtfully the back of the old Psalter in which was shut Richard +Lisle's letter. Perhaps opportunity would favor him to-day, some chance +be provided to show that discovery to either Miss Connie or her father. + +That its contents referred to Prince Charles was established beyond +doubt by the existing legend of his entertainment at the Manor, but the +letter said much more than that. Only some one thoroughly familiar with +the Manor and its possessions could interpret further. As the rain beat +on the terrace outside, Win chanced to look up at the portrait near the +fireplace, and instantly recalled that curious dream. + +"I dreamed all that stuff just because I've always been crazy to go +treasure-hunting," he thought, "and because that old Cavalier was the +last thing I saw before I went to sleep. Well, I might go and read for +a while." + +With a glance of admiration at some fine old armor passed on the way, +Win went into the farther room to settle himself on the comfortable +window seat with a fat history of the island of Jersey. + +Fully an hour passed before the sound of low voices penetrated his +consciousness. Gradually he became aware that two people were now +occupying the seat before the smouldering fire. One was Constance +Lisle, the other some one Win had never seen before, a dark +distinguished-looking young man, evidently of foreign blood. + +Connie was leaning back in the corner of the old settle, her white +dress and the neighboring bowl of daffodils standing out as high lights +in the shadowy surroundings. Her companion, beside her, was bending +slightly forward, his face turned eagerly toward hers. + +Had he wished to listen, Win could not distinguish the low words. That +fact absolved him from the necessity of making his presence known, for +leave he could not without passing through the room. Presently the +young man raised his voice and Win realized that he was speaking in +Italian. + +For the moment, interest in the present dismissed the past. Win had +heard the girls' chatter about their adored Miss Connie and the romance +attributed to her by Mrs. Trott, but boy-like, paid very little +attention to what he considered the foolish fancies of sentimental +kids. Now he was startled into sudden interest. + +That stranger must be Miss Connie's Italian prince. Very handsome and +very much of a gentleman he looked and most earnest their conversation. +Yet even to an inexperienced observer, it was not that of two happy +young people, entering a sunny stretch of life, but of a boy and girl +confronted with some stern and very present problem. Connie's hands +were clasped too tightly, there was a sense of strain in the poise of +her head. Her companion's pose was one of perplexity and doubt. + +Win remembered what else he had heard of that rumored engagement, not +much to be sure, save that strong pressure was being put upon the last +of the Santo-Pontes in order to secure the estates and title of a great +Roman house to the church of his ancestors. + +Presently Win realized that he had no right even to look on. He turned +his face to the storm and again buried himself in his old volume. + +A long time later he heard his name and Constance strolled alone +through the arch from the other room. She looked pale and tired but +otherwise composed. + +"I didn't know you were here, Win," she said as she came to his chosen +window. + +"I've been stuck in this book for ages. Miss Connie, I've found the +most interesting thing ever." + +"What is it?" Connie inquired listlessly, wondering, but not +particularly caring whether Win knew of her interview with Louis di +Santo-Ponte. She looked sweet and wistful as she stood leaning against +the window seat, her mind down in the town where the boat for St. Malo +was getting up steam. "Tell me about it, Win," she added, recalling her +wandering thoughts. She liked Win as she liked most young people. + +"Come and see," said Win, replacing his history in its case. Connie +accompanied him to the fireplace in the main room. + +"Did you ever look at that book?" he inquired, indicating the worn old +Psalter. + +"There are several thousand books here that I never looked at," said +Connie promptly. "Max is the one who browses in this part of the +library. Ah, he's been here lately, reading his horrid old German +philosophers." With an air of disgust she pointed to the blue-bound +modern volumes. + +"What is this book that interests you so much!" she went on, taking It +from the shelf. "Oh, an old copy of the Psalms. Look at its odd type." + +"It isn't the book that interests me," said Win, "but this paper. I +found it accidentally. Do read it, Miss Connie, and see what you make +of it." + +After her first perusal, Constance grew as excited as Win. With the +deliberate purpose of putting her troubles from her mind, she +concentrated her attention on this discovery. + +"The prince of course refers to Charles, because it is an historical +fact that he took refuge in Jersey," began Win. + +"Yes, and there's the legend that he was entertained here at the +Manor," exclaimed Connie. "Why Dad will be crazy about this, for it +proves that story!" + +"I hoped he'd be pleased," said Win happily. + +"Oh, he will!" replied Connie. "Charles was just a boy, only sixteen, +at the time he fled from England." + +"Ever since I saw two letters in the British Museum, Charles the Second +has seemed a very real person to me," said Win smiling. "Do you know +them, Miss Connie? One is from Queen Henrietta Maria to Prince Charles, +expressing great regret that the prince has refused to take the +'physick' prescribed for him, and hoping that he will consent to do so +on the following day, for if he didn't she should be obliged to come to +him and she trusted he would not give her that 'paine.' She had also +requested the Duke of Newcastle to report to her whether he took it or +not and so she 'rested.' + +"But what I liked best," Win went on, "was the letter Prince Charles +wrote. He evidently didn't reply to his mother, but sent a note to the +Duke of Newcastle in which he flatly refused to take the 'physick' and +advised the Duke not to take any either!" + +Connie laughed. "That does seem a touch of real boy nature, doesn't it? +But I'm afraid Prince Charles was rather a rotten young cub, not worth +the affection expended on him nor the good lives laid down in his +cause. The Richard Lisle who wrote this letter was my great-great--oh, +I don't know how many times removed--grandfather! It's plain that +Prince Charles came here to the Manor, was fed and provided with a +change, and escorted to the castle, probably Orgueil. But what the +'relicks' are and what the 'safe place,' I can't tell. Nor do I know +what is meant by the Spanish chest. If there was anything of that +description around the Manor I'd jolly well know it." + +"Would Colonel Lisle know?" asked Win eagerly. + +"I wonder, will he?" mused Connie after a pause spent in close scrutiny +of the document. "We'll ask. Anyway, he'll be awfully interested +because here it is in black and white that Prince Charles was brought +to the Manor. Win, it's storming desperately and I'm bored to death. +I'm going to send Pierre to St. Aubin's to tell your mother that you +won't be back for luncheon. We'll show Dad your find and bring our +united minds to bear on the problem." + +Win was sorely tempted. The walk through the storm had taxed his +strength. Should he struggle back, the chances were that he would be +too tired for any lessons after his arrival. + +"Your tutor won't matter, will he?" asked Connie. "You're not expected +to be so regular as Roger." + +Wingate grinned. "I was thinking how angry Roger will be if he finds +himself the sole object of Bill Fish's attention this afternoon. Thank +you, Miss Connie. I want mightily to stay. I ought not to have come up +here today when it was storming, but since I'm here the wisest thing is +to wait for a time. And I'm wild to know what your father thinks of +this paper. I will send a note to Mother if I may." + +"I'll write, too," said Constance, "and I shall tell her that we'll +keep you all night if the rain continues. I need somebody to play with +me, Win. I'm jolly glad you did brave the storm." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + + +Roger's state of mind at finding himself destined to be the sole object +of Bill Fish's ministrations that afternoon was laughable. He vowed to +Frances that he also would take French leave and bitterly denounced Win +for absconding, declaring it a "put up job." + +"Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't come," consoled Frances. "The storm has +really grown much worse since morning." + +"Indeed he will," said Roger darkly. "Fishes like water. I only hope +he'll wipe his fins when he comes in. The last rainy day he dripped all +over the room. I was 'most drowned before we finished. But it was mean +and sneaky of Win to go up to the Manor this morning. He might have +known that I wanted help with my arithmetic." + +"Perhaps I can help," offered Frances. Luncheon just over, the +unwelcome Mr. Fisher was due in twenty minutes. + +"Oh, you may try," conceded Roger ungraciously. "But if Win stays up +there all night, I'll pay him out." + +"Mother thinks from Miss Connie's note that they were doing something +very interesting and she really wanted him," Fran said lazily, her face +pressed against the pane. "How angry and gray the water looks." + +"I've a great mind to bunk," said Roger gloomily. "It's not fair for me +to work alone all the afternoon." + +"Edith and I have been at school all the morning," said the +peace-making Frances. "And Win does work when he can; he never really +shirks, Roger." + +"He _likes_ to study," grumbled Roger. "I don't." + +"There are so many things you can do that Win can't," reminded his +sister. + +"Don't preach," retorted Roger, but Fran's comment recalled to his mind +the conversation with Max in the cave. Boy-like, Roger would not admit +even to himself any repentance for his short-comings on that occasion, +but the recollection served to smooth his present ruffled feelings. Win +had worked alone with Bill Fish all that afternoon and Roger remembered +most distinctly how Mr. Max looked when he said he was going back to +Paris and waste no more time. + +"Win is having fun, I'm sure," said Fran at length. "Miss Connie +promised Edith and me that we shall come up and sleep in the haunted +room some night if we like." + +"What's it haunted by?" demanded Roger. + +"She wouldn't tell us. Says if we know, we'll be sure to see things. +But she is going to have a bed put up for herself and come in with us, +so I'm sure it's nothing very dreadful. I'm so glad we came to Jersey +just so we could know Miss Connie." + +"Some girl," admitted Roger. "But she can't hold a candle to Mr. Max. +He's a corker." + +"He is nice," Frances agreed. "But show me your arithmetic. And would +you like me to sit in the room? Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't be so fierce +if I am there." + +"I would not," was her brother's concise reply. "He isn't fierce +either; he's merely flappy. I tell you he _is_ a fish. He looks exactly +like one of those flatfish we catch down in Maine. Eyes both on one +side." + +Nothing more unlike the tall, angular Scotch tutor could possibly have +been mentioned, but Fran suppressed a laugh as she inspected Roger's +problems in mathematics. + +"Me doing arithmetic!" he groaned. "And Win having the time of his life +at the Manor!" + +If not exactly experiencing such bliss, Win was thoroughly enjoying +himself. After luncheon in the charming old Manor dining-room with a +cheerful fire dispelling all gloom caused by the rain on the windows, +the three adjourned to Colonel Lisle's study, where Win placed upon the +table his discovery. The Colonel read it with great interest. + +"Well, that is a valuable document, Win," he admitted. "It is evidently +a page from a letter that Richard Lisle, fourth, wrote to some one and +never sent. I am the ninth Richard, so you see how far back that was. +Of course it refers to the Prince of Wales, afterwards Charles II of +England. It is a curious fact in the history of the Channel Islands +that Guernsey sided with the Parliament in its dispute with the king, +while Jersey remained royalist to the core. I am under great +obligations to you for discovering this paper, for it proves beyond +doubt the legend that I have always wished to see substantiated, that +Prince Charles came to Laurel Manor." + +"Don't you make out, Daddy, that they gave him other clothes and took +him to the castle?" asked his daughter. + +"Without doubt. Orgueil, or possibly Castle Elizabeth. I believe that +the consensus of opinion now favors Elizabeth as having been the +prince's refuge." + +"What do you make of the rest of it, sir?" asked Win, who was still +beaming with happiness over the Colonel's appreciation. "It says in so +many words that they put something in a chest and hid it until the +trouble was over." + +"That much is plain," replied his host thoughtfully. The paper was +spread upon his desk and the young people sat on either side. Win's +attention was distracted for a moment by his view of the Colonel's +distinguished face, the face of an high-bred English gentleman. With +all the impetuosity of his American birth and training, Win felt the +charm of this gentleman of other race and another generation. He +admired the Colonel's complete repose, his courteous ways and softly +modulated voice. They were not in the least effeminate and the empty +sleeve and the little bronze Victoria cross bore witness that the +Colonel was a very gallant officer. + +"I think," began Constance, "that Great-great-grandfather Dick and his +'Sonne' put the prince's clothes and perhaps some other things in a +chest and hid them. Dad, did you ever know of anything answering to the +description of 'ye Spanish chest'?" + +The Colonel thoughtfully smoothed his gray mustache. "There is the box +that came from the Armada," he remarked. "But that cannot be the one +referred to, since that belonged to your mother, my dear, and comes +from her side of the house." + +"Mummy was Irish," Connie explained to Win. "I'll show you that box. It +really was washed up on the coast of Ireland and has been in her family +for centuries. No, of course, it couldn't be that." + +"A Spanish chest does not necessarily mean a relic of the Armada," went +on the Colonel. "There might possibly be a box of Spanish workmanship, +but I know of none in the Manor to which that description could be +applied. That big black oak chest in the upper hall is English. The one +in my room is Flemish." + +"Oh, those are both too big, anyway," declared Constance. "Even men in +a hurry wouldn't take a box as big as those to pack a suit of clothes +in. No, it was something that could be easily carried and concealed. It +takes four servants to move those great arks." + +"Then, if there isn't anything in the Manor that answers the +description, don't you believe the chest and the things in it are still +hidden?" Win asked rather shyly, but with keen interest. + +The Colonel smiled kindly. "Sorry to quench your enthusiasm, Win," he +said, "but I doubt it. Prince Charles landed in Jersey in 1646 if my +memory serves. Subtract that date from this year of our Lord. I'm +afraid that chest, whatever it was, has long since emerged from its +hiding-place. According to the document here, it was concealed only +till 'happier times should dawne.' Prince Charlie came to his own +again, you remember. This Richard Lisle died somewhere where about +1675. He lived to see the Restoration, so surely he or his son brought +to light again the things that there was no longer reason to conceal." + +"But, Daddy," said Constance quickly, noticing the look of +disappointment on Win's expressive face. "People forget. Let's think of +all the possibilities. It says some place outside the walls. And they +needed a lantern." + +"There is the cave, daughter, at the edge of the Manor estates, but you +know all about that. Why, I know that cave myself, I was going to say, +every grain of sand in it." + +"That's true," admitted Connie. "And of course in all the centuries, +numbers of people have been there." + +"Considering the brisk trade in smuggling that was done in Jersey +during the 1700's, I think the chances of finding anything in the Manor +cave are very small," agreed her father. "There is one thing, though, +we might look at." + +As he spoke, he rose and produced his keys. Swinging back a portrait on +hinges, he disclosed a small safe built into the wall. Win was silent +through interest in this novel way of concealing a strong-box, but +Constance jumped up. + +"What are you looking for. Daddy? Oh, the plans of the Manor." + +"You see," said the Colonel to Win as he sat clown again, a discolored +roll of papers in his hand, "the original Manor house has been added to +from time to time. Let us see what it comprised in the days when +Richard Lisle read his Psalter and wrote his letter. It is possible +that something then outside the wall may now be inside the house." + +"There's a number of queer things about this old place," said Connie, +sharing Win's look of expectation. "Max and I have run a good many of +them to earth, but there may be something yet. Certainly we never +stumbled on any Spanish chest." + +The two young people helped the Colonel spread the plans and arrange +paper-weights to keep them flat. + +"This comprises not only the house itself but the grounds," he began. +"They run as you see to the cliffs of the bay. The cave is there." + +"I never knew that," said Win. "Is it large?" + +"Nothing like Plemont or even La Grecq," Constance replied. "Those are +the show caves of Jersey. There are many as big as ours. It's a rather +rough walk, Win, and the cave is accessible only at low tide. I did say +something about it once to Edith and Frances, but they didn't +understand, and after they were caught by the tide, I thought it would +be better for them not to know of it. You see one can get shut in till +the next low water. There's no danger because the vault is so high that +the tide doesn't fill it. In fact, Max deliberately stopped there once." + +"Was he shut in?" asked Win. + +"No," said the Colonel smiling. "He was annoyed with me and took that +method of expressing his displeasure. I fancy he was a trifle surprised +that no fuss was made over his exploit. You see, I knew he was +perfectly safe. Connie, I think that path is possible for Win some day +when the weather and tide both serve. Well, this is the extent of the +original house. It includes this wing where we are and the main +portion. These shaded partitions show distinctly where later additions +have been made." + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired. + +"That? It is a footpath toward the shore and the gardener's cottage. I +should say that the present path curves more, but that is its direction +in general." + +Win was puzzled by this explanation. Why should only one of the Manor +paths be marked? That it was the sole one existing at the time the +plans were drawn seemed scarcely possible. + +"That 'safe place,' if it was outside the walls in those days would +probably have been somewhere underground," commented Connie, after the +map had been exhaustively discussed. "That might mean that it is now in +the cellars somewhere. Dad, have we your permission to explore all the +subterranean caverns?" + +"If there are any that you haven't already investigated," said the +amused Colonel. "I didn't suppose there was a square inch of the place +that you and Max hadn't by heart." + +"I thought so, too," said Constance, "but if Win's theories are +correct, there must be something we have overlooked. What do you say +about an exploration, Win?" + +"Oh, I should like nothing better," said Win eagerly. "It will be great +sport to hunt for that chest. And it's so interesting to look around a +house that has been in the same family for centuries." + +"There has been a Richard Lisle of Laurel Manor for over four hundred +years," said the Colonel rather sadly. "I am the last of a long line." + +"The only solution," said Constance quickly, "is for your unworthy +daughter to marry some perfectly insignificant person, who will as a +part of the marriage contract, take the name of Lisle." + +"The man who marries my daughter," replied the Colonel with gentle +dignity, "will have an honorable and, I trust, an honored name of his +own to offer her." + +"Else he will never get her," commented Connie with charming +impertinence. "Daddy dear, if I could find a man one half as nice as +you are, I'd marry him on the spot! Win, we'll arrange to head an +exploring expedition. It's too cold and spooky in the cellars to do it +this afternoon. We'll plan for a time when Roger and the girls can +share the sport. I wish Max was here, too. He would simply dote on it." + +"I wish he was!" sighed Win. "I was dreadfully disappointed when I +heard he had gone. I think he's about right." + +A sudden very charming smile broke over Connie's face. Up to that time, +it had been rather serious. "If we don't solve the problem before the +Easter holidays," she said, "Max will be keen on running it down. I +hope he can come then. He took so long at Christmas that I'm afraid +they'll dock him at Easter, and I shall be completely desolated if that +happens." + +"I think he will come," said the Colonel. "In fact he told me he might +be able to get away for an occasional week-end. With a fast car it is +not so far to Granville or even St. Malo and he need waste no time +waiting for the steamer." + +Constance suddenly sat up straight. "Max mustn't neglect his duties," +she declared. "Either he has a very indulgent chief or he is hedging." + +Her attitude was so comically severe that Win laughed, and her father +looked up with a smile. + +"I can't be responsible for what Max tells his chief," he remarked, +"but I know enough about the diplomatic service to feel sure he is +giving satisfaction." + +Constance still looked stern. "It's all right, of course, if he really +earns his week-end," she conceded, "but I won't have him shirking. In +October he was so serious and quiet that I didn't know what to think of +him, but at Christmas he was the same dear boy he used to be. Didn't +you think he was just like his old self?" + +The Colonel thus appealed to, returned her smile. "There were moments," +he gravely replied, "when I doubted whether either one of you was more +than sixteen." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN THE VAULTS + + +When Win finally appeared at Rose Villa, driven down in a closed +carriage, the tale he related was of sufficient interest to banish from +even Roger's mind the resentment he considered but just, after his long +afternoon with Mr. Fisher. Those hours had been profitable, did Roger +only choose to admit the fact, for the tutor had managed to galvanize +into life the dry bones of an epoch in history. Roger would not +acknowledge it even to himself, but on that stormy day he came rather +near liking Bill Fish. + +"That's a most exciting discovery, Win," said Mrs. Thayne when the tale +was concluded. "But I'm afraid I agree with Colonel Lisle that the +chances of finding anything are small, though you will have fun +exploring. It is very kind of the Colonel and Miss Connie to permit +such a troop to invade the Manor." + +"I think they are just as interested themselves," Win replied. "The +Colonel was immensely pleased to have that legend confirmed." + +Mrs. Thayne looked at him rather wistfully, wondering how much of the +interest displayed by the Manor family was due to sympathy with Win. No +doubt they liked him, for people always did. Well, she was glad that +this unusual experience was coming his way. + +"I'm crazy to see that cave!" Frances was saying. "Don't you remember, +Edith, when we first met Miss Connie on the beach, she said something +about looking for caves? I suppose she was thinking of this one." + +"I've been in it," Roger suddenly announced. "Mr. Max took me. It's a +very decent cave but there's only one place where a box could be +hidden, on a sort of ledge above the water. We climbed up and if there +had been so much as a snitch of a chest about, it couldn't have escaped +us." + +"You've been _in_ the cave?" demanded Frances, pouncing upon him. "When +did Mr. Max take you? Where were the rest of us? Why didn't you tell +us?" + +Roger looked uncomfortable. He had never mentioned that expedition, not +even to his mother during a very serious conversation on the sin of +truancy. + +"Oh, I met him on the cliff," he said evasively. "He showed me the cave +and we went swimming. He is a corking swimmer." + +"But why didn't you tell us about it?" persisted Frances. + +Roger saw no way out. Being a truthful individual he blurted forth the +facts. + +"Because Mr. Max told me not to. He said it wasn't safe and he was +afraid you girls would go fooling around and get caught by the tide. It +isn't a fit place for girls, either!" he added largely. + +"It is!" retorted the exasperated Frances. "If it wasn't, Miss Connie +wouldn't have been there." + +"I'd wager that Miss Connie did everything Mr. Max did," chuckled Win. +"But the Colonel said to-day that the cave was out of the question so +far as any hidden chest was concerned,--that it couldn't have escaped +discovery all these years. I don't really expect to find anything, +Mother, but it will be great fun to look. I've always wanted to search +for hidden treasure, you know. And Miss Connie seemed as interested as +I was. She has appointed next Wednesday afternoon to explore the +vaults. We are all to come at three and stay for tea afterwards. At +first she suggested that we have it in the cellars, said it would be +nice and cobwebby and befitting a treasure hunt, but then she +remembered that Yvonne was afraid of spiders and wouldn't fancy taking +the tea things down," he ended with a laugh. + +Win was tired that evening and went upstairs early. When Roger +clattered into the adjoining room half an hour later, his brother +called. + +"Oh, you, Roger," he said, "come in here a jiff." + +With a terrific yawn, Roger appeared in the doorway. Win was in bed, a +lighted lamp on a table by his pillow. + +"Could I get down to that cave?" he asked. + +"You could get down," Roger remarked judicially. "It's rather steep but +there's only one bad rock. Still," he added, "if you waited till the +tide was even lower, yon could walk round that. When we came back from +our swim, that bit of cliff was out of water. It would be some tug +crawling up, but you could take it easy." + +"I'd give a good deal to get down there," said Win thoughtfully. "How +was it inside? Much climbing? Any place where a box could be tucked out +of sight?" + +Roger proceeded to describe the interior of the cave, arousing Win's +interest still more. + +"I don't suppose there's hide nor hair of that chest around," he +admitted, "but all the same, I want to take a look. The tide is full +every morning now and it will be the end of the week before we can get +down. As soon as we can, I wish you'd do the pilot act." + +"Oh, I'll show you," assented Roger, again yawning prodigiously. "I +don't take any special stock in this hidden chest, but the cave is fine +and I'll like to take a whack at the Manor cellars. Are you going to +burn that lamp all night?" + +"I am going to read for a while," said his brother, taking a book from +under his pillows. "Shut the door into your room if it annoys you." + +"It doesn't," answered Roger. "I can see to undress by it better than +with my candle. Ridiculous to have only candles in bedrooms! Mother +would give me Hail Columbia if I read in bed the way you do." + +Win suppressed a sigh. "Mother knows I read only when I can't sleep," +he said shortly. "You may not believe it, but I'd much rather sleep." + +Wednesday afternoon found an expectant quartette walking up the Manor +road, slowly because Win paused occasionally to regain breath, but +there were so many lovely things to look at that no delay seemed +irksome. To begin with were fascinating cottages with neat little +box-edged gardens and straw-thatched roofs; curious evergreen trees +with stiff jointed branches known locally as monkey-puzzles; there were +pretty children, some of whom waved hands of recognition; there were +skylarks singing in the blue above, their happy notes falling like +musical rain; there were big black and white magpies and black choughs, +rooks and corbies, now known to the young people by their English +names. And always there were glimpses of the ever-changing, changeless +sea. + +Roger, who had gradually forged ahead, remained leaning over a low +cottage wall until the others came up. In the yard sat a woman milking +one of the pretty, soft-eyed Jersey cows, but what held Roger's +fascinated attention was her milk-pail. + +Instead of the ordinary tin receptacle familiar to Roger during country +summers, she had an enormous copper can with a fat round body, rather +small top and handle at one side like a bloated milk-jug. Over the top +was tied loosely a piece of coarse cloth and on this rested a clean sea +shell. Streams of milk directed into the shell slowly overflowed its +edges to strain through the cloth and subside gently into the can. + +"That's something of a milk pail," observed Roger approvingly. + +"It's just like the hot-water jugs Annette brings in the morning," said +Frances, "only ten times bigger. Wouldn't it be lovely for goldenrod +and asters? I'm going to ask Mother to buy one." + +"Pretty sight you'll be walking up the dock at Boston with that on your +arm," jeered Roger. "It will never go in any trunk and you'll have to +carry it everywhere you go. You needn't ask me to lug it, either." + +"It can be crated and sent that way," said Frances calmly. + +"Those hot-water jugs make me tired," Roger went on as they continued +their walk. "I'm sick to death of having a quart of lukewarm water in a +watering-pot dumped at my door every morning. Think of the hot water we +have at home, gallons and gallons of it, steaming, day or night!" + +Edith looked politely incredulous. "How can that be?" she asked. "Do +you keep coals on the kitchen fire all night?" + +"Coals!" snorted Roger. "All we have to do is to turn a faucet and that +lights a heater and the water runs hot as long as you leave it turned +on. No quart pots for us!" + +"But surely," said Edith, "only very wealthy people can have luxuries +like that." + +"We're not made of money but we have it," retorted Roger. "Even workmen +have hot-water heaters in their houses." + +From Edith's face it was plain that she frankly didn't believe him and +Win tried to make matters better. + +"You see, Edith," he explained, "it is much more difficult in the +United States to get satisfactory servants and so we have all sorts of +clever mechanical devices that make it easier to manage with fewer +maids." + +Edith's brow cleared. "Oh, I see," she said. "I thought there must be +some reason. Of course, if we needed them, we would have such +arrangements in England." + +"England," declared Roger bluntly, "in ways of living is about two +hundred years behind the United States!" + +"Roger!" exclaimed the shocked Frances. + +"Cut it out!" ordered Win. + +"It's true, anyway," retorted the annoyed Roger, "and there's another +thing. We licked England for keeps in the Revolutionary War!" + +"Only because you were English yourselves!" flashed Edith before +Roger's scandalized family could remind him of his forgotten manners. + +This retort disconcerted Roger and delighted Win. + +"You've hit the nail on the head, Edith," he declared approvingly. +"England could never have been beaten except by her own sons. And +England's navy has always ruled the seas." + +"How about Dewey wiping out the Spanish fleet at Manila?" demanded +Roger still huffily. + +"That reminds me," said Win coolly. "I believe it was an English +admiral who backed Dewey up at Manila when the Germans tried to butt +in. After that battle somebody wrote a poem about it and wrote the +truth, too. This is what he said: + + "'Ye may trade by land, ye may fight by land, + Ye may hold the land in fee; + But go not down to the sea in ships + To battle with the free; + For England and America + Will keep and hold the sea!'" + +As Win concluded, Edith's high color lessened and Roger looked less +pugnacious. Presently, each stole a sly glance at the other, both were +caught in the act and simultaneously laughed. So the party reached the +Manor without disruption by the way. + +Constance, with a soft green sweater over her frock, came to meet them. + +"All ready for the fray? Leave your hats in the hall. You will need +your woollies for we are going where sunlight never comes. There's good +store of candles and two lanterns. Anything else needed, Win?" + +"A hammer perhaps," suggested Win. "We may want to sound walls." + +"A hammer there shall be," and Constance rang the bell to order it. +"Dad says he will come down if we make any startling discovery, but +being an elderly person, he's a bit shy of damp." + +Provided with lights and the hammer, the gay party started, filing +through a kitchen so fascinating with its red-bricked floor and shining +copper cooking utensils that Fran found it hard to pass. Several maids +and a jolly cook smiled on them as they vanished down the cellar stairs. + +"I suppose you want to see the oldest part of the Manor vaults," Connie +said to Win as she led the way with a candle in a brass reflector. "We +shall come back through here." + +To Edith and Frances it seemed that they traversed numberless dark +rooms, dry but chilly, some stored with vegetables and barrels, while +others were empty or showed dusky apparitions of old lumber. Constance +stopped at last. + +"We are under the library now, Win. This is the original cellar and you +can see how much rougher the workmanship is than in the newer parts." + +Walls were rough and floor uneven, indeed, a part of it was composed of +an outlying ledge of the Jersey granite. Obedient to suggestion, Roger +and the girls began to inspect the walls for traces of some former +exit; Roger by himself, the girls, rather fearfully, together. Win +stood looking at the ledge in the floor. + +"That settles there being any hiding-place underneath," he remarked. + +"Yes," said Connie, "but the paper said 'beyond the walls,' you know. +So wouldn't it more likely be in one of the cellars not built at that +time?" + +"Well, probably," assented Win. "But I was looking at the way this rock +runs." He produced a pocket-compass. "It's much thicker at this end and +the direction is approximately north and south. What is to the east, +Miss Connie?" + +"Nothing at all. That wall is still the outer one." + +"And the wall farthest from the water?" asked Win quickly. + +Constance nodded. + +"Then it is the western wall I want," said Win, turning toward it. + +Somewhat mystified, Connie watched him make a minute examination, +tapping with the hammer on its entire length. + +"I suspect that it's frightfully thick," she said as he stopped, +looking disappointed. + +"What is on the other side?" he inquired. "Is this whole partition now +included in the house?" + +Constance led the way to the opposite side of the wall. There lay a +large apartment, dimly lighted, but of better workmanship and finish. +Win went immediately to the eastern side of this cellar and bestowed +upon the partition stones the same minute inspection. + +"This wall must really be several feet through," he observed to the +watching Constance. + +"Probably. But I don't see, Win, what you are trying to get at." + +"I hardly know myself, Miss Connie. It's just an idea I had. This would +have been the wall nearest the cave. You see I'm not used to having a +cave as a sort of household annex, so I can't help thinking it may +figure yet in this business." + +Connie shook her head. "Perhaps it did once," she said. "Only that cave +is more or less common property; many people know of it. We can be sure +of one thing; that nothing will be found in it now. How about this +floor?" + +Win left the wall to inspect by aid of his lantern the huge, +roughly-squared blocks forming the cellar floor. Damp, dark and +numerous they showed under the light. + +"It's possible that any one might conceal some cavity," said Connie. +"But that one would surely differ in some way from the others. Let us +spread out and inspect them. Anybody who finds a flag in any way +peculiar, speak." + +Constance herself began to peer at the stone flooring, not at all +because she expected to find anything in the least unusual, but because +she did not want disappointment to fall upon Win too quickly. If he +really searched thoroughly, he would be better satisfied to acknowledge +the quest as useless. + +Among the many scenes those centuries-old walls had looked upon, it is +a question whether they had witnessed so gay a sight as the five young +people, wandering slowly up and down the uneven floor, looking for some +stone raised higher or sunken lower than the others, more carefully +fitted; perhaps, though this could scarcely be hoped, provided with an +iron ring for a handle. + +Nothing happened. No two of the many flags were alike, yet none seemed +of sufficient distinction to mark it as worth further investigation. +All looked as though they had never been moved. + +The other and more recent cellars received scanty attention. Of lesser +age, they were also cleaner, drier and better lighted. + +"Our adventure seems fruitless," sighed Connie as they stood at last +among bins and bottles near the kitchen stairs. "Why, where is Win?" + +Both Frances and Roger started back, ashamed to have forgotten him if +only for a moment. Suppose poor Win had had one of his attacks alone +back there in that shadow-filled vault! + +Win was found in the original cellar of the old Manor, not pacing the +floor or tapping the stones, but meditatively staring at one of its +walls, not the one he had devoted so much attention to, but the +northern boundary. + +"What luck?" asked Connie as they came in, relieved at sight of him. + +"None," said Win, turning to her with curiously bright eyes. "But, Miss +Connie, do you think your father would show me those plans again!" + +"Why, of course he will. Has some idea struck you?" + +"I don't quite know," said Win. "But I should like to see the plans and +perhaps some other day, you'll let me come down here again for a few +moments." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE HAUNTED ROOM + + +"There is a letter for you, Miss Edith," said Nurse as the girls came +in from school, the next Saturday. "It is for Miss Frances, too." + +"For us both?" exclaimed Frances. "Where from?" + +"Pierre brought it from the Manor," replied Nurse. + +"I can't get over there being no telephones in the houses here," +remarked Frances, snatching off her hat. "Imagine having to send a man +with a note instead of just taking down a receiver and talking. Not to +have telephones is so very English." + +"The English don't hold much with new inventions, Miss," Nurse agreed. +"What was good enough for those before us does us very well." + +"I know it!" sighed Fran, "but think of the _convenience_ of a +telephone." + +Edith was holding a dainty square note bearing the inscription: + + "Miss Edith Pearce, + Miss Thayne, + Rose Villa. + A la main de Pierre." + +"From Miss Connie, of course," said Edith delightedly. Each took a +corner of the enclosed card and with several little squeals of amused +pleasure, Frances read it aloud. + + "Miss Lisle presents her compliments to Miss Pearce and Miss + Thayne and requests them to grant her the favor of attending + a meeting of the Society for the Suppression of Ghosts to be + held in the haunted room of Laurel Manor this evening at ten. + + Notes: + + Dinner 7:30. + Beds provided at 9:45 (Ghost _not_ guaranteed to appear). + Very best nighties because of looking pretty for spooks. + Breakfast any old hour." + +Screaming with delight, Edith ran to find Estelle, Frances for her +mother. + +"But I don't know that I want you to sleep in a room that has the +reputation of being haunted, Edith," protested Estelle. "Will Mrs. +Thayne permit Frances to go?" + +"Oh, Sister, there's some joke about it," pleaded Edith. "There must +be, because Miss Connie always laughs whenever the ghost is mentioned. +And would her father let her sleep in that room if it was anything to +frighten people? Oh, Star, it will be such fun!" + +Up-stairs, Frances was besieging her amused mother. Two minutes later, +the girls met in the hall, dancing with glee, for each might go were +the other permitted. + +"Dinner at the Manor, too!" sighed Frances. "What bliss!" + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne had much peace from then until it was +time to start. Finally the hour arrived and the family assembled in the +hall to see them off, Win interested and Roger openly envious. "I'd +like a chance at that ghost just once," he vowed. "I'd settle him." + +"Perhaps later, Miss Connie will invite you boys," said Edith. "Why, +here's Pierre. Oh, he's come for our bags." + +To have a servant sent for their light luggage again struck Frances as +most charmingly English, and two very happy girls waved farewell to +Rose Villa as they turned out of the terrace. + +In the great hall of the Manor, Constance greeted them, ceremoniously +enough, but with mysterious smiles and twinkles. In person she +conducted them to a pretty guest-room near her own apartments. + +"We won't invade the ghost's domain until time for bed," she announced +gayly. "You'll find a bath adjoining and would you like Paget to do +your hair or fasten your dinner frocks?" + +"We will help each other," said Edith, as full of twinkles as Connie +herself. + +"Then I will dress and come for you in about half an hour." + +"Isn't Miss Connie the dearest thing!" said Edith enthusiastically as +the door closed. "I never saw anybody just like her before." + +"Mother thinks her charming," replied Frances, brushing her curly hair. +"Edith, do you suppose we shall ever know the truth about that story of +the Italian prince?" + +"It doesn't seem as though it were true," observed Edith. "Or at least, +as though she cared very much if she had to break her engagement, for +she is always so gay and happy." + +The face that was looking just then from the mirror in Connie's room +did not precisely correspond to these adjectives, but the young +mistress of the Manor was the daughter of a brave soldier and the +descendant of a long line of gallant gentlemen. Those slow weeks since +Christmas that Constance crowded with gayety were bringing gradual +healing. The heart under the fluffy frock she slipped on to-night was +not so heavy as the one under the white gown worn that day when she +stood by Win in the Manor library and watched the boat for St. Malo +leave the harbor. + +Frances and Edith were ready when she came for them, also prettily +dressed in white. + +"Nice little English flappers," Constance remarked approvingly. "Why, +what is the matter with Frances?" + +"I don't know what a flapper is," confessed Frances, sure however, that +it could be nothing very dreadful. + +Constance laughed and patted the brown cheek. "Merely a jolly little +English school girl with her hair down her back. Yours is tidily +braided but Edith looks the typical flapper." + +She took a hand of each and three abreast they went down to the hall +where Colonel Lisle was standing in a soldierly attitude before the +fire. He greeted them with charming courtesy, offered Fran his arm and +conducted her to the dining-room. + +Both girls were supremely happy, Edith quietly so, Frances fairly +radiating enjoyment in the stately room with its fine old portraits and +windows open to admit the sweet odors of myrtle and daffodils. + +"Don't think the Island winters are all as mild as this," the Colonel +was saying as Yvonne removed the soup plates. "I have seen both snow +and hail in Jersey and sometimes we have extremely cold weather. But +you were asking, Frances, why French is the official language here. The +Channel Islands came to the English crown with William the Conqueror, +and have always remained one of the crown properties. So while the +islanders are English they have French blood in their veins and each +island has retained its peculiar historic customs, the official use of +French being one. When Normandy was regained by France, the islands +remained with England and though Jersey was frequently attacked and +sometimes invaded by the French they never held more than a portion of +it temporarily. Indeed, so much was a Norman or French invasion feared, +that the islanders inserted in the Litany an additional petition: 'From +the fury of the Normans, good Lord, deliver us!'" + +"We have seen the tablet in the Royal Square, marking the spot where +Major Pierson fell in the battle of Jersey," said Edith, who shared +Win's liking for history. + +"Ah, in 1781. That was the last French invasion. Speaking of the Royal +Square," the Colonel went on, "there is a curious custom connected with +the Royal Court there, that might interest you. Any person with a +grievance relating to property has a right to come into a session of +the court and call aloud upon Rollo the Dane. The Cohue Royale,--the +Court,--_must_ listen and _must_ heed. That is a very ancient relic of +Norman rule in the Island. Oh, no, it is seldom resorted to. One does +not lightly call Prince Rollo to one's aid. That is the final appeal +when all other justice fails." + +Yvonne, who was waiting upon the table, reappeared from a brief absence +with a beaming face. + +"It is Monsieur Max who arrives," she said confidentially to Constance. + +"Max!" exclaimed Connie. "Why, how nice! Sha'n't he come directly, Dad? +Tell him not to dress, Yvonne." + +"By all means, tell him to come as he is," said the Colonel, his face +lighting with pleasure at this news. + +"Pardon, m'sieur," said Yvonne. "Monsieur Max already hastens to his +room and says the dinner shall not delay, that he shall be fast,--ver' +queeck." + +"Max can be fast," said Constance smiling. "Well, we will dawdle over +our fish. I never thought of his coming," she went on, watching Yvonne +as she deftly laid another place beside Frances. "This must be one of +the week-ends he promised. I wonder why he didn't warn us?" + +"I suppose there was no time to do so," said the Colonel. "Max knows he +is welcome at any hour." + +Max was "queeck." The fish was only just finished when he came quietly +into the room, dressed for dinner and looking not in the least as +though he had recently stepped from a steamer. Edith and Frances +watched eagerly. If they were still in deep ignorance concerning Miss +Connie's Italian prince, this was surely their chance to discover how +matters stood between their adored little lady and Mr. Max. + +Disappointment awaited them, for nothing could have been more +commonplace than the greeting exchanged. Even the fancy of fourteen +years could not construe Constance's "Hello, old boy!" and Max's +nonchalantly offered hand into the slightest foundation for a romance. +So far as outward appearances went Max was much more affectionate +towards the Colonel, who did not disguise his marked pleasure at seeing +him. + +With gay words for both girls, the newcomer slid into his seat. "I'm as +hungry as a hunter, Connie," he announced. "Soup, Yvonne? Anything and +everything that's going. Oh, it was rather a rough crossing, but it +merely gave me an appetite. Where are the boys? Couldn't they come to +this exclusive dinner? Or am I butting in myself?" + +"You are," replied Constance mischievously, "but for Dad's sake, we +will forgive you. The boys are not here for the simple reason that they +were not invited. Having fortified ourselves with strong meat, the +girls and I are going to brave the Manor ghost to-night." + +Darkness had fallen and with it a sense of the eerie over Fran. She was +distinctly relieved to hear Max laugh at this announcement. + +"Do you really want to see the ghost?" he asked, turning to her. + +"Crazy to," was Fran's prompt reply. "I wouldn't dare stay alone in +that room, but with Miss Connie and Edith, I sha'n't be afraid. Indeed, +I want dreadfully to see the ghost." + +"You know yourself, Max, that it doesn't materialize every time it is +invoked," began Constance. + +"I know it," said Max. "I only wanted to ascertain how keen the +spook-hunters are. I slept in that room once for two weeks when the +house was full and became much attached to his ghost-ship." + +"So I told the girls," replied Constance with equal gravity. + +Edith and Frances were looking at each other in puzzled bewilderment +but Max suddenly changed the subject. His eye had fallen upon Grayfur, +the big cat that had purred himself into the room in the shelter of +Yvonne's skirts. + +"Hello, old chap!" he said, snapping his fingers. "Do you like cats, +Frances?" + +"No," confessed Frances. "I love dogs. Edith is the one who likes +pussies. She is always bringing stray kittens home." + +For some reason this statement seemed to amuse Max. To the surprise of +the girls, he and Constance exchanged a smile. + +Ten o'clock struck before Edith and Frances found themselves, after a +happy evening, again in the pretty guest-room. + +"Miss Connie, I am afraid you weren't ready to come up," said +thoughtful Edith. "Didn't you want to stop longer with your father and +Mr. Max?" + +"Max doesn't leave until Tuesday morning," Constance replied. "Dad will +love to have him all to himself for a good talk and smoke, and if Max +has anything especial to say to me, there will be plenty of +opportunities. I'm quite glad to come up." + +When she came for them, the girls were ready and the little procession +started, three kimonoed figures each bearing a lighted candle along the +echoing halls to the haunted room above the library. Electricity had +not trailed its illuminating coils above the first floor of the house +so the big apartment looked spooky and shadowy enough, the candles +placed on the mantel, quite lost in immense distances. Three white cots +stood side by side in its centre. + +"First, we will fasten the door securely," said Constance, suiting the +action to the word. "Then we will take this electric torch and look +about a bit." + +Careful inspection showed the room undoubtedly tenantless, the handsome +old-fashioned furniture offering no hiding-place for any intruder. Like +the library below, its walls were of paneled oak, with three large +portraits set into the wood-work. One, a Lisle of Queen Elizabeth's +time, looked down benignly, attired in doublet and ruff. + +"Miss Connie, how shall we know what to look for or expect?" asked +Frances when the three were settled in their beds, lights out and the +room illuminated only by the moon. + +"It wouldn't be wise to tell you," said Constance mysteriously. "All +I'll say is that it is nothing at all disturbing or frightful. The few +people who have seen or heard anything never knew at the time that it +was a ghost." + +"But you will tell us in the morning?" asked Edith. + +"Yes," replied their hostess. "I will tell you then, whether you see +anything or not, and very likely you will not. But if you want to have +the creeps and would truly enjoy them, I'll tell you something that +really happened to me once in Italy." + +"Oh, do, do!" begged both girls in unison. "That would be simply +perfect," added Edith, sitting up in bed, her fair hair floating about +her shoulders and turning her more than ever into the likeness of an +angel. + +"Some years ago, when I was about your age," began Constance slowly, +"Dad and Mother and I were traveling in southern Italy, and Max was +with us. He was with us a great deal, you know. We stopped one night at +an old hotel that had once been a monastery, though it was different +from the usual monasteries because it was a place where sick monks came +to be cured and to rest. + +"The location was wonderful, on a cliff overlooking the sea and though +the place had been altered for the purposes of a hotel, it was still a +good bit churchly. The partitions between the cells had been knocked +out and additions built, but the hotel dining-room was the old +refectory with stone walls and floor, and the wonderful garden was much +as the monks left it. Such roses you never saw and such climbing vines +and flowering trees. Oh, there's no place like Italy!" + +Constance stopped. The moonlight falling across her bed touched her +face into almost unearthly beauty. + +"We had connecting rooms that night," she went on. "Dad and Mother took +the corner one with two beds. Next was a tiny room where I was to sleep +and Max's was beyond mine. All were originally cells opening on a +terrace, covered with roses and passion-flowers and looking down to the +sea, which was shining with little silver ripples. + +"We'd had an especially happy day and I was so keyed up with enjoyment +that I couldn't go to sleep right away, but lay looking out at the +flowers and the waves. Mother went through to see that Max was all +right and then came back to kiss me. She closed the door into his room, +but left open the one from mine into hers. + +"I remember hearing Mother and Dad laugh a little about something and I +suppose I went to sleep, because I woke very suddenly with a start, all +awake in a minute." + +Connie paused, this being the proper moment for a thrill. "What do you +think I saw?" she asked impressively. + +"Oh, I can't imagine!" gasped Frances, shivering in delighted +anticipation. "Do go on!" + +"Have you chills down your spine!" laughed Constance. "In the moonlight +right beside my bed, I saw a monk, dressed in white, the usual robe of +the Dominicans. He had a wise, kind face, with a pleasant expression, +and as I looked at him, he took my wrist very gently, and put his +finger on my pulse." + +"Oh-h!" said Edith, pulling the covers about her more tightly. "Oh, +Miss Connie, what did you do?" + +"That frightened me," said Connie. "Up to that time, I noticed only his +pleasant, gentle look, but it seemed as though a bit of ice touched me +and I gave a scream that brought Mother and Dad up standing. Of course, +when they came hurrying in, nobody was visible. I made a big fuss, +presumably because I wanted to be petted and coddled. + +"I told them about the monk and Dad at once thought that Max had been +playing a joke on me. He stepped into Max's room, intending to be +severe, but Max was sound asleep and besides, the door into his room +squeaked so that he couldn't possibly have opened it without waking us +all. + +"Then they said I had the nightmare. Perhaps I did," said Constance +with a smile, "but I can see yet the kindly face of that old monk. I +didn't want to stay in my room, so Dad told me to go in with Mother and +he'd take my bed. We all settled ourselves again. + +"I was asleep or nearly so, feeling so comfy and safe in my bed close +to Mother's when suddenly she sat up straight and said 'Richard!' in +such an odd, startled tone. I woke and heard poor Dad piling out of bed +again to come into our room. Mother sat there looking very troubled and +holding one wrist in the other hand. She didn't say anything +more,--neither of them did,--but I knew perfectly well that the old +monk had been feeling her pulse." + +"And what happened in the morning?" demanded Frances breathlessly. + +"Nothing at all," said Constance cheerfully. "In the morning everything +was beautiful and lovely as in no other country but Italy. Mother and I +merely agreed that we had an odd dream. We did not stay a second night, +for we were on our way back to Rome." + +"Did you ever hear anything more about the monk?" asked Edith. + +"Years after," said Connie dreamily, "we met some Americans in +Switzerland who told us of a similar experience in this hotel. Later, I +learned that Dad found out at the time that the place was reputed to be +haunted by an old monk physician who turns up at intervals and feels +people's pulses, and is often seen pottering about the garden in broad +daylight. Monks are such a common sight in Italy that the hotel guests +stop and converse with him, thinking him a gardener and never +suspecting that he is a ghost." + +"But the Manor ghost isn't like that?" asked Edith, who wanted +reassurance. + +"Not a bit," said Constance. "As for that, there was nothing so very +frightful or repellent about the monk. Don't you think we should go to +sleep now and give his spookship his innings?" + +The girls agreed and silence fell over the big room with its three +white beds. Outside the open casements a vine waved within Fran's line +of vision, tapping gently against a window pane. + +Presently a slight sound caught Fran's wakeful ear, as of steps on a +somewhat unfamiliar stair where it was necessary to grope one's way. +Touching Edith's shoulder, she sat up in bed. They had entered the +haunted room by a door now locked, opening on a big stone staircase; +these steps seemed upon muffled wood. + +Next moment there came a sudden convulsive sneeze that sounded in her +very ear. Frances gasped but Constance sat up laughing. + +"No fair!" she exclaimed. + +For a second there was absolute silence, then somebody laughed, +extremely close at hand, though yet behind a partition. The laugh was +followed by the soft sound of retreating footsteps. + +"What happened, Miss Connie?" begged Edith. + +"No ghost," said their hostess merrily. "I had forgotten. That was +clever of Max." + +Silence again followed for a period, succeeded by the sound of music in +the garden below the windows, soft and very sweet. + +"Oh, is _that_ the ghost?" demanded Frances in great excitement. + +"Your mother will bless me for letting you stop awake all night," said +Constance. She sat up, wrapped a white robe about her and stuck her +feet into slippers. Upon the music came the sudden unearthly miaow of a +cat. + +The noise sounded directly in the room and all three girls jumped. +Constance laughed again. + +"I might have known Max did not come into that passage for nothing," +she sighed. "Where's that electric torch?" + +Having turned on the flash-light, Connie approached the large oil +painting set into one side of the gloomy room, its base about a foot +above the floor. She touched a knob on its frame and the portrait +became a door opening outward and revealing a narrow, dusty winding +stair descending to the floor below. On its top step sat the big cat, +just opening its mouth for another howl. + +"Come in, Grayfur," said Constance. "Max brought you, didn't he? If he +hadn't sneezed and given himself away, he'd have opened the door a +crack and let you in." + +"Is it a secret stair?" asked Frances, her eyes big with excitement. +"Where does it go? Wouldn't Roger be crazy over it?" + +"We will let him go up it," answered Connie, swinging the portrait into +place again. "The passage comes out below in the library. Max thought +he would provide one ghost anyway." + +Putting the cat into the hall, she locked the door again and then stuck +her pretty head from the window. + +"Max," she said severely, addressing the unseen musician, "you are +spoiling your fiddle and breaking your promise. You said you wouldn't +be silly. Go to bed now like a good boy." + +The fiddle responded with two ear-splitting squawks. + +"Stop it!" commanded Constance. "There goes a string and it serves you +quite right. You'll have the bobbies coming to investigate if you don't +leave off." + +The unappreciated serenader appeared squelched by this threat, for +complete silence followed. + +"Nothing more is at all likely to happen tonight," said Constance, +coming back to bed. "And I hope Max will go properly to his room. Now +go to sleep, girlies, and in the morning, I'll tell you how the Manor +ghost disports itself." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MANOR GHOST + + +In spite of a firm intention to remain awake, Frances soon fell into +quiet slumber and knew nothing more until the next morning. February +dawns in England are dark, but when she finally opened her eyes, the +room was faintly lighted by the coming sun and her watch told her that +it was after eight. + +Edith still seemed asleep, but from the bed at the left, Connie smiled +back at her. For some reason known only to herself, their gay little +hostess had decreed that Frances should take the centre bed. + +"Awake?" she whispered. "How's Edith? Is she still off?" + +As though she heard her name, Edith stirred, turned over and finally +rose on one elbow. + +"Did you sleep well?" asked Constance. "We needn't get up unless you +like. When we are ready, Yvonne is to bring us breakfast in my +sitting-room. We'll wash and put on boudoir caps and eat _en negligee_." + +At this delightful programme both girls became wide awake in an instant. + +"And you will tell us about the ghost?" asked Frances. + +"I will," replied Constance, sitting up and gathering her pretty kimono +about her, a lovely white Japanese crepe embroidered in gold with +fire-eating dragons of appalling size. One stretched across the front +as she fastened the folds. The girls also rose and put on their +dressing-gowns. Unlocking the door, Constance looked into the hall. + +"I'll just see that the coast is clear before the procession forms," +she remarked. "Daddy's rooms are down-stairs but Max's is on our way. +I'm quite sure though that he and Dad are already out, for Dad likes to +attend early service and Max has probably gone with him like a dutiful +young man." + +As the three started, Edith turned to glance searchingly around. + +"What are you looking for?" asked Frances. + +"For the pussy," replied Edith, hurrying to overtake them. "I thought +there was one in the room." + +"Miss Connie put it out," said Frances, laughing. "Wake up, Edith!" + +As Edith spoke, Constance stopped to look at her rather oddly, then +went on quickly. + +"When you are ready, come to my sitting-room," she said on reaching +their door. "It is at the end of this hall." + +When the girls appeared ten minutes later, Constance was yet invisible. +In the sitting-room a table stood before a couch piled with pillows, +and two cushioned chairs opened luxurious arms. + +"Isn't this the dearest room," said Frances appreciatively as she +settled herself. "I suppose this is Miss Connie's own especial place +where no one comes without an invitation." + +In some respects the room was very unlike the sanctum of the average +girl. While not lacking in the daintiness bestowed by fresh flowers, +gay chintz and white draperies, it contained a number of objects not +often seen in a boudoir. On a teakwood stand in one corner, against the +background of a valuable Oriental rug in shimmering greens and blues, +sat a curious Indian idol. Constance's desk might once have been used +by some Italian princess in the days of Dante, and above it hung a +beautiful silver lamp that could well cause envy in the breast of +Aladdin. Pictures and ornaments alike spoke of wanderings in distant +lands and from their unusual individuality indicated a wide range of +interest in their possessor. + +The door into the adjoining bedroom opened and Constance came out +attired in a lounging-robe that made both girls gasp with admiration. + +"Oh, Miss Connie," Frances exclaimed, "what a beautiful kimono. And +what color is it?" + +"Guess," said Constance merrily. "For a long time I didn't know myself +what to call it." + +"It isn't blue nor gray," said Edith admiringly. + +"Nor green nor violet," added Frances reflectively, "and yet it is all +of them. I've seen something like it but I can't think what." + +"I suppose only an Oriental artist could conceive such a combination," +said Constance, ringing the bell for Yvonne and then curling into a +little heap on the couch. "Dad brought it to me from Paris and I keep +it for very special occasions. I couldn't make out what color it was +but I loved it the minute I opened the box and I knew you girls would. +I've thought very seriously of having it made into an evening coat, for +it is too lovely to be used only in my room. But about its color. One +day this Christmas vacation I was feeling a bit poorly, so I had tea up +here and let Dad and Max come. I slipped on this robe to receive them +in state and the minute Max saw it, he told me what it was like. The +thing is in plain sight." + +The girls glanced about the room. Edith's eyes lingered for a second on +a brass bowl full of blue hyacinths, but passed on. + +"I have it!" exclaimed Frances, noticing a slight inclination of +Connie's fair head toward the open casement. "It's the color of the +ocean!" + +"Right!" said Constance. "The moment Max said so, I knew it. He did it +very prettily, too, with some remark about the 'lady from the sea.' The +silk really does change and shade as the water under storm and sun." + +There came a tap and Yvonne, bearing a most tempting tray, entered with +a smiling "_Bon jour, mes demoiselles._" Fruit, a fat little chocolate +pot sending forth a delicious odor, and flanked by delicate china and +shining silver, whipped cream, marshmallows, French rolls, sweet +unsalted butter and raspberry jam, made the girls feel hungry at the +mere sight. Dainty green and white snowdrops, tucked here and there by +Yvonne's artistic fingers added the final touch. + +"I think this is the greatest fun," said Frances. "Do you always have +your breakfast this way?" + +"Bless you, no," replied Constance. "This is an occasional Sunday +morning indulgence. Every other day of the week, I am up, dressed and +in my right mind to breakfast with my Dad. He'd think the world was +coming down about his ears if his Connie wasn't there to pour his +coffee. I warned him that we were going to have a debauch this morning +and he won't care anyway, because he has Max. What did you mean, Edith, +about a cat? Did you dream of Grayfur?" + +"Why, no, it wasn't Grayfur," said Edith, dropping a marshmallow into +her chocolate and watching it dissolve. "I thought Mr. Max succeeded in +carrying out his joke. He must have come back much later and put +another pussy in from behind the portrait. I woke some time in the +night, oh, hours after, because the moonlight was 'way across the room, +and sitting in it, washing its face, was the prettiest little +half-grown kitten. It was a perfect beauty, white with a plumy tail. I +spoke to it very softly so as not to wake either of you, and it looked +at me and purred but would not come. I watched it chase its tail for a +little and then it jumped in a big chair and curled itself up to sleep. +I suppose it must have gone out when the door was opened this morning. +May we see it again, Miss Connie? It was much prettier than Grayfur. +But do tell us now about the ghost. We are in such a hurry to hear." + +"You know practically all there is to know," said Constance whimsically. + +Both girls stared at her. "What do you mean!" asked Edith. "Is it a +joke? Isn't there any ghost?" + +"You know better than I do," replied Constance, tasting her chocolate +critically. "Did you have sugar, Frances? Why, you've seen the ghost, +Edith, which is more than I can say." + +Edith's face was a picture of surprise. "_Seen_ it!" she repeated. +"Why, I saw nothing at all." + +"I told you, didn't I, that the people who saw the ghost never knew it +at the time? This is the legend. About a century ago, the Richard +Lisle, then owner of the Manor, married a very charming young wife. He +was madly in love with her and was inclined to be rather jealous. The +story runs that he couldn't bear to have her lavish affection on +anything but him, was jealous of her dog and her horse and even of her +flower-garden. Winifred Lisle had a very pretty white Persian kitten--" + +Constance stopped, for Edith's spoon fell with a clatter. "You don't +mean that darling purry little pussy was the _ghost!"_ she exclaimed. + + +"Listen to the story," Constance went on smiling. "Dick Lisle objected +to even this wee kit since it took some of his Winifred's time and +attention and he gave orders that it was never to be admitted to the +room where they spent the evening, presumably the library. The kitten +disappeared and Winifred mourned for it. Months later, its little +corpse was found on the secret stairs behind the portrait." + +"Then Mr. Max didn't put a cat into the room?" asked Frances eagerly. + +"I think not, unless he took the trouble to bring a white kitten with +him from Paris. Max is quite capable of doing it for a joke, but he +could not know, you see, that we were planning to sleep in that room +last night. And there is no white kitten about the Manor." + +"Isn't that the oddest story!" said Edith in deep interest. "Why, Miss +Connie, I'm as sure as I am of anything that I saw that pussy playing +in the moonlight. It was the sweetest little thing and I did wish it +would come and cuddle by me in bed. Is it really a ghost? How do you +account for it?" + +"I don't account for it," said Constance. "You can consider it a pretty +dream if you wish. I never saw it and I have a fancy that it is because +I am not fond of cats. When Frances said she did not like them, I knew +that she would not see the little ghost kit either, and so I wanted you +to take the bed nearest the moonlight." + +"That's the most interesting thing that ever happened to me," said +Edith. "I'm so glad I saw it." + +"Whether it is imagination or dream, I rather like to think of the +kitten ghost playing so gayly with its tail on moonlight nights," said +Connie. "No, only three or four people have seen it. The room is not +often used, and like Edith, they supposed it a kitten that had somehow +got in. Well, is the Manor ghost satisfactory?" + +"I think it's the dearest thing I ever heard of," said Edith happily. +"But do you suppose that Winifred's husband shut it in there +deliberately?" + +"We'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Cats are always poking about +in odd places. The door in the library may have been open a crack and +the kit gone in to investigate. Once I accidentally shut a kitten into +a drawer in the linen closet. Luckily Paget happened to open it within +an hour and she was surprised enough to find a pussy there. Now for the +rest of the morning. I heard Frances say that she wanted to hear a +church service in French just to see whether she could follow. If you +like, I'll get Max to take us into town and we will find a French +church to attend." + +"That would be lovely," declared Fran enthusiastically. "I really +believe I could understand quite a little now." + +"Thank you, Miss Connie," said Edith. "I'm afraid I ought to go home. +Fran can stay just as well as not, but Sister depends upon me to go to +church with her. I always do, you know." + +Edith colored and looked uncomfortable, feeling that perhaps she was +being ungracious. + +"You're a good little sister," said Constance quickly. "And you would +not care so much as Frances because you have always spoken French. I +imagine Dad will go to St. Aubin's and he'll take you home. I'll make +Max go with us." + +Max was perfectly willing to play escort, but looked dubious when +Constance declared her intention of stopping at a tiny French church +just inside the town of St. Helier's. "Have you ever been here?" he +demanded. + +"No," admitted Constance. "Of course we might go to the Convent of St. +Andre. I forgot, though, they wouldn't let you in. Frances only wants +to hear a sermon in French and this will answer very well." + +Max still looked disapproving. "You won't like it," he said. "It's a +queer, non-conformist sect of some kind. There's a place the other side +of town where they have the Church of England service in French. Let's +go there." + +"Why not stop here?" persisted Constance. "More exciting when one +doesn't know what's coming next." + +"One may get more than one bargains for," commented Max. "Connie, I +have a premonition that we'll land in some mess." + +Connie made a delightful little face. "Come in," she said to Frances. +"I was under the impression that we invited Max to escort _us._" + +When Frances returned home from church, she was distressed to find Win +in bed. + +"He overdid yesterday," said Mrs. Thayne in reply to her anxious +questioning. "I can't discover exactly what happened, but he and Roger +were out together and Win walked too far. That's all he will admit. No, +he isn't as badly off as sometimes, and says he only needs a rest. Come +up in his room, Fran, to tell your adventures." + +To Fran's eyes Win looked decidedly ill when she saw him lying against +his pillows, but he evaded all inquiries and demanded to know about the +Manor ghost. + +"That wasn't the end of our experiences," Frances went on laughing, +when the events of the night had been thoroughly discussed. "We had a +funny time in that little church. Mr. Max didn't want to go there in +the beginning, but Miss Connie insisted. Inside, it didn't look much +like a church for it was a great bare room, with not many people +present. The usher made us sit rather far front, so we had a good view +of the minister, who was a little man with black hair that stood +straight up, and his manner was very excited. + +"The service seemed unusual for different people kept getting up and +talking. I couldn't understand much and Mr. Max looked annoyed and Miss +Connie amused. Finally a boy about my age began to speak. He wore the +oddest vest and trousers of rose-pink sateen plaided with purple. We +could see distinctly because the minister made him come out in front +and face the people. Well, the clothes he had on were enough to make +any one smile, but when he finished speaking, the minister bounced out +of the pulpit and kissed him on both cheeks! He did, honest!" Fran +insisted in answer to Roger's whistle of incredulity. + +"I don't know what would have happened next, for the service was really +very strange, but when the minister kissed that boy, Mr. Max gave a +little grunt and took up his hat. I was sitting between them, and he +leaned forward and said in such a disgusted tone, 'My word, Connie, +_will_ you come?' + +"I think Miss Connie was trying not to laugh but I guess she'd had +enough herself for she rose and we went out very quietly so as not to +disturb anybody. + +"When we reached the street," Frances went on, "Mr. Max was so funny. +He didn't say a word, only stalked along looking quite cross. Miss +Connie sat down on a wall and laughed till she cried. Then she told Mr. +Max to smile and show his dimple. But he wouldn't. I don't see how he +could help it when she was so pretty and sweet. Well, after she laughed +some more, she begged him please to look affectionate. + +"At that he couldn't help smiling, and then he asked Miss Connie if she +was ever going to stop getting herself and him into scrapes. She called +him 'old boy' and said she was sorry,--she wasn't really," Fran +interpolated with a wise nod,--"and promised to stick to the Church of +England service ever after. Mr. Max inquired how much I understood and +when I told him only a little, he said it was lucky. That was certainly +a very peculiar church," Frances ended reflectively. "I'm quite sure +that Mr. Max wanted to come out long before we did, and that Miss +Connie persisted in staying just to tease him." + +Win was smiling over his sister's story, but though he evinced interest +both in the Manor ghost and in the amusing experience Connie had +furnished with her little French church, the point that most impressed +him was Max's presence at the Manor. + +"I wish I could see him," he observed. "I want so much to ask a +question or two. Did Miss Connie tell him about the paper I found and +how we explored the vaults and sounded the walls?" + +"She did," assented Frances. "We talked about it after dinner. Mr. Max +was as interested as could be and said he was going down himself to +take a look." + +"Mother," said Win suddenly. "I really need to see him. Don't you +believe he'd come in for a minute if he knew I was used up so I +couldn't get to the Manor?" + +"Indeed, I do," assented Mrs. Thayne. "Write a note, dear. Roger shall +take it for you." + +Roger, who for some reason haunted his brother's room in a subdued mood +not at all common to his usual attitude toward life, was very willing +to act as messenger. Toward night, Max appeared at Rose Villa. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE DOTTED LINE + + +"Sorry you are laid by, old man," Max said cheerfully as he was shown +into Win's room. "Better luck soon." + +"It's good of you to come," replied Win, grasping the hand so cordially +offered and relieved to see that the pleasant young face bore no +expression of the sympathetic pity Win so often read in older +countenances. + +"Well, my being here is as much of a surprise to me as to any one," +said Max, sitting down by the bed. "On Friday I expected to spend my +Sunday in Paris. But it chanced that I successfully engineered a rather +ticklish job for the Embassy, and the Chief was pleased. As a +figurative pat upon the head he gave me the week-end off. You should +have seen the way my car went to Granville! Jean drove till we were +clear of Paris and then I took the wheel and things began to hum. From +the tail of my eye I could see Jean devoutly crossing himself whenever +we hit the earth, but we made the boat and didn't so much as run down a +hen. I did wonder that we weren't held up anywhere for exceeding the +speed limit, but the mystery was explained when we reached the +Granville pier." + +Max stopped with a mischievous laugh. "The Embassy has several official +machines," he explained, "and of course they are so marked they are +easily recognizable. I always use my own car, and am authorized to +sport the Embassy insignia when on official business. I forgot to +remove it before starting and that was why not a single gendarme did +more than salute as we tore past. Good joke, so long as it ended well, +but if we'd come a cropper on the way, there'd have been rather a row +and Max would have stood for an official wigging, to say the least. +Lucky for us that nothing went wrong. What's done you up, old fellow?" + +Win looked at him wistfully. "Just exploring the Manor cave," he said +with a sigh. "I did so want to see it, and I made Roger take me. I +managed to get down all right, but it took over an hour to climb the +cliff. The kid is wild because he thinks he's half-killed me." + +"Oh, say, that's a shame," said Max. "I wish I'd known that you wanted +to go. Pierre and I could have rigged a rope somehow and helped you get +back." + +Win's face just then was pitiful. Max's eyes grew very gentle but he +did not utter one word of sympathy. "I've been led a lively pace since +I reached the Manor," he went on. "Between Connie's ghost hunt and the +extraordinary church she chose to attend this morning and your +discovery in the library, my existence hasn't lacked variety. Gay Paris +is quiet beside this! But there's nothing in the world I'm so keen on +as hidden treasure. I'm pretty sure I have a special talent for hunting +it down. To be sure the only time I ever tried, I made a giddy ass of +myself and got into a jolly mess, but I wonder will I succeed with +this. Connie thinks you've the tail of an idea. Can't you put me on?" + +"That was what I wanted to see you for," replied Win, his +self-possession quite restored. "Please open the lower drawer of that +desk. Right on top is a roll of tracing paper." + +"Why, this is a copy of the Manor plans," said Max, as he spread out +the thin sheet. + +"Yes," said Win. "Colonel Lisle let me trace them. Tell me, does +anything about them strike you as odd?" + +Max considered the plan carefully. "I can't say it does," he admitted +after a minute survey. "Give me a lead." + +"That dotted line," said Win, pointing to it with Max's pencil, +"according to Colonel Lisle, marks the path down to the cottages on the +shore, only the path curves more now than it did when the plan was +first made. Don't you think it strange that it was the _only_ path put +on the plans? Even the state driveway isn't indicated." + +"That, I suppose, wasn't made then." + +"But surely," persisted Win, "there was some driveway to the main road. +Why should this especial path be marked? It couldn't have been the most +important, even at that time." + +"That does seem true," replied Max thoughtfully. + +[Illustration: WIN'S PLAN OF THE MANOR CELLARS.] + +"Now look at the point where the dotted line comes to the house," Win +went on, tracing its course as he spoke. "This is the very oldest vault +of all, under the library, you know. On the plan, its northern wall is +continued flush by the northern side of the addition made later, and +this dotted line runs parallel to it, but--it runs _inside_ the +foundations." + +"So it does," Max agreed. "But isn't that due to clumsy drawing? +There's an axiom, you know, about it being impossible for two bodies to +occupy the same space. Two lines couldn't occupy the same location on a +plan." + +"Yes," said Win, "but if this is a _path_, what is it doing _inside_ +the house?" + +There followed a second of silence and then Max gave a low whistle. +"I'm on," he announced. "Clever reasoning, Win." + +"There's another thing, too," said Win, lying flushed and pleased +against his pillows. "I spent a lot of time on that dividing partition +wall. I'm sure there is no space in it unless it is so thick that even +a hollow place wouldn't sound any different. But after I looked again +at the plans, I saw that what I should have put my time on wasn't that +wall at all, but the northern one, indicated here as parallel to the +dotted line. Mr. Max, I'm quite certain that the old original cellar +extends farther to the north than this newer part. I mean that the +north wall of the new cellar isn't on a line with the old one, not in +reality, though here it is intended to look so." + +"You mean," said Max, bringing intelligent brows to bear on this +explanation, "that this was an underground passage rather than a +surface path and that its northern side is the one flush with the +original cellar?" + +"That's exactly it," said Win. "I think there is a passage running +along outside that northern wall down to the cave and the beach. There +seems a space on the plan that isn't accounted for in any other way, +and that explains why this dotted line runs inside the foundations." + +"But, old chap," said Max kindly, "I know that cave from top to bottom. +Truly there is no exit. I've spent hours in exploring the place." + +"But when I was on the ledge at the back, there was a draught of fresh +warm air from somewhere," Win pleaded. "And Roger said he noticed it +when you took him there. Behind the ledge is a big pile of stones and +rubble. Couldn't that air get in somehow?" + +"It must, since you felt it," agreed Max sensibly. "If I can possibly +manage it, I'll make an investigation. But I am booked to sail on +Tuesday morning. It may have to stand over until the Easter holidays. I +will take a squint at the cellar though this very evening. Did you +sound that north wall?" + +"No, I didn't," Win admitted. "I spent all my time on the west one. Not +until I studied the plans again, did it fully dawn on me that perhaps +that line was a passage instead of a path. If that is true, it is the +other wall that will bear investigation." + +Max still surveyed the plans, his fine young face intent on this +problem. He glanced up to meet a very wistful look from Win. + +"On the whole, let's wait until Easter," he suggested. "Then you'll be +feeling more fit and can come down in the vaults with me." + +"I wish you'd inspect that wall," Win replied. "If you find it does +sound hollow, will Colonel Lisle let us punch a hole?" + +"Sure," said Max encouragingly. "I know jolly well he will. Uncle Dick +will be game for any investigation. Only he'll have to be convinced +that I'm not pulling his leg. If that north wall resounds like a tomb, +I'll tow Uncle down to hark for himself. Why, man, we're getting on +swimmingly! That was a mighty clever idea of yours about the dotted +line. Connie'll be keen on it too, and anyway she owes me one after +getting me into such a beastly mess as she did to-day. I didn't even +use unkind language about it either. If the sea is decent tomorrow, +I'll trot her down to the cave to see where your fresh air comes from." + +"Perhaps it can be felt only when the wind is from a certain +direction," observed Win. + +"That's more than likely. Yesterday it was south, wasn't it? Very +probably it takes a south wind to strike in there. I'm afraid we can't +hope for that to-morrow because there seems a storm brewing, on purpose +probably to give me a rough trip on Tuesday." + +"Weren't you glad of the chance to come?" asked Win. + +"I was," said Max expressively, "not only because I always like to get +back to the Manor, but because I was pleased with myself to think I'd +scored with this especial bit of work, a job of smoothing down an +elderly ass who was inclined to be a trifle footy. You see when I +decided to go in for the diplomatic service, Dad told me that he would +use his influence only to get me an appointment, a try-out. After that +it was up to me; if I received promotion it would be because I earned +it, not because I was his son. He makes me an allowance because one +really couldn't manage on the salary of an attache, but so far as my +profession goes, I stand absolutely on my own merits. So Max is feeling +proud of himself just now!" he added whimsically. "So's my Dad, if my +telegram reached him." + +"He must be proud of you," said Win rather soberly. "I so much hope +that Roger will condescend to go to Annapolis. You see I can't, and Dad +would like one of us in the navy." + +"Roger will wake up to a sense of his privileges some day," said Max. +"Do you know, Win, some of the finest work in the world has been done +by the fellows who were handicapped. Prescott, for instance, writing +all his histories, blind in one eye and sometimes half crazed by pain; +Milton, too, dictating to his daughters, and Scott, producing so much +when he was old and burdened with grief and trouble. And Stevenson, who +was ill half his life." + +"But they were geniuses," said Win. + +"They were also too courageous in spirit to yield to circumstances. To +come down to more ordinary people, I think Uncle Dick is mighty fine. +He is crippled, useless for the work he expected to grow old in; he saw +his only son die for England. You have seen enough of him to know what +he is and what he means not only to Laurel Manor but to the Island. I +respect and admire him tremendously and I shall owe much of whatever +success I score, to him as well as to Dad. There are careers open to +you, Win. You are clever and have a fine mind. Roger defers to your +opinion. Through your influence, he may accomplish far more than he +might alone." + +"I don't amount to very much with Roger. Still, I did make him square +things with Fisher that day he played truant and went off with you," +admitted Win with the ghost of a smile. "Mother only lectured him for +bunking, but I persuaded him to apologize and to put in the next +Wednesday doing the work he skipped." + +"Good for you!" said Max cordially. His gray eyes were very kind and +friendly as he rose to leave. + +"I hope you'll feel more fit to-morrow," he said, shaking hands. "If I +possibly can, I'll run in and make a report; if not, I'll drop a line +when I get home to the lurid lights of Paris." + +"Shall you drive back with the Embassy insignia on your car?" inquired +Win smiling. He looked much brighter and happier than before his +visitor came. + +Max laughed. "I fancy not," he said as he gathered hat, gloves and +riding-crop. "I'm rather anxious to be on my good behavior. No, I'll +let Jean drive which will be prudently slow, and I'll meditate about +your hidden chest and the dotted path and other things back at the +Manor." + +"I believe Mr. Hamilton did you more good than the doctor," declared +Mrs. Thayne, entering Win's room after his caller had mounted Saracen +and ridden away. "You look fifty per cent brighter." + +"He's a crackerjack," said Win briefly. "He's promised to do some +investigating on his own account and I feel sure that he can induce +Colonel Lisle to let us try an experiment if it is needed. But, Mother, +there's something I've been meaning to tell you all day, not about the +Spanish chest or anything to do with it. You know we spoke once of how +Miss Estelle reminded us of some one at home. This morning instead of +sending a servant with my breakfast, she brought it herself, and when +she was arranging things, I remembered whom it is she looks like. It is +your friend, Mrs. Aldrich." + +"Win, you're right," said Mrs. Thayne suddenly. "Estelle _is_ like +Carrie Aldrich, and not in looks alone, but in manner. Now how can that +possibly be? Of course it is only a chance resemblance but it must +exist since you notice it, too. I wonder whether Fran ever carried out +her intention of asking Edith whether they had any relatives in the +United States. She spoke of doing so." + +"What good would that do, if Mrs. Aldrich is the person Estelle +resembles?" asked Win. "Haven't you known her all her life?" + +"I met her at school," replied his mother, "when we both were young +girls and then knew her intimately. Of later years, we have seen less +of each other, though we have always kept up the friendship. There +seems no possible connection between Carrie Aldrich and Estelle and the +likeness must be only in our minds. They say, you know, that every +person in the world has a double somewhere." + +"I'd like mighty well to be Mr. Max's double if I could only choose," +muttered Win to himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ROGER THE MAROONED + + +No word came from the Manor the next day, only a big bunch of fragrant +lilies for Win and some jelly of which Paget alone knew the secret +recipe. Early Tuesday morning Max's prophesied storm arrived in earnest +and the young people at Rose Villa saw the Granville boat leave her +pier amid sheets of driving rain. Her decks looked dreary and deserted, +for all the passengers were inside. + +"I suppose Mr. Max is on board for he was obliged to go," observed +Frances, as the steamer disappeared in low-hanging banks of fog +drifting continually nearer shore. + +"Yes," agreed Win, who was dressed and about, though still looking ill. +"There will be some word when he gets back to Paris. It stormed so +yesterday that he probably couldn't go into the cave as he planned." + +"Life seems very tame after all the interesting things that happened +last week," sighed Frances, gathering her French grammar and other +school books. "Rain or no rain, there will be school, and English rain +seems somehow _wetter_ than American. You'd better eat that jelly, Win. +According to Nurse, it is the elixir of life and warranted to cure +every ill known to man." + +Win smiled as he watched his sister and Edith down the steps, and waved +a listless hand as they turned inquiring faces under bobbing umbrellas +at the end of the terrace. He looked enviously after Roger, a tall slim +clothespin in black rubber coat and boots, sou'wester pulled firmly +over his head, tramping sturdily toward the beach, evidently on some +definite errand. Win would have liked mightily to be swinging along +with him through the storm, but the fun of facing a tempest was not for +Win. + +For a few moments he stood idly by the window, wondering whether Connie +knew what Max had possibly discovered in his inspection of cave and +vaults. Then he turned with a sigh, reminding himself that with the +weather what it was, and in this land of few telephones, there was no +chance of hearing anything from the Manor. + +Gradually the stormy morning passed, somewhat dully for Win, who still +felt unfit to study or even to occupy himself with a book, and lay upon +the couch while his mother read aloud. + +Frances returned from school, ravenously hungry and quite rosy with the +rain that had beaten in her face. + +"Mother, I am nearly starved!" she announced. + +"Why, it is time for luncheon," said Mrs. Thayne, awakening to a +realization of that fact. "But where is Roger? He can't have taken the +whole morning just to deliver that message for Estelle." + +"He could easily, Mother," said Win. "Why, if I had a chance to get out +in this storm, I feel sure it would take me forever to do the simplest +errand. He'll come home when he's hungry." + +The gong for luncheon sounded and the three sat down to Annette's +delicious scallops, daintily creamed in their own big shells, her +French bread and perfect chocolate. Still Roger did not come. + +Nurse took the plates, and brought dessert; fruit, clotted cream with +plum jam, and a special glass of egg-nog for Win. + +"Shall we put Mr. Roger's lunch to the fire?" she asked of Mrs. Thayne. + +"I don't see why he doesn't come. He can't have gone to the Manor and +if he had, they would have sent word if he were staying. No, you +needn't keep it warm, Nurse. Unless he has some very good excuse when +he comes, he may lunch upon bread and milk. It's really very naughty of +him to go off like this when he had lessons to learn." + +"It's queer where he can be," observed Fran. "He started on his errand +just after Edith and I came out and saw Annette buying scallops of the +fish-woman. He's crazy about them you know, and he asked particularly +if they were for luncheon, and told her to be sure to get plenty." + +"Oh, I don't suppose anything has happened," said Mrs. Thayne quietly, +for she did not wish Win to worry. + +When Roger was still missing half an hour later, Mrs. Thayne sought +Estelle. + +"Whatever can have happened?" said Estelle helplessly. "I can't think. +Did he have any money?" + +"Why, perhaps a few pence, not much anyway," replied Mrs. Thayne. "You +think he went into St. Helier's and had to walk back? That's possible. +Fran, it's not storming so hard now. Put on your rain-coat and run out +to the end of the terrace. Perhaps with the field-glasses you can make +out whether he is coming down the beach or is anywhere in sight." + +Frances returned with the report that there was practically no beach, +owing to the high tide, and no foot-farers on the narrow strip that was +visible in the fog. + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne knew what was best to do. Estelle +suggested the police and then the rector, but neither seemed to Mrs. +Thayne likely to offer a solution. + +"We will wait a while," she said with an anxious glance at the clock +just striking two. "Don't do or say anything to let Win think I am +worried, Fran. Let me take your coat. I'll go down to the beach myself. +I really think that Roger should be punished for causing us such +anxiety." + +Had his mother only known, Roger was already enduring considerable +self-inflicted penance for getting into a predicament which made it +impossible for him to return. + +Delivering Estelle's message at a cottage by the shore had taken but a +few moments and with most of the morning before him, Roger set out +along the beach, glorying in the force of wind and rain. True, there +were lessons to be prepared for Bill Fish, who would come cheerfully +swimming in at the appointed hour, but there was surely time for a +stroll toward Noirmont Point. + +The tide was far out and wet hard sand stretched in every direction, +very pleasing to stamp over, and retaining little trace of any +footprint. Only gray gulls and drifting fog banks distinguished the +immediate surroundings. + +As Roger tramped on, he noticed that the fog grew steadily thicker and +that his path included occasional seaweed-covered rocks, but not until +a black mass loomed up before him, did he realize that he had left the +true beach and was walking straight out to sea. The bulk he had +encountered was not the martello tower on Noirmont Point but the old +castle of St. Aubin's, at high tide an island in the bay. + +No thought of any danger in his position struck Roger. He had always +intended to investigate that island but somehow had never yet done so. +Here it lay before him. + +Climbing the rocks upon which the castle stands, he made a careful +survey of its outside and finally gained access to the interior, much +disappointed to find nothing at all remarkable, though St. Aubin's +castle is not wholly a ruin and was once rented and occupied for a +season by an eccentric Englishman. + +Nothing was now visible save swirling fog and for the first time, Roger +realized what that fog meant. He hastily made his way to the little +beach, where the tide, still out, would permit him to cross to the +mainland. To start in the right direction was simple enough, for he +very well knew which side of the castle faced the shore, but he had +taken scarcely twenty steps down the sand when he saw that he had no +certainty of keeping his bearings once the island was left behind. + +Roger was only twelve, but he was possessed of common-sense and +self-reliance. Though the youngest of the family he had been so +thoroughly impressed with the necessity of considering "safety first" +in regard to Win, that in an emergency of any kind he was usually +level-headed. He stopped where he was, searching his pockets for the +compass Captain Thayne had given to each of his three children. + +Roger's pockets yielded a strange and varied assortment of objects, +presumably of value, but no compass. He looked irresolutely behind +where the castle was just visible as a darker spot in the fog. Nothing +at all could be distinguished ahead. + +From the lighthouse on the point came the tolling of a bell, but its +warning tones were so scattered and disguised by the fog, that its +sound was of no use as a guide. + +For several moments Roger stood where he was. The distance to shore was +not great if he was only certain of going straight ahead. To swerve +from that direction meant wandering out to meet the cruel Jersey tide, +presently coming in like a hunter on its prey. To remain where he was +meant anxious hours for his mother and for Win, about whom Roger was +already so much concerned. + +Having weighed the alternatives, he took five steps forward and stood +absolutely surrounded by the whirling mist. A sort of horror came over +him, a keen realization of his helplessness before one of the great +elemental forces of nature. The risk was too great! There was a chance +that he might keep in the right direction with nothing to guide him, +but it was only a chance. Worried as his mother would doubtless be, +better that she endure a few hours of anxiety than lasting grief. + +Turning squarely about, Roger retraced his footsteps, already faint, to +the castle, where he perched forlornly on a high rock. A little later, +he heard for he could not see, the low hiss and gurgle of the coming +tide. Roger was a big, strong, brave boy, but at the sound, he could +not suppress a few tears, and they were not wholly for his own plight. + +Mrs. Thayne returned from her fruitless expedition to the beach, +looking still more distressed. + +"I can't imagine where Roger is," she said anxiously to Frances. "Of +course, there may be some good excuse for this performance, but I don't +see what it can be. He knows that he is not to go into town without +permission and it seems as though he would have come home for luncheon +unless he was in St. Helier's. If he really has been disobedient and +played truant again into the bargain, I shall ask Mr. Fisher to punish +him." + +"Oh, Mother," said Frances, "Roger wouldn't deliberately frighten us, +especially when he's been so upset over Win." + +"But where _is_ he?" said Mrs. Thayne again. "Thank goodness! Here's +Mr. Fisher." + +She hurried down to intercept the tutor at the door. Lingering at the +head of the stair, Frances heard her name called from Win's room. + +"Is Mother dreadfully troubled?" he asked as she entered. "I think +Roger went back to the cave and has been shut in." + +"Oh, I hope not," said Frances. "Mother's annoyed but it seems to me he +must be all right. When he gets ready he will turn up with some +wonderful tale of adventure." + +"I suspect he's in some scrape," said Win. "Might not be such a bad +idea to appeal to the police after all. I only wish I wasn't such a +helpless stick," he added rather bitterly. + +"Mr. Fisher has gone down to the beach," reported Frances from the +window. "I'm glad he's come, for Mother will feel better to have him to +consult." + +Both were silent for a moment, thinking of Roger, blunt, loyal, +impulsive Roger, hoping that nothing serious had befallen him. + +Presently Mrs. Thayne came, her face expressing a calm she did not +feel. "Mr. Fisher thinks there is no cause for us to worry," she +remarked placidly. "He is going to take what he calls a 'turn about the +town.' Frances, suppose you go on reading to Win while I sew a little." + +Frances took the book Win held out to her, and Mrs. Thayne's fingers +twitched the needle through her embroidery, both ears alert for sound +of returning steps. The clock struck three and then four. Nothing +happened. Roger did not come and Mr. Fisher did not reappear. + +Over on St. Aubin's tiny island, Roger watched the water creep steadily +up the rocks, up and up until it broke almost at the foundations of the +castle. Cruel, cold, and gray it looked and hungry and chilly was the +boy who watched. Once a gull flew so close that he could almost touch +it as it vanished like a ghost into the fog. + +At intervals Roger inspected his watch, counting the moments till the +tide should cease to make. At last the water stopped climbing the +rocks, remained stationary, fell an inch. The next wave broke still +farther below. + +But unless the fog should lift, ebb tide would only duplicate Roger's +predicament of the morning. Toward four he saw that the mist was +gradually growing lighter; saw water visible fifty feet from the +island. Presently a breeze sprang into being, the most welcome wind +Roger had ever known. Before it the fog thinned, grew filmy, dispersed +in shreds of trailing vapor. Noirmont Point and St. Aubin's village +came gradually into distinct view, and with them a man walking along +the sand. + +Water ten feet deep and many wide still barred Roger from the shore and +he could not make himself heard above the slow heave of the rollers +lazily breaking on the beach. Was there no way to attract the +saunterer's attention? + +Finding a long branch, relic of some storm-wrecked tree, Roger tied his +handkerchief to it and waved vigorously. After a time, the man on the +beach noticed the flag and stood looking toward it. + +A bright idea struck Roger. At home he had belonged to a troop of boy +scouts and knew the signals. He would experiment on this stranger. + +Just by chance, Mr. Fisher at one time had been a scout-master and +instantly realized that Roger, marooned on St. Aubin's island, was +trying to send a message. Hastily improvising a flag, he responded. + +Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Thayne, still nervously sewing, heard Mr. +Fisher run up the steps and Estelle hurry to the door. A few brief +seconds sufficed to give the explanation Roger had so painstakingly +signaled. + +"I didn't stop to rescue him, Mrs. Thayne," explained Mr. Fisher, +"because his one thought was for you and Win, not to let you worry a +moment longer." + +"Can't you get a boat and row out for him?" asked Estelle, seeing that +Mrs. Thayne was unable to speak. "Poor dear boy, he must be cold and +famished." + +"I'm off to Noirmont Point," replied Mr. Fisher briefly. "It shouldn't +take long to pull over and back, provided that I pick up a boat +quickly." + +In spite of the tutor's best efforts, darkness had fallen before the +marooned prisoner was returned to his anxious family, who sat around to +see him eat everything pressed upon him. Roger was pale and very +subdued. Strangest of all, he had come up Noirmont Terrace pressed +close to the side of the obnoxious Bill Fish and not in the least +resenting the hand that rested on his shoulder. + +Having consumed all the food in sight, he yielded without protest to +his mother's desire that he should go to bed in order to ward off +possible chill. When Mr. Fisher, heartily thanked, had taken his +departure, Mrs. Thayne started for Roger's room. On its threshold she +stopped for the boys were talking. + +"I hated it like time out there," said Roger, now reposing luxuriously +in bed. "But I hated worse to have you and Mother worried. I didn't +purposely go over to the island, Win." + +"I know you didn't," said his brother. "I was sure that something you +couldn't help had happened." + +"It did," sighed Roger. "I guess I'll never again do anything that +worries Mother, now I know how it feels to worry over somebody myself. +And I say, Win, Bill Fish is all right! To think of his knowing the +scout signals! And he pulled out for me himself in a heavy old dory +that weighed a ton. Why, Bill Fish isn't so bad!" + +"And have you just found that out?" asked Win laughing. "I've known it +all the time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AT CORBIERE + + +Not until Friday did Win receive the longed-for letter from Paris. He +tore it open eagerly. + +"DEAR WIN," it ran, "I've just arrived in town and am wishing I was +back in Jersey. As the steamer sailed, I looked over at St Aubin's and +thought of you. You couldn't see me of course, both for fog and because +I was in the wheel-house with the pilot, Jim Trott, a fellow from Gorey +village. + +"Probably you thought that we didn't get into the cave on Monday on +account of the weather. It was beastly, but I decided to try, and when +Connie knew my plan, she insisted on going with me. Pierre came too, +with a lantern and we went down without much trouble. + +"Pierre and I tackled your stone pile at once and we pitched quantities +aside, but couldn't finish because Connie, who was watching the tide, +called a halt too soon. But we cleared enough rocks away to feel rather +sure there is an opening of some kind beyond; just possibly the passage +you are so keen on, more probably connecting with another cave. The +Jersey cliffs are honey-combed with them. How's that for exciting news? + +"Connie haled us out before there was really any need and of course the +tide did not serve for us to go again. When I come at Easter, I'll +finish the job if necessary. After playing ball with several tons of +stone, we then explored the vaults, armed with a hammer and a long line. + +"Well, old fellow, I pounded that north wall inch by inch and I can't +conscientiously say I struck anything that sounded at all hollow. But +still, it's not like tapping on plaster or wood; one couldn't +reasonably expect the same result for the stone is probably some feet +thick. And if the whole wall is the side of the tunnel, naturally it +would all sound alike, so that test doesn't really prove or disprove +anything. + +"The discovery Connie and I did make, and to my mind it is rather +important, is that you are right in thinking that there is a +discrepancy between the walls of the oldest vault and the adjacent +cellar. Outside the house, the foundation wall runs flush the length of +the library and the wing beyond; inside, that same foundation wall +doesn't jibe. According to our measurements, there is a difference of +over a metre, almost four feet, in the length of the partition at right +angles to the north wall as reckoned on either side. This certainly +bears out your theory of a passage running along that wall. + +"We looked very carefully but could not detect that there had ever been +any opening, but all the masonry is so rough that perhaps we couldn't +expect to find it. + +"Uncle Dick is interested but sceptical, says the difference in +measurement may be accounted for by walls built at different times. +When he thinks it over a little, he will see that no Lisle in his +senses,--and the Lisles possess sense,--would have put four extra feet +of solidity into a wall which had no earthly reason to need such +treatment. But he said that when I came at Easter, we may have a mason +and knock a hole wherever we choose. Messing about in the cellar is a +harmless amusement that may keep us out of mischief and provide +employment for some deserving workman. Before that date, I trust you +will succeed in getting Uncle Dick into a less doubting frame of mind. +Easter is but a month away and if all goes well, I'll surely be back +and we will hunt that Spanish chest to its lair. + +"Had no adventures coming here. Jean seemed relieved when I told him to +drive. When I reached my rooms, I found a note directing me to report +for duty to-morrow prepared to show some important American from the +western States the sights of Paris. That means a gay and giddy day. I +only hope I sha'n't have to interpret while he buys hats for Madam and +the young ladies at home. Once I was let in for that and it was pretty +sickening. I've often wondered what the ladies thought of those hats. I +also hope he won't be keen on climbing the Eiffel tower, for that's one +of the things that's not done in Paris. + +"I must go to bed for it is after two and my day to-morrow, or rather +to-day, may include an evening as well. + +"Till Easter then adieu, and all best wishes, + +"M. R. HAMILTON." + +This letter naturally afforded Win a great deal of satisfaction and his +interest and pleasure were shared by the others. To wait a whole month +to solve the mystery of the Spanish chest when so distinct a clue +appeared already in his hand, was a trial of patience. Naturally +Colonel Lisle would not be likely to go ahead in the matter until Max +returned to inspire action by his youthful enthusiasm, and it was only +fair that Max should be in at the finish. Win wondered whether Connie +shared the Colonel's scepticism. This proved not the case, only that +Connie and her father were going to London for a week or two and the +little lady of the Manor had other ideas to occupy her pretty head. + +"We may even run over to Paris," she announced during a farewell call +at Rose Villa. "Max has been begging us ever since he was sent there, +so it's possible we may cross for a few days and plan so that we come +back together at Easter." + +"Wouldn't it be jolly to go around Paris with Mr. Max," said Win almost +enviously. "I haven't forgotten how dandy he was to me in Washington. +Dad took me along when he was calling on some official and then found +he was in for a morning's conference. The Secretary sent for a young +man, who proved to be Mr. Max and told him to look after me. I was only +fifteen, but Mr. Max took as much pains to give me a good time as +though I'd been somebody really important." + +"That's like Max," said Connie briefly, her eyes showing pleasure at +Win's tribute. "I think he's detailed for service such as that more +often than the other young men of the Embassy because he gets on so +well with all sorts of people. It's a real gift and a very valuable one +for a prospective diplomat. But you are celebrating one of your great +national days this week, aren't you?" + +"Yes, Washington's birthday," said Frances. "Luckily it comes on +Wednesday, so we have a holiday. We were going to have a picnic at +Corbiere and invite you, Miss Connie." + +"Indeed, I wish I could be there," said Constance with genuine regret +in her voice, "but I'll be in London. We'll keep up our spirits by +remembering that it's only a brief time to Easter and then we are to +start again on the trail of the Spanish chest." + +Estelle consented to join the holiday celebration, and when the +twenty-second dawned bright and sunny, Rose Villa was the scene of an +animated flurry. In the dining-room, Edith, Frances and Estelle were +putting up the lunch, while Win collected painting traps for the +picture he hoped to sketch, and Roger departed to bring the pony and +cart engaged for the day. + +Corbiere Point was distant about four miles and all except Win and his +mother proposed to walk, since the little carriage could take lunch +baskets and wraps. + +Roger appeared with a plump stubborn Welsh pony, attached to a funny +little cart which he gayly informed them was a "gingle." Neither Edith +nor Estelle, who were familiar with the term as used in Cornwall, +thought it odd but Roger considered it most absurd. + +Even the short legs of a tiny pony could cover the ground more rapidly +than the walking party, and when the pedestrians reached their +destination, no sign of Win, his mother, pony or gingle was visible. + +"Oh, what a wonderful view!" exclaimed Estelle stopping short. + +Before them lay Corbiere lighthouse, built on a bold rock, at flood +tide an island, but at this hour approachable from the mainland by a +causeway. In the foreground stretched an expanse of jagged red reefs +and shining pools with a single martello tower rising in dignified +grandeur. At the right lay a hill, its summit crowned by one stone +cottage with a thatched roof, and down the hill a narrow road wandered +to disappear in a cleft between two gigantic red granite boulders +sprinkled with glittering quartz and partly covered with gray and +bright orange lichens. Green grass and turquoise blue sea with a single +white sail dipping to the horizon completed the color scheme. Near at +hand hovered several of the sea-crows, _corbieres_, which have given +the point its name. + +Estelle's soft eyes grew wide and a pretty pink flush came into her +usually pale cheeks as she gazed into the distance. Roger and the girls +were looking for the rest of the party. + +The thatched cottage seemed utterly without life, windows blank and no +sign of any domestic proceedings. + +"It must be deserted," said Edith as they strolled on. + +"Here's a shed with something black in it," said Roger. "I can just see +its head. It's a goat." + +"It's a black stocking hung to dry," declared Edith. + +"Stocking, nothing," replied Roger. "I know it's a goat." + +The two hung over the gate and deliberately stared into the little +shed. "No goat ever stopped still for so long," persisted Edith, when +three full minutes had passed without motion in the shed. + +"I'll go in and see," began Roger, about to climb the gate. A sudden +exclamation from Frances deterred him. + +"Goodness, here's a black cat! Where did it come from?" + +Upon the doorstep now sat a perfectly motionless black cat. + +"Look at the black hens!" added Edith, bursting into laughter. + +At either corner of the stone cottage two coal black hens were visible, +also like statues, and possessing bright yellow eyes. + +"_And_ a black dog in a barrel!" Frances fairly shrieked. + +"Well, a dog has some sense!" said Roger, whistling and calling. +Strange to say, the dog neither stirred nor lifted its head. Nose on +its paws it remained absolutely still. + +"This is a bum lot of animals," observed Roger. "I never saw a dog +before that wouldn't at least bark at strangers." + +"It's probably dumb as well as deaf," commented Frances. + +"But it might at least _move_," expostulated Roger. "Perhaps it's +paralyzed." + +"Perhaps this cottage and everything about it is enchanted," suggested +Edith. "Miss Connie said something, don't you remember, about a place +where the Jersey witches hold their meetings?" + +"That is 'way the other end of the island," retorted Roger, "down at +St. Clement's." + +There was something uncanny about that collection of dusky, motionless +animals and the three were conscious of real relief when the two hens +at last walked off in quite a hen-like, not to say human manner. But +cat, dog and goat remained as though petrified. + +"Mother's calling," said Frances. "Come along, Roger. Lunch!" + +Roger postponed his intention of stirring up the dog to see whether it +was stuffed or paralyzed, and they turned in the direction of the call. + +Luncheon was already spread on the grass in shelter of a big rock, the +Stars and Stripes forming the table decoration. At sight of the flag, +Roger and Fran stopped and saluted gravely as their father had taught +them. + +"Mother!" exclaimed Roger, his eyes widening. "Is that a chocolate +layer-cake? Where did it come from?" + +"I made it," said Mrs. Thayne. "Miss Estelle said I might and Annette +was quite pleased to watch me, and see how an American cake was +constructed." + +No doubt that the young people were frankly happy, though spending this +holiday in so unusual a fashion. After luncheon, Win prepared to sketch +the lighthouse and the other three proposed to visit it. + +As they ran down the hill toward the causeway and the heap of +picturesque red rocks bared by the water, Mrs. Thayne settled herself +with her embroidery and Estelle produced her netting. + +After a few moments spent consulting with Win as to the exact angle +desirable for his sketch, Mrs. Thayne felt for her watch, remembered +that she did not bring it and looked at Estelle. + +"Will you tell me the time?" she asked. "Win's hands are full with his +palette and block." + +"Certainly," said Estelle. "It's just two." + +As she replaced her watch, a sudden look of interest crossed Mrs. +Thayne's face. + +"What a curious chain you have, Estelle," she remarked. "Is it an old +one? May I take it a moment?" + +"It belonged to my grandmother, my mother's mother," replied Estelle, +unfastening the chain and holding it out to Mrs. Thayne. "I think it is +very old for I never saw another like it." + +Mrs. Thayne examined the trinket carefully. It was hand-made, of pale +yellow gold, and the links, instead of being round, were rectangular, +yet so fastened in a series of three as to produce the effect of a +round cable. + +"It is an awkward thing to use," said Estelle, "because sometimes those +links get turned and it is very difficult to work them into place." + +Mrs. Thayne looked up, a curiously intent expression on her face. +"Estelle," she said abruptly, "have you any relatives in America?" + +"Not that I know of," Estelle replied, surprised by the sudden +question, "though I suppose it is quite possible. Grandmother's sister +married a young man who went out to the colonies, somewhere near +Toronto, I think. We have known nothing of them since Grandmother died +and that was before I was born. I think Mother completely lost touch +with Great-aunt Emma. It is easy, you know, when one belongs to a +different generation and has never seen one's aunt." + +"Then you don't know whether your Great-aunt Emma had children?" asked +Mrs. Thayne, twisting the odd chain reflectively between her fingers. + +"Oh, yes," said Estelle. "I do happen to know that. There were two, a +girl and a boy. Now I think of it, I recall that the girl married and +went to the States. I do not know how one speaks of your counties, but +it was not the city of New York,--perhaps New Yorkshire?" + +"New York State," put in Win so abruptly that his mother jumped. To all +appearances he had been completely absorbed in his painting. + +"But you don't know the name of the man she married?" Mrs. Thayne asked. + +"I do not," replied Estelle. "But I could find out, for it will be +among Father's papers. I think he had a hazy idea of writing some time +to Canada to get in touch if possible with Mother's relatives. But it +was never done, and I should hesitate to do it,--especially now." + +"Lest they might think you were seeking aid," Mrs. Thayne thought, with +a tender appreciation of Estelle's proud independence, but she kept her +inference to herself. + +"Do you know whether your grandmother's sister who went to Canada also +possessed a chain like this?" she asked. + +"Why, yes," said Estelle, laying down her work and looking out to sea. +"I know she did. Great-grandfather Avery once bought two just alike in +Paris and gave one to each of his daughters. This came to me through +Mother." + +Mrs. Thayne started to speak but caught Win's eyes fixed upon her +inquiringly. Something in their expression checked the words she was +about to utter. + +"After all, better be sure," she thought. "It is a very curious old +trinket, Estelle," she said, returning the chain. "Some time when you +think of it, I wish you would look in your father's papers and find the +married name of that cousin who went to New York State." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WIN WONDERS + + +"Mother," said Win solemnly, "I shook in my shoes this afternoon. +Didn't you notice the lurid mixture of colors I was daubing on my +block? And all because I knew you were having psychic thoughts and I +was so afraid you would say what I thought you were thinking and +startle Estelle. I wanted so much to know myself just what you were +driving at with your watch-chains that I almost chewed my tongue off +trying not to speak." + +"I know it," said Mrs. Thayne. "I felt you quaking, Win, and decided to +keep still. After all, the only sensible way was to find out definitely +that name. Estelle is so proud and so reluctant to accept help that one +must move carefully in trying to smooth her pathway." + +The two were alone in Mrs. Thayne's room after the happy picnic at +Corbiere. Through the open window floated the occasional sound of +voices from the end of the terrace where Roger, Edith, and Frances +stood watching the steamer for Southampton round Noirmont Point. + +"And now that I do know the name, I am still uncertain what is best to +do," reflected Mrs. Thayne. "But you asked about the chain, Win. The +moment I saw that one of Estelle's I knew that I had seen a similar one +in the United States. For a time I could not place it, and really it is +a thing of unusual workmanship and not likely to be largely duplicated. +Then it came to me in a flash that Carrie Aldrich often wears a chain +like that and once told me that it had belonged to her mother." + +"But I never knew that Mrs. Aldrich was English," said Win wonderingly. +"I thought she'd always lived in Boston." + +"I knew that she was a Canadian," replied his mother, "but she was +educated in the United States and married an American. To trace her +ancestry never occurred to me. She is so thoroughly and completely +American that one would never think of her forefathers as being +anything else. + +"I can hardly keep silent," she went on. "When I think of Carrie alone +in that huge house in Boston, with her big income and her still bigger +heart and only her charities to fill it and to occupy her time, and +then think of Estelle, so proudly trying to support herself and Edith +in a land where self-support for women is not easy,--why, Win, it seems +as though I must tell her on the spot. And yet, if I do, I am quite +sure Estelle will just shut herself up in the armor of her pride and +refuse to make herself known. Taking both the testimony of the chains +and the very pronounced family resemblance, there can be no reasonable +doubt of the identity." + +"I think Estelle would refuse," said Win slowly. "She's foolishly +proud. She thinks, Mother, that you pay more than the house is worth +and so she does her level best to make it up to us in other ways." + +"I believe I will write to Carrie," mused Mrs. Thayne. "She'd be +interested and anxious to see the girls. I'm sure she doesn't realize +that she has any cousins in England." + +"Mother," said Win with deliberation, "why don't you ask Mrs. Aldrich +to come over and visit us for a little? You'd like to have her and so +would we. Probably she has nothing especial to keep her at home and +might be glad to be let out of a month or two of winter." + +"That's a bright idea, Win!" exclaimed his mother. "Only I suppose she +has several pet charities that she will feel she can't leave at short +notice." + +"In that case," replied Win, "probably you'd better write her about the +girls, only do tell her to come and see for herself. It strikes me that +nothing but knowing each other would ever really bring them together." + +"Win, you are so like your father," said Mrs. Thayne affectionately. +"Your minds work alike. I find I'm growing to depend more and more upon +your judgment." + +In the dusk Mrs. Thayne could not see the flush that spread over her +son's thin face. To be likened in any way to Captain Thayne was praise +indeed for Win. + +"I only wish I could take more off your shoulders, Mother," he said +briefly, "instead of being a great lazy lump that the whole family has +to take thought for." + +"Here's Annette with letters," said Mrs. Thayne. "Why, I did not expect +mail until tomorrow." + +Some moments passed until Win was aroused from his own correspondence +by a sudden surprised exclamation from his mother. + +"Never say you don't believe in special providences. This seems almost +incredible, but here is a note from Mrs. Aldrich, written from London! +She's come over to attend some charity congress and wants me to run up +for a few days." + +"Then it is meant that you should, Mother," said Win, smiling. "That +coincidence hasn't happened for nothing. You can tell her about the +girls much more convincingly than it could be written, and bring her +back with you to see them. It will all be natural and Estelle will +never suspect." + +"I'll do it," said Mrs. Thayne, but the next second a shadow crossed +her face. Her sharp-eyed son instantly saw and interpreted. + +"I'll not overdo, Mother," he said immediately. "Trust me to rival the +sloth in idleness. I promise you that I won't stir one step out of my +usual routine." + +"But there's Roger," mused his mother. + +"Oh, Roger is walking the straight and narrow path of virtue. Ever +since ex-scoutmaster Bill Fish rescued him from a desert island, he's +been meekness itself. Makes me smile to see his star-eyed devotion. +This plan is too evidently designed, for you to give it the cold +shoulder." + +"It does seem so," agreed his mother. "Well, I'll go by Saturday's +boat. Win, don't you think it would be best not to say anything to Fran +and Roger? We will tell them after I have seen Carrie." + +"I certainly do," Win declared. "Fran couldn't keep that secret one +half day. It wouldn't interest the kid." + +The absence of the family did not prevent Win's enjoyment of the Manor +library and during his mother's stay in London, he paid it several +visits. Evidently the servants had been instructed to expect and make +him welcome, should he appear, for a smiling face answered his ring and +the fire in the library was invariably lighted on his arrival. But +Win's conscience would not allow him to neglect Roger even for these +delightful hours of solitude, so this pleasure was only occasional. + +With the pony and gingle they explored many of the lovely Jersey lanes +and headlands, for driving seldom tired Win. Half a morning passed in +this fascinating occupation left Roger ready to spend the time before +luncheon in preparing his lessons. When they were over in the +afternoon, Mr. Fisher usually suggested kicking football on the beach +or led Roger a walk sufficiently strenuous to leave him disposed for a +quiet evening. Estelle and Nurse both thought Roger "good as gold," and +did not realize how much of his virtue was due to the forethought of +brother and tutor. + +One morning Estelle had errands in town and invited Roger to go with +her. Hearing his joyful acceptance, Win as gladly betook himself to the +Manor. + +Spring was far advanced now, potatoes were being planted and other +early vegetables already showing in green rows. Under the trees on the +Manor grounds wild snow-drops starred the grass. Win wandered into the +formal garden enclosed by a hedge of box so clipped as to form a solid +wall with square pillars topped by round balls of living green. In the +background posed two peacocks, also clipped from box. What patience, +time and care had been required to bring that hedge to such perfection! +Early roses were now plentiful and as Win sauntered through their +fragrant mazes, he realized how much loving thought had been expended +through the centuries on this old garden. Sad indeed that the present +owner of Laurel Manor was the last Richard Lisle. + +Win's reverie was broken by the passing of Pierre, with a pleasant +"_Bon jour, M'sieur_," and a touch of his cap. Pierre carried a rope +and crowbar, unusual implements for a gardener's assistant. + +Win watched him idly down the laurel-bordered drive and then went into +the library, followed by Tylo, who seemed depressed in the absence of +his mistress. + +About eleven, Win was visited by Yvonne, bringing a glass of milk and a +plate of biscuit, which she placed beside him with a politely murmured +"M'sieur labors so diligently!" + +"Thank you, Yvonne," said Win. "It's good of you to bring that. Do you +know when the Colonel and Miss Connie are expected?" + +"No word since they arrived at Paris," replied Yvonne in her daintily +accented English. + +"It is Pierre who hears from M'sieur Max, a letter, brief indeed, but +explicit, that certain matters may arrange themselves in readiness for +the coming of M'sieur Max." + +Win looked puzzled. For a second Yvonne stood regarding him, her head +slightly on one side. + +"Word will perhaps arrive on the morrow," she volunteered. "Is the milk +to M'sieur's liking?" + +"Very much. Thank you, Yvonne." + +The trim little maid replenished the fire, replaced a daffodil fallen +from a vase, patted Tylo, gave him a biscuit and vanished as +noiselessly as she came. + +Left alone, Win began to walk slowly up and down the library, wondering +about the matters which were "to arrange themselves." The tools Pierre +carried, the direction in which he was walking, to Win's alert mind +suggested the Manor cave. Had Max told Pierre to complete clearing away +that heap of stones and if so, why? + +Never in his life had Win been so tempted to break his word. In spite +of the voluntary promise to his mother to do nothing in the least +unusual, it seemed as though he _must_ go and see what was taking place +in the cave. + +"Pierre would help me up," he told himself. + +"Yes," came the instant answer, "but Roger gave you all the help he +could and yet you were in bed two days and felt ill for a week." + +Win thought of questioning Pierre, but abandoned the idea as not quite +on the level. A note from Max had come on yesterday's steamer +presumably in company with the directions to Pierre. There was not a +word in it about the cave and if the writer had wanted Win to know what +was going on, he would have told him. No, Win's code of honor would not +permit him to find out by asking Pierre. And yet two weeks until Easter! + +Win gave a long whistle, looked wistfully down to the sea and again +took up his book. + +When he returned for luncheon at Rose Villa, he found Roger convulsing +Frances by his account of the morning spent in town with Estelle. + +"It's lucky I don't have to do the marketing for this family," he +announced. "If you wanted cream now, where would you get it?" + +"A dairy, of course, or a market," replied Frances. + +"Wrong. Much cream you'd get! Try a fish-monger's." + +At Roger's disgusted tone, Fran giggled, "Oh, I've learned a lot," he +went on. "Where would you ask for one of those paper patterns to cut +out a dress?" + +"A dry-goods store," answered his sister. + +"Do say a draper's if that is what you mean," continued Roger. "You +would only waste time. Go to a book-shop." + +"I will," said Fran. "Thanks for the tip." + +"I wanted to get weighed," said Roger, "because I know I am becoming a +shadow studying so hard. I asked Miss Estelle where to go and told her +I didn't think the nickel-in-the-slot machines were very +accurate--Well, what's wrong with that?" + +Roger stopped for both Win and Frances were laughing at him. + +"Here you are knocking English customs," said Win at last. "As though +Miss Estelle knew what a nickel was, let alone a slot machine, although +I have seen some of them." + +"I don't see anything so funny," said Roger huffily. "Perhaps she +didn't know, but she was polite enough not to laugh and said the place +to get weighed was the hair-dresser's--" + +"Oh, come off," said Win. "That's too much, even for us." + +"Well, it is where we went and where the scales were," retorted Roger, +"but there weren't any pounds to it, only what they call stones. I +weigh exactly seven stone and I won't tell you how many pounds that is." + +"Ninety-eight," said Win so promptly that Roger looked disconcerted. + +"How did you know?" he demanded. + +"From a book," replied his brother. "A little article that you don't +yet value as highly as you might. What next?" + +"Oh, that was about all," said Roger, "except that Miss Estelle told me +I might choose some crackers, I mean biscuit, and to buy half a kilo. I +forgot and asked for half a litre and the clerk grinned very +disagreeably." + +"Liquid measure instead of dry," commented Win in amusement. "After +luncheon, Roger, permit me to introduce you to some parts of your +arithmetic that you have evidently never examined. But go on." + +"Then I stopped to look in a window and hurried to catch Miss Estelle +and ran into a big fat man who was wearing stiff leather gaiters and a +tam o' shanter. We came together rather hard," admitted Roger. "I +didn't hurt myself much because he was quite soft, but his tam fell off +and he said, 'Bless my soul, by George!" + +"Roger, I can't stand any more," implored Frances. + +"I don't follow the logic of that hair-dresser and the scales," mused +Win, when he had stopped laughing. "Is it before and after a hair-cut +or to see how much flesh the barber gouges out in a shave?" + +"Give it up," said Fran. "There's the gong for luncheon and Edith +bringing the mail. I hope there's a letter from mother." + +"There is," said Edith. + +"Please excuse me, Miss Estelle, if I read it now," begged Frances, +settling into her seat at the table. + +"Of course, dear," was the reply as Estelle took Mrs. Thayne's usual +place, for she and Edith were having their meals with the young people. + +"Now, Roger, pause," exclaimed Win, suddenly. "What are you going to do +with that?" he added, as the attention of all was concentrated on the +surprised Roger who sat with arrested hand suspending above his plate a +spoon heaped with sugar. + +"Whatever is he doing?" protested Estelle gently. "Such a mixture! How +can he eat sugar on his eggs?" + +"Thought it was pancakes," explained Roger, indicating the omelet +before him, but relinquishing the sugar. + +"Mother's coming on Wednesday," Frances announced happily. "And she's +met a friend in London, Mrs. Aldrich, who's coming with her for a few +days. Isn't that splendid, boys? You'll like her, Miss Estelle. She's +sweet." + +"I shall be glad to see any friend of your mother's," said Estelle +cordially. Looking to see whether Roger was sufficiently supplied with +butter, she did not notice the smile with which Win glanced at her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE TWO CHAINS + + +"Estelle, will you do me a favor?" asked Mrs. Thayne, following her +young landlady into the hall. The travelers from London had just +arrived and in the drawing-room, Mrs. Aldrich was expatiating to the +boys upon the roughness of the trip. + +"Why, of course I will! You don't need to ask," replied Estelle +affectionately. + +"You and Edith have been taking your meals with the children during my +absence. Please keep on doing it. Let us all be one family for the rest +of our stay." + +"It is lovely of you to want us, Mrs. Thayne," said Estelle, her face +flushing. "We stopped with the children because I thought it would be +better and then I could personally see that they had all they wanted. +But now that you have a guest--" + +"I want you and Mrs. Aldrich to know each other," said Mrs. Thayne +quickly. "And this will be one of the easiest ways to get acquainted." + +"I think Mrs. Aldrich is charming," remarked Estelle. "Isn't it odd, +how sometimes a likeness in a total stranger strikes one? For a second, +just as you introduced us, she reminded me so much of my dear mother +that I could hardly pull myself together to speak. She must have +thought me quite awkward." + +"I know she didn't," said Mrs. Thayne, with difficulty keeping her face +under control. She had seen Estelle start and noticed her amazed +expression when Mrs. Aldrich greeted her. So Estelle had not been +conscious of Mrs. Aldrich's constrained manner! "Then you will have +luncheon with us?" she added. + +"I will since you wish it," replied Estelle, vanishing to give +directions to Nurse. + +"Now, what is there to do this morning?" Mrs. Aldrich was asking the +boys. "I propose to stay in this island exactly one week. Your mother +was seasick so she ought to lie down and rest but I feel as fit as a +fiddle. Frances is at school, you tell me. No, I don't want to drive +this morning. Suppose you take me for a short walk, Roger and Win, and +show me what is to be seen on the beach." + +"We might take you to Noirmont Point," suggested Roger as they stopped +at the end of the terrace to look at the view which was never twice the +same. "What are those big vessels over beyond Castle Elizabeth?" + +"They are English warships," replied Mrs. Aldrich. "Coming into the +harbor we passed close to them. The captain said it was a part of the +Channel squadron, whatever that is." + +"Oh, did you see their names?" demanded Roger eagerly, as he counted +the great gray ships in the offing. "Fourteen, no, fifteen." + +"Only a few. One was the _Princess Royal_ and I saw the _Thunderer_, +the _Revenge_, the _Black Prince_ and the _Camperdown_." + +Roger's eyes opened at this list of awe-inspiring names. "I wish we +could get over to Elizabeth," he remarked. "We could see them better +then." + +"Tide's not right," said Win, casting a critical glance at the sea. + +"What, to walk over to that island?" asked Mrs. Aldrich. "Is it ever +possible?" + +"We've been over," said Roger. "When the tide is 'way out, there is a +raised causeway, quite smooth and easy." + +"What is the place anyway?" asked Mrs. Aldrich, looking curiously +across to the castle. + +"Once it was an old abbey," Win explained, "dedicated to St. Elericus, +the patron saint of Jersey. I suppose the town was named for him." + +"How did the island itself get its name?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. "The +derivation of these charming old English names is a fascinating study." + +"It was the old Roman Caesarea," said Win. "Jersey is a corruption of +that. The ruined hermitage of St. Elericus is still over near +Elizabeth, at least they call it that, though it's a kind of +combination of a watch-tower and a cave. But the castle, as it stands, +was built when Edward VI was king of England. There's a story to the +effect that all the bells in the island except one for each of the +twelve churches were seized by royal authority and ordered sold to help +pay for building the castle. They were shipped to St. Malo and expected +to bring a high price, but the vessel went down on the way and all the +good church people thought it was because of sacrilege in taking those +bells." + +"What is the castle used for now?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. + +"Barracks," replied Roger. "The place is full of soldiers. It's no good +now as a fortification, because Fort Regent up above St. Helier's--over +there on the cliffs--could knock Castle Elizabeth and all those +warships into fits in no time. Nothing can enter the bay if the Fort +Regent guns don't approve. And that heap of rocks where Elizabeth +stands is 'most a mile around,--it is, honest. Fran and Edith and I +walked it." + +"They say," said Win, "that the space between the castle and the town +was once a meadow. For that matter, they also say that the whole +channel between here and France was once so narrow that the Bishop of +Coutances used to cross to Jersey on a plank." + +"Tell that to the marines," protested Roger. "You do find the weirdest +yarns in those books you're always grubbing in." + +"Oh, I can tell a bigger one than that," said Win laughing, "but +perhaps you'll swallow it because your friend Bill told it to me. He +said that some time in the sixteenth century there was an abnormally +low tide, lower than any one had ever known. Some fishermen who +happened to be out between Orgueil and the coast of France came in and +reported that they had distinctly seen down in the channel the towers +and streets and houses of an old town, forty feet or more under water." + +"There are stories like that in Brittany," said Mrs. Aldrich. "The +fishermen declare that they can hear the tolling of the submerged +church bells. Now, when legends like that exist on both sides of a +channel, it stands to reason that there is likely some foundation in +truth." + +"Then why don't they send divers down to find out?" demanded Roger +bluntly. "Any enterprising country would." + +"We'll import a few Americans to do the investigating," laughed Mrs. +Aldrich. "Is this Frances coming? Who is with her?" + +"Edith," replied Win. "Miss Estelle's sister." + +"Bless me!" murmured Mrs. Aldrich. "The other was startling enough but +this resemblance is even stronger." + +Win smiled. It was great fun to look on, knowing what he did of his +mother's innocent little conspiracy, all the more fun because the other +young people were unsuspecting. + +At luncheon, where Estelle appeared with a pretty dignity, Win was +supplied with still more secret amusement. Mrs. Aldrich talked a good +deal, rather inconsequently at times, but continually looked from one +sister to the other in a way that would have aroused suspicion had +either the slightest idea that any plot was on foot. As it was, Win saw +Estelle occasionally glancing at their guest in a puzzled manner as +though trying to account for something she found unexpected. After the +meal he waylaid his mother. + +"What is Mrs. Aldrich going to do?" he asked laughingly. "I had hard +work not to give myself away during luncheon. You looked so unnatural, +Mother, that if you hadn't been seasick, Fran and Roger would have +caught on. As it was, they thought you weren't quite rested." + +"I don't know what she is going to do," replied his mother, "but it is +working as we hoped. She is strongly attracted to the girls, and +Estelle confided to me that our guest in some unaccountable way, +reminded her of her mother. We have done our part in bringing Carrie +here; it is for her to take the next step. I rather imagine that she +won't be able to hold in very much longer, though I think she is +enjoying the situation." + +It was not until dinner of her third day in St. Aubin's, that Mrs. +Aldrich made herself known. To please Win, who had ascertained that she +chanced to have the old chain with her, she wore it when she entered +the dining-room. + +Win watched Estelle intently, disappointed that she did not immediately +notice the ornament. Indeed, they were finishing dessert before +anything happened. Perhaps purposely, Mrs. Aldrich looked at her watch +and Fran in all innocence touched the match that fired the explosion. + +"Why, how odd!" she exclaimed. "Miss Estelle has a chain just like that +one, Mrs. Aldrich." + +Win and his mother exchanged a glance; the others naturally looked at +the chain. + +"It's precisely like it, Sister," said Edith, who sat near Mrs. +Aldrich. "Isn't that queer?" + +"It's an old keepsake," said Mrs. Aldrich with deliberation. "It +belonged to my mother. See, here are her initials on the slide, E. A. +for Emma Avery." + +Edith looked with interest but Estelle turned pale. Thoughtful Win +pushed a glass of water within reach. + +"Star's has initials too," Edith remarked innocently. "A. A., I think +they are. Anyway, it was Grandmother's chain." + +Mrs. Aldrich turned to Estelle, who perfectly colorless, was staring at +her. "Child," she said rather peremptorily, "come up to my room and let +us compare these old trinkets." + +Still speechless, Estelle mechanically arose. Amid dead silence the two +left the dining-room. Fran turned to her mother, amazed at the look of +excited pleasure on her face. "What _does_ it all mean?" she demanded. +"Is it a secret?" + +"Just a mild little conspiracy," replied Mrs. Thayne. "What it means, +is that Mrs. Aldrich was your mother's first cousin, Edith, so she is +your and Estelle's second cousin. Just by chance I guessed from +Estelle's unusual chain that the one Carrie Aldrich wears came from the +same source. When Estelle told me that her great-grandfather gave one +to each of his two daughters, the whole thing flashed on me." + +"But that," said Edith, with her sweet childish faith, "is a miracle." + +"Perhaps," smiled Mrs. Thayne. "I only know that we shall leave St. +Aubin's happier because you and Mrs. Aldrich have found each other out." + +A shower of eager questions fell from Frances and Roger but a long time +passed before anything was seen of Estelle and Mrs. Aldrich. When they +reappeared to the group awaiting them in the drawing-room, Estelle had +plainly been crying and Mrs. Aldrich's eyes looked suspiciously red. + +"Come and kiss me, Edith," she said. "I want to be Cousin Carrie from +now on. Yes, Estelle, she does look more like the Averys than you, +though I saw the resemblance in your face also." + +"Isn't the whole thing just like a story?" Frances confided to her +mother at bed-time. "What do you think will happen now?" + +"I don't know," admitted Mrs. Thayne. "Estelle is so very proud that it +will be hard for her to accept help from any one, but Carrie will +arrange things if it can be done. I know that Estelle has been +dreadfully worried because some of the little money her father left her +has been lost through an imprudent investment and that she has not felt +sure she could manage to keep the house through another season. And yet +she must find some way of supporting herself and Edith. Things will +work themselves out, for Carrie is perfectly capable of inventing some +very necessary work for Estelle to do, which will preserve her +self-respect and let Carrie have her way. I think Carrie usually has +some young person acting as secretary and Estelle could do that easily. +I am not at all worried about the future since Estelle fortunately saw +the resemblance to her own mother in Mrs. Aldrich. I imagine that will +make it easier for her to consider whatever plan is proposed." + +"Wasn't it lucky that we came here!" sighed Frances. "And doesn't it +seem odd that we did come, just because Roger and I wanted to take that +little train the first day and chanced to find Rose Villa? If it hadn't +been for that, we might not have looked for lodgings in St. Aubin's at +all, nor known Miss Estelle and Edith. Why, Mother!" she went on, with +intenser surprise in her voice. "It's just like the House that Jack +built. If we hadn't come here, we wouldn't have met the beach dog, nor +known Miss Connie, nor visited the Manor, nor be hunting for the +Spanish chest!" + +Fran stopped, looking so comically aghast that Mrs. Thayne laughed as +she kissed her. + +"So much depended upon a passing wish to take that little train! It is +remarkable on looking back, to realize how often life turns upon some +apparently trivial incident, some insignificant choice." + +"It's time though, that we went home, Mother," said Frances merrily. +"While you were in London, Miss Estelle wanted change for half a crown, +so I tipped the money out of my purse. One piece rolled on the floor +and Roger picked it up, and said: 'Why, this isn't a shilling! What is +it?' So I took it, and, Mother, both of us looked at it hard for +several seconds before we realized that it was a United States +quarter-dollar! Don't you think it is time that we went home?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CHEST ITSELF + + +Mrs. Aldrich's stay did not exceed her limit of a week, but she left +for London with Estelle's willing promise to come to her when the +Thaynes returned to Boston and leaving behind her two girls with +gladdened hearts. After her departure Win's interest was again +concentrated on the coming of the Manor family and the search for the +Spanish chest. + +Twice as he came or went from his visits to the library, he saw Pierre +in the distance, once actually disappearing over the cliff edge, but +Easter was close at hand when Yvonne, bringing the usual lunch, +volunteered the information that the Colonel, Miss Connie and Mr. Max +were expected on Saturday's steamer. + +Win reported this news with joy and when the day arrived the young +people began to watch for the Granville boat hours before she could +possibly arrive, hoping to distinguish familiar figures on the deck. To +their disappointment, when the steamer was finally detected in the +distance, dusk was at hand. + +"I shall do it!" said Roger firmly. "There are three packages and we +may not be in England on the Fourth of July. Besides I forgot it on +Washington's birthday." + +Fran and Win looked after him in amazement as he suddenly tore back to +the house and rushed upstairs, spreading noise on his way and +devastation in his room, where he jerked the very vitals out of his +steamer trunk, scattering its contents to the four corners. + +Nor was Edith enlightened when Roger reappeared with a pasteboard tube +in one hand, and a box of matches in the other, but Win laughed and +Frances gave a shriek of delight. + +"Bed fire!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Roger, I never knew you had it. Do wait +until the boat is a little nearer." + +"It will be darker, too," Win advised. "Make more of a show if you +wait." + +"I only hope they will know it is for them," said Roger anxiously. + +"They'll see where it comes from and perhaps they'll understand," said +Win. "But don't expect the steamer to salute as one at home would." + +At the proper second, a flare of red illuminated the end of Noirmont +Terrace, greatly amazing not only St. Aubin's staid population but such +inhabitants of St. Helier's as chanced to be on the water front, and +affording Roger two full moments of complete and exquisite satisfaction. + +"Real United States!" he said. "I suppose an English boat doesn't know +enough to whistle--" + +Roger stopped with his mouth open. From the _Alouette_ came two +distinct blasts of the steam siren. + +"Oh, that's Mr. Max," burst out Win in delight. "He's been in America +and understands the etiquette of red fire. And you remember he said he +knew personally all the captains on the Channel boats. Probably he went +up to the bridge and got somebody to acknowledge our salute! Isn't that +simply corking of him?" + +"That was surely meant for us," agreed the pleased Frances. "Oh, how +long shall we have to wait before we see them?" + +That very evening Pierre brought a note from Constance, expressing +appreciative thanks for their fiery welcome, the source of which Max +had guessed and which he had easily induced Captain Lefevre to +acknowledge. The note ended with an invitation to tea on Monday and +promised a solution of some kind to Win's theories concerning the +Spanish chest. + +"How nice of Miss Connie to set the very first possible day," said +Frances. "I suppose we shall not see them before then." + +"Not unless we go to the little old church tomorrow," replied her +brother. "If you want to, and it's a still day, we might get up there." + +But the travelers had returned on an evening of clouds and threatening +winds. Easter Sunday dawned with Jersey in the grip of a terrific +southeast storm. All day the rain beat on the panes of Rose Villa, all +day the wind howled and snatched at the shutters, the house at times +fairly quivering with its force. As dusk came, the gale increased to +the proportions of a hurricane. Roger, going out to the pillar +post-box, came struggling back with difficulty. + +"I met one of the Noirmont fishermen," he reported. "He said it is the +worst gale in thirty years and when the weather clears the surf will be +worth seeing." + +"Fisher told me that a southeast storm kicked up a fine sea," replied +Win. "I only hope it won't stop our going to the Manor to-morrow." + +All night the wind raged though the rain finally ceased. It seemed as +though the reputed witches of Jersey were holding high carnival with +the unloosed elements of air and water. Day broke, still without rain, +but the violence of the wind was not lessened. Roger ran out to the end +of the terrace and came hurrying back. + +"Come out, everybody, and look," he shouted above the uproar. "The +waves are coming over the breakwater. There isn't one inch of beach to +be seen." + +Roger's report was literally true. Though the sea wall protecting the +town of St. Helier's rose twenty-five feet above the sands, the rollers +were breaking beyond the wall on the esplanade itself, the white foam +even running up some of the side streets. Only an inky howling mass of +white-capped water stretched between the town and Elizabeth Castle. + +Win, who had managed to make slow progress to a point of vantage, stood +fascinated by the wild whirl of wind and water. The tide was at the +flood and the spectacle at its finest. Just a few moments sufficed to +lessen its grandeur as the waves, yielding to the law of their being, +were dragged away from the land. Presently, instead of dashing over the +wall, they broke against it, and then came a scene of different +interest. The water, forcibly striking the masonry, was flung back on +the next incoming roller, with a collision that sent spray forty feet +into the air from the violence of the shock. This phenomenon was +repeated as the rollers crashed down the curve of the wall, continuing +for its full length, the flying spray looking like consecutive puffs of +steam from a locomotive. + +"Look, there comes the train from St. Helier's!" exclaimed Roger, +dancing excitedly about. "Doesn't it look as though the ocean was +trying to catch it?" + +The little train had prudently delayed its starting until after the +turn of the tide. As it crept slowly around the curve of the +breakwater, great white tongues of foam constantly shot over the wall +like fingers frantically trying to seize and draw it into the sea. But +always the hands fell back baffled, to the accompaniment of a roar that +sounded almost like human disappointment. The train reached St. Aubin's +dripping with salt water. + +"Five stones are torn out of the coping in the wall," reported Roger, +coming back from his inspection of the adventurous little engine. "The +guard says they are sweeping pebbles and stones by the ton out of the +streets beyond the esplanade. And coming down here, he twice had a +barrel of water slapped right at him. He is as wet as a drowned rat." + +"The surf must be wonderful at Corbiere," said Estelle. "They say there +is an undertow off that point which produces something this effect of +the water flung back by the wall." + +"Why, here's Miss Connie!" exclaimed Frances in excitement. Max and +Constance on horseback were coming down the terrace. + +"We've been half round the island," Connie announced after her first +greetings. Well prepared for wind as they were, both looked disheveled. +Connie's hair was braided in a thick club down her back, evidently the +only way she could keep it under control; Max's was plastered back by +wind and spray, for he had lost his hat, and their horses were blown +and spattered with salt brine. + +"Oh, but it is grand!" Constance went on. "Corbiere light is smothered +in spray to the very top of the tower. We haven't had a storm like this +since I was a tiny kiddie." + +To talk above the uproar of the surf was difficult. Asking them to be +at the Manor promptly by three, the two rode away. + +"Why three?" asked Frances as they regained the shelter of the house. + +"I think we are going down into the cave," said Win happily. "Mr. Max +told me just now that we were to begin exploring there and that things +would be arranged so that it would not be hard for me. I suppose he and +Pierre have some plan." + +"But you aren't going into the cave on a day like this?" exclaimed Mrs. +Thayne, quite horrified at this announcement. + +"Why, yes, Mother," said Win. "The tide will be as low as usual when it +does ebb." + +"Of course," assented his mother. "I forgot. But how about this wind? +You must have the pony, Win." + +"I will if it keeps up, but I imagine the gale will blow itself out by +noon." + +Win's prophecy proved correct. When the four started to keep their +engagement, the wind was greatly abated and the only trace of the +tempest was the ruined vines and gardens that marked their road. At the +Manor gates, Colonel Lisle, Constance and Max met them. + +"It is to be the cave," Connie said gayly. "Max has things all mapped +out for us." + +Arrived at the cliff, the party stopped. Marks of the storm were +visible in one or two landslides and in a great amount of debris +strewing the uncovered beach and rocks. Even large stones seemed to +have been displaced. + +Max looked rather serious as he saw so much change in conditions +usually stable. "I think you'd better let me go down and report whether +matters are as I expect," he said. "There seems to have been +considerable doing in this vicinity last evening." + +"Let us wait, Win," said Constance quickly. "No use in going down until +we see how he finds things." + +Colonel Lisle also elected to await the report, but Roger and the girls +accompanied Max. They were gone almost half an hour and the watchers on +the cliff were beginning to wonder what had happened. When they did +appear, they called to the others not to come. + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men!'" sighed Max as he reached the +top of the cliff. "Uncle, the storm has picked up all the stones I had +Pierre clear out of the tunnel and wedged them in tight again like a +cork in a bottle." + +"There was a passage and we can't get into it?" demanded Win eagerly, +his face reflecting the disappointment visible on the faces of the +other young people. + +"There was," replied Max, looking at him sympathetically, "not merely +into another cave but striking inland. Pierre cleared its mouth and +reported it passable for fifty feet. Beyond that he did not go. Now, it +is stopped as tight as ever. This shows, Uncle, how it came to be lost +to the recollection of everybody about the Manor." + +"Yes," said Colonel Lisle. "Very likely it was stopped by a similar +storm a century or more ago. So far as I know there has never been a +legend of any tunnel. But, Max," he added, "there is yet the cellar +where you and Win have decided that the passage enters the house." + +"May we knock a hole there?" Max asked quickly. Win had said nothing +more but his disappointment was evident. + +"Certainly, if you like," assented the Colonel, smiling. "Only be +prepared for another disillusion when you get the wall down. The +existence of the tunnel doesn't ensure that of the chest." + +Max whistled, evidently a signal, for Pierre promptly appeared with a +rope over his shoulder. + +"We sha'n't need that now," said Max. He proceeded to add some rapid +directions in French. Pierre nodded, grinned cheerfully and set off at +a fast pace. + +"I've told him to get another man and come to knock in the vault wall," +Max explained as they started toward the Manor. "We may not get it down +this afternoon, but that's all that's left to try. I'm beastly annoyed +about that tiresome hole. Why should a ripsnorter of a storm come on +the one day when it could spoil our plans?" + +"It's provoking." agreed Win. "Do you suppose there is really anything +in the passage?" + +"Blessed if I know!" replied Max. "The one thing sure is that there is +a passage. There must be since we located one end of it in the cave. If +it hadn't been for that, we might not be permitted to tear down the +wall, but even Uncle is convinced now that the tunnel exists." + +"Come and have tea," said Connie as they reached the Manor. "It's a bit +early, but we may as well begin, for nobody knows how long it will take +to pierce the vault." + +Max went down to show the men where to work and reported that the stone +seemed soft and inclined to break easily. "This isn't going to be much +of a job," he reported. "I told Pierre to send word as soon as he +struck through." + +"What do you suppose the chest will look like?" asked Frances. "Will it +be silver?" + +"No such luck," Max replied. "Possibly metal, probably wood, always +provided that we find it." + +"You mustn't throw cold water, Max," reproved Connie from behind the +tea-table. "Since we have found the passage, why not the chest? Let's +have it a gorgeous one while we are about it, gold studded with uncut +rubies and the Spanish crown in diamonds." + +Frances and Edith shrieked at thought of such sumptuousness and one by +one each expressed an opinion as to what the box would resemble and its +probable contents. Roger decided that the chest was of solid iron, +fastened by seven locks of which they would have to find the seven keys +and that inside would be discovered a complete suit of royal armor. + +"I fear that Prince Charles would not have made good his escape from +England clad in a clanking suit of mail," said the amused Colonel. + +Just then Yvonne entered with her usual pretty air of importance. "It +is Pierre who desires M'sieur to attend in the cellar," she said, +addressing herself to Max. + +The entire party rose, hastily placing tea-cups on any convenient +article of furniture. Roger found the floor most accessible for his, +but with prudent foresight took with him such easily conveyed articles +as the jam sandwiches and plum cake upon his plate. + +Down in the cellar, Pierre and McNeil, the Scotch gardener, stood +facing the northern wall just where the newer wing joined the oldest +Manor vault. Before them yawned a hole already two feet in diameter. + +With a grin on his face, Pierre thrust his crowbar through and showed +that a space not quite a yard wide intervened before the tool brought +up against what was in reality the outer wall of the cellar. The +partition itself was only a foot thick, but because it was of equal +thickness throughout its length, Max had not been able to detect any +difference in resonance. + +"_Bien, Pierre!_" exclaimed Max eagerly. "_En avant!_" + +Pierre and McNeil attacked the wall again, Pierre all smiles and gay +glances over this remarkable whim of M'sieur Max, whose whims as a rule +he found enjoyable; McNeil looking perhaps not grimmer than usual, but +as though the whole affair was quite below his dignity. To knock a hole +in a perfectly good stone partition which would require a mason to fill +and put in proper shape again at an expense of solid Jersey shillings, +struck his thrifty Scotch soul as folly. Still, if Colonel Lisle wished +to indulge Mr. Max in this youthful eccentricity, it was not McNeil's +place to protest. + +After fifteen minutes a cavity yawned in the cellar wall, disclosing a +passage leading to the left. + +"That will do, McNeil," said the Colonel. "That's enough for the +purpose. Go ahead, boys. It was through your efforts that the tunnel +was located, so it is for you to see this out." + +"Win shall be first," said Max. "Step in, old fellow." + +Pale with excitement, Win took the offered lantern and approached the +hole. Once inside the opening he found that he could stand erect for +the passage ran straight along the cellar wall about three feet wide +and over five feet high. It seemed dry and the air was not musty. Rough +stones formed its floor and roof but the crude workmanship had been +strong and only a few scattered stones had fallen during the centuries. + +Max followed with another lantern, and Roger made the third explorer. +The excited heads of the girls were thrust into the passage but only +Frances actually stepped within. + +Win went slowly down the gently sloping tunnel, and presently the eager +watchers who could catch only glimpses of shadowy roof and walls in the +fitful light of the lanterns, saw the three stop. In her excitement, +Fran forgot her fear of the distance stretching before her and ran to +them. The next second came a wild warwhoop from Roger. + +"It's here!" Max called more quietly. + +At this wonderful news the rest entered the passage, the Colonel as +eager as the others. Fifty feet from the opening at one side of the +tunnel was a rough niche or alcove and in it stood a box about two feet +square. Upon its cover lay the dust of ages, and it was scarcely to be +distinguished in color from the stones about it. + +"We'll bring it out, Uncle," said Max. "No place to open it here. You +hold the lanterns, Win. Lend a hand, Roger. Go easy; we don't know how +much knocking it will stand." + +His eyes almost starting from his head, Roger took one of the handles, +the girls stepped back and in two minutes the party stood in the open +cellar, looking at what was undoubtedly the Spanish chest. + +[Illustration: WHAT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE SPANISH CHEST] + +"Is it heavy?" asked Fran breathlessly, while Pierre went for a brush +to remove the silted dust. + +"Rather," said Max, looking boyishly excited. "Ah, now we know the +style of the chest. No gold box nor uncut rubies, Connie!" + +Relieved of its heavy coating of dust, the box proved of dark wood, +carefully finished and ornamented by plates and corners of steel. Upon +its cover was inlaid a scroll engraved with the Manor arms and the name +of Richard Lisle. + +"Gracious, what great-grandfather bought that bit of bric-a-brac!" +exclaimed Connie, seeing her father's eyes light with interested +pleasure. "It must have been the original Richard himself. Is it +locked?" + +Max tried the lid. "No," he said, straightening up and looking at the +Colonel. "It is your play, Uncle Dick. Only a Lisle of Laurel Manor +should open Richard's chest." + +The Colonel smiled, stepped forward and with his single hand lifted the +lid. The excited group about him bent forward eagerly. + +At first glance a roll of dark cloth was all that appeared. When +Colonel Lisle lifted this, it unfolded into a long-skirted coat +ornamented with many buttons. The fabric was stained and rotten, in +places moth-eaten. Below the coat lay a pair of leather gloves with +long wrists, stiff as boards, and two blackened bits of metal that +proved to be spurs. + +For a moment no one spoke. The young people were silent, impressed with +the fact that long years ago these things had been the property of a +prince of England. + +With a smile the Colonel looked first at Max and then at Win. "Are you +satisfied?" he asked. "Though the contents of the Spanish chest have no +value in money, they certainly are rich in historical interest." + +"Oh, it was the fun of finding it that I cared about," said Win +quickly. "That was the point for me. And I am so glad there is +something in it." + +"Let's take it up-stairs," suggested Connie. "We can see so much +better." + +The boys and Max delayed to inspect the empty secret passage, following +to the spot where it was blocked by its stopper of stone. Then they +joined the group in the study. In bright daylight, the fine workmanship +on the Toledo steel trimmings of the chest stood out in full beauty. + +"The design on these buttons is very significant," remarked Colonel +Lisle, who was inspecting the wreck of the once handsome coat. "And I +suspect that they are of silver." + +Examination showed on the tarnished metal the three ostrich feathers +that have marked the badge of the Prince of Wales since the far-off +days of Edward the Black Prince. Below was the motto, "Ich dien," and +the single letter C. + +"On my next new suit I guess I'll have buttons marked R," said Roger +solemnly. + +The others laughed. A feeling of real awe had been creeping over them +to think that garment had once been worn by Prince Charles. + +"Here's a loose button," said Max, picking it out of the box. "The +whole coat is falling in pieces." + +"The buttons will last indefinitely," said Colonel Lisle, regarding +thoughtfully the one Max had just rescued. "Thanks to Win's clever +brain, the Manor has acquired an unsuspected secret passage and a +valuable antique; of especial value to me because of the name it bears. +I want you to keep this button, Win, for I think you, almost more than +any one I know, will appreciate it and what it stands for." + +Win turned pale. To possess a silver button once the property of bonnie +Prince Charlie rendered him speechless. + +"Oh, Colonel Lisle," he said after a minute, "I oughtn't to take a +thing of such value. It belongs here." + +"I want you to have it, my boy," replied the Colonel kindly. "I really +am indebted to you, for we have positive proof now that the Manor walls +once sheltered the Prince." + +"I should value that button above all things," said Win simply, "if you +really wish me to have it. Only it seems as though Mr. Max had done +much more toward solving the mystery." + +"I merely followed the lead you gave me," said Max, who was looking at +him with a very friendly expression. "You played a pretty fine game +yourself, Win." + +"As for that," said the Colonel smiling, "Maxfield may have a button +too, if he cares for it." + +"Thank you, Uncle Dick," Max replied promptly. "I do value it, but +perhaps for the present, it would better stop with the others." + +As Max spoke, he looked not at the Colonel but at Constance, leaning +against the table beside him. Something in their attitude struck Win's +always acute perception. For the first time he doubted whether the +young people of the Manor had been as genuinely absorbed in that search +as he supposed. About Max, half-sitting on the corner of the study +table, about Connie, with her hands loosely clasped before her, there +was a certain air of quiet detachment, as of those who politely look on +at some interesting comedy, but who, as soon as courtesy permits, will +return to affairs of more importance. + +"You need not have the least scruple about accepting it, Win," the +Colonel went on. "We hope this will not be your last visit to the +island, but in any case, whenever you look at that old relic, you will +have to give us a thought as well." + +Win turned the tarnished button on his palm. Yes, the sight of it would +always bring back memories of the green lanes, the red cliffs, the +turquoise sea of Jersey, not least the hours in the library, the +Spanish chest and the Lisles of Laurel Manor. + + + * * * * * + + + + +AFTERWORD + + +After the story was finished and the characters were going away, Max +and Connie turned back. + +"We have kept our promise?" they asked. "We have played quite nicely +and haven't been silly?" + +"You have really been very good," admitted the author. "If Max hadn't +appeared just when he did to rescue Edith and Frances from the tide, +probably the story must have stopped there. And Connie has been most +helpful about lending the Manor house and the beach dog." + +"May we play again?" Max asked. + +"I think not," decided the author. "This is five months later. You +really must be grown-up now and stay so." + +"We have been all the time," said Connie. "We've pretended just to +please you. But since you let us come into the story when we weren't +expected nor invited, it is only polite to tell you what we are going +to do now." + +They looked at each other and smiled. + +"Every girl who reads this story will want to know," Connie went on. +"It would indeed be very diverting to be Princess Santo-Ponte, but +somehow I think the chances of 'living happily ever after' are greater +with Max. There's nothing at all romantic about marrying Max, but you +might just mention that I'm going to do it." + + +THE END. + + + + + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +*** END OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + +***** This file should be named 6998.txt or 6998.zip ***** +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: + http://www.gutenberg.org/6/9/9/6998/ + +Produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks and the Online +Distributed Proofreading Team + +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. Special rules, set forth in the General Terms of Use part +of this license, apply to copying and distributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works to protect the PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +concept and trademark. Project Gutenberg is a registered trademark, +and may not be used if you charge for the eBooks, unless you receive +specific permission. If you do not charge anything for copies of this +eBook, complying with the rules is very easy. You may use this eBook +for nearly any purpose such as creation of derivative works, reports, +performances and research. They may be modified and printed and given +away--you may do practically ANYTHING in the United States with eBooks +not protected by U.S. copyright law. Redistribution is subject to the +trademark license, especially commercial redistribution. + +START: FULL LICENSE + +THE FULL PROJECT GUTENBERG LICENSE +PLEASE READ THIS BEFORE YOU DISTRIBUTE OR USE THIS WORK + +To protect the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting the free +distribution of electronic works, by using or distributing this work +(or any other work associated in any way with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg"), you agree to comply with all the terms of the Full +Project Gutenberg-tm License available with this file or online at +www.gutenberg.org/license. + +Section 1. General Terms of Use and Redistributing Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works + +1.A. By reading or using any part of this Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic work, you indicate that you have read, understand, agree to +and accept all the terms of this license and intellectual property +(trademark/copyright) agreement. If you do not agree to abide by all +the terms of this agreement, you must cease using and return or +destroy all copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in your +possession. If you paid a fee for obtaining a copy of or access to a +Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work and you do not agree to be bound +by the terms of this agreement, you may obtain a refund from the +person or entity to whom you paid the fee as set forth in paragraph +1.E.8. + +1.B. "Project Gutenberg" is a registered trademark. It may only be +used on or associated in any way with an electronic work by people who +agree to be bound by the terms of this agreement. There are a few +things that you can do with most Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +even without complying with the full terms of this agreement. See +paragraph 1.C below. There are a lot of things you can do with Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic works if you follow the terms of this +agreement and help preserve free future access to Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works. See paragraph 1.E below. + +1.C. The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation ("the +Foundation" or PGLAF), owns a compilation copyright in the collection +of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. Nearly all the individual +works in the collection are in the public domain in the United +States. If an individual work is unprotected by copyright law in the +United States and you are located in the United States, we do not +claim a right to prevent you from copying, distributing, performing, +displaying or creating derivative works based on the work as long as +all references to Project Gutenberg are removed. Of course, we hope +that you will support the Project Gutenberg-tm mission of promoting +free access to electronic works by freely sharing Project Gutenberg-tm +works in compliance with the terms of this agreement for keeping the +Project Gutenberg-tm name associated with the work. You can easily +comply with the terms of this agreement by keeping this work in the +same format with its attached full Project Gutenberg-tm License when +you share it without charge with others. + +1.D. The copyright laws of the place where you are located also govern +what you can do with this work. Copyright laws in most countries are +in a constant state of change. If you are outside the United States, +check the laws of your country in addition to the terms of this +agreement before downloading, copying, displaying, performing, +distributing or creating derivative works based on this work or any +other Project Gutenberg-tm work. The Foundation makes no +representations concerning the copyright status of any work in any +country outside the United States. + +1.E. Unless you have removed all references to Project Gutenberg: + +1.E.1. The following sentence, with active links to, or other +immediate access to, the full Project Gutenberg-tm License must appear +prominently whenever any copy of a Project Gutenberg-tm work (any work +on which the phrase "Project Gutenberg" appears, or with which the +phrase "Project Gutenberg" is associated) is accessed, displayed, +performed, viewed, copied or distributed: + + 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. + +1.E.2. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is +derived from texts not protected by U.S. copyright law (does not +contain a notice indicating that it is posted with permission of the +copyright holder), the work can be copied and distributed to anyone in +the United States without paying any fees or charges. If you are +redistributing or providing access to a work with the phrase "Project +Gutenberg" associated with or appearing on the work, you must comply +either with the requirements of paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 or +obtain permission for the use of the work and the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark as set forth in paragraphs 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.3. If an individual Project Gutenberg-tm electronic work is posted +with the permission of the copyright holder, your use and distribution +must comply with both paragraphs 1.E.1 through 1.E.7 and any +additional terms imposed by the copyright holder. Additional terms +will be linked to the Project Gutenberg-tm License for all works +posted with the permission of the copyright holder found at the +beginning of this work. + +1.E.4. Do not unlink or detach or remove the full Project Gutenberg-tm +License terms from this work, or any files containing a part of this +work or any other work associated with Project Gutenberg-tm. + +1.E.5. Do not copy, display, perform, distribute or redistribute this +electronic work, or any part of this electronic work, without +prominently displaying the sentence set forth in paragraph 1.E.1 with +active links or immediate access to the full terms of the Project +Gutenberg-tm License. + +1.E.6. You may convert to and distribute this work in any binary, +compressed, marked up, nonproprietary or proprietary form, including +any word processing or hypertext form. However, if you provide access +to or distribute copies of a Project Gutenberg-tm work in a format +other than "Plain Vanilla ASCII" or other format used in the official +version posted on the official Project Gutenberg-tm web site +(www.gutenberg.org), you must, at no additional cost, fee or expense +to the user, provide a copy, a means of exporting a copy, or a means +of obtaining a copy upon request, of the work in its original "Plain +Vanilla ASCII" or other form. Any alternate format must include the +full Project Gutenberg-tm License as specified in paragraph 1.E.1. + +1.E.7. Do not charge a fee for access to, viewing, displaying, +performing, copying or distributing any Project Gutenberg-tm works +unless you comply with paragraph 1.E.8 or 1.E.9. + +1.E.8. You may charge a reasonable fee for copies of or providing +access to or distributing Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works +provided that + +* You pay a royalty fee of 20% of the gross profits you derive from + the use of Project Gutenberg-tm works calculated using the method + you already use to calculate your applicable taxes. The fee is owed + to the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm trademark, but he has + agreed to donate royalties under this paragraph to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation. Royalty payments must be paid + within 60 days following each date on which you prepare (or are + legally required to prepare) your periodic tax returns. Royalty + payments should be clearly marked as such and sent to the Project + Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation at the address specified in + Section 4, "Information about donations to the Project Gutenberg + Literary Archive Foundation." + +* You provide a full refund of any money paid by a user who notifies + you in writing (or by e-mail) within 30 days of receipt that s/he + does not agree to the terms of the full Project Gutenberg-tm + License. You must require such a user to return or destroy all + copies of the works possessed in a physical medium and discontinue + all use of and all access to other copies of Project Gutenberg-tm + works. + +* You provide, in accordance with paragraph 1.F.3, a full refund of + any money paid for a work or a replacement copy, if a defect in the + electronic work is discovered and reported to you within 90 days of + receipt of the work. + +* You comply with all other terms of this agreement for free + distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm works. + +1.E.9. If you wish to charge a fee or distribute a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work or group of works on different terms than +are set forth in this agreement, you must obtain permission in writing +from both the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation and The +Project Gutenberg Trademark LLC, the owner of the Project Gutenberg-tm +trademark. Contact the Foundation as set forth in Section 3 below. + +1.F. + +1.F.1. Project Gutenberg volunteers and employees expend considerable +effort to identify, do copyright research on, transcribe and proofread +works not protected by U.S. copyright law in creating the Project +Gutenberg-tm collection. Despite these efforts, Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, and the medium on which they may be stored, may +contain "Defects," such as, but not limited to, incomplete, inaccurate +or corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged disk or +other medium, a computer virus, or computer codes that damage or +cannot be read by your equipment. + +1.F.2. LIMITED WARRANTY, DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES - Except for the "Right +of Replacement or Refund" described in paragraph 1.F.3, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation, the owner of the Project +Gutenberg-tm trademark, and any other party distributing a Project +Gutenberg-tm electronic work under this agreement, disclaim all +liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including legal +fees. YOU AGREE THAT YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE, STRICT +LIABILITY, BREACH OF WARRANTY OR BREACH OF CONTRACT EXCEPT THOSE +PROVIDED IN PARAGRAPH 1.F.3. YOU AGREE THAT THE FOUNDATION, THE +TRADEMARK OWNER, AND ANY DISTRIBUTOR UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL NOT BE +LIABLE TO YOU FOR ACTUAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR +INCIDENTAL DAMAGES EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH +DAMAGE. + +1.F.3. LIMITED RIGHT OF REPLACEMENT OR REFUND - If you discover a +defect in this electronic work within 90 days of receiving it, you can +receive a refund of the money (if any) you paid for it by sending a +written explanation to the person you received the work from. If you +received the work on a physical medium, you must return the medium +with your written explanation. The person or entity that provided you +with the defective work may elect to provide a replacement copy in +lieu of a refund. If you received the work electronically, the person +or entity providing it to you may choose to give you a second +opportunity to receive the work electronically in lieu of a refund. If +the second copy is also defective, you may demand a refund in writing +without further opportunities to fix the problem. + +1.F.4. Except for the limited right of replacement or refund set forth +in paragraph 1.F.3, this work is provided to you 'AS-IS', WITH NO +OTHER WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR ANY PURPOSE. + +1.F.5. Some states do not allow disclaimers of certain implied +warranties or the exclusion or limitation of certain types of +damages. If any disclaimer or limitation set forth in this agreement +violates the law of the state applicable to this agreement, the +agreement shall be interpreted to make the maximum disclaimer or +limitation permitted by the applicable state law. The invalidity or +unenforceability of any provision of this agreement shall not void the +remaining provisions. + +1.F.6. INDEMNITY - You agree to indemnify and hold the Foundation, the +trademark owner, any agent or employee of the Foundation, anyone +providing copies of Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works in +accordance with this agreement, and any volunteers associated with the +production, promotion and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +electronic works, harmless from all liability, costs and expenses, +including legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of +the following which you do or cause to occur: (a) distribution of this +or any Project Gutenberg-tm work, (b) alteration, modification, or +additions or deletions to any Project Gutenberg-tm work, and (c) any +Defect you cause. + +Section 2. Information about the Mission of Project Gutenberg-tm + +Project Gutenberg-tm is synonymous with the free distribution of +electronic works in formats readable by the widest variety of +computers including obsolete, old, middle-aged and new computers. It +exists because of the efforts of hundreds of volunteers and donations +from people in all walks of life. + +Volunteers and financial support to provide volunteers with the +assistance they need are critical to reaching Project Gutenberg-tm's +goals and ensuring that the Project Gutenberg-tm collection will +remain freely available for generations to come. In 2001, the Project +Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation was created to provide a secure +and permanent future for Project Gutenberg-tm and future +generations. To learn more about the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation and how your efforts and donations can help, see +Sections 3 and 4 and the Foundation information page at +www.gutenberg.org Section 3. Information about the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation is a non profit +501(c)(3) educational corporation organized under the laws of the +state of Mississippi and granted tax exempt status by the Internal +Revenue Service. The Foundation's EIN or federal tax identification +number is 64-6221541. Contributions to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation are tax deductible to the full extent permitted by +U.S. federal laws and your state's laws. + +The Foundation's principal office is in Fairbanks, Alaska, with the +mailing address: PO Box 750175, Fairbanks, AK 99775, but its +volunteers and employees are scattered throughout numerous +locations. Its business office is located at 809 North 1500 West, Salt +Lake City, UT 84116, (801) 596-1887. Email contact links and up to +date contact information can be found at the Foundation's web site and +official page at www.gutenberg.org/contact + +For additional contact information: + + Dr. Gregory B. Newby + Chief Executive and Director + gbnewby@pglaf.org + +Section 4. Information about Donations to the Project Gutenberg +Literary Archive Foundation + +Project Gutenberg-tm depends upon and cannot survive without wide +spread public support and donations to carry out its mission of +increasing the number of public domain and licensed works that can be +freely distributed in machine readable form accessible by the widest +array of equipment including outdated equipment. Many small donations +($1 to $5,000) are particularly important to maintaining tax exempt +status with the IRS. + +The Foundation is committed to complying with the laws regulating +charities and charitable donations in all 50 states of the United +States. Compliance requirements are not uniform and it takes a +considerable effort, much paperwork and many fees to meet and keep up +with these requirements. We do not solicit donations in locations +where we have not received written confirmation of compliance. To SEND +DONATIONS or determine the status of compliance for any particular +state visit www.gutenberg.org/donate + +While we cannot and do not solicit contributions from states where we +have not met the solicitation requirements, we know of no prohibition +against accepting unsolicited donations from donors in such states who +approach us with offers to donate. + +International donations are gratefully accepted, but we cannot make +any statements concerning tax treatment of donations received from +outside the United States. U.S. laws alone swamp our small staff. + +Please check the Project Gutenberg Web pages for current donation +methods and addresses. Donations are accepted in a number of other +ways including checks, online payments and credit card donations. To +donate, please visit: www.gutenberg.org/donate + +Section 5. General Information About Project Gutenberg-tm electronic works. + +Professor Michael S. Hart was the originator of the Project +Gutenberg-tm concept of a library of electronic works that could be +freely shared with anyone. For forty years, he produced and +distributed Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks with only a loose network of +volunteer support. + +Project Gutenberg-tm eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as not protected by copyright in +the U.S. unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we do not +necessarily keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper +edition. + +Most people start at our Web site which has the main PG search +facility: www.gutenberg.org + +This Web site includes information about Project Gutenberg-tm, +including how to make donations to the Project Gutenberg Literary +Archive Foundation, how to help produce our new eBooks, and how to +subscribe to our email newsletter to hear about new eBooks. + diff --git a/6998.zip b/6998.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..119c01c --- /dev/null +++ b/6998.zip diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..74d54c7 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #6998 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/6998) diff --git a/old/7spch10.txt b/old/7spch10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..aa41539 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7spch10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8041 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Spanish Chest + +Author: Edna A. Brown + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6998] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 20, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + +[Illustration: "WHAT IS IS THIS TINY DOTTED LINE ACROSS THE +GROUNDS?" WIN INQUIRED] + + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + +BY + +EDNA A. BROWN + +ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN GOSS AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF FLORENCE AND CLARA + +who shared a winter spent in the Channel Islands and +have now gone on a longer journey. + + This little book I wrote for thee + Thy friendly eyes will never see. + It was not meant for critics' reading, + Nor for the world that scans unheeding. + For there are lines washed in with tears, + As well as nonsense, mocking fears. + Alas! thine eyes will never see + This little book I wrote for thee. + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Once upon a time a clever Japanese artist drew a sketch of a man +who sat industriously painting, when, to his great amazement, all +the little figures on his canvas came to life and began to walk +out of the picture. + +Something like that happened to this book. Books grow, you know, +because somebody thinks so hard about the different characters +that gradually they turn into lifelike people, who often insist on +doing things that weren't expected. When this especial book began +to grow, two persons who hadn't been invited, came and wanted to +be in the story. + +The author politely remarked that they were grown-up and couldn't +expect to be in a book for young people. + +They said that they were not so very grown-up, only twenty-three +and a half and that they still knew how to play. + +Connie said that her home was in the Island of Jersey where the +story was going to be, and if she came in, she could make things +much more pleasant for the other characters. + +Max said that the story would go to smash without him, because he +should be needed at an important moment. + +So, because they looked most wistful and promised very earnestly +to behave as though they were nice children, and not be silly, the +author said they might have a share in the story. + +Connie at once offered to lend her collie. So that is how the +beach dog happens to be in the book. + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. AT ROSE VILLA + II. FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + III. ST. HELIER'S + IV. THE BEACH DOG + V. MONT ORGUEIL + VI. A RACE WITH THE TIDE + VII. MR. MAX + VIII. RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + IX. CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + X. THE BUN WORRY + XI. THE MANOR CAVE + XII. WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + XIII. ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + XIV. IN THE VAULTS + XV. THE HAUNTED ROOM + XVI. THE MANOR GHOST + XVII. THE DOTTED LINE +XVIII. ROGER THE MAROONED + XIX. AT CORBIERE + XX. WIN WONDERS + XXI. THE TWO CHAINS + XXII. THE CHEST ITSELF + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired + +The Village of St. Aubin's + +"For a long time people supposed they were called Martello towers +from the man who built them" + +Above and behind towered the ruined castle of Orgueil + +"Look there is a Jersey cow among the cabbages" + +"He'll come for us! He means us to climb this rock and wait" + +A most interesting little Church almost on the water's edge + +The old Norman gateway leading to Vinchelez Manor + +They came upon the loveliest of little beaches + +Plemont is the spot where the cable comes in from England + +Win's plan of the Manor cellars + +What was undoubtedly the Spanish Chest + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AT ROSE VILLA + + +The silence in the little drawing-room had lasted for some moments +before being broken by the man seated in the big wicker chair. His +dress indicated a clergyman of the Church of England, his face +betrayed lines of kindliness and forbearance, but its present +expression showed a perplexity not unmixed with disapproval. + +"I suppose, Miss Pearce," he said at length, "there is no use in +trying further to dissuade you from your plan, and of course it +may work out for the best. But--you will excuse me, my dear, for I +have daughters of my own--you seem too young to undertake a +lodging-house. Now a position as governess in a nice family--" + +Estelle Pearce interrupted him quickly. + +"There is Edith, you know. Should I try teaching, it would mean +separation from her. And I _must_ keep Edith with me. We have only +each other now. No, Mr. Angus, I thank you from the bottom of my +heart for your interest in us, but I am sure it is best to try my +plan. You see I have the house on my hands. When we came to +Jersey, Father leased it for the winter and I can't afford to +forfeit thirty pounds. And there is Nurse as well as Annette. +Surely Nurse lends dignity to any family. But I am older than you +think," she ended with a smile and a pretty blush. "I am twenty- +four, Mr. Angus." + +A kindly look came into the eyes bent on her slender, black-robed +figure. "You do not look it, my dear," her visitor said after a +pause. "Well, with two good servants, the plan may be successful. +Much depends on what class of lodgers comes your way. I am told +that Americans are rather desirable inmates, that they pay well +and are not exacting. If you could let your rooms to some refined +American ladies, things might adjust themselves very satisfactorily. +To be sure, few Americans visit the Channel Islands; they are +given to wandering farther afield. But I will speak of your plans to +the postmaster and one or two others. It might be advisable to +put a card in the circulating library at St. Helier's. Rest assured +that both Mrs. Angus and I will do all we can for your father's girls. +Lionel and I were good friends at Oxford though we saw so little of +each other afterwards. I did not think when he wrote me scarcely +six weeks ago that it was to be Hail and Farewell. + +"I must go," he added quickly, seeing that Estelle's eyes were +brimming. "Where is Edith? I hoped to see her also." + +"She has gone to the sands," replied Estelle. "It is dull for her, +moping here, so I sent her for an errand and told her to run down +and see whether the tide had turned. She begins school on Monday." + +Mr. Angus took his leave, and still looking doubtful, went down +the steps of Rose Villa, a quaint little house, covered with +tinted plaster, as is the pretty custom of the Channel Islands, +and appearing even to a masculine ignorance of details much more +neat and attractive than its neighbors. + +So Mr. Angus thought, as he turned from his puzzled survey of its +exterior, to walk slowly down the short street at the end of which +glittered the waters of the English Channel. + +The tide was on the turn but the expanse of sandy beach lay yet +broad. Far toward St. Helier's the curve of the port showed the +high sea-wall, for this same innocent-looking tide that ebbs and +leaves behind miles of sandy stretches and rocks, can return with +force sufficient to dash over even the lofty breakwater and +surprise the placid Jerseymen at times, by scattering large stones +in the esplanade. + +But here at St. Aubin's the curve of Noirmont Point sheltered the +little town from the full force of the waves. Dr. Angus looked +from the end of Noirmont Terrace straight down to the sands and +saw in the distance the sunset air filled with wheeling gulls, a +group of boys playing football on the wide level, and somewhat +nearer, a slender girl of fourteen, dressed in black, with long +fair hair floating over her shoulders. + +She was walking slowly and the kind clergyman attributed her +leisurely pace to dejection, but as a matter of fact, Edith was +feeling quite happy and much interested in the tiny bright yellow +snail shells the beach was providing for entertainment. She had +been spared all that was possible of the depression and sorrow of +the past weeks. Daddy had been poorly for years and Edith could +not remember him as ever well and strong. His loss affected her +more because it grieved Estelle, the only mother she had known. + +There had been a few sad confused days when nothing seemed real, +and strangers had been kind in a way that Estelle accepted with a +sort of resentful patience, plain even to Edith. But since then, +life had been rather cheerful, with a great deal of attention from +Nurse, and Estelle's time almost wholly given to her. It was +gratifying to share Sister's confidence and to help arrange the +rooms attractively for the possible delightful people who ought to +come to lodge with them. + +That they might not be delightful, Sister would not admit for a +moment, so of course they would be. St. Aubin's itself was far +more desirable as a place of residence than the noisy Exeter +street where Edith had spent much of her life. Far back in the +past she could just remember a charming Surrey village with a +pretty vine-covered church where Daddy used to preach. She could +recall exactly how her fat legs dangled helplessly from the high +pew seat. Directly behind sat a stout farmer with four sons. The +boys made faces at Edith on the sly; their mother sometimes gave +her peppermints. + +Edith's thoughts had wandered rather far afield, though still +alert for any gleam of the yellow shells, when she arrived +opposite Noirmont Terrace and reluctantly left the sands. A light +shone from the drawing-room and she knew that Annette would be +bringing in supper, and Sister would be found poring over a little +account book with a "don't speak just now" look in her eyes. + +But Estelle proved to be waiting at the open door and as Edith +began to run on catching sight of her, she thought that Sister +somehow looked happier. + +"Did you meet Mr. Angus?" Estelle inquired. "He went toward the +sands." + +"I saw him in the distance," replied Edith. "Why, Star, you look +like--like a star," she ended laughing. "Was Mr. Angus agreeable? +Did he say you oughtn't to take people?" + +"I think he doesn't wholly disapprove now," answered Estelle +gently. "And he is going to do what he can toward sending pleasant +lodgers. Wouldn't it be nice if some dear old ladies should come +and want to stay with us all winter?" + +"Just ladies?" queried Edith. "Do they have to be old?" + +"I shouldn't take gentlemen," said Estelle. "Nurse wouldn't +approve, and ladies would be pleasanter. Perhaps there might be a +young mother and some ducky little children. How would you like +that?" + +"Much better," responded Edith. "I don't want any fussy old freaks +with false fronts and shawls. They'd expect to be read aloud to +and waited on within an inch of their lives. I'd like some babies +to take down to dig and paddle. Do say you'll have children, +Sister." + +"Well, as a matter of fact, I think we'll have to take the people +who want to come," replied Estelle sensibly. "Let's just hope that +somebody very nice will think we'd be nice to stay with. Come in +now, Edith. Annette has shrimps for supper and after we are +finished, we will put a card in the window and see what happens +next." + +But the little white card that most modestly announced "Lodgings" +remained in the drawing-room casement for a week, and every day as +Edith came from school, she looked anxiously to see whether it was +gone. Its absence would mean that some one had looked at the rooms +with approval. + +One afternoon as she came up the Terrace, the sight of an unknown +face at an upper window sent a thrill down her back. The card was +yet in evidence but the presence of strangers indicated that some +one had felt attracted by Rose Villa. Yes, there was a cab at the +door. + +As Edith entered quietly a voice struck her ear, struck it +unpleasantly, an English voice, high-pitched and rather +supercilious. + +"I should require to see your kitchen, Miss Pearce, and your +servants. I am most particular. In fact, I must be free at any +time to inspect the scullery. There must be a definite arrangement +about Marmaduke's meals. He likes a light breakfast with plenty of +cream, and for dinner a chop or a bit of chicken. His dinner must +be served with my luncheon. Then for tea--" + +"I am afraid my servants would be unwilling to cook especially for +a dog," interposed Estelle's voice, courteous but with a chilling +tone Edith had never suspected it possessed. "It is useless for +you to consider the lodgings." + +"Oh, your rooms are very passable," said the voice. "Small, of +course, and underfurnished, but some pictures and antimacassars +would take off that bare look. And Marmaduke is adorable. Your +cook would soon be devotion itself. Why, at my last lodgings--" + +"I really cannot undertake the care of a pet animal," said Estelle +firmly. "I hope to have other lodgers and his presence might be +objectionable to them. You will excuse me now, as I have an +engagement. I will ring for Nurse to show you out." + +"Well, really, Miss Pearce," began the voice, but Nurse appeared +on the scene so promptly that one might have suspected her of +being all the time within hearing distance. Edith scuttled into +the drawing-room, just avoiding a very large, over-dressed person, +who came ponderously down the stairs, a moppy white dog festooned +over one arm. Her face was red and perspiring and she seemed to be +indignantly struggling with feelings too strong for words. Edith +could not suppress a stifled laugh as she was ushered from the +house in Nurse's grandest manner. + +Emerging from her refuge, Edith saw Estelle on the landing, her +face pale except for a tiny red spot on either cheek, her eyes +unnaturally bright. + +"My word, Star!" said Edith, giggling, "didn't you get rid of her +finely? What a fearful person!" + +"She was impossible," said Estelle. "Oh, Nurse," she exclaimed +impetuously, seeing the old family servant still lingering in the +hall, "do you suppose only people like that will want lodgings?" + +"No, indeed, my lamb," replied Nurse, casting a glance of +satisfaction after the cab disappearing from the terrace. "Don't +you fret, Miss Star, and don't you take the first people who come. +Just bide your time, and there'll be some quality who will be what +you ought to have." + +"Mr. Angus thought Americans might be rather desirable," said +Estelle hesitatingly. To prepare Nurse for such a possibility +might be wise. + +Nurse pursed her lips significantly. "Well, it's not for me to +disagree with the reverend gentleman," she remarked. "And I +haven't been in contact with Americans. No doubt they're well +enough in their country, but I hope, Miss Star, it'll be some of +our people that want to come. Now an elderly couple or some +middle-aged ladies would be quite suitable and proper, but +Americans--Well, I don't know." + +Nurse shook her head dubiously as she left the room. Edith came to +put her arms about Estelle. + +"What a fearful woman that was!" she repeated, drawing her sister +toward the window. "Poor Star, I'm sorry you had to talk to her. +Rooms underfurnished, indeed! And you tried so hard not to have +them crowded and messed with frightful crocheted wool things. +She'd want a tidy on every chair and extra ones for Sunday. And +you've made things so pretty, Star!" + +"We think so, don't we!" replied Estelle, kissing her little +comforter. "Somebody may yet come who will agree with us. We won't +give up hope." + +Estelle was silent for a moment. She did not want Edith to suspect +how very necessary it was that those rooms should prove attractive +to somebody. + +"Is that the Southampton boat just rounding the point?" she added. +"She's extremely late." + +"They must have had a rough passage," agreed Edith, looking at the +steamer ploughing into the smooth water of St. Aubin's bay. "Let's +put a wish on her, Star. Let's wish, _hard_, that she has on board +the nicest people that ever were and that they're coming straight +out here and say they'd like to spend the winter with us!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + + +"I positively refuse," said Mrs. Thayne, "to go out again to-day. +And I wish you wouldn't go either, Wingate," she added to her older +son. "That steamer trip was frightful. What a night we did have! +As for you two," she went on to Frances and Roger, "I suppose you +won't be happy until you are off for an exploring expedition, but +I don't see how you can feel like it." + +"Why, Mother, I wasn't seasick," said Roger, a handsome, +mischievous-looking boy about twelve. "I slept like a log till I +heard Win being--hmm--unhappy. That woke me but I turned over and +didn't know anything more till daylight." + +"I shouldn't have been sick if you hadn't begun it, Mother," +observed Frances, turning from the window overlooking the +esplanade. "I feel all right now. Mayn't Roger and I go down on +the beach or take a car ride?" she asked, eagerly. + +"I don't imagine there are any electric cars on the island," said +Mrs. Thayne. + +"But out here is a funny little steam tram marked St. Aubin's," +interposed Frances. "It's going somewhere. Look at the dinky cars +with a kind of balcony and that speck of an engine." + +"That's a pony engine for sure," drawled Win, joining his sister +at the window. Except that he was thin and fragile no one could +have known from Win's clever, merry dark face, how greatly he was +handicapped by a serious heart trouble. But the contrast between +his tall, loosely-knit figure and Fran's compact little person +brought a wistful expression into Mrs. Thayne's observant eyes. +Win was seventeen and had never been able to play as other boys +did. Probably all his life would be different, yet he was so +plucky and brave over his limitations. + +"There's the _Lydia_ down in the harbor," exclaimed Frances. "My, +didn't she wiggle around last night!" + + "Lydia, Lydia, why dost thou tremble? + Answer me true. + Traveler, traveler, I'll not dissemble, + 'Tis but the screw. + + Lydia, Lydia, why this commotion? + Answer me quick. + Traveler, traveler, 'tis but a notion. + You must be sick!" + +drawled Win, following the direction of his sister's glance. + +"Win, how bright of you!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could think of +things like that. But, Mother, mayn't we go out and take that +little train wherever it's going?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," agreed Mrs. Thayne. "Take care of Fran, +Roger, and don't get separated. You might notice any attractive +places offering lodgings. We don't want to stay in this hotel all +winter and the sooner we are settled the better." + +"Come along, Fran," exclaimed Roger. "That infant train is getting +a move on." + +The two tore impetuously from the sitting-room. "Such energy!" +Mrs. Thayne remarked with a sigh. "Will you lie down here, Win?" + +"No, I think I'll write a bit," replied her son. "I'm not so done +up as you are, Mother." + +"Why Roger wasn't ill after the strange combination of food he ate +at Winchester last evening is a miracle," remarked Mrs. Thayne. +"Were you planning to write to Father?" + +"I will," replied her son. "Mother, do go and rest. You look like +the latter end of a wasted life. But I hope the kids will light on +some lodgings. I've had enough of hotels. Nothing on earth is so +deadly dull and so deadly respectable as a first-class English +hotel." + +"Why, of course it is respectable," said Mrs. Thayne, looking +rather puzzled. + +"Thunder, yes! But it's so _fearfully_ proper! That head-waiter +down-stairs, with his side-whiskers and his velvet tread and his +confidential voice--why, when he came to take my order, I wanted +to pull his hair or do something to turn him into a human being." + +Mrs. Thayne smiled. Much as she loved Win, she did not always +understand him. Shut out from active sports, Win had early taken +refuge in the world of books and his quick perceptions were often +those of a mature mind. + +When his mother had gone into her room, Win settled himself by the +west window overlooking the bay where Castle Elizabeth rose on its +rock in the middle distance. Win looked at it approvingly, +promising himself later the fun of finding out its history and +present use. Just now, he would devote himself to getting the +family journal up to date for Father, on duty with the _Philadelphia_, +somewhere near Constantinople. It was to be on the same +side of the Atlantic that the Thaynes had come to England and +a slight attack of bronchitis on Win's part had resulted in this +additional trip. Jersey was reported to possess a mild climate as +well as good schools where Roger and Frances might have new and +probably interesting experiences. Win himself was not equal to +school routine, but there would doubtless be some tutor available +to give him an hour or two every day, a pleasant and easy task for +some young man, for Win was always eager to study when health +permitted. + +Deep in his heart was the ever-present regret that he could not +enter Annapolis nor follow in the footsteps of his father, but if +an elder brother had any influence, Roger was going into the naval +service. At present, Roger showed no inclination to such a future, +and was but mildly interested in his father's career, but Captain +Thayne and Win shared an unspoken hope that a change would come +with the passing years. + +For some time after finishing his letter, Win sat with eyes on +Castle Elizabeth, idly speculating about the coming winter. This +old-world island, with its differing customs and ancient +traditions seemed a place where most interesting things might +happen, a land of romance and fairy gold, offering possibilities +of strange adventure. Just because Win was debarred from most +boyish fun, his mind turned eagerly to deeds of daring. Visions of +pirates, smugglers, and buried hoards often danced through his +brain, and the least suggestion of any mystery was enough to +excite his keen interest. That hoary old castle on its island +proved a source of many romantic ideas to Win, who presently fell +into a day-dream. + +The sun set in crimson splendor behind the castle towers and Win's +reverie changed to genuine slumber from which he was roused by the +reappearance of Mrs. Thayne. + +"I'm sorry I waked you," she said. "I didn't notice that you were +asleep." + +"Why, I didn't know I was," said Win lazily. "I must have been +dreaming and yet I thought I was awake. It was such an odd dream +about a young man or rather a boy, in queer clothes ornamented +with silver buttons and wearing his hair in curls over his +shoulders. I was following him somewhere through a passage, very +dark and narrow. Then suddenly we were in a room with a big +fireplace and books around the walls. It was a beautiful old room +but I never remember seeing a place like it. Some other people +came, all men, also in queer clothes and very quiet and serious. +On a table was food of some kind and this boy I had been following +began to eat but the others stood about, apparently consulting +over something. Then I woke. Wasn't it a crazy dream? Oh, the +reason we were in that passage was because something was lost. I +don't know what it was nor how I knew it was lost but we were +trying to find it." + +"That was odd. You must have read something that suggested it," +Mrs. Thayne began, just as Fran and Roger came into the room, +bursting with suppressed excitement. For a few moments they talked +in a duet. + +"Mother, it's lovely over at St. Aubin's, ever so much nicer than +here," Fran began breathlessly, her brown eyes sparkling. "And +such a funny little train running along the esplanade!" + +"You couldn't believe there was such a beach," put in Roger. "Why, +the tide goes out forever, clear to the horizon! Fellows were +playing football down there, two games. How much does this tide +rise, Win?" + +"This book I've been reading says forty feet," replied his +brother. + +"And the houses!" Fran went on breathlessly, "all colors, cream +and brown and blue and pink." + +"Oh, draw it mild, Sis," interrupted Win. "I should admire a pink +house." + +"It's out there," said Frances, "and what's more, it's very +pretty!" + +"That's right," corroborated Roger. "Wouldn't a pink house look +something fierce at home? But here it's swell and kind of--of +appropriate," he ended lamely. + +"And flowers, Mother," Frances took up the tale. "_Hedges_ of +fuchsia, real live tall hedges, not measly little potted plants. +Geraniums as tall as I am, and ever so many roses and violets. Oh, +and we've found some lodgings. You're to see them to-morrow." + +"Frances!" exclaimed her horrified mother. "You haven't been in +strange houses, inspecting rooms?" + +"Why, you told us to look for them, didn't you, Mother?" replied +her astonished and literal daughter. "Roger was with me. It was +perfectly all right." + +"I simply meant you to notice from the outside any attractive +houses that advertised lodgings," explained Mrs. Thayne. "Well--" +she ended helplessly, "I suppose there's no harm done." + +"Why, no," Frances agreed. "What could happen? Let me tell you +about them. We took the baby cars and got off at St. Aubin's +because that especial train didn't go any farther. It's lovely +there, Mother, and plenty of lodgings to let. We walked along and +saw one house that looked pleasant, so we went up and rang and a +maid showed us into a parlor. We knew right off we didn't want to +come there, because the place was so dark and stuffy and there +were fourteen hundred family photographs and knit woolen mats and +such things around. I was going to sit down but just as I got near +the chair,--it was rather dark, you see,--something said 'Hello!' +and there was a horrid great parrot sitting on the back of the +chair. I jumped about a foot." + +"You screamed, too," said Roger. + +"I may have exclaimed," admitted Frances judicially. "It was not a +scream. If I had yelled, you would have known it. Well, a messy +old woman came who called me 'dear,' but when I said I didn't +believe my mother would care for the rooms, she got huffy and said +she was accustomed to rent her rooms to ladies, only she +pronounced it _lydies_. + +"We left that place," went on Frances, paying no attention to the +look of silent endurance on her mother's face, "and walked some +distance without seeing anything we liked. But suddenly we came to +a tiny street going down to the sea. There were only six houses +and one had a card in the window. They faced the bay and just big +rocks were on the other side of the street. Now, listen." + +Frances went on dramatically. "The house with the card was the +dearest thing, all cream-color and green, with a pink rambler rose +perfectly enormous, growing 'way up to the eaves, and a rough roof +of red tiles and steep gables. The windows were that dinky kind +that open outward and had little bits of panes. Everything was +clean as clean, the steps and the curtains and the glass. While we +were looking, the door opened and a girl came out. She was about +my age, Mother, but _so_ pretty, with gray eyes and yellow hair +and _such_ a complexion. I'd give anything to look like her." + +Frances shook her head with disapproval over her own brown hair +and eyes. To be sure the one was curly and the others straightforward +and earnest, while her gipsy little face and figure were considered +attractive by most people and by those who loved her, very satisfactory +indeed. + +"Well, this girl came out and we sort of smiled at each other and +I asked if that card meant that there were rooms to let. I told +her you were seasick, and at the hotel, and my brother and I saw +the card and we were looking for lodgings and all the rest, you +know. She said yes, there were rooms and she'd call Sister. + +"Sister came and she was a love, tall and sweet and just +beautiful, only she looked sad and wore a black dress. The younger +girl went away but Sister showed us the rooms and they are just +what we'd like, I'm sure. There wasn't any messy wool stuff nor +ugly vases,--I forgot to mention that in the other place there +were eight pair of vases on the mantel, truly, for Roger counted +them. These rooms were clean and rather bare, with painted floors +and washable rugs and fresh curtains and flowers, just one vase in +each room and a clear glass vase at that. The beds had iron frames +and good springs and mattresses, for I punched them to see. Aren't +you proud to think I knew enough to do that?" Fran interrupted her +story. + +"Two bedrooms had the furniture painted white and the rest had +some old mahogany," she went on. + +"How many rooms were there?" inquired Mrs. Thayne, attracted by +Fran's enthusiasm and interested by the pleasant picture she was +describing. + +"On the first floor is the drawing-room, which will be at our +disposal," began Frances, evidently quoting "Sister." "It's pretty +and sweet, Mother dear, very simple with a little upright piano +and quite a number of books and a fireplace. Just behind is a room +where we can have our meals. We can use as many bedrooms as we +like; there are five and Sister said if we wished, one could be +made into an up-stairs-sitting-room. The bathroom was really up- +to-date, and looking _very_ clean." + +"And how much does Sister expect for all this?" inquired her +mother. + +"Well," admitted Frances, "I asked and she smiled so sweetly and +said it depended upon how much service we required and whether we +wanted to do our own marketing and perhaps it would be better to +discuss the terms after you saw whether you liked the rooms. I +told her we were Americans and she said yes, she had thought so. I +don't see why," Frances ended reflectively. + +Win gave a chuckle. "Easy enough to guess," he remarked. "I +imagine English girls of fourteen don't go around on their own +hook, engaging lodgings for the family." + +"I am almost fifteen," said his sister severely. "And I understood +that Mother wanted me to look for rooms, so I did, but of course +she will make the final arrangements. I thanked Sister and said +I'd try to bring my mother in the morning, for I felt sure she +would like the rooms. And Sister said she'd be very glad to have +young people in the house and that if you wanted references, +Mother, you could apply to some clergyman,--I forget his name,-- +but I know it's all right. You'll think so, too, the minute you +see Sister. I fell in love with her. Oh, her name is Pearce, +Estelle Pearce. She gave me her card." + +Frances produced it. "You will come and see the rooms to-morrow, +won't you, Mother? Win can come too, for that tiny train is very +comfortable and the walk to the house is short. Rose Villa, +Noirmont Terrace. Isn't that a sweet name?" + +[Illustration: THE VILLAGE OF ST. AUBIN'S] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ST. HELIER'S + + +The moment she entered Rose Villa, Mrs. Thayne heartily agreed +with Frances as to its desirability. To Estelle's amazement, she +proceeded to engage all the rooms, offering to pay for the +privilege of having the whole house for her family. + +This was better fortune than Estelle had dreamed of and scarcely +two days passed before she realized that a kindly star was +favoring her. Frances and Edith became friends on the spot; Nurse, +who might have proved a problem, took an instant fancy to delicate +Win and started on a course of coddling that luckily amused Win +quite as much as it satisfied Nurse. Blunt, downright Roger +appealed especially to Estelle, who also found Mrs. Thayne +charming. + +"Aren't we in luck, little sister?" she confided to Edith. "Even +our wildest expectations couldn't have pictured anything more +pleasant than this. If they only stop the winter! But where are +you going now?" + +"On the sands with the others," said Edith happily. "Fran asked +me. The boys have gone ahead to the end of the terrace." + +Win was singing softly to himself as he stood looking down upon +the sandy beach that stretched for miles towards St. Helier's at +the left, and on the right, though showing more warm red granite +rocks, to Noirmont Point. "Britannia needs no bulwarks, no towers +along the steeps," he hummed just above his breath. + +"There's a tower right in front of you," commented Roger, between +the throwing of two stones. + +Win cast a glance at the deserted castle of St. Aubin's, a +miniature Castle Elizabeth on its isolated rock off shore, another +at the martello tower on the point. + +"I was talking to a man about those little towers," he remarked. +"One can be rented for a pound a year, and there are thirty-two of +them around the island. But they didn't amount to much when it +came to actual fighting. The rocks and tides are what makes Jersey +safe. That's what I meant by this place needing no bulwarks." + +"One of those martello towers would make a fine wireless station," +commented Roger. "Why did they build them if they aren't any use?" + +"They thought they were going to be," replied Win, looking to see +whether the girls were coming. "About two centuries ago there was +a battle down in the Mediterranean that was decided by the +possession of one of those little towers, so England built a good +many. But they weren't much use after all." + +"I never knew that before," said Edith, as she and Frances joined +the boys. + +"England wasn't the only nation that was taken in by them," Win +went on. "Italy has a number on her southern coast. For a long +time people supposed they were called martello towers from the man +who built them, but I found in a book that the name came from a +vine that grew over this one in Corsica. Before many moons pass +I'm going to get into one of them. Smugglers must have used them +and there may be things left behind." + +Frances cast a glance at the tower in question. At first +inspection it looked like a stony mushroom sprouting from the +rocks. Some distance above the base opened a rough entrance and a +low parapet encircled the top. To scramble over the exposed rocks +to the base of this especial tower appeared a hard climb, to say +nothing of the difficulties of ascending. The feat looked beyond +Win's accomplishment but Frances said nothing. To argue with Win +about whether he could or ought to attempt anything was never +wise. Left to himself he would stop within the bounds of prudence +but resented solicitude from others. + +"Well, where are we going?" she asked. + +"Let's take the train into St. Helier's," suggested Win. "We've +scarcely seen the town." + +Edith looked doubtful. "I ought to ask Sister," she said. "Star +thought we were just going on the sands." + +"And so we are," replied Roger. "We're taking a train that runs on +the sands," he mimicked in a teasing, boyish way. "Why don't you +call it a beach?" + +"Because it _is_ sands," retorted Edith with a pretty flash of +spirit that Roger already delighted to arouse. "The tram-line is +far beyond the shingle." + +[Illustration: "FOR A LONG TIME PEOPLE SUPPOSED THEY WERE CALLED +MARTELLO TOWERS FROM THE MAN WHO BUILT THEM."] + +"Shingle!" gasped Roger, staring in that direction. "I don't see +any." + +"The pebbles, cobbles, beyond the sands," explained Edith. + +"Oh, excuse _me_," chuckled Roger. "I thought they were plain +stones. Didn't see anything particularly wooden about them." + +Edith looked at him. A few days had made her feel very well +acquainted with these friendly young people, but Roger was often +surprising. + +"Oh, cut it short, Roger," drawled Win. "Run back, will you, and +tell Mother that we want to go into town. She won't care and I +don't believe Miss Estelle will either, but we ought to mention +it. Hustle, because I think that train is coming." + +Roger obligingly bolted back, received a nod of possible +comprehension from a mother very much absorbed in an important +letter, and arrived just as the others boarded the steam tram, a +funny affair with a kind of balcony along one side where people +who preferred the air could stay instead of going inside. Edith +and Frances exchanged smiles of happiness. + +"I haven't been to St. Helier's often," Edith confided. "Just to +market once with Nurse, and once to choose curtains with Sister. +We thought the drapers' shops quite excellent." + +Fran's attention was held for an instant, but after all it seemed +only reasonable that draperies should be purchased at a draper's. + +"Isn't the beach lovely?" she confided. "It would be fun to walk +back." + +"We might," said Edith. "Would Win care if we did? Or could he do +it too?" + +"He couldn't walk so far," said Fran, "but he won't mind if we +want to. Win is angelic about not stopping us from doing things he +can't do himself." + +"Has he always had to be so careful?" asked Edith. She and Frances +sat at a little distance from the boys. Roger was peering around +into the cab of the tiny engine; Win watched the water as it broke +on the beach. + +"Always," said Frances. "He was just a tiny baby when they knew +something was wrong with his heart. It isn't painful and may never +be any worse. Only he must take great care not to get over-tired. +Ever so many doctors have seen him and they all say the same +thing,--that if he is prudent and never does too much, he may +outlive us all. Just now in London, he and Mother went to a +specialist but all he told Win was that he must cultivate the art +of being lazy. Mother says the worst was when he was too little to +realize that he mustn't do things. Now, of course, he understands +and takes care of himself. It's hard on Win but Mother says it's +good for Roger and me. It does make Roger more thoughtful. He says +anything he likes to Win and pretends to tease him, but if you +notice, you'll see that he does every single thing Win wants and +always looks to see if he's all right. It helps me too, for I'm +ashamed to fuss over trifles when Win has so much to bear." + +The little tram was traveling at a moderate pace toward town, +stopping at several tiny stations where more and more people +entered. + +"I can't get used to hearing people talk French," said Frances. +"It seems so odd when Jersey is a part of England." + +"The French spoken here isn't that of Paris," remarked her +brother, rising from his seat. "It's Norman French." + +"I know I can't understand it easily," confessed Edith, "and +Sister has always taken pains to teach me. I'm glad it isn't all +my fault." + +The train came to a stand on the esplanade of St. Helier's. The +four stopped to look over the sea-wall, to the beach far below, +across to the long stone piers forming the artificial sea basin +and up to Fort Regent overhanging the town like a war-cloud. + +"That fort looks stuck on the cliff like a swallow's nest," +commented Roger. "Look, there's a snow-white sea-gull!" + +"There's another with a black tail," exclaimed Edith. "Oh, aren't +they beautiful!" + +"In the United States is a city that put up a monument to the sea- +gulls," said Win. "Salt Lake City, ever so far inland. A fearful +plague of grasshoppers ate everything green and turned the place +into a desert. They came the second summer, but something else +came too. Over the Rocky Mountains, away from the Pacific Ocean, +flew a great flock of gulls and ate the grasshoppers. Their coming +seemed so like a miracle that the city erected a beautiful +monument to them." + +"Did they ever come again?" asked Edith, greatly impressed. + +"No," said Win. "Just that once." + +"Without doubt it was a miracle," said Edith so reverently that +the three looked at her. + +Roger gave a little snort, started to say something, looked again +at Edith's rapt face and changed his mind. "Boston ought to put up +a monument, too," he remarked at length. "Miracles happen every +summer in Boston. The city swelters with the mercury out of sight +and then along steps the east wind. In ten minutes, everybody puts +on coats and stops drinking ice-water. Some tidy miracle-worker, +our east wind." + +"Especially in winter," said Win laughing. "I'm afraid a monument +to the east wind wouldn't be popular along in January. Shall we +come on? Let's go up this street. I've a map, but things look +rather crooked, so we'd better keep together." + +The quartette started, Roger and Win leading the way. St. Helier's +streets are indeed crooked, and paved with cobble stones of +alarming size and sonorous qualities. Numerous men and boys +tramped along in wooden sabots which made a most unearthly +clatter. Even little girls wore them, though otherwise their dress +was not unusual. Outside one shop hung many of the clumsy foot- +gear, the price explaining their evident popularity. + +Signs over shops were as often French as English and sometimes +both. At one corner, the party met a man ringing a bell and +uttering a proclamation in French. At the next corner he stopped +to announce it in English and the interested boys found that he +was advertising a public auction. No one else seemed in the least +attentive to his remarks. + +Fifteen minutes' loitering through narrow, ill-paved streets, +crowded with hurrying people and a great number of dogs, brought +the four to an open square of irregular shape with a gilded statue +at one end. Its curious draperies caught Win's observant eye and +he walked around it thoughtfully. + +"What a very queer costume!" he remarked as he completed his +circuit. "What is it doing on a statue of an English king?" + +Win spoke aloud, not noticing that the others were beyond hearing, +but his inquiry was answered by a gentleman who chanced to be +passing. + +"It is a Roman statue," he volunteered, "rescued from a shipwreck. +The thrifty Jerseymen considered it too good to be wasted, so they +gilded it and placed it here in the Royal Square in honor of +George the Second." + +Win smiled as he turned to the speaker, a tall, thin Englishman in +riding dress. His bearing suggested a military training and a +second glance showed an empty coat-sleeve. + +"This group of buildings may interest you," the speaker added. +"They contain the Court House, Parliament rooms and a small public +library." + +Touching his riding-crop to his hat in response to Win's thanks, +he turned into a side street where a young man mounted on a +handsome horse sat holding the bridle of another. With interest +Win watched them ride away. Even from a distance, something about +the younger man struck a chord of recollection in Win's usually +reliable memory. He was almost certain that somewhere, at some +time, they had met. Yet he could not think of any American +acquaintance of that age who would be at all likely to be riding +about the island of Jersey, his companion not only an Englishman, +but obviously an ex-army officer. + +Still, the impression of familiarity was strong and Win was yet +wondering about it as he slowly climbed the stairs leading to the +public library. + +Protesting somewhat, the others followed to look at a rather +uninviting room, appealing to them far less than to Win, already +on the trail for local history. The attendant proved obliging and +after supplying Win with several books brought out a shabby brown +volume. + +"We have one of your writers on our shelves," he remarked with a +smile, offering the book to Frances. + +"Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes," she read aloud. "Haven't you any +other American authors?" she demanded in amazement. "And how did +you know I was an American?" + +The librarian shook his head. "I have often thought we should have +more American books," he replied, "but they are so extremely dear +as compared with those published on this side of the Atlantic that +we have not afforded them. How did I know your nationality? By the +way you speak." + +Frances looked disgusted. She said little more, but soon persuaded +the reluctant Win to postpone his investigations and come down +again into the Royal Square. + +"Now, Sis, what's the matter with you?" Win inquired on seeing her +flushed face. + +"Oh, you didn't hear that man say he knew I was an American by the +way I talked," sniffed Frances indignantly. + +"Anybody would think you didn't want to be one," commented Roger +bluntly. + +"I wouldn't be anything else," retorted Frances, "only I don't +care to have fun poked at the way I talk." + +Win's glance traveled from his sister's annoyed face to Edith's, +which wore a look of perplexity. + +"We're polite," he remarked. "Here's Edith, who wouldn't be +anything but English." + +"No," said Edith gravely. "One always feels that way about one's +country. But I understand what Frances means. And I see why people +know you are not English. It isn't so much your pronunciation, but +you put words in odd places in the sentence and some of your +expressions are most unusual," she ended apologetically. "I like +them. It is interesting to hear things called by new names. Just +now Fran said 'poke fun' when she meant 'criticise,' and Roger +says a thing is 'fine and dandy' when I should call it 'top-hole.' +That is the difference, is it not?" + +The others laughed and Edith's attempt to bridge a dangerous +situation ended successfully. Presently their whereabouts absorbed +their attention for Win had left the map behind him on the library +table. + +For a time they wandered at random, following one narrow street +after another, seeing interesting shop windows, but presently +discovered that they did not know where they were. + +"The esplanade must lie at our left," said Win. "If we keep +turning in that direction we shall surely strike it." + +"Look at that candy," exclaimed Roger, attaching himself to a +confectioner's window. "Here's a chance to acquire some choice +English. What is black-jack, Edith? Looks like liquorice. Bismarck +marble, Gladstone rock, toffy,--what's toffy?" + +"It is sweets made of treacle instead of sugar," explained Edith, +turning surprised eyes upon him. + +"Sweets! treacle!" exclaimed Roger after a petrified instant. +"Bring me a fan! Give me air!" + +"Why," said Frances, a sudden light dawning on her. "Treacle! I +never knew before what Alice in Wonderland meant by her treacle +well. It's molasses, Edith. There are some chocolate peppermints!" + +Without stopping for further speech Frances dashed into the shop. +Presently she emerged, carrying a white paper bag, or "sack" as +Edith designated it, and with an odd expression of face. + +"Joke?" inquired Win. "What did you ask for?" he demanded, +accepting a piece of candy. + +"I got what I wanted," said Fran evasively. "It's always possible +to walk behind a counter and help yourself if you don't know the +names of things." + +Later she drew Edith aside. "What do you call these?" she asked +confidentially. + +"Peppermint chocolate drops," replied Edith. "What else could they +be?" + +Turning constantly to the left did not bring them to the sea. +Instead they walked a long distance only to find themselves in a +poorer part of the town, with increasing crowds of children +inclined to follow. Their appearance seemed a source of interest +to older people as well and presently Win was induced to inquire +his way to the boulevard. + +To his surprise the reply came in French, but between his own +knowledge and that of Edith, they made out that they were +traveling inland instead of toward the shore. This sounded +impossible unless they had completely lost all sense of direction. + +But a second inquiry brought the same answer, so they followed the +offered advice, coming at last to the bay of St. Aubin's more than +a mile below St. Helier's, fortunately near one of the tram +stopping-places. Edith was good for a walk home and Roger would +have gone also if challenged, but both Win and Frances were tired +so Edith did not propose to return by the beach. Indeed, the tide +was now so high that they would have been forced to go part of the +way by the road. + +"School for us to-morrow," said Frances dismally. "But I think we +should plan to do something very interesting every holiday all +winter." + +"We will take a tea-basket and lunch out of doors," replied Edith +happily. "There are beautiful spots to visit in Jersey." + +Win looked up suddenly. "Fran," he asked, "did you notice those +gentlemen who rode out of the square while we were looking at the +statue? Had you ever seen the younger one before?" + +Fran shook her head. "I noticed only the one who spoke to you," +she replied. "I was looking at their horses." + +"All the same," mused Win thoughtfully, "I've seen that young +fellow before and it must have been in the United States, for I +know I should remember encountering him over here." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BEACH DOG + + +"You would certainly smile if you could see the school I am going +to," Frances wrote to her chum, Marjorie Benton, "but when I think +of you and the other girls back at the dear old Boston Latin, I +feel more like crying. + +"First I must tell you about Edith Pearce, the girl in the house +where we are staying. She has long flaxen hair which hangs over +her shoulders in the most childish way, though she's our age. Her +eyes are gray with dark lashes and when she looks at you they are +like surprised stars. And she has the most beautiful complexion in +the world, just pink and white. She is lovely to look at and I +feel like a tanned, homely gipsy beside her. She's sweet too, but +very easily shocked and I'm afraid she's not only good but pious. +She can never take your place so don't worry, only, as I have to +be here, I might as well have some fun with her. + +"I go to school with Edith and it is as unlike the Latin School as +the North Pole and Boston Common. There are about thirty boarders, +some of them little bits of things--Edith calls them 'tinies'--who +have been sent home from India where their parents couldn't keep +them any longer. About fifty day-scholars attend, from kindergarten +age up. + +"I'm the only American and I can tell you I was well stared at. At +first the girls couldn't believe it, insisted that I must be +Scotch or at least Canadian, so now I wear a little United States +flag pin all the time. Gracious, but things are different, +especially clothes! Mine are the prettiest in school, if I do say +it, and Edith thinks so too. She says my 'frocks' are 'chic.' + +"Most of the girls, even the big ones almost eighteen, wear their +hair hanging and have _such_ dresses,--frocks, I mean. They fit +like meal bags, and being combinations of many colors, look +perfectly dreadful. And yet the girls are very nice, some of them +from really important families. + +"To cap the climax, most of them sport ugly black mohair aprons +which they call 'alpaca pinnies.' Marjorie, can you imagine what +they look like? I told Mother if she wanted me to be English to +the extent of wearing a pinafore, I should lie down and die and +I'm thankful to say that she simply grinned. But many of the girls +have wonderful yellow or red-gold hair and stunning peachy +complexions, so they aren't such frights as you'd think. + +"Instead of going around from one class to another as in any +sensible school, the girls stay in one room and teacher after +teacher,--I mean mistress, comes to them. I get so everlastingly +tired sitting still. Never before did I realize what a rest it was +to walk from class to class and get a chat on the way. The only +exceptions to this rule are preparation, when we sit at desks +under the eye of a monitress, and gymnasium work. + +"Marjorie, when I first beheld that gymnasium teacher, I nearly +fainted. Her molasses-colored hair was frizzed hard in front and +pinned in a round bun at the back of her head. She had on tight- +fitting knee trousers, not bloomers, believe me. Over these she +wore a white sweater of a very fancy weave. Over this was a weird +tunic of alpaca with two box-plaits in front and three in back. +This fell an inch or so below her knees, and every time she bent +over or stretched up, those queer tight trousers showed. Her shoes +were ordinary ones with heels. The girls wear either their usual +frocks or an arrangement like this. I can tell you my pretty brown +gym suit was the event of the day when I appeared in it. + +"Everybody wears slippers at school, puts them on when she first +comes and no wonder, because the English shoes are the worst- +looking and clumsiest things ever invented by man. Edith's feet +look twice as big in her boots as in slippers. You'd think by +their appearance that English feet were a different shape from +ours, but they are not; it is only the shoes. They make them so +thick and stout that they last for years. Edith was plainly +shocked when I told her I had a new pair every few months. She +thinks mine suitable only for the house. Well, I will admit that +English girls can out-walk me. + +"The other mistresses aren't so queer as the gym teacher but look +more like other people except that they wear too much jewelry. +Everybody wears a great deal and you know what we think at home of +ladies who appear on the street with rings and chains and lockets. +Edith and her sister Estelle don't dress so, but Mother says they +are quite exceptional. + +"As for lessons, we have to study. They expect a lot of grammar +and parsing, and dates in history and solid facts in geography and +all that. Mother approves; she thinks the English system much less +faddy than at home. We have Bible instruction in regular lessons. +I'll admit that these English girls know more than I do about +things in books, but they haven't any idea what's going on in the +present world. They didn't know much about the Panama canal and +the tolls. Win howled when I said I explained it to them and vowed +he'd give a dollar to have heard me. And several didn't know who +was president of the United States. Imagine that, when we're the +most important republic in the world! I knew their old king. + +"We begin school at half-past eight and have prayers and a Bible +exercise. Different classes follow until eleven when a gong rings +and everybody rushes into the garden, a lovely place with box- +edged beds and a sun dial and gravel walks. There are myrtles and +geraniums, great big bushes of them, and japonicas and heavenly +wall-flowers and _trees_ of lemon verbena and fuchsias up to the +eaves. This is solid truth, and in November, too. + +"In the garden we find a table with jugs of milk,--notice my +English, please--and biscuit, that is, crackers, and we gobble and +faith, we have reason! Studying so hard makes one famished. Then +recreation follows for half an hour and we play ball or tennis. +Some of the girls are splendid players. School again until two, +when we day-scholars leave. + +"Three afternoons a week, we have to go back for gym work and +English composition, which is beastly. On Wednesday there is no +school. + +"Do you want to know what I've learned in one week of school in +Jersey? + +"Well, I can speak three sentences in French. I'll write you in +French next time. + +"I know that Amos and Hosea and Isaiah were all prophets and said +that Israel was a very bad place. + +"I know that Paleolithic man was probably the first inhabitant of +Great Britain. + +"I know how few people like to join mission study classes. + +"And I know that I love you." + +Fran finished her letter, directed and sealed the envelope, +affixed a stamp, sniffing slightly at the head of King George +instead of George Washington, and ran down-stairs. + +"Do you know where Edith is?" she asked of Nurse. + +"She is out in front, Miss Frances," replied Nurse. "Are you going +for a walk?" + +"Just to the beach. We'll be back for tea." + +Edith stood at the gate and the two ran down to the shore. The +tide, half-way out, left bare a tremendous expanse of wet sand, +iridescent under the sun's rays. The water showed wonderful shades +of blue, green and turquoise, and in the edge of the retreating +waves walked hundreds of gulls, searching for food. + +The girls started up the beach toward St. Helier's, chatting +happily as they watched the water and the birds. Little sandpipers +appeared and some huge gray cormorants. + +Presently a handsome collie ran up to them, dropped a stone before +Frances and stood looking at her, his head cocked on one side, all +but speaking. + +"You darling," said Frances, picking up the pebble. "Does he want +to be played with? Well, he shall." + +She threw the stone down the beach and the collie shot after it at +full speed, his beautiful tawny coat shining in the sunlight. + +"Twice before," said Edith, "when I've been on the sands, he has +begged me to throw stones for him to chase. He's a thorough-bred. +Such fine markings! He looks like one of the Westmoreland sheep +dogs. You've heard of them, haven't you? They are so intelligent +about taking care of sheep and they understand everything their +masters want. We saw one once that separated and brought to his +master three sheep out of a big flock and the man didn't say one +word, only motioned to him. He wants you to throw it again." + +"I can't throw stones for you all night," said Fran at last. "You +take a turn, Edith." + +Edith threw a pebble picked up at random. The collie raced for it +and after a sniff, returned without it. + +"He wants his own stone and no other," laughed Frances. "See, he's +hunting all about. There, he's found it!" + +For a good mile down the beach the collie accompanied them, till +both were tired of play. Convinced that they would throw his stone +no longer, the dog reluctantly left them. Looking back, they saw +him accosting a young man, who promptly yielded to the mute +coaxing. + +"I wonder whose dog he is," said Edith. "He didn't seem to belong +to any one we passed. I fancy he's here on his own." + +"We really ought to go over to Castle Elizabeth soon," observed +Frances. "Doesn't it look like a huge monster stranded out there +in the harbor?" + +"Sister is afraid of the tides," replied Edith. "A soldier was +drowned there the other day, trying to cross the causeway after +the tide had turned. Look, Fran, I believe that must be his +funeral up on the road now. It is a military one at any rate." + +Frances looked with interest. First marched a guard of soldiers, +two by two, then a band with muffled drums, playing the Dead +March. After the band came a gun-carriage drawn by four horses and +bearing the coffin, over which was draped the English flag. +Several barouches followed with officers in uniform, and then the +rest of the regiment, walking very slowly, their guns reversed. + +As the procession approached, every man on the route uncovered and +did not replace his hat until it had passed, a mark of respect +which struck Frances forcibly. "They have better manners than we +have," she acknowledged half to herself. + +Edith looked surprised. "Men always uncover on meeting a funeral," +she remarked. "This was a private, but if he had been an officer, +his helmet and sword would be on the flag, and directly behind the +gun-carriage, his orderly would lead his riderless horse. A +military wedding is so pretty, Frances. I saw one once in Bath +Abbey. The officers were all in full uniform and after the +ceremony they formed in the aisle, two lines going way down out of +the church and at a signal, drew their swords and crossed them +with a clash above their heads and the bride and groom came down +this path through the glittering swords. I was just a tiny then, +but I decided I'd marry a soldier so I could have the arch of +swords." + +"It must have been very pretty," Frances agreed. "Why, what are +those? See, like immense horseshoes in the water." + +"The bathing pools," explained Edith. "They show only when the +tide is very low. They keep back water for bathing." + +"And a good job, too, when you have a tide that goes out of +sight," commented Frances approvingly, as she looked at the two +huge masonry walls near St. Helier's, set in the expanse of wet +sand. "Look at the boys sailing boats." + +"Sometimes there are real races with little model yachts," said +Edith. "There's a club of the young officers and some of the +townspeople and they have the prettiest little miniature boats +with keels about a metre long, rigged exactly like real racing +yachts. It's great sport to see them. But ought we not to go +back?" + +The girls turned for they were already far from home. To their +surprise they were presently greeted again by the collie who tore +up to hail them rapturously. + +"Still chewing your stone?" Frances inquired. "Come along. I +suppose we'll have to take you part way back." + +The collie flew for the pebble as though for the first time of the +afternoon. Before they had gone more than a quarter of a mile, a +pretty young lady came up. + +"I'm afraid my bad Tylo has been bothering you," she said +apologetically. "He is forever coming on the sands and badgering +people into playing with him." + +"Oh, we liked to play," said Frances, smiling. "I think he's a +brick. What did you call him?" + +"Tylo," replied the young lady. "After the dog in the 'Blue Bird,' +you know." + +Edith also smiled. Their new acquaintance was looking from one to +another, a charming and rather mischievous expression lighting a +sweet face. + +"You're a little sister compatriot," she said to Edith; "but I +fancy this little lady comes from across the ocean." + +"Yes, I do," said Frances, "but how did you know?" + +The young lady laughed merrily. "Oh, I've knocked about a good +bit. And I happen to have known one American boy very well. +Indeed, we really grew up together in Italy and England. 'Brick' +is rather an American word, isn't it? I've surely heard my friend +use it. Americans seldom find their way to Jersey. Are you +stopping long?" + +"Perhaps all winter," replied Frances. + +"There are many delightful excursions to make in the island," said +the young lady. "Come along, Tylo. We must go home to tea. Oh," +she added to the girls, "when you go on picnics, don't forget to +look for caves." + +With another smile and a charming little nod, she left them. + +"I wonder who she is," said Frances, frankly looking after her. +The erect lithe figure was crowned by a finely poised head and a +wealth of beautiful fair hair, prettily arranged. Something in her +face suggested possibilities of good comradeship, and her dress, +while simplicity itself, betrayed a French origin. + +"She looks nice enough and ladylike enough to be an American," +thought Frances approvingly and with a sudden stab of homesickness. + +"I wish she'd told us her name," she went on aloud, "and who the +American boy was. Perhaps we might know him." + +"He can scarcely be a boy now if they grew up together," observed +Edith. "Wasn't she sweet? I hope we'll see her again." + +"And what did she mean by caves?" Frances continued, pursuing her +train of thought. "That sounded very interesting and mysterious." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MONT ORGUEIL + + +To find a tutor for the boys proved less easy than Mrs. Thayne +anticipated. There seemed a dearth of available young men in +Jersey and she had about decided to send Roger to the best school +and let Win work as he chose by himself, when Mr. Angus heard of a +young Scotchman, already acting as secretary to a gentleman in St. +Helier's and who could give the boys his afternoons. + +Such an arrangement was not ideal, but Win took an instant liking +to the tall raw-boned person, who announced himself in a +delightful manner as "Weelyum Feesher." + +Roger promptly dubbed him Bill Fish and refused to speak of him by +any other term, causing his mother to live in terror lest Mr. +Fisher should in some way learn of the disrespectful abbreviation. +Roger was not at all enthusiastic about Bill Fish but liked still +less the two schools he visited. To accept the tutor seemed the +lesser of two evils. + +The chief drawback proved that the boys were occupied at just the +time when the girls were free, with the exception of Wednesday, a +holiday for all. + +The result was that Edith and Frances were thrown much together. +Frances found it fortunate that she had a companion of her own +age, for the island ladies soon called upon Mrs. Thayne and drew +her into numerous social engagements. The little community had a +strong army and navy tinge and naturally welcomed Mrs. Thayne. She +would have taken far less part in the various festivities had she +been leaving her daughter alone, but the two girls proved so +congenial and Mrs. Thayne was so well satisfied with Edith as a +companion for Frances that she felt free to indulge her own social +instincts and enjoy the pleasant circle so invitingly opened. + +Whenever they went out, the girls kept a close watch for the "collie +lady" and the "beach dog." Twice Tylo came to hail them on the +sands, once apparently entirely alone. The other time he merely +greeted them and bounded away to rejoin two riders on the road. +One was his lady, her companion a slender young man of distinctly +foreign aspect, dark and distinguished-looking. Their horses were +walking slowly, the riders engaged in deep conversation and the +beach dog's mistress did not see the eager faces of the girls. + +They talked a good deal about her, wondering who she was, where +she lived and whether they would ever know her. After seeing her +on horseback, they fell more and more under the spell of her charm +and began to picture her the heroine of all sorts of stories. + +Day-dreams and romantic stories however, had but a small place in +a world so busily filled with lessons of various kinds. One +Tuesday evening, Frances was openly groaning over the need of +writing an essay upon Julius Caesar. + +"Wouldn't you like him better if you saw something he did?" +inquired Win, hearing her lamentations. "There's a castle in +Jersey, part of which he built." + +Fran's eyes opened incredulously and Roger whistled. "Is that one +of Bill Fish's yarns?" he demanded. + +"Ante-dates him," replied Win. "It's Mont Orgueil, over the other +side of the island. Let's have a picnic there to-morrow, take our +lunch and stay all day. Mother, you must come. Don't say you've +promised to make calls." + +"I can go perfectly well," said Mrs. Thayne. "Only there is +Roger's appointment with the dentist in the afternoon. He'll have +to keep that, but there will be plenty of time for the picnic if +we start early." + +"Think of having an outdoor picnic in December," exclaimed +Frances. "We'll take Edith, of course." + +"Of course," assented her mother. "And Estelle, if she will go. I +wish she would. She shuts herself up so closely and seems to +shrink from seeing people, but perhaps she will go to Orgueil just +with us." + +Even Edith could not persuade her sister to join the party though +Estelle was touched by their regret, evidently genuine. + +"If you only would, Star," begged Edith. "You would enjoy it. You +don't know how funny and nice they are to go with." + +"I couldn't, little sister," said Estelle gently. "You go and tell +me about it afterwards." + +Edith was not satisfied but all persuasion proved useless. She had +a vague idea that Star was worried. Just why, Edith did not see, +since the plan of letting lodgings had come out so pleasantly. +Everything was going smoothly at present; why should Star borrow +trouble from the future? + +Mont Orgueil is reached by a miniature railway leading from St. +Helier's to the fishing village of Gorey. By this time the young +people were all well accustomed to the absurd little narrow gauge +tramways with their leisurely trains. But if the train into St. +Helier's crawled, the one to Gorey snailed, to quote Roger. Time +was ample to note the pretty stuccoed houses, pink, cream or +brown, with gardens and climbing vines that even in December made +them spots of beauty. They passed under the frowning cliffs of +Fort Regent and saw several lovely turquoise-blue bays with +shining sandy beaches. Farther on farms succeeded the villas, +stone farmhouses with tiled or thatched roofs, some with orange or +other fruit trees trained against their southern walls. Suddenly +Frances rose to her feet. + +"What on earth are those?" she demanded. "Just look at those +cabbages on top of canes." + +The others looked and saw something answering exactly to Fran's +graphic description. + +"Oh, yes" said Mrs. Thayne, "those are the cow cabbages of Jersey. +They are common in the interior of the island. It's a peculiar +kind of cabbage growing five or six feet high. The farmers pick +the leaves on the stalk and leave just the head on top. These +stalks are made into the canes we have seen in shops." + +"I saw them," said Win, "but I didn't realize what they were. +Look, there's a Jersey cow among the cabbages." + +"The Jersey cattle are so pretty," said Frances admiringly. + +"They are very valuable," said Edith. "The farmers coddle them +like children." + +Gorey proved a picturesque village with many schooners and boats +of different kinds drawn up on the beach and in every direction +fish nets drying. Above and behind towered the ruined castle of +Orgueil, rising more than three hundred feet sheer from the sea. + +Mrs. Thayne sent Roger to find and engage a donkey which Win +mounted without protest, after one glance at the climb before him, +though he insisted on swinging the boxes of luncheon before him on +the little animal's neck. Its owner was dismissed, Roger agreeing +to pull the beast up the hill. + +Mont Orgueil forms the crest of a lofty conical rock and looks +down like a grim giant upon the blue waters that stretch away to +the coast of France. Tier after tier the fortifications mount the +cone, crowned at the apex by a flagstaff. + +At the castle entrance, gained after a steady climb, a small boy +appeared, sent by the castle keeper to act as guide. He tied the +donkey to an iron post and led the way into the interior. + +"This is the oldest part," he began shyly. "They do say this tower +was built by Julius Caesar." + +"Gracious, that's some story!" whistled Roger, looking with all +his might. + +"I believe it is true," said Mrs. Thayne. "Win, you were reading +about the castle before we started." + +"Yes," said Win. "That's straight about Caesar. That's why I +wanted Fran to see it. And most of the place was built a thousand +years ago. Is it ever used now!" + +[Illustration: ABOVE AND BEHIND TOWERED THE RUINED CASTLE OF +ORGUEIL] + +"In summer the signal service is quartered here," replied the boy. +"This is the well, ninety feet deep." + +As he spoke, he dropped a pebble over a low parapet. Some seconds +later came a hollow splash. + +The guide showed them a cell where condemned prisoners were once +kept, a ruined chapel with a very old crypt, and above the chapel +a room reached by winding stairs. The girls entered with a +simultaneous shriek of delight. + +"What a love of a room!" said Edith. + +"Mother, isn't this too sweet for words?" demanded Frances. + +"This is the Cupola room," explained their guide. "Charles the +Second stopped here during his exile from England." + +"Prince Charles!" exclaimed Win, his imagination fired at once. +"Oh, I read that in the guide book, but this--his room--" + +Win's voice trailed into silence. To read a fact in a book was +different from standing under the very roof that had once +sheltered bonnie Prince Charlie. He looked about him, trying to +picture to himself those far past days. + +The ceiling rose in a huge dome and one immense window framed a +wonderful view. From a little sally-port leading to a platform one +could look sheer down to the rocks or across fourteen miles of +tossing water to beautiful France. By using a little imagination +the girls agreed that they could detect the spire of the cathedral +of Coutances easily visible in clear weather. + +"In the French revolution the governor of Jersey signalled to the +army of the Vendee by means of a flagpole held in place by +chains," said Mrs. Thayne. + +"Yes," said their small guide. "The chains are still on the wall +but the pole is new. The naval men use it in summer." + +"Do they sleep here?" asked Win. + +"Down in the chapel, sir." + +"I'd stay here," said Win. "Say, how much would you rent this room +for?" + +"Three and six a week, sir, with the platform thrown in," replied +their small guide so gravely that they all looked to see whether +he was really in earnest. + +"That's cheap enough, considering the view," said Mrs. Thayne, +smiling. + +Fascinated by the picturesque old castle, Win wandered off by +himself, deciphering the inscriptions placed on the many doors. +There is no guard in the guard-room, no stores are kept in the +storeroom, and the chapel never hears a sermon save those preached +by its own stones to those who have ears to hear. But the sunlight +falling on the green platforms, the pigeons cooing on the walls, +the blue sea stretching to the shining cliffs of France, the +glamour of old-world romance struck impressionable Win. Dreamily +he recalled that whether Caesar built the tower or not, no +reasonable doubt exists that Orgueil was occupied if not built by +the mighty Prince Rollo, grandfather of William the Conqueror. +Over the main entrance to the castle-keep his coat of arms +survives the centuries. For centuries to come, Orgueil will remain +gathering more legendary charm as the slow years pass. + +Win shook off the feeling of awe gently creeping over him and +joined the others, investigating a tiny cell where Prynne the +Puritan leader was confined for three years. Roger was immensely +impressed by the ruins of a secret staircase, connecting a dungeon +where the criminals were executed, with the keep and sally-port. + +"There's a many secret stairs in the old Jersey houses," +volunteered their guide, noticing his interest. + +"Where can we see them?" demanded Roger at once, but this their +small informer could not tell. + +"Gentry lives in those houses," he volunteered. "They'se not open +to trippers." + +"To what?" demanded Roger. + +"Visitors, strangers like," explained the boy. + +"I like that," said Roger, flushing indignantly. + +"Hush, Roger," interposed his mother. "No offense was meant. What +are these chains? They seem very old." + +"They were used long time ago to hang criminals. They do say they +put 'em there alive and left 'em to the corbies." + +"Corbies? Oh, crows," interpreted Win. "Nice custom! Mother, look +at the heaps of rocks exposed by the tide." + +"There's more this side," said their guide, turning a corner of +the rampart with Roger close at his heels. The rest were about to +follow when suddenly Mrs. Thayne gave an exclamation. + +"Listen!" she said. "That must be a skylark." + +From somewhere in the blue above fell a rain of happy music, so +liquid and so sweet that it scarcely seemed to come from any +earthly bird. + +"Where is it?" asked Frances excitedly, peering into the air and +dropping on her knees the better to look up. Mrs. Thayne did the +same and both stared into the sky, trying to detect the tiny spot +of feathered joy, the source of all this melody. Presently Edith +and Win joined them. + +Back around the corner came Roger and the guide, both stopping +short at sight of the rest of the party down on their knees on the +daisy-starred turf. + +"Whatever are they doing?" ejaculated the boy. + +"Oh, it's a skylark!" exclaimed Frances enthusiastically. "Come +and see." + +Mouth open in amazement, their small guide stood rooted to the +spot. "A skylark!" he muttered, staring at the four in their +attitude of devotion. "Lookin' at a skylark!" he repeated as +though unable to credit the testimony of his own eyes. + +Win burst out laughing and rose to his feet. "Take this," he said, +producing a shilling. "Thank you for showing us about. We'll stay +a while longer and eat lunch here." + +The boy pocketed the coin and withdrew, his face still a picture +of incredulous astonishment over the actions of this singular and +apparently insane group of excursionists. At last sight, he was +still slowly shaking his head and murmuring, "Lookin' at a +skylark!" + +[Illustration: "LOOK, THERE IS A JERSEY COW AMONG THE CABBAGES."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A RACE WITH THE TIDE + + +After luncheon, time passed too quickly. Before it seemed +possible, Mrs. Thayne declared the hour had come for Roger to keep +his appointment with the dentist in St. Helier's. + +"Let him go alone, Mother," said Win. "He's no kid. We want you to +stay with us." + +"Of course he could go alone," agreed Mrs. Thayne, "but I ought to +consult the dentist myself and do an errand or two. There's no +reason why you and the girls should cut short your stay. This is a +lovely place to spend the afternoon and the day too perfect to +hurry home. Just be back for dinner." + +"Let Roger return the donkey," suggested Win. "I sha'n't need him +going down hill and very likely we shall strike across beyond the +village." + +Mrs. Thayne departed, Roger clattering ahead on the donkey, and +the three were left in the meadow by the castle entrance, a meadow +starred with most fascinating pink-tipped English daisies. + +"Just see the dears and then think that it's really winter," +sighed Frances. "I can't believe that at home everybody is wearing +furs and the ground is frozen. It doesn't seem possible that +Christmas is so near." + +Win was lying flat on the close-cropped turf, his attitude +indicating that he contemplated a nap. After a glance at his +prostrate figure, the girls wandered to a little distance, seeking +the pinkest daisies. Presently they were surprised by the sudden +arrival of a beautiful collie, who poked a cold nose into Edith's +face. + +"O-oh!" she exclaimed. "Go to Frances. She's the one who likes +dogs. I prefer nice soft little pussy-cats." + +"It's the beach dog," said Frances. "Do you suppose his lady is +with him?" + +Edith looked eagerly about. The elevated castle meadow commanded a +rather extended view but in no direction was any one visible. + +"I don't see her anywhere. Come here, Tylo. Oh, Fran, let's read +the plate on his collar. Perhaps it will have her name." + +Hot and panting from a run, Tylo willingly lay down by the girls +and made not the least objection to having his collar examined. +The unusually long plate bore considerable lettering. + +"Laurel Manor, St. Brelade's," read Frances in excitement. "Here's +some French, Edith." + +"It's Italian, Fran. 'Palazzo Grassi, Via Ludovisi, Roma.' Just +two addresses and no name!" Edith ended in disappointment. + +"Oh, but wait!" exclaimed Frances. The light struck the plate at +such an angle as to make visible to her some additional lettering, +not engraved but apparently scratched with a knife. Though small, +the words were extremely neat and legible and the girls deciphered +them eagerly. + +"Connie--her dog. + +"Max--his mark." + +"Her name must be Connie!" Edith declared, turning excited eyes +upon her companion. "Speak, Tylo! Is your mistress called +Constance?" + +Tylo vouchsafed no answer, only pricked his ears, hearing +something inaudible to the girls. The next instant came a distinct +though faint whistle. + +The beach dog departed at once, tearing down over the meadow in a +graceful curve to leap a hedge into a shady lane beyond. + +"Well, we've learned a little," sighed Frances. "His mistress is +called Connie and she lives at Laurel Manor. The rest ought to be +easy. Let's go down to the shore. I want to explore that point of +rocks." + +"But Win's asleep," said Edith hesitatingly. "Ought we to leave +him?" + +"It's all right," said Frances. "He couldn't scramble on the rocks +and it's splendid for him to sleep in this fine air. I'll leave a +note telling him where to look for us." + +Edith supplied a blunt pencil and Fran wrote her message on a bit +of paper torn from the luncheon box, pinning it carefully to her +brother's coat where he could not fail to see it. Then they ran +down to the cove beyond Orgueil. + +The water, far on the horizon, showed only as a gleaming line of +light, leaving bare heaps and piles of rocks, inextricably turned +on end in some prehistoric upheaval. In places the rocks were +continuous, in others separated by spaces of wet sand. + +Over the rocks grew masses of vari-colored seaweed, brown, yellow, +blue-green, even pink. Footing proved both slippery and +treacherous, but offered the fascination of exploring an unknown +region. As they walked farther out, curious shell-fish were +clinging to the stone. + +"These are ormers and limpets," said Edith. "I saw them the day +Nurse and I went to market. What a huge winkle!" + +Fran stared at this new specimen. "Is that a winkle?" she demanded +in disgust. "I call it a plain snail. Why, all my life, I've read +about winkles and thought I'd like to eat some but I'd die before +I'd eat a snail. Oh! Oh! Oh!" + +Edith turned so quickly that she almost fell on the slippery weed. +Frances was fairly dancing with excitement, wholly however of +pleasure. + +In the hollowed rock lay a pool of clear sea water, at first sight +filled with bright-hued flowers, pink, purple, orange. The next +glance showed them to be living organisms. + +"Sea-anemones!" breathed Edith softly. "I never saw anything so +beautiful." + +The anemones were pulpy brown bodies varying in size from a pea to +a tomato. From their anchorage on the rock they stretched waving +tentacles of soft iridescent hues, transforming the little pool +into a marine fairyland. Between the anemones a bright yellow +lichen-like growth almost covered the warm red granite, and tiny +yellow, rose, and black and white striped snails were set like +jewels on this background. Two or three sharp limpet shells waved +feathery seaweed fans. + +A long time passed and the girls still lingered. They discovered +that most of the pools boasted anemones, some not unlike an +ordinary land daisy with light-colored tentacles stretching ray- +shaped from a yellow centre. When touched with an empty shell, the +anemone would close over it, folding both the shell and itself +into a tight brown ball, then open slowly and drop the shell. The +only food the girls had with them was some sweet chocolate, so +they experimented with this, watching the lovely living sea- +flowers seize upon fragments held within reach of their feelers. + +"I suppose it will give them frightful pains," remarked Frances at +last, rising from her cramped position. "Goodness! the tide is +coming!" + +"Yes, but it's far out," replied Edith, casting a glance at the +line of water, still distant a full half-mile. "Look, Frances, +here's a tiny pink crab." + +For a moment Frances again bent over the aquarium but soon started +to her feet. + +"Let's go back, Edith. We're a long way from shore and you know +how very fast the tide comes in." + +"Oh, is that crab gone? I thought you would mind where he went," +said Edith as she reluctantly rose. "I wanted to take him to Win." + +The two began to retrace their way, at first over piles of red +rock covered with seaweed, farther on over stretches of sand +surrounding rock islands. + +Just as they left the last of the solid rock a big wave came +curling lazily along its side. For a second the water clung to it +like fingers, then withdrew. + +"Fran, we must run," said Edith quietly, but her face had grown +pale. + +Frances made no reply. Both ran as fast as they could across the +stretch of level hard sand. Before they reached the first rock +island, long fingers of foam again darted past at one side. + +Neither girl spoke. Automatically they seized hands and redoubled +their efforts. One island after another was left behind, then +Edith, looking over her shoulder, saw that the tide was gaining. +Its next incoming heave would overtake them. + +"We'll have to climb these rocks!" she gasped. + +"_No!_" said Fran, giving her hand a tug. "Keep on. No matter if +we do get wet. We _must_ get nearer in. These rocks will be +covered." + +Edith kept pace. They seemed to have reached a higher ridge of the +beach since presently the water, instead of pursuing directly, +passed on either side, stretching shorewards. + +Too terrified to consider what this would mean when the tongues of +water should meet before them, the girls pressed on blindly. + +Suddenly there came a shout from shore, now measurably nearer. +Down the beach sped a galloping horse, his rider waving to attract +their attention. + +Fran's quick wits grasped the situation. "He'll come for us!" she +exclaimed. "He means us to climb this rock and wait." + +This seemed what the rider meant for as they scrambled up the +ledge, he ceased to call and merely urged his horse to greater +effort. Edith reached the top without accident, but Frances +slipped and soaked both feet. + +The horse, a beautiful chestnut thoroughbred with tossing mane, +came at quick speed. In the distance, his rider looked a mere boy, +but as he approached, the girls saw that he was a young man of +twenty-three or four, with a fine, clean-cut face, who sat his +horse as though a part of it. + +Arriving by their rock, the chestnut checked himself in full +gallop and turned almost in his stride. + +"Give me your hand," said the young man to Edith. "Step on my +foot. Swing round behind me and hold on any way you can." + +Edith instantly obeyed. "Here," he added to Frances, "scramble up +in front. Quick! There's no time to lose. Steady on, Saracen!" he +added as the horse jumped and snorted at touch of the water +curling about his heels. + +They were perhaps a quarter-mile from shore and the return was +made at a fast pace, yet as they came up above tide mark, the +waves were lapping the shingle and only a rock here and there +remained uncovered. + +During the hurried trip the young man had spoken only to his +horse, words of encouragement uttered in a pleasant voice, and +both girls were still too stunned by the sudden peril and their +equally sudden rescue to realize their very unconventional +situation; Edith with both arms around the stranger, her cheek +pressed into his shoulder; Fran sitting on the saddle-bow, held in +position by his left arm while his right hand clasped the reins. + +Once in safety, Saracen stopped of his own accord, looking around +as though, now the hurry was over, he would like to know what sort +of unaccustomed load he had been carrying. + +"Right we are!" said the young man cheerily. "Now I wonder if you +can slide down." + +Still speechless, Frances did so. The young man swung himself from +the saddle and turned to lift Edith from her perch as though she +was a little child. Again on firm ground, she began to utter +incoherent thanks. + +[Illustration: "HE'LL COME FOR US! HE MEANS US TO CLIMB THIS ROCK +AND WAIT"] + +"I think you must be strangers to the island," he said rather +gravely, "else you would know that the Jersey tides come in as +rapidly as they ebb. This isn't a safe coast to experiment with." + +"It was the anemones," began Frances. "We never saw any before and +forgot to watch the water." + +The young man smiled. "Those anemones!" he said. "I was once in a +similar fix for the same reason. Better remember that the only +safe time to watch sea anemones is when the tide is just going +out. There's a place up here where the farmer's wife is a friend +of mine. I think you'd better let me take you over to Mother Trott +and she'll dry you out." + +"I'm not wet," said Edith. "Frances fell, that's why she's +drippy." + +"Oh, but Win!" Frances exclaimed. "He'll find that note saying +we're on the rocks and he'll see the water and be frightened. My +brother," she added to the stranger, who was looking at her +inquiringly. "He's in the meadow." + +The young man's clear gray eyes grew rather stern. "And what is +this brother doing while his little sister gets into danger?" he +asked. + +"Oh, it's not his fault. He was asleep and he _mustn't_ be +frightened," Fran began. She spoke rapidly, her explanation +banishing from the inquirer's face all look of disapproval. + +"I'll go and tell Win," said Edith. "I'm not a bit wet. You go on +to the farm, Frances. Which house is it?" + +"Do you see the long low one with the vines about half a mile up +the hill?" replied their rescuer. "That's it." + +"If Win's still asleep, for goodness' sake don't wake him," +directed Frances as Edith set off toward the castle. "Perhaps I +can get dry and be there before he need know what has happened." + +"Would you be willing to ride in front of me again, Miss Frances?" +asked the young man, as Edith vanished around the wall. "We could +reach the farm much more quickly." + +Without demur, Frances consented. She felt queerly shaken and ill +and to her consternation, as Saracen crossed the highroad and +entered the farm lane, a sudden burst of sobs overcame her. She +struggled bravely to control herself. + +"That was a beastly experience," said the pleasant voice, "but you +were so near shore when Saracen and I saw you, that you'd probably +have made it with merely a wetting." + +"We haven't really thanked you," said Frances incoherently. "I do +--so much--Mother--" + +"Thank Saracen. He did it. It's nothing at all, and you mustn't +let it trouble you. Hello, Tylo. Been off again on your own?" + +Obedient to touch, his horse stopped at the cottage gate. Frances +slid from her perch and the young man dismounted, throwing the +reins to the beach dog, whose sudden reappearance did not surprise +nor interest Frances, as ordinarily it would have done. + +"Come round to the back," said her companion, opening the gate. +"Mother Trott will probably be in her kitchen. She'll put you to +rights in no time. No mess too bad for her to take on." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR. MAX + + +Frances accompanied her guide along a pebbled path neatly edged +with big scallop-shells measuring fully six inches across. Beside +the walk stretched garden borders still gay with geraniums, +japonicas and other hardy plants in full bloom. As they passed the +front door of the cottage with its whitewashed steps gleaming in +the afternoon sun, a roughly outlined heart surrounding some +initials caught Frances' attention. The design was carved in the +stone top of the door-frame and looked very old. + +"That's a pretty custom of the island," said her companion, +noticing Fran's glance. "The people who first made a home had +their initials cut over the door. Many of the Jersey farmhouses +have several sets of initials on the door-stones." + +Around the corner of the house lay a neat kitchen garden full of +vegetables in thrifty green rows, a patch of the curious cabbages +and in a field just over a fence, was tethered a pretty, soft-eyed +Jersey cow. Beside the entrance stood a bench glittering with +shiny copper pails and milk-cans. + +Without stopping to knock, the young man stepped directly into a +clean, low-ceiled kitchen, where white sand was scattered on the +stone floor. + +"Are you there, Mrs. Trott?" he inquired. + +Hastily setting down the pan of potatoes she was peeling, a +pleasant-looking stout woman rose to her feet with a curtsy. + +"If it isn't Mr. Max!" she exclaimed, her voice expressing both +surprise and delight. + +"And as usual seeking help, Mrs. Trott. This young lady, Miss +Frances, has been unlucky enough to be overtaken by the tides--" + +"Poor dear!" interrupted Mrs. Trott. "Bess!" she called, "come you +down. Ah, 'tis the tides that make the Jersey heartaches. Ye did +quite right to bring her, Mr. Max. Bess, be quick!" + +A rosy-cheeked girl of seventeen came clattering down the tiny +stair, to smile at the visitors and drop an awkward, blushing +curtsy to each. + +"Why, Bess, you're quite grown up," said the young man, smiling +back at her. + +"A year does make a differ, sir," said Mrs. Trott. "Lead the young +leddy up the stair, Bess, and dry her feet and give her your +Sunday socks and shoon. Mr. Max, you'll drink tea? Sure, now, and +taste my fresh wonders. The young leddy'll be down directly and a +cup of tea will set her up." + +"Indeed, I could do with some tea, Mrs. Trott, and I've not had +any wonders since--" + +Frances did not hear the end of the sentence for she was following +Bess up the narrow, winding stone stairs to emerge in a little +room with slanting caves and dormer windows in its thatched roof. +The place was bare but spotlessly clean and through the open +western casement shimmered the blue sea. + +"Sit down, Miss," said Bess in a soft voice with curious musical +intonations that made up for imperfect pronunciation. + +With a sigh of relief, Frances sank into the straight chair. The +reaction from her late adventure was still upon her. Before she +knew what was happening, Bess approached with a basin of water and +a towel, and knelt to unfasten the soaked shoes. + +"Oh, I can do that for myself," Frances protested with the +independence of an American girl. + +"Sit ye still, Miss," said Bess pleasantly. "'Tis bad for the +nerves to race the tides. It shakes one a good bit." + +Her deft fingers made short work of their task. Presently, Frances +was comfortable in white cotton stockings and black slippers far +too large and wide. + +"Twill serve," said Bess, smiling at the way they slid around on +Fran's slender feet. "Dry at least. Now come ye down and drink +your tea. 'Tis not lately we've seen Mr. Max. Mother'll be rarely +pleased." + +Frances had it on her tongue's end to inquire into the identity of +her rescuer, but the difficulty of keeping on those heavy leather +shoes with their big silver buckles distracted her attention. She +came carefully down the stair to find Mr. Max seated on the big +black oak settle, his hat and riding-crop beside him and Mrs. +Trott arranging her table before the fire. + +"Come, Miss, to your tea," she exclaimed. "Bess, fetch the cream." + +Frances tried to protest, feeling already under great obligations +to these total strangers, but Mr. Max promptly rose to give her a +seat. + +"Tea will do you good, Miss Frances," he said with a most engaging +smile. "Try Mrs. Trott's wonders. Have you ever eaten a Jersey +wonder?" + +"It looks like a doughnut," said Frances, taking a fried cake from +the proffered plate. + +A sudden, mischievous grin crossed the young man's face. "A plain +New England doughnut disguised by an old-world name," he said. + +"New England!" repeated Frances, stopping with the cake halfway to +her mouth. "How do you know about New England doughnuts?" + +Mr. Max seated himself, looking boyishly amused. + + "'Land where our fathers died, + Land of the Pilgrims' pride,'" + +he quoted, seriously enough but with gray eyes dancing with fun. +"Oh, I know the whole thing. Shall we sing it together?" + +"Are you really an American?" Frances demanded in utter amazement. +"Then how--what--You don't talk--But that accounts for it." + +She stopped, feeling suddenly shy of questioning him. "Well," she +added after a second, "that's the reason I didn't feel a bit +strange about coming with you. It seemed all right--just as though +you were somebody I knew." + +"Thank you, Miss Frances," said her companion. "That is a very +lovely way to express your appreciation. Yes, we are fellow- +countrymen, though I have spent much of my life in Europe. In +fact, my first visit to the United States was when I was around +your age. Since then I've put in four years at Yale and one in +Washington. Now, I'm attached to the American Embassy in Paris and +came over here to spend the Christmas holidays with old friends. +Jersey has seen me many times before this. That's how I happen to +know about the sea anemones and the tides." + +Mrs. Trott came bustling back with jam, followed by Bess with a +covered jar. "And how's Miss Connie?" she inquired. + +"She seems very well," replied Mr. Max. "Your tea is as good as +ever, Mrs. Trott. Clotted cream, Bess? You know my weak spots, +don't you?" + +"They do be saying that the Colonel fails since his lady died," +went on Mrs. Trott, regarding her table anxiously. "Couldn't you +fancy an egg now, Mr. Max, or a bit of bacon?" as he raised a +protesting hand. + +Frances also declined. She did not feel hungry but after Mrs. +Trott had brought water to dilute the strong tea, she drank it +willingly. + +Neither did Mr. Max eat enough to satisfy his hostess. After a few +moments he rose and looked at his watch. + +"I think I'll ride over to the Manor and exchange Saracen for +another horse and the trap and give myself the pleasure if I may, +Miss Frances, of driving you and the others back to St. Aubin's. +Your boots will hardly be dry for you to wear on the train. I'd +really like to do so," he added, seeing that Frances looked +disturbed. "You know it is the business of the American Embassy to +look after its fellow countrymen in a foreign land, so this is +only my plain duty." + +"Best let him, Miss," said Mrs. Trott approvingly. "Mr. Max do +always take thought for others. But where happens Miss Connie to- +day?" + +"Oh, Miss Connie's gone to a tea-fight of some kind," replied Mr. +Max, giving Frances another mischievous glance. "She said I +couldn't go, so I annexed her dog and her father's horse and went +out on my own. I shall be back before long." + +Frances gave an anxious thought to Edith, concluded that she +probably found Win asleep and was following instructions not to +wake him. This conjecture proved correct for Edith soon came +hurrying down the path. + +"I took the first note and left one saying we were at this +cottage," she explained. "Are you all right, Fran? Do you think +you've caught a chill?" + +Frances explained that they were to be driven home and Mrs. Trott +pressed tea and wonders upon Edith, who accepted both gratefully. + +"Is it far to the Manor--to where Mr. Max is going?" Frances +inquired of Mrs. Trott. + +"Not for a good horse, Miss, though 'tis beyond St. Aubin's. I'm +thinking you must have marked the place, a big old stone house +with many a laurel tree about it and open to the cliffs beyond." + +"Oh, we know it," said Fran eagerly. "There are iron gates with a +coat of arms and the grounds are lovely." + +"That's Laurel Manor, Miss," assented Mrs. Trott. + +The girls looked at each other in delight. In one afternoon they +had learned where lived the mistress of the beach dog and what her +name. + +"'Tis good to lay eyes on Mr. Max again," Mrs. Trott went on. "A +pity he and Miss Connie couldn't content themselves with each +other. 'Tis not to our liking to have our young leddy takin' up +with a foreign prince." + +"Oh, please tell us about it," demanded Frances. "We met Miss +Connie on the beach and we think she's perfectly lovely. Is she +really to marry a prince?" + +"He's not a prince of a royal house," replied Mrs. Trott. "He's an +Eyetalian and in that country, they tell me, there's a different +kind of royalty. I don't rightly know, Miss, but I'm thinking they +are Romish princes." + +"Is Miss Connie marrying a Catholic?" inquired Edith in great +interest. + +"That's the question," said Mrs. Trott, reflectively resting both +hands on the table. "I could see Mr. Max didn't want to talk, but +we hear considerable through the housekeeper at the Manor. This +young man that they say Miss Connie's tokened to is the son of one +of these princes. But his mother was an Englishwoman and a +Protestant and so when two boys had been baptized as Catholics, +the third son,--Miss Connie's young man,--was brought up in his +mother's faith, our English church. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott went on meditatively, "they thought he'd +never succeed to his father's title and position, bein' the third +son. But the oldest, Prince Santo-Ponte, or some title like that, +was killed in a motor mishap--they say he was racin' something +shameful,--and soon the next brother died of pneumonia. So that +leaves the Protestant son the heir. And the story is that he's to +be made to turn Catholic." + +"But they can't make him if he won't," protested the shocked +Edith. Both she and Frances were listening eagerly to this +romantic story. Their wildest flights of imagination concerning +Miss Connie fell short of the truth,--if this was truth. + +"I don't know, Miss, I don't know," said Mrs. Trott doubtfully. +"Turn the young leddy's boots, Bess,--don't ye scent the smell o' +scorchin'? 'Tis hard on the poor fellow. There's his father urgin' +him to do it for the sake of the family, and there's a title and a +great fortune waitin' when he does. They'll be tellin' him it's +his duty as they tell't the Princess Alix, own granddaughter of +Queen Victoria, when she married with the Czar of all the Russias. +'Twas the Greek church she went over to." + +"But will Miss Connie marry the prince if he does give up his own +church?" asked Edith eagerly. + +Again Mrs. Trott shook her head. "There's no mention of any +weddin'," she admitted, "and it may be they're not even tokened, +but the prince has been visitin' a sight of times at the Manor. +Now, I'm thinkin' it's a good sign Mr. Max is here again. The +Colonel, Miss Connie's father, loves him like a son. Why, he and +Miss Connie grew up together, brother and sister-wise. The way of +it was that Mr. Max's mother died when he was but a tiny and Mrs. +Lisle, Miss Connie's mother, about took him for her own. He's fair +lived with them. Many's the time he and Miss Connie have run in +here for their tea or to dry their feet. You see I was parlor-maid +at the Manor before I married Trott. That was when Mr. Eichard was +living Miss Connie's brother. He was near fifteen years older and +he died in South Africa, poor lad! Ah, when he was killed it nigh +broke the Colonel's heart. Well, I've often helped out at the +Manor when extra service was needed. Far rather would I see Miss +Connie wedded to Mr. Max." + +"But how did Miss Connie happen to know the prince?" asked +Frances. + +"In Rome. Till her mother died, they spent part of every winter +there, but the Colonel can't bear the place now and they stop here +the season. I keep hopin' Mr. Max will get her yet. Such a pretty +well-mannered boy he always was and never above passin' a friendly +word with us all. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott concluded, "when you come to think of it, +Mr. Max is a foreigner, too, but the best I can say is that he's +just like an honest English gentleman." + +Frances flushed, choking back a hot comment. She had so quickly +felt a bond of kinship with this young American. Yet, in spite of +her momentary anger, she realized that Mrs. Trott was paying the +highest compliment in her power. Well, pride in her own country +could teach Frances to value like loyalty in another. + +"What is his other name?" she inquired. + +"I couldn't rightly tell you, Miss. He was but a wee lad when he +first came to the Manor. He calls the Colonel, uncle, and we +forget he isn't really of the family. Yet his father has been +here, too. He's famous for something very wise indeed. Could I +speak the name, you might know, for he's well-spoken of outside +our island." + +At this moment, Win appeared, strolling up the lane and looking +annoyed to find the girls so far in the opposite direction from +the railway. Nor did his vexation lessen on hearing their +adventures, softened and smoothed though the version was. In fact, +self-controlled Win was inclined to be decidedly cross and to +disapprove emphatically acceptances of further favors from a +stranger. Fran was still arguing when a smartly-appointed trap +drawn by a shiny horse turned into the lane. + +"Now, you can see for yourself," declared Fran. "He's an American +and a gentleman and it's all right for us to let him drive us +home." + +"As if we couldn't hire a carriage in Gorey," Win retorted, but +with a second glance at the driver, his attention was distracted. + +"Oh-h!" he said in perplexity, "that's the fellow who was in the +Royal Square that morning. Now, where in the wide world have I +seen him before?" + +Thinking hard, Win stared with puckered brows. Suddenly his face +cleared. "Why, he's that young chap Father introduced me to the +time he took me to Washington," he said accusingly to Fran. "Why +didn't you tell me?" + +"How on earth could I know?" demanded Fran, but her brother had +turned with a smile to greet the trap just drawing up by the gate. +Mr. Max looked at Win with a puzzled glance which gradually +changed to a look of recognition. + +"I do know you, don't I?" he said. "Well, I never suspected when I +was detailed to entertain Captain Thayne's son for an hour or so, +that we'd meet again in Gorey village. Why, that makes us old +friends!" + +Win grasped the cordially offered hand and having bestowed Edith +and Frances in the seat behind, climbed up beside Max, his face +beaming. With many thanks to Mrs. Trott and promises to come +again, they drove off. + +"Hasn't this been the most exciting afternoon?" Frances confided +to Edith. "We've learned the collie lady's name and met the boy +she told us of, and heard about her Italian prince. Look at Win! +He's crushed on Mr. Max,--I can tell by the way he's looking at +him. I should think Miss Connie would much rather marry an +American." + +"Perhaps he hasn't asked her," said Edith sensibly. "Perhaps, if +she really is engaged to the prince, she did it before Mr. Max +came back from America and he couldn't help himself because it was +too late." + +Max's back did not look as though it belonged to a specially +unhappy person and the expression of his face as he talked +pleasantly with Win was not that of a young man whose enjoyment in +life has been seriously darkened, but it pleased the girls to +fancy him as a blighted being, so keenly had Mrs. Trott's rather +injudicious confidences appealed to their youthful ideas of +romance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + + +"Why, I've met Miss Lisle several times," said Mrs. Thayne after +hearing Fran's account of the exciting end of the picnic. "She's a +charming girl and her father is the finest type of an English +gentleman. At the lawn party this afternoon she spoke of meeting +two girls on the beach and asked if one wasn't my daughter." + +"Oh, I do hope I can know her," said Frances happily. "I think +she's the sweetest thing I ever saw. But, Mother, do you suppose +what Mrs. Trott said about her and the Italian prince is true?" + +"That was a bit of gossip which Mrs. Trott should not have +repeated to girls of your age," commented her mother, "but since +you have heard it, I suppose it will do no harm to say that Prince +Santo-Ponte undoubtedly does visit at the Manor, though I do not +believe that any engagement exists between him and Miss Lisle. As +for Mr. Max, as you call him, his father is Professor Rodney +Hamilton, the noted scientist. Max has been much with the Lisles +and to all purposes is the son of the house." + +"The day when I really meet Miss Connie will be the happiest of my +life," declared Frances solemnly. Later, her amused mother learned +that Edith was equally smitten. + +In his quiet way, Win was most anxious to see more of Max and it +was partly with this wish in mind that he set off one morning +shortly after the picnic at Orgueil, to stroll on the road leading +past the Manor. On so pleasant a day he might encounter the young +people riding or walking. + +When Win reached the Manor gates, no one was in sight, and he +sauntered past, not caring to intrude on private grounds. One +longing glance he cast at the chimneys above the laurels, twelve +that he could count from that angle. What a rambling old structure +the Manor house must be! Surely in its existence stretching back +through the centuries, many interesting things had happened under +that roof. What fun it would be to try to find them out! + +Absorbed in pleasant thought, Win walked farther than he realized, +lured by the blue sea and a most interesting little church almost +on the water's edge. The doors proved locked, but Win resolved to +come again when he could gain admittance, for from outward +appearance the building was extremely old. + +On turning, Win was soon aware that he had overtaxed his strength +and was in no shape to walk to St. Aubin's. Pleasant as the sky +still was, a strong sea breeze had risen, bringing difficulties +for a person who required very favorable conditions for any +prolonged exercise. Only slow progress was possible and when he +again reached the iron gates of the Manor, he was really too tired +to go on. Choosing the sunny slope of the hedge, he sat down to +rest. + +Before long, voices approached on the other side of the laurels, +voices speaking in French, and Max came through the arch, +accompanied by a gardener carrying tools. + +"Why, Win," he said. "You're not stopping at the gate, I hope. The +house is just beyond." + +[Illustration: A MOST INTERESTING LITTLE CHURCH ALMOST ON THE +WATER'S EDGE.] + +Win smiled. "I sat down to get my breath," he explained. "I've +been for a stroll and the wind knocked me about a trifle." + +Max looked at him keenly. "It's a bit cool to stop there," he +said. "Come up to the house. We'll slip into the library and you +can rest properly." + +Win demurred, thinking he would detain Max from his business. + +"Uncle only asked me to direct Pierre about some planting around +the cottages," Max replied. He added some words in French to his +companion, who nodded and struck off toward the shore. "I'll not +stop for you," Max went on, taking Win's arm. "There isn't a +person at home, and you will have the library to yourself." + +Win yielded at once. Aside from the pleasure of seeing Max again, +the suggestion of books acted as a magnet. + +They crossed the beautiful Manor lawn,--green as in June,--not +toward the main entrance but in the direction of some big French +windows opening on the terrace. The casement yielded to Max's +touch and the two entered a room that would have made Win gasp +with pleasure had he been less exhausted. He received only the +impression of spacious beauty and countless books, as he was +established on a big old settle beside a fireplace where cheery +flames were flashing. Before he knew precisely what was happening, +Win found himself tucked among comfortable cushions. + +"There, go to sleep now," said Max, flinging over him a soft blue +Italian blanket. "I've an idea this thing belongs in Connie's +room, but since she left it here we will make use of it. There's +no one at home and the only person likely to come is Yvonne, one +of the maids. If she appears to look after the fire, just tell her +you are my friend." + +Max departed and Win soon fell into a reverie. He did not sleep +immediately but as his physical discomfort lessened under the +influence of rest and quiet, he began to look about him. + +The three rooms composing the library were very high and opened +into one another by arches. From floor to ceiling the books +climbed, rank on rank, on the upper shelves in double tiers, in +some places overflowing window seats. Narrow stained-glass +casements threw pleasant patches of color on the polished floor. +Age had blackened the oak ceiling and the handsome wall paneling +where books did not conceal it. Here and there hung portraits, +evidently of the family, judging from certain recurring +resemblances. Their quaint costumes dated from the days of the +Stuart kings. + +The utter quiet of the place, the time-faded bindings, the old +pictures, the spots of crimson and blue light, the faint odor of +leather, mingled with the scent of fresh flowers from some +invisible source, all had their effect upon Win, who sank into a +state of mind where he was neither awake nor quite asleep. His +last wholly conscious thought was for the curious coat of arms +above the fireplace, a shield that bore the date 1523. + +An hour later, Win came to full consciousness and at the same time +to a sense of familiarity with his surroundings. "Of all queer +things!" he thought as he sat up and looked around him. "The first +day I was in Jersey I dreamed of this room or of some room like +it. That man up there in the picture is mighty like the old Johnny +that was around. I've been dreaming about him now, only I can't +remember what." + +Try as he might, Win could not recall that dream, a fantastic +jumble of persons and an impression, almost painful, of a +fruitless search. + +"This is a house where anything might have happened," his thoughts +ran. "How I wish I could have a chance at these books!" + +Shelves framed even the ancient fireplace, their contents within +easy reach of Win's settle. His eye ran idly along the titles, a +History of the World, an edition of Defoe, some old hour-books. +Tucked in with these were two volumes of very modern philosophy, +their bright cloth bindings looking curiously out of place. With +their exception, nothing in sight looked less than a century old +and examination proved most to be even older. Many bore marks of +ownership by Lisles dead and gone. + +His enthusiasm thoroughly aroused, Win examined volume after +volume, lingering over the quaint bookplates. Finally he took down +a book unlettered on the back, but with a rubbed leather binding +that showed marks of use. It proved a very old copy of the Psalms, +a book that some one had once read often, for its pages were worn +not only by time but by constant turning. + +Opening to the front, Win searched for a bookplate. There was +none, but in fine handwriting appeared: "Richard Lisle His Valued +Book." As Win replaced the volume a paper slipped from its pages. + +Picking it up, he glanced idly at the single sheet which seemed a +page perhaps lost from some letter written long before, possibly a +leaf from a diary. The penmanship was like the autograph in the +Psalter, the ink, though faded, perfectly legible on the yellowed +paper. + +The extract began in the middle of a sentence. Win, who started to +decipher it from mere curiosity, ended by reading it five or six +times. It ran as follows: + +"having fed my Prince and Eased him after his hard Flight we took +Counsel anent his Refuge. + +"That he should lye at ye Manor looked not wise. Ye Castel seemed +ye better Place. + +"Lest he be curiously viewed of Many we did furnishe Other garb +and a Strong Bigge Cloake. And those who knew did safely lead him +through ye Towne. + +"Ye honoured Relicks my Sonne and I did place in ye Spanish Chest +and convey by Lantern light to that safe Place beyond ye Walls. So +shall they Reste till happier Times shall Dawne. + +"Strange that this Day should bring such Honour to Mine House." + +Win's eyes grew interested and excited as he studied this message +from the past. For whom was it meant and why had it lain all these +years in the old Psalter? Did the Manor family know of its +existence? The prince, the castle, the town, mentioned by a Lisle +of Laurel Manor, must refer to events of island history. + +After thinking a few minutes, Win drew out his notebook and made a +careful copy. Surely that was not abusing Max's hospitality and +could do no harm. If he discovered anything interesting in looking +up the matter in some history of Jersey at the public library, he +would share his knowledge. Or there surely must be books of that +kind here at the Manor. Perhaps he would be permitted to come +again and investigate this fascinating room more thoroughly. He +wished he knew Max better. If he only did, he could show his find +at once and ask for an opinion. Well, that might come later. +Anyway, it would be great fun to study the enigmatic paper and see +what he could make of it. + +When Max came quietly a few minutes later, Win made no mention of +his discovery. Surprised to find it so late, he thanked his host, +and declared himself entirely fit to walk back to Rose Villa. + +"Come again," said Max as they parted at the gates. "I know you +liked the library and that will please Uncle Dick. You must come +when he's at home and he'll show you all his special treasures." + +Win went on with a happy face. That meant he would certainly have +another opportunity to browse in that fascinating old book-room, +and perhaps become so well acquainted with the Manor family that +he could share his puzzle with somebody who would be equally +interested in finding out what it meant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + + +Fran's "happiest day" soon dawned, for not long after the Orgueil +picnic, she and Edith were walking down one of Jersey's lovely +lanes. Enclosed by high ivy-covered earthen banks, it ran, a +straight white road between green walls, and so narrow that at +regular intervals, little bays were provided that carriages might +pass. Evergreen oaks, often growing from the banks themselves, and +drooping vines made the lane a bower of beauty even on a December +afternoon. The girls had stopped to admire the old Norman gateway +leading to Vinchelez Manor, when suddenly around a corner, bounced +the beach dog. Close behind came Constance Lisle and Maxfield +Hamilton. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORMAN GATEWAY LEADING TO VINCHELEZ MANOR] + +"We've been to call on your respective mother and sister," +declared Connie, "and were desolated not to find the little ladies. +What luck to meet you! Max, you don't need an introduction, do +you, after playing Lord Lochinvar with both girlsat once?" + +At this sweeping characterization, they all laughed and walked +along together, Tylo galloping ahead or falling behind as his +sweet will led. + +"I'm giving a treat to the Sunday-school children after +Christmas," Connie confided, as at the end of a brisk walk, they +came to the parting of the ways. "I should like you girls, if you +will, to help me with the kiddies. The brothers are invited too, +if they would fancy it." + +"Win would like to help," Frances said quickly, her face lighted +with pleasure at this request. "He's very good at things like +that, but Roger's only twelve, you know." + +"Oh, Roger can hand buns," said Connie at once. "No harm if he +does tread on a few. I shall count on you then next week Thursday, +three days after Christmas. Take care not to stir abroad on +Christmas eve for that's when the Jersey witches hold their +meeting at the rock up by St. Clement's." + +She waved a laughing adieu and the girls went back to Rose Villa, +bubbling over with pleasure and anticipation. + +It was fortunate for Frances that she did have this expectation of +a visit to the Manor to buoy her spirits, for the season scarcely +seemed Christmas. Warm weather and plentiful flowers did not +appeal to one accustomed to the holiday in wintry Boston, but not +the weather alone disturbed Fran. For some foolish reason she +disliked intensely the differences of celebration that marked this +holiday in another land. Her state of mind both worried and +distressed Mrs. Thayne. + +"Why, little daughter, don't you see the fun of having Christmas +under strange conditions?" she asked one evening, when she went to +investigate a sound of woe from Fran's room. + +"No, I don't see any fun in it," replied Frances stubbornly. "I +could stand Thanksgiving, even though I had to go to school, +because Miss Estelle knew it was an important day to us and had a +turkey for dinner and put little American flags around. But +Christmas here in St. Aubin's, without Father, is too impossible." + +Mrs. Thayne was silent for a moment. Then she sat down on the bed +and took Frances in her arms. + +"Listen, now," she said. "I want you to think about somebody else +for a moment. There's Edith. Just remember how sad this season +must be for her and Estelle. Yet Estelle goes about with a smiling +face that gives me a heartache because her eyes are so pitiful. +She's planning hard to make things pleasant for us and to have it +seem Christmas to Edith. I know some of her plans, Fran. Then, +even if Father isn't with us, we know he is well and that it is +only a question of time before the _Philadelphia_ is where we can +be nearer. Win is always self-controlled and naturally he and +Roger don't miss the home conditions as you do, but their +enjoyment is going to depend largely upon their sister. Why, Fran, +you usually like new experiences and here they are looming thick +and fast." + +"That's just the trouble," sobbed Fran. "I don't want them all +piled on top of Christmas. I want to be with Grandmother and the +cousins. I can't believe it is Christmas when it's so green and so +hot." + +"Many nice things are going to happen," her mother went on. "Just +think what fun you and Edith will have helping Miss Connie with +her school treat. You are going to find that very English." + +Frances smiled. "Oh, I won't be a pig, Mother," she said at last. +"Miss Connie is a dear and of course we must make the boys have a +nice time." + +"The climate agrees so well with Win that I am very thankful to +spend Christmas here," replied Mrs. Thayne. "To-morrow, Nurse is +going into town to the French market and I think you will like to +go with her." + +Win and Edith joined the marketing expedition next morning and +even Frances was impressed with the holiday spirit overhanging the +place. They left Nurse carefully inspecting fat geese in a +poulterer's stall and started to explore. + +Any number of plump chickens and ducks hung about, together with +little pigs decorated by blue rosettes on their ears, a touch that +struck Win as extremely funny. In the vegetable market were heaped +huge piles of potatoes, scrubbed till their pink skins shone, +great ropes of red onions braided together by their dried tops, +turnips, artichokes, garlic, winter squashes, white and purple +cabbages, celery and egg plant and many varieties of greens and +early vegetables. The stalls themselves were prettily arranged and +fragrant with nice smells but their keepers were the great +attraction. Many were in charge of old women dressed in white +peasant caps and clean starched aprons above full wool skirts and +wooden sabots. Little tow-headed grandchildren, comical replicas +in miniature, smiled shyly or dropped bobbing curtsys as the girls +stopped to speak. + +Fruit stalls proved even more fascinating with the hothouse +grapes, red, white, and dark purple, showing a hazy bloom. Fresh +figs and dates abounded, alternating with baskets of Italian +chestnuts and oranges, forty for a shilling. Every stall seemed to +have vied in decorations with its neighbor, being bowers of myrtle +and laurestinus. One sported a shield showing three leopards in +daffodils against a green background. + +"Look at the English coat of arms," said Frances, catching sight +of it. + +"That's not English," said Edith. "Those are the leopards of +Jersey, the old Norman insignia." + +"I can't understand," observed Frances as they sauntered on, "why, +when Jersey belongs to England, it has a different coat of arms +and government and everything." + +"Because the islands are all little self-governing communities," +supplied Win. "It's a privilege they have always had, and even +England wouldn't dare take it from them now. Jersey is desperately +jealous of Guernsey. They say that even a Jersey toad will die if +it is taken to Guernsey." + +"Neither will Guernsey flowers blossom here," Edith added. "Oh, +there's Miss Connie!" + +The little lady of Laurel Manor was standing before one of the +flower-stalls, chatting in French with a very clean, rosy-cheeked +old woman in a white cap. Behind Constance stood a servant +carrying a basket and as the girls watched she purchased an +enormous bunch of daffodils, a sheaf of calla lilies, and a +quantity of narcissus. + +"Isn't she sweet in that soft green suit," commented Edith +admiringly. + +Turning from the stall, Connie saw and hailed them. "Have you seen +the fish-market?" she asked after greeting them gayly. "Oh, you +must not miss that. I always go there." + +She led them past a long bench where sat several nice white-capped +old women beside huge baskets of spotlessly washed eggs or round +rolls of fresh, unsalted butter wrapped in cool green cabbage +leaves. Some of them nodded and smiled and once Connie stopped to +ask after a sick child. Everybody spoke in French and seemed most +kind and cordial. + +Arrived at the fish-market, conger eels as big as Win's wrist, and +four or five feet long, crabs two feet across the shells, lobsters +blue rather than green, enormous scallops, huge stacks of oysters, +cockles and snails, the so-called winkles, greeted the astonished +eyes of the young people. In other directions were heaped piles of +smelts, plaice and unknown fish. + +"These are what I dote on," said Constance, calling their +attention to piles of tiny crabs, neatly tied by the claws into +bunches. Most were alive, but owing to the fact that all chose to +walk in different directions, the bunches remained fairly +stationary. One might purchase two, four, six or a dozen, +according to the size of one's appetite. + +"I'm so glad we met," said Connie, when in addition they had made +the round of the flower market and exclaimed over its treasures of +color and fragrance. "I thought of you this morning and wondered +if you young people wouldn't like to help decorate the church. +There are never too many helpers and we have ordered such lovely +greens and flowers. Several of us are to be at the church at two +this afternoon and you'll be very welcome if you care to come. +It's pretty work and we always have a nice time." + +"Indeed, we should like to help," said Frances promptly. "Is it +Mr. Angus's church at St. Aubin's?" + +"No, the one I mean is a tiny stone church not far beyond the +Manor. Just take the highroad inland from the village and turn +once to the left," + +"Oh, I know," said Win quickly. "It stands almost on the shore." + +"That's it," said Connie. "I'll expect you then." + +Win declared himself quite equal to helping with the decorations +that afternoon. When they arrived, the beach dog lay in the porch, +thumping his tail by way of welcome, so they knew his mistress was +already within. For a few moments, the three lingered to look at +the quaint French inscriptions on the churchyard stones, but +finally entered rather shyly. They were not given one moment to +feel themselves strangers. + +"I'm delighted to see you," exclaimed Constance, coming down the +aisle with a long vine trailing after. "So glad you came. Rose," +she called to a pretty young girl working near by, "here are some +helpers for your windows. Oh, you know Rose LeCroix, don't you? +She goes to your school. Win," she added quickly, "won't you come +and help struggle with this tiresome pulpit?" + +Win followed at once, glad to see Max already busy over the +designated task, but Constance sent him to seek a certain wire +frame reputed to exist in the sacristy. Win found himself twining +myrtle wreaths around the pillars of the stone pulpit, yet +stealing constant glances at the interior of the old church. + +Part of it was very ancient, with round Norman pillars and a +rounded vault, speaking of very distant days. Everything save pews +and choir stalls was of granite, its rosy color making the stone +seem warm rather than cold. Vines, holly and flowers heaped about +the interior emphasized by their ephemeral beauty the solemn +enduring majesty of the church itself. Ten or twelve young people +were working more or less steadily to the accompaniment of much +gay conversation. + +"Oh, Max, that's the wrong frame," Constance said suddenly. + +Win turned to see her sorting lilies where she knelt on the +chancel steps. + +"This isn't Easter, ducky," she added. "We want a star, not a +cross." + +Max smiled at Win, an indulgent, rather amused smile, and when the +proper frame had been substituted, came back to the pulpit. + +"Tell me," said Win, indicating the stone vault. "What are those +little pointed things up there?" + +"You mean the limpet shells?" asked Max, looking up. + +"Are they shells?" said Win in amazement. "They looked it, but I +couldn't imagine how shells could be scattered about up there." + +"Some thousand years ago when the original builders quarried this +stone from the Jersey shore, they didn't trouble to scrape off the +limpets that clung to it. Nobody has removed them since; now it +would seem sacrilege to do so." + +"A thousand years!" repeated Win in awe. He stopped work for a +moment to look at the pointed shells on the roof. + +"Does jar a fellow and makes him feel mighty transitory and +insignificant, doesn't it?" commented Max, with a friendly glance +of understanding. "I think there's no place quite like this +church. The Manor lies in its parish and Uncle Dick would know if +a single limpet was knocked off. The only time I ever saw him +really angry was once when some Americans--I'm an American, too, +you know, so I can tell this story--tried to bribe the verger to +scrape one down for them. There was rather a row and Uncle was in +a fine fizz. + +"There's one interesting thing common to all these old churches," +Max went on, seeing that Win appreciated the place. "The island is +divided into twelve parishes. From the church of each there was +originally a road, leading directly to the sea. In feudal times, a +criminal was safe if he took sanctuary in the church and by the +old custom, after he had abjured his crime, he could go down by +this one road to the shore and leave the island. But if he strayed +never so little aside, he lost the benefit of the sanctuary and +was liable to the law. Just imagine some old robber or cut-throat +marching down his path to the sea, escorted by the churchwardens, +with other men watching his every step, ready to seize him if he +swerved. Some of these sanctuary roads are still the main +highways." + +"I think the island history is so interesting," said Win. "I +suppose it is a fact that Prince Charles did take refuge here?" + +"No doubt of it," Max replied, looking critically at the almost +completed pulpit decorations. "Indeed, there is a story that he +was entertained at Laurel Manor. Ask Uncle about it," he added, +not noticing Win's start of interest. "He's awfully keen on that +legend. I suppose it is very likely true though I don't know that +there is any real proof. There, do you think her ladyship will +approve our efforts? Excuse me,--Connie wants her star put in +place." + +Left alone, Win stood thinking hard. So Prince Charles was reputed +to have visited Laurel Manor! What if that chance letter were the +proof? If so, was there not more in its message than confirmation +of the prince's stay? One thing was certain--he _must_ get +acquainted with Colonel Lisle. + +So many industrious hands soon completed their task. After the gay +workers departed, Connie lingered for a last look. + +"Come and see it to-morrow morning," she said to the three. +"Probably you'll wish to go into town at eleven, but come here for +the early service at six." + +Edith looked doubtful. "Sister planned to go to St. Aubin's," she +said. + +"I couldn't come alone," said Frances, her disappointment showing +in her face. + +"I'll come with you," offered Win so unexpectedly that his sister +frankly stared. + +"Good!" said Constance. "There'll be no music and only candle- +light, but you'll love it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." + +That very evening Fran was forced to admit that a Jersey Christmas +had its compensations. The doors of the back parlor, mysteriously +locked for days, were opened and in the room, gay with holly, +mistletoe, and laurestinus, appeared a most delightful little +Christmas tree, itself rather foreign in appearance since it was a +laurel growing in a big pot. Real English holly concealed the base +and merry tapers twinkled a welcome. + +Estelle had spent much time and thought, coupled with anxious +fears lest these young Americans whose lives seemed so sunny, +might not care for so simple a pleasure. Their appreciation, not +in the least put on for the occasion, quite repaid her. +Inexpensive little gifts adorned the tree, each bearing a number. + +"Draw a slip," commanded Roger, appearing before his mother with a +box. "Take a chance and see what you'll get." + +When all the slips were distributed, Roger as instructed by +Estelle, took a gift at random from the tree and called its +attached number. + +"Who has eight?" he demanded. + +"Here," said Win, giving up his slip in exchange for the tiny +package, and presently laughing heartily over an absurd mechanical +mouse. Ridiculous misfits in the presents made the distribution +all the funnier, and the rejoicing was great when Roger, who +didn't believe in washing his hands without being told to do so, +drew a wee cake of soap. He took it good-naturedly and considered +as an added joke, Estelle's hasty and shocked assurance that it +was not meant especially for him. + +Strange to say, some packages appeared on that tree of which +Estelle was ignorant, conveyed by Roger to the proper persons. +Edith was rendered speechless with joy over several lovely gifts, +and tears filled Estelle's eyes. Nor were Nurse and Annette +forgotten. The Thaynes had certainly lived up to the American +reputation for generosity. + +Then Nurse brought a big bowl filled with darting blue flames. The +courageous shut one or both eyes, stuck in a fearful finger and +extracted a fig or a fat raisin. Egg-nog and roasted Italian +chestnuts completed Estelle's entertainment save for the holiday +dinner of roast beef and plum pudding to follow on the morrow. + +Unexpected by Estelle, her plans were supplemented by a group of +parish school-children, led by the old organist, who came through +the streets, singing Christmas carols: "God save you, merry +gentlemen," "Good King Wenceslaus" and "As Joseph was a-waukin'" + +In fascination Fran lingered on the steps long after the singers +were gone, pleased with her distribution of pennies from her +mother's purse and biscuit provided by Estelle. Far in the +distance she could hear their voices. Yes, after all, an English +Christmas had its points. + +Next morning, Nurse's call seemed incredibly early to Frances, +though she found the whole household awake and exchanging +greetings. Mrs. Thayne decided to accompany Win and Fran, and +Roger alone remained in bed. + +The stars still shone brightly, making it seem the middle of the +night, save for the hurrying groups bound for church, some still +singing carols or hymns. + +"It's like October weather at home, isn't it, Mother?" said +Frances as they walked on through the crisp, clear air. "See, +there are lights in the windows and people leaving lanterns in the +porch." + +The moment she entered, Frances understood what Connie meant by +not missing that service for "anything in the world," and Win felt +it even more keenly, being by nature more impressionable. + +The utter quiet, broken only by a distant wash of waves,--waves +that sometimes broke over the stones in the churchyard,--the +candles in the chancel, throwing into high relief Constance's +Christmas star and touching with light the jonquils banking steps +and altar rail; the dusk in the nave of the church half-revealing +scattered groups of people as they knelt in silence under the +arched vault where clung the limpets dead a thousand years,--all +contributed to the age-old Christmas miracle. + +"I feel as though I'd never realized what Christmas meant before," +thought Win, and somewhat the same feeling came to Frances as her +eyes became accustomed to the gloom and she discerned among the +kneeling figures her fellow-workers of the day before. Half-way +down the nave was the family from the Manor, Constance and Max on +either side of a tall gray-haired gentleman. Fran recognized him +as the one who had spoken to Win that day in the Royal Square. + +Win recognized him also, knew him to be Colonel Lisle and was +quickly reminded of that curious old document, as yet a mystery. +How he hoped Miss Connie's school treat would afford an +opportunity to meet the owner of the Manor and to take some step +toward the solution of that puzzle. + +As the service began, Frances stole a glance at the windows banked +with glossy laurel and holly, over which she and Edith had worked +with Rose LeCroix and her sister Muriel. Just because she had +helped do something for that little church in a foreign land, Fran +experienced a sudden blessed feeling of belonging a bit. A +pleasant glow crept into her heart, a sense of the spirit that +makes the world akin at Christmas. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BUN WORRY + + +"I have helped you very nicely all the morning, Connie, and I hope +you appreciate my goodness. But as for messing about the lawn with +a bun worry in full blast,--thank you, Maxfield is not on. One +doesn't want to let one's self in for everything." + +"Your goodness isn't such as to alarm me," sighed Constance, +casting a worried glance about the Manor green. "You're in no +danger of acquiring saintship. Dad has balked, too. What'll I do +alone?" + +"Being on toast yourself, why do you want to have me there?" said +Max mischievously. "Aren't all the Sunday school mistresses coming +to help and didn't you ask those nice American kiddies?" + +"I did, and that's another reason why I want you," retorted +Connie, flying to adjust to her better satisfaction the basket of +narcissus decorating the chief table. "Max, I don't know where to +have you. Since you came from the States, I can't make out whether +you are English or American. Here you are shying either at an +English school treat or at some nice American children. Which is +it?" + +"Neither, I think," Max replied after a survey of the close- +clipped lawn, boasting that velvety turf which only centuries of +care can perfect. Great groups of laurel proudly proclaimed the +right of the Manor to its name; carefully trimmed hedges of yew +and box protected borders already gay with spring flowers, and +beyond the grounds shimmered the sea. Max's glance was one of +affection, for this was the scene of many happy boyhood days. + +"I think I'd shy just as quickly at an American tea-fight," he +said at length. "As for being neither English nor American, I love +both countries. I would certainly be loyal to my own, but I would +also take up arms for England, if the time ever came that she +needed me and the two duties didn't conflict." + +"You're a duck," said Constance promptly. "Come, take up arms and +carry a basket of buns for me this afternoon." + +"Too many petticoats coming," said Max. "I'm afraid of those +freaks from the rectory. But I'll agree to furnish a substitute +who will more than take my place. The kiddies will be thrilled to +a peanut. Come now, let me off?" + +"I suppose so," agreed Constance. "Don't bother about letting me +down softly. Trot off and do anything you think you have to do. +Here are the Marque children already. And there come the Thaynes." + +"I will perform a vanishing act," said Max quickly. "Connie, I +really am booked for an hour with Uncle Dick, but I'll send that +substitute. Watch for him." + +Constance looked after him suspiciously, but Max was already half +across the sunken garden, whistling to Tylo as he went. + +"Are we too early, Miss Connie?" asked Frances as they came up. + +"Just on the dot," replied Connie, greeting them all. "The +children are arriving. We will play games first and then have tea. +Excuse me, please, while I go and speak to the Reverend Fred." + +Constance departed to greet the curate thus disrespectfully +designated, a youthful individual of rather prepossessing +appearance. Just behind him appeared Rose and Muriel LeCroix and +other girls whom Frances knew at school. + +Soon the children came thick and fast, shy youngsters propelled by +older brothers and sisters, independent groups, a few babies in +arms, a scattering of older people. + +Two white-draped tables by the yew hedge were the target for the +children's eyes as they wondered what those linen-covered baskets +concealed. There would be tea of course, buns in plenty, possibly +cake. + +Presently the children, poked and pulled into line were started +playing London Bridge, two of the biggest girls forming the +bridge. + +For a moment Frances stood apart, watching the marching, shouting +youngsters, scrubbed till they shone, clothed in clean though +often clumsy garments and heavy shoes. No great poverty was +indicated by their apparel, and some, evidently of French origin, +were dressed with real taste and daintiness. These were also +remarkable for a more vivacious appearance than the stolid little +Anglo-Saxons. Some few were of striking beauty. + +As one game succeeded another, the children grew less stiff and +self-conscious. The Reverend Fred was joining in the sport with +conscientious zeal, as were his two sisters and Edith and Miss +Connie. Fran caught the contagion and found herself flying about +the Manor lawn, tying a handkerchief over one child's eyes to lead +in Blindman's Buff, helping another group play King of the Castle, +finally organizing a game of Drop the Handkerchief. + +With amused surprise she saw Roger actually helping Muriel LeCroix +with a number of the smallest children, and this fact so impressed +Frances that she failed to note Win's absence. + +Her brother was not far away. Had Frances been nearer the opening +in the hedge, leading into the sunken garden in its season full of +roses, she might have seen an interesting picture, for with great +glee, Win was helping prepare for appearance Max's promised +substitute. + +Down in the rose-garden, where an old sundial marked "only the +sunny hours," the afternoon shadows grew long. The older people, +somewhat exhausted by strenuous play, seated the children in a big +circle ready for tea. From the Manor emerged Yvonne, Pierre, and +Paget, Constance's old nurse, armed with shiny copper cans, to +fill cups for distribution. + +Frances seized a basket of buns and for a time was so occupied +with playing Lady Bountiful to a host of little hands, now rather +grimy, that it seemed quite natural to be sharing in this unusual +festivity. But as she was hurrying back to the table to refill her +empty basket, she met Edith on a similar errand. Suddenly it +struck her as very odd that she should be helping. + +"This is the funniest affair I ever saw," she confided merrily. + +"Why?" asked the puzzled Edith, lifting grave eyes to look at her. +"Don't you give the Sunday school children treats in America?" + +"Oh, yes," admitted Frances, "but we'd never fill them up on weak +tea and buns. They'd expect ice-cream and cake." + +Edith looked much shocked. "Ices are very dear," she remarked, +"and not fitting for these children. Would you really serve ices +in winter?" she asked incredulously. + +"On the very coldest day of the year," asserted Frances +emphatically. "Oh, America is so _different_, Edith! Why there's +scarcely a town so tiny that you can't buy ice-cream any time of +the day or any time of year." + +"It must indeed be different," Edith agreed. Basket refilled, she +returned to her charges. + +For a minute Frances lingered, looking around at the circle of +hilarious children, each with a mug, more or less precariously +clasped, each stuffing big plummy buns; looked at the older people +so anxiously attending to them. Yes, it was very different, very +English, but also very interesting. + +As Frances passed the entrance to the sunken garden, her basket +filled this time by solid-looking pieces of cake, she heard her +name. + +"Fran," came Win's voice, "call Tylo. Get him to come out on the +lawn." + +Frances called. She could see no one in the garden, only hear +amused voices trying to induce Tylo to answer the summons. + +"He won't start," said Win again. "Ask Miss Connie to whistle for +him, Fran." + +On receiving Fran's message, Constance looked puzzled. + +"I'd as soon Tylo would stop away," she said. "The kiddies may not +fancy him begging for their cake. Still, I'll call." + +At the summons from his mistress, Tylo instantly came, causing a +sudden silence among the chattering children, silence succeeded by +wild shrieks of pleasure. + +The beach dog emerged from the garden wearing a wreath of roses +around his neck, with an open pink silk parasol fastened to his +collar and tipped at a fashionable and coquettish angle over his +head and holding firmly in his mouth the handle of a basket filled +with as varied an assortment of English "sweets" as Max could +secure in his hasty gallop into St. Helier's. + +Connie, too, gave an exclamation of laughter. "Oh, look at my best +Paris brelly!" she groaned. "Max stole that. Yvonne never gave it +to him." + +Fully conscious that he held the center of the stage, Tylo +advanced, waving his tail and casting amiable glances upon the +children as they came crowding around, buns and cake forgotten. He +seemed perfectly to understand what was expected and held the +basket until the last sugar plum was secured by little searching +hands, then employed to caress the bearer. Max's substitute +certainly scored the greatest hit of the Manor "bun worry." + +From their seclusion in the rose-garden, the two conspirators +watched Tylo's successful appearance. + +"Let's come in and wash," said Max, seeing that no further +responsibility remained to them. "Or are you keen on a bun worry? +I like them, like them awfully, you know, but somehow, I'm afraid +Uncle Dick may be lonely. I feel it's my duty to look him up." + +Win would have seen through this flimsy excuse without the +betrayal of Max's merry eyes, but the proposal chanced to be what +he most wished to do. Very gladly he followed Max through the +gardens to a side entrance to the house, where they went up to +Max's room, a high oak-paneled chamber that would have been sombre +were it not for three sunny mullioned casements overlooking the +sea. Cases crowded with books stood by the fireplace, fishing +rods, cricket bats and oars decorated the walls. + +"Those aren't mine," said Max, noticing Win's glance as he stood +drying his hands; "only the skiis and racquets. This was Richard's +room, Uncle Dick's only son. He was a subaltern in the British +army, just twenty when he was killed in the charge on Majuba Hill. +They have always given me his room at the Manor. I fancy Uncle +liked to have it occupied by a boy again." + +"Colonel Lisle himself must have done some fighting," observed +Win. "How did he lose his arm?" + +"For years he was an officer in India. He lost his arm defending +the Khyber Pass against the Afghans." + +Max took his guest down the main staircase to the great entrance +hall, with its high raftered roof, and stone floor half covered by +valuable Oriental rugs. Suits of shining armor lent glints of +light; curious spears, ancient swords and firearms, many of them +very old, were fastened on walls dark with age. Win stopped to +look at the carved mantel over the great fireplace, sporting the +leopards of Jersey, the Lisle coat of arms and the date 1509. + +"Imagine living in a house built all those centuries ago," he +sighed. "This is older than the library, isn't it?" + +"Somewhat," replied Max. "The wing here is the oldest part of the +house. Let's come to Uncle's study. I fancy he'll be there." + +Colonel Lisle was lounging near the fire, but appeared very +willing to put aside his book and welcome the two. + +"And have you had tea, Uncle?" Max inquired. "We haven't, and I +could do nicely with a cup." + +"With all those gallons of tea on the lawn, it is a pity if an +able-bodied young gentleman couldn't secure one cup," said the +Colonel smiling. "Now you mention it, I believe I have had none +either. Ring the bell by all means and order it. I was absorbed in +verifying some points of old Norman law," he added to Win. "Our +islands have an interesting history." + +"Win is pleased that Prince Charles has left his mark on Jersey," +observed Max, giving the bell-pull a vigorous twitch. "Tell him, +Uncle, about his stopping here." + +"Such is the legend handed down from father to son," replied the +Colonel. "The story goes that the prince was brought to the Manor +immediately after landing in Jersey. Just where he landed and how +he was conveyed here is not known, but his stay was short. The +owner of the Manor at that date, another Richard Lisle,--he whose +portrait hangs in the library,--was an ardent Royalist who would +have risked everything to serve his prince. Authorities agree that +Charles spent the period of his stay in one of the castles, some +say Orgueil, others Elizabeth. Probably the Manor roof sheltered +him but for a few hours. I should very much like to see the legend +of his stop in this house authenticated beyond question. Max tells +me you are fond of books," the speaker continued. "After tea, I +will show you some of our special treasures." + +Win's face, already alight with interest, grew even more responsive +to this offer, yet as the tea came, he felt unaccountably stupid +and idiotic. Utter disgust with himself filled his mind to think he +couldn't get to the point then and there of telling his kind host +about that letter he had discovered. + +Max noticed that Win was ill at ease, attributed it to shyness or +perhaps awe of the Colonel, who was, as Max put it, "a bit +impressive till a fellow knew him," and tried to help matters by +talking nonsense that amazed Win and evidently amused the Colonel. +Gradually, as he saw that Max was not in the least afraid of the +dignified owner of the Manor, Win began to feel less tongue-tied. + +Presently came a sound of gay voices, a tap at the door and +Constance, the girls, and Roger entered. + +"The tea-party is gone and in its place is peace," said Connie. +"Daddy dear, I want you to meet Frances and Edith. And this is +Roger. Max, why didn't you have tea with us and the kiddies?" + +"Because of buns," said Max. "My bun-eating days are past." + +"Not so long past!" retorted Constance with a mischievous smile. +"Not so many years ago that I bribed you with a penny bun to steal +a tooth for me out of a skull in the Capuchin church! He did it, +too," she added to the girls, laughing delightedly at this charge. +"You haven't been in Rome? The Capuchin monks have a church there +with some holy earth brought from Jerusalem. Years ago,--they +don't do it now, because modern sanitary laws have invaded Rome,-- +the monks who died were buried in this earth. Only of course as +the centuries passed, there wasn't room for them all, so the monks +longest buried had to get up and give place to others. Their bones +were arranged in nice neat patterns on the walls, and the skulls +heaped in piles. It was a tooth from one of these skulls that I +fancied. Max ate the bun and stole the tooth for me, but Daddy +wouldn't let me keep it and made Max put it back." + +"Oh, how could you ever want such a thing, Miss Connie!" exclaimed +Edith, shuddering with horror. + +"I wonder, why did I?" said Constance reflectively. "It certainly +doesn't appeal to me now. Mother was shocked; she disinfected +everything that tooth had touched. Are you through tea, Daddy? I +want to take the girls into the library." + +Once again in the old book-room, Win recovered his self-possession +in admiration of its treasures of illuminated missal and +manuscript. His interest pleased his host, who ended by cordially +inviting the boy to visit the Manor library whenever and as often +as he chose to come. Win's genuine delight over this permission +touched the Colonel, who from his own physical handicap, guessed +that life was not always smooth for Win. + +Win's pleasure arose not merely from the enjoyment of the library +itself but because he would surely grow better acquainted with the +Manor family and have a more favorable opportunity to show his +discovery in the old Psalter. + +He was very quiet on the way home and scarcely spoke while Fran +was giving her mother a graphic account of the afternoon. Win +hardly knew she was talking until his attention was caught by a +dramatic remark. + +"Miss Connie told us something so exciting, Mother," Fran was +saying. "Roger asked her if there was a ghost. He blurted it right +out and I was quite mortified, because you know if they did have +one and were sensitive, it would have seemed impolite. But Miss +Connie said right away that the Manor had all modern improvements, +including a well-behaved and most desirable ghost. Then she and +Mr. Max looked at each other and laughed. She said the haunted +room was above the library and promised to give us a chance to +investigate some day. I wanted dreadfully to ask about secret +stairs,--you remember what that boy at Orgueil said--but perhaps +when we are looking for the ghost there will be a chance to speak +of the stairs." + +"Indeed, you've had a most interesting afternoon," agreed Mrs. +Thayne, "the discovery of a haunted room at the Manor being not +the least." + +"And what have you done all by yourself, _poor_ Mother?" said +Frances, suddenly sympathetic and affectionate. + +"Part of the afternoon I was out and since then I have been +talking with Estelle. If she only felt she could, it would be so +much better for her to go more among people, for the constant +effort to be brave when she is so much alone, is very wearing. She +seems so pathetically grateful that we chanced to come to her this +winter instead of other less congenial lodgers. Sometime I hope +she will speak frankly of just how they are situated and whether +she has plans beyond this season, for I might be able to further +them. And I hope, too, I shall succeed in placing the something +familiar that always strikes me in Estelle. Have you ever noticed +it, Fran? To my surprise, Win said the other day that Estelle +reminded him of some one." + +"No," said Fran. "I never noticed it. But I might ask Edith +whether they have any relatives in the United States." + +"That could do no harm," assented Mrs. Thayne thoughtfully. "Since +Win spoke of it also, the resemblance must be to some one we know +over there." + +Frances and her mother went away but Win sat thinking for some +moments. The mention of secret stairs recalled to him, though he +could not say why, that odd dream twice experienced since he came +to Jersey, of a search in a narrow unfamiliar passage, with +unknown companions, for something unspecified. + +With a start he finally roused himself and went upstairs. Before +going to bed he read again the copy of Richard Lisle's letter. + +"There's more to this than just the coming of the prince," he +thought. "That's a fact, but if that 'safe place' can be +discovered, I'll warrant we shall find the Spanish Chest and +whatever 'relicks' Richard and his 'Sonne' put into it." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE MANOR CAVE + + +A few days after the school treat, Maxfield Hamilton was +sauntering slowly across the Manor grounds. The January sky above +shone blue as in a New England June, gay crocuses starred the +short green grass, snowdrops and bluebells were already budded. +From heights unknown floated the song of a skylark; in the holly +hedge sat an English robin. + +Max heard the skylark but did not notice the robin as he stopped +at the gates to look down to the sea, stretching to shining +horizons under the afternoon sun. His face was thoughtful and +rather sober. + +The robin gave a little cheep and Max turned to discover the bird +almost at his elbow, a tiny scrap of olive feathers and bright red +breast, considering him with soft wise eyes, head on one side. + +"Hello, old chap," Max remarked. "What do _you_ think of this +world?" + +From the tone, the robin might have inferred that the speaker's +opinion was anything but favorable. Considering him for a second, +he concluded him inoffensive and began to peck at the glowing +holly berries. + +Max wandered slowly through the gates and across the Manorhold to +the shore, distant at this point about a quarter of a mile. Two or +three stone cottages with picturesque straw-thatched roofs lay +near the cliffs, property of the Manor and usually occupied by +employees. + +With the thoughtful expression still on his face, Max passed the +cottages to stop on the edge of the cliffs already showing yellow +with gorse. Should the tide serve, he had it in mind to revisit a +haunt of his boyhood. A moment's scrutiny showed him right in +thinking that the tide was on the ebb and he started rapidly down +a rough, rather slippery path. As he rounded an outlying rock he +came full on Roger Thayne. + +Sprawled flat on the sloping cliff, Roger was watching so intently +the doings of a spider that he did not look up until a shadow fell +squarely across the web. + +"That you, Roger?" said Max. "Alone? Where are Win and the girls?" + +"I don't know," replied Roger, flushing uncomfortably. "That is, I +don't know where the girls are." + +"Win's not ill, I hope?" + +"No, he isn't." Roger rolled over to look at his visitor. The +young face wore a pleasant smile and the gray eyes were friendly, +but somehow Roger had a suspicion that Mr. Max wasn't the sort to +approve outright truancy. + +"Win's all right," he added evasively. "He's studying or +something." + +A queer little expression crossed Max's lips. "Then since you have +a holiday,--well-deserved, no doubt,--come on exploring with me." + +Roger was on his feet in a second, the arrow of reproof glancing +off unnoted. "Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"Oh, just down here a few rods. We may have to hold up for the +tide. It won't be low water for some time yet." + +The faint path presently ended in piles of red granite, still wet +from the sea, in places slippery with vraic, as the Jerseymen call +the seaweed used as fertilizer for their land. + +"We shall have to stop a bit," said Max, after a short steep +descent. As he spoke he sat down and began to crush a bit of vraic +between his fingers. + +"This seaweed is one of the biggest assets the farmers have," he +said to Roger. "You'll enjoy being here in February when the great +vraic harvest comes. The farmers go down to the shore with carts +and a sort of sickle. At low tide the southern shore is black with +people cutting the seaweed from the rocks. The carts are used to +carry it up beyond tide-mark. Men, women and young people all turn +out and it's one of the sights of the island. The harvest lasts +for several weeks and for the first few days there is a continual +picnic with dancing and all sorts of jollifications." + +"But I've often seen men gathering seaweed on the beach," said +Roger. "It isn't February yet." + +"They are gathering the loose weed that is washed ashore. Any one +may take that between the hours of sunrise and sunset, but he must +stop at sound of the sunset gun. The cutting from the rocks is +regulated by a hallowed custom. In June there's a second harvest +when only the poor people may cut the vraic for a few weeks. After +they have had their turn anybody may cut it till the last of +August." + +As he concluded, Max threw away the seaweed and picked up one of +the abundant black flint pebbles. For some moments he amused +himself by striking sparks from it with the back of a knife blade. + +"I haven't lost the knack," he remarked. "By the way, have you +found any flint knives? They turn up occasionally, though more +often inland than in a place like this. They are relics of the +days when the Druids were in Jersey. You've seen the burial +mounds, haven't you,--the Dolmens?" + +"I have," said Roger briefly. "In Bill Fish's company. Liked the +stones all right enough, but Bill can't talk, you know. He +expounds." + +Max grinned. "Bad Writ, that," he agreed. "Come along. We can get +through now." + +[Illustration: THEY CAME UPON THE LOVELIEST OF LITTLE BEACHES] + +Climbing carefully around a slippery projecting rock, its base yet +submerged, they came upon the loveliest of lovely little beaches, +in shape almost a semi-circle, the water forming the bisector and +the frowning red cliffs the arc. Near the centre of the half- +circle stood two tall pinnacles of red granite. Behind them yawned +an entrance about five feet high and under this Max bent his tall +head. Roger followed and uttered a whistle of pleasure and +amazement. + +They stood in a large cave, floored by fine bright yellow sea +sand, broken irregularly by out-croppings of rose-pink rock, sand +and rock alike wet and glistening. Away to the back of the cave, +Roger saw that the floor rose higher. The roof was iridescent with +green and yellow lichens; pebbles of jasper, cornelian and agate +strewed the sand. + +In the twelve years of his existence, Roger had never seen +anything like this and surprise rendered him inarticulate. + +"Some cave!" he commented at length. "Look, Mr. Max, what are +these?" + +"Oh, haven't you met any sea-anemones? The pools are full of them. +Jolly little beggars." + +Roger was naturally less enthusiastic over the charming water- +gardens than the girls when they chanced upon them, but he was +considerably interested in the numerous and varicolored snails, +their shells bright green or delicate pink, truly entrancing to +pick up and examine. By the time Roger finished a somewhat minute +inspection his companion was out of sight. + +"Hello!" he shouted in some concern. + +"Right-oh!" came a quiet reply. + +Bather abashed by the startling echoes he had evoked, Roger +climbed over fallen rocks to the back of the cave. There the floor +rose sharply, affording a level apparently beyond reach of the +tide, for some tiny land plants had found a lodging, ferns waved +from the crannied vault and there was no sign of any marine +growth. + +"This used to be a favorite resort of mine," said Max, who was +sitting on the high ledge, some five feet wide. Beyond, the cave +ended in a mass of stone and rubble. + +Roger's eyes grew wide. "What a dandy place!" he exclaimed. + +"Not much compared with the Plemont caves," replied his companion. +"You'll probably go there before leaving the island. There are +five or six of them and one has a waterfall dividing it into two +distinct caves. Plemont is the spot where the cable comes in from +England, crawls out of the ocean like a great dripping hoary old +sea-serpent to trail through a cleft to the station on the cliff +above. This is a rat-hole beside those caves." + +"I'll take steps to go there," said Roger earnestly. "Say, does +the water ever come up here?" + +"I don't think so. Even at the spring tides, it would probably not +reach within two feet of this ledge. Only a rip-snorter of a +tempest could endanger goods stored here, or even anybody who +chose this cave to hide in." + +"Some hiding-place," admitted Roger. + +"So I've found it. When I was about your age, I came down here +because I was annoyed with the world in general and stopped +between two tides." + +"Really?" gasped Roger. "Did you get wet?" + +"Not a bit. I'll admit that things seemed spooky when I'd waited +so long that I couldn't get out. I took solid comfort in the ferns +and in a sea pink that had put out a scared little blossom right +where we are sitting. I was shut in the better part of six hours +and time proved a bit slow. I remember coming to the conclusion +that perhaps the people I'd left behind weren't so utterly +unreasonable after all. I fancy it's a rather sure sign that when +you can't rub along with anybody, the trouble isn't altogether +with them." + +Roger looked at him suspiciously but Max's gaze was bent on the +cave entrance, arching over a wonderful view of blue sea. + +"Do you like to live in Paris?" he asked hastily. + +"I'd rather stop in Rome where my father is," Max replied, +suppressing a smile over the sudden change of subject. "But Dad +runs up occasionally. I feel as though I'd be more use in Rome +because there I know everybody who is anybody, you see, and it +would be a help to the Embassy. Dad thinks I may be able to work a +transfer after a year or so. If the Ambassador to Italy remarks to +the State Department at Washington that Maxfield Hamilton seems a +likely young chap with both eyes open and that he wouldn't mind +having him on his staff, why Max may receive a document telling +him to pack his little box and attach his person to the Embassy at +Rome." + +Roger laughed. "Then you don't like Paris?" + +"Oh, yes," said Max thoughtfully. "I've had a jolly time socially. +I can't imagine anybody in my circumstances not enjoying himself. +But it's not where I most want to be. It's up to me to make good +so emphatically that they'll hand me on to Rome with a word in my +favor." + +"I expect they will," said Roger. + +"Not if I don't buckle down," said Max half to himself. "Something +happened last October that gave me a jolt and it has been hard to +stick to work. I came over here for the holidays determined to get +myself in hand again. I think I've succeeded, old chap, so I'd +better go back and dig in. A man mustn't whine, you know, if it +looks jolly final that he isn't going to have everything he wants. +I've wasted time enough. I must go back to Paris now and keep my +mind on my job." + +"I bunked Bill Fish this afternoon," admitted Roger suddenly. + +"No doubt he was a frightful bore," commented Max without showing +the least surprise. "Probably I'd have done the same in your +place. The only disadvantage about shying at disagreeable things +like tutors is that one hardly ever gets rid of them after all. +I'm becoming convinced that the only way to get round a difficulty +is to hit it in the head and walk over its flattened corpse." + +Roger grinned. "Shall I bat Bill Fish?" he asked. + +"Bill Fish might be worse. Don't blame you for feeling him a +freak, but the schools in Jersey are footy affairs. If you want a +fair sample of a school you'd have to try England proper. We've +messed about here long enough. Let's take a swim." + +"Does the cave end here?" asked Roger, looking at the pile of +broken stone beyond the shelf. + +"I suppose so. It's the only one on the Manor lands so Connie and +I liked to come. Uncle Dick wouldn't permit it unless a grown +person was with us to watch the tide. How about a dip? No one can +see us." + +Max left the ridge to saunter toward the entrance, stopping to +investigate more than one pool of anemones. "By the way," he +added, "I wouldn't tell the girls of this cave. They'll be keen on +searching for it afternoons when they are free and you aren't, and +may get into a mess with the tides. Really it's not quite safe." + +[Illustration: PLEMONT IS THE SPOT WHERE THE CABLE COMES IN FROM +ENGLAND] + +"All right," agreed Roger, sliding from the shelf. As he did so, a +sudden current of warm air struck him, quite unlike the rather +damp, salty atmosphere of the cave. His curiosity was sufficiently +aroused to cause him to stop and look back, but Max had already +begun to undress and there seemed no possible place for a sweet +land breeze to find entrance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + + +Max's abrupt departure two days later was a great disappointment +to Win, who admired him greatly and coveted a closer acquaintance. +That he should cut short his stay on the plea of work to be done +seemed reasonable to the others but his going quite upset Win. Nor +was this disappointment lightened by a period of semi-invalidism +when all exertion was difficult and patience very far to seek. Not +for some weeks after Max left was Win able to take advantage of +the Colonel's prized invitation to use the Manor library. + +He made his first visit, fully determined to broach the discovery +of Richard Lisle's letter to either the Colonel or his daughter, +whichever should appear, but Yvonne, who admitted him with a +smiling welcome, reported neither at home. + +Nor did fortune favor his second attempt. The Colonel was in St. +Helier's and Constance entertaining a group of young people on the +lawn. Win dodged these visitors and from the library windows +looked down upon a lively set of tennis. Players and spectators +alike seemed to know one another extremely well. The inference Win +drew was correct, that for some reason, the little lady of the +Manor chose just now to crowd her life with social engagements and +gay festivities. + +Time had been when Win didn't care to watch others play games he +could not share, but Win was learning that every life has its +compensations; when one is debarred from one thing, he is sure to +have another in its place. Without envy Win watched them for a +time before turning to the books. + +His third visit was made on a morning in early February when +walking was rather difficult owing to a penetrating rain. Wintry +weather seemed to have visited the Island, but the cold was +deceptive, for though a heavy coat was acceptable, plenty of +flowers were in blossom, even a number of surprised-looking roses. + +On reaching the Manor, Win was admitted by cordial Yvonne, who at +once conducted him to his sanctuary. The room was empty, but a +cheery fire glowed on the hearth, and on the long bare black oak +table stood an enormous copper bowl full of fresh daffodils, +making a spot of light and beauty in the sombre room. + +Win spent a few moments warming his hands at the fire and +considering thoughtfully the back of the old Psalter in which was +shut Richard Lisle's letter. Perhaps opportunity would favor him +to-day, some chance be provided to show that discovery to either +Miss Connie or her father. + +That its contents referred to Prince Charles was established +beyond doubt by the existing legend of his entertainment at the +Manor, but the letter said much more than that. Only some one +thoroughly familiar with the Manor and its possessions could +interpret further. As the rain beat on the terrace outside, Win +chanced to look up at the portrait near the fireplace, and +instantly recalled that curious dream. + +"I dreamed all that stuff just because I've always been crazy to +go treasure-hunting," he thought, "and because that old Cavalier +was the last thing I saw before I went to sleep. Well, I might go +and read for a while." + +With a glance of admiration at some fine old armor passed on the +way, Win went into the farther room to settle himself on the +comfortable window seat with a fat history of the island of +Jersey. + +Fully an hour passed before the sound of low voices penetrated his +consciousness. Gradually he became aware that two people were now +occupying the seat before the smouldering fire. One was Constance +Lisle, the other some one Win had never seen before, a dark +distinguished-looking young man, evidently of foreign blood. + +Connie was leaning back in the corner of the old settle, her white +dress and the neighboring bowl of daffodils standing out as high +lights in the shadowy surroundings. Her companion, beside her, was +bending slightly forward, his face turned eagerly toward hers. + +Had he wished to listen, Win could not distinguish the low words. +That fact absolved him from the necessity of making his presence +known, for leave he could not without passing through the room. +Presently the young man raised his voice and Win realized that he +was speaking in Italian. + +For the moment, interest in the present dismissed the past. Win +had heard the girls' chatter about their adored Miss Connie and +the romance attributed to her by Mrs. Trott, but boy-like, paid +very little attention to what he considered the foolish fancies of +sentimental kids. Now he was startled into sudden interest. + +That stranger must be Miss Connie's Italian prince. Very handsome +and very much of a gentleman he looked and most earnest their +conversation. Yet even to an inexperienced observer, it was not +that of two happy young people, entering a sunny stretch of life, +but of a boy and girl confronted with some stern and very present +problem. Connie's hands were clasped too tightly, there was a +sense of strain in the poise of her head. Her companion's pose was +one of perplexity and doubt. + +Win remembered what else he had heard of that rumored engagement, +not much to be sure, save that strong pressure was being put upon +the last of the Santo-Pontes in order to secure the estates and +title of a great Roman house to the church of his ancestors. + +Presently Win realized that he had no right even to look on. He +turned his face to the storm and again buried himself in his old +volume. + +A long time later he heard his name and Constance strolled alone +through the arch from the other room. She looked pale and tired +but otherwise composed. + +"I didn't know you were here, Win," she said as she came to his +chosen window. + +"I've been stuck in this book for ages. Miss Connie, I've found +the most interesting thing ever." + +"What is it?" Connie inquired listlessly, wondering, but not +particularly caring whether Win knew of her interview with Louis +di Santo-Ponte. She looked sweet and wistful as she stood leaning +against the window seat, her mind down in the town where the boat +for St. Malo was getting up steam. "Tell me about it, Win," she +added, recalling her wandering thoughts. She liked Win as she +liked most young people. + +"Come and see," said Win, replacing his history in its case. +Connie accompanied him to the fireplace in the main room. + +"Did you ever look at that book?" he inquired, indicating the worn +old Psalter. + +"There are several thousand books here that I never looked at," +said Connie promptly. "Max is the one who browses in this part of +the library. Ah, he's been here lately, reading his horrid old +German philosophers." With an air of disgust she pointed to the +blue-bound modern volumes. + +"What is this book that interests you so much!" she went on, +taking It from the shelf. "Oh, an old copy of the Psalms. Look at +its odd type." + +"It isn't the book that interests me," said Win, "but this paper. +I found it accidentally. Do read it, Miss Connie, and see what you +make of it." + +After her first perusal, Constance grew as excited as Win. With +the deliberate purpose of putting her troubles from her mind, she +concentrated her attention on this discovery. + +"The prince of course refers to Charles, because it is an +historical fact that he took refuge in Jersey," began Win. + +"Yes, and there's the legend that he was entertained here at the +Manor," exclaimed Connie. "Why Dad will be crazy about this, for +it proves that story!" + +"I hoped he'd be pleased," said Win happily. + +"Oh, he will!" replied Connie. "Charles was just a boy, only +sixteen, at the time he fled from England." + +"Ever since I saw two letters in the British Museum, Charles the +Second has seemed a very real person to me," said Win smiling. "Do +you know them, Miss Connie? One is from Queen Henrietta Maria to +Prince Charles, expressing great regret that the prince has +refused to take the 'physick' prescribed for him, and hoping that +he will consent to do so on the following day, for if he didn't +she should be obliged to come to him and she trusted he would not +give her that 'paine.' She had also requested the Duke of +Newcastle to report to her whether he took it or not and so she +'rested.' + +"But what I liked best," Win went on, "was the letter Prince +Charles wrote. He evidently didn't reply to his mother, but sent a +note to the Duke of Newcastle in which he flatly refused to take +the 'physick' and advised the Duke not to take any either!" + +Connie laughed. "That does seem a touch of real boy nature, +doesn't it? But I'm afraid Prince Charles was rather a rotten +young cub, not worth the affection expended on him nor the good +lives laid down in his cause. The Richard Lisle who wrote this +letter was my great-great--oh, I don't know how many times +removed--grandfather! It's plain that Prince Charles came here to +the Manor, was fed and provided with a change, and escorted to the +castle, probably Orgueil. But what the 'relicks' are and what the +'safe place,' I can't tell. Nor do I know what is meant by the +Spanish chest. If there was anything of that description around +the Manor I'd jolly well know it." + +"Would Colonel Lisle know?" asked Win eagerly. + +"I wonder, will he?" mused Connie after a pause spent in close +scrutiny of the document. "We'll ask. Anyway, he'll be awfully +interested because here it is in black and white that Prince +Charles was brought to the Manor. Win, it's storming desperately +and I'm bored to death. I'm going to send Pierre to St. Aubin's to +tell your mother that you won't be back for luncheon. We'll show +Dad your find and bring our united minds to bear on the problem." + +Win was sorely tempted. The walk through the storm had taxed his +strength. Should he struggle back, the chances were that he would +be too tired for any lessons after his arrival. + +"Your tutor won't matter, will he?" asked Connie. "You're not +expected to be so regular as Roger." + +Wingate grinned. "I was thinking how angry Roger will be if he +finds himself the sole object of Bill Fish's attention this +afternoon. Thank you, Miss Connie. I want mightily to stay. I +ought not to have come up here today when it was storming, but +since I'm here the wisest thing is to wait for a time. And I'm +wild to know what your father thinks of this paper. I will send a +note to Mother if I may." + +"I'll write, too," said Constance, "and I shall tell her that +we'll keep you all night if the rain continues. I need somebody to +play with me, Win. I'm jolly glad you did brave the storm." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + + +Roger's state of mind at finding himself destined to be the sole +object of Bill Fish's ministrations that afternoon was laughable. +He vowed to Frances that he also would take French leave and +bitterly denounced Win for absconding, declaring it a "put up +job." + +"Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't come," consoled Frances. "The storm has +really grown much worse since morning." + +"Indeed he will," said Roger darkly. "Fishes like water. I only +hope he'll wipe his fins when he comes in. The last rainy day he +dripped all over the room. I was 'most drowned before we finished. +But it was mean and sneaky of Win to go up to the Manor this +morning. He might have known that I wanted help with my +arithmetic." + +"Perhaps I can help," offered Frances. Luncheon just over, the +unwelcome Mr. Fisher was due in twenty minutes. + +"Oh, you may try," conceded Roger ungraciously. "But if Win stays +up there all night, I'll pay him out." + +"Mother thinks from Miss Connie's note that they were doing +something very interesting and she really wanted him," Fran said +lazily, her face pressed against the pane. "How angry and gray the +water looks." + +"I've a great mind to bunk," said Roger gloomily. "It's not fair +for me to work alone all the afternoon." + +"Edith and I have been at school all the morning," said the peace- +making Frances. "And Win does work when he can; he never really +shirks, Roger." + +"He _likes_ to study," grumbled Roger. "I don't." + +"There are so many things you can do that Win can't," reminded his +sister. + +"Don't preach," retorted Roger, but Fran's comment recalled to his +mind the conversation with Max in the cave. Boy-like, Roger would +not admit even to himself any repentance for his short-comings on +that occasion, but the recollection served to smooth his present +ruffled feelings. Win had worked alone with Bill Fish all that +afternoon and Roger remembered most distinctly how Mr. Max looked +when he said he was going back to Paris and waste no more time. + +"Win is having fun, I'm sure," said Fran at length. "Miss Connie +promised Edith and me that we shall come up and sleep in the +haunted room some night if we like." + +"What's it haunted by?" demanded Roger. + +"She wouldn't tell us. Says if we know, we'll be sure to see +things. But she is going to have a bed put up for herself and come +in with us, so I'm sure it's nothing very dreadful. I'm so glad we +came to Jersey just so we could know Miss Connie." + +"Some girl," admitted Roger. "But she can't hold a candle to Mr. +Max. He's a corker." + +"He is nice," Frances agreed. "But show me your arithmetic. And +would you like me to sit in the room? Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't be +so fierce if I am there." + +"I would not," was her brother's concise reply. "He isn't fierce +either; he's merely flappy. I tell you he _is_ a fish. He looks +exactly like one of those flatfish we catch down in Maine. Eyes +both on one side." + +Nothing more unlike the tall, angular Scotch tutor could possibly +have been mentioned, but Fran suppressed a laugh as she inspected +Roger's problems in mathematics. + +"Me doing arithmetic!" he groaned. "And Win having the time of his +life at the Manor!" + +If not exactly experiencing such bliss, Win was thoroughly +enjoying himself. After luncheon in the charming old Manor dining- +room with a cheerful fire dispelling all gloom caused by the rain +on the windows, the three adjourned to Colonel Lisle's study, +where Win placed upon the table his discovery. The Colonel read it +with great interest. + +"Well, that is a valuable document, Win," he admitted. "It is +evidently a page from a letter that Richard Lisle, fourth, wrote +to some one and never sent. I am the ninth Richard, so you see how +far back that was. Of course it refers to the Prince of Wales, +afterwards Charles II of England. It is a curious fact in the +history of the Channel Islands that Guernsey sided with the +Parliament in its dispute with the king, while Jersey remained +royalist to the core. I am under great obligations to you for +discovering this paper, for it proves beyond doubt the legend that +I have always wished to see substantiated, that Prince Charles +came to Laurel Manor." + +"Don't you make out, Daddy, that they gave him other clothes and +took him to the castle?" asked his daughter. + +"Without doubt. Orgueil, or possibly Castle Elizabeth. I believe +that the consensus of opinion now favors Elizabeth as having been +the prince's refuge." + +"What do you make of the rest of it, sir?" asked Win, who was +still beaming with happiness over the Colonel's appreciation. "It +says in so many words that they put something in a chest and hid +it until the trouble was over." + +"That much is plain," replied his host thoughtfully. The paper was +spread upon his desk and the young people sat on either side. +Win's attention was distracted for a moment by his view of the +Colonel's distinguished face, the face of an high-bred English +gentleman. With all the impetuosity of his American birth and +training, Win felt the charm of this gentleman of other race and +another generation. He admired the Colonel's complete repose, his +courteous ways and softly modulated voice. They were not in the +least effeminate and the empty sleeve and the little bronze +Victoria cross bore witness that the Colonel was a very gallant +officer. + +"I think," began Constance, "that Great-great-grandfather Dick and +his 'Sonne' put the prince's clothes and perhaps some other things +in a chest and hid them. Dad, did you ever know of anything +answering to the description of 'ye Spanish chest'?" + +The Colonel thoughtfully smoothed his gray mustache. "There is the +box that came from the Armada," he remarked. "But that cannot be +the one referred to, since that belonged to your mother, my dear, +and comes from her side of the house." + +"Mummy was Irish," Connie explained to Win. "I'll show you that +box. It really was washed up on the coast of Ireland and has been +in her family for centuries. No, of course, it couldn't be that." + +"A Spanish chest does not necessarily mean a relic of the Armada," +went on the Colonel. "There might possibly be a box of Spanish +workmanship, but I know of none in the Manor to which that +description could be applied. That big black oak chest in the +upper hall is English. The one in my room is Flemish." + +"Oh, those are both too big, anyway," declared Constance. "Even +men in a hurry wouldn't take a box as big as those to pack a suit +of clothes in. No, it was something that could be easily carried +and concealed. It takes four servants to move those great arks." + +"Then, if there isn't anything in the Manor that answers the +description, don't you believe the chest and the things in it are +still hidden?" Win asked rather shyly, but with keen interest. + +The Colonel smiled kindly. "Sorry to quench your enthusiasm, Win," +he said, "but I doubt it. Prince Charles landed in Jersey in 1646 +if my memory serves. Subtract that date from this year of our +Lord. I'm afraid that chest, whatever it was, has long since +emerged from its hiding-place. According to the document here, it +was concealed only till 'happier times should dawne.' Prince +Charlie came to his own again, you remember. This Richard Lisle +died somewhere where about 1675. He lived to see the Restoration, +so surely he or his son brought to light again the things that +there was no longer reason to conceal." + +"But, Daddy," said Constance quickly, noticing the look of +disappointment on Win's expressive face. "People forget. Let's +think of all the possibilities. It says some place outside the +walls. And they needed a lantern." + +"There is the cave, daughter, at the edge of the Manor estates, +but you know all about that. Why, I know that cave myself, I was +going to say, every grain of sand in it." + +"That's true," admitted Connie. "And of course in all the +centuries, numbers of people have been there." + +"Considering the brisk trade in smuggling that was done in Jersey +during the 1700's, I think the chances of finding anything in the +Manor cave are very small," agreed her father. "There is one +thing, though, we might look at." + +As he spoke, he rose and produced his keys. Swinging back a +portrait on hinges, he disclosed a small safe built into the wall. +Win was silent through interest in this novel way of concealing a +strong-box, but Constance jumped up. + +"What are you looking for. Daddy? Oh, the plans of the Manor." + +"You see," said the Colonel to Win as he sat clown again, a +discolored roll of papers in his hand, "the original Manor house +has been added to from time to time. Let us see what it comprised +in the days when Richard Lisle read his Psalter and wrote his +letter. It is possible that something then outside the wall may +now be inside the house." + +"There's a number of queer things about this old place," said +Connie, sharing Win's look of expectation. "Max and I have run a +good many of them to earth, but there may be something yet. +Certainly we never stumbled on any Spanish chest." + +The two young people helped the Colonel spread the plans and +arrange paper-weights to keep them flat. + +"This comprises not only the house itself but the grounds," he +began. "They run as you see to the cliffs of the bay. The cave is +there." + +"I never knew that," said Win. "Is it large?" + +"Nothing like Plemont or even La Grecq," Constance replied. "Those +are the show caves of Jersey. There are many as big as ours. It's +a rather rough walk, Win, and the cave is accessible only at low +tide. I did say something about it once to Edith and Frances, but +they didn't understand, and after they were caught by the tide, I +thought it would be better for them not to know of it. You see one +can get shut in till the next low water. There's no danger because +the vault is so high that the tide doesn't fill it. In fact, Max +deliberately stopped there once." + +"Was he shut in?" asked Win. + +"No," said the Colonel smiling. "He was annoyed with me and took +that method of expressing his displeasure. I fancy he was a trifle +surprised that no fuss was made over his exploit. You see, I knew +he was perfectly safe. Connie, I think that path is possible for +Win some day when the weather and tide both serve. Well, this is +the extent of the original house. It includes this wing where we +are and the main portion. These shaded partitions show distinctly +where later additions have been made." + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired. + +"That? It is a footpath toward the shore and the gardener's +cottage. I should say that the present path curves more, but that +is its direction in general." + +Win was puzzled by this explanation. Why should only one of the +Manor paths be marked? That it was the sole one existing at the +time the plans were drawn seemed scarcely possible. + +"That 'safe place,' if it was outside the walls in those days +would probably have been somewhere underground," commented Connie, +after the map had been exhaustively discussed. "That might mean +that it is now in the cellars somewhere. Dad, have we your +permission to explore all the subterranean caverns?" + +"If there are any that you haven't already investigated," said the +amused Colonel. "I didn't suppose there was a square inch of the +place that you and Max hadn't by heart." + +"I thought so, too," said Constance, "but if Win's theories are +correct, there must be something we have overlooked. What do you +say about an exploration, Win?" + +"Oh, I should like nothing better," said Win eagerly. "It will be +great sport to hunt for that chest. And it's so interesting to +look around a house that has been in the same family for +centuries." + +"There has been a Richard Lisle of Laurel Manor for over four +hundred years," said the Colonel rather sadly. "I am the last of a +long line." + +"The only solution," said Constance quickly, "is for your unworthy +daughter to marry some perfectly insignificant person, who will as +a part of the marriage contract, take the name of Lisle." + +"The man who marries my daughter," replied the Colonel with gentle +dignity, "will have an honorable and, I trust, an honored name of +his own to offer her." + +"Else he will never get her," commented Connie with charming +impertinence. "Daddy dear, if I could find a man one half as nice +as you are, I'd marry him on the spot! Win, we'll arrange to head +an exploring expedition. It's too cold and spooky in the cellars +to do it this afternoon. We'll plan for a time when Roger and the +girls can share the sport. I wish Max was here, too. He would +simply dote on it" + +"I wish he was!" sighed Win. "I was dreadfully disappointed when I +heard he had gone. I think he's about right." + +A sudden very charming smile broke over Connie's face. Up to that +time, it had been rather serious. "If we don't solve the problem +before the Easter holidays," she said, "Max will be keen on +running it down. I hope he can come then. He took so long at +Christmas that I'm afraid they'll dock him at Easter, and I shall +be completely desolated if that happens." + +"I think he will come," said the Colonel. "In fact he told me he +might be able to get away for an occasional week-end. With a fast +car it is not so far to Granville or even St. Malo and he need +waste no time waiting for the steamer." + +Constance suddenly sat up straight. "Max mustn't neglect his +duties," she declared. "Either he has a very indulgent chief or he +is hedging." + +Her attitude was so comically severe that Win laughed, and her +father looked up with a smile. + +"I can't be responsible for what Max tells his chief," he +remarked, "but I know enough about the diplomatic service to feel +sure he is giving satisfaction." + +Constance still looked stern. "It's all right, of course, if he +really earns his week-end," she conceded, "but I won't have him +shirking. In October he was so serious and quiet that I didn't +know what to think of him, but at Christmas he was the same dear +boy he used to be. Didn't you think he was just like his old +self?" + +The Colonel thus appealed to, returned her smile. "There were +moments," he gravely replied, "when I doubted whether either one +of you was more than sixteen." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN THE VAULTS + + +When Win finally appeared at Rose Villa, driven down in a closed +carriage, the tale he related was of sufficient interest to banish +from even Roger's mind the resentment he considered but just, +after his long afternoon with Mr. Fisher. Those hours had been +profitable, did Roger only choose to admit the fact, for the tutor +had managed to galvanize into life the dry bones of an epoch in +history. Roger would not acknowledge it even to himself, but on +that stormy day he came rather near liking Bill Fish. + +"That's a most exciting discovery, Win," said Mrs. Thayne when the +tale was concluded. "But I'm afraid I agree with Colonel Lisle +that the chances of finding anything are small, though you will +have fun exploring. It is very kind of the Colonel and Miss Connie +to permit such a troop to invade the Manor." + +"I think they are just as interested themselves," Win replied. +"The Colonel was immensely pleased to have that legend confirmed." + +Mrs. Thayne looked at him rather wistfully, wondering how much of +the interest displayed by the Manor family was due to sympathy +with Win. No doubt they liked him, for people always did. Well, +she was glad that this unusual experience was coming his way. + +"I'm crazy to see that cave!" Frances was saying. "Don't you +remember, Edith, when we first met Miss Connie on the beach, she +said something about looking for caves? I suppose she was thinking +of this one." + +"I've been in it," Roger suddenly announced. "Mr. Max took me. +It's a very decent cave but there's only one place where a box +could be hidden, on a sort of ledge above the water. We climbed up +and if there had been so much as a snitch of a chest about, it +couldn't have escaped us." + +"You've been _in_ the cave?" demanded Frances, pouncing upon him. +"When did Mr. Max take you? Where were the rest of us? Why didn't +you tell us?" + +Roger looked uncomfortable. He had never mentioned that +expedition, not even to his mother during a very serious +conversation on the sin of truancy. + +"Oh, I met him on the cliff," he said evasively. "He showed me the +cave and we went swimming. He is a corking swimmer." + +"But why didn't you tell us about it?" persisted Frances. + +Roger saw no way out. Being a truthful individual he blurted forth +the facts. + +"Because Mr. Max told me not to. He said it wasn't safe and he was +afraid you girls would go fooling around and get caught by the +tide. It isn't a fit place for girls, either!" he added largely. + +"It is!" retorted the exasperated Frances. "If it wasn't, Miss +Connie wouldn't have been there." + +"I'd wager that Miss Connie did everything Mr. Max did," chuckled +Win. "But the Colonel said to-day that the cave was out of the +question so far as any hidden chest was concerned,--that it +couldn't have escaped discovery all these years. I don't really +expect to find anything, Mother, but it will be great fun to look. +I've always wanted to search for hidden treasure, you know. And +Miss Connie seemed as interested as I was. She has appointed next +Wednesday afternoon to explore the vaults. We are all to come at +three and stay for tea afterwards. At first she suggested that we +have it in the cellars, said it would be nice and cobwebby and +befitting a treasure hunt, but then she remembered that Yvonne was +afraid of spiders and wouldn't fancy taking the tea things down," +he ended with a laugh. + +Win was tired that evening and went upstairs early. When Roger +clattered into the adjoining room half an hour later, his brother +called. + +"Oh, you, Roger," he said, "come in here a jiff." + +With a terrific yawn, Roger appeared in the doorway. Win was in +bed, a lighted lamp on a table by his pillow. + +"Could I get down to that cave?" he asked. + +"You could get down," Roger remarked judicially. "It's rather +steep but there's only one bad rock. Still," he added, "if you +waited till the tide was even lower, yon could walk round that. +When we came back from our swim, that bit of cliff was out of +water. It would be some tug crawling up, but you could take it +easy." + +"I'd give a good deal to get down there," said Win thoughtfully. +"How was it inside? Much climbing? Any place where a box could be +tucked out of sight?" + +Roger proceeded to describe the interior of the cave, arousing +Win's interest still more. + +"I don't suppose there's hide nor hair of that chest around," he +admitted, "but all the same, I want to take a look. The tide is +full every morning now and it will be the end of the week before +we can get down. As soon as we can, I wish you'd do the pilot +act." + +"Oh, I'll show you," assented Roger, again yawning prodigiously. +"I don't take any special stock in this hidden chest, but the cave +is fine and I'll like to take a whack at the Manor cellars. Are +you going to burn that lamp all night?" + +"I am going to read for a while," said his brother, taking a book +from under his pillows. "Shut the door into your room if it annoys +you." + +"It doesn't," answered Roger. "I can see to undress by it better +than with my candle. Ridiculous to have only candles in bedrooms! +Mother would give me Hail Columbia if I read in bed the way you +do." + +Win suppressed a sigh. "Mother knows I read only when I can't +sleep," he said shortly. "You may not believe it, but I'd much +rather sleep." + +Wednesday afternoon found an expectant quartette walking up the +Manor road, slowly because Win paused occasionally to regain +breath, but there were so many lovely things to look at that no +delay seemed irksome. To begin with were fascinating cottages with +neat little box-edged gardens and straw-thatched roofs; curious +evergreen trees with stiff jointed branches known locally as +monkey-puzzles; there were pretty children, some of whom waved +hands of recognition; there were skylarks singing in the blue +above, their happy notes falling like musical rain; there were big +black and white magpies and black choughs, rooks and corbies, now +known to the young people by their English names. And always there +were glimpses of the ever-changing, changeless sea. + +Roger, who had gradually forged ahead, remained leaning over a low +cottage wall until the others came up. In the yard sat a woman +milking one of the pretty, soft-eyed Jersey cows, but what held +Roger's fascinated attention was her milk-pail. + +Instead of the ordinary tin receptacle familiar to Roger during +country summers, she had an enormous copper can with a fat round +body, rather small top and handle at one side like a bloated milk- +jug. Over the top was tied loosely a piece of coarse cloth and on +this rested a clean sea shell. Streams of milk directed into the +shell slowly overflowed its edges to strain through the cloth and +subside gently into the can. + +"That's something of a milk pail," observed Roger approvingly. + +"It's just like the hot-water jugs Annette brings in the morning," +said Frances, "only ten times bigger. Wouldn't it be lovely for +goldenrod and asters? I'm going to ask Mother to buy one." + +"Pretty sight you'll be walking up the dock at Boston with that on +your arm," jeered Roger. "It will never go in any trunk and you'll +have to carry it everywhere you go. You needn't ask me to lug it, +either." + +"It can be crated and sent that way," said Frances calmly. + +"Those hot-water jugs make me tired," Roger went on as they +continued their walk. "I'm sick to death of having a quart of +lukewarm water in a watering-pot dumped at my door every morning. +Think of the hot water we have at home, gallons and gallons of it, +steaming, day or night!" + +Edith looked politely incredulous. "How can that be?" she asked. +"Do you keep coals on the kitchen fire all night?" + +"Coals!" snorted Roger. "All we have to do is to turn a faucet and +that lights a heater and the water runs hot as long as you leave +it turned on. No quart pots for us!" + +"But surely," said Edith, "only very wealthy people can have +luxuries like that." + +"We're not made of money but we have it," retorted Roger. "Even +workmen have hot-water heaters in their houses." + +From Edith's face it was plain that she frankly didn't believe him +and Win tried to make matters better. + +"You see, Edith," he explained, "it is much more difficult in the +United States to get satisfactory servants and so we have all +sorts of clever mechanical devices that make it easier to manage +with fewer maids." + +Edith's brow cleared. "Oh, I see," she said. "I thought there must +be some reason. Of course, if we needed them, we would have such +arrangements in England." + +"England," declared Roger bluntly, "in ways of living is about two +hundred years behind the United States!" + +"Roger!" exclaimed the shocked Frances. + +"Cut it out!" ordered Win. + +"It's true, anyway," retorted the annoyed Roger, "and there's +another thing. We licked England for keeps in the Revolutionary +War!" + +"Only because you were English yourselves!" flashed Edith before +Roger's scandalized family could remind him of his forgotten +manners. + +This retort disconcerted Roger and delighted Win. + +"You've hit the nail on the head, Edith," he declared approvingly. +"England could never have been beaten except by her own sons. And +England's navy has always ruled the seas." + +"How about Dewey wiping out the Spanish fleet at Manila?" demanded +Roger still huffily, + +"That reminds me," said Win coolly. "I believe it was an English +admiral who backed Dewey up at Manila when the Germans tried to +butt in. After that battle somebody wrote a poem about it and +wrote the truth, too. This is what he said: + + "'Ye may trade by land, ye may fight by land, + Ye may hold the land in fee; + But go not down to the sea in ships + To battle with the free; + For England and America + Will keep and hold the sea!'" + +As Win concluded, Edith's high color lessened and Roger looked +less pugnacious. Presently, each stole a sly glance at the other, +both were caught in the act and simultaneously laughed. So the +party reached the Manor without disruption by the way. + +Constance, with a soft green sweater over her frock, came to meet +them. + +"All ready for the fray? Leave your hats in the hall. You will +need your woollies for we are going where sunlight never comes. +There's good store of candles and two lanterns. Anything else +needed, Win?" + +"A hammer perhaps," suggested Win. "We may want to sound walls." + +"A hammer there shall be," and Constance rang the bell to order +it. "Dad says he will come down if we make any startling +discovery, but being an elderly person, he's a bit shy of damp." + +Provided with lights and the hammer, the gay party started, filing +through a kitchen so fascinating with its red-bricked floor and +shining copper cooking utensils that Fran found it hard to pass. +Several maids and a jolly cook smiled on them as they vanished +down the cellar stairs. + +"I suppose you want to see the oldest part of the Manor vaults," +Connie said to Win as she led the way with a candle in a brass +reflector. "We shall come back through here." + +To Edith and Frances it seemed that they traversed numberless dark +rooms, dry but chilly, some stored with vegetables and barrels, +while others were empty or showed dusky apparitions of old lumber. +Constance stopped at last. + +"We are under the library now, Win. This is the original cellar +and you can see how much rougher the workmanship is than in the +newer parts." + +Walls were rough and floor uneven, indeed, a part of it was +composed of an outlying ledge of the Jersey granite. Obedient to +suggestion, Roger and the girls began to inspect the walls for +traces of some former exit; Roger by himself, the girls, rather +fearfully, together. Win stood looking at the ledge in the floor. + +"That settles there being any hiding-place underneath," he +remarked. + +"Yes," said Connie, "but the paper said 'beyond the walls,' you +know. So wouldn't it more likely be in one of the cellars not +built at that time?" + +"Well, probably," assented Win. "But I was looking at the way this +rock runs." He produced a pocket-compass. "It's much thicker at +this end and the direction is approximately north and south. What +is to the east, Miss Connie?" + +"Nothing at all. That wall is still the outer one." + +"And the wall farthest from the water?" asked Win quickly. + +Constance nodded. + +"Then it is the western wall I want," said Win, turning toward it. + +Somewhat mystified, Connie watched him make a minute examination, +tapping with the hammer on its entire length. + +"I suspect that it's frightfully thick," she said as he stopped, +looking disappointed. + +"What is on the other side?" he inquired. "Is this whole partition +now included in the house?" + +Constance led the way to the opposite side of the wall. There lay +a large apartment, dimly lighted, but of better workmanship and +finish. Win went immediately to the eastern side of this cellar +and bestowed upon the partition stones the same minute inspection. + +"This wall must really be several feet through," he observed to +the watching Constance. + +"Probably. But I don't see, Win, what you are trying to get at." + +"I hardly know myself, Miss Connie. It's just an idea I had. This +would have been the wall nearest the cave. You see I'm not used to +having a cave as a sort of household annex, so I can't help +thinking it may figure yet in this business." + +Connie shook her head. "Perhaps it did once," she said. "Only that +cave is more or less common property; many people know of it. We +can be sure of one thing; that nothing will be found in it now. +How about this floor?" + +Win left the wall to inspect by aid of his lantern the huge, +roughly-squared blocks forming the cellar floor. Damp, dark and +numerous they showed under the light. + +"It's possible that any one might conceal some cavity," said +Connie. "But that one would surely differ in some way from the +others. Let us spread out and inspect them. Anybody who finds a +flag in any way peculiar, speak." + +Constance herself began to peer at the stone flooring, not at all +because she expected to find anything in the least unusual, but +because she did not want disappointment to fall upon Win too +quickly. If he really searched thoroughly, he would be better +satisfied to acknowledge the quest as useless. + +Among the many scenes those centuries-old walls had looked upon, +it is a question whether they had witnessed so gay a sight as the +five young people, wandering slowly up and down the uneven floor, +looking for some stone raised higher or sunken lower than the +others, more carefully fitted; perhaps, though this could scarcely +be hoped, provided with an iron ring for a handle. + +Nothing happened. No two of the many flags were alike, yet none +seemed of sufficient distinction to mark it as worth further +investigation. All looked as though they had never been moved. + +The other and more recent cellars received scanty attention. Of +lesser age, they were also cleaner, drier and better lighted. + +"Our adventure seems fruitless" sighed Connie as they stood at +last among bins and bottles near the kitchen stairs. "Why, where +is Win?" + +Both Frances and Roger started back, ashamed to have forgotten him +if only for a moment. Suppose poor Win had had one of his attacks +alone back there in that shadow-filled vault! + +Win was found in the original cellar of the old Manor, not pacing +the floor or tapping the stones, but meditatively staring at one +of its walls, not the one he had devoted so much attention to, but +the northern boundary. + +"What luck?" asked Connie as they came in, relieved at sight of +him. + +"None," said Win, turning to her with curiously bright eyes. "But, +Miss Connie, do you think your father would show me those plans +again!" + +"Why, of course he will. Has some idea struck you?" + +"I don't quite know," said Win. "But I should like to see the +plans and perhaps some other day, you'll let me come down here +again for a few moments." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE HAUNTED ROOM + + +"There is a letter for you, Miss Edith," said Nurse as the girls +came in from school, the next Saturday. "It is for Miss Frances, +too." + +"For us both?" exclaimed Frances. "Where from?" + +"Pierre brought it from the Manor," replied Nurse. + +"I can't get over there being no telephones in the houses here," +remarked Frances, snatching off her hat. "Imagine having to send a +man with a note instead of just taking down a receiver and +talking. Not to have telephones is so very English." + +"The English don't hold much with new inventions, Miss," Nurse +agreed. "What was good enough for those before us does us very +well." + +"I know it!" sighed Fran, "but think of the _convenience_ of a +telephone." + +Edith was holding a dainty square note bearing the inscription: + + "Miss Edith Pearce, + Miss Thayne, + Rose Villa. + A la main de Pierre." + +"From Miss Connie, of course," said Edith delightedly. Each took a +corner of the enclosed card and with several little squeals of +amused pleasure, Frances read it aloud. + + "Miss Lisle presents her compliments to Miss Pearce and Miss + Thayne and requests them to grant her the favor of attending + a meeting of the Society for the Suppression of Ghosts to be + held in the haunted room of Laurel Manor this evening at ten. + + Notes: + + Dinner 7:30. + Beds provided at 9:45 (Ghost _not_ guaranteed to appear). + Very best nighties because of looking pretty for spooks. + Breakfast any old hour." + +Screaming with delight, Edith ran to find Estelle, Frances for her +mother. + +"But I don't know that I want you to sleep in a room that has the +reputation of being haunted, Edith," protested Estelle. "Will Mrs. +Thayne permit Frances to go?" + +"Oh, Sister, there's some joke about it," pleaded Edith. "There +must be, because Miss Connie always laughs whenever the ghost is +mentioned. And would her father let her sleep in that room if it +was anything to frighten people? Oh, Star, it will be such fun!" + +Up-stairs, Frances was besieging her amused mother. Two minutes +later, the girls met in the hall, dancing with glee, for each +might go were the other permitted. + +"Dinner at the Manor, too!" sighed Frances. "What bliss!" + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne had much peace from then until it +was time to start. Finally the hour arrived and the family +assembled in the hall to see them off, Win interested and Roger +openly envious. "I'd like a chance at that ghost just once," he +vowed. "I'd settle him." + +"Perhaps later, Miss Connie will invite you boys," said Edith. +"Why, here's Pierre. Oh, he's come for our bags." + +To have a servant sent for their light luggage again struck +Frances as most charmingly English, and two very happy girls waved +farewell to Rose Villa as they turned out of the terrace. + +In the great hall of the Manor, Constance greeted them, +ceremoniously enough, but with mysterious smiles and twinkles. In +person she conducted them to a pretty guest-room near her own +apartments. + +"We won't invade the ghost's domain until time for bed," she +announced gayly. "You'll find a bath adjoining and would you like +Paget to do your hair or fasten your dinner frocks?" + +"We will help each other," said Edith, as full of twinkles as +Connie herself. + +"Then I will dress and come for you in about half an hour." + +"Isn't Miss Connie the dearest thing!" said Edith enthusiastically +as the door closed. "I never saw anybody just like her before." + +"Mother thinks her charming," replied Frances, brushing her curly +hair. "Edith, do you suppose we shall ever know the truth about +that story of the Italian prince?" + +"It doesn't seem as though it were true," observed Edith. "Or at +least, as though she cared very much if she had to break her +engagement, for she is always so gay and happy." + +The face that was looking just then from the mirror in Connie's +room did not precisely correspond to these adjectives, but the +young mistress of the Manor was the daughter of a brave soldier +and the descendant of a long line of gallant gentlemen. Those slow +weeks since Christmas that Constance crowded with gayety were +bringing gradual healing. The heart under the fluffy frock she +slipped on to-night was not so heavy as the one under the white +gown worn that day when she stood by Win in the Manor library and +watched the boat for St. Malo leave the harbor. + +Frances and Edith were ready when she came for them, also prettily +dressed in white. + +"Nice little English flappers," Constance remarked approvingly. +"Why, what is the matter with Frances?" + +"I don't know what a flapper is," confessed Frances, sure however, +that it could be nothing very dreadful. + +Constance laughed and patted the brown cheek. "Merely a jolly +little English school girl with her hair down her back. Yours is +tidily braided but Edith looks the typical flapper." + +She took a hand of each and three abreast they went down to the +hall where Colonel Lisle was standing in a soldierly attitude +before the fire. He greeted them with charming courtesy, offered +Fran his arm and conducted her to the dining-room. + +Both girls were supremely happy, Edith quietly so, Frances fairly +radiating enjoyment in the stately room with its fine old +portraits and windows open to admit the sweet odors of myrtle and +daffodils. + +"Don't think the Island winters are all as mild as this," the +Colonel was saying as Yvonne removed the soup plates. "I have seen +both snow and hail in Jersey and sometimes we have extremely cold +weather. But you were asking, Frances, why French is the official +language here. The Channel Islands came to the English crown with +William the Conqueror, and have always remained one of the crown +properties. So while the islanders are English they have French +blood in their veins and each island has retained its peculiar +historic customs, the official use of French being one. When +Normandy was regained by France, the islands remained with England +and though Jersey was frequently attacked and sometimes invaded by +the French they never held more than a portion of it temporarily. +Indeed, so much was a Norman or French invasion feared, that the +islanders inserted in the Litany an additional petition: 'From the +fury of the Normans, good Lord, deliver us!'" + +"We have seen the tablet in the Royal Square, marking the spot +where Major Pierson fell in the battle of Jersey," said Edith, who +shared Win's liking for history. + +"Ah, in 1781. That was the last French invasion. Speaking of the +Royal Square," the Colonel went on, "there is a curious custom +connected with the Royal Court there, that might interest you. Any +person with a grievance relating to property has a right to come +into a session of the court and call aloud upon Rollo the Dane. +The Cohue Royale,--the Court,--_must_ listen and _must_ heed. That +is a very ancient relic of Norman rule in the Island. Oh, no, it +is seldom resorted to. One does not lightly call Prince Rollo to +one's aid. That is the final appeal when all other justice fails." + +Yvonne, who was waiting upon the table, reappeared from a brief +absence with a beaming face. + +"It is Monsieur Max who arrives," she said confidentially to +Constance. + +"Max!" exclaimed Connie. "Why, how nice! Sha'n't he come directly, +Dad? Tell him not to dress, Yvonne." + +"By all means, tell him to come as he is," said the Colonel, his +face lighting with pleasure at this news. + +"Pardon, m'sieur," said Yvonne. "Monsieur Max already hastens to +his room and says the dinner shall not delay, that he shall be +fast,--ver' queeck." + +"Max can be fast," said Constance smiling. "Well, we will dawdle +over our fish. I never thought of his coming," she went on, +watching Yvonne as she deftly laid another place beside Frances. +"This must be one of the week-ends he promised. I wonder why he +didn't warn us?" + +"I suppose there was no time to do so," said the Colonel. "Max +knows he is welcome at any hour." + +Max was "queeck." The fish was only just finished when he came +quietly into the room, dressed for dinner and looking not in the +least as though he had recently stepped from a steamer. Edith and +Frances watched eagerly. If they were still in deep ignorance +concerning Miss Connie's Italian prince, this was surely their +chance to discover how matters stood between their adored little +lady and Mr. Max. + +Disappointment awaited them, for nothing could have been more +commonplace than the greeting exchanged. Even the fancy of +fourteen years could not construe Constance's "Hello, old boy!" +and Max's nonchalantly offered hand into the slightest foundation +for a romance. So far as outward appearances went Max was much +more affectionate towards the Colonel, who did not disguise his +marked pleasure at seeing him. + +With gay words for both girls, the newcomer slid into his seat. +"I'm as hungry as a hunter, Connie," he announced. "Soup, Yvonne? +Anything and everything that's going. Oh, it was rather a rough +crossing, but it merely gave me an appetite. Where are the boys? +Couldn't they come to this exclusive dinner? Or am I butting in +myself?" + +"You are," replied Constance mischievously, "but for Dad's sake, +we will forgive you. The boys are not here for the simple reason +that they were not invited. Having fortified ourselves with strong +meat, the girls and I are going to brave the Manor ghost to- +night." + +Darkness had fallen and with it a sense of the eerie over Fran. +She was distinctly relieved to hear Max laugh at this announcement. + +"Do you really want to see the ghost?" he asked, turning to her. + +"Crazy to," was Fran's prompt reply. "I wouldn't dare stay alone +in that room, but with Miss Connie and Edith, I sha'n't be afraid. +Indeed, I want dreadfully to see the ghost." + +"You know yourself, Max, that it doesn't materialize every time it +is invoked," began Constance. + +"I know it," said Max. "I only wanted to ascertain how keen the +spook-hunters are. I slept in that room once for two weeks when +the house was full and became much attached to his ghost-ship." + +"So I told the girls," replied Constance with equal gravity. + +Edith and Frances were looking at each other in puzzled +bewilderment but Max suddenly changed the subject. His eye had +fallen upon Grayfur, the big cat that had purred himself into the +room in the shelter of Yvonne's skirts. + +"Hello, old chap!" he said, snapping his fingers. "Do you like +cats, Frances?" + +"No," confessed Frances. "I love dogs. Edith is the one who likes +pussies. She is always bringing stray kittens home." + +For some reason this statement seemed to amuse Max. To the +surprise of the girls, he and Constance exchanged a smile. + +Ten o'clock struck before Edith and Frances found themselves, +after a happy evening, again in the pretty guest-room. + +"Miss Connie, I am afraid you weren't ready to come up," said +thoughtful Edith. "Didn't you want to stop longer with your father +and Mr. Max?" + +"Max doesn't leave until Tuesday morning," Constance replied. "Dad +will love to have him all to himself for a good talk and smoke, +and if Max has anything especial to say to me, there will be +plenty of opportunities. I'm quite glad to come up." + +When she came for them, the girls were ready and the little +procession started, three kimonoed figures each bearing a lighted +candle along the echoing halls to the haunted room above the +library. Electricity had not trailed its illuminating coils above +the first floor of the house so the big apartment looked spooky +and shadowy enough, the candles placed on the mantel, quite lost +in immense distances. Three white cots stood side by side in its +centre. + +"First, we will fasten the door securely," said Constance, suiting +the action to the word. "Then we will take this electric torch and +look about a bit." + +Careful inspection showed the room undoubtedly tenantless, the +handsome old-fashioned furniture offering no hiding-place for any +intruder. Like the library below, its walls were of paneled oak, +with three large portraits set into the wood-work. One, a Lisle of +Queen Elizabeth's time, looked down benignly, attired in doublet +and ruff. + +"Miss Connie, how shall we know what to look for or expect?" asked +Frances when the three were settled in their beds, lights out and +the room illuminated only by the moon. + +"It wouldn't be wise to tell you," said Constance mysteriously. +"All I'll say is that it is nothing at all disturbing or +frightful. The few people who have seen or heard anything never +knew at the time that it was a ghost." + +"But you will tell us in the morning?" asked Edith. + +"Yes," replied their hostess. "I will tell you then, whether you +see anything or not, and very likely you will not. But if you want +to have the creeps and would truly enjoy them, I'll tell you +something that really happened to me once in Italy." + +"Oh, do, do!" begged both girls in unison. "That would be simply +perfect," added Edith, sitting up in bed, her fair hair floating +about her shoulders and turning her more than ever into the +likeness of an angel. + +"Some years ago, when I was about your age," began Constance +slowly, "Dad and Mother and I were traveling in southern Italy, +and Max was with us. He was with us a great deal, you know. We +stopped one night at an old hotel that had once been a monastery, +though it was different from the usual monasteries because it was +a place where sick monks came to be cured and to rest. + +"The location was wonderful, on a cliff overlooking the sea and +though the place had been altered for the purposes of a hotel, it +was still a good bit churchly. The partitions between the cells +had been knocked out and additions built, but the hotel dining- +room was the old refectory with stone walls and floor, and the +wonderful garden was much as the monks left it. Such roses you +never saw and such climbing vines and flowering trees. Oh, there's +no place like Italy!" + +Constance stopped. The moonlight falling across her bed touched +her face into almost unearthly beauty. + +"We had connecting rooms that night," she went on. "Dad and Mother +took the corner one with two beds. Next was a tiny room where I +was to sleep and Max's was beyond mine. All were originally cells +opening on a terrace, covered with roses and passion-flowers and +looking down to the sea, which was shining with little silver +ripples. + +"We'd had an especially happy day and I was so keyed up with +enjoyment that I couldn't go to sleep right away, but lay looking +out at the flowers and the waves. Mother went through to see that +Max was all right and then came back to kiss me. She closed the +door into his room, but left open the one from mine into hers. + +"I remember hearing Mother and Dad laugh a little about something +and I suppose I went to sleep, because I woke very suddenly with a +start, all awake in a minute." + +Connie paused, this being the proper moment for a thrill. "What do +you think I saw?" she asked impressively. + +"Oh, I can't imagine!" gasped Frances, shivering in delighted +anticipation. "Do go on!" + +"Have you chills down your spine!" laughed Constance. "In the +moonlight right beside my bed, I saw a monk, dressed in white, the +usual robe of the Dominicans. He had a wise, kind face, with a +pleasant expression, and as I looked at him, he took my wrist very +gently, and put his finger on my pulse." + +"Oh-h!" said Edith, pulling the covers about her more tightly. +"Oh, Miss Connie, what did you do?" + +"That frightened me," said Connie. "Up to that time, I noticed +only his pleasant, gentle look, but it seemed as though a bit of +ice touched me and I gave a scream that brought Mother and Dad up +standing. Of course, when they came hurrying in, nobody was +visible. I made a big fuss, presumably because I wanted to be +petted and coddled. + +"I told them about the monk and Dad at once thought that Max had +been playing a joke on me. He stepped into Max's room, intending +to be severe, but Max was sound asleep and besides, the door into +his room squeaked so that he couldn't possibly have opened it +without waking us all. + +"Then they said I had the nightmare. Perhaps I did," said +Constance with a smile, "but I can see yet the kindly face of that +old monk. I didn't want to stay in my room, so Dad told me to go +in with Mother and he'd take my bed. We all settled ourselves +again. + +"I was asleep or nearly so, feeling so comfy and safe in my bed +close to Mother's when suddenly she sat up straight and said +'Richard!' in such an odd, startled tone. I woke and heard poor +Dad piling out of bed again to come into our room. Mother sat +there looking very troubled and holding one wrist in the other +hand. She didn't say anything more,--neither of them did,--but I +knew perfectly well that the old monk had been feeling her pulse." + +"And what happened in the morning?" demanded Frances breathlessly. + +"Nothing at all," said Constance cheerfully. "In the morning +everything was beautiful and lovely as in no other country but +Italy. Mother and I merely agreed that we had an odd dream. We did +not stay a second night, for we were on our way back to Rome." + +"Did you ever hear anything more about the monk?" asked Edith. + +"Years after," said Connie dreamily, "we met some Americans in +Switzerland who told us of a similar experience in this hotel. +Later, I learned that Dad found out at the time that the place was +reputed to be haunted by an old monk physician who turns up at +intervals and feels people's pulses, and is often seen pottering +about the garden in broad daylight. Monks are such a common sight +in Italy that the hotel guests stop and converse with him, +thinking him a gardener and never suspecting that he is a ghost." + +"But the Manor ghost isn't like that?" asked Edith, who wanted +reassurance. + +"Not a bit," said Constance. "As for that, there was nothing so +very frightful or repellent about the monk. Don't you think we +should go to sleep now and give his spookship his innings?" + +The girls agreed and silence fell over the big room with its three +white beds. Outside the open casements a vine waved within Fran's +line of vision, tapping gently against a window pane. + +Presently a slight sound caught Fran's wakeful ear, as of steps on +a somewhat unfamiliar stair where it was necessary to grope one's +way. Touching Edith's shoulder, she sat up in bed. They had +entered the haunted room by a door now locked, opening on a big +stone staircase; these steps seemed upon muffled wood. + +Next moment there came a sudden convulsive sneeze that sounded in +her very ear. Frances gasped but Constance sat up laughing. + +"No fair!" she exclaimed. + +For a second there was absolute silence, then somebody laughed, +extremely close at hand, though yet behind a partition. The laugh +was followed by the soft sound of retreating footsteps. + +"What happened, Miss Connie?" begged Edith. + +"No ghost," said their hostess merrily. "I had forgotten. That was +clever of Max." + +Silence again followed for a period, succeeded by the sound of +music in the garden below the windows, soft and very sweet. + +"Oh, is _that_ the ghost?" demanded Frances in great excitement. + +"Your mother will bless me for letting you stop awake all night," +said Constance. She sat up, wrapped a white robe about her and +stuck her feet into slippers. Upon the music came the sudden +unearthly miaow of a cat. + +The noise sounded directly in the room and all three girls jumped. +Constance laughed again. + +"I might have known Max did not come into that passage for +nothing," she sighed. "Where's that electric torch?" + +Having turned on the flash-light, Connie approached the large oil +painting set into one side of the gloomy room, its base about a +foot above the floor. She touched a knob on its frame and the +portrait became a door opening outward and revealing a narrow, +dusty winding stair descending to the floor below. On its top step +sat the big cat, just opening its mouth for another howl. + +"Come in, Grayfur," said Constance. "Max brought you, didn't he? +If he hadn't sneezed and given himself away, he'd have opened the +door a crack and let you in." + +"Is it a secret stair?" asked Frances, her eyes big with +excitement. "Where does it go? Wouldn't Roger be crazy over it?" + +"We will let him go up it," answered Connie, swinging the portrait +into place again. "The passage comes out below in the library. Max +thought he would provide one ghost anyway." + +Putting the cat into the hall, she locked the door again and then +stuck her pretty head from the window. + +"Max," she said severely, addressing the unseen musician, "you are +spoiling your fiddle and breaking your promise. You said you +wouldn't be silly. Go to bed now like a good boy." + +The fiddle responded with two ear-splitting squawks. + +"Stop it!" commanded Constance. "There goes a string and it serves +you quite right. You'll have the bobbies coming to investigate if +you don't leave off." + +The unappreciated serenader appeared squelched by this threat, for +complete silence followed. + +"Nothing more is at all likely to happen tonight," said Constance, +coming back to bed. "And I hope Max will go properly to his room. +Now go to sleep, girlies, and in the morning, I'll tell you how +the Manor ghost disports itself." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MANOR GHOST + + +In spite of a firm intention to remain awake, Frances soon fell +into quiet slumber and knew nothing more until the next morning. +February dawns in England are dark, but when she finally opened +her eyes, the room was faintly lighted by the coming sun and her +watch told her that it was after eight. + +Edith still seemed asleep, but from the bed at the left, Connie +smiled back at her. For some reason known only to herself, their +gay little hostess had decreed that Frances should take the centre +bed. + +"Awake?" she whispered. "How's Edith? Is she still off?" + +As though she heard her name, Edith stirred, turned over and +finally rose on one elbow. + +"Did you sleep well?" asked Constance. "We needn't get up unless +you like. When we are ready, Yvonne is to bring us breakfast in my +sitting-room. We'll wash and put on boudoir caps and eat _en +negligee_." + +At this delightful programme both girls became wide awake in an +instant. + +"And you will tell us about the ghost?" asked Frances. + +"I will," replied Constance, sitting up and gathering her pretty +kimono about her, a lovely white Japanese crepe embroidered in +gold with fire-eating dragons of appalling size. One stretched +across the front as she fastened the folds. The girls also rose +and put on their dressing-gowns. Unlocking the door, Constance +looked into the hall. + +"I'll just see that the coast is clear before the procession +forms," she remarked. "Daddy's rooms are down-stairs but Max's is +on our way. I'm quite sure though that he and Dad are already out, +for Dad likes to attend early service and Max has probably gone +with him like a dutiful young man." + +As the three started, Edith turned to glance searchingly around. + +"What are you looking for?" asked Frances. + +"For the pussy," replied Edith, hurrying to overtake them. "I +thought there was one in the room." + +"Miss Connie put it out," said Frances, laughing. "Wake up, +Edith!" + +As Edith spoke, Constance stopped to look at her rather oddly, +then went on quickly. + +"When you are ready, come to my sitting-room," she said on +reaching their door. "It is at the end of this hall." + +When the girls appeared ten minutes later, Constance was yet +invisible. In the sitting-room a table stood before a couch piled +with pillows, and two cushioned chairs opened luxurious arms. + +"Isn't this the dearest room," said Frances appreciatively as she +settled herself. "I suppose this is Miss Connie's own especial +place where no one comes without an invitation." + +In some respects the room was very unlike the sanctum of the +average girl. While not lacking in the daintiness bestowed by +fresh flowers, gay chintz and white draperies, it contained a +number of objects not often seen in a boudoir. On a teakwood stand +in one corner, against the background of a valuable Oriental rug +in shimmering greens and blues, sat a curious Indian idol. +Constance's desk might once have been used by some Italian +princess in the days of Dante, and above it hung a beautiful +silver lamp that could well cause envy in the breast of Aladdin. +Pictures and ornaments alike spoke of wanderings in distant lands +and from their unusual individuality indicated a wide range of +interest in their possessor. + +The door into the adjoining bedroom opened and Constance came out +attired in a lounging-robe that made both girls gasp with +admiration. + +"Oh, Miss Connie," Frances exclaimed, "what a beautiful kimono. +And what color is it?" + +"Guess," said Constance merrily. "For a long time I didn't know +myself what to call it." + +"It isn't blue nor gray," said Edith admiringly. + +"Nor green nor violet," added Frances reflectively, "and yet it is +all of them. I've seen something like it but I can't think what." + +"I suppose only an Oriental artist could conceive such a +combination," said Constance, ringing the bell for Yvonne and then +curling into a little heap on the couch. "Dad brought it to me +from Paris and I keep it for very special occasions. I couldn't +make out what color it was but I loved it the minute I opened the +box and I knew you girls would. I've thought very seriously of +having it made into an evening coat, for it is too lovely to be +used only in my room. But about its color. One day this Christmas +vacation I was feeling a bit poorly, so I had tea up here and let +Dad and Max come. I slipped on this robe to receive them in state +and the minute Max saw it, he told me what it was like. The thing +is in plain sight." + +The girls glanced about the room. Edith's eyes lingered for a +second on a brass bowl full of blue hyacinths, but passed on. + +"I have it!" exclaimed Frances, noticing a slight inclination of +Connie's fair head toward the open casement. "It's the color of +the ocean!" + +"Right!" said Constance. "The moment Max said so, I knew it. He +did it very prettily, too, with some remark about the 'lady from +the sea.' The silk really does change and shade as the water under +storm and sun." + +There came a tap and Yvonne, bearing a most tempting tray, entered +with a smiling "_Bon jour, mes demoiselles._" Fruit, a fat little +chocolate pot sending forth a delicious odor, and flanked by +delicate china and shining silver, whipped cream, marshmallows, +French rolls, sweet unsalted butter and raspberry jam, made the +girls feel hungry at the mere sight. Dainty green and white +snowdrops, tucked here and there by Yvonne's artistic fingers +added the final touch. + +"I think this is the greatest fun," said Frances. "Do you always +have your breakfast this way?" + +"Bless you, no," replied Constance. "This is an occasional Sunday +morning indulgence. Every other day of the week, I am up, dressed +and in my right mind to breakfast with my Dad. He'd think the +world was coming down about his ears if his Connie wasn't there to +pour his coffee. I warned him that we were going to have a debauch +this morning and he won't care anyway, because he has Max. What +did you mean, Edith, about a cat? Did you dream of Grayfur?" + +"Why, no, it wasn't Grayfur," said Edith, dropping a marshmallow +into her chocolate and watching it dissolve. "I thought Mr. Max +succeeded in carrying out his joke. He must have come back much +later and put another pussy in from behind the portrait. I woke +some time in the night, oh, hours after, because the moonlight was +'way across the room, and sitting in it, washing its face, was the +prettiest little half-grown kitten. It was a perfect beauty, white +with a plumy tail. I spoke to it very softly so as not to wake +either of you, and it looked at me and purred but would not come. +I watched it chase its tail for a little and then it jumped in a +big chair and curled itself up to sleep. I suppose it must have +gone out when the door was opened this morning. May we see it +again, Miss Connie? It was much prettier than Grayfur. But do tell +us now about the ghost. We are in such a hurry to hear." + +"You know practically all there is to know," said Constance +whimsically. + +Both girls stared at her. "What do you mean!" asked Edith. "Is it +a joke? Isn't there any ghost?" + +"You know better than I do," replied Constance, tasting her +chocolate critically. "Did you have sugar, Frances? Why, you've +seen the ghost, Edith, which is more than I can say." + +Edith's face was a picture of surprise. "_Seen_ it!" she repeated. +"Why, I saw nothing at all." + +"I told you, didn't I, that the people who saw the ghost never +knew it at the time? This is the legend. About a century ago, the +Richard Lisle, then owner of the Manor, married a very charming +young wife. He was madly in love with her and was inclined to be +rather jealous. The story runs that he couldn't bear to have her +lavish affection on anything but him, was jealous of her dog and +her horse and even of her flower-garden. Winifred Lisle had a +very pretty white Persian kitten--" + +Constance stopped, for Edith's spoon fell with a clatter. "You +don't mean that darling purry little pussy was the _ghost!"_ she +exclaimed. + + +"Listen to the story," Constance went on smiling. "Dick Lisle +objected to even this wee kit since it took some of his Winifred's +time and attention and he gave orders that it was never to be +admitted to the room where they spent the evening, presumably the +library. The kitten disappeared and Winifred mourned for it. +Months later, its little corpse was found on the secret stairs +behind the portrait." + +"Then Mr. Max didn't put a cat into the room?" asked Frances +eagerly. + +"I think not, unless he took the trouble to bring a white kitten +with him from Paris. Max is quite capable of doing it for a joke, +but he could not know, you see, that we were planning to sleep in +that room last night. And there is no white kitten about the +Manor." + +"Isn't that the oddest story!" said Edith in deep interest. "Why, +Miss Connie, I'm as sure as I am of anything that I saw that pussy +playing in the moonlight. It was the sweetest little thing and I +did wish it would come and cuddle by me in bed. Is it really a +ghost? How do you account for it?" + +"I don't account for it," said Constance. "You can consider it a +pretty dream if you wish. I never saw it and I have a fancy that +it is because I am not fond of cats. When Frances said she did not +like them, I knew that she would not see the little ghost kit +either, and so I wanted you to take the bed nearest the +moonlight." + +"That's the most interesting thing that ever happened to me," said +Edith. "I'm so glad I saw it." + +"Whether it is imagination or dream, I rather like to think of the +kitten ghost playing so gayly with its tail on moonlight nights," +said Connie. "No, only three or four people have seen it. The room +is not often used, and like Edith, they supposed it a kitten that +had somehow got in. Well, is the Manor ghost satisfactory?" + +"I think it's the dearest thing I ever heard of," said Edith +happily. "But do you suppose that Winifred's husband shut it in +there deliberately?" + +"We'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Cats are always poking +about in odd places. The door in the library may have been open a +crack and the kit gone in to investigate. Once I accidentally shut +a kitten into a drawer in the linen closet. Luckily Paget happened +to open it within an hour and she was surprised enough to find a +pussy there. Now for the rest of the morning. I heard Frances say +that she wanted to hear a church service in French just to see +whether she could follow. If you like, I'll get Max to take us +into town and we will find a French church to attend." + +"That would be lovely," declared Fran enthusiastically. "I really +believe I could understand quite a little now." + +"Thank you, Miss Connie," said Edith. "I'm afraid I ought to go +home. Fran can stay just as well as not, but Sister depends upon +me to go to church with her. I always do, you know." + +Edith colored and looked uncomfortable, feeling that perhaps she +was being ungracious. + +"You're a good little sister," said Constance quickly. "And you +would not care so much as Frances because you have always spoken +French. I imagine Dad will go to St. Aubin's and he'll take you +home. I'll make Max go with us." + +Max was perfectly willing to play escort, but looked dubious when +Constance declared her intention of stopping at a tiny French +church just inside the town of St. Helier's. "Have you ever been +here?" he demanded. + +"No," admitted Constance. "Of course we might go to the Convent of +St. Andre. I forgot, though, they wouldn't let you in. Frances +only wants to hear a sermon in French and this will answer very +well." + +Max still looked disapproving. "You won't like it," he said. "It's +a queer, non-conformist sect of some kind. There's a place the +other side of town where they have the Church of England service +in French. Let's go there." + +"Why not stop here?" persisted Constance. "More exciting when one +doesn't know what's coming next." + +"One may get more than one bargains for," commented Max. "Connie, +I have a premonition that we'll land in some mess." + +Connie made a delightful little face. "Come in," she said to +Frances. "I was under the impression that we invited Max to escort +_us._" + +When Frances returned home from church, she was distressed to find +Win in bed. + +"He overdid yesterday," said Mrs. Thayne in reply to her anxious +questioning. "I can't discover exactly what happened, but he and +Roger were out together and Win walked too far. That's all he will +admit. No, he isn't as badly off as sometimes, and says he only +needs a rest. Come up in his room, Fran, to tell your adventures." + +To Fran's eyes Win looked decidedly ill when she saw him lying +against his pillows, but he evaded all inquiries and demanded to +know about the Manor ghost. + +"That wasn't the end of our experiences," Frances went on +laughing, when the events of the night had been thoroughly +discussed. "We had a funny time in that little church. Mr. Max +didn't want to go there in the beginning, but Miss Connie +insisted. Inside, it didn't look much like a church for it was a +great bare room, with not many people present. The usher made us +sit rather far front, so we had a good view of the minister, who +was a little man with black hair that stood straight up, and his +manner was very excited. + +"The service seemed unusual for different people kept getting up +and talking. I couldn't understand much and Mr. Max looked annoyed +and Miss Connie amused. Finally a boy about my age began to speak. +He wore the oddest vest and trousers of rose-pink sateen plaided +with purple. We could see distinctly because the minister made him +come out in front and face the people. Well, the clothes he had on +were enough to make any one smile, but when he finished speaking, +the minister bounced out of the pulpit and kissed him on both +cheeks! He did, honest!" Fran insisted in answer to Roger's +whistle of incredulity. + +"I don't know what would have happened next, for the service was +really very strange, but when the minister kissed that boy, Mr. +Max gave a little grunt and took up his hat. I was sitting between +them, and he leaned forward and said in such a disgusted tone, 'My +word, Connie, _will_ you come?' + +"I think Miss Connie was trying not to laugh but I guess she'd had +enough herself for she rose and we went out very quietly so as not +to disturb anybody. + +"When we reached the street," Frances went on, "Mr. Max was so +funny. He didn't say a word, only stalked along looking quite +cross. Miss Connie sat down on a wall and laughed till she cried. +Then she told Mr. Max to smile and show his dimple. But he +wouldn't. I don't see how he could help it when she was so pretty +and sweet. Well, after she laughed some more, she begged him +please to look affectionate. + +"At that he couldn't help smiling, and then he asked Miss Connie +if she was ever going to stop getting herself and him into +scrapes. She called him 'old boy' and said she was sorry,--she +wasn't really," Fran interpolated with a wise nod,--"and promised +to stick to the Church of England service ever after. Mr. Max +inquired how much I understood and when I told him only a little, +he said it was lucky. That was certainly a very peculiar church," +Frances ended reflectively. "I'm quite sure that Mr. Max wanted to +come out long before we did, and that Miss Connie persisted in +staying just to tease him." + +Win was smiling over his sister's story, but though he evinced +interest both in the Manor ghost and in the amusing experience +Connie had furnished with her little French church, the point that +most impressed him was Max's presence at the Manor. + +"I wish I could see him," he observed. "I want so much to ask a +question or two. Did Miss Connie tell him about the paper I found +and how we explored the vaults and sounded the walls?" + +"She did," assented Frances. "We talked about it after dinner. Mr. +Max was as interested as could be and said he was going down +himself to take a look." + +"Mother," said Win suddenly. "I really need to see him. Don't you +believe he'd come in for a minute if he knew I was used up so I +couldn't get to the Manor?" + +"Indeed, I do," assented Mrs. Thayne. "Write a note, dear. Roger +shall take it for you." + +Roger, who for some reason haunted his brother's room in a subdued +mood not at all common to his usual attitude toward life, was very +willing to act as messenger. Toward night, Max appeared at Rose +Villa. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE DOTTED LINE + + +"Sorry you are laid by, old man," Max said cheerfully as he was +shown into Win's room. "Better luck soon." + +"It's good of you to come," replied Win, grasping the hand so +cordially offered and relieved to see that the pleasant young face +bore no expression of the sympathetic pity Win so often read in +older countenances. + +"Well, my being here is as much of a surprise to me as to any +one," said Max, sitting down by the bed. "On Friday I expected to +spend my Sunday in Paris. But it chanced that I successfully +engineered a rather ticklish job for the Embassy, and the Chief +was pleased. As a figurative pat upon the head he gave me the +week-end off. You should have seen the way my car went to +Granville! Jean drove till we were clear of Paris and then I took +the wheel and things began to hum. From the tail of my eye I could +see Jean devoutly crossing himself whenever we hit the earth, but +we made the boat and didn't so much as run down a hen. I did +wonder that we weren't held up anywhere for exceeding the speed +limit, but the mystery was explained when we reached the Granville +pier." + +Max stopped with a mischievous laugh. "The Embassy has several +official machines," he explained, "and of course they are so +marked they are easily recognizable. I always use my own car, and +am authorized to sport the Embassy insignia when on official +business. I forgot to remove it before starting and that was why +not a single gendarme did more than salute as we tore past. Good +joke, so long as it ended well, but if we'd come a cropper on the +way, there'd have been rather a row and Max would have stood for +an official wigging, to say the least. Lucky for us that nothing +went wrong. What's done you up, old fellow?" + +Win looked at him wistfully. "Just exploring the Manor cave," he +said with a sigh. "I did so want to see it, and I made Roger take +me. I managed to get down all right, but it took over an hour to +climb the cliff. The kid is wild because he thinks he's half- +killed me." + +"Oh, say, that's a shame," said Max. "I wish I'd known that you +wanted to go. Pierre and I could have rigged a rope somehow and +helped you get back." + +Win's face just then was pitiful. Max's eyes grew very gentle but +he did not utter one word of sympathy. "I've been led a lively +pace since I reached the Manor," he went on. "Between Connie's +ghost hunt and the extraordinary church she chose to attend this +morning and your discovery in the library, my existence hasn't +lacked variety. Gay Paris is quiet beside this! But there's +nothing in the world I'm so keen on as hidden treasure. I'm pretty +sure I have a special talent for hunting it down. To be sure the +only time I ever tried, I made a giddy ass of myself and got into +a jolly mess, but I wonder will I succeed with this. Connie thinks +you've the tail of an idea. Can't you put me on?" + +"That was what I wanted to see you for," replied Win, his self- +possession quite restored. "Please open the lower drawer of that +desk. Right on top is a roll of tracing paper." + +"Why, this is a copy of the Manor plans," said Max, as he spread +out the thin sheet. + +"Yes," said Win. "Colonel Lisle let me trace them. Tell me, does +anything about them strike you as odd?" + +Max considered the plan carefully. "I can't say it does," he +admitted after a minute survey. "Give me a lead." + +"That dotted line," said Win, pointing to it with Max's pencil, +"according to Colonel Lisle, marks the path down to the cottages +on the shore, only the path curves more now than it did when the +plan was first made. Don't you think it strange that it was the +_only_ path put on the plans? Even the state driveway isn't +indicated." + +"That, I suppose, wasn't made then." + +"But surely," persisted Win, "there was some driveway to the main +road. Why should this especial path be marked? It couldn't have +been the most important, even at that time." + +"That does seem true," replied Max thoughtfully. + +[Illustration: WIN'S PLAN OF THE MANOR CELLARS.] + +"Now look at the point where the dotted line comes to the house," +Win went on, tracing its course as he spoke. "This is the very +oldest vault of all, under the library, you know. On the plan, its +northern wall is continued flush by the northern side of the +addition made later, and this dotted line runs parallel to it, +but--it runs _inside_ the foundations." + +"So it does," Max agreed. "But isn't that due to clumsy drawing? +There's an axiom, you know, about it being impossible for two +bodies to occupy the same space. Two lines couldn't occupy the +same location on a plan." + +"Yes," said Win, "but if this is a _path_, what is it doing +_inside_ the house?" + +There followed a second of silence and then Max gave a low +whistle. "I'm on," he announced. "Clever reasoning, Win." + +"There's another thing, too," said Win, lying flushed and pleased +against his pillows. "I spent a lot of time on that dividing +partition wall. I'm sure there is no space in it unless it is so +thick that even a hollow place wouldn't sound any different. But +after I looked again at the plans, I saw that what I should have +put my time on wasn't that wall at all, but the northern one, +indicated here as parallel to the dotted line. Mr. Max, I'm quite +certain that the old original cellar extends farther to the north +than this newer part. I mean that the north wall of the new cellar +isn't on a line with the old one, not in reality, though here it +is intended to look so." + +"You mean," said Max, bringing intelligent brows to bear on this +explanation, "that this was an underground passage rather than a +surface path and that its northern side is the one flush with the +original cellar?" + +"That's exactly it," said Win. "I think there is a passage running +along outside that northern wall down to the cave and the beach. +There seems a space on the plan that isn't accounted for in any +other way, and that explains why this dotted line runs inside the +foundations." + +"But, old chap," said Max kindly, "I know that cave from top to +bottom. Truly there is no exit. I've spent hours in exploring the +place." + +"But when I was on the ledge at the back, there was a draught of +fresh warm air from somewhere," Win pleaded. "And Roger said he +noticed it when you took him there. Behind the ledge is a big pile +of stones and rubble. Couldn't that air get in somehow?" + +"It must, since you felt it," agreed Max sensibly. "If I can +possibly manage it, I'll make an investigation. But I am booked to +sail on Tuesday morning. It may have to stand over until the +Easter holidays. I will take a squint at the cellar though this +very evening. Did you sound that north wall?" + +"No, I didn't," Win admitted. "I spent all my time on the west +one. Not until I studied the plans again, did it fully dawn on me +that perhaps that line was a passage instead of a path. If that is +true, it is the other wall that will bear investigation." + +Max still surveyed the plans, his fine young face intent on this +problem. He glanced up to meet a very wistful look from Win. + +"On the whole, let's wait until Easter," he suggested. "Then +you'll be feeling more fit and can come down in the vaults with +me." + +"I wish you'd inspect that wall," Win replied. "If you find it +does sound hollow, will Colonel Lisle let us punch a hole?" + +"Sure," said Max encouragingly. "I know jolly well he will. Uncle +Dick will be game for any investigation. Only he'll have to be +convinced that I'm not pulling his leg. If that north wall +resounds like a tomb, I'll tow Uncle down to hark for himself. +Why, man, we're getting on swimmingly! That was a mighty clever +idea of yours about the dotted line. Connie'll be keen on it too, +and anyway she owes me one after getting me into such a beastly +mess as she did to-day. I didn't even use unkind language about it +either. If the sea is decent tomorrow, I'll trot her down to the +cave to see where your fresh air comes from." + +"Perhaps it can be felt only when the wind is from a certain +direction," observed Win. + +"That's more than likely. Yesterday it was south, wasn't it? Very +probably it takes a south wind to strike in there. I'm afraid we +can't hope for that to-morrow because there seems a storm brewing, +on purpose probably to give me a rough trip on Tuesday." + +"Weren't you glad of the chance to come?" asked Win. + +"I was," said Max expressively, "not only because I always like to +get back to the Manor, but because I was pleased with myself to +think I'd scored with this especial bit of work, a job of +smoothing down an elderly ass who was inclined to be a trifle +footy. You see when I decided to go in for the diplomatic service, +Dad told me that he would use his influence only to get me an +appointment, a try-out. After that it was up to me; if I received +promotion it would be because I earned it, not because I was his +son. He makes me an allowance because one really couldn't manage +on the salary of an attache, but so far as my profession goes, I +stand absolutely on my own merits. So Max is feeling proud of +himself just now!" he added whimsically. "So's my Dad, if my +telegram reached him." + +"He must be proud of you," said Win rather soberly. "I so much +hope that Roger will condescend to go to Annapolis. You see I +can't, and Dad would like one of us in the navy." + +"Roger will wake up to a sense of his privileges some day," said +Max. "Do you know, Win, some of the finest work in the world has +been done by the fellows who were handicapped. Prescott, for +instance, writing all his histories, blind in one eye and +sometimes half crazed by pain; Milton, too, dictating to his +daughters, and Scott, producing so much when he was old and +burdened with grief and trouble. And Stevenson, who was ill half +his life." + +"But they were geniuses," said Win. + +"They were also too courageous in spirit to yield to +circumstances. To come down to more ordinary people, I think Uncle +Dick is mighty fine. He is crippled, useless for the work he +expected to grow old in; he saw his only son die for England. You +have seen enough of him to know what he is and what he means not +only to Laurel Manor but to the Island. I respect and admire him +tremendously and I shall owe much of whatever success I score, to +him as well as to Dad. There are careers open to you, Win. You are +clever and have a fine mind. Roger defers to your opinion. Through +your influence, he may accomplish far more than he might alone." + +"I don't amount to very much with Roger. Still, I did make him +square things with Fisher that day he played truant and went off +with you," admitted Win with the ghost of a smile. "Mother only +lectured him for bunking, but I persuaded him to apologize and to +put in the next Wednesday doing the work he skipped." + +"Good for you!" said Max cordially. His gray eyes were very kind +and friendly as he rose to leave. + +"I hope you'll feel more fit to-morrow," he said, shaking hands. +"If I possibly can, I'll run in and make a report; if not, I'll +drop a line when I get home to the lurid lights of Paris." + +"Shall you drive back with the Embassy insignia on your car?" +inquired Win smiling. He looked much brighter and happier than +before his visitor came. + +Max laughed. "I fancy not," he said as he gathered hat, gloves and +riding-crop. "I'm rather anxious to be on my good behavior. No, +I'll let Jean drive which will be prudently slow, and I'll +meditate about your hidden chest and the dotted path and other +things back at the Manor." + +"I believe Mr. Hamilton did you more good than the doctor," +declared Mrs. Thayne, entering Win's room after his caller had +mounted Saracen and ridden away. "You look fifty per cent +brighter." + +"He's a crackerjack," said Win briefly. "He's promised to do some +investigating on his own account and I feel sure that he can +induce Colonel Lisle to let us try an experiment if it is needed. +But, Mother, there's something I've been meaning to tell you all +day, not about the Spanish chest or anything to do with it. You +know we spoke once of how Miss Estelle reminded us of some one at +home. This morning instead of sending a servant with my breakfast, +she brought it herself, and when she was arranging things, I +remembered whom it is she looks like. It is your friend, Mrs. +Aldrich." + +"Win, you're right," said Mrs. Thayne suddenly. "Estelle _is_ like +Carrie Aldrich, and not in looks alone, but in manner. Now how can +that possibly be? Of course it is only a chance resemblance but it +must exist since you notice it, too. I wonder whether Fran ever +carried out her intention of asking Edith whether they had any +relatives in the United States. She spoke of doing so." + +"What good would that do, if Mrs. Aldrich is the person Estelle +resembles?" asked Win. "Haven't you known her all her life?" + +"I met her at school," replied his mother, "when we both were +young girls and then knew her intimately. Of later years, we have +seen less of each other, though we have always kept up the +friendship. There seems no possible connection between Carrie +Aldrich and Estelle and the likeness must be only in our minds. +They say, you know, that every person in the world has a double +somewhere." + +"I'd like mighty well to be Mr. Max's double if I could only +choose," muttered Win to himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ROGER THE MAROONED + + +No word came from the Manor the next day, only a big bunch of +fragrant lilies for Win and some jelly of which Paget alone knew +the secret recipe. Early Tuesday morning Max's prophesied storm +arrived in earnest and the young people at Rose Villa saw the +Granville boat leave her pier amid sheets of driving rain. Her +decks looked dreary and deserted, for all the passengers were +inside. + +"I suppose Mr. Max is on board for he was obliged to go," observed +Frances, as the steamer disappeared in low-hanging banks of fog +drifting continually nearer shore. + +"Yes," agreed Win, who was dressed and about, though still looking +ill. "There will be some word when he gets back to Paris. It +stormed so yesterday that he probably couldn't go into the cave as +he planned." + +"Life seems very tame after all the interesting things that +happened last week," sighed Frances, gathering her French grammar +and other school books. "Rain or no rain, there will be school, +and English rain seems somehow _wetter_ than American. You'd +better eat that jelly, Win. According to Nurse, it is the elixir +of life and warranted to cure every ill known to man." + +Win smiled as he watched his sister and Edith down the steps, and +waved a listless hand as they turned inquiring faces under bobbing +umbrellas at the end of the terrace. He looked enviously after +Roger, a tall slim clothespin in black rubber coat and boots, +sou'wester pulled firmly over his head, tramping sturdily toward +the beach, evidently on some definite errand. Win would have liked +mightily to be swinging along with him through the storm, but the +fun of facing a tempest was not for Win. + +For a few moments he stood idly by the window, wondering whether +Connie knew what Max had possibly discovered in his inspection of +cave and vaults. Then he turned with a sigh, reminding himself +that with the weather what it was, and in this land of few +telephones, there was no chance of hearing anything from the +Manor. + +Gradually the stormy morning passed, somewhat dully for Win, who +still felt unfit to study or even to occupy himself with a book, +and lay upon the couch while his mother read aloud. + +Frances returned from school, ravenously hungry and quite rosy +with the rain that had beaten in her face. + +"Mother, I am nearly starved!" she announced. + +"Why, it is time for luncheon," said Mrs. Thayne, awakening to a +realization of that fact. "But where is Roger? He can't have taken +the whole morning just to deliver that message for Estelle." + +"He could easily, Mother," said Win. "Why, if I had a chance to +get out in this storm, I feel sure it would take me forever to do +the simplest errand. He'll come home when he's hungry." + +The gong for luncheon sounded and the three sat down to Annette's +delicious scallops, daintily creamed in their own big shells, her +French bread and perfect chocolate. Still Roger did not come. + +Nurse took the plates, and brought dessert; fruit, clotted cream +with plum jam, and a special glass of egg-nog for Win. + +"Shall we put Mr. Roger's lunch to the fire?" she asked of Mrs. +Thayne. + +"I don't see why he doesn't come. He can't have gone to the Manor +and if he had, they would have sent word if he were staying. No, +you needn't keep it warm, Nurse. Unless he has some very good +excuse when he comes, he may lunch upon bread and milk. It's +really very naughty of him to go off like this when he had lessons +to learn." + +"It's queer where he can be," observed Fran. "He started on his +errand just after Edith and I came out and saw Annette buying +scallops of the fish-woman. He's crazy about them you know, and he +asked particularly if they were for luncheon, and told her to be +sure to get plenty." + +"Oh, I don't suppose anything has happened," said Mrs. Thayne +quietly, for she did not wish Win to worry. + +When Roger was still missing half an hour later, Mrs. Thayne +sought Estelle. + +"Whatever can have happened?" said Estelle helplessly. "I can't +think. Did he have any money?" + +"Why, perhaps a few pence, not much anyway," replied Mrs. Thayne. +"You think he went into St. Helier's and had to walk back? That's +possible. Fran, it's not storming so hard now. Put on your rain- +coat and run out to the end of the terrace. Perhaps with the +field-glasses you can make out whether he is coming down the beach +or is anywhere in sight." + +Frances returned with the report that there was practically no +beach, owing to the high tide, and no foot-farers on the narrow +strip that was visible in the fog. + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne knew what was best to do. Estelle +suggested the police and then the rector, but neither seemed to +Mrs. Thayne likely to offer a solution. + +"We will wait a while," she said with an anxious glance at the +clock just striking two. "Don't do or say anything to let Win +think I am worried, Fran. Let me take your coat. I'll go down to +the beach myself. I really think that Roger should be punished for +causing us such anxiety." + +Had his mother only known, Roger was already enduring considerable +self-inflicted penance for getting into a predicament which made +it impossible for him to return. + +Delivering Estelle's message at a cottage by the shore had taken +but a few moments and with most of the morning before him, Roger +set out along the beach, glorying in the force of wind and rain. +True, there were lessons to be prepared for Bill Fish, who would +come cheerfully swimming in at the appointed hour, but there was +surely time for a stroll toward Noirmont Point. + +The tide was far out and wet hard sand stretched in every +direction, very pleasing to stamp over, and retaining little trace +of any footprint. Only gray gulls and drifting fog banks +distinguished the immediate surroundings. + +As Roger tramped on, he noticed that the fog grew steadily thicker +and that his path included occasional seaweed-covered rocks, but +not until a black mass loomed up before him, did he realize that +he had left the true beach and was walking straight out to sea. +The bulk he had encountered was not the martello tower on Noirmont +Point but the old castle of St. Aubin's, at high tide an island in +the bay. + +No thought of any danger in his position struck Roger. He had +always intended to investigate that island but somehow had never +yet done so. Here it lay before him. + +Climbing the rocks upon which the castle stands, he made a careful +survey of its outside and finally gained access to the interior, +much disappointed to find nothing at all remarkable, though St. +Aubin's castle is not wholly a ruin and was once rented and +occupied for a season by an eccentric Englishman. + +Nothing was now visible save swirling fog and for the first time, +Roger realized what that fog meant. He hastily made his way to the +little beach, where the tide, still out, would permit him to cross +to the mainland. To start in the right direction was simple +enough, for he very well knew which side of the castle faced the +shore, but he had taken scarcely twenty steps down the sand when +he saw that he had no certainty of keeping his bearings once the +island was left behind. + +Roger was only twelve, but he was possessed of common-sense and +self-reliance. Though the youngest of the family he had been so +thoroughly impressed with the necessity of considering "safety +first" in regard to Win, that in an emergency of any kind he was +usually level-headed. He stopped where he was, searching his +pockets for the compass Captain Thayne had given to each of his +three children. + +Roger's pockets yielded a strange and varied assortment of +objects, presumably of value, but no compass. He looked +irresolutely behind where the castle was just visible as a darker +spot in the fog. Nothing at all could be distinguished ahead. + +From the lighthouse on the point came the tolling of a bell, but +its warning tones were so scattered and disguised by the fog, that +its sound was of no use as a guide. + +For several moments Roger stood where he was. The distance to +shore was not great if he was only certain of going straight +ahead. To swerve from that direction meant wandering out to meet +the cruel Jersey tide, presently coming in like a hunter on its +prey. To remain where he was meant anxious hours for his mother +and for Win, about whom Roger was already so much concerned. + +Having weighed the alternatives, he took five steps forward and +stood absolutely surrounded by the whirling mist. A sort of horror +came over him, a keen realization of his helplessness before one +of the great elemental forces of nature. The risk was too great! +There was a chance that he might keep in the right direction with +nothing to guide him, but it was only a chance. Worried as his +mother would doubtless be, better that she endure a few hours of +anxiety than lasting grief. + +Turning squarely about, Roger retraced his footsteps, already +faint, to the castle, where he perched forlornly on a high rock. A +little later, he heard for he could not see, the low hiss and +gurgle of the coming tide. Roger was a big, strong, brave boy, but +at the sound, he could not suppress a few tears, and they were not +wholly for his own plight. + +Mrs. Thayne returned from her fruitless expedition to the beach, +looking still more distressed. + +"I can't imagine where Roger is," she said anxiously to Frances. +"Of course, there may be some good excuse for this performance, +but I don't see what it can be. He knows that he is not to go into +town without permission and it seems as though he would have come +home for luncheon unless he was in St. Helier's. If he really has +been disobedient and played truant again into the bargain, I shall +ask Mr. Fisher to punish him." + +"Oh, Mother," said Frances, "Roger wouldn't deliberately frighten +us, especially when he's been so upset over Win." + +"But where _is_ he?" said Mrs. Thayne again. "Thank goodness! +Here's Mr. Fisher." + +She hurried down to intercept the tutor at the door. Lingering at +the head of the stair, Frances heard her name called from Win's +room. + +"Is Mother dreadfully troubled?" he asked as she entered. "I think +Roger went back to the cave and has been shut in." + +"Oh, I hope not," said Frances. "Mother's annoyed but it seems to +me he must be all right. When he gets ready he will turn up with +some wonderful tale of adventure." + +"I suspect he's in some scrape," said Win. "Might not be such a +bad idea to appeal to the police after all. I only wish I wasn't +such a helpless stick," he added rather bitterly. + +"Mr. Fisher has gone down to the beach," reported Frances from the +window. "I'm glad he's come, for Mother will feel better to have +him to consult." + +Both were silent for a moment, thinking of Roger, blunt, loyal, +impulsive Roger, hoping that nothing serious had befallen him. + +Presently Mrs. Thayne came, her face expressing a calm she did not +feel. "Mr. Fisher thinks there is no cause for us to worry," she +remarked placidly. "He is going to take what he calls a 'turn +about the town.' Frances, suppose you go on reading to Win while I +sew a little." + +Frances took the book Win held out to her, and Mrs. Thayne's +fingers twitched the needle through her embroidery, both ears +alert for sound of returning steps. The clock struck three and +then four. Nothing happened. Roger did not come and Mr. Fisher did +not reappear. + +Over on St. Aubin's tiny island, Roger watched the water creep +steadily up the rocks, up and up until it broke almost at the +foundations of the castle. Cruel, cold, and gray it looked and +hungry and chilly was the boy who watched. Once a gull flew so +close that he could almost touch it as it vanished like a ghost +into the fog. + +At intervals Roger inspected his watch, counting the moments till +the tide should cease to make. At last the water stopped climbing +the rocks, remained stationary, fell an inch. The next wave broke +still farther below. + +But unless the fog should lift, ebb tide would only duplicate +Roger's predicament of the morning. Toward four he saw that the +mist was gradually growing lighter; saw water visible fifty feet +from the island. Presently a breeze sprang into being, the most +welcome wind Roger had ever known. Before it the fog thinned, grew +filmy, dispersed in shreds of trailing vapor. Noirmont Point and +St. Aubin's village came gradually into distinct view, and with +them a man walking along the sand. + +Water ten feet deep and many wide still barred Roger from the +shore and he could not make himself heard above the slow heave of +the rollers lazily breaking on the beach. Was there no way to +attract the saunterer's attention? + +Finding a long branch, relic of some storm-wrecked tree, Roger +tied his handkerchief to it and waved vigorously. After a time, +the man on the beach noticed the flag and stood looking toward it. + +A bright idea struck Roger. At home he had belonged to a troop of +boy scouts and knew the signals. He would experiment on this +stranger. + +Just by chance, Mr. Fisher at one time had been a scout-master and +instantly realized that Roger, marooned on St. Aubin's island, was +trying to send a message. Hastily improvising a flag, he +responded. + +Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Thayne, still nervously sewing, heard +Mr. Fisher run up the steps and Estelle hurry to the door. A few +brief seconds sufficed to give the explanation Roger had so +painstakingly signaled. + +"I didn't stop to rescue him, Mrs. Thayne," explained Mr. Fisher, +"because his one thought was for you and Win, not to let you worry +a moment longer." + +"Can't you get a boat and row out for him?" asked Estelle, seeing +that Mrs. Thayne was unable to speak. "Poor dear boy, he must be +cold and famished." + +"I'm off to Noirmont Point," replied Mr. Fisher briefly. "It +shouldn't take long to pull over and back, provided that I pick up +a boat quickly." + +In spite of the tutor's best efforts, darkness had fallen before +the marooned prisoner was returned to his anxious family, who sat +around to see him eat everything pressed upon him. Roger was pale +and very subdued. Strangest of all, he had come up Noirmont +Terrace pressed close to the side of the obnoxious Bill Fish and +not in the least resenting the hand that rested on his shoulder. + +Having consumed all the food in sight, he yielded without protest +to his mother's desire that he should go to bed in order to ward +off possible chill. When Mr. Fisher, heartily thanked, had taken +his departure, Mrs. Thayne started for Roger's room. On its +threshold she stopped for the boys were talking. + +"I hated it like time out there," said Roger, now reposing +luxuriously in bed. "But I hated worse to have you and Mother +worried. I didn't purposely go over to the island, Win." + +"I know you didn't," said his brother. "I was sure that something +you couldn't help had happened." + +"It did," sighed Roger. "I guess I'll never again do anything that +worries Mother, now I know how it feels to worry over somebody +myself. And I say, Win, Bill Fish is all right! To think of his +knowing the scout signals! And he pulled out for me himself in a +heavy old dory that weighed a ton. Why, Bill Fish isn't so bad!" + +"And have you just found that out?" asked Win laughing. "I've +known it all the time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AT CORBIERE + + +Not until Friday did Win receive the longed-for letter from Paris. +He tore it open eagerly. + +"DEAR WIN," it ran, "I've just arrived in town and am wishing I +was back in Jersey. As the steamer sailed, I looked over at St +Aubin's and thought of you. You couldn't see me of course, both +for fog and because I was in the wheel-house with the pilot, Jim +Trott, a fellow from Gorey village. + +"Probably you thought that we didn't get into the cave on Monday +on account of the weather. It was beastly, but I decided to try, +and when Connie knew my plan, she insisted on going with me. +Pierre came too, with a lantern and we went down without much +trouble. + +"Pierre and I tackled your stone pile at once and we pitched +quantities aside, but couldn't finish because Connie, who was +watching the tide, called a halt too soon. But we cleared enough +rocks away to feel rather sure there is an opening of some kind +beyond; just possibly the passage you are so keen on, more +probably connecting with another cave. The Jersey cliffs are +honey-combed with them. How's that for exciting news? + +"Connie haled us out before there was really any need and of +course the tide did not serve for us to go again. When I come at +Easter, I'll finish the job if necessary. After playing ball with +several tons of stone, we then explored the vaults, armed with a +hammer and a long line. + +"Well, old fellow, I pounded that north wall inch by inch and I +can't conscientiously say I struck anything that sounded at all +hollow. But still, it's not like tapping on plaster or wood; one +couldn't reasonably expect the same result for the stone is +probably some feet thick. And if the whole wall is the side of the +tunnel, naturally it would all sound alike, so that test doesn't +really prove or disprove anything. + +"The discovery Connie and I did make, and to my mind it is rather +important, is that you are right in thinking that there is a +discrepancy between the walls of the oldest vault and the adjacent +cellar. Outside the house, the foundation wall runs flush the +length of the library and the wing beyond; inside, that same +foundation wall doesn't jibe. According to our measurements, there +is a difference of over a metre, almost four feet, in the length +of the partition at right angles to the north wall as reckoned on +either side. This certainly bears out your theory of a passage +running along that wall. + +"We looked very carefully but could not detect that there had ever +been any opening, but all the masonry is so rough that perhaps we +couldn't expect to find it. + +"Uncle Dick is interested but sceptical, says the difference in +measurement may be accounted for by walls built at different +times. When he thinks it over a little, he will see that no Lisle +in his senses,--and the Lisles possess sense,--would have put four +extra feet of solidity into a wall which had no earthly reason to +need such treatment. But he said that when I came at Easter, we +may have a mason and knock a hole wherever we choose. Messing +about in the cellar is a harmless amusement that may keep us out +of mischief and provide employment for some deserving workman. +Before that date, I trust you will succeed in getting Uncle Dick +into a less doubting frame of mind. Easter is but a month away and +if all goes well, I'll surely be back and we will hunt that +Spanish chest to its lair. + +"Had no adventures coming here. Jean seemed relieved when I told +him to drive. When I reached my rooms, I found a note directing me +to report for duty to-morrow prepared to show some important +American from the western States the sights of Paris. That means a +gay and giddy day. I only hope I sha'n't have to interpret while +he buys hats for Madam and the young ladies at home. Once I was +let in for that and it was pretty sickening. I've often wondered +what the ladies thought of those hats. I also hope he won't be +keen on climbing the Eiffel tower, for that's one of the things +that's not done in Paris. + +"I must go to bed for it is after two and my day to-morrow, or +rather to-day, may include an evening as well. + +"Till Easter then adieu, and all best wishes, + +"M. R. HAMILTON." + +This letter naturally afforded Win a great deal of satisfaction +and his interest and pleasure were shared by the others. To wait a +whole month to solve the mystery of the Spanish chest when so +distinct a clue appeared already in his hand, was a trial of +patience. Naturally Colonel Lisle would not be likely to go ahead +in the matter until Max returned to inspire action by his youthful +enthusiasm, and it was only fair that Max should be in at the +finish. Win wondered whether Connie shared the Colonel's +scepticism. This proved not the case, only that Connie and her +father were going to London for a week or two and the little lady +of the Manor had other ideas to occupy her pretty head. + +"We may even run over to Paris," she announced during a farewell +call at Rose Villa. "Max has been begging us ever since he was +sent there, so it's possible we may cross for a few days and plan +so that we come back together at Easter." + +"Wouldn't it be jolly to go around Paris with Mr. Max," said Win +almost enviously. "I haven't forgotten how dandy he was to me in +Washington. Dad took me along when he was calling on some official +and then found he was in for a morning's conference. The Secretary +sent for a young man, who proved to be Mr. Max and told him to +look after me. I was only fifteen, but Mr. Max took as much pains +to give me a good time as though I'd been somebody really +important." + +"That's like Max," said Connie briefly, her eyes showing pleasure +at Win's tribute. "I think he's detailed for service such as that +more often than the other young men of the Embassy because he gets +on so well with all sorts of people. It's a real gift and a very +valuable one for a prospective diplomat. But you are celebrating +one of your great national days this week, aren't you?" + +"Yes, Washington's birthday," said Frances. "Luckily it comes on +Wednesday, so we have a holiday. We were going to have a picnic at +Corbiere and invite you, Miss Connie." + +"Indeed, I wish I could be there," said Constance with genuine +regret in her voice, "but I'll be in London. We'll keep up our +spirits by remembering that it's only a brief time to Easter and +then we are to start again on the trail of the Spanish chest." + +Estelle consented to join the holiday celebration, and when the +twenty-second dawned bright and sunny, Rose Villa was the scene of +an animated flurry. In the dining-room, Edith, Frances and Estelle +were putting up the lunch, while Win collected painting traps for +the picture he hoped to sketch, and Roger departed to bring the +pony and cart engaged for the day. + +Corbiere Point was distant about four miles and all except Win and +his mother proposed to walk, since the little carriage could take +lunch baskets and wraps. + +Roger appeared with a plump stubborn Welsh pony, attached to a +funny little cart which he gayly informed them was a "gingle." +Neither Edith nor Estelle, who were familiar with the term as used +in Cornwall, thought it odd but Roger considered it most absurd. + +Even the short legs of a tiny pony could cover the ground more +rapidly than the walking party, and when the pedestrians reached +their destination, no sign of Win, his mother, pony or gingle was +visible. + +"Oh, what a wonderful view!" exclaimed Estelle stopping short. + +Before them lay Corbiere lighthouse, built on a bold rock, at +flood tide an island, but at this hour approachable from the +mainland by a causeway. In the foreground stretched an expanse of +jagged red reefs and shining pools with a single martello tower +rising in dignified grandeur. At the right lay a hill, its summit +crowned by one stone cottage with a thatched roof, and down the +hill a narrow road wandered to disappear in a cleft between two +gigantic red granite boulders sprinkled with glittering quartz and +partly covered with gray and bright orange lichens. Green grass +and turquoise blue sea with a single white sail dipping to the +horizon completed the color scheme. Near at hand hovered several +of the sea-crows, _corbieres_, which have given the point its +name. + +Estelle's soft eyes grew wide and a pretty pink flush came into +her usually pale cheeks as she gazed into the distance. Roger and +the girls were looking for the rest of the party. + +The thatched cottage seemed utterly without life, windows blank +and no sign of any domestic proceedings. + +"It must be deserted," said Edith as they strolled on. + +"Here's a shed with something black in it," said Roger. "I can +just see its head. It's a goat." + +"It's a black stocking hung to dry," declared Edith. + +"Stocking, nothing," replied Roger. "I know it's a goat." + +The two hung over the gate and deliberately stared into the little +shed. "No goat ever stopped still for so long," persisted Edith, +when three full minutes had passed without motion in the shed. + +"I'll go in and see," began Roger, about to climb the gate. A +sudden exclamation from Frances deterred him. + +"Goodness, here's a black cat! Where did it come from?" + +Upon the doorstep now sat a perfectly motionless black cat. + +"Look at the black hens!" added Edith, bursting into laughter. + +At either corner of the stone cottage two coal black hens were +visible, also like statues, and possessing bright yellow eyes. + +"_And_ a black dog in a barrel!" Frances fairly shrieked. + +"Well, a dog has some sense!" said Roger, whistling and calling. +Strange to say, the dog neither stirred nor lifted its head. Nose +on its paws it remained absolutely still. + +"This is a bum lot of animals," observed Roger. "I never saw a dog +before that wouldn't at least bark at strangers." + +"It's probably dumb as well as deaf," commented Frances. + +"But it might at least _move_," expostulated Roger. "Perhaps it's +paralyzed." + +"Perhaps this cottage and everything about it is enchanted," +suggested Edith. "Miss Connie said something, don't you remember, +about a place where the Jersey witches hold their meetings?" + +"That is 'way the other end of the island," retorted Roger, "down +at St. Clement's." + +There was something uncanny about that collection of dusky, +motionless animals and the three were conscious of real relief +when the two hens at last walked off in quite a hen-like, not to +say human manner. But cat, dog and goat remained as though +petrified. + +"Mother's calling," said Frances. "Come along, Roger. Lunch!" + +Roger postponed his intention of stirring up the dog to see +whether it was stuffed or paralyzed, and they turned in the +direction of the call. + +Luncheon was already spread on the grass in shelter of a big rock, +the Stars and Stripes forming the table decoration. At sight of +the flag, Roger and Fran stopped and saluted gravely as their +father had taught them. + +"Mother!" exclaimed Roger, his eyes widening. "Is that a chocolate +layer-cake? Where did it come from?" + +"I made it," said Mrs. Thayne. "Miss Estelle said I might and +Annette was quite pleased to watch me, and see how an American +cake was constructed." + +No doubt that the young people were frankly happy, though spending +this holiday in so unusual a fashion. After luncheon, Win prepared +to sketch the lighthouse and the other three proposed to visit it. + +As they ran down the hill toward the causeway and the heap of +picturesque red rocks bared by the water, Mrs. Thayne settled +herself with her embroidery and Estelle produced her netting. + +After a few moments spent consulting with Win as to the exact +angle desirable for his sketch, Mrs. Thayne felt for her watch, +remembered that she did not bring it and looked at Estelle. + +"Will you tell me the time?" she asked. "Win's hands are full with +his palette and block." + +"Certainly," said Estelle. "It's just two." + +As she replaced her watch, a sudden look of interest crossed Mrs. +Thayne's face. + +"What a curious chain you have, Estelle," she remarked. "Is it an +old one? May I take it a moment?" + +"It belonged to my grandmother, my mother's mother," replied +Estelle, unfastening the chain and holding it out to Mrs. Thayne. +"I think it is very old for I never saw another like it." + +Mrs. Thayne examined the trinket carefully. It was hand-made, of +pale yellow gold, and the links, instead of being round, were +rectangular, yet so fastened in a series of three as to produce +the effect of a round cable. + +"It is an awkward thing to use," said Estelle, "because sometimes +those links get turned and it is very difficult to work them into +place." + +Mrs. Thayne looked up, a curiously intent expression on her face. +"Estelle," she said abruptly, "have you any relatives in America?" + +"Not that I know of," Estelle replied, surprised by the sudden +question, "though I suppose it is quite possible. Grandmother's +sister married a young man who went out to the colonies, somewhere +near Toronto, I think. We have known nothing of them since +Grandmother died and that was before I was born. I think Mother +completely lost touch with Great-aunt Emma. It is easy, you know, +when one belongs to a different generation and has never seen +one's aunt." + +"Then you don't know whether your Great-aunt Emma had children?" +asked Mrs. Thayne, twisting the odd chain reflectively between her +fingers. + +"Oh, yes," said Estelle. "I do happen to know that. There were +two, a girl and a boy. Now I think of it, I recall that the girl +married and went to the States. I do not know how one speaks of +your counties, but it was not the city of New York,--perhaps New +Yorkshire?" + +"New York State," put in Win so abruptly that his mother jumped. +To all appearances he had been completely absorbed in his +painting. + +"But you don't know the name of the man she married?" Mrs. Thayne +asked. + +"I do not," replied Estelle. "But I could find out, for it will be +among Father's papers. I think he had a hazy idea of writing some +time to Canada to get in touch if possible with Mother's +relatives. But it was never done, and I should hesitate to do it, +--especially now." + +"Lest they might think you were seeking aid," Mrs. Thayne thought, +with a tender appreciation of Estelle's proud independence, but +she kept her inference to herself. + +"Do you know whether your grandmother's sister who went to Canada +also possessed a chain like this?" she asked. + +"Why, yes," said Estelle, laying down her work and looking out to +sea. "I know she did. Great-grandfather Avery once bought two just +alike in Paris and gave one to each of his daughters. This came to +me through Mother." + +Mrs. Thayne started to speak but caught Win's eyes fixed upon her +inquiringly. Something in their expression checked the words she +was about to utter. + +"After all, better be sure," she thought. "It is a very curious +old trinket, Estelle," she said, returning the chain. "Some time +when you think of it, I wish you would look in your father's +papers and find the married name of that cousin who went to New +York State." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WIN WONDERS + + +"Mother," said Win solemnly, "I shook in my shoes this afternoon. +Didn't you notice the lurid mixture of colors I was daubing on my +block? And all because I knew you were having psychic thoughts and +I was so afraid you would say what I thought you were thinking and +startle Estelle. I wanted so much to know myself just what you +were driving at with your watch-chains that I almost chewed my +tongue off trying not to speak." + +"I know it," said Mrs. Thayne. "I felt you quaking, Win, and +decided to keep still. After all, the only sensible way was to +find out definitely that name. Estelle is so proud and so +reluctant to accept help that one must move carefully in trying to +smooth her pathway." + +The two were alone in Mrs. Thayne's room after the happy picnic at +Corbiere. Through the open window floated the occasional sound of +voices from the end of the terrace where Roger, Edith, and Frances +stood watching the steamer for Southampton round Noirmont Point. + +"And now that I do know the name, I am still uncertain what is +best to do," reflected Mrs. Thayne. "But you asked about the +chain, Win. The moment I saw that one of Estelle's I knew that I +had seen a similar one in the United States. For a time I could +not place it, and really it is a thing of unusual workmanship and +not likely to be largely duplicated. Then it came to me in a flash +that Carrie Aldrich often wears a chain like that and once told me +that it had belonged to her mother." + +"But I never knew that Mrs. Aldrich was English," said Win +wonderingly. "I thought she'd always lived in Boston." + +"I knew that she was a Canadian," replied his mother, "but she was +educated in the United States and married an American. To trace +her ancestry never occurred to me. She is so thoroughly and +completely American that one would never think of her forefathers +as being anything else. + +"I can hardly keep silent," she went on. "When I think of Carrie +alone in that huge house in Boston, with her big income and her +still bigger heart and only her charities to fill it and to occupy +her time, and then think of Estelle, so proudly trying to support +herself and Edith in a land where self-support for women is not +easy,--why, Win, it seems as though I must tell her on the spot. +And yet, if I do, I am quite sure Estelle will just shut herself +up in the armor of her pride and refuse to make herself known. +Taking both the testimony of the chains and the very pronounced +family resemblance, there can be no reasonable doubt of the +identity." + +"I think Estelle would refuse," said Win slowly. "She's foolishly +proud. She thinks, Mother, that you pay more than the house is +worth and so she does her level best to make it up to us in other +ways." + +"I believe I will write to Carrie," mused Mrs. Thayne. "She'd be +interested and anxious to see the girls. I'm sure she doesn't +realize that she has any cousins in England." + +"Mother," said Win with deliberation, "why don't you ask Mrs. +Aldrich to come over and visit us for a little? You'd like to have +her and so would we. Probably she has nothing especial to keep her +at home and might be glad to be let out of a month or two of +winter." + +"That's a bright idea, Win!" exclaimed his mother. "Only I suppose +she has several pet charities that she will feel she can't leave +at short notice." + +"In that case," replied Win, "probably you'd better write her +about the girls, only do tell her to come and see for herself. It +strikes me that nothing but knowing each other would ever really +bring them together." + +"Win, you are so like your father," said Mrs. Thayne +affectionately. "Your minds work alike. I find I'm growing to +depend more and more upon your judgment." + +In the dusk Mrs. Thayne could not see the flush that spread over +her son's thin face. To be likened in any way to Captain Thayne +was praise indeed for Win. + +"I only wish I could take more off your shoulders, Mother," he +said briefly, "instead of being a great lazy lump that the whole +family has to take thought for." + +"Here's Annette with letters," said Mrs. Thayne. "Why, I did not +expect mail until tomorrow." + +Some moments passed until Win was aroused from his own +correspondence by a sudden surprised exclamation from his mother. + +"Never say you don't believe in special providences. This seems +almost incredible, but here is a note from Mrs. Aldrich, written +from London! She's come over to attend some charity congress and +wants me to run up for a few days." + +"Then it is meant that you should, Mother," said Win, smiling. +"That coincidence hasn't happened for nothing. You can tell her +about the girls much more convincingly than it could be written, +and bring her back with you to see them. It will all be natural +and Estelle will never suspect." + +"I'll do it," said Mrs. Thayne, but the next second a shadow crossed +her face. Her sharp-eyed son instantly saw and interpreted. + +"I'll not overdo, Mother," he said immediately. "Trust me to rival +the sloth in idleness. I promise you that I won't stir one step +out of my usual routine." + +"But there's Roger," mused his mother. + +"Oh, Roger is walking the straight and narrow path of virtue. Ever +since ex-scoutmaster Bill Fish rescued him from a desert island, +he's been meekness itself. Makes me smile to see his star-eyed +devotion. This plan is too evidently designed, for you to give it +the cold shoulder." + +"It does seem so," agreed his mother. "Well, I'll go by Saturday's +boat. Win, don't you think it would be best not to say anything to +Fran and Roger? We will tell them after I have seen Carrie." + +"I certainly do," Win declared. "Fran couldn't keep that secret +one half day. It wouldn't interest the kid." + +The absence of the family did not prevent Win's enjoyment of the +Manor library and during his mother's stay in London, he paid it +several visits. Evidently the servants had been instructed to +expect and make him welcome, should he appear, for a smiling face +answered his ring and the fire in the library was invariably +lighted on his arrival. But Win's conscience would not allow him +to neglect Roger even for these delightful hours of solitude, so +this pleasure was only occasional. + +With the pony and gingle they explored many of the lovely Jersey +lanes and headlands, for driving seldom tired Win. Half a morning +passed in this fascinating occupation left Roger ready to spend +the time before luncheon in preparing his lessons. When they were +over in the afternoon, Mr. Fisher usually suggested kicking +football on the beach or led Roger a walk sufficiently strenuous +to leave him disposed for a quiet evening. Estelle and Nurse both +thought Roger "good as gold," and did not realize how much of his +virtue was due to the forethought of brother and tutor. + +One morning Estelle had errands in town and invited Roger to go +with her. Hearing his joyful acceptance, Win as gladly betook +himself to the Manor. + +Spring was far advanced now, potatoes were being planted and other +early vegetables already showing in green rows. Under the trees on +the Manor grounds wild snow-drops starred the grass. Win wandered +into the formal garden enclosed by a hedge of box so clipped as to +form a solid wall with square pillars topped by round balls of +living green. In the background posed two peacocks, also clipped +from box. What patience, time and care had been required to bring +that hedge to such perfection! Early roses were now plentiful and +as Win sauntered through their fragrant mazes, he realized how +much loving thought had been expended through the centuries on +this old garden. Sad indeed that the present owner of Laurel Manor +was the last Richard Lisle. + +Win's reverie was broken by the passing of Pierre, with a pleasant +"_Bon jour, M'sieur_," and a touch of his cap. Pierre carried a +rope and crowbar, unusual implements for a gardener's assistant. + +Win watched him idly down the laurel-bordered drive and then went +into the library, followed by Tylo, who seemed depressed in the +absence of his mistress. + +About eleven, Win was visited by Yvonne, bringing a glass of milk +and a plate of biscuit, which she placed beside him with a +politely murmured "M'sieur labors so diligently!" + +"Thank you, Yvonne," said Win. "It's good of you to bring that. Do +you know when the Colonel and Miss Connie are expected?" + +"No word since they arrived at Paris," replied Yvonne in her +daintily accented English. + +"It is Pierre who hears from M'sieur Max, a letter, brief indeed, +but explicit, that certain matters may arrange themselves in +readiness for the coming of M'sieur Max." + +Win looked puzzled. For a second Yvonne stood regarding him, her +head slightly on one side. + +"Word will perhaps arrive on the morrow," she volunteered. "Is the +milk to M'sieur's liking?" + +"Very much. Thank you, Yvonne." + +The trim little maid replenished the fire, replaced a daffodil +fallen from a vase, patted Tylo, gave him a biscuit and vanished +as noiselessly as she came. + +Left alone, Win began to walk slowly up and down the library, +wondering about the matters which were "to arrange themselves." +The tools Pierre carried, the direction in which he was walking, +to Win's alert mind suggested the Manor cave. Had Max told Pierre +to complete clearing away that heap of stones and if so, why? + +Never in his life had Win been so tempted to break his word. In +spite of the voluntary promise to his mother to do nothing in the +least unusual, it seemed as though he _must_ go and see what was +taking place in the cave. + +"Pierre would help me up," he told himself. + +"Yes," came the instant answer, "but Roger gave you all the help +he could and yet you were in bed two days and felt ill for a +week." + +Win thought of questioning Pierre, but abandoned the idea as not +quite on the level. A note from Max had come on yesterday's +steamer presumably in company with the directions to Pierre. There +was not a word in it about the cave and if the writer had wanted +Win to know what was going on, he would have told him. No, Win's +code of honor would not permit him to find out by asking Pierre. +And yet two weeks until Easter! + +Win gave a long whistle, looked wistfully down to the sea and +again took up his book. + +When he returned for luncheon at Rose Villa, he found Roger +convulsing Frances by his account of the morning spent in town +with Estelle. + +"It's lucky I don't have to do the marketing for this family," he +announced. "If you wanted cream now, where would you get it?" + +"A dairy, of course, or a market," replied Frances. + +"Wrong. Much cream you'd get! Try a fish-monger's." + +At Roger's disgusted tone, Fran giggled, "Oh, I've learned a lot," +he went on. "Where would you ask for one of those paper patterns +to cut out a dress?" + +"A dry-goods store," answered his sister. + +"Do say a draper's if that is what you mean," continued Roger. +"You would only waste time. Go to a book-shop." + +"I will," said Fran. "Thanks for the tip." + +"I wanted to get weighed," said Roger, "because I know I am +becoming a shadow studying so hard. I asked Miss Estelle where to +go and told her I didn't think the nickel-in-the-slot machines +were very accurate--Well, what's wrong with that?" + +Roger stopped for both Win and Frances were laughing at him. + +"Here you are knocking English customs," said Win at last. "As +though Miss Estelle knew what a nickel was, let alone a slot +machine, although I have seen some of them." + +"I don't see anything so funny," said Roger huffily. "Perhaps she +didn't know, but she was polite enough not to laugh and said the +place to get weighed was the hair-dresser's--" + +"Oh, come off," said Win. "That's too much, even for us." + +"Well, it is where we went and where the scales were," retorted +Roger, "but there weren't any pounds to it, only what they call +stones. I weigh exactly seven stone and I won't tell you how many +pounds that is." + +"Ninety-eight," said Win so promptly that Roger looked +disconcerted. + +"How did you know?" he demanded. + +"From a book," replied his brother. "A little article that you +don't yet value as highly as you might. What next?" + +"Oh, that was about all," said Roger, "except that Miss Estelle +told me I might choose some crackers, I mean biscuit, and to buy +half a kilo. I forgot and asked for half a litre and the clerk +grinned very disagreeably." + +"Liquid measure instead of dry," commented Win in amusement. +"After luncheon, Roger, permit me to introduce you to some parts +of your arithmetic that you have evidently never examined. But go +on." + +"Then I stopped to look in a window and hurried to catch Miss +Estelle and ran into a big fat man who was wearing stiff leather +gaiters and a tam o' shanter. We came together rather hard," +admitted Roger. "I didn't hurt myself much because he was quite +soft, but his tam fell off and he said, 'Bless my soul, by +George!" + +"Roger, I can't stand any more," implored Frances. + +"I don't follow the logic of that hair-dresser and the scales," +mused Win, when he had stopped laughing. "Is it before and after a +hair-cut or to see how much flesh the barber gouges out in a +shave?" + +"Give it up," said Fran. "There's the gong for luncheon and Edith +bringing the mail. I hope there's a letter from mother." + +"There is," said Edith. + +"Please excuse me, Miss Estelle, if I read it now," begged +Frances, settling into her seat at the table. + +"Of course, dear," was the reply as Estelle took Mrs. Thayne's +usual place, for she and Edith were having their meals with the +young people. + +"Now, Roger, pause," exclaimed Win, suddenly. "What are you going +to do with that?" he added, as the attention of all was +concentrated on the surprised Roger who sat with arrested hand +suspending above his plate a spoon heaped with sugar. + +"Whatever is he doing?" protested Estelle gently. "Such a mixture! +How can he eat sugar on his eggs?" + +"Thought it was pancakes," explained Roger, indicating the omelet +before him, but relinquishing the sugar. + +"Mother's coming on Wednesday," Frances announced happily. "And +she's met a friend in London, Mrs. Aldrich, who's coming with her +for a few days. Isn't that splendid, boys? You'll like her, Miss +Estelle. She's sweet." + +"I shall be glad to see any friend of your mother's," said Estelle +cordially. Looking to see whether Roger was sufficiently supplied +with butter, she did not notice the smile with which Win glanced +at her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE TWO CHAINS + + +"Estelle, will you do me a favor?" asked Mrs. Thayne, following +her young landlady into the hall. The travelers from London had +just arrived and in the drawing-room, Mrs. Aldrich was expatiating +to the boys upon the roughness of the trip. + +"Why, of course I will! You don't need to ask," replied Estelle +affectionately. + +"You and Edith have been taking your meals with the children +during my absence. Please keep on doing it. Let us all be one +family for the rest of our stay." + +"It is lovely of you to want us, Mrs. Thayne," said Estelle, her +face flushing. "We stopped with the children because I thought it +would be better and then I could personally see that they had all +they wanted. But now that you have a guest--" + +"I want you and Mrs. Aldrich to know each other," said Mrs. Thayne +quickly. "And this will be one of the easiest ways to get +acquainted." + +"I think Mrs. Aldrich is charming," remarked Estelle. "Isn't it +odd, how sometimes a likeness in a total stranger strikes one? For +a second, just as you introduced us, she reminded me so much of my +dear mother that I could hardly pull myself together to speak. She +must have thought me quite awkward." + +"I know she didn't," said Mrs. Thayne, with difficulty keeping her +face under control. She had seen Estelle start and noticed her +amazed expression when Mrs. Aldrich greeted her. So Estelle had +not been conscious of Mrs. Aldrich's constrained manner! "Then you +will have luncheon with us?" she added. + +"I will since you wish it," replied Estelle, vanishing to give +directions to Nurse. + +"Now, what is there to do this morning?" Mrs. Aldrich was asking +the boys. "I propose to stay in this island exactly one week. Your +mother was seasick so she ought to lie down and rest but I feel as +fit as a fiddle. Frances is at school, you tell me. No, I don't +want to drive this morning. Suppose you take me for a short walk, +Roger and Win, and show me what is to be seen on the beach." + +"We might take you to Noirmont Point," suggested Roger as they +stopped at the end of the terrace to look at the view which was +never twice the same. "What are those big vessels over beyond +Castle Elizabeth?" + +"They are English warships," replied Mrs. Aldrich. "Coming into +the harbor we passed close to them. The captain said it was a part +of the Channel squadron, whatever that is." + +"Oh, did you see their names?" demanded Roger eagerly, as he +counted the great gray ships in the offing. "Fourteen, no, +fifteen." + +"Only a few. One was the _Princess Royal_ and I saw the +_Thunderer_, the _Revenge_, the _Black Prince_ and the +_Camperdown_." + +Roger's eyes opened at this list of awe-inspiring names. "I wish +we could get over to Elizabeth," he remarked. "We could see them +better then." + +"Tide's not right," said Win, casting a critical glance at the +sea. + +"What, to walk over to that island?" asked Mrs. Aldrich. "Is it +ever possible?" + +"We've been over," said Roger. "When the tide is 'way out, there +is a raised causeway, quite smooth and easy." + +"What is the place anyway?" asked Mrs. Aldrich, looking curiously +across to the castle. + +"Once it was an old abbey," Win explained, "dedicated to St. +Elericus, the patron saint of Jersey. I suppose the town was named +for him." + +"How did the island itself get its name?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. +"The derivation of these charming old English names is a +fascinating study." + +"It was the old Roman Caesarea," said Win. "Jersey is a corruption +of that. The ruined hermitage of St. Elericus is still over near +Elizabeth, at least they call it that, though it's a kind of +combination of a watch-tower and a cave. But the castle, as it +stands, was built when Edward VI was king of England. There's a +story to the effect that all the bells in the island except one +for each of the twelve churches were seized by royal authority and +ordered sold to help pay for building the castle. They were +shipped to St. Malo and expected to bring a high price, but the +vessel went down on the way and all the good church people thought +it was because of sacrilege in taking those bells." + +"What is the castle used for now?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. + +"Barracks," replied Roger. "The place is full of soldiers. It's no +good now as a fortification, because Fort Regent up above St. +Helier's--over there on the cliffs--could knock Castle Elizabeth +and all those warships into fits in no time. Nothing can enter the +bay if the Fort Regent guns don't approve. And that heap of rocks +where Elizabeth stands is 'most a mile around,--it is, honest. +Fran and Edith and I walked it." + +"They say," said Win, "that the space between the castle and the +town was once a meadow. For that matter, they also say that the +whole channel between here and France was once so narrow that the +Bishop of Coutances used to cross to Jersey on a plank." + +"Tell that to the marines," protested Roger. "You do find the +weirdest yarns in those books you're always grubbing in." + +"Oh, I can tell a bigger one than that," said Win laughing, "but +perhaps you'll swallow it because your friend Bill told it to me. +He said that some time in the sixteenth century there was an +abnormally low tide, lower than any one had ever known. Some +fishermen who happened to be out between Orgueil and the coast of +France came in and reported that they had distinctly seen down in +the channel the towers and streets and houses of an old town, +forty feet or more under water." + +"There are stories like that in Brittany," said Mrs. Aldrich. "The +fishermen declare that they can hear the tolling of the submerged +church bells. Now, when legends like that exist on both sides of a +channel, it stands to reason that there is likely some foundation +in truth." + +"Then why don't they send divers down to find out?" demanded Roger +bluntly. "Any enterprising country would." + +"We'll import a few Americans to do the investigating," laughed +Mrs. Aldrich. "Is this Frances coming? Who is with her?" + +"Edith," replied Win. "Miss Estelle's sister." + +"Bless me!" murmured Mrs. Aldrich. "The other was startling enough +but this resemblance is even stronger." + +Win smiled. It was great fun to look on, knowing what he did of +his mother's innocent little conspiracy, all the more fun because +the other young people were unsuspecting. + +At luncheon, where Estelle appeared with a pretty dignity, Win was +supplied with still more secret amusement. Mrs. Aldrich talked a +good deal, rather inconsequently at times, but continually looked +from one sister to the other in a way that would have aroused +suspicion had either the slightest idea that any plot was on foot. +As it was, Win saw Estelle occasionally glancing at their guest in +a puzzled manner as though trying to account for something she +found unexpected. After the meal he waylaid his mother. + +"What is Mrs. Aldrich going to do?" he asked laughingly. "I had +hard work not to give myself away during luncheon. You looked so +unnatural, Mother, that if you hadn't been seasick, Fran and Roger +would have caught on. As it was, they thought you weren't quite +rested." + +"I don't know what she is going to do," replied his mother, "but +it is working as we hoped. She is strongly attracted to the girls, +and Estelle confided to me that our guest in some unaccountable +way, reminded her of her mother. We have done our part in bringing +Carrie here; it is for her to take the next step. I rather imagine +that she won't be able to hold in very much longer, though I think +she is enjoying the situation." + +It was not until dinner of her third day in St. Aubin's, that Mrs. +Aldrich made herself known. To please Win, who had ascertained +that she chanced to have the old chain with her, she wore it when +she entered the dining-room. + +Win watched Estelle intently, disappointed that she did not +immediately notice the ornament. Indeed, they were finishing +dessert before anything happened. Perhaps purposely, Mrs. Aldrich +looked at her watch and Fran in all innocence touched the match +that fired the explosion. + +"Why, how odd!" she exclaimed. "Miss Estelle has a chain just like +that one, Mrs. Aldrich." + +Win and his mother exchanged a glance; the others naturally looked +at the chain. + +"It's precisely like it, Sister," said Edith, who sat near Mrs. +Aldrich. "Isn't that queer?" + +"It's an old keepsake," said Mrs. Aldrich with deliberation. "It +belonged to my mother. See, here are her initials on the slide, E. +A. for Emma Avery." + +Edith looked with interest but Estelle turned pale. Thoughtful Win +pushed a glass of water within reach. + +"Star's has initials too," Edith remarked innocently. "A. A., I +think they are. Anyway, it was Grandmother's chain." + +Mrs. Aldrich turned to Estelle, who perfectly colorless, was +staring at her. "Child," she said rather peremptorily, "come up to +my room and let us compare these old trinkets." + +Still speechless, Estelle mechanically arose. Amid dead silence +the two left the dining-room. Fran turned to her mother, amazed at +the look of excited pleasure on her face. "What _does_ it all +mean?" she demanded. "Is it a secret?" + +"Just a mild little conspiracy," replied Mrs. Thayne. "What it +means, is that Mrs. Aldrich was your mother's first cousin, Edith, +so she is your and Estelle's second cousin. Just by chance I +guessed from Estelle's unusual chain that the one Carrie Aldrich +wears came from the same source. When Estelle told me that her +great-grandfather gave one to each of his two daughters, the whole +thing flashed on me." + +"But that," said Edith, with her sweet childish faith, "is a +miracle." + +"Perhaps," smiled Mrs. Thayne. "I only know that we shall leave +St. Aubin's happier because you and Mrs. Aldrich have found each +other out." + +A shower of eager questions fell from Frances and Roger but a long +time passed before anything was seen of Estelle and Mrs. Aldrich. +When they reappeared to the group awaiting them in the drawing- +room, Estelle had plainly been crying and Mrs. Aldrich's eyes +looked suspiciously red. + +"Come and kiss me, Edith," she said. "I want to be Cousin Carrie +from now on. Yes, Estelle, she does look more like the Averys than +you, though I saw the resemblance in your face also." + +"Isn't the whole thing just like a story?" Frances confided to her +mother at bed-time. "What do you think will happen now?" + +"I don't know," admitted Mrs. Thayne. "Estelle is so very proud +that it will be hard for her to accept help from any one, but +Carrie will arrange things if it can be done. I know that Estelle +has been dreadfully worried because some of the little money her +father left her has been lost through an imprudent investment and +that she has not felt sure she could manage to keep the house +through another season. And yet she must find some way of +supporting herself and Edith. Things will work themselves out, for +Carrie is perfectly capable of inventing some very necessary work +for Estelle to do, which will preserve her self-respect and let +Carrie have her way. I think Carrie usually has some young person +acting as secretary and Estelle could do that easily. I am not at +all worried about the future since Estelle fortunately saw the +resemblance to her own mother in Mrs. Aldrich. I imagine that will +make it easier for her to consider whatever plan is proposed." + +"Wasn't it lucky that we came here!" sighed Frances. "And doesn't +it seem odd that we did come, just because Roger and I wanted to +take that little train the first day and chanced to find Rose +Villa? If it hadn't been for that, we might not have looked for +lodgings in St. Aubin's at all, nor known Miss Estelle and Edith. +Why, Mother!" she went on, with intenser surprise in her voice. +"It's just like the House that Jack built. If we hadn't come here, +we wouldn't have met the beach dog, nor known Miss Connie, nor +visited the Manor, nor be hunting for the Spanish chest!" + +Fran stopped, looking so comically aghast that Mrs. Thayne laughed +as she kissed her. + +"So much depended upon a passing wish to take that little train! +It is remarkable on looking back, to realize how often life turns +upon some apparently trivial incident, some insignificant choice." + +"It's time though, that we went home, Mother," said Frances +merrily. "While you were in London, Miss Estelle wanted change for +half a crown, so I tipped the money out of my purse. One piece +rolled on the floor and Roger picked it up, and said: 'Why, this +isn't a shilling! What is it?' So I took it, and, Mother, both of +us looked at it hard for several seconds before we realized that +it was a United States quarter-dollar! Don't you think it is time +that we went home?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CHEST ITSELF + + +Mrs. Aldrich's stay did not exceed her limit of a week, but she +left for London with Estelle's willing promise to come to her when +the Thaynes returned to Boston and leaving behind her two girls +with gladdened hearts. After her departure Win's interest was +again concentrated on the coming of the Manor family and the +search for the Spanish chest. + +Twice as he came or went from his visits to the library, he saw +Pierre in the distance, once actually disappearing over the cliff +edge, but Easter was close at hand when Yvonne, bringing the usual +lunch, volunteered the information that the Colonel, Miss Connie +and Mr. Max were expected on Saturday's steamer. + +Win reported this news with joy and when the day arrived the young +people began to watch for the Granville boat hours before she +could possibly arrive, hoping to distinguish familiar figures on +the deck. To their disappointment, when the steamer was finally +detected in the distance, dusk was at hand. + +"I shall do it!" said Roger firmly. "There are three packages and +we may not be in England on the Fourth of July. Besides I forgot +it on Washington's birthday." + +Fran and Win looked after him in amazement as he suddenly tore +back to the house and rushed upstairs, spreading noise on his way +and devastation in his room, where he jerked the very vitals out +of his steamer trunk, scattering its contents to the four corners. + +Nor was Edith enlightened when Roger reappeared with a pasteboard +tube in one hand, and a box of matches in the other, but Win +laughed and Frances gave a shriek of delight. + +"Bed fire!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Roger, I never knew you had it. Do +wait until the boat is a little nearer." + +"It will be darker, too," Win advised. "Make more of a show if you +wait." + +"I only hope they will know it is for them," said Roger anxiously. + +"They'll see where it comes from and perhaps they'll understand," +said Win. "But don't expect the steamer to salute as one at home +would." + +At the proper second, a flare of red illuminated the end of +Noirmont Terrace, greatly amazing not only St. Aubin's staid +population but such inhabitants of St. Helier's as chanced to be +on the water front, and affording Roger two full moments of +complete and exquisite satisfaction. + +"Real United States!" he said. "I suppose an English boat doesn't +know enough to whistle--" + +Roger stopped with his mouth open. From the _Alouette_ came two +distinct blasts of the steam siren. + +"Oh, that's Mr. Max," burst out Win in delight. "He's been in +America and understands the etiquette of red fire. And you +remember he said he knew personally all the captains on the +Channel boats. Probably he went up to the bridge and got somebody +to acknowledge our salute! Isn't that simply corking of him?" + +"That was surely meant for us," agreed the pleased Frances. "Oh, +how long shall we have to wait before we see them?" + +That very evening Pierre brought a note from Constance, expressing +appreciative thanks for their fiery welcome, the source of which +Max had guessed and which he had easily induced Captain Lefevre to +acknowledge. The note ended with an invitation to tea on Monday +and promised a solution of some kind to Win's theories concerning +the Spanish chest. + +"How nice of Miss Connie to set the very first possible day," said +Frances. "I suppose we shall not see them before then." + +"Not unless we go to the little old church tomorrow," replied her +brother. "If you want to, and it's a still day, we might get up +there." + +But the travelers had returned on an evening of clouds and +threatening winds. Easter Sunday dawned with Jersey in the grip of +a terrific southeast storm. All day the rain beat on the panes of +Rose Villa, all day the wind howled and snatched at the shutters, +the house at times fairly quivering with its force. As dusk came, +the gale increased to the proportions of a hurricane. Roger, going +out to the pillar post-box, came struggling back with difficulty. + +"I met one of the Noirmont fishermen," he reported. "He said it is +the worst gale in thirty years and when the weather clears the +surf will be worth seeing." + +"Fisher told me that a southeast storm kicked up a fine sea," +replied Win. "I only hope it won't stop our going to the Manor to- +morrow." + +All night the wind raged though the rain finally ceased. It seemed +as though the reputed witches of Jersey were holding high carnival +with the unloosed elements of air and water. Day broke, still +without rain, but the violence of the wind was not lessened. Roger +ran out to the end of the terrace and came hurrying back. + +"Come out, everybody, and look," he shouted above the uproar. "The +waves are coming over the breakwater. There isn't one inch of +beach to be seen." + +Roger's report was literally true. Though the sea wall protecting +the town of St. Helier's rose twenty-five feet above the sands, +the rollers were breaking beyond the wall on the esplanade itself, +the white foam even running up some of the side streets. Only an +inky howling mass of white-capped water stretched between the town +and Elizabeth Castle. + +Win, who had managed to make slow progress to a point of vantage, +stood fascinated by the wild whirl of wind and water. The tide was +at the flood and the spectacle at its finest. Just a few moments +sufficed to lessen its grandeur as the waves, yielding to the law +of their being, were dragged away from the land. Presently, +instead of dashing over the wall, they broke against it, and then +came a scene of different interest. The water, forcibly striking +the masonry, was flung back on the next incoming roller, with a +collision that sent spray forty feet into the air from the +violence of the shock. This phenomenon was repeated as the rollers +crashed down the curve of the wall, continuing for its full +length, the flying spray looking like consecutive puffs of steam +from a locomotive. + +"Look, there comes the train from St. Helier's!" exclaimed Roger, +dancing excitedly about. "Doesn't it look as though the ocean was +trying to catch it?" + +The little train had prudently delayed its starting until after +the turn of the tide. As it crept slowly around the curve of the +breakwater, great white tongues of foam constantly shot over the +wall like fingers frantically trying to seize and draw it into the +sea. But always the hands fell back baffled, to the accompaniment +of a roar that sounded almost like human disappointment. The train +reached St. Aubin's dripping with salt water. + +"Five stones are torn out of the coping in the wall," reported +Roger, coming back from his inspection of the adventurous little +engine. "The guard says they are sweeping pebbles and stones by +the ton out of the streets beyond the esplanade. And coming down +here, he twice had a barrel of water slapped right at him. He is +as wet as a drowned rat." + +"The surf must be wonderful at Corbiere," said Estelle. "They say +there is an undertow off that point which produces something this +effect of the water flung back by the wall." + +"Why, here's Miss Connie!" exclaimed Frances in excitement. Max +and Constance on horseback were coming down the terrace. + +"We've been half round the island," Connie announced after her +first greetings. Well prepared for wind as they were, both looked +disheveled. Connie's hair was braided in a thick club down her +back, evidently the only way she could keep it under control; +Max's was plastered back by wind and spray, for he had lost his +hat, and their horses were blown and spattered with salt brine. + +"Oh, but it is grand!" Constance went on. "Corbiere light is +smothered in spray to the very top of the tower. We haven't had a +storm like this since I was a tiny kiddie." + +To talk above the uproar of the surf was difficult. Asking them to +be at the Manor promptly by three, the two rode away. + +"Why three?" asked Frances as they regained the shelter of the +house. + +"I think we are going down into the cave," said Win happily. "Mr. +Max told me just now that we were to begin exploring there and +that things would be arranged so that it would not be hard for me. +I suppose he and Pierre have some plan." + +"But you aren't going into the cave on a day like this?" exclaimed +Mrs. Thayne, quite horrified at this announcement. + +"Why, yes, Mother," said Win. "The tide will be as low as usual +when it does ebb." + +"Of course," assented his mother. "I forgot. But how about this +wind? You must have the pony, Win." + +"I will if it keeps up, but I imagine the gale will blow itself +out by noon." + +Win's prophecy proved correct. When the four started to keep their +engagement, the wind was greatly abated and the only trace of the +tempest was the ruined vines and gardens that marked their road. +At the Manor gates, Colonel Lisle, Constance and Max met them. + +"It is to be the cave," Connie said gayly. "Max has things all +mapped out for us." + +Arrived at the cliff, the party stopped. Marks of the storm were +visible in one or two landslides and in a great amount of debris +strewing the uncovered beach and rocks. Even large stones seemed +to have been displaced. + +Max looked rather serious as he saw so much change in conditions +usually stable. "I think you'd better let me go down and report +whether matters are as I expect," he said. "There seems to have +been considerable doing in this vicinity last evening." + +"Let us wait, Win," said Constance quickly. "No use in going down +until we see how he finds things." + +Colonel Lisle also elected to await the report, but Roger and the +girls accompanied Max. They were gone almost half an hour and the +watchers on the cliff were beginning to wonder what had happened. +When they did appear, they called to the others not to come. + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men!'" sighed Max as he reached +the top of the cliff. "Uncle, the storm has picked up all the +stones I had Pierre clear out of the tunnel and wedged them in +tight again like a cork in a bottle." + +"There was a passage and we can't get into it?" demanded Win +eagerly, his face reflecting the disappointment visible on the +faces of the other young people. + +"There was," replied Max, looking at him sympathetically, "not +merely into another cave but striking inland. Pierre cleared its +mouth and reported it passable for fifty feet. Beyond that he did +not go. Now, it is stopped as tight as ever. This shows, Uncle, +how it came to be lost to the recollection of everybody about the +Manor." + +"Yes," said Colonel Lisle. "Very likely it was stopped by a +similar storm a century or more ago. So far as I know there has +never been a legend of any tunnel. But, Max," he added, "there is +yet the cellar where you and Win have decided that the passage +enters the house." + +"May we knock a hole there?" Max asked quickly. Win had said +nothing more but his disappointment was evident. + +"Certainly, if you like," assented the Colonel, smiling. "Only be +prepared for another disillusion when you get the wall down. The +existence of the tunnel doesn't ensure that of the chest." + +Max whistled, evidently a signal, for Pierre promptly appeared +with a rope over his shoulder. + +"We sha'n't need that now," said Max. He proceeded to add some +rapid directions in French. Pierre nodded, grinned cheerfully and +set off at a fast pace. + +"I've told him to get another man and come to knock in the vault +wall," Max explained as they started toward the Manor. "We may not +get it down this afternoon, but that's all that's left to try. I'm +beastly annoyed about that tiresome hole. Why should a ripsnorter +of a storm come on the one day when it could spoil our plans?" + +"It's provoking." agreed Win. "Do you suppose there is really +anything in the passage?" + +"Blessed if I know!" replied Max. "The one thing sure is that +there is a passage. There must be since we located one end of it +in the cave. If it hadn't been for that, we might not be permitted +to tear down the wall, but even Uncle is convinced now that the +tunnel exists." + +"Come and have tea," said Connie as they reached the Manor. "It's +a bit early, but we may as well begin, for nobody knows how long +it will take to pierce the vault." + +Max went down to show the men where to work and reported that the +stone seemed soft and inclined to break easily. "This isn't going +to be much of a job," he reported. "I told Pierre to send word as +soon as he struck through." + +"What do you suppose the chest will look like?" asked Frances. +"Will it be silver?" + +"No such luck," Max replied. "Possibly metal, probably wood, +always provided that we find it." + +"You mustn't throw cold water, Max," reproved Connie from behind +the tea-table. "Since we have found the passage, why not the +chest? Let's have it a gorgeous one while we are about it, gold +studded with uncut rubies and the Spanish crown in diamonds." + +Frances and Edith shrieked at thought of such sumptuousness and +one by one each expressed an opinion as to what the box would +resemble and its probable contents. Roger decided that the chest +was of solid iron, fastened by seven locks of which they would +have to find the seven keys and that inside would be discovered a +complete suit of royal armor. + +"I fear that Prince Charles would not have made good his escape +from England clad in a clanking suit of mail," said the amused +Colonel. + +Just then Yvonne entered with her usual pretty air of importance. +"It is Pierre who desires M'sieur to attend in the cellar," she +said, addressing herself to Max. + +The entire party rose, hastily placing tea-cups on any convenient +article of furniture. Roger found the floor most accessible for +his, but with prudent foresight took with him such easily conveyed +articles as the jam sandwiches and plum cake upon his plate. + +Down in the cellar, Pierre and McNeil, the Scotch gardener, stood +facing the northern wall just where the newer wing joined the +oldest Manor vault. Before them yawned a hole already two feet in +diameter. + +With a grin on his face, Pierre thrust his crowbar through and +showed that a space not quite a yard wide intervened before the +tool brought up against what was in reality the outer wall of the +cellar. The partition itself was only a foot thick, but because it +was of equal thickness throughout its length, Max had not been +able to detect any difference in resonance. + +"_Bien, Pierre!_" exclaimed Max eagerly. "_En avant!_" + +Pierre and McNeil attacked the wall again, Pierre all smiles and +gay glances over this remarkable whim of M'sieur Max, whose whims +as a rule he found enjoyable; McNeil looking perhaps not grimmer +than usual, but as though the whole affair was quite below his +dignity. To knock a hole in a perfectly good stone partition which +would require a mason to fill and put in proper shape again at an +expense of solid Jersey shillings, struck his thrifty Scotch soul +as folly. Still, if Colonel Lisle wished to indulge Mr. Max in +this youthful eccentricity, it was not McNeil's place to protest. + +After fifteen minutes a cavity yawned in the cellar wall, +disclosing a passage leading to the left. + +"That will do, McNeil," said the Colonel. "That's enough for the +purpose. Go ahead, boys. It was through your efforts that the +tunnel was located, so it is for you to see this out." + +"Win shall be first," said Max. "Step in, old fellow." + +Pale with excitement, Win took the offered lantern and approached +the hole. Once inside the opening he found that he could stand +erect for the passage ran straight along the cellar wall about +three feet wide and over five feet high. It seemed dry and the air +was not musty. Rough stones formed its floor and roof but the +crude workmanship had been strong and only a few scattered stones +had fallen during the centuries. + +Max followed with another lantern, and Roger made the third +explorer. The excited heads of the girls were thrust into the +passage but only Frances actually stepped within. + +Win went slowly down the gently sloping tunnel, and presently the +eager watchers who could catch only glimpses of shadowy roof and +walls in the fitful light of the lanterns, saw the three stop. In +her excitement, Fran forgot her fear of the distance stretching +before her and ran to them. The next second came a wild warwhoop +from Roger. + +"It's here!" Max called more quietly. + +At this wonderful news the rest entered the passage, the Colonel +as eager as the others. Fifty feet from the opening at one side of +the tunnel was a rough niche or alcove and in it stood a box about +two feet square. Upon its cover lay the dust of ages, and it was +scarcely to be distinguished in color from the stones about it. + +"We'll bring it out, Uncle," said Max. "No place to open it here. +You hold the lanterns, Win. Lend a hand, Roger. Go easy; we don't +know how much knocking it will stand." + +His eyes almost starting from his head, Roger took one of the +handles, the girls stepped back and in two minutes the party stood +in the open cellar, looking at what was undoubtedly the Spanish +chest. + +[Illustration: WHAT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE SPANISH CHEST] + +"Is it heavy?" asked Fran breathlessly, while Pierre went for a +brush to remove the silted dust. + +"Rather," said Max, looking boyishly excited. "Ah, now we know the +style of the chest. No gold box nor uncut rubies, Connie!" + +Relieved of its heavy coating of dust, the box proved of dark +wood, carefully finished and ornamented by plates and corners of +steel. Upon its cover was inlaid a scroll engraved with the Manor +arms and the name of Richard Lisle. + +"Gracious, what great-grandfather bought that bit of bric-a-brac!" +exclaimed Connie, seeing her father's eyes light with interested +pleasure. "It must have been the original Richard himself. Is it +locked?" + +Max tried the lid. "No," he said, straightening up and looking at +the Colonel. "It is your play, Uncle Dick. Only a Lisle of Laurel +Manor should open Richard's chest." + +The Colonel smiled, stepped forward and with his single hand +lifted the lid. The excited group about him bent forward eagerly. + +At first glance a roll of dark cloth was all that appeared. When +Colonel Lisle lifted this, it unfolded into a long-skirted coat +ornamented with many buttons. The fabric was stained and rotten, +in places moth-eaten. Below the coat lay a pair of leather gloves +with long wrists, stiff as boards, and two blackened bits of metal +that proved to be spurs. + +For a moment no one spoke. The young people were silent, impressed +with the fact that long years ago these things had been the +property of a prince of England. + +With a smile the Colonel looked first at Max and then at Win. "Are +you satisfied?" he asked. "Though the contents of the Spanish +chest have no value in money, they certainly are rich in +historical interest." + +"Oh, it was the fun of finding it that I cared about," said Win +quickly. "That was the point for me. And I am so glad there is +something in it." + +"Let's take it up-stairs," suggested Connie. "We can see so much +better." + +The boys and Max delayed to inspect the empty secret passage, +following to the spot where it was blocked by its stopper of +stone. Then they joined the group in the study. In bright +daylight, the fine workmanship on the Toledo steel trimmings of +the chest stood out in full beauty. + +"The design on these buttons is very significant," remarked +Colonel Lisle, who was inspecting the wreck of the once handsome +coat. "And I suspect that they are of silver." + +Examination showed on the tarnished metal the three ostrich +feathers that have marked the badge of the Prince of Wales since +the far-off days of Edward the Black Prince. Below was the motto, +"Ich dien," and the single letter C. + +"On my next new suit I guess I'll have buttons marked R," said +Roger solemnly. + +The others laughed. A feeling of real awe had been creeping over +them to think that garment had once been worn by Prince Charles. + +"Here's a loose button," said Max, picking it out of the box. "The +whole coat is falling in pieces." + +"The buttons will last indefinitely," said Colonel Lisle, +regarding thoughtfully the one Max had just rescued. "Thanks to +Win's clever brain, the Manor has acquired an unsuspected secret +passage and a valuable antique; of especial value to me because of +the name it bears. I want you to keep this button, Win, for I +think you, almost more than any one I know, will appreciate it and +what it stands for." + +Win turned pale. To possess a silver button once the property of +bonnie Prince Charlie rendered him speechless. + +"Oh, Colonel Lisle," he said after a minute, "I oughtn't to take a +thing of such value. It belongs here." + +"I want you to have it, my boy," replied the Colonel kindly. "I +really am indebted to you, for we have positive proof now that the +Manor walls once sheltered the Prince." + +"I should value that button above all things," said Win simply, +"if you really wish me to have it. Only it seems as though Mr. Max +had done much more toward solving the mystery." + +"I merely followed the lead you gave me," said Max, who was +looking at him with a very friendly expression. "You played a +pretty fine game yourself, Win." + +"As for that," said the Colonel smiling, "Maxfield may have a +button too, if he cares for it." + +"Thank you, Uncle Dick," Max replied promptly. "I do value it, but +perhaps for the present, it would better stop with the others." + +As Max spoke, he looked not at the Colonel but at Constance, +leaning against the table beside him. Something in their attitude +struck Win's always acute perception. For the first time he +doubted whether the young people of the Manor had been as +genuinely absorbed in that search as he supposed. About Max, half- +sitting on the corner of the study table, about Connie, with her +hands loosely clasped before her, there was a certain air of quiet +detachment, as of those who politely look on at some interesting +comedy, but who, as soon as courtesy permits, will return to +affairs of more importance. + +"You need not have the least scruple about accepting it, Win," the +Colonel went on. "We hope this will not be your last visit to the +island, but in any case, whenever you look at that old relic, you +will have to give us a thought as well." + +Win turned the tarnished button on his palm. Yes, the sight of it +would always bring back memories of the green lanes, the red +cliffs, the turquoise sea of Jersey, not least the hours in the +library, the Spanish chest and the Lisles of Laurel Manor. + + + * * * * * + + + + +AFTERWORD + + +After the story was finished and the characters were going away, +Max and Connie turned back. + +"We have kept our promise?" they asked. "We have played quite +nicely and haven't been silly?" + +"You have really been very good," admitted the author. "If Max +hadn't appeared just when he did to rescue Edith and Frances from +the tide, probably the story must have stopped there. And Connie +has been most helpful about lending the Manor house and the beach +dog." + +"May we play again?" Max asked. + +"I think not," decided the author. "This is five months later. You +really must be grown-up now and stay so." + +"We have been all the time," said Connie. "We've pretended just to +please you. But since you let us come into the story when we +weren't expected nor invited, it is only polite to tell you what +we are going to do now." + +They looked at each other and smiled. + +"Every girl who reads this story will want to know," Connie went +on. "It would indeed be very diverting to be Princess Santo-Ponte, +but somehow I think the chances of 'living happily ever after' are +greater with Max. There's nothing at all romantic about marrying +Max, but you might just mention that I'm going to do it." + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + +This file should be named 7spch10.txt or 7spch10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 7spch11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 7spch10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/7spch10.zip b/old/7spch10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..158f46f --- /dev/null +++ b/old/7spch10.zip diff --git a/old/8spch10.txt b/old/8spch10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..c2092b4 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8spch10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,8041 @@ +The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world. Be sure to check the +copyright laws for your country before downloading or redistributing +this or any other Project Gutenberg eBook. + +This header should be the first thing seen when viewing this Project +Gutenberg file. Please do not remove it. Do not change or edit the +header without written permission. + +Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the +eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file. Included is +important information about your specific rights and restrictions in +how the file may be used. You can also find out about how to make a +donation to Project Gutenberg, and how to get involved. + + +**Welcome To The World of Free Plain Vanilla Electronic Texts** + +**eBooks Readable By Both Humans and By Computers, Since 1971** + +*****These eBooks Were Prepared By Thousands of Volunteers!***** + + +Title: The Spanish Chest + +Author: Edna A. Brown + +Release Date: November, 2004 [EBook #6998] +[Yes, we are more than one year ahead of schedule] +[This file was first posted on February 20, 2003] + +Edition: 10 + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: Latin-1 + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + + + + +This eBook was produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + + +[Illustration: "WHAT IS IS THIS TINY DOTTED LINE ACROSS THE +GROUNDS?" WIN INQUIRED] + + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + +BY + +EDNA A. BROWN + +ILLUSTRATED BY JOHN GOSS AND FROM PHOTOGRAPHS + + +DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF FLORENCE AND CLARA + +who shared a winter spent in the Channel Islands and +have now gone on a longer journey. + + This little book I wrote for thee + Thy friendly eyes will never see. + It was not meant for critics' reading, + Nor for the world that scans unheeding. + For there are lines washed in with tears, + As well as nonsense, mocking fears. + Alas! thine eyes will never see + This little book I wrote for thee. + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +FOREWORD + + +Once upon a time a clever Japanese artist drew a sketch of a man +who sat industriously painting, when, to his great amazement, all +the little figures on his canvas came to life and began to walk +out of the picture. + +Something like that happened to this book. Books grow, you know, +because somebody thinks so hard about the different characters +that gradually they turn into lifelike people, who often insist on +doing things that weren't expected. When this especial book began +to grow, two persons who hadn't been invited, came and wanted to +be in the story. + +The author politely remarked that they were grown-up and couldn't +expect to be in a book for young people. + +They said that they were not so very grown-up, only twenty-three +and a half and that they still knew how to play. + +Connie said that her home was in the Island of Jersey where the +story was going to be, and if she came in, she could make things +much more pleasant for the other characters. + +Max said that the story would go to smash without him, because he +should be needed at an important moment. + +So, because they looked most wistful and promised very earnestly +to behave as though they were nice children, and not be silly, the +author said they might have a share in the story. + +Connie at once offered to lend her collie. So that is how the +beach dog happens to be in the book. + + + +CONTENTS + + +CHAPTER + + I. AT ROSE VILLA + II. FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + III. ST. HELIER'S + IV. THE BEACH DOG + V. MONT ORGUEIL + VI. A RACE WITH THE TIDE + VII. MR. MAX + VIII. RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + IX. CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + X. THE BUN WORRY + XI. THE MANOR CAVE + XII. WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + XIII. ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + XIV. IN THE VAULTS + XV. THE HAUNTED ROOM + XVI. THE MANOR GHOST + XVII. THE DOTTED LINE +XVIII. ROGER THE MAROONED + XIX. AT CORBIERE + XX. WIN WONDERS + XXI. THE TWO CHAINS + XXII. THE CHEST ITSELF + + + + +ILLUSTRATIONS + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired + +The Village of St. Aubin's + +"For a long time people supposed they were called Martello towers +from the man who built them" + +Above and behind towered the ruined castle of Orgueil + +"Look there is a Jersey cow among the cabbages" + +"He'll come for us! He means us to climb this rock and wait" + +A most interesting little Church almost on the water's edge + +The old Norman gateway leading to Vinchelez Manor + +They came upon the loveliest of little beaches + +Plémont is the spot where the cable comes in from England + +Win's plan of the Manor cellars + +What was undoubtedly the Spanish Chest + + + + +THE SPANISH CHEST + + + + +CHAPTER I + +AT ROSE VILLA + + +The silence in the little drawing-room had lasted for some moments +before being broken by the man seated in the big wicker chair. His +dress indicated a clergyman of the Church of England, his face +betrayed lines of kindliness and forbearance, but its present +expression showed a perplexity not unmixed with disapproval. + +"I suppose, Miss Pearce," he said at length, "there is no use in +trying further to dissuade you from your plan, and of course it +may work out for the best. But--you will excuse me, my dear, for I +have daughters of my own--you seem too young to undertake a +lodging-house. Now a position as governess in a nice family--" + +Estelle Pearce interrupted him quickly. + +"There is Edith, you know. Should I try teaching, it would mean +separation from her. And I _must_ keep Edith with me. We have only +each other now. No, Mr. Angus, I thank you from the bottom of my +heart for your interest in us, but I am sure it is best to try my +plan. You see I have the house on my hands. When we came to +Jersey, Father leased it for the winter and I can't afford to +forfeit thirty pounds. And there is Nurse as well as Annette. +Surely Nurse lends dignity to any family. But I am older than you +think," she ended with a smile and a pretty blush. "I am twenty- +four, Mr. Angus." + +A kindly look came into the eyes bent on her slender, black-robed +figure. "You do not look it, my dear," her visitor said after a +pause. "Well, with two good servants, the plan may be successful. +Much depends on what class of lodgers comes your way. I am told +that Americans are rather desirable inmates, that they pay well +and are not exacting. If you could let your rooms to some refined +American ladies, things might adjust themselves very satisfactorily. +To be sure, few Americans visit the Channel Islands; they are +given to wandering farther afield. But I will speak of your plans to +the postmaster and one or two others. It might be advisable to +put a card in the circulating library at St. Helier's. Rest assured +that both Mrs. Angus and I will do all we can for your father's girls. +Lionel and I were good friends at Oxford though we saw so little of +each other afterwards. I did not think when he wrote me scarcely +six weeks ago that it was to be Hail and Farewell. + +"I must go," he added quickly, seeing that Estelle's eyes were +brimming. "Where is Edith? I hoped to see her also." + +"She has gone to the sands," replied Estelle. "It is dull for her, +moping here, so I sent her for an errand and told her to run down +and see whether the tide had turned. She begins school on Monday." + +Mr. Angus took his leave, and still looking doubtful, went down +the steps of Rose Villa, a quaint little house, covered with +tinted plaster, as is the pretty custom of the Channel Islands, +and appearing even to a masculine ignorance of details much more +neat and attractive than its neighbors. + +So Mr. Angus thought, as he turned from his puzzled survey of its +exterior, to walk slowly down the short street at the end of which +glittered the waters of the English Channel. + +The tide was on the turn but the expanse of sandy beach lay yet +broad. Far toward St. Helier's the curve of the port showed the +high sea-wall, for this same innocent-looking tide that ebbs and +leaves behind miles of sandy stretches and rocks, can return with +force sufficient to dash over even the lofty breakwater and +surprise the placid Jerseymen at times, by scattering large stones +in the esplanade. + +But here at St. Aubin's the curve of Noirmont Point sheltered the +little town from the full force of the waves. Dr. Angus looked +from the end of Noirmont Terrace straight down to the sands and +saw in the distance the sunset air filled with wheeling gulls, a +group of boys playing football on the wide level, and somewhat +nearer, a slender girl of fourteen, dressed in black, with long +fair hair floating over her shoulders. + +She was walking slowly and the kind clergyman attributed her +leisurely pace to dejection, but as a matter of fact, Edith was +feeling quite happy and much interested in the tiny bright yellow +snail shells the beach was providing for entertainment. She had +been spared all that was possible of the depression and sorrow of +the past weeks. Daddy had been poorly for years and Edith could +not remember him as ever well and strong. His loss affected her +more because it grieved Estelle, the only mother she had known. + +There had been a few sad confused days when nothing seemed real, +and strangers had been kind in a way that Estelle accepted with a +sort of resentful patience, plain even to Edith. But since then, +life had been rather cheerful, with a great deal of attention from +Nurse, and Estelle's time almost wholly given to her. It was +gratifying to share Sister's confidence and to help arrange the +rooms attractively for the possible delightful people who ought to +come to lodge with them. + +That they might not be delightful, Sister would not admit for a +moment, so of course they would be. St. Aubin's itself was far +more desirable as a place of residence than the noisy Exeter +street where Edith had spent much of her life. Far back in the +past she could just remember a charming Surrey village with a +pretty vine-covered church where Daddy used to preach. She could +recall exactly how her fat legs dangled helplessly from the high +pew seat. Directly behind sat a stout farmer with four sons. The +boys made faces at Edith on the sly; their mother sometimes gave +her peppermints. + +Edith's thoughts had wandered rather far afield, though still +alert for any gleam of the yellow shells, when she arrived +opposite Noirmont Terrace and reluctantly left the sands. A light +shone from the drawing-room and she knew that Annette would be +bringing in supper, and Sister would be found poring over a little +account book with a "don't speak just now" look in her eyes. + +But Estelle proved to be waiting at the open door and as Edith +began to run on catching sight of her, she thought that Sister +somehow looked happier. + +"Did you meet Mr. Angus?" Estelle inquired. "He went toward the +sands." + +"I saw him in the distance," replied Edith. "Why, Star, you look +like--like a star," she ended laughing. "Was Mr. Angus agreeable? +Did he say you oughtn't to take people?" + +"I think he doesn't wholly disapprove now," answered Estelle +gently. "And he is going to do what he can toward sending pleasant +lodgers. Wouldn't it be nice if some dear old ladies should come +and want to stay with us all winter?" + +"Just ladies?" queried Edith. "Do they have to be old?" + +"I shouldn't take gentlemen," said Estelle. "Nurse wouldn't +approve, and ladies would be pleasanter. Perhaps there might be a +young mother and some ducky little children. How would you like +that?" + +"Much better," responded Edith. "I don't want any fussy old freaks +with false fronts and shawls. They'd expect to be read aloud to +and waited on within an inch of their lives. I'd like some babies +to take down to dig and paddle. Do say you'll have children, +Sister." + +"Well, as a matter of fact, I think we'll have to take the people +who want to come," replied Estelle sensibly. "Let's just hope that +somebody very nice will think we'd be nice to stay with. Come in +now, Edith. Annette has shrimps for supper and after we are +finished, we will put a card in the window and see what happens +next." + +But the little white card that most modestly announced "Lodgings" +remained in the drawing-room casement for a week, and every day as +Edith came from school, she looked anxiously to see whether it was +gone. Its absence would mean that some one had looked at the rooms +with approval. + +One afternoon as she came up the Terrace, the sight of an unknown +face at an upper window sent a thrill down her back. The card was +yet in evidence but the presence of strangers indicated that some +one had felt attracted by Rose Villa. Yes, there was a cab at the +door. + +As Edith entered quietly a voice struck her ear, struck it +unpleasantly, an English voice, high-pitched and rather +supercilious. + +"I should require to see your kitchen, Miss Pearce, and your +servants. I am most particular. In fact, I must be free at any +time to inspect the scullery. There must be a definite arrangement +about Marmaduke's meals. He likes a light breakfast with plenty of +cream, and for dinner a chop or a bit of chicken. His dinner must +be served with my luncheon. Then for tea--" + +"I am afraid my servants would be unwilling to cook especially for +a dog," interposed Estelle's voice, courteous but with a chilling +tone Edith had never suspected it possessed. "It is useless for +you to consider the lodgings." + +"Oh, your rooms are very passable," said the voice. "Small, of +course, and underfurnished, but some pictures and antimacassars +would take off that bare look. And Marmaduke is adorable. Your +cook would soon be devotion itself. Why, at my last lodgings--" + +"I really cannot undertake the care of a pet animal," said Estelle +firmly. "I hope to have other lodgers and his presence might be +objectionable to them. You will excuse me now, as I have an +engagement. I will ring for Nurse to show you out." + +"Well, really, Miss Pearce," began the voice, but Nurse appeared +on the scene so promptly that one might have suspected her of +being all the time within hearing distance. Edith scuttled into +the drawing-room, just avoiding a very large, over-dressed person, +who came ponderously down the stairs, a moppy white dog festooned +over one arm. Her face was red and perspiring and she seemed to be +indignantly struggling with feelings too strong for words. Edith +could not suppress a stifled laugh as she was ushered from the +house in Nurse's grandest manner. + +Emerging from her refuge, Edith saw Estelle on the landing, her +face pale except for a tiny red spot on either cheek, her eyes +unnaturally bright. + +"My word, Star!" said Edith, giggling, "didn't you get rid of her +finely? What a fearful person!" + +"She was impossible," said Estelle. "Oh, Nurse," she exclaimed +impetuously, seeing the old family servant still lingering in the +hall, "do you suppose only people like that will want lodgings?" + +"No, indeed, my lamb," replied Nurse, casting a glance of +satisfaction after the cab disappearing from the terrace. "Don't +you fret, Miss Star, and don't you take the first people who come. +Just bide your time, and there'll be some quality who will be what +you ought to have." + +"Mr. Angus thought Americans might be rather desirable," said +Estelle hesitatingly. To prepare Nurse for such a possibility +might be wise. + +Nurse pursed her lips significantly. "Well, it's not for me to +disagree with the reverend gentleman," she remarked. "And I +haven't been in contact with Americans. No doubt they're well +enough in their country, but I hope, Miss Star, it'll be some of +our people that want to come. Now an elderly couple or some +middle-aged ladies would be quite suitable and proper, but +Americans--Well, I don't know." + +Nurse shook her head dubiously as she left the room. Edith came to +put her arms about Estelle. + +"What a fearful woman that was!" she repeated, drawing her sister +toward the window. "Poor Star, I'm sorry you had to talk to her. +Rooms underfurnished, indeed! And you tried so hard not to have +them crowded and messed with frightful crocheted wool things. +She'd want a tidy on every chair and extra ones for Sunday. And +you've made things so pretty, Star!" + +"We think so, don't we!" replied Estelle, kissing her little +comforter. "Somebody may yet come who will agree with us. We won't +give up hope." + +Estelle was silent for a moment. She did not want Edith to suspect +how very necessary it was that those rooms should prove attractive +to somebody. + +"Is that the Southampton boat just rounding the point?" she added. +"She's extremely late." + +"They must have had a rough passage," agreed Edith, looking at the +steamer ploughing into the smooth water of St. Aubin's bay. "Let's +put a wish on her, Star. Let's wish, _hard_, that she has on board +the nicest people that ever were and that they're coming straight +out here and say they'd like to spend the winter with us!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +FRAN ENGAGES LODGINGS + + +"I positively refuse," said Mrs. Thayne, "to go out again to-day. +And I wish you wouldn't go either, Wingate," she added to her older +son. "That steamer trip was frightful. What a night we did have! +As for you two," she went on to Frances and Roger, "I suppose you +won't be happy until you are off for an exploring expedition, but +I don't see how you can feel like it." + +"Why, Mother, I wasn't seasick," said Roger, a handsome, +mischievous-looking boy about twelve. "I slept like a log till I +heard Win being--hmm--unhappy. That woke me but I turned over and +didn't know anything more till daylight." + +"I shouldn't have been sick if you hadn't begun it, Mother," +observed Frances, turning from the window overlooking the +esplanade. "I feel all right now. Mayn't Roger and I go down on +the beach or take a car ride?" she asked, eagerly. + +"I don't imagine there are any electric cars on the island," said +Mrs. Thayne. + +"But out here is a funny little steam tram marked St. Aubin's," +interposed Frances. "It's going somewhere. Look at the dinky cars +with a kind of balcony and that speck of an engine." + +"That's a pony engine for sure," drawled Win, joining his sister +at the window. Except that he was thin and fragile no one could +have known from Win's clever, merry dark face, how greatly he was +handicapped by a serious heart trouble. But the contrast between +his tall, loosely-knit figure and Fran's compact little person +brought a wistful expression into Mrs. Thayne's observant eyes. +Win was seventeen and had never been able to play as other boys +did. Probably all his life would be different, yet he was so +plucky and brave over his limitations. + +"There's the _Lydia_ down in the harbor," exclaimed Frances. "My, +didn't she wiggle around last night!" + + "Lydia, Lydia, why dost thou tremble? + Answer me true. + Traveler, traveler, I'll not dissemble, + 'Tis but the screw. + + Lydia, Lydia, why this commotion? + Answer me quick. + Traveler, traveler, 'tis but a notion. + You must be sick!" + +drawled Win, following the direction of his sister's glance. + +"Win, how bright of you!" she exclaimed. "I wish I could think of +things like that. But, Mother, mayn't we go out and take that +little train wherever it's going?" + +"Yes, I suppose so," agreed Mrs. Thayne. "Take care of Fran, +Roger, and don't get separated. You might notice any attractive +places offering lodgings. We don't want to stay in this hotel all +winter and the sooner we are settled the better." + +"Come along, Fran," exclaimed Roger. "That infant train is getting +a move on." + +The two tore impetuously from the sitting-room. "Such energy!" +Mrs. Thayne remarked with a sigh. "Will you lie down here, Win?" + +"No, I think I'll write a bit," replied her son. "I'm not so done +up as you are, Mother." + +"Why Roger wasn't ill after the strange combination of food he ate +at Winchester last evening is a miracle," remarked Mrs. Thayne. +"Were you planning to write to Father?" + +"I will," replied her son. "Mother, do go and rest. You look like +the latter end of a wasted life. But I hope the kids will light on +some lodgings. I've had enough of hotels. Nothing on earth is so +deadly dull and so deadly respectable as a first-class English +hotel." + +"Why, of course it is respectable," said Mrs. Thayne, looking +rather puzzled. + +"Thunder, yes! But it's so _fearfully_ proper! That head-waiter +down-stairs, with his side-whiskers and his velvet tread and his +confidential voice--why, when he came to take my order, I wanted +to pull his hair or do something to turn him into a human being." + +Mrs. Thayne smiled. Much as she loved Win, she did not always +understand him. Shut out from active sports, Win had early taken +refuge in the world of books and his quick perceptions were often +those of a mature mind. + +When his mother had gone into her room, Win settled himself by the +west window overlooking the bay where Castle Elizabeth rose on its +rock in the middle distance. Win looked at it approvingly, +promising himself later the fun of finding out its history and +present use. Just now, he would devote himself to getting the +family journal up to date for Father, on duty with the _Philadelphia_, +somewhere near Constantinople. It was to be on the same +side of the Atlantic that the Thaynes had come to England and +a slight attack of bronchitis on Win's part had resulted in this +additional trip. Jersey was reported to possess a mild climate as +well as good schools where Roger and Frances might have new and +probably interesting experiences. Win himself was not equal to +school routine, but there would doubtless be some tutor available +to give him an hour or two every day, a pleasant and easy task for +some young man, for Win was always eager to study when health +permitted. + +Deep in his heart was the ever-present regret that he could not +enter Annapolis nor follow in the footsteps of his father, but if +an elder brother had any influence, Roger was going into the naval +service. At present, Roger showed no inclination to such a future, +and was but mildly interested in his father's career, but Captain +Thayne and Win shared an unspoken hope that a change would come +with the passing years. + +For some time after finishing his letter, Win sat with eyes on +Castle Elizabeth, idly speculating about the coming winter. This +old-world island, with its differing customs and ancient +traditions seemed a place where most interesting things might +happen, a land of romance and fairy gold, offering possibilities +of strange adventure. Just because Win was debarred from most +boyish fun, his mind turned eagerly to deeds of daring. Visions of +pirates, smugglers, and buried hoards often danced through his +brain, and the least suggestion of any mystery was enough to +excite his keen interest. That hoary old castle on its island +proved a source of many romantic ideas to Win, who presently fell +into a day-dream. + +The sun set in crimson splendor behind the castle towers and Win's +reverie changed to genuine slumber from which he was roused by the +reappearance of Mrs. Thayne. + +"I'm sorry I waked you," she said. "I didn't notice that you were +asleep." + +"Why, I didn't know I was," said Win lazily. "I must have been +dreaming and yet I thought I was awake. It was such an odd dream +about a young man or rather a boy, in queer clothes ornamented +with silver buttons and wearing his hair in curls over his +shoulders. I was following him somewhere through a passage, very +dark and narrow. Then suddenly we were in a room with a big +fireplace and books around the walls. It was a beautiful old room +but I never remember seeing a place like it. Some other people +came, all men, also in queer clothes and very quiet and serious. +On a table was food of some kind and this boy I had been following +began to eat but the others stood about, apparently consulting +over something. Then I woke. Wasn't it a crazy dream? Oh, the +reason we were in that passage was because something was lost. I +don't know what it was nor how I knew it was lost but we were +trying to find it." + +"That was odd. You must have read something that suggested it," +Mrs. Thayne began, just as Fran and Roger came into the room, +bursting with suppressed excitement. For a few moments they talked +in a duet. + +"Mother, it's lovely over at St. Aubin's, ever so much nicer than +here," Fran began breathlessly, her brown eyes sparkling. "And +such a funny little train running along the esplanade!" + +"You couldn't believe there was such a beach," put in Roger. "Why, +the tide goes out forever, clear to the horizon! Fellows were +playing football down there, two games. How much does this tide +rise, Win?" + +"This book I've been reading says forty feet," replied his +brother. + +"And the houses!" Fran went on breathlessly, "all colors, cream +and brown and blue and pink." + +"Oh, draw it mild, Sis," interrupted Win. "I should admire a pink +house." + +"It's out there," said Frances, "and what's more, it's very +pretty!" + +"That's right," corroborated Roger. "Wouldn't a pink house look +something fierce at home? But here it's swell and kind of--of +appropriate," he ended lamely. + +"And flowers, Mother," Frances took up the tale. "_Hedges_ of +fuchsia, real live tall hedges, not measly little potted plants. +Geraniums as tall as I am, and ever so many roses and violets. Oh, +and we've found some lodgings. You're to see them to-morrow." + +"Frances!" exclaimed her horrified mother. "You haven't been in +strange houses, inspecting rooms?" + +"Why, you told us to look for them, didn't you, Mother?" replied +her astonished and literal daughter. "Roger was with me. It was +perfectly all right." + +"I simply meant you to notice from the outside any attractive +houses that advertised lodgings," explained Mrs. Thayne. "Well--" +she ended helplessly, "I suppose there's no harm done." + +"Why, no," Frances agreed. "What could happen? Let me tell you +about them. We took the baby cars and got off at St. Aubin's +because that especial train didn't go any farther. It's lovely +there, Mother, and plenty of lodgings to let. We walked along and +saw one house that looked pleasant, so we went up and rang and a +maid showed us into a parlor. We knew right off we didn't want to +come there, because the place was so dark and stuffy and there +were fourteen hundred family photographs and knit woolen mats and +such things around. I was going to sit down but just as I got near +the chair,--it was rather dark, you see,--something said 'Hello!' +and there was a horrid great parrot sitting on the back of the +chair. I jumped about a foot." + +"You screamed, too," said Roger. + +"I may have exclaimed," admitted Frances judicially. "It was not a +scream. If I had yelled, you would have known it. Well, a messy +old woman came who called me 'dear,' but when I said I didn't +believe my mother would care for the rooms, she got huffy and said +she was accustomed to rent her rooms to ladies, only she +pronounced it _lydies_. + +"We left that place," went on Frances, paying no attention to the +look of silent endurance on her mother's face, "and walked some +distance without seeing anything we liked. But suddenly we came to +a tiny street going down to the sea. There were only six houses +and one had a card in the window. They faced the bay and just big +rocks were on the other side of the street. Now, listen." + +Frances went on dramatically. "The house with the card was the +dearest thing, all cream-color and green, with a pink rambler rose +perfectly enormous, growing 'way up to the eaves, and a rough roof +of red tiles and steep gables. The windows were that dinky kind +that open outward and had little bits of panes. Everything was +clean as clean, the steps and the curtains and the glass. While we +were looking, the door opened and a girl came out. She was about +my age, Mother, but _so_ pretty, with gray eyes and yellow hair +and _such_ a complexion. I'd give anything to look like her." + +Frances shook her head with disapproval over her own brown hair +and eyes. To be sure the one was curly and the others straightforward +and earnest, while her gipsy little face and figure were considered +attractive by most people and by those who loved her, very satisfactory +indeed. + +"Well, this girl came out and we sort of smiled at each other and +I asked if that card meant that there were rooms to let. I told +her you were seasick, and at the hotel, and my brother and I saw +the card and we were looking for lodgings and all the rest, you +know. She said yes, there were rooms and she'd call Sister. + +"Sister came and she was a love, tall and sweet and just +beautiful, only she looked sad and wore a black dress. The younger +girl went away but Sister showed us the rooms and they are just +what we'd like, I'm sure. There wasn't any messy wool stuff nor +ugly vases,--I forgot to mention that in the other place there +were eight pair of vases on the mantel, truly, for Roger counted +them. These rooms were clean and rather bare, with painted floors +and washable rugs and fresh curtains and flowers, just one vase in +each room and a clear glass vase at that. The beds had iron frames +and good springs and mattresses, for I punched them to see. Aren't +you proud to think I knew enough to do that?" Fran interrupted her +story. + +"Two bedrooms had the furniture painted white and the rest had +some old mahogany," she went on. + +"How many rooms were there?" inquired Mrs. Thayne, attracted by +Fran's enthusiasm and interested by the pleasant picture she was +describing. + +"On the first floor is the drawing-room, which will be at our +disposal," began Frances, evidently quoting "Sister." "It's pretty +and sweet, Mother dear, very simple with a little upright piano +and quite a number of books and a fireplace. Just behind is a room +where we can have our meals. We can use as many bedrooms as we +like; there are five and Sister said if we wished, one could be +made into an up-stairs-sitting-room. The bathroom was really up- +to-date, and looking _very_ clean." + +"And how much does Sister expect for all this?" inquired her +mother. + +"Well," admitted Frances, "I asked and she smiled so sweetly and +said it depended upon how much service we required and whether we +wanted to do our own marketing and perhaps it would be better to +discuss the terms after you saw whether you liked the rooms. I +told her we were Americans and she said yes, she had thought so. I +don't see why," Frances ended reflectively. + +Win gave a chuckle. "Easy enough to guess," he remarked. "I +imagine English girls of fourteen don't go around on their own +hook, engaging lodgings for the family." + +"I am almost fifteen," said his sister severely. "And I understood +that Mother wanted me to look for rooms, so I did, but of course +she will make the final arrangements. I thanked Sister and said +I'd try to bring my mother in the morning, for I felt sure she +would like the rooms. And Sister said she'd be very glad to have +young people in the house and that if you wanted references, +Mother, you could apply to some clergyman,--I forget his name,-- +but I know it's all right. You'll think so, too, the minute you +see Sister. I fell in love with her. Oh, her name is Pearce, +Estelle Pearce. She gave me her card." + +Frances produced it. "You will come and see the rooms to-morrow, +won't you, Mother? Win can come too, for that tiny train is very +comfortable and the walk to the house is short. Rose Villa, +Noirmont Terrace. Isn't that a sweet name?" + +[Illustration: THE VILLAGE OF ST. AUBIN'S] + + + + +CHAPTER III + +ST. HELIER'S + + +The moment she entered Rose Villa, Mrs. Thayne heartily agreed +with Frances as to its desirability. To Estelle's amazement, she +proceeded to engage all the rooms, offering to pay for the +privilege of having the whole house for her family. + +This was better fortune than Estelle had dreamed of and scarcely +two days passed before she realized that a kindly star was +favoring her. Frances and Edith became friends on the spot; Nurse, +who might have proved a problem, took an instant fancy to delicate +Win and started on a course of coddling that luckily amused Win +quite as much as it satisfied Nurse. Blunt, downright Roger +appealed especially to Estelle, who also found Mrs. Thayne +charming. + +"Aren't we in luck, little sister?" she confided to Edith. "Even +our wildest expectations couldn't have pictured anything more +pleasant than this. If they only stop the winter! But where are +you going now?" + +"On the sands with the others," said Edith happily. "Fran asked +me. The boys have gone ahead to the end of the terrace." + +Win was singing softly to himself as he stood looking down upon +the sandy beach that stretched for miles towards St. Helier's at +the left, and on the right, though showing more warm red granite +rocks, to Noirmont Point. "Britannia needs no bulwarks, no towers +along the steeps," he hummed just above his breath. + +"There's a tower right in front of you," commented Roger, between +the throwing of two stones. + +Win cast a glance at the deserted castle of St. Aubin's, a +miniature Castle Elizabeth on its isolated rock off shore, another +at the martello tower on the point. + +"I was talking to a man about those little towers," he remarked. +"One can be rented for a pound a year, and there are thirty-two of +them around the island. But they didn't amount to much when it +came to actual fighting. The rocks and tides are what makes Jersey +safe. That's what I meant by this place needing no bulwarks." + +"One of those martello towers would make a fine wireless station," +commented Roger. "Why did they build them if they aren't any use?" + +"They thought they were going to be," replied Win, looking to see +whether the girls were coming. "About two centuries ago there was +a battle down in the Mediterranean that was decided by the +possession of one of those little towers, so England built a good +many. But they weren't much use after all." + +"I never knew that before," said Edith, as she and Frances joined +the boys. + +"England wasn't the only nation that was taken in by them," Win +went on. "Italy has a number on her southern coast. For a long +time people supposed they were called martello towers from the man +who built them, but I found in a book that the name came from a +vine that grew over this one in Corsica. Before many moons pass +I'm going to get into one of them. Smugglers must have used them +and there may be things left behind." + +Frances cast a glance at the tower in question. At first +inspection it looked like a stony mushroom sprouting from the +rocks. Some distance above the base opened a rough entrance and a +low parapet encircled the top. To scramble over the exposed rocks +to the base of this especial tower appeared a hard climb, to say +nothing of the difficulties of ascending. The feat looked beyond +Win's accomplishment but Frances said nothing. To argue with Win +about whether he could or ought to attempt anything was never +wise. Left to himself he would stop within the bounds of prudence +but resented solicitude from others. + +"Well, where are we going?" she asked. + +"Let's take the train into St. Helier's," suggested Win. "We've +scarcely seen the town." + +Edith looked doubtful. "I ought to ask Sister," she said. "Star +thought we were just going on the sands." + +"And so we are," replied Roger. "We're taking a train that runs on +the sands," he mimicked in a teasing, boyish way. "Why don't you +call it a beach?" + +"Because it _is_ sands," retorted Edith with a pretty flash of +spirit that Roger already delighted to arouse. "The tram-line is +far beyond the shingle." + +[Illustration: "FOR A LONG TIME PEOPLE SUPPOSED THEY WERE CALLED +MARTELLO TOWERS FROM THE MAN WHO BUILT THEM."] + +"Shingle!" gasped Roger, staring in that direction. "I don't see +any." + +"The pebbles, cobbles, beyond the sands," explained Edith. + +"Oh, excuse _me_," chuckled Roger. "I thought they were plain +stones. Didn't see anything particularly wooden about them." + +Edith looked at him. A few days had made her feel very well +acquainted with these friendly young people, but Roger was often +surprising. + +"Oh, cut it short, Roger," drawled Win. "Run back, will you, and +tell Mother that we want to go into town. She won't care and I +don't believe Miss Estelle will either, but we ought to mention +it. Hustle, because I think that train is coming." + +Roger obligingly bolted back, received a nod of possible +comprehension from a mother very much absorbed in an important +letter, and arrived just as the others boarded the steam tram, a +funny affair with a kind of balcony along one side where people +who preferred the air could stay instead of going inside. Edith +and Frances exchanged smiles of happiness. + +"I haven't been to St. Helier's often," Edith confided. "Just to +market once with Nurse, and once to choose curtains with Sister. +We thought the drapers' shops quite excellent." + +Fran's attention was held for an instant, but after all it seemed +only reasonable that draperies should be purchased at a draper's. + +"Isn't the beach lovely?" she confided. "It would be fun to walk +back." + +"We might," said Edith. "Would Win care if we did? Or could he do +it too?" + +"He couldn't walk so far," said Fran, "but he won't mind if we +want to. Win is angelic about not stopping us from doing things he +can't do himself." + +"Has he always had to be so careful?" asked Edith. She and Frances +sat at a little distance from the boys. Roger was peering around +into the cab of the tiny engine; Win watched the water as it broke +on the beach. + +"Always," said Frances. "He was just a tiny baby when they knew +something was wrong with his heart. It isn't painful and may never +be any worse. Only he must take great care not to get over-tired. +Ever so many doctors have seen him and they all say the same +thing,--that if he is prudent and never does too much, he may +outlive us all. Just now in London, he and Mother went to a +specialist but all he told Win was that he must cultivate the art +of being lazy. Mother says the worst was when he was too little to +realize that he mustn't do things. Now, of course, he understands +and takes care of himself. It's hard on Win but Mother says it's +good for Roger and me. It does make Roger more thoughtful. He says +anything he likes to Win and pretends to tease him, but if you +notice, you'll see that he does every single thing Win wants and +always looks to see if he's all right. It helps me too, for I'm +ashamed to fuss over trifles when Win has so much to bear." + +The little tram was traveling at a moderate pace toward town, +stopping at several tiny stations where more and more people +entered. + +"I can't get used to hearing people talk French," said Frances. +"It seems so odd when Jersey is a part of England." + +"The French spoken here isn't that of Paris," remarked her +brother, rising from his seat. "It's Norman French." + +"I know I can't understand it easily," confessed Edith, "and +Sister has always taken pains to teach me. I'm glad it isn't all +my fault." + +The train came to a stand on the esplanade of St. Helier's. The +four stopped to look over the sea-wall, to the beach far below, +across to the long stone piers forming the artificial sea basin +and up to Fort Regent overhanging the town like a war-cloud. + +"That fort looks stuck on the cliff like a swallow's nest," +commented Roger. "Look, there's a snow-white sea-gull!" + +"There's another with a black tail," exclaimed Edith. "Oh, aren't +they beautiful!" + +"In the United States is a city that put up a monument to the sea- +gulls," said Win. "Salt Lake City, ever so far inland. A fearful +plague of grasshoppers ate everything green and turned the place +into a desert. They came the second summer, but something else +came too. Over the Rocky Mountains, away from the Pacific Ocean, +flew a great flock of gulls and ate the grasshoppers. Their coming +seemed so like a miracle that the city erected a beautiful +monument to them." + +"Did they ever come again?" asked Edith, greatly impressed. + +"No," said Win. "Just that once." + +"Without doubt it was a miracle," said Edith so reverently that +the three looked at her. + +Roger gave a little snort, started to say something, looked again +at Edith's rapt face and changed his mind. "Boston ought to put up +a monument, too," he remarked at length. "Miracles happen every +summer in Boston. The city swelters with the mercury out of sight +and then along steps the east wind. In ten minutes, everybody puts +on coats and stops drinking ice-water. Some tidy miracle-worker, +our east wind." + +"Especially in winter," said Win laughing. "I'm afraid a monument +to the east wind wouldn't be popular along in January. Shall we +come on? Let's go up this street. I've a map, but things look +rather crooked, so we'd better keep together." + +The quartette started, Roger and Win leading the way. St. Helier's +streets are indeed crooked, and paved with cobble stones of +alarming size and sonorous qualities. Numerous men and boys +tramped along in wooden sabots which made a most unearthly +clatter. Even little girls wore them, though otherwise their dress +was not unusual. Outside one shop hung many of the clumsy foot- +gear, the price explaining their evident popularity. + +Signs over shops were as often French as English and sometimes +both. At one corner, the party met a man ringing a bell and +uttering a proclamation in French. At the next corner he stopped +to announce it in English and the interested boys found that he +was advertising a public auction. No one else seemed in the least +attentive to his remarks. + +Fifteen minutes' loitering through narrow, ill-paved streets, +crowded with hurrying people and a great number of dogs, brought +the four to an open square of irregular shape with a gilded statue +at one end. Its curious draperies caught Win's observant eye and +he walked around it thoughtfully. + +"What a very queer costume!" he remarked as he completed his +circuit. "What is it doing on a statue of an English king?" + +Win spoke aloud, not noticing that the others were beyond hearing, +but his inquiry was answered by a gentleman who chanced to be +passing. + +"It is a Roman statue," he volunteered, "rescued from a shipwreck. +The thrifty Jerseymen considered it too good to be wasted, so they +gilded it and placed it here in the Royal Square in honor of +George the Second." + +Win smiled as he turned to the speaker, a tall, thin Englishman in +riding dress. His bearing suggested a military training and a +second glance showed an empty coat-sleeve. + +"This group of buildings may interest you," the speaker added. +"They contain the Court House, Parliament rooms and a small public +library." + +Touching his riding-crop to his hat in response to Win's thanks, +he turned into a side street where a young man mounted on a +handsome horse sat holding the bridle of another. With interest +Win watched them ride away. Even from a distance, something about +the younger man struck a chord of recollection in Win's usually +reliable memory. He was almost certain that somewhere, at some +time, they had met. Yet he could not think of any American +acquaintance of that age who would be at all likely to be riding +about the island of Jersey, his companion not only an Englishman, +but obviously an ex-army officer. + +Still, the impression of familiarity was strong and Win was yet +wondering about it as he slowly climbed the stairs leading to the +public library. + +Protesting somewhat, the others followed to look at a rather +uninviting room, appealing to them far less than to Win, already +on the trail for local history. The attendant proved obliging and +after supplying Win with several books brought out a shabby brown +volume. + +"We have one of your writers on our shelves," he remarked with a +smile, offering the book to Frances. + +"Poems of Oliver Wendell Holmes," she read aloud. "Haven't you any +other American authors?" she demanded in amazement. "And how did +you know I was an American?" + +The librarian shook his head. "I have often thought we should have +more American books," he replied, "but they are so extremely dear +as compared with those published on this side of the Atlantic that +we have not afforded them. How did I know your nationality? By the +way you speak." + +Frances looked disgusted. She said little more, but soon persuaded +the reluctant Win to postpone his investigations and come down +again into the Royal Square. + +"Now, Sis, what's the matter with you?" Win inquired on seeing her +flushed face. + +"Oh, you didn't hear that man say he knew I was an American by the +way I talked," sniffed Frances indignantly. + +"Anybody would think you didn't want to be one," commented Roger +bluntly. + +"I wouldn't be anything else," retorted Frances, "only I don't +care to have fun poked at the way I talk." + +Win's glance traveled from his sister's annoyed face to Edith's, +which wore a look of perplexity. + +"We're polite," he remarked. "Here's Edith, who wouldn't be +anything but English." + +"No," said Edith gravely. "One always feels that way about one's +country. But I understand what Frances means. And I see why people +know you are not English. It isn't so much your pronunciation, but +you put words in odd places in the sentence and some of your +expressions are most unusual," she ended apologetically. "I like +them. It is interesting to hear things called by new names. Just +now Fran said 'poke fun' when she meant 'criticise,' and Roger +says a thing is 'fine and dandy' when I should call it 'top-hole.' +That is the difference, is it not?" + +The others laughed and Edith's attempt to bridge a dangerous +situation ended successfully. Presently their whereabouts absorbed +their attention for Win had left the map behind him on the library +table. + +For a time they wandered at random, following one narrow street +after another, seeing interesting shop windows, but presently +discovered that they did not know where they were. + +"The esplanade must lie at our left," said Win. "If we keep +turning in that direction we shall surely strike it." + +"Look at that candy," exclaimed Roger, attaching himself to a +confectioner's window. "Here's a chance to acquire some choice +English. What is black-jack, Edith? Looks like liquorice. Bismarck +marble, Gladstone rock, toffy,--what's toffy?" + +"It is sweets made of treacle instead of sugar," explained Edith, +turning surprised eyes upon him. + +"Sweets! treacle!" exclaimed Roger after a petrified instant. +"Bring me a fan! Give me air!" + +"Why," said Frances, a sudden light dawning on her. "Treacle! I +never knew before what Alice in Wonderland meant by her treacle +well. It's molasses, Edith. There are some chocolate peppermints!" + +Without stopping for further speech Frances dashed into the shop. +Presently she emerged, carrying a white paper bag, or "sack" as +Edith designated it, and with an odd expression of face. + +"Joke?" inquired Win. "What did you ask for?" he demanded, +accepting a piece of candy. + +"I got what I wanted," said Fran evasively. "It's always possible +to walk behind a counter and help yourself if you don't know the +names of things." + +Later she drew Edith aside. "What do you call these?" she asked +confidentially. + +"Peppermint chocolate drops," replied Edith. "What else could they +be?" + +Turning constantly to the left did not bring them to the sea. +Instead they walked a long distance only to find themselves in a +poorer part of the town, with increasing crowds of children +inclined to follow. Their appearance seemed a source of interest +to older people as well and presently Win was induced to inquire +his way to the boulevard. + +To his surprise the reply came in French, but between his own +knowledge and that of Edith, they made out that they were +traveling inland instead of toward the shore. This sounded +impossible unless they had completely lost all sense of direction. + +But a second inquiry brought the same answer, so they followed the +offered advice, coming at last to the bay of St. Aubin's more than +a mile below St. Helier's, fortunately near one of the tram +stopping-places. Edith was good for a walk home and Roger would +have gone also if challenged, but both Win and Frances were tired +so Edith did not propose to return by the beach. Indeed, the tide +was now so high that they would have been forced to go part of the +way by the road. + +"School for us to-morrow," said Frances dismally. "But I think we +should plan to do something very interesting every holiday all +winter." + +"We will take a tea-basket and lunch out of doors," replied Edith +happily. "There are beautiful spots to visit in Jersey." + +Win looked up suddenly. "Fran," he asked, "did you notice those +gentlemen who rode out of the square while we were looking at the +statue? Had you ever seen the younger one before?" + +Fran shook her head. "I noticed only the one who spoke to you," +she replied. "I was looking at their horses." + +"All the same," mused Win thoughtfully, "I've seen that young +fellow before and it must have been in the United States, for I +know I should remember encountering him over here." + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +THE BEACH DOG + + +"You would certainly smile if you could see the school I am going +to," Frances wrote to her chum, Marjorie Benton, "but when I think +of you and the other girls back at the dear old Boston Latin, I +feel more like crying. + +"First I must tell you about Edith Pearce, the girl in the house +where we are staying. She has long flaxen hair which hangs over +her shoulders in the most childish way, though she's our age. Her +eyes are gray with dark lashes and when she looks at you they are +like surprised stars. And she has the most beautiful complexion in +the world, just pink and white. She is lovely to look at and I +feel like a tanned, homely gipsy beside her. She's sweet too, but +very easily shocked and I'm afraid she's not only good but pious. +She can never take your place so don't worry, only, as I have to +be here, I might as well have some fun with her. + +"I go to school with Edith and it is as unlike the Latin School as +the North Pole and Boston Common. There are about thirty boarders, +some of them little bits of things--Edith calls them 'tinies'--who +have been sent home from India where their parents couldn't keep +them any longer. About fifty day-scholars attend, from kindergarten +age up. + +"I'm the only American and I can tell you I was well stared at. At +first the girls couldn't believe it, insisted that I must be +Scotch or at least Canadian, so now I wear a little United States +flag pin all the time. Gracious, but things are different, +especially clothes! Mine are the prettiest in school, if I do say +it, and Edith thinks so too. She says my 'frocks' are 'chic.' + +"Most of the girls, even the big ones almost eighteen, wear their +hair hanging and have _such_ dresses,--frocks, I mean. They fit +like meal bags, and being combinations of many colors, look +perfectly dreadful. And yet the girls are very nice, some of them +from really important families. + +"To cap the climax, most of them sport ugly black mohair aprons +which they call 'alpaca pinnies.' Marjorie, can you imagine what +they look like? I told Mother if she wanted me to be English to +the extent of wearing a pinafore, I should lie down and die and +I'm thankful to say that she simply grinned. But many of the girls +have wonderful yellow or red-gold hair and stunning peachy +complexions, so they aren't such frights as you'd think. + +"Instead of going around from one class to another as in any +sensible school, the girls stay in one room and teacher after +teacher,--I mean mistress, comes to them. I get so everlastingly +tired sitting still. Never before did I realize what a rest it was +to walk from class to class and get a chat on the way. The only +exceptions to this rule are preparation, when we sit at desks +under the eye of a monitress, and gymnasium work. + +"Marjorie, when I first beheld that gymnasium teacher, I nearly +fainted. Her molasses-colored hair was frizzed hard in front and +pinned in a round bun at the back of her head. She had on tight- +fitting knee trousers, not bloomers, believe me. Over these she +wore a white sweater of a very fancy weave. Over this was a weird +tunic of alpaca with two box-plaits in front and three in back. +This fell an inch or so below her knees, and every time she bent +over or stretched up, those queer tight trousers showed. Her shoes +were ordinary ones with heels. The girls wear either their usual +frocks or an arrangement like this. I can tell you my pretty brown +gym suit was the event of the day when I appeared in it. + +"Everybody wears slippers at school, puts them on when she first +comes and no wonder, because the English shoes are the worst- +looking and clumsiest things ever invented by man. Edith's feet +look twice as big in her boots as in slippers. You'd think by +their appearance that English feet were a different shape from +ours, but they are not; it is only the shoes. They make them so +thick and stout that they last for years. Edith was plainly +shocked when I told her I had a new pair every few months. She +thinks mine suitable only for the house. Well, I will admit that +English girls can out-walk me. + +"The other mistresses aren't so queer as the gym teacher but look +more like other people except that they wear too much jewelry. +Everybody wears a great deal and you know what we think at home of +ladies who appear on the street with rings and chains and lockets. +Edith and her sister Estelle don't dress so, but Mother says they +are quite exceptional. + +"As for lessons, we have to study. They expect a lot of grammar +and parsing, and dates in history and solid facts in geography and +all that. Mother approves; she thinks the English system much less +faddy than at home. We have Bible instruction in regular lessons. +I'll admit that these English girls know more than I do about +things in books, but they haven't any idea what's going on in the +present world. They didn't know much about the Panama canal and +the tolls. Win howled when I said I explained it to them and vowed +he'd give a dollar to have heard me. And several didn't know who +was president of the United States. Imagine that, when we're the +most important republic in the world! I knew their old king. + +"We begin school at half-past eight and have prayers and a Bible +exercise. Different classes follow until eleven when a gong rings +and everybody rushes into the garden, a lovely place with box- +edged beds and a sun dial and gravel walks. There are myrtles and +geraniums, great big bushes of them, and japonicas and heavenly +wall-flowers and _trees_ of lemon verbena and fuchsias up to the +eaves. This is solid truth, and in November, too. + +"In the garden we find a table with jugs of milk,--notice my +English, please--and biscuit, that is, crackers, and we gobble and +faith, we have reason! Studying so hard makes one famished. Then +recreation follows for half an hour and we play ball or tennis. +Some of the girls are splendid players. School again until two, +when we day-scholars leave. + +"Three afternoons a week, we have to go back for gym work and +English composition, which is beastly. On Wednesday there is no +school. + +"Do you want to know what I've learned in one week of school in +Jersey? + +"Well, I can speak three sentences in French. I'll write you in +French next time. + +"I know that Amos and Hosea and Isaiah were all prophets and said +that Israel was a very bad place. + +"I know that Paleolithic man was probably the first inhabitant of +Great Britain. + +"I know how few people like to join mission study classes. + +"And I know that I love you." + +Fran finished her letter, directed and sealed the envelope, +affixed a stamp, sniffing slightly at the head of King George +instead of George Washington, and ran down-stairs. + +"Do you know where Edith is?" she asked of Nurse. + +"She is out in front, Miss Frances," replied Nurse. "Are you going +for a walk?" + +"Just to the beach. We'll be back for tea." + +Edith stood at the gate and the two ran down to the shore. The +tide, half-way out, left bare a tremendous expanse of wet sand, +iridescent under the sun's rays. The water showed wonderful shades +of blue, green and turquoise, and in the edge of the retreating +waves walked hundreds of gulls, searching for food. + +The girls started up the beach toward St. Helier's, chatting +happily as they watched the water and the birds. Little sandpipers +appeared and some huge gray cormorants. + +Presently a handsome collie ran up to them, dropped a stone before +Frances and stood looking at her, his head cocked on one side, all +but speaking. + +"You darling," said Frances, picking up the pebble. "Does he want +to be played with? Well, he shall." + +She threw the stone down the beach and the collie shot after it at +full speed, his beautiful tawny coat shining in the sunlight. + +"Twice before," said Edith, "when I've been on the sands, he has +begged me to throw stones for him to chase. He's a thorough-bred. +Such fine markings! He looks like one of the Westmoreland sheep +dogs. You've heard of them, haven't you? They are so intelligent +about taking care of sheep and they understand everything their +masters want. We saw one once that separated and brought to his +master three sheep out of a big flock and the man didn't say one +word, only motioned to him. He wants you to throw it again." + +"I can't throw stones for you all night," said Fran at last. "You +take a turn, Edith." + +Edith threw a pebble picked up at random. The collie raced for it +and after a sniff, returned without it. + +"He wants his own stone and no other," laughed Frances. "See, he's +hunting all about. There, he's found it!" + +For a good mile down the beach the collie accompanied them, till +both were tired of play. Convinced that they would throw his stone +no longer, the dog reluctantly left them. Looking back, they saw +him accosting a young man, who promptly yielded to the mute +coaxing. + +"I wonder whose dog he is," said Edith. "He didn't seem to belong +to any one we passed. I fancy he's here on his own." + +"We really ought to go over to Castle Elizabeth soon," observed +Frances. "Doesn't it look like a huge monster stranded out there +in the harbor?" + +"Sister is afraid of the tides," replied Edith. "A soldier was +drowned there the other day, trying to cross the causeway after +the tide had turned. Look, Fran, I believe that must be his +funeral up on the road now. It is a military one at any rate." + +Frances looked with interest. First marched a guard of soldiers, +two by two, then a band with muffled drums, playing the Dead +March. After the band came a gun-carriage drawn by four horses and +bearing the coffin, over which was draped the English flag. +Several barouches followed with officers in uniform, and then the +rest of the regiment, walking very slowly, their guns reversed. + +As the procession approached, every man on the route uncovered and +did not replace his hat until it had passed, a mark of respect +which struck Frances forcibly. "They have better manners than we +have," she acknowledged half to herself. + +Edith looked surprised. "Men always uncover on meeting a funeral," +she remarked. "This was a private, but if he had been an officer, +his helmet and sword would be on the flag, and directly behind the +gun-carriage, his orderly would lead his riderless horse. A +military wedding is so pretty, Frances. I saw one once in Bath +Abbey. The officers were all in full uniform and after the +ceremony they formed in the aisle, two lines going way down out of +the church and at a signal, drew their swords and crossed them +with a clash above their heads and the bride and groom came down +this path through the glittering swords. I was just a tiny then, +but I decided I'd marry a soldier so I could have the arch of +swords." + +"It must have been very pretty," Frances agreed. "Why, what are +those? See, like immense horseshoes in the water." + +"The bathing pools," explained Edith. "They show only when the +tide is very low. They keep back water for bathing." + +"And a good job, too, when you have a tide that goes out of +sight," commented Frances approvingly, as she looked at the two +huge masonry walls near St. Helier's, set in the expanse of wet +sand. "Look at the boys sailing boats." + +"Sometimes there are real races with little model yachts," said +Edith. "There's a club of the young officers and some of the +townspeople and they have the prettiest little miniature boats +with keels about a metre long, rigged exactly like real racing +yachts. It's great sport to see them. But ought we not to go +back?" + +The girls turned for they were already far from home. To their +surprise they were presently greeted again by the collie who tore +up to hail them rapturously. + +"Still chewing your stone?" Frances inquired. "Come along. I +suppose we'll have to take you part way back." + +The collie flew for the pebble as though for the first time of the +afternoon. Before they had gone more than a quarter of a mile, a +pretty young lady came up. + +"I'm afraid my bad Tylo has been bothering you," she said +apologetically. "He is forever coming on the sands and badgering +people into playing with him." + +"Oh, we liked to play," said Frances, smiling. "I think he's a +brick. What did you call him?" + +"Tylo," replied the young lady. "After the dog in the 'Blue Bird,' +you know." + +Edith also smiled. Their new acquaintance was looking from one to +another, a charming and rather mischievous expression lighting a +sweet face. + +"You're a little sister compatriot," she said to Edith; "but I +fancy this little lady comes from across the ocean." + +"Yes, I do," said Frances, "but how did you know?" + +The young lady laughed merrily. "Oh, I've knocked about a good +bit. And I happen to have known one American boy very well. +Indeed, we really grew up together in Italy and England. 'Brick' +is rather an American word, isn't it? I've surely heard my friend +use it. Americans seldom find their way to Jersey. Are you +stopping long?" + +"Perhaps all winter," replied Frances. + +"There are many delightful excursions to make in the island," said +the young lady. "Come along, Tylo. We must go home to tea. Oh," +she added to the girls, "when you go on picnics, don't forget to +look for caves." + +With another smile and a charming little nod, she left them. + +"I wonder who she is," said Frances, frankly looking after her. +The erect lithe figure was crowned by a finely poised head and a +wealth of beautiful fair hair, prettily arranged. Something in her +face suggested possibilities of good comradeship, and her dress, +while simplicity itself, betrayed a French origin. + +"She looks nice enough and ladylike enough to be an American," +thought Frances approvingly and with a sudden stab of homesickness. + +"I wish she'd told us her name," she went on aloud, "and who the +American boy was. Perhaps we might know him." + +"He can scarcely be a boy now if they grew up together," observed +Edith. "Wasn't she sweet? I hope we'll see her again." + +"And what did she mean by caves?" Frances continued, pursuing her +train of thought. "That sounded very interesting and mysterious." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +MONT ORGUEIL + + +To find a tutor for the boys proved less easy than Mrs. Thayne +anticipated. There seemed a dearth of available young men in +Jersey and she had about decided to send Roger to the best school +and let Win work as he chose by himself, when Mr. Angus heard of a +young Scotchman, already acting as secretary to a gentleman in St. +Helier's and who could give the boys his afternoons. + +Such an arrangement was not ideal, but Win took an instant liking +to the tall raw-boned person, who announced himself in a +delightful manner as "Weelyum Feesher." + +Roger promptly dubbed him Bill Fish and refused to speak of him by +any other term, causing his mother to live in terror lest Mr. +Fisher should in some way learn of the disrespectful abbreviation. +Roger was not at all enthusiastic about Bill Fish but liked still +less the two schools he visited. To accept the tutor seemed the +lesser of two evils. + +The chief drawback proved that the boys were occupied at just the +time when the girls were free, with the exception of Wednesday, a +holiday for all. + +The result was that Edith and Frances were thrown much together. +Frances found it fortunate that she had a companion of her own +age, for the island ladies soon called upon Mrs. Thayne and drew +her into numerous social engagements. The little community had a +strong army and navy tinge and naturally welcomed Mrs. Thayne. She +would have taken far less part in the various festivities had she +been leaving her daughter alone, but the two girls proved so +congenial and Mrs. Thayne was so well satisfied with Edith as a +companion for Frances that she felt free to indulge her own social +instincts and enjoy the pleasant circle so invitingly opened. + +Whenever they went out, the girls kept a close watch for the "collie +lady" and the "beach dog." Twice Tylo came to hail them on the +sands, once apparently entirely alone. The other time he merely +greeted them and bounded away to rejoin two riders on the road. +One was his lady, her companion a slender young man of distinctly +foreign aspect, dark and distinguished-looking. Their horses were +walking slowly, the riders engaged in deep conversation and the +beach dog's mistress did not see the eager faces of the girls. + +They talked a good deal about her, wondering who she was, where +she lived and whether they would ever know her. After seeing her +on horseback, they fell more and more under the spell of her charm +and began to picture her the heroine of all sorts of stories. + +Day-dreams and romantic stories however, had but a small place in +a world so busily filled with lessons of various kinds. One +Tuesday evening, Frances was openly groaning over the need of +writing an essay upon Julius Caesar. + +"Wouldn't you like him better if you saw something he did?" +inquired Win, hearing her lamentations. "There's a castle in +Jersey, part of which he built." + +Fran's eyes opened incredulously and Roger whistled. "Is that one +of Bill Fish's yarns?" he demanded. + +"Ante-dates him," replied Win. "It's Mont Orgueil, over the other +side of the island. Let's have a picnic there to-morrow, take our +lunch and stay all day. Mother, you must come. Don't say you've +promised to make calls." + +"I can go perfectly well," said Mrs. Thayne. "Only there is +Roger's appointment with the dentist in the afternoon. He'll have +to keep that, but there will be plenty of time for the picnic if +we start early." + +"Think of having an outdoor picnic in December," exclaimed +Frances. "We'll take Edith, of course." + +"Of course," assented her mother. "And Estelle, if she will go. I +wish she would. She shuts herself up so closely and seems to +shrink from seeing people, but perhaps she will go to Orgueil just +with us." + +Even Edith could not persuade her sister to join the party though +Estelle was touched by their regret, evidently genuine. + +"If you only would, Star," begged Edith. "You would enjoy it. You +don't know how funny and nice they are to go with." + +"I couldn't, little sister," said Estelle gently. "You go and tell +me about it afterwards." + +Edith was not satisfied but all persuasion proved useless. She had +a vague idea that Star was worried. Just why, Edith did not see, +since the plan of letting lodgings had come out so pleasantly. +Everything was going smoothly at present; why should Star borrow +trouble from the future? + +Mont Orgueil is reached by a miniature railway leading from St. +Helier's to the fishing village of Gorey. By this time the young +people were all well accustomed to the absurd little narrow gauge +tramways with their leisurely trains. But if the train into St. +Helier's crawled, the one to Gorey snailed, to quote Roger. Time +was ample to note the pretty stuccoed houses, pink, cream or +brown, with gardens and climbing vines that even in December made +them spots of beauty. They passed under the frowning cliffs of +Fort Regent and saw several lovely turquoise-blue bays with +shining sandy beaches. Farther on farms succeeded the villas, +stone farmhouses with tiled or thatched roofs, some with orange or +other fruit trees trained against their southern walls. Suddenly +Frances rose to her feet. + +"What on earth are those?" she demanded. "Just look at those +cabbages on top of canes." + +The others looked and saw something answering exactly to Fran's +graphic description. + +"Oh, yes" said Mrs. Thayne, "those are the cow cabbages of Jersey. +They are common in the interior of the island. It's a peculiar +kind of cabbage growing five or six feet high. The farmers pick +the leaves on the stalk and leave just the head on top. These +stalks are made into the canes we have seen in shops." + +"I saw them," said Win, "but I didn't realize what they were. +Look, there's a Jersey cow among the cabbages." + +"The Jersey cattle are so pretty," said Frances admiringly. + +"They are very valuable," said Edith. "The farmers coddle them +like children." + +Gorey proved a picturesque village with many schooners and boats +of different kinds drawn up on the beach and in every direction +fish nets drying. Above and behind towered the ruined castle of +Orgueil, rising more than three hundred feet sheer from the sea. + +Mrs. Thayne sent Roger to find and engage a donkey which Win +mounted without protest, after one glance at the climb before him, +though he insisted on swinging the boxes of luncheon before him on +the little animal's neck. Its owner was dismissed, Roger agreeing +to pull the beast up the hill. + +Mont Orgueil forms the crest of a lofty conical rock and looks +down like a grim giant upon the blue waters that stretch away to +the coast of France. Tier after tier the fortifications mount the +cone, crowned at the apex by a flagstaff. + +At the castle entrance, gained after a steady climb, a small boy +appeared, sent by the castle keeper to act as guide. He tied the +donkey to an iron post and led the way into the interior. + +"This is the oldest part," he began shyly. "They do say this tower +was built by Julius Caesar." + +"Gracious, that's some story!" whistled Roger, looking with all +his might. + +"I believe it is true," said Mrs. Thayne. "Win, you were reading +about the castle before we started." + +"Yes," said Win. "That's straight about Caesar. That's why I +wanted Fran to see it. And most of the place was built a thousand +years ago. Is it ever used now!" + +[Illustration: ABOVE AND BEHIND TOWERED THE RUINED CASTLE OF +ORGUEIL] + +"In summer the signal service is quartered here," replied the boy. +"This is the well, ninety feet deep." + +As he spoke, he dropped a pebble over a low parapet. Some seconds +later came a hollow splash. + +The guide showed them a cell where condemned prisoners were once +kept, a ruined chapel with a very old crypt, and above the chapel +a room reached by winding stairs. The girls entered with a +simultaneous shriek of delight. + +"What a love of a room!" said Edith. + +"Mother, isn't this too sweet for words?" demanded Frances. + +"This is the Cupola room," explained their guide. "Charles the +Second stopped here during his exile from England." + +"Prince Charles!" exclaimed Win, his imagination fired at once. +"Oh, I read that in the guide book, but this--his room--" + +Win's voice trailed into silence. To read a fact in a book was +different from standing under the very roof that had once +sheltered bonnie Prince Charlie. He looked about him, trying to +picture to himself those far past days. + +The ceiling rose in a huge dome and one immense window framed a +wonderful view. From a little sally-port leading to a platform one +could look sheer down to the rocks or across fourteen miles of +tossing water to beautiful France. By using a little imagination +the girls agreed that they could detect the spire of the cathedral +of Coutances easily visible in clear weather. + +"In the French revolution the governor of Jersey signalled to the +army of the Vendée by means of a flagpole held in place by +chains," said Mrs. Thayne. + +"Yes," said their small guide. "The chains are still on the wall +but the pole is new. The naval men use it in summer." + +"Do they sleep here?" asked Win. + +"Down in the chapel, sir." + +"I'd stay here," said Win. "Say, how much would you rent this room +for?" + +"Three and six a week, sir, with the platform thrown in," replied +their small guide so gravely that they all looked to see whether +he was really in earnest. + +"That's cheap enough, considering the view," said Mrs. Thayne, +smiling. + +Fascinated by the picturesque old castle, Win wandered off by +himself, deciphering the inscriptions placed on the many doors. +There is no guard in the guard-room, no stores are kept in the +storeroom, and the chapel never hears a sermon save those preached +by its own stones to those who have ears to hear. But the sunlight +falling on the green platforms, the pigeons cooing on the walls, +the blue sea stretching to the shining cliffs of France, the +glamour of old-world romance struck impressionable Win. Dreamily +he recalled that whether Caesar built the tower or not, no +reasonable doubt exists that Orgueil was occupied if not built by +the mighty Prince Rollo, grandfather of William the Conqueror. +Over the main entrance to the castle-keep his coat of arms +survives the centuries. For centuries to come, Orgueil will remain +gathering more legendary charm as the slow years pass. + +Win shook off the feeling of awe gently creeping over him and +joined the others, investigating a tiny cell where Prynne the +Puritan leader was confined for three years. Roger was immensely +impressed by the ruins of a secret staircase, connecting a dungeon +where the criminals were executed, with the keep and sally-port. + +"There's a many secret stairs in the old Jersey houses," +volunteered their guide, noticing his interest. + +"Where can we see them?" demanded Roger at once, but this their +small informer could not tell. + +"Gentry lives in those houses," he volunteered. "They'se not open +to trippers." + +"To what?" demanded Roger. + +"Visitors, strangers like," explained the boy. + +"I like that," said Roger, flushing indignantly. + +"Hush, Roger," interposed his mother. "No offense was meant. What +are these chains? They seem very old." + +"They were used long time ago to hang criminals. They do say they +put 'em there alive and left 'em to the corbies." + +"Corbies? Oh, crows," interpreted Win. "Nice custom! Mother, look +at the heaps of rocks exposed by the tide." + +"There's more this side," said their guide, turning a corner of +the rampart with Roger close at his heels. The rest were about to +follow when suddenly Mrs. Thayne gave an exclamation. + +"Listen!" she said. "That must be a skylark." + +From somewhere in the blue above fell a rain of happy music, so +liquid and so sweet that it scarcely seemed to come from any +earthly bird. + +"Where is it?" asked Frances excitedly, peering into the air and +dropping on her knees the better to look up. Mrs. Thayne did the +same and both stared into the sky, trying to detect the tiny spot +of feathered joy, the source of all this melody. Presently Edith +and Win joined them. + +Back around the corner came Roger and the guide, both stopping +short at sight of the rest of the party down on their knees on the +daisy-starred turf. + +"Whatever are they doing?" ejaculated the boy. + +"Oh, it's a skylark!" exclaimed Frances enthusiastically. "Come +and see." + +Mouth open in amazement, their small guide stood rooted to the +spot. "A skylark!" he muttered, staring at the four in their +attitude of devotion. "Lookin' at a skylark!" he repeated as +though unable to credit the testimony of his own eyes. + +Win burst out laughing and rose to his feet. "Take this," he said, +producing a shilling. "Thank you for showing us about. We'll stay +a while longer and eat lunch here." + +The boy pocketed the coin and withdrew, his face still a picture +of incredulous astonishment over the actions of this singular and +apparently insane group of excursionists. At last sight, he was +still slowly shaking his head and murmuring, "Lookin' at a +skylark!" + +[Illustration: "LOOK, THERE IS A JERSEY COW AMONG THE CABBAGES."] + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +A RACE WITH THE TIDE + + +After luncheon, time passed too quickly. Before it seemed +possible, Mrs. Thayne declared the hour had come for Roger to keep +his appointment with the dentist in St. Helier's. + +"Let him go alone, Mother," said Win. "He's no kid. We want you to +stay with us." + +"Of course he could go alone," agreed Mrs. Thayne, "but I ought to +consult the dentist myself and do an errand or two. There's no +reason why you and the girls should cut short your stay. This is a +lovely place to spend the afternoon and the day too perfect to +hurry home. Just be back for dinner." + +"Let Roger return the donkey," suggested Win. "I sha'n't need him +going down hill and very likely we shall strike across beyond the +village." + +Mrs. Thayne departed, Roger clattering ahead on the donkey, and +the three were left in the meadow by the castle entrance, a meadow +starred with most fascinating pink-tipped English daisies. + +"Just see the dears and then think that it's really winter," +sighed Frances. "I can't believe that at home everybody is wearing +furs and the ground is frozen. It doesn't seem possible that +Christmas is so near." + +Win was lying flat on the close-cropped turf, his attitude +indicating that he contemplated a nap. After a glance at his +prostrate figure, the girls wandered to a little distance, seeking +the pinkest daisies. Presently they were surprised by the sudden +arrival of a beautiful collie, who poked a cold nose into Edith's +face. + +"O-oh!" she exclaimed. "Go to Frances. She's the one who likes +dogs. I prefer nice soft little pussy-cats." + +"It's the beach dog," said Frances. "Do you suppose his lady is +with him?" + +Edith looked eagerly about. The elevated castle meadow commanded a +rather extended view but in no direction was any one visible. + +"I don't see her anywhere. Come here, Tylo. Oh, Fran, let's read +the plate on his collar. Perhaps it will have her name." + +Hot and panting from a run, Tylo willingly lay down by the girls +and made not the least objection to having his collar examined. +The unusually long plate bore considerable lettering. + +"Laurel Manor, St. Brelade's," read Frances in excitement. "Here's +some French, Edith." + +"It's Italian, Fran. 'Palazzo Grassi, Via Ludovisi, Roma.' Just +two addresses and no name!" Edith ended in disappointment. + +"Oh, but wait!" exclaimed Frances. The light struck the plate at +such an angle as to make visible to her some additional lettering, +not engraved but apparently scratched with a knife. Though small, +the words were extremely neat and legible and the girls deciphered +them eagerly. + +"Connie--her dog. + +"Max--his mark." + +"Her name must be Connie!" Edith declared, turning excited eyes +upon her companion. "Speak, Tylo! Is your mistress called +Constance?" + +Tylo vouchsafed no answer, only pricked his ears, hearing +something inaudible to the girls. The next instant came a distinct +though faint whistle. + +The beach dog departed at once, tearing down over the meadow in a +graceful curve to leap a hedge into a shady lane beyond. + +"Well, we've learned a little," sighed Frances. "His mistress is +called Connie and she lives at Laurel Manor. The rest ought to be +easy. Let's go down to the shore. I want to explore that point of +rocks." + +"But Win's asleep," said Edith hesitatingly. "Ought we to leave +him?" + +"It's all right," said Frances. "He couldn't scramble on the rocks +and it's splendid for him to sleep in this fine air. I'll leave a +note telling him where to look for us." + +Edith supplied a blunt pencil and Fran wrote her message on a bit +of paper torn from the luncheon box, pinning it carefully to her +brother's coat where he could not fail to see it. Then they ran +down to the cove beyond Orgueil. + +The water, far on the horizon, showed only as a gleaming line of +light, leaving bare heaps and piles of rocks, inextricably turned +on end in some prehistoric upheaval. In places the rocks were +continuous, in others separated by spaces of wet sand. + +Over the rocks grew masses of vari-colored seaweed, brown, yellow, +blue-green, even pink. Footing proved both slippery and +treacherous, but offered the fascination of exploring an unknown +region. As they walked farther out, curious shell-fish were +clinging to the stone. + +"These are ormers and limpets," said Edith. "I saw them the day +Nurse and I went to market. What a huge winkle!" + +Fran stared at this new specimen. "Is that a winkle?" she demanded +in disgust. "I call it a plain snail. Why, all my life, I've read +about winkles and thought I'd like to eat some but I'd die before +I'd eat a snail. Oh! Oh! Oh!" + +Edith turned so quickly that she almost fell on the slippery weed. +Frances was fairly dancing with excitement, wholly however of +pleasure. + +In the hollowed rock lay a pool of clear sea water, at first sight +filled with bright-hued flowers, pink, purple, orange. The next +glance showed them to be living organisms. + +"Sea-anemones!" breathed Edith softly. "I never saw anything so +beautiful." + +The anemones were pulpy brown bodies varying in size from a pea to +a tomato. From their anchorage on the rock they stretched waving +tentacles of soft iridescent hues, transforming the little pool +into a marine fairyland. Between the anemones a bright yellow +lichen-like growth almost covered the warm red granite, and tiny +yellow, rose, and black and white striped snails were set like +jewels on this background. Two or three sharp limpet shells waved +feathery seaweed fans. + +A long time passed and the girls still lingered. They discovered +that most of the pools boasted anemones, some not unlike an +ordinary land daisy with light-colored tentacles stretching ray- +shaped from a yellow centre. When touched with an empty shell, the +anemone would close over it, folding both the shell and itself +into a tight brown ball, then open slowly and drop the shell. The +only food the girls had with them was some sweet chocolate, so +they experimented with this, watching the lovely living sea- +flowers seize upon fragments held within reach of their feelers. + +"I suppose it will give them frightful pains," remarked Frances at +last, rising from her cramped position. "Goodness! the tide is +coming!" + +"Yes, but it's far out," replied Edith, casting a glance at the +line of water, still distant a full half-mile. "Look, Frances, +here's a tiny pink crab." + +For a moment Frances again bent over the aquarium but soon started +to her feet. + +"Let's go back, Edith. We're a long way from shore and you know +how very fast the tide comes in." + +"Oh, is that crab gone? I thought you would mind where he went," +said Edith as she reluctantly rose. "I wanted to take him to Win." + +The two began to retrace their way, at first over piles of red +rock covered with seaweed, farther on over stretches of sand +surrounding rock islands. + +Just as they left the last of the solid rock a big wave came +curling lazily along its side. For a second the water clung to it +like fingers, then withdrew. + +"Fran, we must run," said Edith quietly, but her face had grown +pale. + +Frances made no reply. Both ran as fast as they could across the +stretch of level hard sand. Before they reached the first rock +island, long fingers of foam again darted past at one side. + +Neither girl spoke. Automatically they seized hands and redoubled +their efforts. One island after another was left behind, then +Edith, looking over her shoulder, saw that the tide was gaining. +Its next incoming heave would overtake them. + +"We'll have to climb these rocks!" she gasped. + +"_No!_" said Fran, giving her hand a tug. "Keep on. No matter if +we do get wet. We _must_ get nearer in. These rocks will be +covered." + +Edith kept pace. They seemed to have reached a higher ridge of the +beach since presently the water, instead of pursuing directly, +passed on either side, stretching shorewards. + +Too terrified to consider what this would mean when the tongues of +water should meet before them, the girls pressed on blindly. + +Suddenly there came a shout from shore, now measurably nearer. +Down the beach sped a galloping horse, his rider waving to attract +their attention. + +Fran's quick wits grasped the situation. "He'll come for us!" she +exclaimed. "He means us to climb this rock and wait." + +This seemed what the rider meant for as they scrambled up the +ledge, he ceased to call and merely urged his horse to greater +effort. Edith reached the top without accident, but Frances +slipped and soaked both feet. + +The horse, a beautiful chestnut thoroughbred with tossing mane, +came at quick speed. In the distance, his rider looked a mere boy, +but as he approached, the girls saw that he was a young man of +twenty-three or four, with a fine, clean-cut face, who sat his +horse as though a part of it. + +Arriving by their rock, the chestnut checked himself in full +gallop and turned almost in his stride. + +"Give me your hand," said the young man to Edith. "Step on my +foot. Swing round behind me and hold on any way you can." + +Edith instantly obeyed. "Here," he added to Frances, "scramble up +in front. Quick! There's no time to lose. Steady on, Saracen!" he +added as the horse jumped and snorted at touch of the water +curling about his heels. + +They were perhaps a quarter-mile from shore and the return was +made at a fast pace, yet as they came up above tide mark, the +waves were lapping the shingle and only a rock here and there +remained uncovered. + +During the hurried trip the young man had spoken only to his +horse, words of encouragement uttered in a pleasant voice, and +both girls were still too stunned by the sudden peril and their +equally sudden rescue to realize their very unconventional +situation; Edith with both arms around the stranger, her cheek +pressed into his shoulder; Fran sitting on the saddle-bow, held in +position by his left arm while his right hand clasped the reins. + +Once in safety, Saracen stopped of his own accord, looking around +as though, now the hurry was over, he would like to know what sort +of unaccustomed load he had been carrying. + +"Right we are!" said the young man cheerily. "Now I wonder if you +can slide down." + +Still speechless, Frances did so. The young man swung himself from +the saddle and turned to lift Edith from her perch as though she +was a little child. Again on firm ground, she began to utter +incoherent thanks. + +[Illustration: "HE'LL COME FOR US! HE MEANS US TO CLIMB THIS ROCK +AND WAIT"] + +"I think you must be strangers to the island," he said rather +gravely, "else you would know that the Jersey tides come in as +rapidly as they ebb. This isn't a safe coast to experiment with." + +"It was the anemones," began Frances. "We never saw any before and +forgot to watch the water." + +The young man smiled. "Those anemones!" he said. "I was once in a +similar fix for the same reason. Better remember that the only +safe time to watch sea anemones is when the tide is just going +out. There's a place up here where the farmer's wife is a friend +of mine. I think you'd better let me take you over to Mother Trott +and she'll dry you out." + +"I'm not wet," said Edith. "Frances fell, that's why she's +drippy." + +"Oh, but Win!" Frances exclaimed. "He'll find that note saying +we're on the rocks and he'll see the water and be frightened. My +brother," she added to the stranger, who was looking at her +inquiringly. "He's in the meadow." + +The young man's clear gray eyes grew rather stern. "And what is +this brother doing while his little sister gets into danger?" he +asked. + +"Oh, it's not his fault. He was asleep and he _mustn't_ be +frightened," Fran began. She spoke rapidly, her explanation +banishing from the inquirer's face all look of disapproval. + +"I'll go and tell Win," said Edith. "I'm not a bit wet. You go on +to the farm, Frances. Which house is it?" + +"Do you see the long low one with the vines about half a mile up +the hill?" replied their rescuer. "That's it." + +"If Win's still asleep, for goodness' sake don't wake him," +directed Frances as Edith set off toward the castle. "Perhaps I +can get dry and be there before he need know what has happened." + +"Would you be willing to ride in front of me again, Miss Frances?" +asked the young man, as Edith vanished around the wall. "We could +reach the farm much more quickly." + +Without demur, Frances consented. She felt queerly shaken and ill +and to her consternation, as Saracen crossed the highroad and +entered the farm lane, a sudden burst of sobs overcame her. She +struggled bravely to control herself. + +"That was a beastly experience," said the pleasant voice, "but you +were so near shore when Saracen and I saw you, that you'd probably +have made it with merely a wetting." + +"We haven't really thanked you," said Frances incoherently. "I do +--so much--Mother--" + +"Thank Saracen. He did it. It's nothing at all, and you mustn't +let it trouble you. Hello, Tylo. Been off again on your own?" + +Obedient to touch, his horse stopped at the cottage gate. Frances +slid from her perch and the young man dismounted, throwing the +reins to the beach dog, whose sudden reappearance did not surprise +nor interest Frances, as ordinarily it would have done. + +"Come round to the back," said her companion, opening the gate. +"Mother Trott will probably be in her kitchen. She'll put you to +rights in no time. No mess too bad for her to take on." + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +MR. MAX + + +Frances accompanied her guide along a pebbled path neatly edged +with big scallop-shells measuring fully six inches across. Beside +the walk stretched garden borders still gay with geraniums, +japonicas and other hardy plants in full bloom. As they passed the +front door of the cottage with its whitewashed steps gleaming in +the afternoon sun, a roughly outlined heart surrounding some +initials caught Frances' attention. The design was carved in the +stone top of the door-frame and looked very old. + +"That's a pretty custom of the island," said her companion, +noticing Fran's glance. "The people who first made a home had +their initials cut over the door. Many of the Jersey farmhouses +have several sets of initials on the door-stones." + +Around the corner of the house lay a neat kitchen garden full of +vegetables in thrifty green rows, a patch of the curious cabbages +and in a field just over a fence, was tethered a pretty, soft-eyed +Jersey cow. Beside the entrance stood a bench glittering with +shiny copper pails and milk-cans. + +Without stopping to knock, the young man stepped directly into a +clean, low-ceiled kitchen, where white sand was scattered on the +stone floor. + +"Are you there, Mrs. Trott?" he inquired. + +Hastily setting down the pan of potatoes she was peeling, a +pleasant-looking stout woman rose to her feet with a curtsy. + +"If it isn't Mr. Max!" she exclaimed, her voice expressing both +surprise and delight. + +"And as usual seeking help, Mrs. Trott. This young lady, Miss +Frances, has been unlucky enough to be overtaken by the tides--" + +"Poor dear!" interrupted Mrs. Trott. "Bess!" she called, "come you +down. Ah, 'tis the tides that make the Jersey heartaches. Ye did +quite right to bring her, Mr. Max. Bess, be quick!" + +A rosy-cheeked girl of seventeen came clattering down the tiny +stair, to smile at the visitors and drop an awkward, blushing +curtsy to each. + +"Why, Bess, you're quite grown up," said the young man, smiling +back at her. + +"A year does make a differ, sir," said Mrs. Trott. "Lead the young +leddy up the stair, Bess, and dry her feet and give her your +Sunday socks and shoon. Mr. Max, you'll drink tea? Sure, now, and +taste my fresh wonders. The young leddy'll be down directly and a +cup of tea will set her up." + +"Indeed, I could do with some tea, Mrs. Trott, and I've not had +any wonders since--" + +Frances did not hear the end of the sentence for she was following +Bess up the narrow, winding stone stairs to emerge in a little +room with slanting caves and dormer windows in its thatched roof. +The place was bare but spotlessly clean and through the open +western casement shimmered the blue sea. + +"Sit down, Miss," said Bess in a soft voice with curious musical +intonations that made up for imperfect pronunciation. + +With a sigh of relief, Frances sank into the straight chair. The +reaction from her late adventure was still upon her. Before she +knew what was happening, Bess approached with a basin of water and +a towel, and knelt to unfasten the soaked shoes. + +"Oh, I can do that for myself," Frances protested with the +independence of an American girl. + +"Sit ye still, Miss," said Bess pleasantly. "'Tis bad for the +nerves to race the tides. It shakes one a good bit." + +Her deft fingers made short work of their task. Presently, Frances +was comfortable in white cotton stockings and black slippers far +too large and wide. + +"Twill serve," said Bess, smiling at the way they slid around on +Fran's slender feet. "Dry at least. Now come ye down and drink +your tea. 'Tis not lately we've seen Mr. Max. Mother'll be rarely +pleased." + +Frances had it on her tongue's end to inquire into the identity of +her rescuer, but the difficulty of keeping on those heavy leather +shoes with their big silver buckles distracted her attention. She +came carefully down the stair to find Mr. Max seated on the big +black oak settle, his hat and riding-crop beside him and Mrs. +Trott arranging her table before the fire. + +"Come, Miss, to your tea," she exclaimed. "Bess, fetch the cream." + +Frances tried to protest, feeling already under great obligations +to these total strangers, but Mr. Max promptly rose to give her a +seat. + +"Tea will do you good, Miss Frances," he said with a most engaging +smile. "Try Mrs. Trott's wonders. Have you ever eaten a Jersey +wonder?" + +"It looks like a doughnut," said Frances, taking a fried cake from +the proffered plate. + +A sudden, mischievous grin crossed the young man's face. "A plain +New England doughnut disguised by an old-world name," he said. + +"New England!" repeated Frances, stopping with the cake halfway to +her mouth. "How do you know about New England doughnuts?" + +Mr. Max seated himself, looking boyishly amused. + + "'Land where our fathers died, + Land of the Pilgrims' pride,'" + +he quoted, seriously enough but with gray eyes dancing with fun. +"Oh, I know the whole thing. Shall we sing it together?" + +"Are you really an American?" Frances demanded in utter amazement. +"Then how--what--You don't talk--But that accounts for it." + +She stopped, feeling suddenly shy of questioning him. "Well," she +added after a second, "that's the reason I didn't feel a bit +strange about coming with you. It seemed all right--just as though +you were somebody I knew." + +"Thank you, Miss Frances," said her companion. "That is a very +lovely way to express your appreciation. Yes, we are fellow- +countrymen, though I have spent much of my life in Europe. In +fact, my first visit to the United States was when I was around +your age. Since then I've put in four years at Yale and one in +Washington. Now, I'm attached to the American Embassy in Paris and +came over here to spend the Christmas holidays with old friends. +Jersey has seen me many times before this. That's how I happen to +know about the sea anemones and the tides." + +Mrs. Trott came bustling back with jam, followed by Bess with a +covered jar. "And how's Miss Connie?" she inquired. + +"She seems very well," replied Mr. Max. "Your tea is as good as +ever, Mrs. Trott. Clotted cream, Bess? You know my weak spots, +don't you?" + +"They do be saying that the Colonel fails since his lady died," +went on Mrs. Trott, regarding her table anxiously. "Couldn't you +fancy an egg now, Mr. Max, or a bit of bacon?" as he raised a +protesting hand. + +Frances also declined. She did not feel hungry but after Mrs. +Trott had brought water to dilute the strong tea, she drank it +willingly. + +Neither did Mr. Max eat enough to satisfy his hostess. After a few +moments he rose and looked at his watch. + +"I think I'll ride over to the Manor and exchange Saracen for +another horse and the trap and give myself the pleasure if I may, +Miss Frances, of driving you and the others back to St. Aubin's. +Your boots will hardly be dry for you to wear on the train. I'd +really like to do so," he added, seeing that Frances looked +disturbed. "You know it is the business of the American Embassy to +look after its fellow countrymen in a foreign land, so this is +only my plain duty." + +"Best let him, Miss," said Mrs. Trott approvingly. "Mr. Max do +always take thought for others. But where happens Miss Connie to- +day?" + +"Oh, Miss Connie's gone to a tea-fight of some kind," replied Mr. +Max, giving Frances another mischievous glance. "She said I +couldn't go, so I annexed her dog and her father's horse and went +out on my own. I shall be back before long." + +Frances gave an anxious thought to Edith, concluded that she +probably found Win asleep and was following instructions not to +wake him. This conjecture proved correct for Edith soon came +hurrying down the path. + +"I took the first note and left one saying we were at this +cottage," she explained. "Are you all right, Fran? Do you think +you've caught a chill?" + +Frances explained that they were to be driven home and Mrs. Trott +pressed tea and wonders upon Edith, who accepted both gratefully. + +"Is it far to the Manor--to where Mr. Max is going?" Frances +inquired of Mrs. Trott. + +"Not for a good horse, Miss, though 'tis beyond St. Aubin's. I'm +thinking you must have marked the place, a big old stone house +with many a laurel tree about it and open to the cliffs beyond." + +"Oh, we know it," said Fran eagerly. "There are iron gates with a +coat of arms and the grounds are lovely." + +"That's Laurel Manor, Miss," assented Mrs. Trott. + +The girls looked at each other in delight. In one afternoon they +had learned where lived the mistress of the beach dog and what her +name. + +"'Tis good to lay eyes on Mr. Max again," Mrs. Trott went on. "A +pity he and Miss Connie couldn't content themselves with each +other. 'Tis not to our liking to have our young leddy takin' up +with a foreign prince." + +"Oh, please tell us about it," demanded Frances. "We met Miss +Connie on the beach and we think she's perfectly lovely. Is she +really to marry a prince?" + +"He's not a prince of a royal house," replied Mrs. Trott. "He's an +Eyetalian and in that country, they tell me, there's a different +kind of royalty. I don't rightly know, Miss, but I'm thinking they +are Romish princes." + +"Is Miss Connie marrying a Catholic?" inquired Edith in great +interest. + +"That's the question," said Mrs. Trott, reflectively resting both +hands on the table. "I could see Mr. Max didn't want to talk, but +we hear considerable through the housekeeper at the Manor. This +young man that they say Miss Connie's tokened to is the son of one +of these princes. But his mother was an Englishwoman and a +Protestant and so when two boys had been baptized as Catholics, +the third son,--Miss Connie's young man,--was brought up in his +mother's faith, our English church. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott went on meditatively, "they thought he'd +never succeed to his father's title and position, bein' the third +son. But the oldest, Prince Santo-Ponte, or some title like that, +was killed in a motor mishap--they say he was racin' something +shameful,--and soon the next brother died of pneumonia. So that +leaves the Protestant son the heir. And the story is that he's to +be made to turn Catholic." + +"But they can't make him if he won't," protested the shocked +Edith. Both she and Frances were listening eagerly to this +romantic story. Their wildest flights of imagination concerning +Miss Connie fell short of the truth,--if this was truth. + +"I don't know, Miss, I don't know," said Mrs. Trott doubtfully. +"Turn the young leddy's boots, Bess,--don't ye scent the smell o' +scorchin'? 'Tis hard on the poor fellow. There's his father urgin' +him to do it for the sake of the family, and there's a title and a +great fortune waitin' when he does. They'll be tellin' him it's +his duty as they tell't the Princess Alix, own granddaughter of +Queen Victoria, when she married with the Czar of all the Russias. +'Twas the Greek church she went over to." + +"But will Miss Connie marry the prince if he does give up his own +church?" asked Edith eagerly. + +Again Mrs. Trott shook her head. "There's no mention of any +weddin'," she admitted, "and it may be they're not even tokened, +but the prince has been visitin' a sight of times at the Manor. +Now, I'm thinkin' it's a good sign Mr. Max is here again. The +Colonel, Miss Connie's father, loves him like a son. Why, he and +Miss Connie grew up together, brother and sister-wise. The way of +it was that Mr. Max's mother died when he was but a tiny and Mrs. +Lisle, Miss Connie's mother, about took him for her own. He's fair +lived with them. Many's the time he and Miss Connie have run in +here for their tea or to dry their feet. You see I was parlor-maid +at the Manor before I married Trott. That was when Mr. Eichard was +living Miss Connie's brother. He was near fifteen years older and +he died in South Africa, poor lad! Ah, when he was killed it nigh +broke the Colonel's heart. Well, I've often helped out at the +Manor when extra service was needed. Far rather would I see Miss +Connie wedded to Mr. Max." + +"But how did Miss Connie happen to know the prince?" asked +Frances. + +"In Rome. Till her mother died, they spent part of every winter +there, but the Colonel can't bear the place now and they stop here +the season. I keep hopin' Mr. Max will get her yet. Such a pretty +well-mannered boy he always was and never above passin' a friendly +word with us all. + +"I suppose," Mrs. Trott concluded, "when you come to think of it, +Mr. Max is a foreigner, too, but the best I can say is that he's +just like an honest English gentleman." + +Frances flushed, choking back a hot comment. She had so quickly +felt a bond of kinship with this young American. Yet, in spite of +her momentary anger, she realized that Mrs. Trott was paying the +highest compliment in her power. Well, pride in her own country +could teach Frances to value like loyalty in another. + +"What is his other name?" she inquired. + +"I couldn't rightly tell you, Miss. He was but a wee lad when he +first came to the Manor. He calls the Colonel, uncle, and we +forget he isn't really of the family. Yet his father has been +here, too. He's famous for something very wise indeed. Could I +speak the name, you might know, for he's well-spoken of outside +our island." + +At this moment, Win appeared, strolling up the lane and looking +annoyed to find the girls so far in the opposite direction from +the railway. Nor did his vexation lessen on hearing their +adventures, softened and smoothed though the version was. In fact, +self-controlled Win was inclined to be decidedly cross and to +disapprove emphatically acceptances of further favors from a +stranger. Fran was still arguing when a smartly-appointed trap +drawn by a shiny horse turned into the lane. + +"Now, you can see for yourself," declared Fran. "He's an American +and a gentleman and it's all right for us to let him drive us +home." + +"As if we couldn't hire a carriage in Gorey," Win retorted, but +with a second glance at the driver, his attention was distracted. + +"Oh-h!" he said in perplexity, "that's the fellow who was in the +Royal Square that morning. Now, where in the wide world have I +seen him before?" + +Thinking hard, Win stared with puckered brows. Suddenly his face +cleared. "Why, he's that young chap Father introduced me to the +time he took me to Washington," he said accusingly to Fran. "Why +didn't you tell me?" + +"How on earth could I know?" demanded Fran, but her brother had +turned with a smile to greet the trap just drawing up by the gate. +Mr. Max looked at Win with a puzzled glance which gradually +changed to a look of recognition. + +"I do know you, don't I?" he said. "Well, I never suspected when I +was detailed to entertain Captain Thayne's son for an hour or so, +that we'd meet again in Gorey village. Why, that makes us old +friends!" + +Win grasped the cordially offered hand and having bestowed Edith +and Frances in the seat behind, climbed up beside Max, his face +beaming. With many thanks to Mrs. Trott and promises to come +again, they drove off. + +"Hasn't this been the most exciting afternoon?" Frances confided +to Edith. "We've learned the collie lady's name and met the boy +she told us of, and heard about her Italian prince. Look at Win! +He's crushed on Mr. Max,--I can tell by the way he's looking at +him. I should think Miss Connie would much rather marry an +American." + +"Perhaps he hasn't asked her," said Edith sensibly. "Perhaps, if +she really is engaged to the prince, she did it before Mr. Max +came back from America and he couldn't help himself because it was +too late." + +Max's back did not look as though it belonged to a specially +unhappy person and the expression of his face as he talked +pleasantly with Win was not that of a young man whose enjoyment in +life has been seriously darkened, but it pleased the girls to +fancy him as a blighted being, so keenly had Mrs. Trott's rather +injudicious confidences appealed to their youthful ideas of +romance. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +RICHARD LISLE'S LETTER + + +"Why, I've met Miss Lisle several times," said Mrs. Thayne after +hearing Fran's account of the exciting end of the picnic. "She's a +charming girl and her father is the finest type of an English +gentleman. At the lawn party this afternoon she spoke of meeting +two girls on the beach and asked if one wasn't my daughter." + +"Oh, I do hope I can know her," said Frances happily. "I think +she's the sweetest thing I ever saw. But, Mother, do you suppose +what Mrs. Trott said about her and the Italian prince is true?" + +"That was a bit of gossip which Mrs. Trott should not have +repeated to girls of your age," commented her mother, "but since +you have heard it, I suppose it will do no harm to say that Prince +Santo-Ponte undoubtedly does visit at the Manor, though I do not +believe that any engagement exists between him and Miss Lisle. As +for Mr. Max, as you call him, his father is Professor Rodney +Hamilton, the noted scientist. Max has been much with the Lisles +and to all purposes is the son of the house." + +"The day when I really meet Miss Connie will be the happiest of my +life," declared Frances solemnly. Later, her amused mother learned +that Edith was equally smitten. + +In his quiet way, Win was most anxious to see more of Max and it +was partly with this wish in mind that he set off one morning +shortly after the picnic at Orgueil, to stroll on the road leading +past the Manor. On so pleasant a day he might encounter the young +people riding or walking. + +When Win reached the Manor gates, no one was in sight, and he +sauntered past, not caring to intrude on private grounds. One +longing glance he cast at the chimneys above the laurels, twelve +that he could count from that angle. What a rambling old structure +the Manor house must be! Surely in its existence stretching back +through the centuries, many interesting things had happened under +that roof. What fun it would be to try to find them out! + +Absorbed in pleasant thought, Win walked farther than he realized, +lured by the blue sea and a most interesting little church almost +on the water's edge. The doors proved locked, but Win resolved to +come again when he could gain admittance, for from outward +appearance the building was extremely old. + +On turning, Win was soon aware that he had overtaxed his strength +and was in no shape to walk to St. Aubin's. Pleasant as the sky +still was, a strong sea breeze had risen, bringing difficulties +for a person who required very favorable conditions for any +prolonged exercise. Only slow progress was possible and when he +again reached the iron gates of the Manor, he was really too tired +to go on. Choosing the sunny slope of the hedge, he sat down to +rest. + +Before long, voices approached on the other side of the laurels, +voices speaking in French, and Max came through the arch, +accompanied by a gardener carrying tools. + +"Why, Win," he said. "You're not stopping at the gate, I hope. The +house is just beyond." + +[Illustration: A MOST INTERESTING LITTLE CHURCH ALMOST ON THE +WATER'S EDGE.] + +Win smiled. "I sat down to get my breath," he explained. "I've +been for a stroll and the wind knocked me about a trifle." + +Max looked at him keenly. "It's a bit cool to stop there," he +said. "Come up to the house. We'll slip into the library and you +can rest properly." + +Win demurred, thinking he would detain Max from his business. + +"Uncle only asked me to direct Pierre about some planting around +the cottages," Max replied. He added some words in French to his +companion, who nodded and struck off toward the shore. "I'll not +stop for you," Max went on, taking Win's arm. "There isn't a +person at home, and you will have the library to yourself." + +Win yielded at once. Aside from the pleasure of seeing Max again, +the suggestion of books acted as a magnet. + +They crossed the beautiful Manor lawn,--green as in June,--not +toward the main entrance but in the direction of some big French +windows opening on the terrace. The casement yielded to Max's +touch and the two entered a room that would have made Win gasp +with pleasure had he been less exhausted. He received only the +impression of spacious beauty and countless books, as he was +established on a big old settle beside a fireplace where cheery +flames were flashing. Before he knew precisely what was happening, +Win found himself tucked among comfortable cushions. + +"There, go to sleep now," said Max, flinging over him a soft blue +Italian blanket. "I've an idea this thing belongs in Connie's +room, but since she left it here we will make use of it. There's +no one at home and the only person likely to come is Yvonne, one +of the maids. If she appears to look after the fire, just tell her +you are my friend." + +Max departed and Win soon fell into a reverie. He did not sleep +immediately but as his physical discomfort lessened under the +influence of rest and quiet, he began to look about him. + +The three rooms composing the library were very high and opened +into one another by arches. From floor to ceiling the books +climbed, rank on rank, on the upper shelves in double tiers, in +some places overflowing window seats. Narrow stained-glass +casements threw pleasant patches of color on the polished floor. +Age had blackened the oak ceiling and the handsome wall paneling +where books did not conceal it. Here and there hung portraits, +evidently of the family, judging from certain recurring +resemblances. Their quaint costumes dated from the days of the +Stuart kings. + +The utter quiet of the place, the time-faded bindings, the old +pictures, the spots of crimson and blue light, the faint odor of +leather, mingled with the scent of fresh flowers from some +invisible source, all had their effect upon Win, who sank into a +state of mind where he was neither awake nor quite asleep. His +last wholly conscious thought was for the curious coat of arms +above the fireplace, a shield that bore the date 1523. + +An hour later, Win came to full consciousness and at the same time +to a sense of familiarity with his surroundings. "Of all queer +things!" he thought as he sat up and looked around him. "The first +day I was in Jersey I dreamed of this room or of some room like +it. That man up there in the picture is mighty like the old Johnny +that was around. I've been dreaming about him now, only I can't +remember what." + +Try as he might, Win could not recall that dream, a fantastic +jumble of persons and an impression, almost painful, of a +fruitless search. + +"This is a house where anything might have happened," his thoughts +ran. "How I wish I could have a chance at these books!" + +Shelves framed even the ancient fireplace, their contents within +easy reach of Win's settle. His eye ran idly along the titles, a +History of the World, an edition of Defoe, some old hour-books. +Tucked in with these were two volumes of very modern philosophy, +their bright cloth bindings looking curiously out of place. With +their exception, nothing in sight looked less than a century old +and examination proved most to be even older. Many bore marks of +ownership by Lisles dead and gone. + +His enthusiasm thoroughly aroused, Win examined volume after +volume, lingering over the quaint bookplates. Finally he took down +a book unlettered on the back, but with a rubbed leather binding +that showed marks of use. It proved a very old copy of the Psalms, +a book that some one had once read often, for its pages were worn +not only by time but by constant turning. + +Opening to the front, Win searched for a bookplate. There was +none, but in fine handwriting appeared: "Richard Lisle His Valued +Book." As Win replaced the volume a paper slipped from its pages. + +Picking it up, he glanced idly at the single sheet which seemed a +page perhaps lost from some letter written long before, possibly a +leaf from a diary. The penmanship was like the autograph in the +Psalter, the ink, though faded, perfectly legible on the yellowed +paper. + +The extract began in the middle of a sentence. Win, who started to +decipher it from mere curiosity, ended by reading it five or six +times. It ran as follows: + +"having fed my Prince and Eased him after his hard Flight we took +Counsel anent his Refuge. + +"That he should lye at ye Manor looked not wise. Ye Castel seemed +ye better Place. + +"Lest he be curiously viewed of Many we did furnishe Other garb +and a Strong Bigge Cloake. And those who knew did safely lead him +through ye Towne. + +"Ye honoured Relicks my Sonne and I did place in ye Spanish Chest +and convey by Lantern light to that safe Place beyond ye Walls. So +shall they Reste till happier Times shall Dawne. + +"Strange that this Day should bring such Honour to Mine House." + +Win's eyes grew interested and excited as he studied this message +from the past. For whom was it meant and why had it lain all these +years in the old Psalter? Did the Manor family know of its +existence? The prince, the castle, the town, mentioned by a Lisle +of Laurel Manor, must refer to events of island history. + +After thinking a few minutes, Win drew out his notebook and made a +careful copy. Surely that was not abusing Max's hospitality and +could do no harm. If he discovered anything interesting in looking +up the matter in some history of Jersey at the public library, he +would share his knowledge. Or there surely must be books of that +kind here at the Manor. Perhaps he would be permitted to come +again and investigate this fascinating room more thoroughly. He +wished he knew Max better. If he only did, he could show his find +at once and ask for an opinion. Well, that might come later. +Anyway, it would be great fun to study the enigmatic paper and see +what he could make of it. + +When Max came quietly a few minutes later, Win made no mention of +his discovery. Surprised to find it so late, he thanked his host, +and declared himself entirely fit to walk back to Rose Villa. + +"Come again," said Max as they parted at the gates. "I know you +liked the library and that will please Uncle Dick. You must come +when he's at home and he'll show you all his special treasures." + +Win went on with a happy face. That meant he would certainly have +another opportunity to browse in that fascinating old book-room, +and perhaps become so well acquainted with the Manor family that +he could share his puzzle with somebody who would be equally +interested in finding out what it meant. + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +CHRISTMAS IN JERSEY + + +Fran's "happiest day" soon dawned, for not long after the Orgueil +picnic, she and Edith were walking down one of Jersey's lovely +lanes. Enclosed by high ivy-covered earthen banks, it ran, a +straight white road between green walls, and so narrow that at +regular intervals, little bays were provided that carriages might +pass. Evergreen oaks, often growing from the banks themselves, and +drooping vines made the lane a bower of beauty even on a December +afternoon. The girls had stopped to admire the old Norman gateway +leading to Vinchelez Manor, when suddenly around a corner, bounced +the beach dog. Close behind came Constance Lisle and Maxfield +Hamilton. + +[Illustration: THE OLD NORMAN GATEWAY LEADING TO VINCHELEZ MANOR] + +"We've been to call on your respective mother and sister," +declared Connie, "and were desolated not to find the little ladies. +What luck to meet you! Max, you don't need an introduction, do +you, after playing Lord Lochinvar with both girlsat once?" + +At this sweeping characterization, they all laughed and walked +along together, Tylo galloping ahead or falling behind as his +sweet will led. + +"I'm giving a treat to the Sunday-school children after +Christmas," Connie confided, as at the end of a brisk walk, they +came to the parting of the ways. "I should like you girls, if you +will, to help me with the kiddies. The brothers are invited too, +if they would fancy it." + +"Win would like to help," Frances said quickly, her face lighted +with pleasure at this request. "He's very good at things like +that, but Roger's only twelve, you know." + +"Oh, Roger can hand buns," said Connie at once. "No harm if he +does tread on a few. I shall count on you then next week Thursday, +three days after Christmas. Take care not to stir abroad on +Christmas eve for that's when the Jersey witches hold their +meeting at the rock up by St. Clement's." + +She waved a laughing adieu and the girls went back to Rose Villa, +bubbling over with pleasure and anticipation. + +It was fortunate for Frances that she did have this expectation of +a visit to the Manor to buoy her spirits, for the season scarcely +seemed Christmas. Warm weather and plentiful flowers did not +appeal to one accustomed to the holiday in wintry Boston, but not +the weather alone disturbed Fran. For some foolish reason she +disliked intensely the differences of celebration that marked this +holiday in another land. Her state of mind both worried and +distressed Mrs. Thayne. + +"Why, little daughter, don't you see the fun of having Christmas +under strange conditions?" she asked one evening, when she went to +investigate a sound of woe from Fran's room. + +"No, I don't see any fun in it," replied Frances stubbornly. "I +could stand Thanksgiving, even though I had to go to school, +because Miss Estelle knew it was an important day to us and had a +turkey for dinner and put little American flags around. But +Christmas here in St. Aubin's, without Father, is too impossible." + +Mrs. Thayne was silent for a moment. Then she sat down on the bed +and took Frances in her arms. + +"Listen, now," she said. "I want you to think about somebody else +for a moment. There's Edith. Just remember how sad this season +must be for her and Estelle. Yet Estelle goes about with a smiling +face that gives me a heartache because her eyes are so pitiful. +She's planning hard to make things pleasant for us and to have it +seem Christmas to Edith. I know some of her plans, Fran. Then, +even if Father isn't with us, we know he is well and that it is +only a question of time before the _Philadelphia_ is where we can +be nearer. Win is always self-controlled and naturally he and +Roger don't miss the home conditions as you do, but their +enjoyment is going to depend largely upon their sister. Why, Fran, +you usually like new experiences and here they are looming thick +and fast." + +"That's just the trouble," sobbed Fran. "I don't want them all +piled on top of Christmas. I want to be with Grandmother and the +cousins. I can't believe it is Christmas when it's so green and so +hot." + +"Many nice things are going to happen," her mother went on. "Just +think what fun you and Edith will have helping Miss Connie with +her school treat. You are going to find that very English." + +Frances smiled. "Oh, I won't be a pig, Mother," she said at last. +"Miss Connie is a dear and of course we must make the boys have a +nice time." + +"The climate agrees so well with Win that I am very thankful to +spend Christmas here," replied Mrs. Thayne. "To-morrow, Nurse is +going into town to the French market and I think you will like to +go with her." + +Win and Edith joined the marketing expedition next morning and +even Frances was impressed with the holiday spirit overhanging the +place. They left Nurse carefully inspecting fat geese in a +poulterer's stall and started to explore. + +Any number of plump chickens and ducks hung about, together with +little pigs decorated by blue rosettes on their ears, a touch that +struck Win as extremely funny. In the vegetable market were heaped +huge piles of potatoes, scrubbed till their pink skins shone, +great ropes of red onions braided together by their dried tops, +turnips, artichokes, garlic, winter squashes, white and purple +cabbages, celery and egg plant and many varieties of greens and +early vegetables. The stalls themselves were prettily arranged and +fragrant with nice smells but their keepers were the great +attraction. Many were in charge of old women dressed in white +peasant caps and clean starched aprons above full wool skirts and +wooden sabots. Little tow-headed grandchildren, comical replicas +in miniature, smiled shyly or dropped bobbing curtsys as the girls +stopped to speak. + +Fruit stalls proved even more fascinating with the hothouse +grapes, red, white, and dark purple, showing a hazy bloom. Fresh +figs and dates abounded, alternating with baskets of Italian +chestnuts and oranges, forty for a shilling. Every stall seemed to +have vied in decorations with its neighbor, being bowers of myrtle +and laurestinus. One sported a shield showing three leopards in +daffodils against a green background. + +"Look at the English coat of arms," said Frances, catching sight +of it. + +"That's not English," said Edith. "Those are the leopards of +Jersey, the old Norman insignia." + +"I can't understand," observed Frances as they sauntered on, "why, +when Jersey belongs to England, it has a different coat of arms +and government and everything." + +"Because the islands are all little self-governing communities," +supplied Win. "It's a privilege they have always had, and even +England wouldn't dare take it from them now. Jersey is desperately +jealous of Guernsey. They say that even a Jersey toad will die if +it is taken to Guernsey." + +"Neither will Guernsey flowers blossom here," Edith added. "Oh, +there's Miss Connie!" + +The little lady of Laurel Manor was standing before one of the +flower-stalls, chatting in French with a very clean, rosy-cheeked +old woman in a white cap. Behind Constance stood a servant +carrying a basket and as the girls watched she purchased an +enormous bunch of daffodils, a sheaf of calla lilies, and a +quantity of narcissus. + +"Isn't she sweet in that soft green suit," commented Edith +admiringly. + +Turning from the stall, Connie saw and hailed them. "Have you seen +the fish-market?" she asked after greeting them gayly. "Oh, you +must not miss that. I always go there." + +She led them past a long bench where sat several nice white-capped +old women beside huge baskets of spotlessly washed eggs or round +rolls of fresh, unsalted butter wrapped in cool green cabbage +leaves. Some of them nodded and smiled and once Connie stopped to +ask after a sick child. Everybody spoke in French and seemed most +kind and cordial. + +Arrived at the fish-market, conger eels as big as Win's wrist, and +four or five feet long, crabs two feet across the shells, lobsters +blue rather than green, enormous scallops, huge stacks of oysters, +cockles and snails, the so-called winkles, greeted the astonished +eyes of the young people. In other directions were heaped piles of +smelts, plaice and unknown fish. + +"These are what I dote on," said Constance, calling their +attention to piles of tiny crabs, neatly tied by the claws into +bunches. Most were alive, but owing to the fact that all chose to +walk in different directions, the bunches remained fairly +stationary. One might purchase two, four, six or a dozen, +according to the size of one's appetite. + +"I'm so glad we met," said Connie, when in addition they had made +the round of the flower market and exclaimed over its treasures of +color and fragrance. "I thought of you this morning and wondered +if you young people wouldn't like to help decorate the church. +There are never too many helpers and we have ordered such lovely +greens and flowers. Several of us are to be at the church at two +this afternoon and you'll be very welcome if you care to come. +It's pretty work and we always have a nice time." + +"Indeed, we should like to help," said Frances promptly. "Is it +Mr. Angus's church at St. Aubin's?" + +"No, the one I mean is a tiny stone church not far beyond the +Manor. Just take the highroad inland from the village and turn +once to the left," + +"Oh, I know," said Win quickly. "It stands almost on the shore." + +"That's it," said Connie. "I'll expect you then." + +Win declared himself quite equal to helping with the decorations +that afternoon. When they arrived, the beach dog lay in the porch, +thumping his tail by way of welcome, so they knew his mistress was +already within. For a few moments, the three lingered to look at +the quaint French inscriptions on the churchyard stones, but +finally entered rather shyly. They were not given one moment to +feel themselves strangers. + +"I'm delighted to see you," exclaimed Constance, coming down the +aisle with a long vine trailing after. "So glad you came. Rose," +she called to a pretty young girl working near by, "here are some +helpers for your windows. Oh, you know Rose LeCroix, don't you? +She goes to your school. Win," she added quickly, "won't you come +and help struggle with this tiresome pulpit?" + +Win followed at once, glad to see Max already busy over the +designated task, but Constance sent him to seek a certain wire +frame reputed to exist in the sacristy. Win found himself twining +myrtle wreaths around the pillars of the stone pulpit, yet +stealing constant glances at the interior of the old church. + +Part of it was very ancient, with round Norman pillars and a +rounded vault, speaking of very distant days. Everything save pews +and choir stalls was of granite, its rosy color making the stone +seem warm rather than cold. Vines, holly and flowers heaped about +the interior emphasized by their ephemeral beauty the solemn +enduring majesty of the church itself. Ten or twelve young people +were working more or less steadily to the accompaniment of much +gay conversation. + +"Oh, Max, that's the wrong frame," Constance said suddenly. + +Win turned to see her sorting lilies where she knelt on the +chancel steps. + +"This isn't Easter, ducky," she added. "We want a star, not a +cross." + +Max smiled at Win, an indulgent, rather amused smile, and when the +proper frame had been substituted, came back to the pulpit. + +"Tell me," said Win, indicating the stone vault. "What are those +little pointed things up there?" + +"You mean the limpet shells?" asked Max, looking up. + +"Are they shells?" said Win in amazement. "They looked it, but I +couldn't imagine how shells could be scattered about up there." + +"Some thousand years ago when the original builders quarried this +stone from the Jersey shore, they didn't trouble to scrape off the +limpets that clung to it. Nobody has removed them since; now it +would seem sacrilege to do so." + +"A thousand years!" repeated Win in awe. He stopped work for a +moment to look at the pointed shells on the roof. + +"Does jar a fellow and makes him feel mighty transitory and +insignificant, doesn't it?" commented Max, with a friendly glance +of understanding. "I think there's no place quite like this +church. The Manor lies in its parish and Uncle Dick would know if +a single limpet was knocked off. The only time I ever saw him +really angry was once when some Americans--I'm an American, too, +you know, so I can tell this story--tried to bribe the verger to +scrape one down for them. There was rather a row and Uncle was in +a fine fizz. + +"There's one interesting thing common to all these old churches," +Max went on, seeing that Win appreciated the place. "The island is +divided into twelve parishes. From the church of each there was +originally a road, leading directly to the sea. In feudal times, a +criminal was safe if he took sanctuary in the church and by the +old custom, after he had abjured his crime, he could go down by +this one road to the shore and leave the island. But if he strayed +never so little aside, he lost the benefit of the sanctuary and +was liable to the law. Just imagine some old robber or cut-throat +marching down his path to the sea, escorted by the churchwardens, +with other men watching his every step, ready to seize him if he +swerved. Some of these sanctuary roads are still the main +highways." + +"I think the island history is so interesting," said Win. "I +suppose it is a fact that Prince Charles did take refuge here?" + +"No doubt of it," Max replied, looking critically at the almost +completed pulpit decorations. "Indeed, there is a story that he +was entertained at Laurel Manor. Ask Uncle about it," he added, +not noticing Win's start of interest. "He's awfully keen on that +legend. I suppose it is very likely true though I don't know that +there is any real proof. There, do you think her ladyship will +approve our efforts? Excuse me,--Connie wants her star put in +place." + +Left alone, Win stood thinking hard. So Prince Charles was reputed +to have visited Laurel Manor! What if that chance letter were the +proof? If so, was there not more in its message than confirmation +of the prince's stay? One thing was certain--he _must_ get +acquainted with Colonel Lisle. + +So many industrious hands soon completed their task. After the gay +workers departed, Connie lingered for a last look. + +"Come and see it to-morrow morning," she said to the three. +"Probably you'll wish to go into town at eleven, but come here for +the early service at six." + +Edith looked doubtful. "Sister planned to go to St. Aubin's," she +said. + +"I couldn't come alone," said Frances, her disappointment showing +in her face. + +"I'll come with you," offered Win so unexpectedly that his sister +frankly stared. + +"Good!" said Constance. "There'll be no music and only candle- +light, but you'll love it. I wouldn't miss it for the world." + +That very evening Fran was forced to admit that a Jersey Christmas +had its compensations. The doors of the back parlor, mysteriously +locked for days, were opened and in the room, gay with holly, +mistletoe, and laurestinus, appeared a most delightful little +Christmas tree, itself rather foreign in appearance since it was a +laurel growing in a big pot. Real English holly concealed the base +and merry tapers twinkled a welcome. + +Estelle had spent much time and thought, coupled with anxious +fears lest these young Americans whose lives seemed so sunny, +might not care for so simple a pleasure. Their appreciation, not +in the least put on for the occasion, quite repaid her. +Inexpensive little gifts adorned the tree, each bearing a number. + +"Draw a slip," commanded Roger, appearing before his mother with a +box. "Take a chance and see what you'll get." + +When all the slips were distributed, Roger as instructed by +Estelle, took a gift at random from the tree and called its +attached number. + +"Who has eight?" he demanded. + +"Here," said Win, giving up his slip in exchange for the tiny +package, and presently laughing heartily over an absurd mechanical +mouse. Ridiculous misfits in the presents made the distribution +all the funnier, and the rejoicing was great when Roger, who +didn't believe in washing his hands without being told to do so, +drew a wee cake of soap. He took it good-naturedly and considered +as an added joke, Estelle's hasty and shocked assurance that it +was not meant especially for him. + +Strange to say, some packages appeared on that tree of which +Estelle was ignorant, conveyed by Roger to the proper persons. +Edith was rendered speechless with joy over several lovely gifts, +and tears filled Estelle's eyes. Nor were Nurse and Annette +forgotten. The Thaynes had certainly lived up to the American +reputation for generosity. + +Then Nurse brought a big bowl filled with darting blue flames. The +courageous shut one or both eyes, stuck in a fearful finger and +extracted a fig or a fat raisin. Egg-nog and roasted Italian +chestnuts completed Estelle's entertainment save for the holiday +dinner of roast beef and plum pudding to follow on the morrow. + +Unexpected by Estelle, her plans were supplemented by a group of +parish school-children, led by the old organist, who came through +the streets, singing Christmas carols: "God save you, merry +gentlemen," "Good King Wenceslaus" and "As Joseph was a-waukin'" + +In fascination Fran lingered on the steps long after the singers +were gone, pleased with her distribution of pennies from her +mother's purse and biscuit provided by Estelle. Far in the +distance she could hear their voices. Yes, after all, an English +Christmas had its points. + +Next morning, Nurse's call seemed incredibly early to Frances, +though she found the whole household awake and exchanging +greetings. Mrs. Thayne decided to accompany Win and Fran, and +Roger alone remained in bed. + +The stars still shone brightly, making it seem the middle of the +night, save for the hurrying groups bound for church, some still +singing carols or hymns. + +"It's like October weather at home, isn't it, Mother?" said +Frances as they walked on through the crisp, clear air. "See, +there are lights in the windows and people leaving lanterns in the +porch." + +The moment she entered, Frances understood what Connie meant by +not missing that service for "anything in the world," and Win felt +it even more keenly, being by nature more impressionable. + +The utter quiet, broken only by a distant wash of waves,--waves +that sometimes broke over the stones in the churchyard,--the +candles in the chancel, throwing into high relief Constance's +Christmas star and touching with light the jonquils banking steps +and altar rail; the dusk in the nave of the church half-revealing +scattered groups of people as they knelt in silence under the +arched vault where clung the limpets dead a thousand years,--all +contributed to the age-old Christmas miracle. + +"I feel as though I'd never realized what Christmas meant before," +thought Win, and somewhat the same feeling came to Frances as her +eyes became accustomed to the gloom and she discerned among the +kneeling figures her fellow-workers of the day before. Half-way +down the nave was the family from the Manor, Constance and Max on +either side of a tall gray-haired gentleman. Fran recognized him +as the one who had spoken to Win that day in the Royal Square. + +Win recognized him also, knew him to be Colonel Lisle and was +quickly reminded of that curious old document, as yet a mystery. +How he hoped Miss Connie's school treat would afford an +opportunity to meet the owner of the Manor and to take some step +toward the solution of that puzzle. + +As the service began, Frances stole a glance at the windows banked +with glossy laurel and holly, over which she and Edith had worked +with Rose LeCroix and her sister Muriel. Just because she had +helped do something for that little church in a foreign land, Fran +experienced a sudden blessed feeling of belonging a bit. A +pleasant glow crept into her heart, a sense of the spirit that +makes the world akin at Christmas. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +THE BUN WORRY + + +"I have helped you very nicely all the morning, Connie, and I hope +you appreciate my goodness. But as for messing about the lawn with +a bun worry in full blast,--thank you, Maxfield is not on. One +doesn't want to let one's self in for everything." + +"Your goodness isn't such as to alarm me," sighed Constance, +casting a worried glance about the Manor green. "You're in no +danger of acquiring saintship. Dad has balked, too. What'll I do +alone?" + +"Being on toast yourself, why do you want to have me there?" said +Max mischievously. "Aren't all the Sunday school mistresses coming +to help and didn't you ask those nice American kiddies?" + +"I did, and that's another reason why I want you," retorted +Connie, flying to adjust to her better satisfaction the basket of +narcissus decorating the chief table. "Max, I don't know where to +have you. Since you came from the States, I can't make out whether +you are English or American. Here you are shying either at an +English school treat or at some nice American children. Which is +it?" + +"Neither, I think," Max replied after a survey of the close- +clipped lawn, boasting that velvety turf which only centuries of +care can perfect. Great groups of laurel proudly proclaimed the +right of the Manor to its name; carefully trimmed hedges of yew +and box protected borders already gay with spring flowers, and +beyond the grounds shimmered the sea. Max's glance was one of +affection, for this was the scene of many happy boyhood days. + +"I think I'd shy just as quickly at an American tea-fight," he +said at length. "As for being neither English nor American, I love +both countries. I would certainly be loyal to my own, but I would +also take up arms for England, if the time ever came that she +needed me and the two duties didn't conflict." + +"You're a duck," said Constance promptly. "Come, take up arms and +carry a basket of buns for me this afternoon." + +"Too many petticoats coming," said Max. "I'm afraid of those +freaks from the rectory. But I'll agree to furnish a substitute +who will more than take my place. The kiddies will be thrilled to +a peanut. Come now, let me off?" + +"I suppose so," agreed Constance. "Don't bother about letting me +down softly. Trot off and do anything you think you have to do. +Here are the Marqué children already. And there come the Thaynes." + +"I will perform a vanishing act," said Max quickly. "Connie, I +really am booked for an hour with Uncle Dick, but I'll send that +substitute. Watch for him." + +Constance looked after him suspiciously, but Max was already half +across the sunken garden, whistling to Tylo as he went. + +"Are we too early, Miss Connie?" asked Frances as they came up. + +"Just on the dot," replied Connie, greeting them all. "The +children are arriving. We will play games first and then have tea. +Excuse me, please, while I go and speak to the Reverend Fred." + +Constance departed to greet the curate thus disrespectfully +designated, a youthful individual of rather prepossessing +appearance. Just behind him appeared Rose and Muriel LeCroix and +other girls whom Frances knew at school. + +Soon the children came thick and fast, shy youngsters propelled by +older brothers and sisters, independent groups, a few babies in +arms, a scattering of older people. + +Two white-draped tables by the yew hedge were the target for the +children's eyes as they wondered what those linen-covered baskets +concealed. There would be tea of course, buns in plenty, possibly +cake. + +Presently the children, poked and pulled into line were started +playing London Bridge, two of the biggest girls forming the +bridge. + +For a moment Frances stood apart, watching the marching, shouting +youngsters, scrubbed till they shone, clothed in clean though +often clumsy garments and heavy shoes. No great poverty was +indicated by their apparel, and some, evidently of French origin, +were dressed with real taste and daintiness. These were also +remarkable for a more vivacious appearance than the stolid little +Anglo-Saxons. Some few were of striking beauty. + +As one game succeeded another, the children grew less stiff and +self-conscious. The Reverend Fred was joining in the sport with +conscientious zeal, as were his two sisters and Edith and Miss +Connie. Fran caught the contagion and found herself flying about +the Manor lawn, tying a handkerchief over one child's eyes to lead +in Blindman's Buff, helping another group play King of the Castle, +finally organizing a game of Drop the Handkerchief. + +With amused surprise she saw Roger actually helping Muriel LeCroix +with a number of the smallest children, and this fact so impressed +Frances that she failed to note Win's absence. + +Her brother was not far away. Had Frances been nearer the opening +in the hedge, leading into the sunken garden in its season full of +roses, she might have seen an interesting picture, for with great +glee, Win was helping prepare for appearance Max's promised +substitute. + +Down in the rose-garden, where an old sundial marked "only the +sunny hours," the afternoon shadows grew long. The older people, +somewhat exhausted by strenuous play, seated the children in a big +circle ready for tea. From the Manor emerged Yvonne, Pierre, and +Paget, Constance's old nurse, armed with shiny copper cans, to +fill cups for distribution. + +Frances seized a basket of buns and for a time was so occupied +with playing Lady Bountiful to a host of little hands, now rather +grimy, that it seemed quite natural to be sharing in this unusual +festivity. But as she was hurrying back to the table to refill her +empty basket, she met Edith on a similar errand. Suddenly it +struck her as very odd that she should be helping. + +"This is the funniest affair I ever saw," she confided merrily. + +"Why?" asked the puzzled Edith, lifting grave eyes to look at her. +"Don't you give the Sunday school children treats in America?" + +"Oh, yes," admitted Frances, "but we'd never fill them up on weak +tea and buns. They'd expect ice-cream and cake." + +Edith looked much shocked. "Ices are very dear," she remarked, +"and not fitting for these children. Would you really serve ices +in winter?" she asked incredulously. + +"On the very coldest day of the year," asserted Frances +emphatically. "Oh, America is so _different_, Edith! Why there's +scarcely a town so tiny that you can't buy ice-cream any time of +the day or any time of year." + +"It must indeed be different," Edith agreed. Basket refilled, she +returned to her charges. + +For a minute Frances lingered, looking around at the circle of +hilarious children, each with a mug, more or less precariously +clasped, each stuffing big plummy buns; looked at the older people +so anxiously attending to them. Yes, it was very different, very +English, but also very interesting. + +As Frances passed the entrance to the sunken garden, her basket +filled this time by solid-looking pieces of cake, she heard her +name. + +"Fran," came Win's voice, "call Tylo. Get him to come out on the +lawn." + +Frances called. She could see no one in the garden, only hear +amused voices trying to induce Tylo to answer the summons. + +"He won't start," said Win again. "Ask Miss Connie to whistle for +him, Fran." + +On receiving Fran's message, Constance looked puzzled. + +"I'd as soon Tylo would stop away," she said. "The kiddies may not +fancy him begging for their cake. Still, I'll call." + +At the summons from his mistress, Tylo instantly came, causing a +sudden silence among the chattering children, silence succeeded by +wild shrieks of pleasure. + +The beach dog emerged from the garden wearing a wreath of roses +around his neck, with an open pink silk parasol fastened to his +collar and tipped at a fashionable and coquettish angle over his +head and holding firmly in his mouth the handle of a basket filled +with as varied an assortment of English "sweets" as Max could +secure in his hasty gallop into St. Helier's. + +Connie, too, gave an exclamation of laughter. "Oh, look at my best +Paris brelly!" she groaned. "Max stole that. Yvonne never gave it +to him." + +Fully conscious that he held the center of the stage, Tylo +advanced, waving his tail and casting amiable glances upon the +children as they came crowding around, buns and cake forgotten. He +seemed perfectly to understand what was expected and held the +basket until the last sugar plum was secured by little searching +hands, then employed to caress the bearer. Max's substitute +certainly scored the greatest hit of the Manor "bun worry." + +From their seclusion in the rose-garden, the two conspirators +watched Tylo's successful appearance. + +"Let's come in and wash," said Max, seeing that no further +responsibility remained to them. "Or are you keen on a bun worry? +I like them, like them awfully, you know, but somehow, I'm afraid +Uncle Dick may be lonely. I feel it's my duty to look him up." + +Win would have seen through this flimsy excuse without the +betrayal of Max's merry eyes, but the proposal chanced to be what +he most wished to do. Very gladly he followed Max through the +gardens to a side entrance to the house, where they went up to +Max's room, a high oak-paneled chamber that would have been sombre +were it not for three sunny mullioned casements overlooking the +sea. Cases crowded with books stood by the fireplace, fishing +rods, cricket bats and oars decorated the walls. + +"Those aren't mine," said Max, noticing Win's glance as he stood +drying his hands; "only the skiis and racquets. This was Richard's +room, Uncle Dick's only son. He was a subaltern in the British +army, just twenty when he was killed in the charge on Majuba Hill. +They have always given me his room at the Manor. I fancy Uncle +liked to have it occupied by a boy again." + +"Colonel Lisle himself must have done some fighting," observed +Win. "How did he lose his arm?" + +"For years he was an officer in India. He lost his arm defending +the Khyber Pass against the Afghans." + +Max took his guest down the main staircase to the great entrance +hall, with its high raftered roof, and stone floor half covered by +valuable Oriental rugs. Suits of shining armor lent glints of +light; curious spears, ancient swords and firearms, many of them +very old, were fastened on walls dark with age. Win stopped to +look at the carved mantel over the great fireplace, sporting the +leopards of Jersey, the Lisle coat of arms and the date 1509. + +"Imagine living in a house built all those centuries ago," he +sighed. "This is older than the library, isn't it?" + +"Somewhat," replied Max. "The wing here is the oldest part of the +house. Let's come to Uncle's study. I fancy he'll be there." + +Colonel Lisle was lounging near the fire, but appeared very +willing to put aside his book and welcome the two. + +"And have you had tea, Uncle?" Max inquired. "We haven't, and I +could do nicely with a cup." + +"With all those gallons of tea on the lawn, it is a pity if an +able-bodied young gentleman couldn't secure one cup," said the +Colonel smiling. "Now you mention it, I believe I have had none +either. Ring the bell by all means and order it. I was absorbed in +verifying some points of old Norman law," he added to Win. "Our +islands have an interesting history." + +"Win is pleased that Prince Charles has left his mark on Jersey," +observed Max, giving the bell-pull a vigorous twitch. "Tell him, +Uncle, about his stopping here." + +"Such is the legend handed down from father to son," replied the +Colonel. "The story goes that the prince was brought to the Manor +immediately after landing in Jersey. Just where he landed and how +he was conveyed here is not known, but his stay was short. The +owner of the Manor at that date, another Richard Lisle,--he whose +portrait hangs in the library,--was an ardent Royalist who would +have risked everything to serve his prince. Authorities agree that +Charles spent the period of his stay in one of the castles, some +say Orgueil, others Elizabeth. Probably the Manor roof sheltered +him but for a few hours. I should very much like to see the legend +of his stop in this house authenticated beyond question. Max tells +me you are fond of books," the speaker continued. "After tea, I +will show you some of our special treasures." + +Win's face, already alight with interest, grew even more responsive +to this offer, yet as the tea came, he felt unaccountably stupid +and idiotic. Utter disgust with himself filled his mind to think he +couldn't get to the point then and there of telling his kind host +about that letter he had discovered. + +Max noticed that Win was ill at ease, attributed it to shyness or +perhaps awe of the Colonel, who was, as Max put it, "a bit +impressive till a fellow knew him," and tried to help matters by +talking nonsense that amazed Win and evidently amused the Colonel. +Gradually, as he saw that Max was not in the least afraid of the +dignified owner of the Manor, Win began to feel less tongue-tied. + +Presently came a sound of gay voices, a tap at the door and +Constance, the girls, and Roger entered. + +"The tea-party is gone and in its place is peace," said Connie. +"Daddy dear, I want you to meet Frances and Edith. And this is +Roger. Max, why didn't you have tea with us and the kiddies?" + +"Because of buns," said Max. "My bun-eating days are past." + +"Not so long past!" retorted Constance with a mischievous smile. +"Not so many years ago that I bribed you with a penny bun to steal +a tooth for me out of a skull in the Capuchin church! He did it, +too," she added to the girls, laughing delightedly at this charge. +"You haven't been in Rome? The Capuchin monks have a church there +with some holy earth brought from Jerusalem. Years ago,--they +don't do it now, because modern sanitary laws have invaded Rome,-- +the monks who died were buried in this earth. Only of course as +the centuries passed, there wasn't room for them all, so the monks +longest buried had to get up and give place to others. Their bones +were arranged in nice neat patterns on the walls, and the skulls +heaped in piles. It was a tooth from one of these skulls that I +fancied. Max ate the bun and stole the tooth for me, but Daddy +wouldn't let me keep it and made Max put it back." + +"Oh, how could you ever want such a thing, Miss Connie!" exclaimed +Edith, shuddering with horror. + +"I wonder, why did I?" said Constance reflectively. "It certainly +doesn't appeal to me now. Mother was shocked; she disinfected +everything that tooth had touched. Are you through tea, Daddy? I +want to take the girls into the library." + +Once again in the old book-room, Win recovered his self-possession +in admiration of its treasures of illuminated missal and +manuscript. His interest pleased his host, who ended by cordially +inviting the boy to visit the Manor library whenever and as often +as he chose to come. Win's genuine delight over this permission +touched the Colonel, who from his own physical handicap, guessed +that life was not always smooth for Win. + +Win's pleasure arose not merely from the enjoyment of the library +itself but because he would surely grow better acquainted with the +Manor family and have a more favorable opportunity to show his +discovery in the old Psalter. + +He was very quiet on the way home and scarcely spoke while Fran +was giving her mother a graphic account of the afternoon. Win +hardly knew she was talking until his attention was caught by a +dramatic remark. + +"Miss Connie told us something so exciting, Mother," Fran was +saying. "Roger asked her if there was a ghost. He blurted it right +out and I was quite mortified, because you know if they did have +one and were sensitive, it would have seemed impolite. But Miss +Connie said right away that the Manor had all modern improvements, +including a well-behaved and most desirable ghost. Then she and +Mr. Max looked at each other and laughed. She said the haunted +room was above the library and promised to give us a chance to +investigate some day. I wanted dreadfully to ask about secret +stairs,--you remember what that boy at Orgueil said--but perhaps +when we are looking for the ghost there will be a chance to speak +of the stairs." + +"Indeed, you've had a most interesting afternoon," agreed Mrs. +Thayne, "the discovery of a haunted room at the Manor being not +the least." + +"And what have you done all by yourself, _poor_ Mother?" said +Frances, suddenly sympathetic and affectionate. + +"Part of the afternoon I was out and since then I have been +talking with Estelle. If she only felt she could, it would be so +much better for her to go more among people, for the constant +effort to be brave when she is so much alone, is very wearing. She +seems so pathetically grateful that we chanced to come to her this +winter instead of other less congenial lodgers. Sometime I hope +she will speak frankly of just how they are situated and whether +she has plans beyond this season, for I might be able to further +them. And I hope, too, I shall succeed in placing the something +familiar that always strikes me in Estelle. Have you ever noticed +it, Fran? To my surprise, Win said the other day that Estelle +reminded him of some one." + +"No," said Fran. "I never noticed it. But I might ask Edith +whether they have any relatives in the United States." + +"That could do no harm," assented Mrs. Thayne thoughtfully. "Since +Win spoke of it also, the resemblance must be to some one we know +over there." + +Frances and her mother went away but Win sat thinking for some +moments. The mention of secret stairs recalled to him, though he +could not say why, that odd dream twice experienced since he came +to Jersey, of a search in a narrow unfamiliar passage, with +unknown companions, for something unspecified. + +With a start he finally roused himself and went upstairs. Before +going to bed he read again the copy of Richard Lisle's letter. + +"There's more to this than just the coming of the prince," he +thought. "That's a fact, but if that 'safe place' can be +discovered, I'll warrant we shall find the Spanish Chest and +whatever 'relicks' Richard and his 'Sonne' put into it." + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE MANOR CAVE + + +A few days after the school treat, Maxfield Hamilton was +sauntering slowly across the Manor grounds. The January sky above +shone blue as in a New England June, gay crocuses starred the +short green grass, snowdrops and bluebells were already budded. +From heights unknown floated the song of a skylark; in the holly +hedge sat an English robin. + +Max heard the skylark but did not notice the robin as he stopped +at the gates to look down to the sea, stretching to shining +horizons under the afternoon sun. His face was thoughtful and +rather sober. + +The robin gave a little cheep and Max turned to discover the bird +almost at his elbow, a tiny scrap of olive feathers and bright red +breast, considering him with soft wise eyes, head on one side. + +"Hello, old chap," Max remarked. "What do _you_ think of this +world?" + +From the tone, the robin might have inferred that the speaker's +opinion was anything but favorable. Considering him for a second, +he concluded him inoffensive and began to peck at the glowing +holly berries. + +Max wandered slowly through the gates and across the Manorhold to +the shore, distant at this point about a quarter of a mile. Two or +three stone cottages with picturesque straw-thatched roofs lay +near the cliffs, property of the Manor and usually occupied by +employees. + +With the thoughtful expression still on his face, Max passed the +cottages to stop on the edge of the cliffs already showing yellow +with gorse. Should the tide serve, he had it in mind to revisit a +haunt of his boyhood. A moment's scrutiny showed him right in +thinking that the tide was on the ebb and he started rapidly down +a rough, rather slippery path. As he rounded an outlying rock he +came full on Roger Thayne. + +Sprawled flat on the sloping cliff, Roger was watching so intently +the doings of a spider that he did not look up until a shadow fell +squarely across the web. + +"That you, Roger?" said Max. "Alone? Where are Win and the girls?" + +"I don't know," replied Roger, flushing uncomfortably. "That is, I +don't know where the girls are." + +"Win's not ill, I hope?" + +"No, he isn't." Roger rolled over to look at his visitor. The +young face wore a pleasant smile and the gray eyes were friendly, +but somehow Roger had a suspicion that Mr. Max wasn't the sort to +approve outright truancy. + +"Win's all right," he added evasively. "He's studying or +something." + +A queer little expression crossed Max's lips. "Then since you have +a holiday,--well-deserved, no doubt,--come on exploring with me." + +Roger was on his feet in a second, the arrow of reproof glancing +off unnoted. "Where are you going?" he demanded. + +"Oh, just down here a few rods. We may have to hold up for the +tide. It won't be low water for some time yet." + +The faint path presently ended in piles of red granite, still wet +from the sea, in places slippery with vraic, as the Jerseymen call +the seaweed used as fertilizer for their land. + +"We shall have to stop a bit," said Max, after a short steep +descent. As he spoke he sat down and began to crush a bit of vraic +between his fingers. + +"This seaweed is one of the biggest assets the farmers have," he +said to Roger. "You'll enjoy being here in February when the great +vraic harvest comes. The farmers go down to the shore with carts +and a sort of sickle. At low tide the southern shore is black with +people cutting the seaweed from the rocks. The carts are used to +carry it up beyond tide-mark. Men, women and young people all turn +out and it's one of the sights of the island. The harvest lasts +for several weeks and for the first few days there is a continual +picnic with dancing and all sorts of jollifications." + +"But I've often seen men gathering seaweed on the beach," said +Roger. "It isn't February yet." + +"They are gathering the loose weed that is washed ashore. Any one +may take that between the hours of sunrise and sunset, but he must +stop at sound of the sunset gun. The cutting from the rocks is +regulated by a hallowed custom. In June there's a second harvest +when only the poor people may cut the vraic for a few weeks. After +they have had their turn anybody may cut it till the last of +August." + +As he concluded, Max threw away the seaweed and picked up one of +the abundant black flint pebbles. For some moments he amused +himself by striking sparks from it with the back of a knife blade. + +"I haven't lost the knack," he remarked. "By the way, have you +found any flint knives? They turn up occasionally, though more +often inland than in a place like this. They are relics of the +days when the Druids were in Jersey. You've seen the burial +mounds, haven't you,--the Dolmens?" + +"I have," said Roger briefly. "In Bill Fish's company. Liked the +stones all right enough, but Bill can't talk, you know. He +expounds." + +Max grinned. "Bad Writ, that," he agreed. "Come along. We can get +through now." + +[Illustration: THEY CAME UPON THE LOVELIEST OF LITTLE BEACHES] + +Climbing carefully around a slippery projecting rock, its base yet +submerged, they came upon the loveliest of lovely little beaches, +in shape almost a semi-circle, the water forming the bisector and +the frowning red cliffs the arc. Near the centre of the half- +circle stood two tall pinnacles of red granite. Behind them yawned +an entrance about five feet high and under this Max bent his tall +head. Roger followed and uttered a whistle of pleasure and +amazement. + +They stood in a large cave, floored by fine bright yellow sea +sand, broken irregularly by out-croppings of rose-pink rock, sand +and rock alike wet and glistening. Away to the back of the cave, +Roger saw that the floor rose higher. The roof was iridescent with +green and yellow lichens; pebbles of jasper, cornelian and agate +strewed the sand. + +In the twelve years of his existence, Roger had never seen +anything like this and surprise rendered him inarticulate. + +"Some cave!" he commented at length. "Look, Mr. Max, what are +these?" + +"Oh, haven't you met any sea-anemones? The pools are full of them. +Jolly little beggars." + +Roger was naturally less enthusiastic over the charming water- +gardens than the girls when they chanced upon them, but he was +considerably interested in the numerous and varicolored snails, +their shells bright green or delicate pink, truly entrancing to +pick up and examine. By the time Roger finished a somewhat minute +inspection his companion was out of sight. + +"Hello!" he shouted in some concern. + +"Right-oh!" came a quiet reply. + +Bather abashed by the startling echoes he had evoked, Roger +climbed over fallen rocks to the back of the cave. There the floor +rose sharply, affording a level apparently beyond reach of the +tide, for some tiny land plants had found a lodging, ferns waved +from the crannied vault and there was no sign of any marine +growth. + +"This used to be a favorite resort of mine," said Max, who was +sitting on the high ledge, some five feet wide. Beyond, the cave +ended in a mass of stone and rubble. + +Roger's eyes grew wide. "What a dandy place!" he exclaimed. + +"Not much compared with the Plémont caves," replied his companion. +"You'll probably go there before leaving the island. There are +five or six of them and one has a waterfall dividing it into two +distinct caves. Plémont is the spot where the cable comes in from +England, crawls out of the ocean like a great dripping hoary old +sea-serpent to trail through a cleft to the station on the cliff +above. This is a rat-hole beside those caves." + +"I'll take steps to go there," said Roger earnestly. "Say, does +the water ever come up here?" + +"I don't think so. Even at the spring tides, it would probably not +reach within two feet of this ledge. Only a rip-snorter of a +tempest could endanger goods stored here, or even anybody who +chose this cave to hide in." + +"Some hiding-place," admitted Roger. + +"So I've found it. When I was about your age, I came down here +because I was annoyed with the world in general and stopped +between two tides." + +"Really?" gasped Roger. "Did you get wet?" + +"Not a bit. I'll admit that things seemed spooky when I'd waited +so long that I couldn't get out. I took solid comfort in the ferns +and in a sea pink that had put out a scared little blossom right +where we are sitting. I was shut in the better part of six hours +and time proved a bit slow. I remember coming to the conclusion +that perhaps the people I'd left behind weren't so utterly +unreasonable after all. I fancy it's a rather sure sign that when +you can't rub along with anybody, the trouble isn't altogether +with them." + +Roger looked at him suspiciously but Max's gaze was bent on the +cave entrance, arching over a wonderful view of blue sea. + +"Do you like to live in Paris?" he asked hastily. + +"I'd rather stop in Rome where my father is," Max replied, +suppressing a smile over the sudden change of subject. "But Dad +runs up occasionally. I feel as though I'd be more use in Rome +because there I know everybody who is anybody, you see, and it +would be a help to the Embassy. Dad thinks I may be able to work a +transfer after a year or so. If the Ambassador to Italy remarks to +the State Department at Washington that Maxfield Hamilton seems a +likely young chap with both eyes open and that he wouldn't mind +having him on his staff, why Max may receive a document telling +him to pack his little box and attach his person to the Embassy at +Rome." + +Roger laughed. "Then you don't like Paris?" + +"Oh, yes," said Max thoughtfully. "I've had a jolly time socially. +I can't imagine anybody in my circumstances not enjoying himself. +But it's not where I most want to be. It's up to me to make good +so emphatically that they'll hand me on to Rome with a word in my +favor." + +"I expect they will," said Roger. + +"Not if I don't buckle down," said Max half to himself. "Something +happened last October that gave me a jolt and it has been hard to +stick to work. I came over here for the holidays determined to get +myself in hand again. I think I've succeeded, old chap, so I'd +better go back and dig in. A man mustn't whine, you know, if it +looks jolly final that he isn't going to have everything he wants. +I've wasted time enough. I must go back to Paris now and keep my +mind on my job." + +"I bunked Bill Fish this afternoon," admitted Roger suddenly. + +"No doubt he was a frightful bore," commented Max without showing +the least surprise. "Probably I'd have done the same in your +place. The only disadvantage about shying at disagreeable things +like tutors is that one hardly ever gets rid of them after all. +I'm becoming convinced that the only way to get round a difficulty +is to hit it in the head and walk over its flattened corpse." + +Roger grinned. "Shall I bat Bill Fish?" he asked. + +"Bill Fish might be worse. Don't blame you for feeling him a +freak, but the schools in Jersey are footy affairs. If you want a +fair sample of a school you'd have to try England proper. We've +messed about here long enough. Let's take a swim." + +"Does the cave end here?" asked Roger, looking at the pile of +broken stone beyond the shelf. + +"I suppose so. It's the only one on the Manor lands so Connie and +I liked to come. Uncle Dick wouldn't permit it unless a grown +person was with us to watch the tide. How about a dip? No one can +see us." + +Max left the ridge to saunter toward the entrance, stopping to +investigate more than one pool of anemones. "By the way," he +added, "I wouldn't tell the girls of this cave. They'll be keen on +searching for it afternoons when they are free and you aren't, and +may get into a mess with the tides. Really it's not quite safe." + +[Illustration: PLÉMONT IS THE SPOT WHERE THE CABLE COMES IN FROM +ENGLAND] + +"All right," agreed Roger, sliding from the shelf. As he did so, a +sudden current of warm air struck him, quite unlike the rather +damp, salty atmosphere of the cave. His curiosity was sufficiently +aroused to cause him to stop and look back, but Max had already +begun to undress and there seemed no possible place for a sweet +land breeze to find entrance. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +WIN VISITS THE LIBRARY + + +Max's abrupt departure two days later was a great disappointment +to Win, who admired him greatly and coveted a closer acquaintance. +That he should cut short his stay on the plea of work to be done +seemed reasonable to the others but his going quite upset Win. Nor +was this disappointment lightened by a period of semi-invalidism +when all exertion was difficult and patience very far to seek. Not +for some weeks after Max left was Win able to take advantage of +the Colonel's prized invitation to use the Manor library. + +He made his first visit, fully determined to broach the discovery +of Richard Lisle's letter to either the Colonel or his daughter, +whichever should appear, but Yvonne, who admitted him with a +smiling welcome, reported neither at home. + +Nor did fortune favor his second attempt. The Colonel was in St. +Helier's and Constance entertaining a group of young people on the +lawn. Win dodged these visitors and from the library windows +looked down upon a lively set of tennis. Players and spectators +alike seemed to know one another extremely well. The inference Win +drew was correct, that for some reason, the little lady of the +Manor chose just now to crowd her life with social engagements and +gay festivities. + +Time had been when Win didn't care to watch others play games he +could not share, but Win was learning that every life has its +compensations; when one is debarred from one thing, he is sure to +have another in its place. Without envy Win watched them for a +time before turning to the books. + +His third visit was made on a morning in early February when +walking was rather difficult owing to a penetrating rain. Wintry +weather seemed to have visited the Island, but the cold was +deceptive, for though a heavy coat was acceptable, plenty of +flowers were in blossom, even a number of surprised-looking roses. + +On reaching the Manor, Win was admitted by cordial Yvonne, who at +once conducted him to his sanctuary. The room was empty, but a +cheery fire glowed on the hearth, and on the long bare black oak +table stood an enormous copper bowl full of fresh daffodils, +making a spot of light and beauty in the sombre room. + +Win spent a few moments warming his hands at the fire and +considering thoughtfully the back of the old Psalter in which was +shut Richard Lisle's letter. Perhaps opportunity would favor him +to-day, some chance be provided to show that discovery to either +Miss Connie or her father. + +That its contents referred to Prince Charles was established +beyond doubt by the existing legend of his entertainment at the +Manor, but the letter said much more than that. Only some one +thoroughly familiar with the Manor and its possessions could +interpret further. As the rain beat on the terrace outside, Win +chanced to look up at the portrait near the fireplace, and +instantly recalled that curious dream. + +"I dreamed all that stuff just because I've always been crazy to +go treasure-hunting," he thought, "and because that old Cavalier +was the last thing I saw before I went to sleep. Well, I might go +and read for a while." + +With a glance of admiration at some fine old armor passed on the +way, Win went into the farther room to settle himself on the +comfortable window seat with a fat history of the island of +Jersey. + +Fully an hour passed before the sound of low voices penetrated his +consciousness. Gradually he became aware that two people were now +occupying the seat before the smouldering fire. One was Constance +Lisle, the other some one Win had never seen before, a dark +distinguished-looking young man, evidently of foreign blood. + +Connie was leaning back in the corner of the old settle, her white +dress and the neighboring bowl of daffodils standing out as high +lights in the shadowy surroundings. Her companion, beside her, was +bending slightly forward, his face turned eagerly toward hers. + +Had he wished to listen, Win could not distinguish the low words. +That fact absolved him from the necessity of making his presence +known, for leave he could not without passing through the room. +Presently the young man raised his voice and Win realized that he +was speaking in Italian. + +For the moment, interest in the present dismissed the past. Win +had heard the girls' chatter about their adored Miss Connie and +the romance attributed to her by Mrs. Trott, but boy-like, paid +very little attention to what he considered the foolish fancies of +sentimental kids. Now he was startled into sudden interest. + +That stranger must be Miss Connie's Italian prince. Very handsome +and very much of a gentleman he looked and most earnest their +conversation. Yet even to an inexperienced observer, it was not +that of two happy young people, entering a sunny stretch of life, +but of a boy and girl confronted with some stern and very present +problem. Connie's hands were clasped too tightly, there was a +sense of strain in the poise of her head. Her companion's pose was +one of perplexity and doubt. + +Win remembered what else he had heard of that rumored engagement, +not much to be sure, save that strong pressure was being put upon +the last of the Santo-Pontes in order to secure the estates and +title of a great Roman house to the church of his ancestors. + +Presently Win realized that he had no right even to look on. He +turned his face to the storm and again buried himself in his old +volume. + +A long time later he heard his name and Constance strolled alone +through the arch from the other room. She looked pale and tired +but otherwise composed. + +"I didn't know you were here, Win," she said as she came to his +chosen window. + +"I've been stuck in this book for ages. Miss Connie, I've found +the most interesting thing ever." + +"What is it?" Connie inquired listlessly, wondering, but not +particularly caring whether Win knew of her interview with Louis +di Santo-Ponte. She looked sweet and wistful as she stood leaning +against the window seat, her mind down in the town where the boat +for St. Malo was getting up steam. "Tell me about it, Win," she +added, recalling her wandering thoughts. She liked Win as she +liked most young people. + +"Come and see," said Win, replacing his history in its case. +Connie accompanied him to the fireplace in the main room. + +"Did you ever look at that book?" he inquired, indicating the worn +old Psalter. + +"There are several thousand books here that I never looked at," +said Connie promptly. "Max is the one who browses in this part of +the library. Ah, he's been here lately, reading his horrid old +German philosophers." With an air of disgust she pointed to the +blue-bound modern volumes. + +"What is this book that interests you so much!" she went on, +taking It from the shelf. "Oh, an old copy of the Psalms. Look at +its odd type." + +"It isn't the book that interests me," said Win, "but this paper. +I found it accidentally. Do read it, Miss Connie, and see what you +make of it." + +After her first perusal, Constance grew as excited as Win. With +the deliberate purpose of putting her troubles from her mind, she +concentrated her attention on this discovery. + +"The prince of course refers to Charles, because it is an +historical fact that he took refuge in Jersey," began Win. + +"Yes, and there's the legend that he was entertained here at the +Manor," exclaimed Connie. "Why Dad will be crazy about this, for +it proves that story!" + +"I hoped he'd be pleased," said Win happily. + +"Oh, he will!" replied Connie. "Charles was just a boy, only +sixteen, at the time he fled from England." + +"Ever since I saw two letters in the British Museum, Charles the +Second has seemed a very real person to me," said Win smiling. "Do +you know them, Miss Connie? One is from Queen Henrietta Maria to +Prince Charles, expressing great regret that the prince has +refused to take the 'physick' prescribed for him, and hoping that +he will consent to do so on the following day, for if he didn't +she should be obliged to come to him and she trusted he would not +give her that 'paine.' She had also requested the Duke of +Newcastle to report to her whether he took it or not and so she +'rested.' + +"But what I liked best," Win went on, "was the letter Prince +Charles wrote. He evidently didn't reply to his mother, but sent a +note to the Duke of Newcastle in which he flatly refused to take +the 'physick' and advised the Duke not to take any either!" + +Connie laughed. "That does seem a touch of real boy nature, +doesn't it? But I'm afraid Prince Charles was rather a rotten +young cub, not worth the affection expended on him nor the good +lives laid down in his cause. The Richard Lisle who wrote this +letter was my great-great--oh, I don't know how many times +removed--grandfather! It's plain that Prince Charles came here to +the Manor, was fed and provided with a change, and escorted to the +castle, probably Orgueil. But what the 'relicks' are and what the +'safe place,' I can't tell. Nor do I know what is meant by the +Spanish chest. If there was anything of that description around +the Manor I'd jolly well know it." + +"Would Colonel Lisle know?" asked Win eagerly. + +"I wonder, will he?" mused Connie after a pause spent in close +scrutiny of the document. "We'll ask. Anyway, he'll be awfully +interested because here it is in black and white that Prince +Charles was brought to the Manor. Win, it's storming desperately +and I'm bored to death. I'm going to send Pierre to St. Aubin's to +tell your mother that you won't be back for luncheon. We'll show +Dad your find and bring our united minds to bear on the problem." + +Win was sorely tempted. The walk through the storm had taxed his +strength. Should he struggle back, the chances were that he would +be too tired for any lessons after his arrival. + +"Your tutor won't matter, will he?" asked Connie. "You're not +expected to be so regular as Roger." + +Wingate grinned. "I was thinking how angry Roger will be if he +finds himself the sole object of Bill Fish's attention this +afternoon. Thank you, Miss Connie. I want mightily to stay. I +ought not to have come up here today when it was storming, but +since I'm here the wisest thing is to wait for a time. And I'm +wild to know what your father thinks of this paper. I will send a +note to Mother if I may." + +"I'll write, too," said Constance, "and I shall tell her that +we'll keep you all night if the rain continues. I need somebody to +play with me, Win. I'm jolly glad you did brave the storm." + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +ABOUT THE SPANISH CHEST + + +Roger's state of mind at finding himself destined to be the sole +object of Bill Fish's ministrations that afternoon was laughable. +He vowed to Frances that he also would take French leave and +bitterly denounced Win for absconding, declaring it a "put up +job." + +"Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't come," consoled Frances. "The storm has +really grown much worse since morning." + +"Indeed he will," said Roger darkly. "Fishes like water. I only +hope he'll wipe his fins when he comes in. The last rainy day he +dripped all over the room. I was 'most drowned before we finished. +But it was mean and sneaky of Win to go up to the Manor this +morning. He might have known that I wanted help with my +arithmetic." + +"Perhaps I can help," offered Frances. Luncheon just over, the +unwelcome Mr. Fisher was due in twenty minutes. + +"Oh, you may try," conceded Roger ungraciously. "But if Win stays +up there all night, I'll pay him out." + +"Mother thinks from Miss Connie's note that they were doing +something very interesting and she really wanted him," Fran said +lazily, her face pressed against the pane. "How angry and gray the +water looks." + +"I've a great mind to bunk," said Roger gloomily. "It's not fair +for me to work alone all the afternoon." + +"Edith and I have been at school all the morning," said the peace- +making Frances. "And Win does work when he can; he never really +shirks, Roger." + +"He _likes_ to study," grumbled Roger. "I don't." + +"There are so many things you can do that Win can't," reminded his +sister. + +"Don't preach," retorted Roger, but Fran's comment recalled to his +mind the conversation with Max in the cave. Boy-like, Roger would +not admit even to himself any repentance for his short-comings on +that occasion, but the recollection served to smooth his present +ruffled feelings. Win had worked alone with Bill Fish all that +afternoon and Roger remembered most distinctly how Mr. Max looked +when he said he was going back to Paris and waste no more time. + +"Win is having fun, I'm sure," said Fran at length. "Miss Connie +promised Edith and me that we shall come up and sleep in the +haunted room some night if we like." + +"What's it haunted by?" demanded Roger. + +"She wouldn't tell us. Says if we know, we'll be sure to see +things. But she is going to have a bed put up for herself and come +in with us, so I'm sure it's nothing very dreadful. I'm so glad we +came to Jersey just so we could know Miss Connie." + +"Some girl," admitted Roger. "But she can't hold a candle to Mr. +Max. He's a corker." + +"He is nice," Frances agreed. "But show me your arithmetic. And +would you like me to sit in the room? Perhaps Mr. Fisher won't be +so fierce if I am there." + +"I would not," was her brother's concise reply. "He isn't fierce +either; he's merely flappy. I tell you he _is_ a fish. He looks +exactly like one of those flatfish we catch down in Maine. Eyes +both on one side." + +Nothing more unlike the tall, angular Scotch tutor could possibly +have been mentioned, but Fran suppressed a laugh as she inspected +Roger's problems in mathematics. + +"Me doing arithmetic!" he groaned. "And Win having the time of his +life at the Manor!" + +If not exactly experiencing such bliss, Win was thoroughly +enjoying himself. After luncheon in the charming old Manor dining- +room with a cheerful fire dispelling all gloom caused by the rain +on the windows, the three adjourned to Colonel Lisle's study, +where Win placed upon the table his discovery. The Colonel read it +with great interest. + +"Well, that is a valuable document, Win," he admitted. "It is +evidently a page from a letter that Richard Lisle, fourth, wrote +to some one and never sent. I am the ninth Richard, so you see how +far back that was. Of course it refers to the Prince of Wales, +afterwards Charles II of England. It is a curious fact in the +history of the Channel Islands that Guernsey sided with the +Parliament in its dispute with the king, while Jersey remained +royalist to the core. I am under great obligations to you for +discovering this paper, for it proves beyond doubt the legend that +I have always wished to see substantiated, that Prince Charles +came to Laurel Manor." + +"Don't you make out, Daddy, that they gave him other clothes and +took him to the castle?" asked his daughter. + +"Without doubt. Orgueil, or possibly Castle Elizabeth. I believe +that the consensus of opinion now favors Elizabeth as having been +the prince's refuge." + +"What do you make of the rest of it, sir?" asked Win, who was +still beaming with happiness over the Colonel's appreciation. "It +says in so many words that they put something in a chest and hid +it until the trouble was over." + +"That much is plain," replied his host thoughtfully. The paper was +spread upon his desk and the young people sat on either side. +Win's attention was distracted for a moment by his view of the +Colonel's distinguished face, the face of an high-bred English +gentleman. With all the impetuosity of his American birth and +training, Win felt the charm of this gentleman of other race and +another generation. He admired the Colonel's complete repose, his +courteous ways and softly modulated voice. They were not in the +least effeminate and the empty sleeve and the little bronze +Victoria cross bore witness that the Colonel was a very gallant +officer. + +"I think," began Constance, "that Great-great-grandfather Dick and +his 'Sonne' put the prince's clothes and perhaps some other things +in a chest and hid them. Dad, did you ever know of anything +answering to the description of 'ye Spanish chest'?" + +The Colonel thoughtfully smoothed his gray mustache. "There is the +box that came from the Armada," he remarked. "But that cannot be +the one referred to, since that belonged to your mother, my dear, +and comes from her side of the house." + +"Mummy was Irish," Connie explained to Win. "I'll show you that +box. It really was washed up on the coast of Ireland and has been +in her family for centuries. No, of course, it couldn't be that." + +"A Spanish chest does not necessarily mean a relic of the Armada," +went on the Colonel. "There might possibly be a box of Spanish +workmanship, but I know of none in the Manor to which that +description could be applied. That big black oak chest in the +upper hall is English. The one in my room is Flemish." + +"Oh, those are both too big, anyway," declared Constance. "Even +men in a hurry wouldn't take a box as big as those to pack a suit +of clothes in. No, it was something that could be easily carried +and concealed. It takes four servants to move those great arks." + +"Then, if there isn't anything in the Manor that answers the +description, don't you believe the chest and the things in it are +still hidden?" Win asked rather shyly, but with keen interest. + +The Colonel smiled kindly. "Sorry to quench your enthusiasm, Win," +he said, "but I doubt it. Prince Charles landed in Jersey in 1646 +if my memory serves. Subtract that date from this year of our +Lord. I'm afraid that chest, whatever it was, has long since +emerged from its hiding-place. According to the document here, it +was concealed only till 'happier times should dawne.' Prince +Charlie came to his own again, you remember. This Richard Lisle +died somewhere where about 1675. He lived to see the Restoration, +so surely he or his son brought to light again the things that +there was no longer reason to conceal." + +"But, Daddy," said Constance quickly, noticing the look of +disappointment on Win's expressive face. "People forget. Let's +think of all the possibilities. It says some place outside the +walls. And they needed a lantern." + +"There is the cave, daughter, at the edge of the Manor estates, +but you know all about that. Why, I know that cave myself, I was +going to say, every grain of sand in it." + +"That's true," admitted Connie. "And of course in all the +centuries, numbers of people have been there." + +"Considering the brisk trade in smuggling that was done in Jersey +during the 1700's, I think the chances of finding anything in the +Manor cave are very small," agreed her father. "There is one +thing, though, we might look at." + +As he spoke, he rose and produced his keys. Swinging back a +portrait on hinges, he disclosed a small safe built into the wall. +Win was silent through interest in this novel way of concealing a +strong-box, but Constance jumped up. + +"What are you looking for. Daddy? Oh, the plans of the Manor." + +"You see," said the Colonel to Win as he sat clown again, a +discolored roll of papers in his hand, "the original Manor house +has been added to from time to time. Let us see what it comprised +in the days when Richard Lisle read his Psalter and wrote his +letter. It is possible that something then outside the wall may +now be inside the house." + +"There's a number of queer things about this old place," said +Connie, sharing Win's look of expectation. "Max and I have run a +good many of them to earth, but there may be something yet. +Certainly we never stumbled on any Spanish chest." + +The two young people helped the Colonel spread the plans and +arrange paper-weights to keep them flat. + +"This comprises not only the house itself but the grounds," he +began. "They run as you see to the cliffs of the bay. The cave is +there." + +"I never knew that," said Win. "Is it large?" + +"Nothing like Plémont or even La Grecq," Constance replied. "Those +are the show caves of Jersey. There are many as big as ours. It's +a rather rough walk, Win, and the cave is accessible only at low +tide. I did say something about it once to Edith and Frances, but +they didn't understand, and after they were caught by the tide, I +thought it would be better for them not to know of it. You see one +can get shut in till the next low water. There's no danger because +the vault is so high that the tide doesn't fill it. In fact, Max +deliberately stopped there once." + +"Was he shut in?" asked Win. + +"No," said the Colonel smiling. "He was annoyed with me and took +that method of expressing his displeasure. I fancy he was a trifle +surprised that no fuss was made over his exploit. You see, I knew +he was perfectly safe. Connie, I think that path is possible for +Win some day when the weather and tide both serve. Well, this is +the extent of the original house. It includes this wing where we +are and the main portion. These shaded partitions show distinctly +where later additions have been made." + +"What is this tiny dotted line across the grounds?" Win inquired. + +"That? It is a footpath toward the shore and the gardener's +cottage. I should say that the present path curves more, but that +is its direction in general." + +Win was puzzled by this explanation. Why should only one of the +Manor paths be marked? That it was the sole one existing at the +time the plans were drawn seemed scarcely possible. + +"That 'safe place,' if it was outside the walls in those days +would probably have been somewhere underground," commented Connie, +after the map had been exhaustively discussed. "That might mean +that it is now in the cellars somewhere. Dad, have we your +permission to explore all the subterranean caverns?" + +"If there are any that you haven't already investigated," said the +amused Colonel. "I didn't suppose there was a square inch of the +place that you and Max hadn't by heart." + +"I thought so, too," said Constance, "but if Win's theories are +correct, there must be something we have overlooked. What do you +say about an exploration, Win?" + +"Oh, I should like nothing better," said Win eagerly. "It will be +great sport to hunt for that chest. And it's so interesting to +look around a house that has been in the same family for +centuries." + +"There has been a Richard Lisle of Laurel Manor for over four +hundred years," said the Colonel rather sadly. "I am the last of a +long line." + +"The only solution," said Constance quickly, "is for your unworthy +daughter to marry some perfectly insignificant person, who will as +a part of the marriage contract, take the name of Lisle." + +"The man who marries my daughter," replied the Colonel with gentle +dignity, "will have an honorable and, I trust, an honored name of +his own to offer her." + +"Else he will never get her," commented Connie with charming +impertinence. "Daddy dear, if I could find a man one half as nice +as you are, I'd marry him on the spot! Win, we'll arrange to head +an exploring expedition. It's too cold and spooky in the cellars +to do it this afternoon. We'll plan for a time when Roger and the +girls can share the sport. I wish Max was here, too. He would +simply dote on it" + +"I wish he was!" sighed Win. "I was dreadfully disappointed when I +heard he had gone. I think he's about right." + +A sudden very charming smile broke over Connie's face. Up to that +time, it had been rather serious. "If we don't solve the problem +before the Easter holidays," she said, "Max will be keen on +running it down. I hope he can come then. He took so long at +Christmas that I'm afraid they'll dock him at Easter, and I shall +be completely desolated if that happens." + +"I think he will come," said the Colonel. "In fact he told me he +might be able to get away for an occasional week-end. With a fast +car it is not so far to Granville or even St. Malo and he need +waste no time waiting for the steamer." + +Constance suddenly sat up straight. "Max mustn't neglect his +duties," she declared. "Either he has a very indulgent chief or he +is hedging." + +Her attitude was so comically severe that Win laughed, and her +father looked up with a smile. + +"I can't be responsible for what Max tells his chief," he +remarked, "but I know enough about the diplomatic service to feel +sure he is giving satisfaction." + +Constance still looked stern. "It's all right, of course, if he +really earns his week-end," she conceded, "but I won't have him +shirking. In October he was so serious and quiet that I didn't +know what to think of him, but at Christmas he was the same dear +boy he used to be. Didn't you think he was just like his old +self?" + +The Colonel thus appealed to, returned her smile. "There were +moments," he gravely replied, "when I doubted whether either one +of you was more than sixteen." + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +IN THE VAULTS + + +When Win finally appeared at Rose Villa, driven down in a closed +carriage, the tale he related was of sufficient interest to banish +from even Roger's mind the resentment he considered but just, +after his long afternoon with Mr. Fisher. Those hours had been +profitable, did Roger only choose to admit the fact, for the tutor +had managed to galvanize into life the dry bones of an epoch in +history. Roger would not acknowledge it even to himself, but on +that stormy day he came rather near liking Bill Fish. + +"That's a most exciting discovery, Win," said Mrs. Thayne when the +tale was concluded. "But I'm afraid I agree with Colonel Lisle +that the chances of finding anything are small, though you will +have fun exploring. It is very kind of the Colonel and Miss Connie +to permit such a troop to invade the Manor." + +"I think they are just as interested themselves," Win replied. +"The Colonel was immensely pleased to have that legend confirmed." + +Mrs. Thayne looked at him rather wistfully, wondering how much of +the interest displayed by the Manor family was due to sympathy +with Win. No doubt they liked him, for people always did. Well, +she was glad that this unusual experience was coming his way. + +"I'm crazy to see that cave!" Frances was saying. "Don't you +remember, Edith, when we first met Miss Connie on the beach, she +said something about looking for caves? I suppose she was thinking +of this one." + +"I've been in it," Roger suddenly announced. "Mr. Max took me. +It's a very decent cave but there's only one place where a box +could be hidden, on a sort of ledge above the water. We climbed up +and if there had been so much as a snitch of a chest about, it +couldn't have escaped us." + +"You've been _in_ the cave?" demanded Frances, pouncing upon him. +"When did Mr. Max take you? Where were the rest of us? Why didn't +you tell us?" + +Roger looked uncomfortable. He had never mentioned that +expedition, not even to his mother during a very serious +conversation on the sin of truancy. + +"Oh, I met him on the cliff," he said evasively. "He showed me the +cave and we went swimming. He is a corking swimmer." + +"But why didn't you tell us about it?" persisted Frances. + +Roger saw no way out. Being a truthful individual he blurted forth +the facts. + +"Because Mr. Max told me not to. He said it wasn't safe and he was +afraid you girls would go fooling around and get caught by the +tide. It isn't a fit place for girls, either!" he added largely. + +"It is!" retorted the exasperated Frances. "If it wasn't, Miss +Connie wouldn't have been there." + +"I'd wager that Miss Connie did everything Mr. Max did," chuckled +Win. "But the Colonel said to-day that the cave was out of the +question so far as any hidden chest was concerned,--that it +couldn't have escaped discovery all these years. I don't really +expect to find anything, Mother, but it will be great fun to look. +I've always wanted to search for hidden treasure, you know. And +Miss Connie seemed as interested as I was. She has appointed next +Wednesday afternoon to explore the vaults. We are all to come at +three and stay for tea afterwards. At first she suggested that we +have it in the cellars, said it would be nice and cobwebby and +befitting a treasure hunt, but then she remembered that Yvonne was +afraid of spiders and wouldn't fancy taking the tea things down," +he ended with a laugh. + +Win was tired that evening and went upstairs early. When Roger +clattered into the adjoining room half an hour later, his brother +called. + +"Oh, you, Roger," he said, "come in here a jiff." + +With a terrific yawn, Roger appeared in the doorway. Win was in +bed, a lighted lamp on a table by his pillow. + +"Could I get down to that cave?" he asked. + +"You could get down," Roger remarked judicially. "It's rather +steep but there's only one bad rock. Still," he added, "if you +waited till the tide was even lower, yon could walk round that. +When we came back from our swim, that bit of cliff was out of +water. It would be some tug crawling up, but you could take it +easy." + +"I'd give a good deal to get down there," said Win thoughtfully. +"How was it inside? Much climbing? Any place where a box could be +tucked out of sight?" + +Roger proceeded to describe the interior of the cave, arousing +Win's interest still more. + +"I don't suppose there's hide nor hair of that chest around," he +admitted, "but all the same, I want to take a look. The tide is +full every morning now and it will be the end of the week before +we can get down. As soon as we can, I wish you'd do the pilot +act." + +"Oh, I'll show you," assented Roger, again yawning prodigiously. +"I don't take any special stock in this hidden chest, but the cave +is fine and I'll like to take a whack at the Manor cellars. Are +you going to burn that lamp all night?" + +"I am going to read for a while," said his brother, taking a book +from under his pillows. "Shut the door into your room if it annoys +you." + +"It doesn't," answered Roger. "I can see to undress by it better +than with my candle. Ridiculous to have only candles in bedrooms! +Mother would give me Hail Columbia if I read in bed the way you +do." + +Win suppressed a sigh. "Mother knows I read only when I can't +sleep," he said shortly. "You may not believe it, but I'd much +rather sleep." + +Wednesday afternoon found an expectant quartette walking up the +Manor road, slowly because Win paused occasionally to regain +breath, but there were so many lovely things to look at that no +delay seemed irksome. To begin with were fascinating cottages with +neat little box-edged gardens and straw-thatched roofs; curious +evergreen trees with stiff jointed branches known locally as +monkey-puzzles; there were pretty children, some of whom waved +hands of recognition; there were skylarks singing in the blue +above, their happy notes falling like musical rain; there were big +black and white magpies and black choughs, rooks and corbies, now +known to the young people by their English names. And always there +were glimpses of the ever-changing, changeless sea. + +Roger, who had gradually forged ahead, remained leaning over a low +cottage wall until the others came up. In the yard sat a woman +milking one of the pretty, soft-eyed Jersey cows, but what held +Roger's fascinated attention was her milk-pail. + +Instead of the ordinary tin receptacle familiar to Roger during +country summers, she had an enormous copper can with a fat round +body, rather small top and handle at one side like a bloated milk- +jug. Over the top was tied loosely a piece of coarse cloth and on +this rested a clean sea shell. Streams of milk directed into the +shell slowly overflowed its edges to strain through the cloth and +subside gently into the can. + +"That's something of a milk pail," observed Roger approvingly. + +"It's just like the hot-water jugs Annette brings in the morning," +said Frances, "only ten times bigger. Wouldn't it be lovely for +goldenrod and asters? I'm going to ask Mother to buy one." + +"Pretty sight you'll be walking up the dock at Boston with that on +your arm," jeered Roger. "It will never go in any trunk and you'll +have to carry it everywhere you go. You needn't ask me to lug it, +either." + +"It can be crated and sent that way," said Frances calmly. + +"Those hot-water jugs make me tired," Roger went on as they +continued their walk. "I'm sick to death of having a quart of +lukewarm water in a watering-pot dumped at my door every morning. +Think of the hot water we have at home, gallons and gallons of it, +steaming, day or night!" + +Edith looked politely incredulous. "How can that be?" she asked. +"Do you keep coals on the kitchen fire all night?" + +"Coals!" snorted Roger. "All we have to do is to turn a faucet and +that lights a heater and the water runs hot as long as you leave +it turned on. No quart pots for us!" + +"But surely," said Edith, "only very wealthy people can have +luxuries like that." + +"We're not made of money but we have it," retorted Roger. "Even +workmen have hot-water heaters in their houses." + +From Edith's face it was plain that she frankly didn't believe him +and Win tried to make matters better. + +"You see, Edith," he explained, "it is much more difficult in the +United States to get satisfactory servants and so we have all +sorts of clever mechanical devices that make it easier to manage +with fewer maids." + +Edith's brow cleared. "Oh, I see," she said. "I thought there must +be some reason. Of course, if we needed them, we would have such +arrangements in England." + +"England," declared Roger bluntly, "in ways of living is about two +hundred years behind the United States!" + +"Roger!" exclaimed the shocked Frances. + +"Cut it out!" ordered Win. + +"It's true, anyway," retorted the annoyed Roger, "and there's +another thing. We licked England for keeps in the Revolutionary +War!" + +"Only because you were English yourselves!" flashed Edith before +Roger's scandalized family could remind him of his forgotten +manners. + +This retort disconcerted Roger and delighted Win. + +"You've hit the nail on the head, Edith," he declared approvingly. +"England could never have been beaten except by her own sons. And +England's navy has always ruled the seas." + +"How about Dewey wiping out the Spanish fleet at Manila?" demanded +Roger still huffily, + +"That reminds me," said Win coolly. "I believe it was an English +admiral who backed Dewey up at Manila when the Germans tried to +butt in. After that battle somebody wrote a poem about it and +wrote the truth, too. This is what he said: + + "'Ye may trade by land, ye may fight by land, + Ye may hold the land in fee; + But go not down to the sea in ships + To battle with the free; + For England and America + Will keep and hold the sea!'" + +As Win concluded, Edith's high color lessened and Roger looked +less pugnacious. Presently, each stole a sly glance at the other, +both were caught in the act and simultaneously laughed. So the +party reached the Manor without disruption by the way. + +Constance, with a soft green sweater over her frock, came to meet +them. + +"All ready for the fray? Leave your hats in the hall. You will +need your woollies for we are going where sunlight never comes. +There's good store of candles and two lanterns. Anything else +needed, Win?" + +"A hammer perhaps," suggested Win. "We may want to sound walls." + +"A hammer there shall be," and Constance rang the bell to order +it. "Dad says he will come down if we make any startling +discovery, but being an elderly person, he's a bit shy of damp." + +Provided with lights and the hammer, the gay party started, filing +through a kitchen so fascinating with its red-bricked floor and +shining copper cooking utensils that Fran found it hard to pass. +Several maids and a jolly cook smiled on them as they vanished +down the cellar stairs. + +"I suppose you want to see the oldest part of the Manor vaults," +Connie said to Win as she led the way with a candle in a brass +reflector. "We shall come back through here." + +To Edith and Frances it seemed that they traversed numberless dark +rooms, dry but chilly, some stored with vegetables and barrels, +while others were empty or showed dusky apparitions of old lumber. +Constance stopped at last. + +"We are under the library now, Win. This is the original cellar +and you can see how much rougher the workmanship is than in the +newer parts." + +Walls were rough and floor uneven, indeed, a part of it was +composed of an outlying ledge of the Jersey granite. Obedient to +suggestion, Roger and the girls began to inspect the walls for +traces of some former exit; Roger by himself, the girls, rather +fearfully, together. Win stood looking at the ledge in the floor. + +"That settles there being any hiding-place underneath," he +remarked. + +"Yes," said Connie, "but the paper said 'beyond the walls,' you +know. So wouldn't it more likely be in one of the cellars not +built at that time?" + +"Well, probably," assented Win. "But I was looking at the way this +rock runs." He produced a pocket-compass. "It's much thicker at +this end and the direction is approximately north and south. What +is to the east, Miss Connie?" + +"Nothing at all. That wall is still the outer one." + +"And the wall farthest from the water?" asked Win quickly. + +Constance nodded. + +"Then it is the western wall I want," said Win, turning toward it. + +Somewhat mystified, Connie watched him make a minute examination, +tapping with the hammer on its entire length. + +"I suspect that it's frightfully thick," she said as he stopped, +looking disappointed. + +"What is on the other side?" he inquired. "Is this whole partition +now included in the house?" + +Constance led the way to the opposite side of the wall. There lay +a large apartment, dimly lighted, but of better workmanship and +finish. Win went immediately to the eastern side of this cellar +and bestowed upon the partition stones the same minute inspection. + +"This wall must really be several feet through," he observed to +the watching Constance. + +"Probably. But I don't see, Win, what you are trying to get at." + +"I hardly know myself, Miss Connie. It's just an idea I had. This +would have been the wall nearest the cave. You see I'm not used to +having a cave as a sort of household annex, so I can't help +thinking it may figure yet in this business." + +Connie shook her head. "Perhaps it did once," she said. "Only that +cave is more or less common property; many people know of it. We +can be sure of one thing; that nothing will be found in it now. +How about this floor?" + +Win left the wall to inspect by aid of his lantern the huge, +roughly-squared blocks forming the cellar floor. Damp, dark and +numerous they showed under the light. + +"It's possible that any one might conceal some cavity," said +Connie. "But that one would surely differ in some way from the +others. Let us spread out and inspect them. Anybody who finds a +flag in any way peculiar, speak." + +Constance herself began to peer at the stone flooring, not at all +because she expected to find anything in the least unusual, but +because she did not want disappointment to fall upon Win too +quickly. If he really searched thoroughly, he would be better +satisfied to acknowledge the quest as useless. + +Among the many scenes those centuries-old walls had looked upon, +it is a question whether they had witnessed so gay a sight as the +five young people, wandering slowly up and down the uneven floor, +looking for some stone raised higher or sunken lower than the +others, more carefully fitted; perhaps, though this could scarcely +be hoped, provided with an iron ring for a handle. + +Nothing happened. No two of the many flags were alike, yet none +seemed of sufficient distinction to mark it as worth further +investigation. All looked as though they had never been moved. + +The other and more recent cellars received scanty attention. Of +lesser age, they were also cleaner, drier and better lighted. + +"Our adventure seems fruitless" sighed Connie as they stood at +last among bins and bottles near the kitchen stairs. "Why, where +is Win?" + +Both Frances and Roger started back, ashamed to have forgotten him +if only for a moment. Suppose poor Win had had one of his attacks +alone back there in that shadow-filled vault! + +Win was found in the original cellar of the old Manor, not pacing +the floor or tapping the stones, but meditatively staring at one +of its walls, not the one he had devoted so much attention to, but +the northern boundary. + +"What luck?" asked Connie as they came in, relieved at sight of +him. + +"None," said Win, turning to her with curiously bright eyes. "But, +Miss Connie, do you think your father would show me those plans +again!" + +"Why, of course he will. Has some idea struck you?" + +"I don't quite know," said Win. "But I should like to see the +plans and perhaps some other day, you'll let me come down here +again for a few moments." + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +THE HAUNTED ROOM + + +"There is a letter for you, Miss Edith," said Nurse as the girls +came in from school, the next Saturday. "It is for Miss Frances, +too." + +"For us both?" exclaimed Frances. "Where from?" + +"Pierre brought it from the Manor," replied Nurse. + +"I can't get over there being no telephones in the houses here," +remarked Frances, snatching off her hat. "Imagine having to send a +man with a note instead of just taking down a receiver and +talking. Not to have telephones is so very English." + +"The English don't hold much with new inventions, Miss," Nurse +agreed. "What was good enough for those before us does us very +well." + +"I know it!" sighed Fran, "but think of the _convenience_ of a +telephone." + +Edith was holding a dainty square note bearing the inscription: + + "Miss Edith Pearce, + Miss Thayne, + Rose Villa. + À la main de Pierre." + +"From Miss Connie, of course," said Edith delightedly. Each took a +corner of the enclosed card and with several little squeals of +amused pleasure, Frances read it aloud. + + "Miss Lisle presents her compliments to Miss Pearce and Miss + Thayne and requests them to grant her the favor of attending + a meeting of the Society for the Suppression of Ghosts to be + held in the haunted room of Laurel Manor this evening at ten. + + Notes: + + Dinner 7:30. + Beds provided at 9:45 (Ghost _not_ guaranteed to appear). + Very best nighties because of looking pretty for spooks. + Breakfast any old hour." + +Screaming with delight, Edith ran to find Estelle, Frances for her +mother. + +"But I don't know that I want you to sleep in a room that has the +reputation of being haunted, Edith," protested Estelle. "Will Mrs. +Thayne permit Frances to go?" + +"Oh, Sister, there's some joke about it," pleaded Edith. "There +must be, because Miss Connie always laughs whenever the ghost is +mentioned. And would her father let her sleep in that room if it +was anything to frighten people? Oh, Star, it will be such fun!" + +Up-stairs, Frances was besieging her amused mother. Two minutes +later, the girls met in the hall, dancing with glee, for each +might go were the other permitted. + +"Dinner at the Manor, too!" sighed Frances. "What bliss!" + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne had much peace from then until it +was time to start. Finally the hour arrived and the family +assembled in the hall to see them off, Win interested and Roger +openly envious. "I'd like a chance at that ghost just once," he +vowed. "I'd settle him." + +"Perhaps later, Miss Connie will invite you boys," said Edith. +"Why, here's Pierre. Oh, he's come for our bags." + +To have a servant sent for their light luggage again struck +Frances as most charmingly English, and two very happy girls waved +farewell to Rose Villa as they turned out of the terrace. + +In the great hall of the Manor, Constance greeted them, +ceremoniously enough, but with mysterious smiles and twinkles. In +person she conducted them to a pretty guest-room near her own +apartments. + +"We won't invade the ghost's domain until time for bed," she +announced gayly. "You'll find a bath adjoining and would you like +Paget to do your hair or fasten your dinner frocks?" + +"We will help each other," said Edith, as full of twinkles as +Connie herself. + +"Then I will dress and come for you in about half an hour." + +"Isn't Miss Connie the dearest thing!" said Edith enthusiastically +as the door closed. "I never saw anybody just like her before." + +"Mother thinks her charming," replied Frances, brushing her curly +hair. "Edith, do you suppose we shall ever know the truth about +that story of the Italian prince?" + +"It doesn't seem as though it were true," observed Edith. "Or at +least, as though she cared very much if she had to break her +engagement, for she is always so gay and happy." + +The face that was looking just then from the mirror in Connie's +room did not precisely correspond to these adjectives, but the +young mistress of the Manor was the daughter of a brave soldier +and the descendant of a long line of gallant gentlemen. Those slow +weeks since Christmas that Constance crowded with gayety were +bringing gradual healing. The heart under the fluffy frock she +slipped on to-night was not so heavy as the one under the white +gown worn that day when she stood by Win in the Manor library and +watched the boat for St. Malo leave the harbor. + +Frances and Edith were ready when she came for them, also prettily +dressed in white. + +"Nice little English flappers," Constance remarked approvingly. +"Why, what is the matter with Frances?" + +"I don't know what a flapper is," confessed Frances, sure however, +that it could be nothing very dreadful. + +Constance laughed and patted the brown cheek. "Merely a jolly +little English school girl with her hair down her back. Yours is +tidily braided but Edith looks the typical flapper." + +She took a hand of each and three abreast they went down to the +hall where Colonel Lisle was standing in a soldierly attitude +before the fire. He greeted them with charming courtesy, offered +Fran his arm and conducted her to the dining-room. + +Both girls were supremely happy, Edith quietly so, Frances fairly +radiating enjoyment in the stately room with its fine old +portraits and windows open to admit the sweet odors of myrtle and +daffodils. + +"Don't think the Island winters are all as mild as this," the +Colonel was saying as Yvonne removed the soup plates. "I have seen +both snow and hail in Jersey and sometimes we have extremely cold +weather. But you were asking, Frances, why French is the official +language here. The Channel Islands came to the English crown with +William the Conqueror, and have always remained one of the crown +properties. So while the islanders are English they have French +blood in their veins and each island has retained its peculiar +historic customs, the official use of French being one. When +Normandy was regained by France, the islands remained with England +and though Jersey was frequently attacked and sometimes invaded by +the French they never held more than a portion of it temporarily. +Indeed, so much was a Norman or French invasion feared, that the +islanders inserted in the Litany an additional petition: 'From the +fury of the Normans, good Lord, deliver us!'" + +"We have seen the tablet in the Royal Square, marking the spot +where Major Pierson fell in the battle of Jersey," said Edith, who +shared Win's liking for history. + +"Ah, in 1781. That was the last French invasion. Speaking of the +Royal Square," the Colonel went on, "there is a curious custom +connected with the Royal Court there, that might interest you. Any +person with a grievance relating to property has a right to come +into a session of the court and call aloud upon Rollo the Dane. +The Cohue Royale,--the Court,--_must_ listen and _must_ heed. That +is a very ancient relic of Norman rule in the Island. Oh, no, it +is seldom resorted to. One does not lightly call Prince Rollo to +one's aid. That is the final appeal when all other justice fails." + +Yvonne, who was waiting upon the table, reappeared from a brief +absence with a beaming face. + +"It is Monsieur Max who arrives," she said confidentially to +Constance. + +"Max!" exclaimed Connie. "Why, how nice! Sha'n't he come directly, +Dad? Tell him not to dress, Yvonne." + +"By all means, tell him to come as he is," said the Colonel, his +face lighting with pleasure at this news. + +"Pardon, m'sieur," said Yvonne. "Monsieur Max already hastens to +his room and says the dinner shall not delay, that he shall be +fast,--ver' queeck." + +"Max can be fast," said Constance smiling. "Well, we will dawdle +over our fish. I never thought of his coming," she went on, +watching Yvonne as she deftly laid another place beside Frances. +"This must be one of the week-ends he promised. I wonder why he +didn't warn us?" + +"I suppose there was no time to do so," said the Colonel. "Max +knows he is welcome at any hour." + +Max was "queeck." The fish was only just finished when he came +quietly into the room, dressed for dinner and looking not in the +least as though he had recently stepped from a steamer. Edith and +Frances watched eagerly. If they were still in deep ignorance +concerning Miss Connie's Italian prince, this was surely their +chance to discover how matters stood between their adored little +lady and Mr. Max. + +Disappointment awaited them, for nothing could have been more +commonplace than the greeting exchanged. Even the fancy of +fourteen years could not construe Constance's "Hello, old boy!" +and Max's nonchalantly offered hand into the slightest foundation +for a romance. So far as outward appearances went Max was much +more affectionate towards the Colonel, who did not disguise his +marked pleasure at seeing him. + +With gay words for both girls, the newcomer slid into his seat. +"I'm as hungry as a hunter, Connie," he announced. "Soup, Yvonne? +Anything and everything that's going. Oh, it was rather a rough +crossing, but it merely gave me an appetite. Where are the boys? +Couldn't they come to this exclusive dinner? Or am I butting in +myself?" + +"You are," replied Constance mischievously, "but for Dad's sake, +we will forgive you. The boys are not here for the simple reason +that they were not invited. Having fortified ourselves with strong +meat, the girls and I are going to brave the Manor ghost to- +night." + +Darkness had fallen and with it a sense of the eerie over Fran. +She was distinctly relieved to hear Max laugh at this announcement. + +"Do you really want to see the ghost?" he asked, turning to her. + +"Crazy to," was Fran's prompt reply. "I wouldn't dare stay alone +in that room, but with Miss Connie and Edith, I sha'n't be afraid. +Indeed, I want dreadfully to see the ghost." + +"You know yourself, Max, that it doesn't materialize every time it +is invoked," began Constance. + +"I know it," said Max. "I only wanted to ascertain how keen the +spook-hunters are. I slept in that room once for two weeks when +the house was full and became much attached to his ghost-ship." + +"So I told the girls," replied Constance with equal gravity. + +Edith and Frances were looking at each other in puzzled +bewilderment but Max suddenly changed the subject. His eye had +fallen upon Grayfur, the big cat that had purred himself into the +room in the shelter of Yvonne's skirts. + +"Hello, old chap!" he said, snapping his fingers. "Do you like +cats, Frances?" + +"No," confessed Frances. "I love dogs. Edith is the one who likes +pussies. She is always bringing stray kittens home." + +For some reason this statement seemed to amuse Max. To the +surprise of the girls, he and Constance exchanged a smile. + +Ten o'clock struck before Edith and Frances found themselves, +after a happy evening, again in the pretty guest-room. + +"Miss Connie, I am afraid you weren't ready to come up," said +thoughtful Edith. "Didn't you want to stop longer with your father +and Mr. Max?" + +"Max doesn't leave until Tuesday morning," Constance replied. "Dad +will love to have him all to himself for a good talk and smoke, +and if Max has anything especial to say to me, there will be +plenty of opportunities. I'm quite glad to come up." + +When she came for them, the girls were ready and the little +procession started, three kimonoed figures each bearing a lighted +candle along the echoing halls to the haunted room above the +library. Electricity had not trailed its illuminating coils above +the first floor of the house so the big apartment looked spooky +and shadowy enough, the candles placed on the mantel, quite lost +in immense distances. Three white cots stood side by side in its +centre. + +"First, we will fasten the door securely," said Constance, suiting +the action to the word. "Then we will take this electric torch and +look about a bit." + +Careful inspection showed the room undoubtedly tenantless, the +handsome old-fashioned furniture offering no hiding-place for any +intruder. Like the library below, its walls were of paneled oak, +with three large portraits set into the wood-work. One, a Lisle of +Queen Elizabeth's time, looked down benignly, attired in doublet +and ruff. + +"Miss Connie, how shall we know what to look for or expect?" asked +Frances when the three were settled in their beds, lights out and +the room illuminated only by the moon. + +"It wouldn't be wise to tell you," said Constance mysteriously. +"All I'll say is that it is nothing at all disturbing or +frightful. The few people who have seen or heard anything never +knew at the time that it was a ghost." + +"But you will tell us in the morning?" asked Edith. + +"Yes," replied their hostess. "I will tell you then, whether you +see anything or not, and very likely you will not. But if you want +to have the creeps and would truly enjoy them, I'll tell you +something that really happened to me once in Italy." + +"Oh, do, do!" begged both girls in unison. "That would be simply +perfect," added Edith, sitting up in bed, her fair hair floating +about her shoulders and turning her more than ever into the +likeness of an angel. + +"Some years ago, when I was about your age," began Constance +slowly, "Dad and Mother and I were traveling in southern Italy, +and Max was with us. He was with us a great deal, you know. We +stopped one night at an old hotel that had once been a monastery, +though it was different from the usual monasteries because it was +a place where sick monks came to be cured and to rest. + +"The location was wonderful, on a cliff overlooking the sea and +though the place had been altered for the purposes of a hotel, it +was still a good bit churchly. The partitions between the cells +had been knocked out and additions built, but the hotel dining- +room was the old refectory with stone walls and floor, and the +wonderful garden was much as the monks left it. Such roses you +never saw and such climbing vines and flowering trees. Oh, there's +no place like Italy!" + +Constance stopped. The moonlight falling across her bed touched +her face into almost unearthly beauty. + +"We had connecting rooms that night," she went on. "Dad and Mother +took the corner one with two beds. Next was a tiny room where I +was to sleep and Max's was beyond mine. All were originally cells +opening on a terrace, covered with roses and passion-flowers and +looking down to the sea, which was shining with little silver +ripples. + +"We'd had an especially happy day and I was so keyed up with +enjoyment that I couldn't go to sleep right away, but lay looking +out at the flowers and the waves. Mother went through to see that +Max was all right and then came back to kiss me. She closed the +door into his room, but left open the one from mine into hers. + +"I remember hearing Mother and Dad laugh a little about something +and I suppose I went to sleep, because I woke very suddenly with a +start, all awake in a minute." + +Connie paused, this being the proper moment for a thrill. "What do +you think I saw?" she asked impressively. + +"Oh, I can't imagine!" gasped Frances, shivering in delighted +anticipation. "Do go on!" + +"Have you chills down your spine!" laughed Constance. "In the +moonlight right beside my bed, I saw a monk, dressed in white, the +usual robe of the Dominicans. He had a wise, kind face, with a +pleasant expression, and as I looked at him, he took my wrist very +gently, and put his finger on my pulse." + +"Oh-h!" said Edith, pulling the covers about her more tightly. +"Oh, Miss Connie, what did you do?" + +"That frightened me," said Connie. "Up to that time, I noticed +only his pleasant, gentle look, but it seemed as though a bit of +ice touched me and I gave a scream that brought Mother and Dad up +standing. Of course, when they came hurrying in, nobody was +visible. I made a big fuss, presumably because I wanted to be +petted and coddled. + +"I told them about the monk and Dad at once thought that Max had +been playing a joke on me. He stepped into Max's room, intending +to be severe, but Max was sound asleep and besides, the door into +his room squeaked so that he couldn't possibly have opened it +without waking us all. + +"Then they said I had the nightmare. Perhaps I did," said +Constance with a smile, "but I can see yet the kindly face of that +old monk. I didn't want to stay in my room, so Dad told me to go +in with Mother and he'd take my bed. We all settled ourselves +again. + +"I was asleep or nearly so, feeling so comfy and safe in my bed +close to Mother's when suddenly she sat up straight and said +'Richard!' in such an odd, startled tone. I woke and heard poor +Dad piling out of bed again to come into our room. Mother sat +there looking very troubled and holding one wrist in the other +hand. She didn't say anything more,--neither of them did,--but I +knew perfectly well that the old monk had been feeling her pulse." + +"And what happened in the morning?" demanded Frances breathlessly. + +"Nothing at all," said Constance cheerfully. "In the morning +everything was beautiful and lovely as in no other country but +Italy. Mother and I merely agreed that we had an odd dream. We did +not stay a second night, for we were on our way back to Rome." + +"Did you ever hear anything more about the monk?" asked Edith. + +"Years after," said Connie dreamily, "we met some Americans in +Switzerland who told us of a similar experience in this hotel. +Later, I learned that Dad found out at the time that the place was +reputed to be haunted by an old monk physician who turns up at +intervals and feels people's pulses, and is often seen pottering +about the garden in broad daylight. Monks are such a common sight +in Italy that the hotel guests stop and converse with him, +thinking him a gardener and never suspecting that he is a ghost." + +"But the Manor ghost isn't like that?" asked Edith, who wanted +reassurance. + +"Not a bit," said Constance. "As for that, there was nothing so +very frightful or repellent about the monk. Don't you think we +should go to sleep now and give his spookship his innings?" + +The girls agreed and silence fell over the big room with its three +white beds. Outside the open casements a vine waved within Fran's +line of vision, tapping gently against a window pane. + +Presently a slight sound caught Fran's wakeful ear, as of steps on +a somewhat unfamiliar stair where it was necessary to grope one's +way. Touching Edith's shoulder, she sat up in bed. They had +entered the haunted room by a door now locked, opening on a big +stone staircase; these steps seemed upon muffled wood. + +Next moment there came a sudden convulsive sneeze that sounded in +her very ear. Frances gasped but Constance sat up laughing. + +"No fair!" she exclaimed. + +For a second there was absolute silence, then somebody laughed, +extremely close at hand, though yet behind a partition. The laugh +was followed by the soft sound of retreating footsteps. + +"What happened, Miss Connie?" begged Edith. + +"No ghost," said their hostess merrily. "I had forgotten. That was +clever of Max." + +Silence again followed for a period, succeeded by the sound of +music in the garden below the windows, soft and very sweet. + +"Oh, is _that_ the ghost?" demanded Frances in great excitement. + +"Your mother will bless me for letting you stop awake all night," +said Constance. She sat up, wrapped a white robe about her and +stuck her feet into slippers. Upon the music came the sudden +unearthly miaow of a cat. + +The noise sounded directly in the room and all three girls jumped. +Constance laughed again. + +"I might have known Max did not come into that passage for +nothing," she sighed. "Where's that electric torch?" + +Having turned on the flash-light, Connie approached the large oil +painting set into one side of the gloomy room, its base about a +foot above the floor. She touched a knob on its frame and the +portrait became a door opening outward and revealing a narrow, +dusty winding stair descending to the floor below. On its top step +sat the big cat, just opening its mouth for another howl. + +"Come in, Grayfur," said Constance. "Max brought you, didn't he? +If he hadn't sneezed and given himself away, he'd have opened the +door a crack and let you in." + +"Is it a secret stair?" asked Frances, her eyes big with +excitement. "Where does it go? Wouldn't Roger be crazy over it?" + +"We will let him go up it," answered Connie, swinging the portrait +into place again. "The passage comes out below in the library. Max +thought he would provide one ghost anyway." + +Putting the cat into the hall, she locked the door again and then +stuck her pretty head from the window. + +"Max," she said severely, addressing the unseen musician, "you are +spoiling your fiddle and breaking your promise. You said you +wouldn't be silly. Go to bed now like a good boy." + +The fiddle responded with two ear-splitting squawks. + +"Stop it!" commanded Constance. "There goes a string and it serves +you quite right. You'll have the bobbies coming to investigate if +you don't leave off." + +The unappreciated serenader appeared squelched by this threat, for +complete silence followed. + +"Nothing more is at all likely to happen tonight," said Constance, +coming back to bed. "And I hope Max will go properly to his room. +Now go to sleep, girlies, and in the morning, I'll tell you how +the Manor ghost disports itself." + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE MANOR GHOST + + +In spite of a firm intention to remain awake, Frances soon fell +into quiet slumber and knew nothing more until the next morning. +February dawns in England are dark, but when she finally opened +her eyes, the room was faintly lighted by the coming sun and her +watch told her that it was after eight. + +Edith still seemed asleep, but from the bed at the left, Connie +smiled back at her. For some reason known only to herself, their +gay little hostess had decreed that Frances should take the centre +bed. + +"Awake?" she whispered. "How's Edith? Is she still off?" + +As though she heard her name, Edith stirred, turned over and +finally rose on one elbow. + +"Did you sleep well?" asked Constance. "We needn't get up unless +you like. When we are ready, Yvonne is to bring us breakfast in my +sitting-room. We'll wash and put on boudoir caps and eat _en +negligée_." + +At this delightful programme both girls became wide awake in an +instant. + +"And you will tell us about the ghost?" asked Frances. + +"I will," replied Constance, sitting up and gathering her pretty +kimono about her, a lovely white Japanese crepe embroidered in +gold with fire-eating dragons of appalling size. One stretched +across the front as she fastened the folds. The girls also rose +and put on their dressing-gowns. Unlocking the door, Constance +looked into the hall. + +"I'll just see that the coast is clear before the procession +forms," she remarked. "Daddy's rooms are down-stairs but Max's is +on our way. I'm quite sure though that he and Dad are already out, +for Dad likes to attend early service and Max has probably gone +with him like a dutiful young man." + +As the three started, Edith turned to glance searchingly around. + +"What are you looking for?" asked Frances. + +"For the pussy," replied Edith, hurrying to overtake them. "I +thought there was one in the room." + +"Miss Connie put it out," said Frances, laughing. "Wake up, +Edith!" + +As Edith spoke, Constance stopped to look at her rather oddly, +then went on quickly. + +"When you are ready, come to my sitting-room," she said on +reaching their door. "It is at the end of this hall." + +When the girls appeared ten minutes later, Constance was yet +invisible. In the sitting-room a table stood before a couch piled +with pillows, and two cushioned chairs opened luxurious arms. + +"Isn't this the dearest room," said Frances appreciatively as she +settled herself. "I suppose this is Miss Connie's own especial +place where no one comes without an invitation." + +In some respects the room was very unlike the sanctum of the +average girl. While not lacking in the daintiness bestowed by +fresh flowers, gay chintz and white draperies, it contained a +number of objects not often seen in a boudoir. On a teakwood stand +in one corner, against the background of a valuable Oriental rug +in shimmering greens and blues, sat a curious Indian idol. +Constance's desk might once have been used by some Italian +princess in the days of Dante, and above it hung a beautiful +silver lamp that could well cause envy in the breast of Aladdin. +Pictures and ornaments alike spoke of wanderings in distant lands +and from their unusual individuality indicated a wide range of +interest in their possessor. + +The door into the adjoining bedroom opened and Constance came out +attired in a lounging-robe that made both girls gasp with +admiration. + +"Oh, Miss Connie," Frances exclaimed, "what a beautiful kimono. +And what color is it?" + +"Guess," said Constance merrily. "For a long time I didn't know +myself what to call it." + +"It isn't blue nor gray," said Edith admiringly. + +"Nor green nor violet," added Frances reflectively, "and yet it is +all of them. I've seen something like it but I can't think what." + +"I suppose only an Oriental artist could conceive such a +combination," said Constance, ringing the bell for Yvonne and then +curling into a little heap on the couch. "Dad brought it to me +from Paris and I keep it for very special occasions. I couldn't +make out what color it was but I loved it the minute I opened the +box and I knew you girls would. I've thought very seriously of +having it made into an evening coat, for it is too lovely to be +used only in my room. But about its color. One day this Christmas +vacation I was feeling a bit poorly, so I had tea up here and let +Dad and Max come. I slipped on this robe to receive them in state +and the minute Max saw it, he told me what it was like. The thing +is in plain sight." + +The girls glanced about the room. Edith's eyes lingered for a +second on a brass bowl full of blue hyacinths, but passed on. + +"I have it!" exclaimed Frances, noticing a slight inclination of +Connie's fair head toward the open casement. "It's the color of +the ocean!" + +"Right!" said Constance. "The moment Max said so, I knew it. He +did it very prettily, too, with some remark about the 'lady from +the sea.' The silk really does change and shade as the water under +storm and sun." + +There came a tap and Yvonne, bearing a most tempting tray, entered +with a smiling "_Bon jour, mes demoiselles._" Fruit, a fat little +chocolate pot sending forth a delicious odor, and flanked by +delicate china and shining silver, whipped cream, marshmallows, +French rolls, sweet unsalted butter and raspberry jam, made the +girls feel hungry at the mere sight. Dainty green and white +snowdrops, tucked here and there by Yvonne's artistic fingers +added the final touch. + +"I think this is the greatest fun," said Frances. "Do you always +have your breakfast this way?" + +"Bless you, no," replied Constance. "This is an occasional Sunday +morning indulgence. Every other day of the week, I am up, dressed +and in my right mind to breakfast with my Dad. He'd think the +world was coming down about his ears if his Connie wasn't there to +pour his coffee. I warned him that we were going to have a debauch +this morning and he won't care anyway, because he has Max. What +did you mean, Edith, about a cat? Did you dream of Grayfur?" + +"Why, no, it wasn't Grayfur," said Edith, dropping a marshmallow +into her chocolate and watching it dissolve. "I thought Mr. Max +succeeded in carrying out his joke. He must have come back much +later and put another pussy in from behind the portrait. I woke +some time in the night, oh, hours after, because the moonlight was +'way across the room, and sitting in it, washing its face, was the +prettiest little half-grown kitten. It was a perfect beauty, white +with a plumy tail. I spoke to it very softly so as not to wake +either of you, and it looked at me and purred but would not come. +I watched it chase its tail for a little and then it jumped in a +big chair and curled itself up to sleep. I suppose it must have +gone out when the door was opened this morning. May we see it +again, Miss Connie? It was much prettier than Grayfur. But do tell +us now about the ghost. We are in such a hurry to hear." + +"You know practically all there is to know," said Constance +whimsically. + +Both girls stared at her. "What do you mean!" asked Edith. "Is it +a joke? Isn't there any ghost?" + +"You know better than I do," replied Constance, tasting her +chocolate critically. "Did you have sugar, Frances? Why, you've +seen the ghost, Edith, which is more than I can say." + +Edith's face was a picture of surprise. "_Seen_ it!" she repeated. +"Why, I saw nothing at all." + +"I told you, didn't I, that the people who saw the ghost never +knew it at the time? This is the legend. About a century ago, the +Richard Lisle, then owner of the Manor, married a very charming +young wife. He was madly in love with her and was inclined to be +rather jealous. The story runs that he couldn't bear to have her +lavish affection on anything but him, was jealous of her dog and +her horse and even of her flower-garden. Winifred Lisle had a +very pretty white Persian kitten--" + +Constance stopped, for Edith's spoon fell with a clatter. "You +don't mean that darling purry little pussy was the _ghost!"_ she +exclaimed. + + +"Listen to the story," Constance went on smiling. "Dick Lisle +objected to even this wee kit since it took some of his Winifred's +time and attention and he gave orders that it was never to be +admitted to the room where they spent the evening, presumably the +library. The kitten disappeared and Winifred mourned for it. +Months later, its little corpse was found on the secret stairs +behind the portrait." + +"Then Mr. Max didn't put a cat into the room?" asked Frances +eagerly. + +"I think not, unless he took the trouble to bring a white kitten +with him from Paris. Max is quite capable of doing it for a joke, +but he could not know, you see, that we were planning to sleep in +that room last night. And there is no white kitten about the +Manor." + +"Isn't that the oddest story!" said Edith in deep interest. "Why, +Miss Connie, I'm as sure as I am of anything that I saw that pussy +playing in the moonlight. It was the sweetest little thing and I +did wish it would come and cuddle by me in bed. Is it really a +ghost? How do you account for it?" + +"I don't account for it," said Constance. "You can consider it a +pretty dream if you wish. I never saw it and I have a fancy that +it is because I am not fond of cats. When Frances said she did not +like them, I knew that she would not see the little ghost kit +either, and so I wanted you to take the bed nearest the +moonlight." + +"That's the most interesting thing that ever happened to me," said +Edith. "I'm so glad I saw it." + +"Whether it is imagination or dream, I rather like to think of the +kitten ghost playing so gayly with its tail on moonlight nights," +said Connie. "No, only three or four people have seen it. The room +is not often used, and like Edith, they supposed it a kitten that +had somehow got in. Well, is the Manor ghost satisfactory?" + +"I think it's the dearest thing I ever heard of," said Edith +happily. "But do you suppose that Winifred's husband shut it in +there deliberately?" + +"We'll give him the benefit of the doubt. Cats are always poking +about in odd places. The door in the library may have been open a +crack and the kit gone in to investigate. Once I accidentally shut +a kitten into a drawer in the linen closet. Luckily Paget happened +to open it within an hour and she was surprised enough to find a +pussy there. Now for the rest of the morning. I heard Frances say +that she wanted to hear a church service in French just to see +whether she could follow. If you like, I'll get Max to take us +into town and we will find a French church to attend." + +"That would be lovely," declared Fran enthusiastically. "I really +believe I could understand quite a little now." + +"Thank you, Miss Connie," said Edith. "I'm afraid I ought to go +home. Fran can stay just as well as not, but Sister depends upon +me to go to church with her. I always do, you know." + +Edith colored and looked uncomfortable, feeling that perhaps she +was being ungracious. + +"You're a good little sister," said Constance quickly. "And you +would not care so much as Frances because you have always spoken +French. I imagine Dad will go to St. Aubin's and he'll take you +home. I'll make Max go with us." + +Max was perfectly willing to play escort, but looked dubious when +Constance declared her intention of stopping at a tiny French +church just inside the town of St. Helier's. "Have you ever been +here?" he demanded. + +"No," admitted Constance. "Of course we might go to the Convent of +St. André. I forgot, though, they wouldn't let you in. Frances +only wants to hear a sermon in French and this will answer very +well." + +Max still looked disapproving. "You won't like it," he said. "It's +a queer, non-conformist sect of some kind. There's a place the +other side of town where they have the Church of England service +in French. Let's go there." + +"Why not stop here?" persisted Constance. "More exciting when one +doesn't know what's coming next." + +"One may get more than one bargains for," commented Max. "Connie, +I have a premonition that we'll land in some mess." + +Connie made a delightful little face. "Come in," she said to +Frances. "I was under the impression that we invited Max to escort +_us._" + +When Frances returned home from church, she was distressed to find +Win in bed. + +"He overdid yesterday," said Mrs. Thayne in reply to her anxious +questioning. "I can't discover exactly what happened, but he and +Roger were out together and Win walked too far. That's all he will +admit. No, he isn't as badly off as sometimes, and says he only +needs a rest. Come up in his room, Fran, to tell your adventures." + +To Fran's eyes Win looked decidedly ill when she saw him lying +against his pillows, but he evaded all inquiries and demanded to +know about the Manor ghost. + +"That wasn't the end of our experiences," Frances went on +laughing, when the events of the night had been thoroughly +discussed. "We had a funny time in that little church. Mr. Max +didn't want to go there in the beginning, but Miss Connie +insisted. Inside, it didn't look much like a church for it was a +great bare room, with not many people present. The usher made us +sit rather far front, so we had a good view of the minister, who +was a little man with black hair that stood straight up, and his +manner was very excited. + +"The service seemed unusual for different people kept getting up +and talking. I couldn't understand much and Mr. Max looked annoyed +and Miss Connie amused. Finally a boy about my age began to speak. +He wore the oddest vest and trousers of rose-pink sateen plaided +with purple. We could see distinctly because the minister made him +come out in front and face the people. Well, the clothes he had on +were enough to make any one smile, but when he finished speaking, +the minister bounced out of the pulpit and kissed him on both +cheeks! He did, honest!" Fran insisted in answer to Roger's +whistle of incredulity. + +"I don't know what would have happened next, for the service was +really very strange, but when the minister kissed that boy, Mr. +Max gave a little grunt and took up his hat. I was sitting between +them, and he leaned forward and said in such a disgusted tone, 'My +word, Connie, _will_ you come?' + +"I think Miss Connie was trying not to laugh but I guess she'd had +enough herself for she rose and we went out very quietly so as not +to disturb anybody. + +"When we reached the street," Frances went on, "Mr. Max was so +funny. He didn't say a word, only stalked along looking quite +cross. Miss Connie sat down on a wall and laughed till she cried. +Then she told Mr. Max to smile and show his dimple. But he +wouldn't. I don't see how he could help it when she was so pretty +and sweet. Well, after she laughed some more, she begged him +please to look affectionate. + +"At that he couldn't help smiling, and then he asked Miss Connie +if she was ever going to stop getting herself and him into +scrapes. She called him 'old boy' and said she was sorry,--she +wasn't really," Fran interpolated with a wise nod,--"and promised +to stick to the Church of England service ever after. Mr. Max +inquired how much I understood and when I told him only a little, +he said it was lucky. That was certainly a very peculiar church," +Frances ended reflectively. "I'm quite sure that Mr. Max wanted to +come out long before we did, and that Miss Connie persisted in +staying just to tease him." + +Win was smiling over his sister's story, but though he evinced +interest both in the Manor ghost and in the amusing experience +Connie had furnished with her little French church, the point that +most impressed him was Max's presence at the Manor. + +"I wish I could see him," he observed. "I want so much to ask a +question or two. Did Miss Connie tell him about the paper I found +and how we explored the vaults and sounded the walls?" + +"She did," assented Frances. "We talked about it after dinner. Mr. +Max was as interested as could be and said he was going down +himself to take a look." + +"Mother," said Win suddenly. "I really need to see him. Don't you +believe he'd come in for a minute if he knew I was used up so I +couldn't get to the Manor?" + +"Indeed, I do," assented Mrs. Thayne. "Write a note, dear. Roger +shall take it for you." + +Roger, who for some reason haunted his brother's room in a subdued +mood not at all common to his usual attitude toward life, was very +willing to act as messenger. Toward night, Max appeared at Rose +Villa. + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +THE DOTTED LINE + + +"Sorry you are laid by, old man," Max said cheerfully as he was +shown into Win's room. "Better luck soon." + +"It's good of you to come," replied Win, grasping the hand so +cordially offered and relieved to see that the pleasant young face +bore no expression of the sympathetic pity Win so often read in +older countenances. + +"Well, my being here is as much of a surprise to me as to any +one," said Max, sitting down by the bed. "On Friday I expected to +spend my Sunday in Paris. But it chanced that I successfully +engineered a rather ticklish job for the Embassy, and the Chief +was pleased. As a figurative pat upon the head he gave me the +week-end off. You should have seen the way my car went to +Granville! Jean drove till we were clear of Paris and then I took +the wheel and things began to hum. From the tail of my eye I could +see Jean devoutly crossing himself whenever we hit the earth, but +we made the boat and didn't so much as run down a hen. I did +wonder that we weren't held up anywhere for exceeding the speed +limit, but the mystery was explained when we reached the Granville +pier." + +Max stopped with a mischievous laugh. "The Embassy has several +official machines," he explained, "and of course they are so +marked they are easily recognizable. I always use my own car, and +am authorized to sport the Embassy insignia when on official +business. I forgot to remove it before starting and that was why +not a single gendarme did more than salute as we tore past. Good +joke, so long as it ended well, but if we'd come a cropper on the +way, there'd have been rather a row and Max would have stood for +an official wigging, to say the least. Lucky for us that nothing +went wrong. What's done you up, old fellow?" + +Win looked at him wistfully. "Just exploring the Manor cave," he +said with a sigh. "I did so want to see it, and I made Roger take +me. I managed to get down all right, but it took over an hour to +climb the cliff. The kid is wild because he thinks he's half- +killed me." + +"Oh, say, that's a shame," said Max. "I wish I'd known that you +wanted to go. Pierre and I could have rigged a rope somehow and +helped you get back." + +Win's face just then was pitiful. Max's eyes grew very gentle but +he did not utter one word of sympathy. "I've been led a lively +pace since I reached the Manor," he went on. "Between Connie's +ghost hunt and the extraordinary church she chose to attend this +morning and your discovery in the library, my existence hasn't +lacked variety. Gay Paris is quiet beside this! But there's +nothing in the world I'm so keen on as hidden treasure. I'm pretty +sure I have a special talent for hunting it down. To be sure the +only time I ever tried, I made a giddy ass of myself and got into +a jolly mess, but I wonder will I succeed with this. Connie thinks +you've the tail of an idea. Can't you put me on?" + +"That was what I wanted to see you for," replied Win, his self- +possession quite restored. "Please open the lower drawer of that +desk. Right on top is a roll of tracing paper." + +"Why, this is a copy of the Manor plans," said Max, as he spread +out the thin sheet. + +"Yes," said Win. "Colonel Lisle let me trace them. Tell me, does +anything about them strike you as odd?" + +Max considered the plan carefully. "I can't say it does," he +admitted after a minute survey. "Give me a lead." + +"That dotted line," said Win, pointing to it with Max's pencil, +"according to Colonel Lisle, marks the path down to the cottages +on the shore, only the path curves more now than it did when the +plan was first made. Don't you think it strange that it was the +_only_ path put on the plans? Even the state driveway isn't +indicated." + +"That, I suppose, wasn't made then." + +"But surely," persisted Win, "there was some driveway to the main +road. Why should this especial path be marked? It couldn't have +been the most important, even at that time." + +"That does seem true," replied Max thoughtfully. + +[Illustration: WIN'S PLAN OF THE MANOR CELLARS.] + +"Now look at the point where the dotted line comes to the house," +Win went on, tracing its course as he spoke. "This is the very +oldest vault of all, under the library, you know. On the plan, its +northern wall is continued flush by the northern side of the +addition made later, and this dotted line runs parallel to it, +but--it runs _inside_ the foundations." + +"So it does," Max agreed. "But isn't that due to clumsy drawing? +There's an axiom, you know, about it being impossible for two +bodies to occupy the same space. Two lines couldn't occupy the +same location on a plan." + +"Yes," said Win, "but if this is a _path_, what is it doing +_inside_ the house?" + +There followed a second of silence and then Max gave a low +whistle. "I'm on," he announced. "Clever reasoning, Win." + +"There's another thing, too," said Win, lying flushed and pleased +against his pillows. "I spent a lot of time on that dividing +partition wall. I'm sure there is no space in it unless it is so +thick that even a hollow place wouldn't sound any different. But +after I looked again at the plans, I saw that what I should have +put my time on wasn't that wall at all, but the northern one, +indicated here as parallel to the dotted line. Mr. Max, I'm quite +certain that the old original cellar extends farther to the north +than this newer part. I mean that the north wall of the new cellar +isn't on a line with the old one, not in reality, though here it +is intended to look so." + +"You mean," said Max, bringing intelligent brows to bear on this +explanation, "that this was an underground passage rather than a +surface path and that its northern side is the one flush with the +original cellar?" + +"That's exactly it," said Win. "I think there is a passage running +along outside that northern wall down to the cave and the beach. +There seems a space on the plan that isn't accounted for in any +other way, and that explains why this dotted line runs inside the +foundations." + +"But, old chap," said Max kindly, "I know that cave from top to +bottom. Truly there is no exit. I've spent hours in exploring the +place." + +"But when I was on the ledge at the back, there was a draught of +fresh warm air from somewhere," Win pleaded. "And Roger said he +noticed it when you took him there. Behind the ledge is a big pile +of stones and rubble. Couldn't that air get in somehow?" + +"It must, since you felt it," agreed Max sensibly. "If I can +possibly manage it, I'll make an investigation. But I am booked to +sail on Tuesday morning. It may have to stand over until the +Easter holidays. I will take a squint at the cellar though this +very evening. Did you sound that north wall?" + +"No, I didn't," Win admitted. "I spent all my time on the west +one. Not until I studied the plans again, did it fully dawn on me +that perhaps that line was a passage instead of a path. If that is +true, it is the other wall that will bear investigation." + +Max still surveyed the plans, his fine young face intent on this +problem. He glanced up to meet a very wistful look from Win. + +"On the whole, let's wait until Easter," he suggested. "Then +you'll be feeling more fit and can come down in the vaults with +me." + +"I wish you'd inspect that wall," Win replied. "If you find it +does sound hollow, will Colonel Lisle let us punch a hole?" + +"Sure," said Max encouragingly. "I know jolly well he will. Uncle +Dick will be game for any investigation. Only he'll have to be +convinced that I'm not pulling his leg. If that north wall +resounds like a tomb, I'll tow Uncle down to hark for himself. +Why, man, we're getting on swimmingly! That was a mighty clever +idea of yours about the dotted line. Connie'll be keen on it too, +and anyway she owes me one after getting me into such a beastly +mess as she did to-day. I didn't even use unkind language about it +either. If the sea is decent tomorrow, I'll trot her down to the +cave to see where your fresh air comes from." + +"Perhaps it can be felt only when the wind is from a certain +direction," observed Win. + +"That's more than likely. Yesterday it was south, wasn't it? Very +probably it takes a south wind to strike in there. I'm afraid we +can't hope for that to-morrow because there seems a storm brewing, +on purpose probably to give me a rough trip on Tuesday." + +"Weren't you glad of the chance to come?" asked Win. + +"I was," said Max expressively, "not only because I always like to +get back to the Manor, but because I was pleased with myself to +think I'd scored with this especial bit of work, a job of +smoothing down an elderly ass who was inclined to be a trifle +footy. You see when I decided to go in for the diplomatic service, +Dad told me that he would use his influence only to get me an +appointment, a try-out. After that it was up to me; if I received +promotion it would be because I earned it, not because I was his +son. He makes me an allowance because one really couldn't manage +on the salary of an attaché, but so far as my profession goes, I +stand absolutely on my own merits. So Max is feeling proud of +himself just now!" he added whimsically. "So's my Dad, if my +telegram reached him." + +"He must be proud of you," said Win rather soberly. "I so much +hope that Roger will condescend to go to Annapolis. You see I +can't, and Dad would like one of us in the navy." + +"Roger will wake up to a sense of his privileges some day," said +Max. "Do you know, Win, some of the finest work in the world has +been done by the fellows who were handicapped. Prescott, for +instance, writing all his histories, blind in one eye and +sometimes half crazed by pain; Milton, too, dictating to his +daughters, and Scott, producing so much when he was old and +burdened with grief and trouble. And Stevenson, who was ill half +his life." + +"But they were geniuses," said Win. + +"They were also too courageous in spirit to yield to +circumstances. To come down to more ordinary people, I think Uncle +Dick is mighty fine. He is crippled, useless for the work he +expected to grow old in; he saw his only son die for England. You +have seen enough of him to know what he is and what he means not +only to Laurel Manor but to the Island. I respect and admire him +tremendously and I shall owe much of whatever success I score, to +him as well as to Dad. There are careers open to you, Win. You are +clever and have a fine mind. Roger defers to your opinion. Through +your influence, he may accomplish far more than he might alone." + +"I don't amount to very much with Roger. Still, I did make him +square things with Fisher that day he played truant and went off +with you," admitted Win with the ghost of a smile. "Mother only +lectured him for bunking, but I persuaded him to apologize and to +put in the next Wednesday doing the work he skipped." + +"Good for you!" said Max cordially. His gray eyes were very kind +and friendly as he rose to leave. + +"I hope you'll feel more fit to-morrow," he said, shaking hands. +"If I possibly can, I'll run in and make a report; if not, I'll +drop a line when I get home to the lurid lights of Paris." + +"Shall you drive back with the Embassy insignia on your car?" +inquired Win smiling. He looked much brighter and happier than +before his visitor came. + +Max laughed. "I fancy not," he said as he gathered hat, gloves and +riding-crop. "I'm rather anxious to be on my good behavior. No, +I'll let Jean drive which will be prudently slow, and I'll +meditate about your hidden chest and the dotted path and other +things back at the Manor." + +"I believe Mr. Hamilton did you more good than the doctor," +declared Mrs. Thayne, entering Win's room after his caller had +mounted Saracen and ridden away. "You look fifty per cent +brighter." + +"He's a crackerjack," said Win briefly. "He's promised to do some +investigating on his own account and I feel sure that he can +induce Colonel Lisle to let us try an experiment if it is needed. +But, Mother, there's something I've been meaning to tell you all +day, not about the Spanish chest or anything to do with it. You +know we spoke once of how Miss Estelle reminded us of some one at +home. This morning instead of sending a servant with my breakfast, +she brought it herself, and when she was arranging things, I +remembered whom it is she looks like. It is your friend, Mrs. +Aldrich." + +"Win, you're right," said Mrs. Thayne suddenly. "Estelle _is_ like +Carrie Aldrich, and not in looks alone, but in manner. Now how can +that possibly be? Of course it is only a chance resemblance but it +must exist since you notice it, too. I wonder whether Fran ever +carried out her intention of asking Edith whether they had any +relatives in the United States. She spoke of doing so." + +"What good would that do, if Mrs. Aldrich is the person Estelle +resembles?" asked Win. "Haven't you known her all her life?" + +"I met her at school," replied his mother, "when we both were +young girls and then knew her intimately. Of later years, we have +seen less of each other, though we have always kept up the +friendship. There seems no possible connection between Carrie +Aldrich and Estelle and the likeness must be only in our minds. +They say, you know, that every person in the world has a double +somewhere." + +"I'd like mighty well to be Mr. Max's double if I could only +choose," muttered Win to himself. + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +ROGER THE MAROONED + + +No word came from the Manor the next day, only a big bunch of +fragrant lilies for Win and some jelly of which Paget alone knew +the secret recipe. Early Tuesday morning Max's prophesied storm +arrived in earnest and the young people at Rose Villa saw the +Granville boat leave her pier amid sheets of driving rain. Her +decks looked dreary and deserted, for all the passengers were +inside. + +"I suppose Mr. Max is on board for he was obliged to go," observed +Frances, as the steamer disappeared in low-hanging banks of fog +drifting continually nearer shore. + +"Yes," agreed Win, who was dressed and about, though still looking +ill. "There will be some word when he gets back to Paris. It +stormed so yesterday that he probably couldn't go into the cave as +he planned." + +"Life seems very tame after all the interesting things that +happened last week," sighed Frances, gathering her French grammar +and other school books. "Rain or no rain, there will be school, +and English rain seems somehow _wetter_ than American. You'd +better eat that jelly, Win. According to Nurse, it is the elixir +of life and warranted to cure every ill known to man." + +Win smiled as he watched his sister and Edith down the steps, and +waved a listless hand as they turned inquiring faces under bobbing +umbrellas at the end of the terrace. He looked enviously after +Roger, a tall slim clothespin in black rubber coat and boots, +sou'wester pulled firmly over his head, tramping sturdily toward +the beach, evidently on some definite errand. Win would have liked +mightily to be swinging along with him through the storm, but the +fun of facing a tempest was not for Win. + +For a few moments he stood idly by the window, wondering whether +Connie knew what Max had possibly discovered in his inspection of +cave and vaults. Then he turned with a sigh, reminding himself +that with the weather what it was, and in this land of few +telephones, there was no chance of hearing anything from the +Manor. + +Gradually the stormy morning passed, somewhat dully for Win, who +still felt unfit to study or even to occupy himself with a book, +and lay upon the couch while his mother read aloud. + +Frances returned from school, ravenously hungry and quite rosy +with the rain that had beaten in her face. + +"Mother, I am nearly starved!" she announced. + +"Why, it is time for luncheon," said Mrs. Thayne, awakening to a +realization of that fact. "But where is Roger? He can't have taken +the whole morning just to deliver that message for Estelle." + +"He could easily, Mother," said Win. "Why, if I had a chance to +get out in this storm, I feel sure it would take me forever to do +the simplest errand. He'll come home when he's hungry." + +The gong for luncheon sounded and the three sat down to Annette's +delicious scallops, daintily creamed in their own big shells, her +French bread and perfect chocolate. Still Roger did not come. + +Nurse took the plates, and brought dessert; fruit, clotted cream +with plum jam, and a special glass of egg-nog for Win. + +"Shall we put Mr. Roger's lunch to the fire?" she asked of Mrs. +Thayne. + +"I don't see why he doesn't come. He can't have gone to the Manor +and if he had, they would have sent word if he were staying. No, +you needn't keep it warm, Nurse. Unless he has some very good +excuse when he comes, he may lunch upon bread and milk. It's +really very naughty of him to go off like this when he had lessons +to learn." + +"It's queer where he can be," observed Fran. "He started on his +errand just after Edith and I came out and saw Annette buying +scallops of the fish-woman. He's crazy about them you know, and he +asked particularly if they were for luncheon, and told her to be +sure to get plenty." + +"Oh, I don't suppose anything has happened," said Mrs. Thayne +quietly, for she did not wish Win to worry. + +When Roger was still missing half an hour later, Mrs. Thayne +sought Estelle. + +"Whatever can have happened?" said Estelle helplessly. "I can't +think. Did he have any money?" + +"Why, perhaps a few pence, not much anyway," replied Mrs. Thayne. +"You think he went into St. Helier's and had to walk back? That's +possible. Fran, it's not storming so hard now. Put on your rain- +coat and run out to the end of the terrace. Perhaps with the +field-glasses you can make out whether he is coming down the beach +or is anywhere in sight." + +Frances returned with the report that there was practically no +beach, owing to the high tide, and no foot-farers on the narrow +strip that was visible in the fog. + +Neither Estelle nor Mrs. Thayne knew what was best to do. Estelle +suggested the police and then the rector, but neither seemed to +Mrs. Thayne likely to offer a solution. + +"We will wait a while," she said with an anxious glance at the +clock just striking two. "Don't do or say anything to let Win +think I am worried, Fran. Let me take your coat. I'll go down to +the beach myself. I really think that Roger should be punished for +causing us such anxiety." + +Had his mother only known, Roger was already enduring considerable +self-inflicted penance for getting into a predicament which made +it impossible for him to return. + +Delivering Estelle's message at a cottage by the shore had taken +but a few moments and with most of the morning before him, Roger +set out along the beach, glorying in the force of wind and rain. +True, there were lessons to be prepared for Bill Fish, who would +come cheerfully swimming in at the appointed hour, but there was +surely time for a stroll toward Noirmont Point. + +The tide was far out and wet hard sand stretched in every +direction, very pleasing to stamp over, and retaining little trace +of any footprint. Only gray gulls and drifting fog banks +distinguished the immediate surroundings. + +As Roger tramped on, he noticed that the fog grew steadily thicker +and that his path included occasional seaweed-covered rocks, but +not until a black mass loomed up before him, did he realize that +he had left the true beach and was walking straight out to sea. +The bulk he had encountered was not the martello tower on Noirmont +Point but the old castle of St. Aubin's, at high tide an island in +the bay. + +No thought of any danger in his position struck Roger. He had +always intended to investigate that island but somehow had never +yet done so. Here it lay before him. + +Climbing the rocks upon which the castle stands, he made a careful +survey of its outside and finally gained access to the interior, +much disappointed to find nothing at all remarkable, though St. +Aubin's castle is not wholly a ruin and was once rented and +occupied for a season by an eccentric Englishman. + +Nothing was now visible save swirling fog and for the first time, +Roger realized what that fog meant. He hastily made his way to the +little beach, where the tide, still out, would permit him to cross +to the mainland. To start in the right direction was simple +enough, for he very well knew which side of the castle faced the +shore, but he had taken scarcely twenty steps down the sand when +he saw that he had no certainty of keeping his bearings once the +island was left behind. + +Roger was only twelve, but he was possessed of common-sense and +self-reliance. Though the youngest of the family he had been so +thoroughly impressed with the necessity of considering "safety +first" in regard to Win, that in an emergency of any kind he was +usually level-headed. He stopped where he was, searching his +pockets for the compass Captain Thayne had given to each of his +three children. + +Roger's pockets yielded a strange and varied assortment of +objects, presumably of value, but no compass. He looked +irresolutely behind where the castle was just visible as a darker +spot in the fog. Nothing at all could be distinguished ahead. + +From the lighthouse on the point came the tolling of a bell, but +its warning tones were so scattered and disguised by the fog, that +its sound was of no use as a guide. + +For several moments Roger stood where he was. The distance to +shore was not great if he was only certain of going straight +ahead. To swerve from that direction meant wandering out to meet +the cruel Jersey tide, presently coming in like a hunter on its +prey. To remain where he was meant anxious hours for his mother +and for Win, about whom Roger was already so much concerned. + +Having weighed the alternatives, he took five steps forward and +stood absolutely surrounded by the whirling mist. A sort of horror +came over him, a keen realization of his helplessness before one +of the great elemental forces of nature. The risk was too great! +There was a chance that he might keep in the right direction with +nothing to guide him, but it was only a chance. Worried as his +mother would doubtless be, better that she endure a few hours of +anxiety than lasting grief. + +Turning squarely about, Roger retraced his footsteps, already +faint, to the castle, where he perched forlornly on a high rock. A +little later, he heard for he could not see, the low hiss and +gurgle of the coming tide. Roger was a big, strong, brave boy, but +at the sound, he could not suppress a few tears, and they were not +wholly for his own plight. + +Mrs. Thayne returned from her fruitless expedition to the beach, +looking still more distressed. + +"I can't imagine where Roger is," she said anxiously to Frances. +"Of course, there may be some good excuse for this performance, +but I don't see what it can be. He knows that he is not to go into +town without permission and it seems as though he would have come +home for luncheon unless he was in St. Helier's. If he really has +been disobedient and played truant again into the bargain, I shall +ask Mr. Fisher to punish him." + +"Oh, Mother," said Frances, "Roger wouldn't deliberately frighten +us, especially when he's been so upset over Win." + +"But where _is_ he?" said Mrs. Thayne again. "Thank goodness! +Here's Mr. Fisher." + +She hurried down to intercept the tutor at the door. Lingering at +the head of the stair, Frances heard her name called from Win's +room. + +"Is Mother dreadfully troubled?" he asked as she entered. "I think +Roger went back to the cave and has been shut in." + +"Oh, I hope not," said Frances. "Mother's annoyed but it seems to +me he must be all right. When he gets ready he will turn up with +some wonderful tale of adventure." + +"I suspect he's in some scrape," said Win. "Might not be such a +bad idea to appeal to the police after all. I only wish I wasn't +such a helpless stick," he added rather bitterly. + +"Mr. Fisher has gone down to the beach," reported Frances from the +window. "I'm glad he's come, for Mother will feel better to have +him to consult." + +Both were silent for a moment, thinking of Roger, blunt, loyal, +impulsive Roger, hoping that nothing serious had befallen him. + +Presently Mrs. Thayne came, her face expressing a calm she did not +feel. "Mr. Fisher thinks there is no cause for us to worry," she +remarked placidly. "He is going to take what he calls a 'turn +about the town.' Frances, suppose you go on reading to Win while I +sew a little." + +Frances took the book Win held out to her, and Mrs. Thayne's +fingers twitched the needle through her embroidery, both ears +alert for sound of returning steps. The clock struck three and +then four. Nothing happened. Roger did not come and Mr. Fisher did +not reappear. + +Over on St. Aubin's tiny island, Roger watched the water creep +steadily up the rocks, up and up until it broke almost at the +foundations of the castle. Cruel, cold, and gray it looked and +hungry and chilly was the boy who watched. Once a gull flew so +close that he could almost touch it as it vanished like a ghost +into the fog. + +At intervals Roger inspected his watch, counting the moments till +the tide should cease to make. At last the water stopped climbing +the rocks, remained stationary, fell an inch. The next wave broke +still farther below. + +But unless the fog should lift, ebb tide would only duplicate +Roger's predicament of the morning. Toward four he saw that the +mist was gradually growing lighter; saw water visible fifty feet +from the island. Presently a breeze sprang into being, the most +welcome wind Roger had ever known. Before it the fog thinned, grew +filmy, dispersed in shreds of trailing vapor. Noirmont Point and +St. Aubin's village came gradually into distinct view, and with +them a man walking along the sand. + +Water ten feet deep and many wide still barred Roger from the +shore and he could not make himself heard above the slow heave of +the rollers lazily breaking on the beach. Was there no way to +attract the saunterer's attention? + +Finding a long branch, relic of some storm-wrecked tree, Roger +tied his handkerchief to it and waved vigorously. After a time, +the man on the beach noticed the flag and stood looking toward it. + +A bright idea struck Roger. At home he had belonged to a troop of +boy scouts and knew the signals. He would experiment on this +stranger. + +Just by chance, Mr. Fisher at one time had been a scout-master and +instantly realized that Roger, marooned on St. Aubin's island, was +trying to send a message. Hastily improvising a flag, he +responded. + +Twenty minutes later, Mrs. Thayne, still nervously sewing, heard +Mr. Fisher run up the steps and Estelle hurry to the door. A few +brief seconds sufficed to give the explanation Roger had so +painstakingly signaled. + +"I didn't stop to rescue him, Mrs. Thayne," explained Mr. Fisher, +"because his one thought was for you and Win, not to let you worry +a moment longer." + +"Can't you get a boat and row out for him?" asked Estelle, seeing +that Mrs. Thayne was unable to speak. "Poor dear boy, he must be +cold and famished." + +"I'm off to Noirmont Point," replied Mr. Fisher briefly. "It +shouldn't take long to pull over and back, provided that I pick up +a boat quickly." + +In spite of the tutor's best efforts, darkness had fallen before +the marooned prisoner was returned to his anxious family, who sat +around to see him eat everything pressed upon him. Roger was pale +and very subdued. Strangest of all, he had come up Noirmont +Terrace pressed close to the side of the obnoxious Bill Fish and +not in the least resenting the hand that rested on his shoulder. + +Having consumed all the food in sight, he yielded without protest +to his mother's desire that he should go to bed in order to ward +off possible chill. When Mr. Fisher, heartily thanked, had taken +his departure, Mrs. Thayne started for Roger's room. On its +threshold she stopped for the boys were talking. + +"I hated it like time out there," said Roger, now reposing +luxuriously in bed. "But I hated worse to have you and Mother +worried. I didn't purposely go over to the island, Win." + +"I know you didn't," said his brother. "I was sure that something +you couldn't help had happened." + +"It did," sighed Roger. "I guess I'll never again do anything that +worries Mother, now I know how it feels to worry over somebody +myself. And I say, Win, Bill Fish is all right! To think of his +knowing the scout signals! And he pulled out for me himself in a +heavy old dory that weighed a ton. Why, Bill Fish isn't so bad!" + +"And have you just found that out?" asked Win laughing. "I've +known it all the time." + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +AT CORBIÉRE + + +Not until Friday did Win receive the longed-for letter from Paris. +He tore it open eagerly. + +"DEAR WIN," it ran, "I've just arrived in town and am wishing I +was back in Jersey. As the steamer sailed, I looked over at St +Aubin's and thought of you. You couldn't see me of course, both +for fog and because I was in the wheel-house with the pilot, Jim +Trott, a fellow from Gorey village. + +"Probably you thought that we didn't get into the cave on Monday +on account of the weather. It was beastly, but I decided to try, +and when Connie knew my plan, she insisted on going with me. +Pierre came too, with a lantern and we went down without much +trouble. + +"Pierre and I tackled your stone pile at once and we pitched +quantities aside, but couldn't finish because Connie, who was +watching the tide, called a halt too soon. But we cleared enough +rocks away to feel rather sure there is an opening of some kind +beyond; just possibly the passage you are so keen on, more +probably connecting with another cave. The Jersey cliffs are +honey-combed with them. How's that for exciting news? + +"Connie haled us out before there was really any need and of +course the tide did not serve for us to go again. When I come at +Easter, I'll finish the job if necessary. After playing ball with +several tons of stone, we then explored the vaults, armed with a +hammer and a long line. + +"Well, old fellow, I pounded that north wall inch by inch and I +can't conscientiously say I struck anything that sounded at all +hollow. But still, it's not like tapping on plaster or wood; one +couldn't reasonably expect the same result for the stone is +probably some feet thick. And if the whole wall is the side of the +tunnel, naturally it would all sound alike, so that test doesn't +really prove or disprove anything. + +"The discovery Connie and I did make, and to my mind it is rather +important, is that you are right in thinking that there is a +discrepancy between the walls of the oldest vault and the adjacent +cellar. Outside the house, the foundation wall runs flush the +length of the library and the wing beyond; inside, that same +foundation wall doesn't jibe. According to our measurements, there +is a difference of over a metre, almost four feet, in the length +of the partition at right angles to the north wall as reckoned on +either side. This certainly bears out your theory of a passage +running along that wall. + +"We looked very carefully but could not detect that there had ever +been any opening, but all the masonry is so rough that perhaps we +couldn't expect to find it. + +"Uncle Dick is interested but sceptical, says the difference in +measurement may be accounted for by walls built at different +times. When he thinks it over a little, he will see that no Lisle +in his senses,--and the Lisles possess sense,--would have put four +extra feet of solidity into a wall which had no earthly reason to +need such treatment. But he said that when I came at Easter, we +may have a mason and knock a hole wherever we choose. Messing +about in the cellar is a harmless amusement that may keep us out +of mischief and provide employment for some deserving workman. +Before that date, I trust you will succeed in getting Uncle Dick +into a less doubting frame of mind. Easter is but a month away and +if all goes well, I'll surely be back and we will hunt that +Spanish chest to its lair. + +"Had no adventures coming here. Jean seemed relieved when I told +him to drive. When I reached my rooms, I found a note directing me +to report for duty to-morrow prepared to show some important +American from the western States the sights of Paris. That means a +gay and giddy day. I only hope I sha'n't have to interpret while +he buys hats for Madam and the young ladies at home. Once I was +let in for that and it was pretty sickening. I've often wondered +what the ladies thought of those hats. I also hope he won't be +keen on climbing the Eiffel tower, for that's one of the things +that's not done in Paris. + +"I must go to bed for it is after two and my day to-morrow, or +rather to-day, may include an evening as well. + +"Till Easter then adieu, and all best wishes, + +"M. R. HAMILTON." + +This letter naturally afforded Win a great deal of satisfaction +and his interest and pleasure were shared by the others. To wait a +whole month to solve the mystery of the Spanish chest when so +distinct a clue appeared already in his hand, was a trial of +patience. Naturally Colonel Lisle would not be likely to go ahead +in the matter until Max returned to inspire action by his youthful +enthusiasm, and it was only fair that Max should be in at the +finish. Win wondered whether Connie shared the Colonel's +scepticism. This proved not the case, only that Connie and her +father were going to London for a week or two and the little lady +of the Manor had other ideas to occupy her pretty head. + +"We may even run over to Paris," she announced during a farewell +call at Rose Villa. "Max has been begging us ever since he was +sent there, so it's possible we may cross for a few days and plan +so that we come back together at Easter." + +"Wouldn't it be jolly to go around Paris with Mr. Max," said Win +almost enviously. "I haven't forgotten how dandy he was to me in +Washington. Dad took me along when he was calling on some official +and then found he was in for a morning's conference. The Secretary +sent for a young man, who proved to be Mr. Max and told him to +look after me. I was only fifteen, but Mr. Max took as much pains +to give me a good time as though I'd been somebody really +important." + +"That's like Max," said Connie briefly, her eyes showing pleasure +at Win's tribute. "I think he's detailed for service such as that +more often than the other young men of the Embassy because he gets +on so well with all sorts of people. It's a real gift and a very +valuable one for a prospective diplomat. But you are celebrating +one of your great national days this week, aren't you?" + +"Yes, Washington's birthday," said Frances. "Luckily it comes on +Wednesday, so we have a holiday. We were going to have a picnic at +Corbiére and invite you, Miss Connie." + +"Indeed, I wish I could be there," said Constance with genuine +regret in her voice, "but I'll be in London. We'll keep up our +spirits by remembering that it's only a brief time to Easter and +then we are to start again on the trail of the Spanish chest." + +Estelle consented to join the holiday celebration, and when the +twenty-second dawned bright and sunny, Rose Villa was the scene of +an animated flurry. In the dining-room, Edith, Frances and Estelle +were putting up the lunch, while Win collected painting traps for +the picture he hoped to sketch, and Roger departed to bring the +pony and cart engaged for the day. + +Corbiére Point was distant about four miles and all except Win and +his mother proposed to walk, since the little carriage could take +lunch baskets and wraps. + +Roger appeared with a plump stubborn Welsh pony, attached to a +funny little cart which he gayly informed them was a "gingle." +Neither Edith nor Estelle, who were familiar with the term as used +in Cornwall, thought it odd but Roger considered it most absurd. + +Even the short legs of a tiny pony could cover the ground more +rapidly than the walking party, and when the pedestrians reached +their destination, no sign of Win, his mother, pony or gingle was +visible. + +"Oh, what a wonderful view!" exclaimed Estelle stopping short. + +Before them lay Corbiére lighthouse, built on a bold rock, at +flood tide an island, but at this hour approachable from the +mainland by a causeway. In the foreground stretched an expanse of +jagged red reefs and shining pools with a single martello tower +rising in dignified grandeur. At the right lay a hill, its summit +crowned by one stone cottage with a thatched roof, and down the +hill a narrow road wandered to disappear in a cleft between two +gigantic red granite boulders sprinkled with glittering quartz and +partly covered with gray and bright orange lichens. Green grass +and turquoise blue sea with a single white sail dipping to the +horizon completed the color scheme. Near at hand hovered several +of the sea-crows, _corbiéres_, which have given the point its +name. + +Estelle's soft eyes grew wide and a pretty pink flush came into +her usually pale cheeks as she gazed into the distance. Roger and +the girls were looking for the rest of the party. + +The thatched cottage seemed utterly without life, windows blank +and no sign of any domestic proceedings. + +"It must be deserted," said Edith as they strolled on. + +"Here's a shed with something black in it," said Roger. "I can +just see its head. It's a goat." + +"It's a black stocking hung to dry," declared Edith. + +"Stocking, nothing," replied Roger. "I know it's a goat." + +The two hung over the gate and deliberately stared into the little +shed. "No goat ever stopped still for so long," persisted Edith, +when three full minutes had passed without motion in the shed. + +"I'll go in and see," began Roger, about to climb the gate. A +sudden exclamation from Frances deterred him. + +"Goodness, here's a black cat! Where did it come from?" + +Upon the doorstep now sat a perfectly motionless black cat. + +"Look at the black hens!" added Edith, bursting into laughter. + +At either corner of the stone cottage two coal black hens were +visible, also like statues, and possessing bright yellow eyes. + +"_And_ a black dog in a barrel!" Frances fairly shrieked. + +"Well, a dog has some sense!" said Roger, whistling and calling. +Strange to say, the dog neither stirred nor lifted its head. Nose +on its paws it remained absolutely still. + +"This is a bum lot of animals," observed Roger. "I never saw a dog +before that wouldn't at least bark at strangers." + +"It's probably dumb as well as deaf," commented Frances. + +"But it might at least _move_," expostulated Roger. "Perhaps it's +paralyzed." + +"Perhaps this cottage and everything about it is enchanted," +suggested Edith. "Miss Connie said something, don't you remember, +about a place where the Jersey witches hold their meetings?" + +"That is 'way the other end of the island," retorted Roger, "down +at St. Clement's." + +There was something uncanny about that collection of dusky, +motionless animals and the three were conscious of real relief +when the two hens at last walked off in quite a hen-like, not to +say human manner. But cat, dog and goat remained as though +petrified. + +"Mother's calling," said Frances. "Come along, Roger. Lunch!" + +Roger postponed his intention of stirring up the dog to see +whether it was stuffed or paralyzed, and they turned in the +direction of the call. + +Luncheon was already spread on the grass in shelter of a big rock, +the Stars and Stripes forming the table decoration. At sight of +the flag, Roger and Fran stopped and saluted gravely as their +father had taught them. + +"Mother!" exclaimed Roger, his eyes widening. "Is that a chocolate +layer-cake? Where did it come from?" + +"I made it," said Mrs. Thayne. "Miss Estelle said I might and +Annette was quite pleased to watch me, and see how an American +cake was constructed." + +No doubt that the young people were frankly happy, though spending +this holiday in so unusual a fashion. After luncheon, Win prepared +to sketch the lighthouse and the other three proposed to visit it. + +As they ran down the hill toward the causeway and the heap of +picturesque red rocks bared by the water, Mrs. Thayne settled +herself with her embroidery and Estelle produced her netting. + +After a few moments spent consulting with Win as to the exact +angle desirable for his sketch, Mrs. Thayne felt for her watch, +remembered that she did not bring it and looked at Estelle. + +"Will you tell me the time?" she asked. "Win's hands are full with +his palette and block." + +"Certainly," said Estelle. "It's just two." + +As she replaced her watch, a sudden look of interest crossed Mrs. +Thayne's face. + +"What a curious chain you have, Estelle," she remarked. "Is it an +old one? May I take it a moment?" + +"It belonged to my grandmother, my mother's mother," replied +Estelle, unfastening the chain and holding it out to Mrs. Thayne. +"I think it is very old for I never saw another like it." + +Mrs. Thayne examined the trinket carefully. It was hand-made, of +pale yellow gold, and the links, instead of being round, were +rectangular, yet so fastened in a series of three as to produce +the effect of a round cable. + +"It is an awkward thing to use," said Estelle, "because sometimes +those links get turned and it is very difficult to work them into +place." + +Mrs. Thayne looked up, a curiously intent expression on her face. +"Estelle," she said abruptly, "have you any relatives in America?" + +"Not that I know of," Estelle replied, surprised by the sudden +question, "though I suppose it is quite possible. Grandmother's +sister married a young man who went out to the colonies, somewhere +near Toronto, I think. We have known nothing of them since +Grandmother died and that was before I was born. I think Mother +completely lost touch with Great-aunt Emma. It is easy, you know, +when one belongs to a different generation and has never seen +one's aunt." + +"Then you don't know whether your Great-aunt Emma had children?" +asked Mrs. Thayne, twisting the odd chain reflectively between her +fingers. + +"Oh, yes," said Estelle. "I do happen to know that. There were +two, a girl and a boy. Now I think of it, I recall that the girl +married and went to the States. I do not know how one speaks of +your counties, but it was not the city of New York,--perhaps New +Yorkshire?" + +"New York State," put in Win so abruptly that his mother jumped. +To all appearances he had been completely absorbed in his +painting. + +"But you don't know the name of the man she married?" Mrs. Thayne +asked. + +"I do not," replied Estelle. "But I could find out, for it will be +among Father's papers. I think he had a hazy idea of writing some +time to Canada to get in touch if possible with Mother's +relatives. But it was never done, and I should hesitate to do it, +--especially now." + +"Lest they might think you were seeking aid," Mrs. Thayne thought, +with a tender appreciation of Estelle's proud independence, but +she kept her inference to herself. + +"Do you know whether your grandmother's sister who went to Canada +also possessed a chain like this?" she asked. + +"Why, yes," said Estelle, laying down her work and looking out to +sea. "I know she did. Great-grandfather Avery once bought two just +alike in Paris and gave one to each of his daughters. This came to +me through Mother." + +Mrs. Thayne started to speak but caught Win's eyes fixed upon her +inquiringly. Something in their expression checked the words she +was about to utter. + +"After all, better be sure," she thought. "It is a very curious +old trinket, Estelle," she said, returning the chain. "Some time +when you think of it, I wish you would look in your father's +papers and find the married name of that cousin who went to New +York State." + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +WIN WONDERS + + +"Mother," said Win solemnly, "I shook in my shoes this afternoon. +Didn't you notice the lurid mixture of colors I was daubing on my +block? And all because I knew you were having psychic thoughts and +I was so afraid you would say what I thought you were thinking and +startle Estelle. I wanted so much to know myself just what you +were driving at with your watch-chains that I almost chewed my +tongue off trying not to speak." + +"I know it," said Mrs. Thayne. "I felt you quaking, Win, and +decided to keep still. After all, the only sensible way was to +find out definitely that name. Estelle is so proud and so +reluctant to accept help that one must move carefully in trying to +smooth her pathway." + +The two were alone in Mrs. Thayne's room after the happy picnic at +Corbiére. Through the open window floated the occasional sound of +voices from the end of the terrace where Roger, Edith, and Frances +stood watching the steamer for Southampton round Noirmont Point. + +"And now that I do know the name, I am still uncertain what is +best to do," reflected Mrs. Thayne. "But you asked about the +chain, Win. The moment I saw that one of Estelle's I knew that I +had seen a similar one in the United States. For a time I could +not place it, and really it is a thing of unusual workmanship and +not likely to be largely duplicated. Then it came to me in a flash +that Carrie Aldrich often wears a chain like that and once told me +that it had belonged to her mother." + +"But I never knew that Mrs. Aldrich was English," said Win +wonderingly. "I thought she'd always lived in Boston." + +"I knew that she was a Canadian," replied his mother, "but she was +educated in the United States and married an American. To trace +her ancestry never occurred to me. She is so thoroughly and +completely American that one would never think of her forefathers +as being anything else. + +"I can hardly keep silent," she went on. "When I think of Carrie +alone in that huge house in Boston, with her big income and her +still bigger heart and only her charities to fill it and to occupy +her time, and then think of Estelle, so proudly trying to support +herself and Edith in a land where self-support for women is not +easy,--why, Win, it seems as though I must tell her on the spot. +And yet, if I do, I am quite sure Estelle will just shut herself +up in the armor of her pride and refuse to make herself known. +Taking both the testimony of the chains and the very pronounced +family resemblance, there can be no reasonable doubt of the +identity." + +"I think Estelle would refuse," said Win slowly. "She's foolishly +proud. She thinks, Mother, that you pay more than the house is +worth and so she does her level best to make it up to us in other +ways." + +"I believe I will write to Carrie," mused Mrs. Thayne. "She'd be +interested and anxious to see the girls. I'm sure she doesn't +realize that she has any cousins in England." + +"Mother," said Win with deliberation, "why don't you ask Mrs. +Aldrich to come over and visit us for a little? You'd like to have +her and so would we. Probably she has nothing especial to keep her +at home and might be glad to be let out of a month or two of +winter." + +"That's a bright idea, Win!" exclaimed his mother. "Only I suppose +she has several pet charities that she will feel she can't leave +at short notice." + +"In that case," replied Win, "probably you'd better write her +about the girls, only do tell her to come and see for herself. It +strikes me that nothing but knowing each other would ever really +bring them together." + +"Win, you are so like your father," said Mrs. Thayne +affectionately. "Your minds work alike. I find I'm growing to +depend more and more upon your judgment." + +In the dusk Mrs. Thayne could not see the flush that spread over +her son's thin face. To be likened in any way to Captain Thayne +was praise indeed for Win. + +"I only wish I could take more off your shoulders, Mother," he +said briefly, "instead of being a great lazy lump that the whole +family has to take thought for." + +"Here's Annette with letters," said Mrs. Thayne. "Why, I did not +expect mail until tomorrow." + +Some moments passed until Win was aroused from his own +correspondence by a sudden surprised exclamation from his mother. + +"Never say you don't believe in special providences. This seems +almost incredible, but here is a note from Mrs. Aldrich, written +from London! She's come over to attend some charity congress and +wants me to run up for a few days." + +"Then it is meant that you should, Mother," said Win, smiling. +"That coincidence hasn't happened for nothing. You can tell her +about the girls much more convincingly than it could be written, +and bring her back with you to see them. It will all be natural +and Estelle will never suspect." + +"I'll do it," said Mrs. Thayne, but the next second a shadow crossed +her face. Her sharp-eyed son instantly saw and interpreted. + +"I'll not overdo, Mother," he said immediately. "Trust me to rival +the sloth in idleness. I promise you that I won't stir one step +out of my usual routine." + +"But there's Roger," mused his mother. + +"Oh, Roger is walking the straight and narrow path of virtue. Ever +since ex-scoutmaster Bill Fish rescued him from a desert island, +he's been meekness itself. Makes me smile to see his star-eyed +devotion. This plan is too evidently designed, for you to give it +the cold shoulder." + +"It does seem so," agreed his mother. "Well, I'll go by Saturday's +boat. Win, don't you think it would be best not to say anything to +Fran and Roger? We will tell them after I have seen Carrie." + +"I certainly do," Win declared. "Fran couldn't keep that secret +one half day. It wouldn't interest the kid." + +The absence of the family did not prevent Win's enjoyment of the +Manor library and during his mother's stay in London, he paid it +several visits. Evidently the servants had been instructed to +expect and make him welcome, should he appear, for a smiling face +answered his ring and the fire in the library was invariably +lighted on his arrival. But Win's conscience would not allow him +to neglect Roger even for these delightful hours of solitude, so +this pleasure was only occasional. + +With the pony and gingle they explored many of the lovely Jersey +lanes and headlands, for driving seldom tired Win. Half a morning +passed in this fascinating occupation left Roger ready to spend +the time before luncheon in preparing his lessons. When they were +over in the afternoon, Mr. Fisher usually suggested kicking +football on the beach or led Roger a walk sufficiently strenuous +to leave him disposed for a quiet evening. Estelle and Nurse both +thought Roger "good as gold," and did not realize how much of his +virtue was due to the forethought of brother and tutor. + +One morning Estelle had errands in town and invited Roger to go +with her. Hearing his joyful acceptance, Win as gladly betook +himself to the Manor. + +Spring was far advanced now, potatoes were being planted and other +early vegetables already showing in green rows. Under the trees on +the Manor grounds wild snow-drops starred the grass. Win wandered +into the formal garden enclosed by a hedge of box so clipped as to +form a solid wall with square pillars topped by round balls of +living green. In the background posed two peacocks, also clipped +from box. What patience, time and care had been required to bring +that hedge to such perfection! Early roses were now plentiful and +as Win sauntered through their fragrant mazes, he realized how +much loving thought had been expended through the centuries on +this old garden. Sad indeed that the present owner of Laurel Manor +was the last Richard Lisle. + +Win's reverie was broken by the passing of Pierre, with a pleasant +"_Bon jour, M'sieur_," and a touch of his cap. Pierre carried a +rope and crowbar, unusual implements for a gardener's assistant. + +Win watched him idly down the laurel-bordered drive and then went +into the library, followed by Tylo, who seemed depressed in the +absence of his mistress. + +About eleven, Win was visited by Yvonne, bringing a glass of milk +and a plate of biscuit, which she placed beside him with a +politely murmured "M'sieur labors so diligently!" + +"Thank you, Yvonne," said Win. "It's good of you to bring that. Do +you know when the Colonel and Miss Connie are expected?" + +"No word since they arrived at Paris," replied Yvonne in her +daintily accented English. + +"It is Pierre who hears from M'sieur Max, a letter, brief indeed, +but explicit, that certain matters may arrange themselves in +readiness for the coming of M'sieur Max." + +Win looked puzzled. For a second Yvonne stood regarding him, her +head slightly on one side. + +"Word will perhaps arrive on the morrow," she volunteered. "Is the +milk to M'sieur's liking?" + +"Very much. Thank you, Yvonne." + +The trim little maid replenished the fire, replaced a daffodil +fallen from a vase, patted Tylo, gave him a biscuit and vanished +as noiselessly as she came. + +Left alone, Win began to walk slowly up and down the library, +wondering about the matters which were "to arrange themselves." +The tools Pierre carried, the direction in which he was walking, +to Win's alert mind suggested the Manor cave. Had Max told Pierre +to complete clearing away that heap of stones and if so, why? + +Never in his life had Win been so tempted to break his word. In +spite of the voluntary promise to his mother to do nothing in the +least unusual, it seemed as though he _must_ go and see what was +taking place in the cave. + +"Pierre would help me up," he told himself. + +"Yes," came the instant answer, "but Roger gave you all the help +he could and yet you were in bed two days and felt ill for a +week." + +Win thought of questioning Pierre, but abandoned the idea as not +quite on the level. A note from Max had come on yesterday's +steamer presumably in company with the directions to Pierre. There +was not a word in it about the cave and if the writer had wanted +Win to know what was going on, he would have told him. No, Win's +code of honor would not permit him to find out by asking Pierre. +And yet two weeks until Easter! + +Win gave a long whistle, looked wistfully down to the sea and +again took up his book. + +When he returned for luncheon at Rose Villa, he found Roger +convulsing Frances by his account of the morning spent in town +with Estelle. + +"It's lucky I don't have to do the marketing for this family," he +announced. "If you wanted cream now, where would you get it?" + +"A dairy, of course, or a market," replied Frances. + +"Wrong. Much cream you'd get! Try a fish-monger's." + +At Roger's disgusted tone, Fran giggled, "Oh, I've learned a lot," +he went on. "Where would you ask for one of those paper patterns +to cut out a dress?" + +"A dry-goods store," answered his sister. + +"Do say a draper's if that is what you mean," continued Roger. +"You would only waste time. Go to a book-shop." + +"I will," said Fran. "Thanks for the tip." + +"I wanted to get weighed," said Roger, "because I know I am +becoming a shadow studying so hard. I asked Miss Estelle where to +go and told her I didn't think the nickel-in-the-slot machines +were very accurate--Well, what's wrong with that?" + +Roger stopped for both Win and Frances were laughing at him. + +"Here you are knocking English customs," said Win at last. "As +though Miss Estelle knew what a nickel was, let alone a slot +machine, although I have seen some of them." + +"I don't see anything so funny," said Roger huffily. "Perhaps she +didn't know, but she was polite enough not to laugh and said the +place to get weighed was the hair-dresser's--" + +"Oh, come off," said Win. "That's too much, even for us." + +"Well, it is where we went and where the scales were," retorted +Roger, "but there weren't any pounds to it, only what they call +stones. I weigh exactly seven stone and I won't tell you how many +pounds that is." + +"Ninety-eight," said Win so promptly that Roger looked +disconcerted. + +"How did you know?" he demanded. + +"From a book," replied his brother. "A little article that you +don't yet value as highly as you might. What next?" + +"Oh, that was about all," said Roger, "except that Miss Estelle +told me I might choose some crackers, I mean biscuit, and to buy +half a kilo. I forgot and asked for half a litre and the clerk +grinned very disagreeably." + +"Liquid measure instead of dry," commented Win in amusement. +"After luncheon, Roger, permit me to introduce you to some parts +of your arithmetic that you have evidently never examined. But go +on." + +"Then I stopped to look in a window and hurried to catch Miss +Estelle and ran into a big fat man who was wearing stiff leather +gaiters and a tam o' shanter. We came together rather hard," +admitted Roger. "I didn't hurt myself much because he was quite +soft, but his tam fell off and he said, 'Bless my soul, by +George!" + +"Roger, I can't stand any more," implored Frances. + +"I don't follow the logic of that hair-dresser and the scales," +mused Win, when he had stopped laughing. "Is it before and after a +hair-cut or to see how much flesh the barber gouges out in a +shave?" + +"Give it up," said Fran. "There's the gong for luncheon and Edith +bringing the mail. I hope there's a letter from mother." + +"There is," said Edith. + +"Please excuse me, Miss Estelle, if I read it now," begged +Frances, settling into her seat at the table. + +"Of course, dear," was the reply as Estelle took Mrs. Thayne's +usual place, for she and Edith were having their meals with the +young people. + +"Now, Roger, pause," exclaimed Win, suddenly. "What are you going +to do with that?" he added, as the attention of all was +concentrated on the surprised Roger who sat with arrested hand +suspending above his plate a spoon heaped with sugar. + +"Whatever is he doing?" protested Estelle gently. "Such a mixture! +How can he eat sugar on his eggs?" + +"Thought it was pancakes," explained Roger, indicating the omelet +before him, but relinquishing the sugar. + +"Mother's coming on Wednesday," Frances announced happily. "And +she's met a friend in London, Mrs. Aldrich, who's coming with her +for a few days. Isn't that splendid, boys? You'll like her, Miss +Estelle. She's sweet." + +"I shall be glad to see any friend of your mother's," said Estelle +cordially. Looking to see whether Roger was sufficiently supplied +with butter, she did not notice the smile with which Win glanced +at her. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE TWO CHAINS + + +"Estelle, will you do me a favor?" asked Mrs. Thayne, following +her young landlady into the hall. The travelers from London had +just arrived and in the drawing-room, Mrs. Aldrich was expatiating +to the boys upon the roughness of the trip. + +"Why, of course I will! You don't need to ask," replied Estelle +affectionately. + +"You and Edith have been taking your meals with the children +during my absence. Please keep on doing it. Let us all be one +family for the rest of our stay." + +"It is lovely of you to want us, Mrs. Thayne," said Estelle, her +face flushing. "We stopped with the children because I thought it +would be better and then I could personally see that they had all +they wanted. But now that you have a guest--" + +"I want you and Mrs. Aldrich to know each other," said Mrs. Thayne +quickly. "And this will be one of the easiest ways to get +acquainted." + +"I think Mrs. Aldrich is charming," remarked Estelle. "Isn't it +odd, how sometimes a likeness in a total stranger strikes one? For +a second, just as you introduced us, she reminded me so much of my +dear mother that I could hardly pull myself together to speak. She +must have thought me quite awkward." + +"I know she didn't," said Mrs. Thayne, with difficulty keeping her +face under control. She had seen Estelle start and noticed her +amazed expression when Mrs. Aldrich greeted her. So Estelle had +not been conscious of Mrs. Aldrich's constrained manner! "Then you +will have luncheon with us?" she added. + +"I will since you wish it," replied Estelle, vanishing to give +directions to Nurse. + +"Now, what is there to do this morning?" Mrs. Aldrich was asking +the boys. "I propose to stay in this island exactly one week. Your +mother was seasick so she ought to lie down and rest but I feel as +fit as a fiddle. Frances is at school, you tell me. No, I don't +want to drive this morning. Suppose you take me for a short walk, +Roger and Win, and show me what is to be seen on the beach." + +"We might take you to Noirmont Point," suggested Roger as they +stopped at the end of the terrace to look at the view which was +never twice the same. "What are those big vessels over beyond +Castle Elizabeth?" + +"They are English warships," replied Mrs. Aldrich. "Coming into +the harbor we passed close to them. The captain said it was a part +of the Channel squadron, whatever that is." + +"Oh, did you see their names?" demanded Roger eagerly, as he +counted the great gray ships in the offing. "Fourteen, no, +fifteen." + +"Only a few. One was the _Princess Royal_ and I saw the +_Thunderer_, the _Revenge_, the _Black Prince_ and the +_Camperdown_." + +Roger's eyes opened at this list of awe-inspiring names. "I wish +we could get over to Elizabeth," he remarked. "We could see them +better then." + +"Tide's not right," said Win, casting a critical glance at the +sea. + +"What, to walk over to that island?" asked Mrs. Aldrich. "Is it +ever possible?" + +"We've been over," said Roger. "When the tide is 'way out, there +is a raised causeway, quite smooth and easy." + +"What is the place anyway?" asked Mrs. Aldrich, looking curiously +across to the castle. + +"Once it was an old abbey," Win explained, "dedicated to St. +Elericus, the patron saint of Jersey. I suppose the town was named +for him." + +"How did the island itself get its name?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. +"The derivation of these charming old English names is a +fascinating study." + +"It was the old Roman Caesarea," said Win. "Jersey is a corruption +of that. The ruined hermitage of St. Elericus is still over near +Elizabeth, at least they call it that, though it's a kind of +combination of a watch-tower and a cave. But the castle, as it +stands, was built when Edward VI was king of England. There's a +story to the effect that all the bells in the island except one +for each of the twelve churches were seized by royal authority and +ordered sold to help pay for building the castle. They were +shipped to St. Malo and expected to bring a high price, but the +vessel went down on the way and all the good church people thought +it was because of sacrilege in taking those bells." + +"What is the castle used for now?" inquired Mrs. Aldrich. + +"Barracks," replied Roger. "The place is full of soldiers. It's no +good now as a fortification, because Fort Regent up above St. +Helier's--over there on the cliffs--could knock Castle Elizabeth +and all those warships into fits in no time. Nothing can enter the +bay if the Fort Regent guns don't approve. And that heap of rocks +where Elizabeth stands is 'most a mile around,--it is, honest. +Fran and Edith and I walked it." + +"They say," said Win, "that the space between the castle and the +town was once a meadow. For that matter, they also say that the +whole channel between here and France was once so narrow that the +Bishop of Coutances used to cross to Jersey on a plank." + +"Tell that to the marines," protested Roger. "You do find the +weirdest yarns in those books you're always grubbing in." + +"Oh, I can tell a bigger one than that," said Win laughing, "but +perhaps you'll swallow it because your friend Bill told it to me. +He said that some time in the sixteenth century there was an +abnormally low tide, lower than any one had ever known. Some +fishermen who happened to be out between Orgueil and the coast of +France came in and reported that they had distinctly seen down in +the channel the towers and streets and houses of an old town, +forty feet or more under water." + +"There are stories like that in Brittany," said Mrs. Aldrich. "The +fishermen declare that they can hear the tolling of the submerged +church bells. Now, when legends like that exist on both sides of a +channel, it stands to reason that there is likely some foundation +in truth." + +"Then why don't they send divers down to find out?" demanded Roger +bluntly. "Any enterprising country would." + +"We'll import a few Americans to do the investigating," laughed +Mrs. Aldrich. "Is this Frances coming? Who is with her?" + +"Edith," replied Win. "Miss Estelle's sister." + +"Bless me!" murmured Mrs. Aldrich. "The other was startling enough +but this resemblance is even stronger." + +Win smiled. It was great fun to look on, knowing what he did of +his mother's innocent little conspiracy, all the more fun because +the other young people were unsuspecting. + +At luncheon, where Estelle appeared with a pretty dignity, Win was +supplied with still more secret amusement. Mrs. Aldrich talked a +good deal, rather inconsequently at times, but continually looked +from one sister to the other in a way that would have aroused +suspicion had either the slightest idea that any plot was on foot. +As it was, Win saw Estelle occasionally glancing at their guest in +a puzzled manner as though trying to account for something she +found unexpected. After the meal he waylaid his mother. + +"What is Mrs. Aldrich going to do?" he asked laughingly. "I had +hard work not to give myself away during luncheon. You looked so +unnatural, Mother, that if you hadn't been seasick, Fran and Roger +would have caught on. As it was, they thought you weren't quite +rested." + +"I don't know what she is going to do," replied his mother, "but +it is working as we hoped. She is strongly attracted to the girls, +and Estelle confided to me that our guest in some unaccountable +way, reminded her of her mother. We have done our part in bringing +Carrie here; it is for her to take the next step. I rather imagine +that she won't be able to hold in very much longer, though I think +she is enjoying the situation." + +It was not until dinner of her third day in St. Aubin's, that Mrs. +Aldrich made herself known. To please Win, who had ascertained +that she chanced to have the old chain with her, she wore it when +she entered the dining-room. + +Win watched Estelle intently, disappointed that she did not +immediately notice the ornament. Indeed, they were finishing +dessert before anything happened. Perhaps purposely, Mrs. Aldrich +looked at her watch and Fran in all innocence touched the match +that fired the explosion. + +"Why, how odd!" she exclaimed. "Miss Estelle has a chain just like +that one, Mrs. Aldrich." + +Win and his mother exchanged a glance; the others naturally looked +at the chain. + +"It's precisely like it, Sister," said Edith, who sat near Mrs. +Aldrich. "Isn't that queer?" + +"It's an old keepsake," said Mrs. Aldrich with deliberation. "It +belonged to my mother. See, here are her initials on the slide, E. +A. for Emma Avery." + +Edith looked with interest but Estelle turned pale. Thoughtful Win +pushed a glass of water within reach. + +"Star's has initials too," Edith remarked innocently. "A. A., I +think they are. Anyway, it was Grandmother's chain." + +Mrs. Aldrich turned to Estelle, who perfectly colorless, was +staring at her. "Child," she said rather peremptorily, "come up to +my room and let us compare these old trinkets." + +Still speechless, Estelle mechanically arose. Amid dead silence +the two left the dining-room. Fran turned to her mother, amazed at +the look of excited pleasure on her face. "What _does_ it all +mean?" she demanded. "Is it a secret?" + +"Just a mild little conspiracy," replied Mrs. Thayne. "What it +means, is that Mrs. Aldrich was your mother's first cousin, Edith, +so she is your and Estelle's second cousin. Just by chance I +guessed from Estelle's unusual chain that the one Carrie Aldrich +wears came from the same source. When Estelle told me that her +great-grandfather gave one to each of his two daughters, the whole +thing flashed on me." + +"But that," said Edith, with her sweet childish faith, "is a +miracle." + +"Perhaps," smiled Mrs. Thayne. "I only know that we shall leave +St. Aubin's happier because you and Mrs. Aldrich have found each +other out." + +A shower of eager questions fell from Frances and Roger but a long +time passed before anything was seen of Estelle and Mrs. Aldrich. +When they reappeared to the group awaiting them in the drawing- +room, Estelle had plainly been crying and Mrs. Aldrich's eyes +looked suspiciously red. + +"Come and kiss me, Edith," she said. "I want to be Cousin Carrie +from now on. Yes, Estelle, she does look more like the Averys than +you, though I saw the resemblance in your face also." + +"Isn't the whole thing just like a story?" Frances confided to her +mother at bed-time. "What do you think will happen now?" + +"I don't know," admitted Mrs. Thayne. "Estelle is so very proud +that it will be hard for her to accept help from any one, but +Carrie will arrange things if it can be done. I know that Estelle +has been dreadfully worried because some of the little money her +father left her has been lost through an imprudent investment and +that she has not felt sure she could manage to keep the house +through another season. And yet she must find some way of +supporting herself and Edith. Things will work themselves out, for +Carrie is perfectly capable of inventing some very necessary work +for Estelle to do, which will preserve her self-respect and let +Carrie have her way. I think Carrie usually has some young person +acting as secretary and Estelle could do that easily. I am not at +all worried about the future since Estelle fortunately saw the +resemblance to her own mother in Mrs. Aldrich. I imagine that will +make it easier for her to consider whatever plan is proposed." + +"Wasn't it lucky that we came here!" sighed Frances. "And doesn't +it seem odd that we did come, just because Roger and I wanted to +take that little train the first day and chanced to find Rose +Villa? If it hadn't been for that, we might not have looked for +lodgings in St. Aubin's at all, nor known Miss Estelle and Edith. +Why, Mother!" she went on, with intenser surprise in her voice. +"It's just like the House that Jack built. If we hadn't come here, +we wouldn't have met the beach dog, nor known Miss Connie, nor +visited the Manor, nor be hunting for the Spanish chest!" + +Fran stopped, looking so comically aghast that Mrs. Thayne laughed +as she kissed her. + +"So much depended upon a passing wish to take that little train! +It is remarkable on looking back, to realize how often life turns +upon some apparently trivial incident, some insignificant choice." + +"It's time though, that we went home, Mother," said Frances +merrily. "While you were in London, Miss Estelle wanted change for +half a crown, so I tipped the money out of my purse. One piece +rolled on the floor and Roger picked it up, and said: 'Why, this +isn't a shilling! What is it?' So I took it, and, Mother, both of +us looked at it hard for several seconds before we realized that +it was a United States quarter-dollar! Don't you think it is time +that we went home?" + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +THE CHEST ITSELF + + +Mrs. Aldrich's stay did not exceed her limit of a week, but she +left for London with Estelle's willing promise to come to her when +the Thaynes returned to Boston and leaving behind her two girls +with gladdened hearts. After her departure Win's interest was +again concentrated on the coming of the Manor family and the +search for the Spanish chest. + +Twice as he came or went from his visits to the library, he saw +Pierre in the distance, once actually disappearing over the cliff +edge, but Easter was close at hand when Yvonne, bringing the usual +lunch, volunteered the information that the Colonel, Miss Connie +and Mr. Max were expected on Saturday's steamer. + +Win reported this news with joy and when the day arrived the young +people began to watch for the Granville boat hours before she +could possibly arrive, hoping to distinguish familiar figures on +the deck. To their disappointment, when the steamer was finally +detected in the distance, dusk was at hand. + +"I shall do it!" said Roger firmly. "There are three packages and +we may not be in England on the Fourth of July. Besides I forgot +it on Washington's birthday." + +Fran and Win looked after him in amazement as he suddenly tore +back to the house and rushed upstairs, spreading noise on his way +and devastation in his room, where he jerked the very vitals out +of his steamer trunk, scattering its contents to the four corners. + +Nor was Edith enlightened when Roger reappeared with a pasteboard +tube in one hand, and a box of matches in the other, but Win +laughed and Frances gave a shriek of delight. + +"Bed fire!" she exclaimed. "Oh, Roger, I never knew you had it. Do +wait until the boat is a little nearer." + +"It will be darker, too," Win advised. "Make more of a show if you +wait." + +"I only hope they will know it is for them," said Roger anxiously. + +"They'll see where it comes from and perhaps they'll understand," +said Win. "But don't expect the steamer to salute as one at home +would." + +At the proper second, a flare of red illuminated the end of +Noirmont Terrace, greatly amazing not only St. Aubin's staid +population but such inhabitants of St. Helier's as chanced to be +on the water front, and affording Roger two full moments of +complete and exquisite satisfaction. + +"Real United States!" he said. "I suppose an English boat doesn't +know enough to whistle--" + +Roger stopped with his mouth open. From the _Alouette_ came two +distinct blasts of the steam siren. + +"Oh, that's Mr. Max," burst out Win in delight. "He's been in +America and understands the etiquette of red fire. And you +remember he said he knew personally all the captains on the +Channel boats. Probably he went up to the bridge and got somebody +to acknowledge our salute! Isn't that simply corking of him?" + +"That was surely meant for us," agreed the pleased Frances. "Oh, +how long shall we have to wait before we see them?" + +That very evening Pierre brought a note from Constance, expressing +appreciative thanks for their fiery welcome, the source of which +Max had guessed and which he had easily induced Captain Lefevre to +acknowledge. The note ended with an invitation to tea on Monday +and promised a solution of some kind to Win's theories concerning +the Spanish chest. + +"How nice of Miss Connie to set the very first possible day," said +Frances. "I suppose we shall not see them before then." + +"Not unless we go to the little old church tomorrow," replied her +brother. "If you want to, and it's a still day, we might get up +there." + +But the travelers had returned on an evening of clouds and +threatening winds. Easter Sunday dawned with Jersey in the grip of +a terrific southeast storm. All day the rain beat on the panes of +Rose Villa, all day the wind howled and snatched at the shutters, +the house at times fairly quivering with its force. As dusk came, +the gale increased to the proportions of a hurricane. Roger, going +out to the pillar post-box, came struggling back with difficulty. + +"I met one of the Noirmont fishermen," he reported. "He said it is +the worst gale in thirty years and when the weather clears the +surf will be worth seeing." + +"Fisher told me that a southeast storm kicked up a fine sea," +replied Win. "I only hope it won't stop our going to the Manor to- +morrow." + +All night the wind raged though the rain finally ceased. It seemed +as though the reputed witches of Jersey were holding high carnival +with the unloosed elements of air and water. Day broke, still +without rain, but the violence of the wind was not lessened. Roger +ran out to the end of the terrace and came hurrying back. + +"Come out, everybody, and look," he shouted above the uproar. "The +waves are coming over the breakwater. There isn't one inch of +beach to be seen." + +Roger's report was literally true. Though the sea wall protecting +the town of St. Helier's rose twenty-five feet above the sands, +the rollers were breaking beyond the wall on the esplanade itself, +the white foam even running up some of the side streets. Only an +inky howling mass of white-capped water stretched between the town +and Elizabeth Castle. + +Win, who had managed to make slow progress to a point of vantage, +stood fascinated by the wild whirl of wind and water. The tide was +at the flood and the spectacle at its finest. Just a few moments +sufficed to lessen its grandeur as the waves, yielding to the law +of their being, were dragged away from the land. Presently, +instead of dashing over the wall, they broke against it, and then +came a scene of different interest. The water, forcibly striking +the masonry, was flung back on the next incoming roller, with a +collision that sent spray forty feet into the air from the +violence of the shock. This phenomenon was repeated as the rollers +crashed down the curve of the wall, continuing for its full +length, the flying spray looking like consecutive puffs of steam +from a locomotive. + +"Look, there comes the train from St. Helier's!" exclaimed Roger, +dancing excitedly about. "Doesn't it look as though the ocean was +trying to catch it?" + +The little train had prudently delayed its starting until after +the turn of the tide. As it crept slowly around the curve of the +breakwater, great white tongues of foam constantly shot over the +wall like fingers frantically trying to seize and draw it into the +sea. But always the hands fell back baffled, to the accompaniment +of a roar that sounded almost like human disappointment. The train +reached St. Aubin's dripping with salt water. + +"Five stones are torn out of the coping in the wall," reported +Roger, coming back from his inspection of the adventurous little +engine. "The guard says they are sweeping pebbles and stones by +the ton out of the streets beyond the esplanade. And coming down +here, he twice had a barrel of water slapped right at him. He is +as wet as a drowned rat." + +"The surf must be wonderful at Corbiére," said Estelle. "They say +there is an undertow off that point which produces something this +effect of the water flung back by the wall." + +"Why, here's Miss Connie!" exclaimed Frances in excitement. Max +and Constance on horseback were coming down the terrace. + +"We've been half round the island," Connie announced after her +first greetings. Well prepared for wind as they were, both looked +disheveled. Connie's hair was braided in a thick club down her +back, evidently the only way she could keep it under control; +Max's was plastered back by wind and spray, for he had lost his +hat, and their horses were blown and spattered with salt brine. + +"Oh, but it is grand!" Constance went on. "Corbiére light is +smothered in spray to the very top of the tower. We haven't had a +storm like this since I was a tiny kiddie." + +To talk above the uproar of the surf was difficult. Asking them to +be at the Manor promptly by three, the two rode away. + +"Why three?" asked Frances as they regained the shelter of the +house. + +"I think we are going down into the cave," said Win happily. "Mr. +Max told me just now that we were to begin exploring there and +that things would be arranged so that it would not be hard for me. +I suppose he and Pierre have some plan." + +"But you aren't going into the cave on a day like this?" exclaimed +Mrs. Thayne, quite horrified at this announcement. + +"Why, yes, Mother," said Win. "The tide will be as low as usual +when it does ebb." + +"Of course," assented his mother. "I forgot. But how about this +wind? You must have the pony, Win." + +"I will if it keeps up, but I imagine the gale will blow itself +out by noon." + +Win's prophecy proved correct. When the four started to keep their +engagement, the wind was greatly abated and the only trace of the +tempest was the ruined vines and gardens that marked their road. +At the Manor gates, Colonel Lisle, Constance and Max met them. + +"It is to be the cave," Connie said gayly. "Max has things all +mapped out for us." + +Arrived at the cliff, the party stopped. Marks of the storm were +visible in one or two landslides and in a great amount of debris +strewing the uncovered beach and rocks. Even large stones seemed +to have been displaced. + +Max looked rather serious as he saw so much change in conditions +usually stable. "I think you'd better let me go down and report +whether matters are as I expect," he said. "There seems to have +been considerable doing in this vicinity last evening." + +"Let us wait, Win," said Constance quickly. "No use in going down +until we see how he finds things." + +Colonel Lisle also elected to await the report, but Roger and the +girls accompanied Max. They were gone almost half an hour and the +watchers on the cliff were beginning to wonder what had happened. +When they did appear, they called to the others not to come. + +"'The best laid plans of mice and men!'" sighed Max as he reached +the top of the cliff. "Uncle, the storm has picked up all the +stones I had Pierre clear out of the tunnel and wedged them in +tight again like a cork in a bottle." + +"There was a passage and we can't get into it?" demanded Win +eagerly, his face reflecting the disappointment visible on the +faces of the other young people. + +"There was," replied Max, looking at him sympathetically, "not +merely into another cave but striking inland. Pierre cleared its +mouth and reported it passable for fifty feet. Beyond that he did +not go. Now, it is stopped as tight as ever. This shows, Uncle, +how it came to be lost to the recollection of everybody about the +Manor." + +"Yes," said Colonel Lisle. "Very likely it was stopped by a +similar storm a century or more ago. So far as I know there has +never been a legend of any tunnel. But, Max," he added, "there is +yet the cellar where you and Win have decided that the passage +enters the house." + +"May we knock a hole there?" Max asked quickly. Win had said +nothing more but his disappointment was evident. + +"Certainly, if you like," assented the Colonel, smiling. "Only be +prepared for another disillusion when you get the wall down. The +existence of the tunnel doesn't ensure that of the chest." + +Max whistled, evidently a signal, for Pierre promptly appeared +with a rope over his shoulder. + +"We sha'n't need that now," said Max. He proceeded to add some +rapid directions in French. Pierre nodded, grinned cheerfully and +set off at a fast pace. + +"I've told him to get another man and come to knock in the vault +wall," Max explained as they started toward the Manor. "We may not +get it down this afternoon, but that's all that's left to try. I'm +beastly annoyed about that tiresome hole. Why should a ripsnorter +of a storm come on the one day when it could spoil our plans?" + +"It's provoking." agreed Win. "Do you suppose there is really +anything in the passage?" + +"Blessed if I know!" replied Max. "The one thing sure is that +there is a passage. There must be since we located one end of it +in the cave. If it hadn't been for that, we might not be permitted +to tear down the wall, but even Uncle is convinced now that the +tunnel exists." + +"Come and have tea," said Connie as they reached the Manor. "It's +a bit early, but we may as well begin, for nobody knows how long +it will take to pierce the vault." + +Max went down to show the men where to work and reported that the +stone seemed soft and inclined to break easily. "This isn't going +to be much of a job," he reported. "I told Pierre to send word as +soon as he struck through." + +"What do you suppose the chest will look like?" asked Frances. +"Will it be silver?" + +"No such luck," Max replied. "Possibly metal, probably wood, +always provided that we find it." + +"You mustn't throw cold water, Max," reproved Connie from behind +the tea-table. "Since we have found the passage, why not the +chest? Let's have it a gorgeous one while we are about it, gold +studded with uncut rubies and the Spanish crown in diamonds." + +Frances and Edith shrieked at thought of such sumptuousness and +one by one each expressed an opinion as to what the box would +resemble and its probable contents. Roger decided that the chest +was of solid iron, fastened by seven locks of which they would +have to find the seven keys and that inside would be discovered a +complete suit of royal armor. + +"I fear that Prince Charles would not have made good his escape +from England clad in a clanking suit of mail," said the amused +Colonel. + +Just then Yvonne entered with her usual pretty air of importance. +"It is Pierre who desires M'sieur to attend in the cellar," she +said, addressing herself to Max. + +The entire party rose, hastily placing tea-cups on any convenient +article of furniture. Roger found the floor most accessible for +his, but with prudent foresight took with him such easily conveyed +articles as the jam sandwiches and plum cake upon his plate. + +Down in the cellar, Pierre and McNeil, the Scotch gardener, stood +facing the northern wall just where the newer wing joined the +oldest Manor vault. Before them yawned a hole already two feet in +diameter. + +With a grin on his face, Pierre thrust his crowbar through and +showed that a space not quite a yard wide intervened before the +tool brought up against what was in reality the outer wall of the +cellar. The partition itself was only a foot thick, but because it +was of equal thickness throughout its length, Max had not been +able to detect any difference in resonance. + +"_Bien, Pierre!_" exclaimed Max eagerly. "_En avant!_" + +Pierre and McNeil attacked the wall again, Pierre all smiles and +gay glances over this remarkable whim of M'sieur Max, whose whims +as a rule he found enjoyable; McNeil looking perhaps not grimmer +than usual, but as though the whole affair was quite below his +dignity. To knock a hole in a perfectly good stone partition which +would require a mason to fill and put in proper shape again at an +expense of solid Jersey shillings, struck his thrifty Scotch soul +as folly. Still, if Colonel Lisle wished to indulge Mr. Max in +this youthful eccentricity, it was not McNeil's place to protest. + +After fifteen minutes a cavity yawned in the cellar wall, +disclosing a passage leading to the left. + +"That will do, McNeil," said the Colonel. "That's enough for the +purpose. Go ahead, boys. It was through your efforts that the +tunnel was located, so it is for you to see this out." + +"Win shall be first," said Max. "Step in, old fellow." + +Pale with excitement, Win took the offered lantern and approached +the hole. Once inside the opening he found that he could stand +erect for the passage ran straight along the cellar wall about +three feet wide and over five feet high. It seemed dry and the air +was not musty. Rough stones formed its floor and roof but the +crude workmanship had been strong and only a few scattered stones +had fallen during the centuries. + +Max followed with another lantern, and Roger made the third +explorer. The excited heads of the girls were thrust into the +passage but only Frances actually stepped within. + +Win went slowly down the gently sloping tunnel, and presently the +eager watchers who could catch only glimpses of shadowy roof and +walls in the fitful light of the lanterns, saw the three stop. In +her excitement, Fran forgot her fear of the distance stretching +before her and ran to them. The next second came a wild warwhoop +from Roger. + +"It's here!" Max called more quietly. + +At this wonderful news the rest entered the passage, the Colonel +as eager as the others. Fifty feet from the opening at one side of +the tunnel was a rough niche or alcove and in it stood a box about +two feet square. Upon its cover lay the dust of ages, and it was +scarcely to be distinguished in color from the stones about it. + +"We'll bring it out, Uncle," said Max. "No place to open it here. +You hold the lanterns, Win. Lend a hand, Roger. Go easy; we don't +know how much knocking it will stand." + +His eyes almost starting from his head, Roger took one of the +handles, the girls stepped back and in two minutes the party stood +in the open cellar, looking at what was undoubtedly the Spanish +chest. + +[Illustration: WHAT WAS UNDOUBTEDLY THE SPANISH CHEST] + +"Is it heavy?" asked Fran breathlessly, while Pierre went for a +brush to remove the silted dust. + +"Rather," said Max, looking boyishly excited. "Ah, now we know the +style of the chest. No gold box nor uncut rubies, Connie!" + +Relieved of its heavy coating of dust, the box proved of dark +wood, carefully finished and ornamented by plates and corners of +steel. Upon its cover was inlaid a scroll engraved with the Manor +arms and the name of Richard Lisle. + +"Gracious, what great-grandfather bought that bit of bric-a-brac!" +exclaimed Connie, seeing her father's eyes light with interested +pleasure. "It must have been the original Richard himself. Is it +locked?" + +Max tried the lid. "No," he said, straightening up and looking at +the Colonel. "It is your play, Uncle Dick. Only a Lisle of Laurel +Manor should open Richard's chest." + +The Colonel smiled, stepped forward and with his single hand +lifted the lid. The excited group about him bent forward eagerly. + +At first glance a roll of dark cloth was all that appeared. When +Colonel Lisle lifted this, it unfolded into a long-skirted coat +ornamented with many buttons. The fabric was stained and rotten, +in places moth-eaten. Below the coat lay a pair of leather gloves +with long wrists, stiff as boards, and two blackened bits of metal +that proved to be spurs. + +For a moment no one spoke. The young people were silent, impressed +with the fact that long years ago these things had been the +property of a prince of England. + +With a smile the Colonel looked first at Max and then at Win. "Are +you satisfied?" he asked. "Though the contents of the Spanish +chest have no value in money, they certainly are rich in +historical interest." + +"Oh, it was the fun of finding it that I cared about," said Win +quickly. "That was the point for me. And I am so glad there is +something in it." + +"Let's take it up-stairs," suggested Connie. "We can see so much +better." + +The boys and Max delayed to inspect the empty secret passage, +following to the spot where it was blocked by its stopper of +stone. Then they joined the group in the study. In bright +daylight, the fine workmanship on the Toledo steel trimmings of +the chest stood out in full beauty. + +"The design on these buttons is very significant," remarked +Colonel Lisle, who was inspecting the wreck of the once handsome +coat. "And I suspect that they are of silver." + +Examination showed on the tarnished metal the three ostrich +feathers that have marked the badge of the Prince of Wales since +the far-off days of Edward the Black Prince. Below was the motto, +"Ich dien," and the single letter C. + +"On my next new suit I guess I'll have buttons marked R," said +Roger solemnly. + +The others laughed. A feeling of real awe had been creeping over +them to think that garment had once been worn by Prince Charles. + +"Here's a loose button," said Max, picking it out of the box. "The +whole coat is falling in pieces." + +"The buttons will last indefinitely," said Colonel Lisle, +regarding thoughtfully the one Max had just rescued. "Thanks to +Win's clever brain, the Manor has acquired an unsuspected secret +passage and a valuable antique; of especial value to me because of +the name it bears. I want you to keep this button, Win, for I +think you, almost more than any one I know, will appreciate it and +what it stands for." + +Win turned pale. To possess a silver button once the property of +bonnie Prince Charlie rendered him speechless. + +"Oh, Colonel Lisle," he said after a minute, "I oughtn't to take a +thing of such value. It belongs here." + +"I want you to have it, my boy," replied the Colonel kindly. "I +really am indebted to you, for we have positive proof now that the +Manor walls once sheltered the Prince." + +"I should value that button above all things," said Win simply, +"if you really wish me to have it. Only it seems as though Mr. Max +had done much more toward solving the mystery." + +"I merely followed the lead you gave me," said Max, who was +looking at him with a very friendly expression. "You played a +pretty fine game yourself, Win." + +"As for that," said the Colonel smiling, "Maxfield may have a +button too, if he cares for it." + +"Thank you, Uncle Dick," Max replied promptly. "I do value it, but +perhaps for the present, it would better stop with the others." + +As Max spoke, he looked not at the Colonel but at Constance, +leaning against the table beside him. Something in their attitude +struck Win's always acute perception. For the first time he +doubted whether the young people of the Manor had been as +genuinely absorbed in that search as he supposed. About Max, half- +sitting on the corner of the study table, about Connie, with her +hands loosely clasped before her, there was a certain air of quiet +detachment, as of those who politely look on at some interesting +comedy, but who, as soon as courtesy permits, will return to +affairs of more importance. + +"You need not have the least scruple about accepting it, Win," the +Colonel went on. "We hope this will not be your last visit to the +island, but in any case, whenever you look at that old relic, you +will have to give us a thought as well." + +Win turned the tarnished button on his palm. Yes, the sight of it +would always bring back memories of the green lanes, the red +cliffs, the turquoise sea of Jersey, not least the hours in the +library, the Spanish chest and the Lisles of Laurel Manor. + + + * * * * * + + + + +AFTERWORD + + +After the story was finished and the characters were going away, +Max and Connie turned back. + +"We have kept our promise?" they asked. "We have played quite +nicely and haven't been silly?" + +"You have really been very good," admitted the author. "If Max +hadn't appeared just when he did to rescue Edith and Frances from +the tide, probably the story must have stopped there. And Connie +has been most helpful about lending the Manor house and the beach +dog." + +"May we play again?" Max asked. + +"I think not," decided the author. "This is five months later. You +really must be grown-up now and stay so." + +"We have been all the time," said Connie. "We've pretended just to +please you. But since you let us come into the story when we +weren't expected nor invited, it is only polite to tell you what +we are going to do now." + +They looked at each other and smiled. + +"Every girl who reads this story will want to know," Connie went +on. "It would indeed be very diverting to be Princess Santo-Ponte, +but somehow I think the chances of 'living happily ever after' are +greater with Max. There's nothing at all romantic about marrying +Max, but you might just mention that I'm going to do it." + + +THE END. + + + + + + +End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of The Spanish Chest, by Edna A. Brown + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE SPANISH CHEST *** + +This file should be named 8spch10.txt or 8spch10.zip +Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER, 8spch11.txt +VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER, 8spch10a.txt + +This eBook was produced by Vital Debroey, Charles Franks +and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team + +Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed +editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US +unless a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not +keep eBooks in compliance with any particular paper edition. + +We are now trying to release all our eBooks one year in advance +of the official release dates, leaving time for better editing. +Please be encouraged to tell us about any error or corrections, +even years after the official publication date. + +Please note neither this listing nor its contents are final til +midnight of the last day of the month of any such announcement. +The official release date of all Project Gutenberg eBooks is at +Midnight, Central Time, of the last day of the stated month. A +preliminary version may often be posted for suggestion, comment +and editing by those who wish to do so. + +Most people start at our Web sites at: +http://gutenberg.net or +http://promo.net/pg + +These Web sites include award-winning information about Project +Gutenberg, including how to donate, how to help produce our new +eBooks, and how to subscribe to our email newsletter (free!). + + +Those of you who want to download any eBook before announcement +can get to them as follows, and just download by date. This is +also a good way to get them instantly upon announcement, as the +indexes our cataloguers produce obviously take a while after an +announcement goes out in the Project Gutenberg Newsletter. + +http://www.ibiblio.org/gutenberg/etext03 or +ftp://ftp.ibiblio.org/pub/docs/books/gutenberg/etext03 + +Or /etext02, 01, 00, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 92, 91 or 90 + +Just search by the first five letters of the filename you want, +as it appears in our Newsletters. + + +Information about Project Gutenberg (one page) + +We produce about two million dollars for each hour we work. The +time it takes us, a rather conservative estimate, is fifty hours +to get any eBook selected, entered, proofread, edited, copyright +searched and analyzed, the copyright letters written, etc. Our +projected audience is one hundred million readers. If the value +per text is nominally estimated at one dollar then we produce $2 +million dollars per hour in 2002 as we release over 100 new text +files per month: 1240 more eBooks in 2001 for a total of 4000+ +We are already on our way to trying for 2000 more eBooks in 2002 +If they reach just 1-2% of the world's population then the total +will reach over half a trillion eBooks given away by year's end. + +The Goal of Project Gutenberg is to Give Away 1 Trillion eBooks! +This is ten thousand titles each to one hundred million readers, +which is only about 4% of the present number of computer users. + +Here is the briefest record of our progress (* means estimated): + +eBooks Year Month + + 1 1971 July + 10 1991 January + 100 1994 January + 1000 1997 August + 1500 1998 October + 2000 1999 December + 2500 2000 December + 3000 2001 November + 4000 2001 October/November + 6000 2002 December* + 9000 2003 November* +10000 2004 January* + + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been created +to secure a future for Project Gutenberg into the next millennium. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +As of February, 2002, contributions are being solicited from people +and organizations in: Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Connecticut, +Delaware, District of Columbia, Florida, Georgia, Hawaii, Illinois, +Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, +Michigan, Mississippi, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New +Hampshire, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, +Oklahoma, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South +Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Vermont, Virginia, Washington, West +Virginia, Wisconsin, and Wyoming. + +We have filed in all 50 states now, but these are the only ones +that have responded. + +As the requirements for other states are met, additions to this list +will be made and fund raising will begin in the additional states. +Please feel free to ask to check the status of your state. + +In answer to various questions we have received on this: + +We are constantly working on finishing the paperwork to legally +request donations in all 50 states. If your state is not listed and +you would like to know if we have added it since the list you have, +just ask. + +While we cannot solicit donations from people in states where we are +not yet registered, we know of no prohibition against accepting +donations from donors in these states who approach us with an offer to +donate. + +International donations are accepted, but we don't know ANYTHING about +how to make them tax-deductible, or even if they CAN be made +deductible, and don't have the staff to handle it even if there are +ways. + +Donations by check or money order may be sent to: + +Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation +PMB 113 +1739 University Ave. +Oxford, MS 38655-4109 + +Contact us if you want to arrange for a wire transfer or payment +method other than by check or money order. + +The Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has been approved by +the US Internal Revenue Service as a 501(c)(3) organization with EIN +[Employee Identification Number] 64-622154. Donations are +tax-deductible to the maximum extent permitted by law. As fund-raising +requirements for other states are met, additions to this list will be +made and fund-raising will begin in the additional states. + +We need your donations more than ever! + +You can get up to date donation information online at: + +http://www.gutenberg.net/donation.html + + +*** + +If you can't reach Project Gutenberg, +you can always email directly to: + +Michael S. Hart <hart@pobox.com> + +Prof. Hart will answer or forward your message. + +We would prefer to send you information by email. + + +**The Legal Small Print** + + +(Three Pages) + +***START**THE SMALL PRINT!**FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS**START*** +Why is this "Small Print!" statement here? You know: lawyers. +They tell us you might sue us if there is something wrong with +your copy of this eBook, even if you got it for free from +someone other than us, and even if what's wrong is not our +fault. So, among other things, this "Small Print!" statement +disclaims most of our liability to you. It also tells you how +you may distribute copies of this eBook if you want to. + +*BEFORE!* YOU USE OR READ THIS EBOOK +By using or reading any part of this PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm +eBook, you indicate that you understand, agree to and accept +this "Small Print!" statement. If you do not, you can receive +a refund of the money (if any) you paid for this eBook by +sending a request within 30 days of receiving it to the person +you got it from. If you received this eBook on a physical +medium (such as a disk), you must return it with your request. + +ABOUT PROJECT GUTENBERG-TM EBOOKS +This PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook, like most PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBooks, +is a "public domain" work distributed by Professor Michael S. Hart +through the Project Gutenberg Association (the "Project"). +Among other things, this means that no one owns a United States copyright +on or for this work, so the Project (and you!) can copy and +distribute it in the United States without permission and +without paying copyright royalties. Special rules, set forth +below, apply if you wish to copy and distribute this eBook +under the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark. + +Please do not use the "PROJECT GUTENBERG" trademark to market +any commercial products without permission. + +To create these eBooks, the Project expends considerable +efforts to identify, transcribe and proofread public domain +works. Despite these efforts, the Project's eBooks and any +medium they may be on may contain "Defects". Among other +things, Defects may take the form of incomplete, inaccurate or +corrupt data, transcription errors, a copyright or other +intellectual property infringement, a defective or damaged +disk or other eBook medium, a computer virus, or computer +codes that damage or cannot be read by your equipment. + +LIMITED WARRANTY; DISCLAIMER OF DAMAGES +But for the "Right of Replacement or Refund" described below, +[1] Michael Hart and the Foundation (and any other party you may +receive this eBook from as a PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm eBook) disclaims +all liability to you for damages, costs and expenses, including +legal fees, and [2] YOU HAVE NO REMEDIES FOR NEGLIGENCE OR +UNDER STRICT LIABILITY, OR FOR BREACH OF WARRANTY OR CONTRACT, +INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE +OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF YOU GIVE NOTICE OF THE +POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. + +If you discover a Defect in this eBook within 90 days of +receiving it, you can receive a refund of the money (if any) +you paid for it by sending an explanatory note within that +time to the person you received it from. If you received it +on a physical medium, you must return it with your note, and +such person may choose to alternatively give you a replacement +copy. If you received it electronically, such person may +choose to alternatively give you a second opportunity to +receive it electronically. + +THIS EBOOK IS OTHERWISE PROVIDED TO YOU "AS-IS". NO OTHER +WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARE MADE TO YOU AS +TO THE EBOOK OR ANY MEDIUM IT MAY BE ON, INCLUDING BUT NOT +LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A +PARTICULAR PURPOSE. + +Some states do not allow disclaimers of implied warranties or +the exclusion or limitation of consequential damages, so the +above disclaimers and exclusions may not apply to you, and you +may have other legal rights. + +INDEMNITY +You will indemnify and hold Michael Hart, the Foundation, +and its trustees and agents, and any volunteers associated +with the production and distribution of Project Gutenberg-tm +texts harmless, from all liability, cost and expense, including +legal fees, that arise directly or indirectly from any of the +following that you do or cause: [1] distribution of this eBook, +[2] alteration, modification, or addition to the eBook, +or [3] any Defect. + +DISTRIBUTION UNDER "PROJECT GUTENBERG-tm" +You may distribute copies of this eBook electronically, or by +disk, book or any other medium if you either delete this +"Small Print!" and all other references to Project Gutenberg, +or: + +[1] Only give exact copies of it. Among other things, this + requires that you do not remove, alter or modify the + eBook or this "small print!" statement. You may however, + if you wish, distribute this eBook in machine readable + binary, compressed, mark-up, or proprietary form, + including any form resulting from conversion by word + processing or hypertext software, but only so long as + *EITHER*: + + [*] The eBook, when displayed, is clearly readable, and + does *not* contain characters other than those + intended by the author of the work, although tilde + (~), asterisk (*) and underline (_) characters may + be used to convey punctuation intended by the + author, and additional characters may be used to + indicate hypertext links; OR + + [*] The eBook may be readily converted by the reader at + no expense into plain ASCII, EBCDIC or equivalent + form by the program that displays the eBook (as is + the case, for instance, with most word processors); + OR + + [*] You provide, or agree to also provide on request at + no additional cost, fee or expense, a copy of the + eBook in its original plain ASCII form (or in EBCDIC + or other equivalent proprietary form). + +[2] Honor the eBook refund and replacement provisions of this + "Small Print!" statement. + +[3] Pay a trademark license fee to the Foundation of 20% of the + gross profits you derive calculated using the method you + already use to calculate your applicable taxes. If you + don't derive profits, no royalty is due. Royalties are + payable to "Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation" + the 60 days following each date you prepare (or were + legally required to prepare) your annual (or equivalent + periodic) tax return. Please contact us beforehand to + let us know your plans and to work out the details. + +WHAT IF YOU *WANT* TO SEND MONEY EVEN IF YOU DON'T HAVE TO? +Project Gutenberg is dedicated to increasing the number of +public domain and licensed works that can be freely distributed +in machine readable form. + +The Project gratefully accepts contributions of money, time, +public domain materials, or royalty free copyright licenses. +Money should be paid to the: +"Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation." + +If you are interested in contributing scanning equipment or +software or other items, please contact Michael Hart at: +hart@pobox.com + +[Portions of this eBook's header and trailer may be reprinted only +when distributed free of all fees. Copyright (C) 2001, 2002 by +Michael S. Hart. Project Gutenberg is a TradeMark and may not be +used in any sales of Project Gutenberg eBooks or other materials be +they hardware or software or any other related product without +express permission.] + +*END THE SMALL PRINT! FOR PUBLIC DOMAIN EBOOKS*Ver.02/11/02*END* + diff --git a/old/8spch10.zip b/old/8spch10.zip Binary files differnew file mode 100644 index 0000000..4f5f846 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/8spch10.zip |