NANCY LEE'S 
 
 LOOKOUT 
 
 MARGARET WARDE
 
 .OF CAL1*. LIBRARY, LOS ANGELES

 
 HOW THEY HAD CHATTERED
 
 NANCY LEE'S 
 LOOKOUT 
 
 Author of 
 THE "BETTY WALES' BOOKS" 
 
 NANCY LEE 
 NANCY LEE'S SPRING TERM 
 
 Illustrated by 
 
 P EMBERTON GlNTHBR 
 
 THE PENN PUBLISHING 
 COMPANY, PHILADELPHIA 
 
 MCMXV
 
 COPYBIGHT 
 1915 BY 
 THEPENN 
 PUBLISHING 
 COMPANY 
 
 Nancy Lee's Lookout
 
 Introduction 
 
 NANCY LEE was at Fair Oaks School when her 
 readers made her acquaintance in her first story, 
 " Nancy Lee." It was there that she met the 
 Terrible Twins: tall, awkward Jane and pretty 
 little Christina. The three friends called them- 
 selves the Triangle, and in the spring term they 
 formed the mysterious order of W. W.'s. 
 
 But " Nancy Lee's Spring Term " at Fair Oaks 
 School is a story in itself. For it was then that 
 Nancy had her great adventure with Timmy Lee 
 Marshall Raftery, that adorable infant whose 
 arrival at Fair Oaks ushered in an era of unprec- 
 edented excitement and interest. When Timmy 
 had to be taken home, Nancy was a proud mem- 
 ber of his escort-party, and she had just returned 
 from that mission when the story of her summer 
 at Halcyon Bay opens. 
 
 MARGARET WARDE.
 
 Contents 
 
 I. SUMMER PLANS 9 
 
 II. EVERYTHING'S SPOILED ! . . -36 
 
 III. " You BE ON THE LOOKOUT !" . . . 54 
 
 IV. NANCY'S LOOKOUT . . . 73 
 V. MORE NEW FRIENDS 93 
 
 VI. WAS HE THE BURGLAR ? 108 
 
 VII. A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS . ... 124 
 
 VIII. A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR . . . . 146 
 
 IX. THE DINNER PARTY 163 
 
 X. TWINS TO THE RESCUE . . . . 177 
 
 XL PUTTING A KINK IN THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL . 194 
 
 XII. A VISIT TO THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 211 
 
 XIII. A COSTLY VICTORY ..... 228 
 
 XIV. THE BEST MOVE IN THE LOOKOUT GAME . 243 
 XV. THAT FATAL REGATTA . . . .261 
 
 XVI. CATCHING AN EEL 281 
 
 XVII. " SUMMER-BY-THE-SEA " 297 
 
 XVIII. THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAY . . . 313 
 XIX. A WONDERFUL WORLD . . . . 333 
 
 5 
 
 J21336C3
 
 Illustrations 
 
 PAGE 
 
 How THEY HAD CHATTERED .... Frontispiece 
 
 " I'M ALL RIGHT Now " 42 
 
 "I'VE BEEN ON THE LOOKOUT" .... 105 
 " THANKS, I WAS JUST GOING " . . . .201 
 
 SHE REACHED FOR THE BALL 238 
 
 " HAS A TELEGRAM COME ? " 269 
 
 " MY BALLOONS AREN'T HERE " 299 
 
 Nancy Lee's Lookout
 
 Nancy Lee's Lookout 
 
 CHAPTER I 
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 "On, mother dear, what do you suppose our 
 sweet little Timmy is doing now ? " demanded 
 Nancy Lee, darting out upon the piazza of the Lee 
 family's summer cottage, where her mother sat 
 sewing. 
 
 It was a perfect June afternoon, all cool green- 
 ery near the piazza, and beyond, blue shimmering 
 sea, sparkling and dancing in the sunshine. But 
 Nancy, all out of tune with the summer peace, 
 swept out of the house like a wild March wind, 
 perched uncertainly on the piazza railing for an 
 instant, and then dropped into a wicker chair near 
 mother's, and leaned limply back against the scar- 
 let cushions with an expression of petulant misery 
 on her usually merry face. The wild March 
 breeze seemed almost ready to blow up an April 
 shower. 
 
 And yet there was nothing the matter with 
 Nancy Lee, except that she had been having too 
 
 9
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 good a time. She had just reached home after a 
 very exciting journey, had found more excitements 
 awaiting her at the journey's end, and now she 
 was feeling the reaction that all joyous adventures 
 are likely to bring in their wake. 
 
 " I just can't settle down to anything ! " sighed 
 poor Nancy, without waiting for mother to an- 
 swer her question. 
 
 It was rather more than a week since Fair Oaks 
 School had closed for the summer vacation, and 
 Timmy Lee Marshall Raftery, adored young pro- 
 te'ge' of Fair Oaks, had started for his Western 
 home, under the guardianship of Lloyd Mallory, 
 Margaret Lewis, Jeanne Durand, and Nancy Lee, 
 with little Miss Dutton to chaperon the expedi- 
 tion. There was no real reason why Nancy, not 
 being a Western girl, should have been of Timmy's 
 party, except one. It was she who had found the 
 adorable Timmy and presented him to Fair Oaks 
 School. On this account he had always seemed to 
 belong a little more to Nancy than to any one else. 
 This fact and the possession of an understanding 
 and generous father had secured for Nancy the 
 chance of helping to escort Timmy home. And 
 now Timmy was safe in the custody of his doting 
 parents and Nancy had likewise arrived in the 
 midst of her family circle. Her home-coming 
 had brought her another bit of excitement, as un- 
 
 10
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 expected and delightful as her father's permission 
 to make the trip out to Pine Ridge, Michigan, 
 with Timmy. And father was at the bottom of 
 this second surprise also he was certainly a per- 
 fectly splendid father ! 
 
 He had met his daughter in Boston, listened, 
 almost appreciatively enough to suit her, to the 
 story of her adventures in Pine Ridge and at 
 Camp Sixty-Nine, and when even Nancy's supreme 
 interest in Timmy could evolve no new details 
 about him, and the journey was beginning to seem 
 very hot and dusty and tedious, father suddenly 
 began to enliven it by mysterious references to a 
 grand surprise that awaited Nancy at the end of 
 the trip. 
 
 Yes, mother had been surprised, and brother 
 Dick. As for the rest of the Lee family, Will- 
 iam, aged eleven, and Josephine, aged thirteen, 
 more intimately known as Bill and Joe, because 
 they were inseparable and Josephine was a good 
 deal of a tomboy, they, too, had been tremen- 
 dously surprised, Mr. Lee assured his excited 
 daughter. And did they like it? Mother and 
 Dick did ; Bill and Joe hadn't been sure, when 
 father, who had had to hurry right back to busi- 
 ness, after having escorted his family to Halcyon 
 Bay and sprung his surprise on them, had seen 
 the volatile pair last. 
 
 ii
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 "Then I suppose I shall like it," said Nancy 
 sagely, " if it's the kind of thing grown-ups like, 
 and children can't appreciate at first." 
 
 " You've grown up amazingly since I saw you 
 last spring," teased father. 
 
 " Well, I truly have," Nancy defended herself 
 earnestly. " It may not show much outside, but 
 I feel as old and responsible as anything. I'm 
 going to do so many useful things to help this 
 
 summer 1 " 
 
 " The surprise will like to hear that," said father 
 solemnly. 
 
 "The surprise will like Oh, father, it's 
 
 not any kind of governess, is it? " 
 
 Father shook his head. " But it will appreciate 
 small attentions from useful young persons like 
 yourself. It's not quite finished, you see. That 
 is, it hasn't fully adapted itself to our family 
 ways." 
 
 Nancy meditated. " Are you talking fair, 
 father? One minute the surprise sounds like a 
 person, and then like a thing, and then like a new 
 pet that has to be trained not to claw the furni- 
 ture, like the Spoiled Kitten, or chew up mother's 
 best shoes, like Dick's collie. Did Josephine take 
 good care of the Spoiled Kitten on the train, fa- 
 ther ? He hates to travel so. Why, here we are ! '' 
 
 It was quite dark by the time they got to the 
 
 12
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 end of the long trolley ride that supplemented 
 the train trip. Nancy thought it rather silly of 
 father to take a carriage, when the house was just 
 a step off, up Rocky Neck Hill and down Willow 
 Lane. But when their driver kept straight on, 
 past Willow Lane, past the Inn, and on along 
 Lighthouse Road, Nancy was first bewildered, and 
 then, in a flash, she understood. 
 
 " You've bought us ' The Crags,' father I That's 
 the grand surprise ! " 
 
 " Good guess ! " chuckled Mr. Lee. " Your 
 mother was at least twice as long making out 
 what was up." 
 
 " Oh, I wanted that place so ! " sighed Nancy 
 blissfully. " It's such a nice, squatty, friendly 
 house. Ours was so dreadfully plain and tall 
 and thin. And the grounds are so big and so 
 fascinating ! " 
 
 " You've never half seen them, Miss Cock-sure," 
 laughed her father. " You were always wishing 
 last summer that Miss Willis would let you wan- 
 der around by yourself when you went to call on 
 her, instead of giving you high tea on the piazza, 
 and then sending you off for a ride in her launch." 
 
 Nancy laughed. " And she never once forgot 
 to tell her captain to bring us back to the Inn 
 dock, so we shouldn't have the long walk home. 
 I was always hoping she wouldn't mention it, and 
 
 13
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 then I could have been brought back to her dock 
 and wandered a little speck, maybe, on the way up 
 to the house to thank her for the sail. No, I 
 haven't really explored at all. But all the same, I 
 know that ' The Crags ' is perfectly, perfectly fas- 
 cinating." 
 
 " How so ? " demanded father. 
 
 " Because it's big enough and tangly enough to 
 make you long to explore it ! " returned Nancy 
 promptly. " And it's right on the water, with its 
 very own rocks " 
 
 " And its very own mosquitoes ! " scoffed father. 
 
 Nancy reached over and squeezed his hand lov- 
 ingly. " You're an old dear, father. First, to let 
 me go home with Timmy, and then, this ! Of 
 course the new house is for all of us, but I was the 
 one that wanted it most, and I'll try to pay up 
 by 
 
 A war-whoop from the roadside interrupted 
 Nancy's grateful little speech, and William and 
 Josephine leaped disconcertingly out of the shad- 
 ows. 
 
 " Hello, Nancy ! " shrieked William. 
 
 " Does she know about the surprise, father ? " 
 demanded Josephine. 
 
 " Did you remember to bring us the fish-lines? " 
 chanted the two in noisy unison. 
 
 " Climb in, you rogues," laughed father. " You 
 
 14
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 ought to be in bed. Anybody that's going deep 
 sea fishing with me before breakfast " 
 
 " Oh, joyous, joyous I " sang Bill and Joe. 
 
 " Here they are at last ! " Mother and Dick 
 were down by the gate to meet the travelers that 
 fascinating rustic gate with red roses growing over 
 it. It was too dark to see the roses, but Nancy 
 reached up to feel them with one arm, while she 
 hugged mother with the other. 
 
 " Oh, I can't wait to see how it looks, now that 
 it's ours ! " she cried, dancing down the dark, lit- 
 tle woodsy path, with the house lights gleaming a 
 welcome at the other end. 
 
 Beyond the piazza it was all velvety black, ex- 
 cept where some yacht's lamps twinkled green and 
 gold and scarlet, or the stars shone softly high 
 above them. But Nancy could feel the rocks and 
 the pretty stone boat-house and the rippling waters 
 of Halcyon Bay as surely as, a minute before, she 
 had felt the red roses. 
 
 " Oh, you can see the lighthouse lamp, Dick ! 
 You can, you can ! " she cried delightedly, leaning 
 out over the piazza railing. " Do you remember 
 how we discussed it last summer, and you said one 
 couldn't?" 
 
 " I was right, too, till father had the foliage 
 pruned up a bit," explained Dick loftily. Dick 
 had lived at " The Crags " for more than a week,
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 and could affect the superiority of an old inhab- 
 itant. " Don't you ' oh ' and ' ah ' too much to- 
 night," he advised Ifcs excited sister. " Save some 
 thunder till you see how father's had the boat 
 fixed up, and you've played tennis on our own 
 court." 
 
 " Oh, is there really a tennis-court ? " gasped 
 Nancy. " Where? I never saw it." 
 
 " Off down there." Dick waved vaguely into the 
 soft darkness. " You can't get as much as a sight 
 of it from the house or the road. It's a dandy 
 court too, or will be after we've played on it a bit. 
 Now aren't you sorry you wasted a week chasing 
 home with that kid you call Timmy ? " 
 
 " Certainly not," declared Nancy vehemently. 
 " But now I'm here I simply can't wait for it to be 
 morning." 
 
 " Guess you'll just about have to, all the same," 
 adjured Dick, resuming his superior air. "Be- 
 sides, this new house is fine, but otherwise noth- 
 ing's doing here at Halcyon. None of our special 
 crowd has come yet most of 'em seem not to be 
 coming at all this year. Two stunning girls live 
 next door, and that tall boy who was at the Inn 
 last August the fellow who did the diving stunts. 
 I haven't talked to 'em yet. Mother says she'll call 
 soon, because it's their first summer at Halcyon 
 and our third." 
 
 16
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 " Oh, yes," said Nancy absently. " I'm glad 
 there are boys and girls next door, Dick, but I 
 haven't seen my room. I calPt be interested yet 
 a while in anything as far away as next door." 
 
 No one can half see a new house by lamp-light. 
 In the morning Nancy felt impelled to make the 
 whole tour of inspection over again, beginning 
 with her own little room, which she loved at once, 
 because the bay glistened outside of one window 
 and a giant cedar-tree shaded the other. As 
 Nancy was dressing, a little brown bird hopped 
 from the tree to her window-sill and chirped good- 
 morning. 
 
 " Just like Camp Sixty-Nine," smiled Nancy, 
 and realized that she had actually been awake 
 half an hour without once thinking of Timmy. 
 
 Josephine's room fronted the road. " Mother 
 offered me a new one up on the third floor," ex- 
 plained the little sister importantly, " but I'd 
 rather see who goes by. And I think, Nancy, 
 that I could crawl across that piazza roof and 
 shin down the post, if ever I should happen to 
 want to get outdoors in a rush." 
 
 " You'd better not try it," warned Nancy se- 
 verely. " It's much too dangerous." 
 
 " Urn ! " sniffed Josephine, " I'll bet I wouldn't 
 fall. Good-bye ! Father's trilling for us to go out 
 in the boat."
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Nancy inspected the pretty guest-room, which 
 she hoped would hold several Fair Oaks girls be- 
 fore the summer was over, and then climbed up to 
 the third floor, where Dick and William had their 
 quarters under the eaves. You could see the 
 lighthouse splendidly from up there, and there 
 were cupboards in the niches below the dormer 
 windows that Nancy coveted. But the cedar-tree 
 didn't grow up to the third story, and when you 
 weren't thinking, you bumped your head against 
 the sloping ceilings. 
 
 " I should probably bump mine pretty often," 
 sighed Nancy, after one such experience, and ran 
 down to say good-morning to mother. Mother's 
 room had four windows, with a porch, shaded by 
 the other side of Nancy's cedar-tree, opening out 
 from one long one. 
 
 " That's to be my private rest-room," explained 
 Mrs. Lee, " where I can go when I want to be ab- 
 solutely undisturbed. I'm glad you've come, little 
 daughter, to help me take charge here. I've had 
 rather a hard winter with Josephine's measles and 
 Billy's teeth and Dick's dog. But if you can be 
 hands and feet and brains for me for a few weeks, 
 I shall be quite ready to take hold again in time to 
 start you off for another year at school." 
 
 " I will, mother. I'll help you a lot," promised 
 Nancy enthusiastically. " But before I can be 
 
 18
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 brains for anybody, even myself, I've simply got 
 to look around at everything here and make my- 
 self understand that it's all ours. So far I feel 
 mixed." 
 
 Mother laughed. "Of course you do. Look 
 around all you like, and don't hurry. Besides, I 
 didn't mean that I want you to give me all your 
 time. Dick needs a jolly companion as much as I 
 need a helper. He's wandered around quite for- 
 lornly, waiting for you to come and make friends 
 with the young people next door. He quite de- 
 pends on you to begin acquaintances for him, you 
 know, Nancy." 
 
 " Does he ? " Nancy was secretly delighted to 
 find that the debonair Dick depended on her for 
 anything. " Well, I'll try. But first I must see 
 the tennis-court and the boat-house and every- 
 thing else that belongs to us." 
 
 " Breakfast," suggested mother, but Nancy was 
 half-way down-stairs. 
 
 The land belonging to " The Crags " was just a 
 three-acre square of unspoiled moorland, rocky, 
 bushy, wooded in spots, highest by the road and 
 sloping gradually down to the rocks and the water. 
 Nancy easily discovered the wide path that led to 
 the boat-house, the last bit being an easy flight of 
 stone stairs cut down through the cliff. A nar- 
 rower path branching to the left went to the ten- 
 
 19
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 nis-court, cleverly hidden in greenery, with high 
 side-nets to keep the balls within bounds. A little 
 door in the wire netting let the players in and out 
 of the enclosure, and there was a comfortable green 
 bench for spectators or tired players. A tennis- 
 court of one's own seemed to Nancy the absolute 
 height of luxury. She did wish that Dick would 
 come back from fishing and play on it with her. 
 Meanwhile, she explored the rocks for good seats, 
 it would be splendid to watch the sunset from 
 one's very own rocks, returned to admire the 
 tennis-court again, followed an overgrown by-path 
 from there to the side fence, and stared over at the 
 house next door without catching even a glimpse 
 of the two handsome girls and the diving boy, 
 lost the path on the way back, and discovered a 
 patch of dainty cranberry vines, which seemed 
 somehow as splendid to own as rocks. 
 
 " I'd better see how far we go on the other side," 
 considered Nancy, spying a second uncertain little 
 trail that branched to the right from the boat- 
 house path. " I'm glad there's a vacant lot on that 
 side of us. I don't want too many neighbors." 
 
 This little path rambled and twisted, finally 
 reaching the northwest corner of " The Crags " 
 enclosure. 
 
 " Why, there are roses here, too ! " exclaimed 
 Nancy delightedly, catching a glint of scarlet 
 
 20
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 along the side fence. " Oh, and white iris ! Mother 
 never told me ! Oh, and " 
 
 With one of her impulsive little dashes, Nancy 
 ran forward and up three steps into the quaintest, 
 dearest little summer-house imaginable. The 
 stone steps were half hidden by the bay and sweet 
 fern bushes that grew close around them. The 
 posts that supported the roof were all but two of 
 them live tree trunks, the rustic railing between 
 the posts was twined with clematis vines or 
 masked in shrubbery, and the arched roof was so 
 cunningly hidden under the canopy of green 
 boughs that branched from the side pillars that 
 you couldn't see it at all until you actually stood 
 beneath it. 
 
 " What an adorable summer-house ! " cried 
 Nancy. " Just like a " 
 
 There facing her against a pillar was fastened a 
 sign in raised gray letters stuck on a mossy plank : 
 "The Birdcage." 
 
 " Why, it's exactly like a birdcage I " cried 
 Nancy delightedly. " Even Jane Learned couldn't 
 have found a better name for it." 
 
 A curving seat was built between two of the 
 pillars. Between two others stood a small table, 
 with a chest underneath it a fascinating little 
 chest made of white birch slabs. And it must hold 
 something valuable, for it was securely padlocked. 
 
 21
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 There were also two armchairs, in rustic style like 
 all the rest of the furnishings. Nancy tried them 
 both, and decided that, with cushions to pad the 
 rather ridgy effect of the slab seats, they would be 
 the height of comfort. One even had an adjust- 
 able back, like father's Morris chair. 
 
 The little house was perched just above the 
 rocky beach, in the very corner of the Lees' land. 
 Beyond, the ground fell sharply away on two 
 sides, giving the Birdcage the effect of being hung 
 very high up among the trees. Nancy drew an 
 armchair close to the railing on the ocean side, 
 and lay back in it to get the effect. In a minute 
 voices just below her made her jump. Leaning 
 cautiously forward, she could see two girls, one of 
 whom she had met at the Inn last summer, clam- 
 bering over the rocks beyond the fence. The va- 
 cant lot had very nice rocks along its water-front. 
 Nancy had often climbed about on them before 
 she had rocks of her own. 
 
 Cautiously Nancy moved back from the railing. 
 " I'd rather keep the Birdcage a secret," she 
 thought. " I never noticed it from down there, but 
 perhaps you can see it, if you know where to look. 
 I'll investigate, but not now, because that girl 
 might ask me what I was looking for. To think 
 that nobody told me about our Birdcage I " 
 
 Back to the house sped Nancy. 
 
 22
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 " Mother, why didn't you tell me about the 
 Birdcage ? " she demanded, tumbling up the 
 piazza steps. 
 
 Just outside the living-room door the table was 
 spread for breakfast, and mother sat there in lonely 
 state, eating a delicious-looking melon. 
 
 " It's long after breakfast time," she said, sur- 
 veying her rumpled daughter rather critically. 
 " I sent Rosa to the boat-house to tell you that the 
 others had eaten before they started ; but she 
 couldn't find you." 
 
 " I must have been at the tennis-court or in the 
 Birdcage. I'm sorry I forgot breakfast," said 
 Nancy, slipping into her seat. 
 
 " And what is the Birdcage ? " asked mother. 
 
 Nancy jumped up again. "Then you haven't 
 seen it? Nobody's found it but me? Oh, come 
 and let me show you ! Oh, I'm so glad I've had a 
 chance to discover one of our lovely new belong- 
 ings for myself." 
 
 " Yes, dear. I'll see it after breakfast." 
 
 Nancy sank back shamefacedly into her chair. 
 It was silly to get so excited about beautiful 
 things. But mother hadn't seen it, didn't know 
 how pretty it was nor how wonderful white irises 
 can be growing against a tangle of roses that 
 clamber over a rustic fence, with a Birdcage beside 
 them. 
 
 23
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 When Nancy mentioned the flowers, even 
 mother got a little excited. 
 
 " Miss Willis told me that she had started a 
 garden, but I haven't found anything but the beds 
 around the house, so I've had more laid out up 
 here. I prefer my flowers where I can see them 
 all the time." 
 
 " Oh, mother I " Nancy had had an exciting 
 idea. " You have your own piazza, and father 
 and Dick have the boat and the boat-house. Could 
 I have the Birdcage for mine? I'd like to make 
 green cushions for the seats, and have a green jar 
 for flowers on the little table, and oh, fix it all 
 up just as I want to. Of course," added Nancy 
 hastily, " you could all go there just the same. 
 Only Bill and Joe mustn't muss it all up, nor 
 bother when the girls come to see me, and we want 
 to sit out there and talk." 
 
 " I think you might have the Birdcage for your 
 special plaything, Nancy," promised mother, " un- 
 less your father has designs on it, and I'm quite 
 sure he knows nothing at all about it. I remem- 
 ber there was a key on the bunch Miss Willis 
 turned over to us marked ' Birdcage.' Has your 
 fascinating little house a door? " 
 
 " Oh, that must be the key to the birch-bark 
 chest ! " cried Nancy joyously. " I'm so glad it's 
 not lost ! " And she explained about the white 
 
 24
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 birch box under the table. " We can open it 
 when you go out with me, can't we? What do 
 you suppose is inside ? " 
 
 " Bird-seed, perhaps," suggested mother gaily. 
 
 But it wasn't exactly bird-seed that they found 
 in the chest, though Nancy said that mother's 
 guess was warm, since this birdcage was for hu- 
 man birds, and tea is about as near as you can 
 come to human bird-seed. There was a cannister 
 of tea in the chest a very festive, flower-painted 
 cannister. There were also six gray-green cups 
 and six saucers of Japanese china, six little wooden 
 spoons, stirring spoons, Nancy called them, since 
 they were certainly too small for any other pur- 
 pose, a squatty pot, a sugar-bowl, a pitcher, and a 
 plate, all gray-green like the cups, with a tiny 
 wooden fork lying on the plate. 
 
 They puzzled over the fork for some time, until 
 Mrs. Lee had an inspiration ; of course it was for 
 the lemon. 
 
 Nancy arranged the tea-set on the table, and ad- 
 mired it in her usual enthusiastic fashion. 
 
 " To think how often we had tea with Miss 
 Willis, and she never let us have it here ! " she 
 sighed. 
 
 " This was her own little private nook, I fancy," 
 said Mrs. Lee. " Miss Willis is a very famous artist, 
 you know, daughter. She probably wanted to 
 
 25
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 keep one place all to herself, as I'm keeping my 
 private piazza." 
 
 Nancy nodded. " Yes, that's it. It was too 
 precious to show to anybody, except perhaps her 
 very dearest friends. I think I should like to 
 keep it rather secret too, mother just for us and 
 our best friends. Is the china surely ours ? Miss 
 Willis didn't forget to take it away with her ? " 
 
 Yes, it was surely theirs, Mrs. Lee said ; the 
 sale of " The Crags " had included nearly all the 
 furnishings. 
 
 So the Birdcage tea-set was repacked in its chest 
 and carefully locked in by Nancy, who proudly 
 accepted the custodianship of the key from 
 mother. 
 
 Mrs. Lee promised to write at once for cushions 
 and samples of gray-green covering, after which 
 there was really nothing more to do about the 
 Birdcage. So Nancy unpacked, forcing herself to 
 keep at the unwelcome task until all her belong- 
 ings were in apple-pie order. Then, the fishing- 
 party, arriving home in a state of ravenous anxi- 
 ety for luncheon, duly wondered at and admired 
 Nancy's find ; and Mr. Lee laughingly assured her 
 that in their family finding was keeping when 
 mother said so. In the afternoon Dick and his 
 father went off sailing again, the younger children 
 vanished on mysterious business of their own, 
 
 26
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 Mrs. Lee settled herself on the piazza with a book 
 and some sewing, and Nancy, after her rapturous 
 morning, was suddenly and fiercely assailed by 
 that desolate, lost feeling that comes sometimes in 
 the wake of raptures. 
 
 She tried to read, started to go to the post-office 
 with the letter about the cushions, and decided 
 that it was foolish to walk so far when the mail- 
 man would be along soon. She found the piazza 
 sunny, the house stuffy, the Birdcage lonely. And 
 so at last she burst out upon her mother with the 
 question about Timmy : " What do you suppose 
 he's doing now ? " followed by her plaintive wail, 
 " I just can't settle down to anything ! " 
 
 " You miss Timmy and all your Fair Oaks 
 friends, don't you ? " mother returned sympathetic- 
 ally. " Dick will be back soon, I think, for some 
 tennis." 
 
 " Did I tell you about Timmy's naming-party, 
 mother ? " demanded Nancy. 
 
 " Yes, dear, you did. I'm almost afraid you've 
 told me all about him. Why don't you go down 
 to the Inn ? The Minots have come, I think, 
 and " 
 
 " Oh, Louise Minot wouldn't care about I mean 
 I think I won't to-day, mother." 
 
 Mother smiled again with the perfect under- 
 standing she could always be relied upon for. 
 
 27
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " If I were you, I should write it all down in your 
 Red Journal, Nancy, all about your wonderful 
 baby and his trip home." 
 
 " Oh, I have, every night, so I wouldn't forget 
 anything, not any least little thing. I promised 
 the Learned twins " 
 
 " Then go and write to them," advised Mrs. Lee 
 briskly. 
 
 "Yes, mother. I'll mail your letter with mine. 
 Mine won't be ready for the postman ; it will be 
 most awfully long." Complete satisfaction in her 
 voice, Nancy was off. 
 
 " DEAR TWINS : 
 
 " Pine Ridge is the homeliest place you ever 
 saw or dreamed of. If Timmy grows up there, he 
 certainly won't learn to be extravagant, because 
 there's nothing to spend money for. The stores 
 are too little and funny for anything. There isn't 
 even a soda fountain. 
 
 "John Smith is six feet and four inches tall and 
 has nine children and four grandchildren. One, 
 he says, is a caution, and one he's never seen. He 
 lives in New York most of the time, and has in- 
 terests in Pine Ridge. That means he owns a lot 
 of timber and all the mills at Camp Sixty-Nine 
 are his. He is the funniest, most excitable old 
 gentleman. He liked Jeanne best, because she let 
 
 28
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 him talk at her in torrents, just saying ' yes' and 
 4 no ' in her sweet little voice, instead of pouring 
 questions at him, as Margaret and I did. He per- 
 fectly hates questions. He shakes his finger at 
 you and says, ' One moment, madam, one mo- 
 ment 1 We shall come to that directly I ' At 
 least he said ' madam ' to Miss Dutton and Lloyd, 
 because she only interrupted once, perhaps. To 
 Margaret and me he said * child.' 
 
 " But he made up by loving Timmy like one of 
 his own grandchildren, if not more so, and he saw 
 to everything for us splendidly. He must be 
 pretty rich, and we're rather afraid that he'll want 
 to steal Timmy's education and so on away from 
 Fair Oaks. We didn't dare to ask him, because 
 he hates questions so. 
 
 " The Rafterys are comical, too. Patrick is a 
 little wiry, red-haired man, with freckles, a turned- 
 up nose, and a smile that won't come off and 
 spills over on to everybody else. They keep him 
 in spite of his laziness, because he makes every- 
 body good-natured, and so things always run 
 smoothly at Camp Sixty-Nine. He hugged Timmy 
 till I thought the poor child would be smothered ; 
 but he wasn't, and he seemed to like it. Mrs. 
 Raftery didn't say much. I almost thought she 
 didn't care, until I happened to see that her eyes 
 were full of tears. She knows all about babies. 
 
 29
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 That Mrs. Sefton had her taught at a school in St. 
 Louis, and she took care of three Sefton children, 
 all delicate. Of course she's busy, because she 
 does the cooking and housekeeping for twenty- 
 five men ; but she is the kind that can fit things 
 in and get a lot done in a few minutes. She 
 seemed just like the mothers of great men that 
 you read about Abraham Lincoln's, I mean par- 
 ticularly. Margaret noticed that, and Miss Button 
 thought so too. 
 
 " If I were you, Jane, of course I could tell a 
 romantic story of our trip; but being just Nancy 
 Lee, I can only say that Timmy's favorite block 
 was lost the first time we changed cars no, not 
 by me, so don't make hateful remarks. After 
 that he would cry some, and I do think it was for- 
 tunate that I went along to pacify him. Getting 
 there was terribly exciting of course, and saying 
 good-bye was agonizing, especially as Timmy 
 wouldn't even look at me, he was so busy pulling 
 his father's red hair. Of course I want him to be 
 happy and contented in his own home, but it was 
 pretty hard to be ignored like that. Such is life, 
 I guess. Miss Button's friend, Mrs. Watson, is as 
 sweet as she can be, though she doesn't know a 
 thing about babies. She invited us all to come 
 out next summer and visit her and find out for 
 ourselves about Timmy. I don't suppose I can 
 
 30
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 go, but maybe Margaret or Lloyd can stop on their 
 way West. 
 
 " Now I am at home and we have a new house 
 with a lovely yard, big enough to get lost in, as I 
 did when I was exploring it this morning, a ten- 
 nis-court tucked away among the shrubbery, and a 
 Birdcage I You can guess all you like about that 
 until you come to see it for yourselves, which I 
 hope you can soon." 
 
 Nancy's busy pen which had been fairly flying 
 over the paper wavered and stopped. 
 
 " I must ask mother before I invite them," she 
 decided swiftly. " I'm afraid I almost asked them 
 to come when we said good-bye, but writing it 
 down would settle it. I do hope mother isn't feel- 
 ing too tired to have company." 
 
 The piazza, when Nancy rushed down to it from 
 her room, where she had been writing at the 
 cedar-tree window, was quite empty. Mother's 
 book lay beside her work-basket on the wicker 
 table. " She didn't come in for a hat," reflected 
 Nancy, " so she can't be far off. I'll ask Rosa if 
 she saw where mother went. I do want to mail 
 my letter before dinner." 
 
 But Rosa, who was shelling peas behind the 
 lattice that divided her piazza from the family's, 
 knew nothing of her mistress's whereabouts.
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Nancy felt that she should not have a moment's 
 peace until the all-important matter of the twins' 
 visit was settled. But Mrs. Lee was not down on 
 the rocks, nor could she be seen on Lighthouse 
 Road, which ran straight as an arrow for a long 
 way on either side of " The Crags " gateway. She 
 might be calling next door, but Nancy fancied she 
 would have dressed up, at least to the extent of 
 hat and gloves, for a first call. She might be 
 hunting Bill and Joe ; in which case, as Nancy 
 hadn't heard them say where they were going, she 
 might be anywhere on Halcyon Point. Nancy 
 considered ; it was rather a hopeless quest. 
 
 " When I have to hunt for them blind, I always 
 try Baxter's Reef," she mused, " and they're gen- 
 erally somewhere on it. I believe I'll go there 
 anyhow," she decided swiftly, and turned off the 
 main road on to a grassy lane that led away from 
 the bay, past one side of Fresh Pond, and right 
 across the Point to the broad ocean. 
 
 Swinging along on the familiar road, away from 
 the delightful strangeness of the new house, Nancy 
 suddenly felt at home again in Halycon. Just 
 beyond the turn she met two girls and a very tall 
 boy strolling along single-file in a rather bored 
 way. If she had been sure that they were the 
 ones who belonged next door, Nancy would have 
 invited them to join her in exploring Baxter's 
 
 32
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 Reef. She loved showing off the charms of Hal- 
 cyon to newcomers. 
 
 A minute later she noticed a flag flying from 
 the pole at Gray Gables. " Gray Gables " was 
 Halycon's show-place. The estate occupied a big 
 triangle where three of the Point roads intersected, 
 and from its commanding position the great stone 
 house overlooked the whole summer colony. It 
 had been closed for years, but to-day the fluttering 
 flag certainly suggested tenants. Yes, a motor 
 was chugging impatiently at the carriage entrance. 
 
 " More new people to find out about 1 " exulted 
 Nancy. " I hope it's a nice jolly family our ages. 
 I wonder if mother or Dick have discovered who 
 they are." 
 
 All Nancy's habitual interest in everything and 
 everybody around her had returned. She ran 
 down to Fresh Pond to admire the water-lilies, 
 and finding one alluringly near the bank, almost 
 fell in trying to pluck it. She made a detour to 
 inspect two new houses that had been barely begun 
 the fall before. People were living in one of them 
 now more possibilities. She stopped to exchange 
 enthusiastic greetings with an Inn girl she had 
 played tennis with once or twice, a year ago. 
 Hidden behind a tall hedge, she watched the two 
 funny little old maids, who lived in the tiny white 
 cottage beyond Fresh Pond, start out for their 
 
 33
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 daily constitutional with Ginger, their big tiger 
 cat, tagging at their heels. 
 
 Finally a short-cut across the moor brought 
 her out on Surf Road just opposite the looming 
 pile of Baxter's Reef. Nothing to be seen of Bill 
 and Joe or of mother ; but Nancy didn't care. 
 The sea was so blue and sparkly, with white crests 
 of foam breaking along the shore. The Reef was 
 so big and splendid, the tide-pools so inviting. 
 Nancy drew a long breath and started down the 
 bank to the stone causeway, the natural bridge 
 that led out from the beach to Baxter's. Gaily 
 she skipped from stone to stone, stopping now and 
 then to choose her way. Oh, it was good to be 
 alive, to be young, to tramp, to climb, to be out in 
 the sun and the wind, to smell the sea I It was 
 going to be a splendid, splendid summer ! Nancy's 
 last jump landed her at the foot of the great rock. 
 Sure-footed as a goat in her rubber-soled shoes, she 
 ran up the steep side of the cliff and stood exult- 
 ant on the topmost crag, drinking in the beauty 
 of sea and shore and moorland. 
 
 " Nobody else out here, I'm glad to say. I love 
 to have it all to myself! " Nancy danced out on 
 the rock's projecting nose and curled up in her 
 favorite seat on a narrow shelf above a big tide- 
 pool, full of waving seaweed. 
 
 Yes, it was going to be a splendid summer, with 
 
 34
 
 SUMMER PLANS 
 
 the new house to enjoy, mother to help, Dick to 
 be company for, new friendships to make and old 
 ones to strengthen. All summers at Halcyon were 
 
 pleasant, but this one 
 
 " Is that a sea-anemone ? " demanded Nancy 
 aloud, squinting at a pinky-white object in the 
 bottom of the pool below her, and promptly she 
 slid down to investigate. 
 
 35
 
 CHAPTER II 
 
 EVERYTHING'S SPOILED ! 
 
 " WHU-WHU ! How do I get down there where 
 you are ? " 
 
 It was a sea-anemone that Nancy's sharp eyes 
 had discovered on the edge of her favorite tide- 
 pool : a lovely big, pinky-white anemone, and 
 beside it were two baby ones, deep orange and pale 
 violet respectively. Nancy rolled up her sleeve 
 and stuck her hand into the water, touching the 
 queer flower-like tentacles gently, watching them 
 curl up tight as they scented danger, and slowly 
 unfold again when nothing disastrous happened. 
 Anemones were getting very rare at Halcyon. 
 Nancy resolved not to show this cluster to Bill 
 and Joe, who, with the best intentions, might 
 handle the dainty things too roughly. 
 
 And then, at the call from above, Nancy stood 
 up swiftly, frowning a little at this summary 
 invasion of her happy privacy. Far up on the top 
 of the big pile of rock stood a girl about Nancy's 
 age a little brown gypsy thing, in a tan linen 
 dress, the skirt of which fluttered and flapped 
 
 36
 
 EVERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 around her in the sea-wind. Her sandy hair blew 
 too, right across her face, so that she looked all 
 one color, as if she had been fashioned out of the 
 great brown rock on which she stood. Nancy was 
 sure that she had never seen the girl before, and 
 she felt a little annoyed at the stranger's calm 
 assumption that she was wanted down below. 
 Still, if she was new to Halcyon and to the joys 
 of Baxter's Reef, and if she wanted to go out as 
 far as one could but wasn't very good at exploring 
 rocks, Nancy was only too glad to help her. 
 
 " Are your shoes rubber-soled ? " she called up 
 to the interloper. 
 
 " No, they're not," sang back the girl. " And 
 they slip fearfully." 
 
 " Then you'd better go round to your right and 
 come down by the crevice you'll see there," advised 
 Nancy. " I'll meet you at the bottom and show 
 you how I got out here." 
 
 " But I shan't show her the anemones I " added 
 Nancy to herself, running easily up the curving 
 back of the cliff to the place where the crevice, 
 with its footholds and its walls to steady oneself 
 by, ended. The strange girl was there before her. 
 
 " Jump across to where I am," advised Nancy, 
 stretching out her hand. 
 
 " Oh, thank you ! " panted the other girl, land- 
 ing lightly beside Nancy and swaying a little to 
 
 37
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 get her balance. "Isn't this the loveliest place ? 
 I hope you didn't mind my calling down to you, 
 but you see I've only a minute to stay, and I felt 
 as if I must, simply must get down to the very tip 
 end of things ! I could have found the way my- 
 self, but I hadn't the time to poke around." 
 
 As she spoke, she pushed the sandy locks back 
 from her freckled brown face and turned it toward 
 Nancy, and then Nancy saw that the strange girl's 
 eyes were brown too, and that they were the 
 biggest, brightest, most beautiful eyes that she had 
 ever seen. They flamed with life, they danced 
 with happiness, and their sparkling, flashing 
 radiance called to Nancy as plainly as if the words 
 had been shouted in her ear. " Let's be happy 
 together I " said those bright, brown eyes. " I like 
 you, and you'll like me. Isn't this a wonderful, 
 beautiful world ! " 
 
 Without an instant's hesitation Nancy answered 
 the eyes. " If you can't stay long, come first and 
 look at some sea-anemones that I've just discovered, 
 and then perhaps we can find starfish out in that 
 biggest pool. But the anemones are much rarer." 
 
 " Oh, I never hoped to see anything half so 
 lovely ! " sighed the strange girl, creeping after 
 Nancy down to the favorite pool. " Oh, the 
 dears I " The wonderful eyes grew softer and 
 brighter. " May I really touch them ? I've 
 
 38
 
 E7ERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 never been to the seashore before, you see, and I 
 find it all so fascinating. I suppose you come 
 every summer and can wander all day long on the 
 rocks." 
 
 Nancy explained her status at Halcyon, point- 
 ing out the location of " The Crags " and adding 
 her name. 
 
 " Mine is Hope Haskins," the little brown girl 
 explained in her turn. " I live in Vermont at a 
 place called Sherwin Corners. It's not really a 
 town, just a few houses. And here, I'm at the 
 Inn, waiting on table. I just love being here I " 
 The brown eyes flamed into sudden rapture. " I 
 love the sea, and the Inn is so pretty, and the 
 ladies who stay there wear such lovely clothes. 
 And I think I'm going to like being at * The Sign 
 of the Dolphin' almost the best of all." 
 
 " What is it that you like best ? " asked Nancy 
 curiously. 
 
 " Oh, don't you know ? " The eyes were pools 
 of rapture. " Then I can help by telling you, and 
 that will repay Miss Willis for letting me off early 
 to-day. People have to know about it, you see 
 lots of people or it won't be a success. ' The 
 Sign of the Dolphin ' is a shop where you can 
 have tea and buy all sorts of pretty things. It's 
 over the other side of the golf course, and there 
 are signs along the road to help you find it. Will 
 
 39
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 you come there soon, and will you tell your friends 
 to come ? It's a sweet little shop." 
 
 Nancy promised. "When are you there? I'd 
 rather come then." 
 
 " Oh, thank you for that ! " cried Hope Haskins 
 joyously. " I'm there Tuesday, Thursday, and Sat- 
 urday afternoons, from two until almost five. 
 Those are my afternoons off at the Inn, you see. I 
 have to be back by five to set my tables, but it 
 only takes a minute to go, if you run." 
 
 " But if you work at this shop on your after- 
 noons off, when can you come out on the rocks? " 
 inquired Nancy earnestly. " Do you have some 
 mornings off too ? " 
 
 The brown eyes grew sorrowful. " Oh, no, morn- 
 ings are fearfully busy. I can come just at odd 
 times like this, and on one whole Sunday a 
 month. I'm praying that it won't rain on any of 
 my Sundays. I did hate to give up the afternoons, 
 but you see there's all that extra money. I want 
 the extra money more than anything." 
 
 11 Oh, yes," said Nancy vaguely, not knowing 
 what else to say without appearing either indiffer- 
 ent or curious. 
 
 " For college, you know," explained Hope, her 
 eyes flaming again with eagerness. " With the 
 extra money from Miss Willis I'm almost sure 
 that I can go this fall. Oh, I'm afraid I've talked 
 
 40
 
 EVERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 to you too long ! I mustn't be late back, because 
 that wouldn't be fair." 
 
 Nancy consulted her wrist-watch. " You can 
 get to the Inn by five, if you hurry a little. I'll 
 show you the easiest way back to the road. And 
 some day I hope we can have another talk." 
 
 "Really? Oh, thank you for that!" The 
 brown eyes danced with delight. " And you 
 mustn't pity me too much for having to hurry 
 home. Each time that I have to rush away from 
 the moor and the rocks, after just a tantalizing 
 glimpse of them like to-day I console myself 
 by thinking how much more I love it all than I 
 should, maybe, if I could stay as long as I liked 
 and see everything that I want to. Now," she 
 waved back at the Reef, " I feel as if I'd left all 
 sorts of beautiful mysteries behind." 
 
 " I should just feel as if I wanted dreadfully to 
 stay longer," said practical Nancy. 
 
 " Oh, then you don't understand I " Hope faced 
 her firmly. " It's like why, it's like this little 
 glimpse we two have had of each other. We've 
 very likely had a much better time a more thrill- 
 ing time because it's been so short, and because 
 we've left so much over. You think, maybe, that 
 you haven't discovered all the things in me that 
 you'd like, and I'm sure I haven't in you." 
 
 " Oh, so am I sure about you," declared Nancy 
 
 41
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 earnestly, smiling straight into the glad brown 
 eyes. 
 
 The causeway in sight, Hope held out her little 
 brown hand in farewell. " I'm all right now. 
 Don't you waste a minute more away from the 
 pools and the spray. And do come soon to ' The 
 Sign of the Dolphin.' " 
 
 Nancy watched the little figure hopping from 
 stone to stone on its way to the mainland, swaying 
 and slipping uncertainly because of the smooth- 
 soled shoes. A nondescript little figure, rather 
 dumpy and altogether without distinction, until 
 you saw those shining eyes. Nancy considered ; 
 this was Tuesday ; on Thursday she would go to 
 "The Sign of the Dolphin." Meanwhile, it 
 looked rather bleak and lonely out on the Reef, 
 and yet she longed for one last look at the anem- 
 ones. The tide was rising now, and the spray 
 dashed up gloriously against the lower rocks of the 
 Reef. Nancy lingered on and on, for just one 
 more big wave, and then for just one more. 
 
 Compared to their other house, " The Crags " 
 was no distance at all from Baxter's ; but when 
 Nancy finally turned a resolute back on the fasci- 
 nating surf, dinner time was perilously near, and 
 the causeway, which at high tide was often im- 
 passable, was getting very watery indeed. Who 
 cared ? Wet rocks and slimy seaweed had no 
 
 42
 
 EFERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 terrors for rubber-shod climbers, particularly if 
 they also possessed Nancy Lee's happy-go-lucky 
 nature. However, that very big pool spreading 
 across the middle of the causeway must be some- 
 how avoided. Her eyes far ahead of her steps, 
 her hungry thoughts on dinner, with a tennis 
 match to follow, and perhaps an evening call on 
 the girls next door, who wouldn't be half so fas- 
 cinating as brown-eyed Hope Haskins, Nancy 
 Lee stubbed her toe as she started down the last 
 steep pitch from the Reef to the causeway level, 
 lost her balance, careered down over a dampish, 
 slippery stone, and landed in a shaken, bunchy 
 heap on a patch of wet sand. 
 
 " Clumsy ! " Nancy apostrophized herself, dis- 
 entangling her muddied shirts from around her 
 feet. "O-ouch!" 
 
 Instead of scrambling up as she intended, Nancy 
 sank back again, this time in a very abject, white- 
 faced, frightened heap indeed. After a minute's 
 rest, she hitched alongside a big stone, and hang- 
 ing to it with both hands tried again to stand up. 
 But before she had fairly pulled herself erect, she 
 sat abruptly back on the big stone. 
 
 " I've done it now ! " said Nancy Lee to the 
 rocks, the sea, and the distant moorland. 
 
 A little wave plopped saucily up over the soft 
 sand at Nancy's feet. 
 
 43
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " In a minute I shall be all right," Nancy Lee 
 announced loudly to the dusking landscape. Say- 
 ing this made her feel as if it might be true, and 
 she certainly needed all possible aid toward keeping 
 up her courage and ignoring a horrid, sickening 
 pain in her right ankle. This pain made her feel 
 rather faint, so she bent forward a little, as she had 
 been taught one should do under such circum- 
 stances at the First Aid classes held by Timmy's 
 nurse at Fair Oaks School, and clutched hard at 
 the rock she was sitting on. Hanging on tight had 
 not been mentioned in the First Aid classes, but it 
 certainly did help you not to want to cry out. 
 
 "Somebody will be along in a few minutes," de- 
 clared Nancy Lee with assurance. " Surf Road is 
 always full of people on a lovely day like this. I 
 could walk if somebody would just help me a little 
 about starting." 
 
 Except when Nancy Lee broke it to soliloquize, 
 the silence of Baxter's Reef was oppressive. The 
 wind was sinking with the sun, and the roar of the 
 surf had softened to a padding thud. But the tide 
 was rising fast. As a matter of course now, the 
 waves splashed softly over the strip of sand around 
 Nancy's seat. She hitched along on her rock and 
 managed to find a dry niche half-way up it for her 
 feet to rest on. Where were all the people who 
 ought to be out walking or driving in the cool 
 
 44
 
 EFERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 of the afternoon? A crowd of them must come 
 in sight in a minute. 
 
 " They'll be sure to hear me over on the road," 
 Nancy assured herself earnestly. " It's not far 
 across only I should like to get over there while 
 
 the going's good, as Dick says. This tide " 
 
 She broke off to call loudly as a motor whizzed 
 unexpectedly by on the road ; but its occupants 
 paid not the slightest heed to Nancy's shouting. 
 
 " Next time I'll call ' Help,' " she decided, and 
 she did, but what with the sea, now getting noisy 
 again, the chug of the motor, and their own gay 
 talk and laughter, this motor party, too, heard 
 nothing. 
 
 Then two women strolled past along the road, 
 and again Nancy's cry for help went unregarded. 
 The road was really a long way off, with high 
 bushes edging the bank that dropped off toward 
 the Reef ; and the wind was wrong. 
 
 " If I can't walk, I've just got to crawl," de- 
 claimed Nancy rather shakily, and set about doing 
 it. If she could get to the road before dark, some 
 rescuer would surely appear ! 
 
 Crawling over wet rocks is a slow and absorb- 
 ing process. Nancy kept at it for some minutes, 
 till her skirts were wringing wet and her knees 
 much the worse for wear, while the road was not 
 appreciably nearer. In trying to stand up and 
 
 45
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 pick the best way around the pool that had flooded 
 the middle of the causeway, she wrenched her bad 
 ankle painfully. When she sat down again to rest 
 it, a big salt tear splashed down to join a big 
 wave, which caught Nancy unprepared and soaked 
 her to her waist. With a sudden realization that 
 her plight was really serious, Nancy picked up a 
 piece of driftwood to use as a cane and in spite of 
 the almost unbearable pain it cost her, limped for- 
 ward toward the mainland. Her head down the 
 better to breast the waves, her senses dulled by the 
 throbbing pain, her mind intent on one thing to 
 get beyond the reach of this black, rushing water 
 that deepened around her every minute she 
 neither saw nor heard the approach of a fellow- 
 traveler. 
 
 A boy had turned off the shore road and paused 
 a moment on the Reef path to stare down at the 
 half inundated causeway. Then, whistling gaily, 
 he ran briskly forward to the water's edge and be- 
 gan a reckless, tumultuous progress, marked by 
 leaps and bounds that carried him dry-shod along 
 the watery pathway, his only pauses being just the 
 length of a swiftly appraising glance to measure 
 the direction of the big reef. 
 
 Just before he reached Nancy, his foot set a loose 
 stone noisily flying, and Nancy, straightening 
 laboriously, saw him coming. 
 
 46
 
 EVERYTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 " Oh ! " she cried, in an involuntary sigh of relief. 
 
 Her exclamation gave the sure-footed boy such 
 a start that he lost his footing and stumbled igno- 
 miniously into the big pool, whence he stood, knee- 
 deep in the water and hatless, staring amazedly at 
 the rumpled, soaked, wind-blown, white-faced girl, 
 hanging desperately to a weather-worn stick of 
 wood and staring forlornly back at him from 
 behind a tangle of damp yellow curls. 
 
 For a minute the two stared in amazed silence. 
 Then, "Pardon me!" said the boy, who was a 
 pleasant-faced, manly-looking fellow, about Dick's 
 age ; and blushing furiously at having, as he would 
 have expressed it, " run down " a strange girl, he 
 stooped for his cap, flicked the water off the rough 
 green cloth, jammed it back on his bare head, and 
 started off again faster than ever. 
 
 " Oh, please ! " begged Nancy swiftly, " oh, 
 please will you help me a little ? I've hurt my 
 ankle and I'm trying to get back to the road. It's 
 awfully hard work going over these wet stones." 
 
 Without hesitation the boy wheeled, and blush- 
 ing harder than ever faced Nancy. " What a 
 mess ! " he said cheerfully. He pulled off his wet 
 cap, shook it again, and then carefully wiped off a 
 tiny green feather that was stuck in the band. 
 " Crickets ! " He surveyed the darkening land- 
 scape anxiously. " There's nobody else you can 
 
 47
 
 N4NCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ask, is there ? You see I it's not that I wouldn't 
 be glad to help you, only there's a reason why I 
 prefer that you'd ask some one else." 
 
 " But how can I ? " demanded Nancy desper- 
 ately. " Nobody else came. Nobody up on the 
 road heard." Pride suddenly overwhelmed her. 
 " But I can go on alone perfectly well," she as- 
 sured him coldly. " Please don't trouble. Please 
 go on to wherever you were going." 
 
 " Shucks ! " said the boy. " Of course I'll help 
 
 you back. I only thought I only meant 
 
 But as it is, I'm bound to help you. Nobody 
 could expect me not to. Oh, I knew we couldn't 
 keep it up I We're not the kind to keep it up." 
 
 " What did you say ? " asked Nancy, a little 
 frightened at his incoherence. " I don't believe I 
 understood." 
 
 " Oh, I was only talking to myself," explained 
 the boy with a sigh. " I've got the habit lately." 
 He smiled a friendly smile at Nancy. " Now, 
 how am I to help ? " he demanded, once more 
 putting on the damp green cap and facing her 
 with businesslike alertness. 
 
 " Oh, not at all, please," begged Nancy who, 
 having prepared to swallow her pride, was now 
 remembering all mother's warnings against speak- 
 ing to strange men. This boy looked nice, but his 
 talk was certainly queer and rambling. " Please 
 
 48
 
 EVERTTHING'S SPOILED 
 
 go on," she besought him earnestly, trying not to 
 act as frightened and miserable as she felt. 
 
 " Oh, shucks ! " repeated the boy pleasantly. 
 " You mustn't mind what I said. Of course I 
 want to help you, and I'm going to, too. Only I 
 can't without talking to you, and that's well, I 
 simply can't explain. But I'll tell you one thing. 
 At high tide this is going to be a very wet spot, 
 and high tide isn't far off. The longer we delay, 
 the worse everything will get everything, includ- 
 ing your ankle," he concluded with decision. 
 "So we'd better just get started." 
 
 " All right," agreed Nancy weakly. 
 
 The boy nodded approval. " Now how shall 
 we work it ? Take my arm, so. No, I'd better 
 take your arm. Try putting a hand on my 
 shoulder. Then, if I steady you, you can sort 
 of hop along, mostly on your well foot. We can't 
 bother about keeping entirely out of the water, 
 I'm afraid. I say, I'll bet that foot hurts you 
 pretty badly. Whenever you want to rest, just 
 say so." 
 
 They made the road in three laps, as the boy 
 called the three stages of the journey between 
 halts for rest. And when they had climbed the 
 path, and Nancy was sitting down once more, this 
 time on a comfortable dry stone by the side of 
 Surf Road, the boy, looking back, announced that 
 
 49
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 the water was at least waist-high out where he 
 and Nancy had joined forces. 
 
 11 So I shan't go back there to-night, thank 
 you," he announced cheerfully. " I'd planned 
 to get out just before high tide and come back 
 by the light of my trusty lantern " he displayed 
 a tiny electric " bug-light " " about nine o'clock. 
 I liked the idea of being caught by the tide after 
 dark on purpose." 
 
 " I'm sorry " began Nancy. 
 
 "Shucks! I can do it just as well to-morrow, 
 can't I? " broke in the boy. " Now where do you 
 live?" 
 
 Nancy explained. " If you'd just telephone my 
 family when you get home, I should be very grate- 
 ful to you. I don't believe I can walk any far- 
 ther, and besides, I don't wish to trouble you any 
 more than I've had to already." Nancy tried to 
 combine dignity with gratitude. 
 
 " Very well," said the boy briskly. " If that's 
 what you want, I'll do it. I hope you're not laid 
 up for long with your sprain. Good-bye." Sud- 
 denly he wheeled and came back to Nancy. 
 " Sure you're not afraid to stay alone ? " he de- 
 manded. " It's getting sort of dusky. You'd 
 better keep my bug-light in case of accidents." 
 
 " Oh, no," demurred Nancy. " They won't be 
 long coming. I'm all right, truly I am." 
 
 50
 
 EFERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 " Just the same, I'll bet that ankle is aching 
 like a house afire. If you weren't an awfully 
 good sport, you'd be weeping or fainting away or 
 some other such girl's doings. I say, your 
 idea's no go. I'm going to do this the quickest 
 way I can, to suit myself. I won't be a minute." 
 
 Too faint and dizzy to care what he meant or to 
 notice which way he was going, Nancy sat on her 
 stone in a daze of frightened, throbbing misery. 
 Nobody came by ; nothing happened ; surely it 
 was ages and ages and ages, as little Sarah used to 
 say at school, before there was a brisk hail down the 
 road, and the boy turned a curveting bay horse, 
 hitched to a trim road-cart, up to Nancy's stone. 
 
 "There! How's this for a hurry call?" he de- 
 manded triumphantly. Evidently he thought, 
 poor fellow, that he had been quick I " You see," 
 he went on, " we live so near, and I knew Lady'd 
 be all hitched in, ready to go to town for the even- 
 ing papers, so I disregarded your suggestion 
 that is, I had your family notified that you'd be 
 along in a few minutes. Hope you don't mind 
 my coming back for you. Lady's pretty fresh. 
 I'm afraid you'll have to climb in somehow, while 
 I try to hold her quiet. Oh, I'll bet that hurt ! " 
 as a sudden side-step of Lady's threw Nancy hard 
 down on the lame ankle. " But it's all plain sail- 
 ing now. Where do you live ? Yes, ' The Crags ' ;
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 but remember I don't know where anything is 
 here. Just tell me which turns to make, as we 
 come to them. I am certainly sorry that Lady 
 jumped at the wrong minute. Now please to 
 keep on being the best sport ever, and don't faint 
 or anything like that, till I get you home." 
 
 Mr. Lee was standing in the gate of " The Crags " 
 watching for them. Nancy smiled at him faintly. 
 " If you could help me out ! I've done some- 
 thing " 
 
 " You'd better just carry her in," advised the 
 boy calmly. " She's been very plucky, but she's 
 about done for now." 
 
 Mrs. Lee came out to thank Nancy's rescuer. 
 " It was very kind of you to bring my daughter 
 home, and you were very thoughtful to prepare us 
 for her arrival. I suppose you're one of my boy 
 Dick's friends. I'm very bad at remembering faces." 
 
 The boy stared non-committally back at her. 
 " No," he said, " I'm a stranger here. I just 
 happened to be around. I got into it that way. 
 And now I must be going. They'll want Lady. 
 And besides " 
 
 " Come and see us," Mrs. Lee urged hospitably, 
 as the bay horse started. "We're very grateful. 
 Won't you tell me your " 
 
 " You're quite welcome, I'm sure," cut in the 
 boy curtly, and off he went at a smart trot. 
 
 52
 
 EFERTTHING'S SPOILED! 
 
 " Crickets I I knew we'd never pull it off," he 
 muttered as he whirled into the crossroad. " I 
 told her we weren't cut out for hermits. What a 
 mess ! Well, I certainly couldn't help it. I never 
 can. Neither can she. That's the whole trouble." 
 And he lapsed into gloomy silence. 
 
 " It's a very bad sprain. You'll be laid up for 
 some time, young woman," said the doctor unfeel- 
 ingly, giving Nancy's ankle a final pat and picking 
 up his medicine-bag. 
 
 "How long is some time?" demanded Nancy 
 tremulously. 
 
 " Oh, a month or six weeks, I should say. 
 Good-night. I'll look in to-morrow." 
 
 Nancy didn't want any dinner. She didn't 
 feel like talking. She refused mother's suggestion 
 about reading aloud. The Red Journal was on 
 the table by her bed. She reached for it, dated a 
 new page, and straight across it in a bold hand she 
 wrote : 
 
 " Everything's spoiled. N. LEE." 
 
 All through a sleepless, feverish, tossing, miser- 
 able night she kept saying it over to herself: 
 " EverythingVspoiled, spoiled, spoiled. My lovely 
 summer, all the things I'd planned, all my help- 
 ing mother, all my fun, the twins' visit, spoiled, 
 spoiled, spoiled. Everything's spoiled I " 
 
 53
 
 CHAPTER III 
 
 " YOU BE ON THE LOOKOUT ! " 
 
 THE little brown bird, singing gaily in Nancy's 
 cedar-tree, roused her from a troubled nap the next 
 morning. Such a gorgeous day ! Father and 
 Dick were down on the piazza already, eating an 
 early breakfast before their morning fishing trip. 
 Bouncings and bumpings from Josephine's room 
 announced that that noisy young lady was hurry- 
 ing through her toilette, preparatory to joining the 
 sailors. Something was on Nancy's mind a vague 
 weight of un happiness left, perhaps, from a bad 
 dream. Something disagreeable seemed to be hang- 
 ing over her. It couldn't be anything real 
 
 Oh, but it was I Nancy buried her hot face in her 
 hot pillow and wept. That was how mother found 
 her, when she came up with breakfast and a bunch 
 of dewy white irises, as lovely as orchids, from the 
 Birdcage bed. 
 
 " I c-can't help it ! " sobbed Nancy. " I c-can't 
 stand it to stick around here for s-s-six weeks I 
 No, my ankle doesn't h-h-h-urt at all. I know I 
 could walk on it. That doctor isn't any good at 
 
 54
 
 rOt/ BE ON THE LOOKOUT/' 
 
 all I Oh, mother, I never was so unhappy in my 
 whole life I " 
 
 Mother consoled and sympathized, and finally 
 resorted to a gentle scolding, which dried Nancy's 
 tears and left her silent, sulky, and unresponsive. 
 No, she did not want the Spoiled Kitten on the 
 bed with her. The collie must be sent outdoors, 
 where he belonged. Of course Dick was not to 
 give up his sailing lesson with Captain Baker to 
 stay and teach her a new solitaire. She hated 
 solitaire, and Bill and Joe chattered and ran about 
 so that they tired her head. The doctor came, 
 and at sight of him Nancy wept afresh, whereupon 
 he patted her shoulder comfortingly, and promised 
 to send out a nurse to bathe and rub and bandage 
 the injured ankle. 
 
 Under any other circumstances Nancy would 
 have been tremendously interested in Nurse 
 Marston, who came from Nova Scotia, looked 
 adorably pretty in her starched blue and white 
 uniform, and was very jolly and talkative, pre- 
 pared to amuse her sad young patient with merry 
 badinage or romantic tales of Evangeline's land, 
 according to taste. But Nancy received jokes and 
 stories alike in glum, forbidding silence, and 
 Nurse Marston, being very young and not partic- 
 ularly patient, privately decided that her charge 
 was extremely ill-tempered, and after the first 
 
 55
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 few visits confined her ministrations strictly to 
 bathing, rubbing, and bandaging, according to 
 orders. 
 
 " Suppose I ask Louise Minot to come and see 
 you," suggested mother on the fourth day of 
 Nancy's captivity. 
 
 Mr. Lee had left for home that morning, and 
 before his departure he had summoned Dick, 
 William, and Josephine to the Birdcage for a 
 fatherly talk. They must remember, he urged, 
 that their mother was quite worn out already, and 
 they must help her in any way they could. It 
 was not Nancy's fault that instead of being a help 
 she was an added burden on mother's shoulders. 
 The others, and particularly Dick, who was the 
 man of the house in his father's absence, must see 
 to it that this burden should rest as lightly as 
 possible. It was their business, not mother's, to 
 entertain Nancy. They must divide up the time, 
 sacrificing some pleasures, and trying hard to 
 make the days shorter for poor Nancy, and as full 
 as possible of rest and recreation for mother. 
 Otherwise, Mr. Lee shook his head soberly. 
 
 " We couldn't get on without mother," he said. 
 " We must all look out for her in every possible 
 way. Nancy feels this. It accounts for her being 
 so blue the regret that she can't offer the help 
 that mother had hoped for from her." 
 
 56
 
 "rot/ BE ON THE LOOKOUT!' 
 
 " Nancy said she cried 'cause she can't play 
 tennis," interposed the accurate Josephine. 
 
 " Oh, well, girls cry about lots of things," an- 
 nounced conciliatory William. " But we'll amuse 
 her. Maybe mother'll let us sit up longer, now 
 we've got to help." 
 
 As a result of this family conference, Josephine 
 had nobly deprived herself of seeing her father off 
 at the station, and now, after luncheon, Dick was 
 taking his turn, trying hard to keep his mind on 
 cribbage, while his eyes wandered off to the sparkly 
 waters of the bay. They were having yacht races 
 out there, and Captain Baker had promised to take 
 Dick out to see the finish. Perhaps, if Billy re- 
 membered to come back for his turn, promptly at 
 four 
 
 " Your game," said Dick briskly, as if he had 
 no thoughts for anything beyond the cribbage 
 board. " And that finishes the rubber of rubbers. 
 If you did want to see Louise Minot, Sis, I could 
 leave word at the Inn when I go down to the 
 captain's wharf." 
 
 " I don't. She's no fun," said sulky Nancy. 
 
 Mother and Dick exchanged discouraged glances. 
 
 " Suppose I went to call next door, and asked 
 the girls there to come over ? " suggested Mrs. Lee 
 pleasantly. " They're strangers, and I think 
 
 they'd enjoy " 
 
 57
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Nancy shook her curly head. " No. I couldn't 
 think of anything to say to strange girls. Besides, 
 it's hot and stuffy up here. They'd hate having 
 to be indoors. I met Charlotte Carter yesterday 
 and she told me their names : Alexandra and 
 Cecilia. They sound awfully fussy and stuck up." 
 
 " They look jolly," said Dick, his longing eyes 
 fixed on the rippling sea. 
 
 " Well, I don't want them." Nancy's lips set 
 in a disagreeable line. " I don't want anybody." 
 
 " I'll tell you what," suggested Dick, spurred on 
 to tremendous efforts by the sight of the dis- 
 couraged droop of mother's shoulders. " I know 
 what'll amuse you, as soon as your crutches 
 come, and you can hop down-stairs. I'll hunt up 
 the Green Knight and see if I can't get him over 
 here for tennis, followed by a polite call on the 
 invalid." 
 
 " The Green Knight ? " queried Nancy listlessly. 
 
 " Father called your rescuer that," explained 
 mother. " Don't you remember I told you how 
 he ran off without even giving us his name ? So 
 we christened him after his green cap, with the 
 tiny green feather in it." She turned to Dick. 
 " I wish you would hunt him up, son. I want to 
 thank him a little more formally for all his kind- 
 ness. I can't bear to think of what might have 
 happened if he hadn't come along when he did." 
 
 58
 
 rOC7 BE ON THE LOOKOUT/' 
 
 " He certainly was the queerest boy," said Nancy, 
 just a little interested at last. "He said such 
 funny things, and then he wouldn't explain them." 
 
 " Not all there, maybe," suggested Dick, tapping 
 his forehead significantly. 
 
 "Oh, Dick!" Nancy was quite indignant. 
 " He was as bright as as you are, and a splendid 
 climber, and most of the time he was talkative and 
 jolly. He couldn't have been nicer, except just 
 at first. I told you what he said as nearly as I 
 could remember." 
 
 Dick nodded. " Well, he was queer again just 
 at the last. No reason at all for a nice jolly boy 
 to have been so stuffy with mother. You don't 
 know where he lives ? " 
 
 Nancy did not. " Only it's very near Baxter's 
 Reef nearer than we are." 
 
 " Queer," mused Dick. " I haven't seen him 
 since that night. He doesn't seem to go swim- 
 ming or sailing with the crowd, and he never loafs 
 around with the other fellows that belong on the 
 Point. I've asked lots of 'em if they know him. 
 Nobody has as much as set eyes on any one of his 
 description " 
 
 " Well, you'll have to look up the mysterious 
 Green Knight," said mother cheerfully, grateful 
 for the faint spark of interest that the subject had 
 evoked from her moody daughter. " In the mean- 
 
 59
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 time, Dick, run along to your boat-races. As 
 Nancy can't think of anybody she wants a visit 
 from, why, we two will do our best to amuse each 
 other." 
 
 " No indeed." Dick's air of responsibility was 
 comical. " You're to have a nap and a walk 
 every afternoon, madam. Doctor's orders and 
 mine. I'm going out later, perhaps. These races 
 don't amount to much." 
 
 11 All the same," Nancy informed him rather 
 crossly, " you're dying to be out watching them. 
 You didn't half count your cribs, you were so 
 busy looking out the window. So go along, and 
 you too, mother. I shall take a nap." Nancy 
 tossed two extra pillows on a chair, readjusted 
 the one remaining, and summarily closed the ar- 
 gument by turning her face to the wall. She had 
 not taken a daytime nap since her baby days, and 
 hitherto, since her accident, she had irritably re- 
 fused even to try that method of passing the time. 
 She had no intention of trying now. As soon as 
 Dick had gone and mother's door was safely closed, 
 she would put back her extra pillows and read. 
 The doctor had told her not to use her eyes very 
 much, and she had already spent most of the 
 morning over a book, to avoid playing parchesi, a 
 game which she particularly disliked, with Jo- 
 sephine, who adored it. But who cared for that? 
 
 60
 
 rOC7 BE ON THE LOOKOUT!' 
 
 Nancy Lee certainly had no idea of bothering 
 about an incapable doctor's silly notions. 
 
 However, before she could safely begin to read, 
 she had to wait while Dick and mother held a 
 whispered conference in the hall. Then mother 
 tiptoed back to adjust the curtains, after which she 
 annoyingly delayed settling down for her own 
 nap. Nancy listened to her stealthy movements 
 in the next room, wondered if she dared stop play- 
 ing 'possum before mother had lain down, and 
 decided against it, since the one thing she most 
 wanted was, not a chance to finish a rather stupid 
 story, but just to be let alone. 
 
 Nancy did sincerely regret giving her tired 
 mother so much extra trouble. She honestly 
 wanted to cause her as little anxiety as possible. 
 Every morning, when she woke up, she resolved 
 to try to be cheerful ; but the sight of mother's 
 pitying face, Dick's unwonted consideration for 
 her, the children's clumsy efforts to amuse, in- 
 stead of comforting her, only made her more mis- 
 erable. She pitied herself, with mother ; realized, 
 with Dick, all the jolly times she was missing ; 
 irritably decided that it was only fair for the chil- 
 dren to do everything they could for her. So the 
 very things that should have made her cheerful 
 and considerate filled her contrary little soul with 
 misery, and before she knew it cross words and 
 
 61
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 black looks had torn her good resolutions to tat- 
 ters again. 
 
 But now, left to herself, with nobody to listen 
 to her grumblings or pet her if she cried, Nancy 
 felt neither like crying nor grumbling. Her eyes 
 shut lest mother should reappear without warning, 
 she speculated quite happily about the queer 
 Green Knight, reviewed her talk with brown-eyed 
 Hope Haskins, and wondered when she should see 
 either of her new friends again. If only Hope 
 could come to see her, Nancy thought, they could 
 find plenty to talk about ; but Hope couldn't come 
 of course ; she was too busy. 
 
 " Maybe she might be able to get cff some day 
 when it rains," Nancy decided finally. " On 
 rainy days nobody would go to ' The Sign of the 
 Dolphin ' for tea, so the woman there wouldn't 
 need her, and Hope wouldn't care about going to 
 the rocks. I'd like to show her my tree and my 
 view. I wonder if she has a nice room at the 
 Inn. I suppose waitresses generally have to 
 take " 
 
 Drowsy from having read all the morning and 
 from the midday heat, worn out with all her 
 worries and tears and rebellions, Nancy snuggled 
 down on her pillows and her thoughts trailed 
 wearily off into a happy little dream. 
 
 Presently mother, who couldn't sleep at all 
 
 62
 
 / BE ON THE LOOKOUT!' 
 
 with her unhappy daughter on her mind, crept 
 to the door, and smiled delightedly at what she 
 saw. 
 
 Now she would go for her walk ; she must keep 
 herself as fresh as possible for Nancy. So, instruct- 
 ing Rosa to answer the invalid's bell, but on no 
 account to disturb her unless she rang, Mrs. Lee 
 went happily off. The afternoon breeze sprang up 
 from the sea to cool the sleeper's hot cheeks and 
 make her nap more refreshing. In the quiet 
 house, empty save for soft-footed, listening Rosa, 
 Nancy slept on and on. It was late afternoon 
 when she woke up, stretched deliciously, blinking 
 in the strong light, and suddenly gave vent to a 
 startled " Oh ! " at sight of a perfectly strange 
 lady standing at the foot of her bed. 
 
 " Well, I am relieved," said the visitor, smiling 
 sociably and flitting round to the side of the bed. 
 " I just couldn't make up my mind to wake you 
 up, and I've got another patient way the other side 
 of the Point at five-thirty." 
 
 " But I don't understand " began Nancy in 
 
 bewilderment. 
 
 " Why, I'm Mrs. Miggs," explained her caller 
 eagerly. " The doctor told you about me, of 
 course. Your hired girl said that, as long as you 
 were expecting me, I might as well come right up. 
 I think," added Mrs. Miggs, with the air of impart- 
 
 63
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ing an interesting confidence, " that her dinner was 
 jest where she couldn't very well leave it." 
 
 " But the doctor didn't tell me about you, Mrs. 
 Miggs." 
 
 Nancy wasn't in the least frightened or annoyed 
 by Mrs. Miggs's intrusion. You couldn't be afraid 
 of such a tiny creature. She was the smallest, 
 thinnest little body imaginable. As she talked to 
 Nancy, she peered at her and at the room with 
 bright, bird-like glances, from under her small 
 black bonnet ; and her motions, as she flitted about 
 the bed, were quick and darting, so that her whole 
 appearance reminded Nancy of a lively sparrow ; 
 only her plumage was all somber, rather rusty 
 black, instead of sparrow-like brown. 
 
 Nancy's remark about the doctor threw Mrs. 
 Miggs into a paroxysm of twittering indignation. 
 " He didn't ? You really mean he didn't say a word 
 about me ? Well, I never ! That young sprig ! 
 I must say I am surprised 1 " And she fixed 
 Nancy with a particularly piercing stare of aston- 
 ishment. " Well, I ain't clearing matters up 
 much, am I?" she continued, after a minute. 
 " I'll tell Sammy what I think of him when we 
 next meet, and I'll tell you now that Miss Marston 
 couldn't come to-day. He said she had a headache, 
 but I'm inclined to think she wanted to go sailing 
 with one of her many admirers." Mrs. Miggs 
 
 64
 
 "TOU BE ON THE LOOKOUT/' 
 
 paused to reflect. " Well, you can't be young and 
 beautiful but once and sometimes not that, as in 
 my case for instance. So we won't blame her, 
 not till we know the facts, anyways. And so 
 Doctor Sam Jennings asked me to come in her 
 place, but he promised to 'phone your mother and 
 let me know if it was perfectly agreeable. Now 
 the point is, am I wanted ? " 
 
 Nancy laughed. The sulkiest, most depressed 
 cripple could not have resisted the infectious cheer- 
 fulness of the sparrow-like little masseuse. " Why, 
 yes," she said, " I'm sure you'll give my ankle a 
 splendid treatment, Mrs. Miggs." 
 
 " I'll do my level best," returned Mrs. Miggs 
 brightly. " Nobody can do more leastways I 
 can't. Now you tell me where to find water and 
 towels, and I'll point right for 'em. I hate to call 
 that girl, she seemed so tied up with her dinner." 
 
 So Nancy explained locations, and Mrs. Miggs 
 hopped busily back and forth, chattering all the 
 time. 
 
 " This is a lovely spot," she said, having finally 
 seated herself by the bed, with Nancy's swollen 
 foot resting on a snowy white apron that she had 
 produced, as if by magic, along with an incredible 
 number of other conveniences, from an infinites- 
 imal black silk bag. " I always hoped that Miss 
 Willis would want me, she being famous, and the 
 
 65
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 house the kind that excited my cur'osity and all. 
 But she never did. I do hope I'm not intruding 
 to-day. Several of the patients decided to omit 
 treatments until Miss Marston got well." 
 
 Nancy reassured her, making an effort to be 
 cordial that would have astonished the absent Miss 
 Marston and her own family as well. 
 
 " You're very kind, I'm sure," Mrs. Miggs told 
 her. "Of course under the circumstances I natu- 
 rally feel nervous. How long since you sprained 
 your foot ? " 
 
 Nancy told her, and inquired how long, in Mrs. 
 Miggs's opinion, it would stay sprained. 
 
 " Oh, I can't tell anything about that," chirped 
 Mrs. Miggs, " leastways not to-day. And what's 
 more," she grew confidential, " Sammy Jennings 
 can't either. Some sprains go slow an' some fast. 
 There ain't no tellin'." 
 
 " You've lived here a long time, haven't you ? " 
 said Nancy. " Dr. Jennings isn't so particularly 
 young now, so I suppose you knew him when he 
 
 was." 
 
 " Land, yes I I was with Mis' Jennings when 
 he was born. His father '11 always be the doctor 
 to me, an' Sammy'll be the young doctor, till his 
 hair's white that is, if I last to see it so. I was 
 brung up here. I s'pose you know Captain 
 Baker?" 
 
 66
 
 rOC7 BE ON THE LOOKOUT/' 
 
 " Of course," Nancy assured her eagerly. 
 
 " Well, I'm his sister. Gen'rally summers I go 
 up to Kittaning Corners, where my sister keeps a 
 boarding-house. There ain't no frilly young 
 nurses up there, an' the doctor is mighty glad to 
 see me. But this year I couldn't very well leave 
 to go." 
 
 " Well, it's lovely here," suggested Nancy con- 
 solingly. " Your brother is teaching my brother 
 to sail. Father is willing that Dick should go out 
 alone in our boat as soon as Captain Baker says he 
 knows enough to. Dick's out with him now." 
 
 " He is f " Little Mrs. Miggs reveled in the 
 coincidence. " Brother's awful busy these days. 
 He says he never seen Halcyon so full o' jolly 
 young folks. He's had parties out most every 
 night this week moonlight, you know." 
 
 Nancy said nothing. So that was why Dick 
 had disappeared every evening after dinner, and 
 mother never seemed to know where he had gone. 
 They were trying to hide all the good times from 
 her, because she couldn't join in them. A sudden 
 flood of tears welled up into Nancy's gray eyes. 
 
 Mrs. Miggs darted an unsuspecting glance at 
 her. "Oh, do I hurt you, my dear?" she de- 
 manded anxiously, observing the tears. " You'd 
 ort to tell me if I do." 
 
 " You don't hurt," disclaimed Nancy hastily. 
 
 67
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " That is only a little. I don't mind being 
 hurt." It was no use ! Her handkerchief was 
 back under all the pillows. Nancy clawed for it 
 frantically, fighting vainly against the rising tide 
 of her misery. 
 
 " Here ! " Mrs. Miggs shook out a snowy hand- 
 kerchief, drawn from the inexhaustible black bag. 
 " Now have }^our cry out on it. It is hard to be 
 missin' all the frolics, an' it was too bad I didn't 
 think in time to steer our conversation some other 
 way. Steerin' conversations is about the most 
 important part of nursin' and I don't gen'rally let 
 'em get away from me." 
 
 " Oh, it d-d-oesn't m-matter," sobbed Nancy. 
 " I just hate staying here ! It will be for six weeks, 
 probably, the doctor says, and I o-o-h-h dear I " 
 
 " That's right," advised Mrs. Miggs sociably. 
 " Have your cry right out ! But next time you 
 feel one comin' on, you jest think how many folks 
 are worse off than you. That's the best cure for 
 tears that I know of." 
 
 " Maybe it is," snapped Nancy crossly, " but I 
 don't know anybody that's worse off. Being 
 stuck in the house or on the piazza for all 
 summer " 
 
 " Yes, it's bad, I'll admit," agreed Mrs. Miggs. 
 " Some girls wouldn't mind much the mooney, 
 good-for-nothin' kind that like to jest set an' 
 
 68
 
 BE ON THE LOOKOUT!' 
 
 dream, and let other folks work. But you're 
 active. You like to flax 'round. Jest the samey, 
 you try my rule, an' you'll cheer up something 
 lovely." 
 
 Nancy shrugged disdainfully. " What have 
 those other people to do with me poor people in 
 cities and sick people in hospitals, I suppose you 
 mean. I'm not sick. I'm here to have a good 
 time during my summer vacation. And now 
 everything's spoiled." 
 
 Mrs. Miggs peered at her interestedly. " So you 
 think you're the only person whose vacation is 
 spiled, do you ? You think you're the only un- 
 happy person in Halcyon, do you? You jest 
 watch I You jest be on the lookout I " 
 
 Nancy sniffed. " How can I, when I'm stuck 
 in here?" 
 
 Mrs. Miggs posed her small head on one side 
 quizzically. " S'pose I told you that I seen the 
 express turnin' down here as I got out of the 
 trolley-car. S'pose I told you how he offered me 
 a lift, an' how we laughed when we seen that we 
 was coming to the very same house. Want to 
 know what he brung?" Without waiting for an 
 answer, Mrs. Miggs darted out the door and flut- 
 tered down-stairs, returning in a moment with a 
 bundle that was unmistakably crutches. 
 
 " Now you won't be so confined," said Mrs. 
 
 69
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Miggs, with the proud air of offering Nancy an 
 airship or a magic carpet at the very least. " Why, 
 as soon as you git a little handy with these, you 
 can make wonderful progress. What do you say 
 to preparing a little surprise right now for your 
 folks?" 
 
 Deftly Mrs. Miggs helped Nancy to dress, and 
 then escorted her down the hall and through Mrs. 
 Lee's room, establishing her in an armchair on 
 the little up-stairs piazza. 
 
 " You'll come again ? " said Nancy as Mrs. 
 Miggs, having arranged everything in the most 
 comfortable fashion, prepared to depart. 
 
 Mrs. Miggs, poised airily in the door, darted 
 back to readjust Nancy's rug. " That's as heaven 
 and Miss Marston decrees." 
 
 " But I want you ! " said Nancy. " I'd rather 
 have you than Miss Marston." 
 
 Mrs. Miggs chuckled. " I'd like to hear you 
 say that to the young doctor. We two can't settle 
 anything without speakin' to him and to your 
 mother. But whether I come again or whether I 
 don't, you remember my rule. You hunt for the 
 other unfortunates. You be on the lookout I 
 And don't you hunt too far from home, neither. 
 Good-bye ! " 
 
 Nancy laughed heartily over mother's distracted 
 hunt through the next room for a missing daugh- 
 
 70
 
 rOC7 BE ON THE LOOKOUT/' 
 
 ter. She was enthusiastic about her outdoor 
 chamber. " Though I shan't snatch away your 
 private piazza for long, mother/' she declared. 
 " To-morrow I'm going down-stairs." She in- 
 sisted upon hearing all about the yacht races, 
 and she made a comical story for the family out 
 of her visit from Mrs. Miggs. Dick and his 
 mother exchanged amazed glances, and Joseph- 
 ine inquired pointedly if Nancy " felt better." 
 
 " I'm ashamed to say that I do," laughed Nancy, 
 looking straight at mother. 
 
 That evening, for the first time since the night 
 of her accident, Nancy had something to say to 
 the Red Journal. 
 
 " I wonder what she meant about hunting near 
 home," Nancy concluded her account of Mrs. 
 Miggs's visit. " I wonder if she meant mother. 
 Is it worse for her to have me laid up than for me 
 to be laid up? Could ' Doctor Sammy ' have told 
 Mrs. Miggs so ? Poor mother I I will not be cross 
 any more ! Forgetting to be pleasant is as bad as 
 forgetting to pick things up. A cross person is 
 worse than a disorderly room. I will be pleasant. 
 
 "Maybe I can help in other ways too. It 
 doesn't seem very likely, but I mustn't forget that 
 I'm a Wonder-Worker. It's lucky we changed the 
 name of our society from Woodland Wanderers, 
 which I couldn't possibly be now, to something
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 that I can try to be. Trying doesn't always work 
 wonders. Sometimes they just happen like set- 
 tling the Timmy Auction by having the Princess 
 marry the Ogre. But if trying doesn't always 
 help, I guess it seldom hinders. I'm going to try. 
 " To-morrow I shall put on my Wonder- Worker 
 jumper and sit on the piazza and think hard 
 about how I can be helpful. But I'm going to be 
 pleasant whatever happens. .N. LEE."
 
 CHAPTER IV 
 NANCY'S LOOKOUT 
 
 IT was amazing, next morning on the piazza, 
 how Nancy's thoughts flew to happy conclusions. 
 
 " Maybe everything is not spoiled," she wrote 
 in the Red Journal, which she had asked Joseph- 
 ine to bring down for her. She had had hard 
 work persuading her conscientious little sister 
 that she really preferred to be alone this morn- 
 ing, and that there was therefore no reason why 
 Josephine should not join her beloved brother on 
 the bathing-beach. 
 
 " I promised father to take turns, and to give 
 up things," asserted Josephine. " I mustn't for- 
 get to do it." 
 
 " Some other time when I want you more will 
 please father just as much," explained Nancy. 
 " I'm busy making plans now, dearie. When 
 I've planned, I'll tell you all about it, and you'll 
 probably have to help me a lot, but this morning 
 I'd really rather you would go off with Billy." 
 
 " Honest 'n' true ? " inquired Josephine, and lost 
 no time in going. 
 
 73
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Even if my summer is spoiled," Nancy wrote 
 on in the Red Journal, " mother's mustn't be, nor 
 Dick's nor the children's. That would be too 
 silly for anything to let one little sprained ankle 
 spoil five lovely summers. 
 
 " Things I can do to help, even if I am lame : 
 I. Mend stockings. (I hate it, but probably 
 
 so does mother.) 
 
 II. Plan menus for mother. I've heard her 
 say it's the most trying part of house- 
 keeping for her, but I think it will be 
 just fun looking through cook-books 
 to find good things for us to eat. 
 
 III. Amuse Bill and Joe on rainy days. Gen- 
 
 erally they hang around mother, ask- 
 ing, ' What can we do ? ' till every- 
 body is sick of the sight of them. 
 
 IV. If Dick wants to know the boy and girls 
 
 next door, and hoped that I would 
 manage it for him, I suppose I might 
 be decent enough to let mother ask 
 them over especially as they're new 
 here. You wouldn't dream, to see him 
 around, that Dick is shy, but he is. 
 Perhaps the girls next door are shy 
 too, and not snippy and distant, as 
 Charlotte Carter thought. 
 
 " I can't think of any more things yet, but I'll 
 
 74
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 leave a space for others, and these four will do to 
 begin on. I do certainly wonder if Mrs. Miggs 
 meant mother, when she told me to hunt near 
 home for unhappy people. Whether she did or 
 not, I'm afraid mother did mind about me dread- 
 fully ; she looks so relieved and happy now that 
 I've stopped growling for a while. But how I can 
 be on the lookout for any more unhappy people 
 passes me, as Jane Learned is forever saying, while 
 I have to stick on this woodsy piazza, all shut in 
 from the road. When Mrs. Miggs comes again 
 day after to-morrow, I'll make her tell me about 
 some others, just to prove that she knows some. I 
 think it was mean of ' Doctor Sammy ' to say that 
 I didn't need another rub till day after to-morrow." 
 
 Mrs. Lee could hardly believe her ears when 
 Nancy, actually smiling about it, insisted that she 
 be allowed to help with the mending and the 
 menus, and then asked her mother to call on the 
 family next door and invite the two girls to come 
 over. Dick was equally astonished when his 
 sister demanded details of all the sailing-parties, 
 past and to come. 
 
 " The most entertaining thing you can do, 
 Dick," she insisted gaily, " is to buzz around in 
 Halcyon society as hard as you can, and tell me all 
 the gists. You're a very poor cribbage player, 
 especially when you're thinking of other things. 
 
 75
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 So run along and enjoy yourself, and bring home 
 all the news." 
 
 Boylike, Dick said nothing, but he privately 
 decided that " Nance was a brick." Determined 
 to have an exceptionally entertaining report to 
 deliver to her at lunch-time, he resolved to devote 
 his morning to the quest for the Green Knight. 
 So he tramped over to Surf Road and sauntered 
 down one winding crossroad after another, past 
 all the houses reasonably near to the big Reef. 
 Finally, eliminating those whose occupants he was 
 sure did not include the object of his search, he 
 narrowed the possibilities down to three. Dick 
 was a persistent youth. He waited in a mosquito- 
 haunted ambush for half an hour in front of one 
 house, only to discover that it was vacant and the 
 signs of life about the place were caused by the 
 visit of an agent and a prospective tenant. At the 
 next house there was no suitable ambush, so Dick 
 boldly walked to the door and demanded John 
 Andrews. Now John Andrews was Dick's chum. 
 The Andrews cottage was a quarter of a mile away, 
 and, as Dick knew to his sorrow, it was still un- 
 occupied. So he felt quite safe in inquiring 
 for John, and he elicited from a neat parlor- 
 maid the information that she had never heard 
 of such a person and that her master's name 
 was Parke. Dick knew the Parkes ; there was 
 
 76
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 no mysterious Green Knight in that staid house- 
 hold. 
 
 His plan of ringing door-bells had worked so 
 well once that Dick decided to try it again at the 
 third house, a small white one, hidden behind a 
 tall clipped hedge. It was a little place, but so. 
 spick-and-span and dainty, with its hedge and 
 green lawns and gay flower borders, that Nancy 
 had once named it " The Gem." Dick knew the 
 people who owned the place, but this summer they 
 were in Europe ; and possibly the Green Knight's 
 family had rented it. 
 
 " The Gem " had a tiny front porch, with box- 
 trees at each end of the steps, and green settles for 
 tired callers. Dick rang and waited. No response. 
 
 " Are they all out, or do they think I'm an 
 agent?" wondered Dick, ringing again, this time 
 long and loud. 
 
 As he stepped back from the bell, his eye was 
 caught by a small moving object on a side porch 
 of the house. Thq porch was a big square one, 
 shaded by green wicker curtains. One of these 
 was only half drawn down, and just below it Dick 
 could see a white object moving rapidly to and fro. 
 
 His observations were interrupted when the 
 door was flung open by the oddest little figure 
 imaginable. Dick stared in amazement at her 
 starched white cap with its wide revers, framing a 
 
 77
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 wistful, wrinkled old face, at her quaint folded 
 kerchief, and her full black skirt that stood out 
 balloon-like around her slim, bent figure. And 
 the old servant, if such she was, stared back at him 
 in mute, half-frightened disapproval. 
 
 In a moment Dick found voice to inquire for 
 Johnny. The old woman shook her capped head 
 slowly, with an air of bewildered wonderment. 
 
 Dick tried again. " I want Mr. John Andrews. 
 Does he live here ? " 
 
 Again she shook her head. " Not at home," she 
 pattered, in a high, toneless voice. 
 
 " But does he live here ? " persisted Dick, sure 
 that the old woman understood nothing, and hop- 
 ing that she would call somebody to her aid. 
 
 She apparently had no such intention. " Not 
 at home, nobody at home, you please to go away," 
 she expanded her set speech this time ; and Dick 
 decided to adopt her suggestion before she shut 
 the door in his face. 
 
 It was queer, he thought, that at such a per- 
 fectly appointed house, with its neat striped awn- 
 ings, its window-boxes of pink geraniums, its 
 velvety lawns, its garden-beds rioting with blos- 
 soms, it was queer that the people who lived at 
 "The Gem" should put up with so strange a 
 parlor-maid. Either she was deaf or she knew no 
 English the foreign costume suggested the latter. 
 
 78
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 They must be queer people. Well, wasn't the 
 Green Knight queer? Besides, there was no 
 other house for him to live in, unless he was 
 merely visiting at Halcyon, in which case he 
 might be stopping almost anywhere. But he had 
 spoken to Nancy of " our house." Perhaps that 
 was he now, moving something out on the screened 
 porch. Finding a peep-hole in the tall hedge, 
 Dick cautiously reconnoitered. He could see the 
 half-drawn curtain, the sunlit space below it, the 
 fluttering white object. Ah, it was a hand, and 
 it was writing ; the glittering thing that caught 
 the sunlight was a silver penholder. But it 
 wasn't even a boy's hand ; it was too small and 
 too white. Besides, there was also visible a bare 
 white arm a lady's arm. She must have a lot 
 to say, Dick thought, tramping glumly back to 
 " The Crags," to be writing so fast and so steadily. 
 A whole morning gone, and nothing to show for 
 it! 
 
 Nancy greeted him joyously. "Who do you 
 think has been here ? Yes, somebody you know 
 and like. Somebody you didn't expect. Johnny 
 Andrews ! " 
 
 Dick whistled. " But their house is still closed. 
 I noticed this morning." 
 
 " Notice again this afternoon. Mrs. Andrews 
 and Johnny are at the Inn came last night. 
 
 79
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 John had such a funny time going to our old 
 house and being ' bowled over,' as he said, to find 
 strangers there. This afternoon they're going to 
 take two cleaning-women out to their house, and 
 to-morrow the rest of the family are coming." 
 
 " Gee 1 " Dick was clearly annoyed. " Then 
 he'll be busy all this afternoon. Just my luck 
 to have been prowling around hunting that queer 
 boy, and missed Johnny." 
 
 " Was that where you were ? " laughed Nancy. 
 " Then I'm afraid you did waste your time, be- 
 cause What did you find out ? " 
 
 " Nothing," admitted Dick gloomily. " Unless 
 you count that perhaps I spotted the house where 
 he lives. If so, there's a lady in the family that 
 was writing letters like mad this morning, and 
 the maid that answers the bell is either deaf or a 
 foreigner. At least she's a foreigner for sure, and 
 maybe deaf into the bargain, and she's not a bit 
 interested in stray callers. She told me ' please to 
 go away.' " 
 
 Nancy laughed delightedly. " Oh, Dick, you 
 did find the right house then the lovely one 
 that I call 'The Gem'! Johnny says the right 
 name of it is ' Fair Acre.' But how did you hap- 
 pen to ring their bell ? Do you know the boy's 
 name? " 
 
 " No, I don't know anything about him, except 
 
 80
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 what you told me." Dick explained his bell-ring- 
 ing scheme. " I suppose Johnny told you what- 
 ever new you know. Let's have it." 
 
 " It's not much," admitted Nancy. " Last night 
 Mrs. Andrews telephoned the Parkes, who have 
 her keys, and the Parkes came to the Inn to see 
 her. They told her about a queer family near 
 them a boy and his mother and a deaf French 
 maid who works all day and never goes out, and 
 an old gardener who sings queer foreign chants 
 at his work and never goes out either. And when 
 the lady goes out she wears a veil a green veil, 
 Johnny thought they said drawn tight over her 
 face. Sometimes she even wears it in the garden. 
 And the boy runs if he's spoken to." 
 
 " Nice neighbors I " sniffed Dick. 
 
 " They'd suit me beautifully," laughed Nancy. 
 " I wish they lived near us. I could have splen- 
 did times watching them and trying to puzzle 
 them out. Mrs. Parke thinks the woman is crazy, 
 and the boy keeps out of the way so he won't 
 have to answer questions about her. Mr. Parke 
 thinks she's been disfigured in some dreadful ac- 
 cident. But as I told Johnny, that boy I met 
 didn't act as if his mother was insane or terribly 
 hurt, and he wanted to hide it. He seemed too 
 gay and jolly. So Johnny said that perhaps she 
 was a beautiful young widow hiding from an 
 
 Si
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 insistent lover, and she's given the crusty maid 
 orders not to let any one in." 
 
 " That's your idea, not Johnny's," sniffed Dick, 
 not yet reconciled to his wasted morning. 
 " Johnny would think up something with blood- 
 and-thunder in it, instead of love." 
 
 " Perhaps we thought it up together," Nancy 
 admitted amiably. " And Johnny's coming back 
 to have lunch with you, so cheer up." 
 
 Nancy chuckled to herself at the idea of the 
 tearful young lady of yesterday having arrived at 
 the point of urging others to cheer up. But 
 strange as it might seem, to-day she really had 
 cheerfulness to spare. 
 
 " Maybe even my summer won't be spoiled," 
 she wrote in the Red Journal after luncheon, 
 when she was alone on the piazza again. Then 
 she added a fifth item to her list of helpful 
 activities : 
 
 " See to it that Bill and Joe go off somewhere 
 right straight after lunch. The contrary creatures 
 stick around and shout, when mother ought to be 
 having her nap." 
 
 It was still mid-afternoon, but time was begin- 
 ning to hang heavy, and the ankle to throb and 
 prickle as it always did when Nancy had nothing 
 to divert her mind from it. Her book was up- 
 stairs, the stockings all mended, and she couldn't 
 
 82
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 remember just how to go on with the crocheting 
 that mother had started for her. 
 
 " Oh, de " began Nancy, but stopped to won- 
 der about a low, persistent " Whu-whu ! " that 
 had sounded once or twice around the end of the 
 piazza. 
 
 " Whu-whu-whu-whu I " Where had she heard 
 that owlish hoot before ? 
 
 " Whu-whu-whu-whu I " 
 
 Hope Haskins, of course, calling from the top of 
 
 Baxter's Reef. "Whu-whu Here I ami" 
 
 called back Nancy. Mother had gone for her walk 
 now, so quiet was no longer necessary. " Come 
 right around the house. I'm on the piazza at the 
 back. I can't come to meet you, or get up, or any- 
 thing," she added as the little brown-clad figure 
 came nearer. 
 
 " I know ! " Hope called back. " That's the 
 particular reason why I came. But I can't see 
 why, if your house has a pretty name like ' The 
 Crags,' you don't stick it up somewhere. I wasn't 
 a bit sure that I'd come to the right place." 
 
 " Well, you have," Nancy assured her, " and at 
 the right time too, because I'm longing for com- 
 pany. I was going to write and ask you if you 
 couldn't come to see me some day when it rained." 
 
 " When it rained ? " Hope's brown eyes were 
 vague with wonderment. 
 
 83
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Because then, if you had time for any extras, 
 you wouldn't want to be out on the rocks," ex- 
 plained Nancy. "How did you get away from 
 ' The Sign of the Dolphin ' ? And how did you 
 know about my ankle ? " 
 
 " One question at a time, please," laughed Hope, 
 sitting down in one of the wicker chairs, after she 
 had laid a big bundle she carried carefully on a 
 table. " I heard about your ankle in a funny 
 way. Miss Willis had a bad headache yesterday. 
 She called the doctor and the doctor sent a nurse 
 to massage her head, and the nurse told her about 
 a girl at ' The Crags ' who'd sprained her ankle 
 five days ago. That was our day, you see, and 
 you'd told me where you lived, and I'd told Miss 
 Willis about you and how you said you'd come to 
 the shop. So she naturally told me why you 
 couldn't come at present. That's how I knew. 
 And I got here to-day because Miss Willis sent me 
 to a house called ' Gray Gables ' with that big bun- 
 dle, and she said I might stop to inquire for you, 
 and then you, or somebody else here, would tell 
 me how to get to ' Gray Gables.' So that's how I 
 got here and, as usual, I can't stay but a minute." 
 
 "Then there's something I want to ask you," 
 Nancy told her earnestly. " You remember what 
 you said the other day about enjoying glimpses of 
 rocks and pools more than you would if you had 
 
 84
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 all day to wander around and look at them. Do 
 you really think that's so ? " 
 
 " Oh, I know it ! " cried Hope eagerly, her big 
 eyes blazing. " Why, this very minute I'm enjoy- 
 ing you and this lovely piazza and these pretty 
 chairs and the flower-beds and the paths that 
 wander off to lovely places where I've never been 
 I'm enjoying it to make up for ironing napkins 
 in a stifling hot laundry all this morning, when it 
 wasn't my turn to iron, and for dropping a tray of 
 dishes yesterday and being scolded and made to 
 pay for what was broken, and for all the other 
 horrid things that have happened lately, and that 
 are probably going to happen soon. I'm having a 
 perfectly blissful time ! I'm storing up things to 
 think over and things to wonder about. But you 
 you sit here every day, and you don't have to 
 drink the loveliness down in big gulps and then 
 run." Hope sighed happily. " If I didn't have 
 to take my joys in gulps, I'm sure I should miss 
 lots of them." 
 
 " I think I see," said Nancy slowly. " Now 
 if I were like you, I could make the lovely walk 
 I had the day I met you last over these days when 
 I can't walk at all, and then 'I shouldn't feel so 
 unhappy about my accident." 
 
 " Yes," nodded Hope. " That's it. And being 
 here on this lovely, shady piazza would make up 
 
 85
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 to you for the days when you had to stay up-stairs, 
 and your having a pretty room I know you 
 have one would make up " 
 
 " Go up and see it, if you want to," suggested 
 Nancy. " It's the door at the left of the stairs. 
 Be sure to notice my tree and my view and my 
 wall-paper." 
 
 In a moment Hope came running back, so radi- 
 ant that Nancy made another suggestion. " I 
 want you to see my Birdcage too. Only I can't 
 bear not to show it to you myself. Would you have 
 time to help me out there ? We should have to 
 go slowly, but it's only a few steps." 
 
 Hope's eyes danced. " Oh, yes, I can do that, be- 
 cause I'll hurry all the way to ' Gray Gables ' and 
 back, to make up for lost time. You are splendid 
 to me, Nancy Lee. Everybody is almost tak- 
 ing a lot of trouble to show me things that they 
 think I shall love. I'm guessing hard this minute 
 about what wonderful kind of birdcage you can 
 have hung up out there in the woods." 
 
 " I don't think it was very splendid of whoever 
 made you pay for those broken dishes," said Nancy, 
 as they started for the Birdcage. " I think it's 
 downright mean to make a person pay for an 
 accident." 
 
 " Oh, not mean, exactly," qualified Hope. " You 
 see I knew about the breakage fines, and I ought 
 
 86
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 to have been more careful. Of course another girl 
 shoved me but I ought to have looked out for 
 that. Losing the forty cents will make me most 
 dreadfully careful for all summer, and by that 
 time perhaps I shall have got the habit of careful- 
 ness, which would be cheap at forty cents," ended 
 Hope quaintly. 
 
 " I guess it would ! " sighed Nancy. " I'm 
 dreadfully careless myself. I suppose I was being 
 careless when I got this sprain. And I'm always 
 dropping things and losing them and forgetting. 
 One of the Fair Oaks girls that's the name of my 
 school nicknamed me Miss I-Forgot. But just 
 at present I'm more interested in being cheerful 
 than careful. Whether you're used to it or not, 
 you have to be pretty careful on crutches." 
 
 Hope nodded. " And oh, surely you can't be 
 very cheerless, with this to come out to ! " she 
 cried, catching sight of the little summer-house. 
 " What a darling place ! And you say it's your 
 own little house? I think it belongs partly to the 
 fairies, Nancy Lee." 
 
 After a few blissful minutes spent in inspecting 
 the arrangements of the Birdcage, trying the 
 perches, as Hope insisted upon calling the chairs 
 and seat, and hearing about Nancy's projected im- 
 provements, Hope declared that she must go. It 
 wouldn't be fair to Miss Willis to stay any longer. 
 
 87
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Not that she specially needs me back in a hurry," 
 said Hope, " because so few people come to the 
 shop yet. But she pays me, so the afternoon be- 
 longs to her. You're sure you're all right here, 
 Nancy Lee? I'd better tell some one at the house 
 where you've disappeared to." 
 
 Having gone a little way down the path, Hope 
 ran back again with a parting suggestion. " Mer- 
 maids help me a lot these days," she announced 
 cryptically. " I mean, to think about, when I 
 can't be doing the things I want to. It really 
 seems as if I could imagine mermaids better when 
 I can't get out to see their haunts. So now that 
 you can't climb out on our big rock, you try im- 
 agining mermaids there. It helps a lot." 
 
 " Thank you but I'd rather have you out on 
 Baxter's with me than any silly mermaid," retorted 
 Nancy laughingly. 
 
 "Oh, really? Thank you for that!" cried 
 Hope, darting down the path and out of sight, this 
 time for good. 
 
 Lying back in her rustic chair, Nancy smiled 
 happily to herself over the notion of a matter-of- 
 fact person like Nancy Lee spending her thoughts on 
 mermaids. As she had told Hope, she preferred to 
 think about real people. She wished somebody else 
 would come to see her. Mother had promised to call 
 next door ; just possibly she might bring back the 
 
 88
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 girls with her. That would be pleasant, only if, 
 upon further acquaintance, she decided that she 
 didn't like them, Nancy hated to have them find 
 her in the Birdcage. She meant to keep that for 
 choice spirits like Hope. 
 
 " I'm tired, I tell you I I'm tired I " sang a 
 shrill little voice almost in Nancy's ear. Some- 
 body was down on the rocks the public rocks 
 outside the fence. Not mermaids, but real persons. 
 Nancy twisted herself round in her chair and 
 looked down, just as another explosive announce- 
 ment floated up to her. 
 
 " No, I don't wanter play in the sand," shrilled 
 the same cross little voice. " I won't I I won't 1 I 
 wanter see my father. I hate this place. I shall 
 cry if I wanter I Stop scratching me, you kitten I " 
 
 Down below the Birdcage stood a child the 
 palest, thinnest, sickliest little girl Nancy had 
 ever seen. Her white face was shaded by a flop- 
 ping white muslin hat. Her dress was white, and 
 her shoes and stockings. Under her arm she 
 carried a fluffy white ball of fur that Nancy 
 thought was a toy kitten, until, at an impatient 
 twitch from its little mistress, it mewed piteously. 
 
 Beside the cross child stood a stiffly starched, 
 unhappy-looking nurse-maid, holding on a leash a 
 beautiful white wolfhound, who, tugging hard at 
 his leash, looked rather unhappy too. 
 
 89
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Give me the kitten, and you take your pail 
 and spade and go and play in the sand," suggested 
 the nurse once more. 
 
 " I won't ! I won't ! " shrieked the little white 
 girl. " I want my kitten an' my father. You go 
 'way ! I don't want you I " 
 
 " I'll make you a sand-castle," suggested the 
 poor nurse desperately. " A lovely castle in " 
 
 " You won't ! " shrieked the child. " I wanter 
 go home, I do. I'm tired." 
 
 " But your grandpapa said " began the poor 
 
 nurse. 
 
 " That old thing ! " shrieked the naughty child. 
 "I won't mind him! I'll mind my father. My 
 father lets me do all the nice things I wanter. 
 He " 
 
 Nancy had listened, fascinated by the noisy 
 fury of the tiny, white-faced virago. Now she 
 leaned forward and gave Hope's owl-hoot. " Whu- 
 
 whu Who are you?" she called. "I'm a 
 
 little bird, and this is my cage. Who are you, 
 down there? A little chattering squirrel, I think, 
 or a clam come out of his hole in the sand to look 
 around." 
 
 At the sound of Nancy's voice, the child jumped 
 back, startled, and dropped the fluffy kitten, 
 which gave a frightened "miaow " as it fell, and 
 then squatted down contentedly on the warm 
 
 90
 
 NANCT'S LOOKOUT 
 
 sand. In a minute the child saw Nancy's yellow 
 head peering out from the greenery above her. 
 
 " Um ! You're a big story-teller," she cried. 
 " You're a girl, not a bird, and I'm a little girl. 
 You stop talking to me I " 
 
 " Oh, but I am truly and honestly in a Bird- 
 cage," persisted Nancy smilingly. " You just 
 come up and see if I'm not if your nurse is 
 willing. The name of it is all printed on my 
 little cage. And I'm a caged bird, too. My wing 
 is broken, so I can't hop down to you. I have to 
 stay right here in my on my perch." 
 
 " Um ! You big story-teller ! " mocked the 
 little white girl. " I don't wanter come up V see. 
 I won't come up ! I want my father. I hate this 
 old place." 
 
 " Hush, dearie," the shocked nurse besought her 
 small charge. " You mustn't be rude to the nice 
 lady. She's telling you a pretty story, and invit- 
 ing you up to see her. Oh " in a shriller key of 
 dismay " you naughty, naughty girl ! " 
 
 For, without waiting for any more talk about it, 
 the little white girl had made a dive after the 
 fluffy kitten and now, hardly touching the rocks 
 as she went, she was running away as fast as her 
 pipe-stem legs could carry her. 
 
 " Oh, my I She's not let to run I " cried the 
 white-capped nurse dismally, and was off in pant-
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ing pursuit, with the great white hound, contrary 
 as his little mistress, now pulling obstinately back 
 on his leash. 
 
 " Well, of all awful children ! " Nancy leaned 
 back in her rustic chair. " Poor little thing ! 
 She must have been dreadfully ill, to be so pale 
 and thin. Her face is like a little old woman's. 
 I pity that nurse." Suddenly Nancy gave a glad 
 little cry. " Why, I've found them two more un- 
 fortunates. And I wasn't even on the lookout, 
 unless you call it being on the lookout to be sitting 
 up in this Birdcage. It's the best lookout I've got, 
 anyway ; but of course it's only by accident that 
 I discovered those two. I should never see any 
 more from here, probably. I wonder if Mrs. 
 Miggs knows that dreadful child. And I wonder 
 if the child has any real things to be unhappy 
 about, or whether she's just cross as I was," 
 admitted honest Nancy. " Under the circum- 
 stances, I guess I'd better be feeling sorry for her 
 instead of calling her a dreadful child, poor little 
 mite ! " 
 
 92
 
 CHAPTER V 
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 THE two girls who lived next door were not 
 sisters ; they were cousins. Alexandra was Alex- 
 andra Little, sister of the tall boy who could do 
 the wonderful diving. Cecilia was Cecilia Green, 
 who lived in Ohio but spent most of her summers 
 with her Eastern cousins. The Little boy's name 
 was Peter, and because he was so very tall he was 
 naturally nicknamed Little Peter. But this fact 
 did not come out till after the ice had been broken, 
 and Cecilia's and Alexandra's formal call of neigh- 
 borly condolence had been turned into a very 
 merry visit that lasted most of the afternoon, 
 included Dick and Peter and Johnny Andrews, 
 and ended on the tennis-court, tennis-courts be- 
 ing, as is well known, excellent places for breaking 
 social ice. 
 
 Alexandra was tall and fair and very quiet. 
 Cecilia was little and dark and did the talking for 
 both. 
 
 " We felt so sorry when we heard of your acci- 
 dent," said Alexandra in her sweet, low voice. 
 
 " Aunt May tried to have us come right over 
 
 93
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 and see you," added Cecilia, " but Alexandra 
 wouldn't." 
 
 " Oh, C. I " remonstrated her cousin. " It was 
 only because I thought she might not feel like 
 having us." 
 
 " It's fun here at Halcyon, isn't it ? " Cecilia 
 changed the subject swiftly. " We don't know 
 many people yet, but we've been asked to go sail- 
 ing to-morrow with a party from the Inn. You 
 know Alexandra's brother Peter stayed there for 
 a while last summer. And everybody talks to you 
 when you're in the water. We go in every day." 
 
 Alexandra tried to catch her voluble cousin's 
 eye. " There's no prettier place around here than 
 this piazza, I think," she said, frowning hard at 
 Cecilia. 
 
 " Oh, yes, indeed ! " Cecilia saw the meaning 
 of Alexandra's signals. " And it's splendid to 
 have time to read and sew, and to be waited on, 
 isn't it? Can you have all the good things you 
 want to eat ? " 
 
 " I'll bring you over some of our books, if 
 you like," suggested Alexandra presently. " We 
 brought a good many with us, but no one seems to 
 care much for them." 
 
 " We can bring our sewing over sometimes too," 
 put in Cecilia. " We brought piles of fancy work 
 to do, and we haven't touched it." 
 
 94
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 " Oh, yes," chimed in Alexandra, looking pity- 
 ingly at Nancy. " We shall be glad to come and 
 sew with you." 
 
 Nancy had stood their pitying glances and tact- 
 ful sympathy just as long as she could. " Oh, 
 please stop bothering about me and planning to 
 do things for me, and let's talk about something 
 real I " she exploded suddenly. " I don't want to 
 be pitied I I'm not forlorn ! I hate to sit around 
 all summer and read or sew, just as much as you 
 two would, but I can stand it, I guess, if I have to. 
 Only, since we all three know what a perfect 
 nuisance a sprained ankle is, I'd rather talk about 
 something else something pleasanter." 
 
 Alexandra stared affrightedly at her hot-headed 
 young hostess. Cecilia giggled. " What do you 
 want to talk about ? " she asked. 
 
 " Things we all like, such as tennis," returned 
 Nancy promptly. " Have you a court ? Then 
 come and play on ours, and bring your brother." 
 
 " Oh, what larks ! " cried eager Cecilia. " Where 
 is your court ? It's queer I never noticed it." 
 
 Nancy explained, and sent her two guests off to 
 inspect the cleverly hidden tennis-ground. 
 
 " We should love to play here," Alexandra told 
 her when they were back, " only won't it make 
 you feel you know," she ended, afraid to risk 
 Nancy's displeasure by saying what she meant. 
 
 95
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " No, it won't," declared Nancy stoutly. " I 
 can sit on the green bench and watch, and 
 keep score for you, maybe. My brother Dick 
 will like to play with you. He's very fond of 
 tennis." 
 
 " Goodie I Then we can get Peter and have 
 mixed doubles ! " cried Cecilia eagerly. " That's 
 our favorite game. We'll certainly come soon." 
 She hesitated. " Would to-morrow afternoon be 
 too soon ? " 
 
 " Cecilia 1 " remonstrated Alexandra. 
 
 " Well," explained Cecilia, " that court looks so 
 tempting, and I thought it would be nice to settle 
 something right now." 
 
 " Of course it would." Nancy, smiling a satis- 
 fied smile, took up Cecilia's proposal. She had 
 been waiting for an excuse to call out her shy big 
 brother, who had fled indoors at the approach of 
 the two strange girls he so much wanted to know. 
 Here was her opening. " I believe Dick is some- 
 where around here now," she said. " So you 
 needn't wait even till to-morrow unless you want 
 to. Oh, Dick I " 
 
 Dick lounged out, blushing furiously and act- 
 ing as amazed as if he had not made Nancy sol- 
 emnly promise to " get him into the game " the 
 first chance she had. Why yes, he agreed rather 
 hesitatingly, it wasn't a bad day for tennis. If 
 
 96
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 Peter Little couldn't be found to make a fourth 
 for the match, he would stand the two girls. 
 
 But Peter was only too glad to come. He ap- 
 peared after a few minutes with the girls, who had 
 run home for shoes and racquets. Peter was noisy 
 and jolly, more like Cecilia than Alexandra. He 
 called his sister " Al " and his cousin " Miss C. 
 Green " or just " Sea-Green." 
 
 " We only have her here because she's the right 
 color," he explained facetiously. 
 
 He played a fair game, but not so well as Dick 
 did ; so that Dick, and Alexandra, who tried very 
 hard but was, as her brother blandly explained, 
 " an old duffer at sports," were very evenly 
 matched against Peter and Cecilia, who, Nancy 
 judged, played about as well as she did. In the 
 middle of the afternoon Johnny Andrews ap- 
 peared. 
 
 " Hello, Jonathan," said Nancy, making room 
 for him on the green bench. " I'm not a bit sur- 
 prised to see you. I thought I heard Dick tele- 
 phoning you, when he went in to get the tennis 
 net." 
 
 Johnny smiled. " S'pose he did telephone? 
 He had to call off an engagement to go out in my 
 new motor-boat, hadn't he? I'm naturally a meek 
 little soul, but when I'm to be coldly turned down 
 for a girl party I want to be notified in time to be 
 
 97
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 in on said party. That's perfectly fair, isn't it? 
 Besides, I've got news for you." 
 
 "News for me?" Nancy wondered. "Oh, 
 Johnny, is it about the Green Knight ? " 
 
 Johnny nodded solemnly. " I've seen him. 
 He was wearing his badge of office green cap 
 with feather aforesaid. He was walking. On 
 two feet. Also whistling. I said ' Hello.' He 
 did not run away from me." 
 
 " What a thrilling report ! " laughed Nancy. 
 
 " Just the same," Johnny assured her, " he, and 
 the party with the veil, and the gardener that 
 makes the flowers grow in Dago and talks sign 
 language with his fingers at that crazy looking 
 cook, they've got the neighborhood all fussed 
 up." 
 
 The tennis set ended just then, and the players 
 joined the spectators, the girls taking the bench 
 and the boys the ground. 
 
 " Couldn't you go sailing if we helped you a 
 lot about getting into the boat?" Johnny asked 
 Nancy presently. " Because there's a perfectly 
 good motor-launch tied up to your dock this min- 
 ute, and plenty of time before dinner for us all 
 here assembled to try her out." 
 
 Nancy shook her head. The steps down to the 
 wharf were too steep for crutches, and the doctor 
 had advised her not to try to get in and out of a 
 
 98
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 boat for a while. But she urged the rest to go, 
 laughingly telling them that she had had enough 
 company for one day. In this she was perfectly 
 sincere ; her ankle throbbed from having been 
 kept so long in the normal position of well 
 ankles ; she longed to prop it up and stretch it 
 out, with no regard for appearances. In the end 
 she had her way. Dick and Johnny made a 
 " lady's chair " and carried her gallantly back to 
 the piazza, where the young people from next 
 door said good-bye to her and thanked her for " a 
 perfectly grand time." 
 
 " I'm glad you didn't want to be pitied," whis- 
 pered Cecilia. 
 
 " So am I," chimed in Alexandra. " But for a 
 minute when you objected to the topics of our 
 conversation, you frightened me. I thought you 
 meant that we had been stupid." 
 
 It didn't take long for the throb in Nancy's 
 ankle to subside, and then, after the gay time she 
 had had earlier in the afternoon, the piazza seemed 
 very dull and quiet. 
 
 " I'm getting lonely and cross," Nancy told her- 
 self. " I mustn't do that. I've had a gulp of 
 fun, as Hope says, and it ought to last me for 
 a while ; but instead I want another right off now. 
 I'll go to my lookout, and see how Mrs. Miggs's 
 rule works." 
 
 99
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 So she hobbled out to the Birdcage and estab- 
 lished herself in the biggest chair, overlooking the 
 rocks and the water. 
 
 She had scarcely seated herself when a shrill 
 little voice jeered up at her eagerly. " You are a 
 story-teller, you are ! You're not a bird. You 
 don't stay in a cage. Your wing isn't broken 
 you haven't a wing. I saw you walk with two 
 sticks under your arms. So now ! " The little 
 white girl jiggled on her pipe-stem legs, in defiant 
 assertion of her thesis. 
 
 Nancy smiled cajolingly down at her small an- 
 tagonist. " Don't you ever pretend ? " she asked. 
 " I think it's fun to pretend, and when I was 
 smaller like you I used just to love it. Of course 
 I'm a girl. I've hurt my ankle ; that's why I 
 walk on two sticks. But this truly is a Birdcage 
 you come and see if the name isn't fastened 
 right up here on it and I can't go far from the 
 door of my cage, because walking on sticks is too 
 hard work. So don't you think I might pretend 
 I'm a bird?" 
 
 " You can pretend if you wanter," snapped the 
 small drooping mouth. " I shan't. It's silly. I 
 wanter go home. I came to see if you were a 
 bird." She turned to the nurse, who stood beside 
 her, eying her rude little charge with dull dis- 
 couragement. 
 
 100
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 " Where's your kitten ? " asked Nancy, deter- 
 mined to strike some spark of friendliness or in- 
 terest from the strange, aloof child. 
 
 But the innocent question was like a red rag to 
 a bull. 
 
 " Never you mind about that I " shrieked the 
 child. " Never you mind I " She turned furi- 
 ously on the nurse. " You old tattle-tale ! " She 
 stamped her little white-shod feet. " You old 
 tattle-tale I " 
 
 Thus assailed, the drooping nurse was galvan- 
 ized into sudden energy and a belated realization 
 of her responsibilities. Slipping the dog's leash 
 over her arm, she seized the child firmly by the 
 shoulders. 
 
 " Clare," she ordered, " you are not to speak so 
 to the lady, or to me. Tell her you are sorry." 
 
 " I'm not ! I shan't ! " cried the child. 
 
 " Then I shall have to tell your grandfather 
 what a rude little girl you've been." 
 
 No answer. 
 
 " I'm going to tell the lady about your kitten." 
 She looked up at Nancy. " It was taken away, 
 ma'am, because she was saucy to her governess. 
 She's not to have it back until she apologizes. 
 And when I tell her grandfather about this, he'll 
 take the dog away too, I fancy. Say you're sorry, 
 Clare." 
 
 101
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " I won't, I won't ! I want my own kitten and 
 my own dog. I want my own father ! You old 
 tattle-tale, you I " 
 
 " We'll go home this minute, Clare." 
 
 With a piercing shriek the child stiffened her 
 small figure and refused to stir. Finally the out- 
 raged nurse stooped and picked her up and ran 
 with her down the path. " I'll hold my breath if 
 you don't let me down," shrieked the child, as the 
 pair vanished, with the puzzled wolfhound com- 
 plicating matters as usual by trying to lag behind. 
 
 " Poor little thing ! " Nancy's gray eyes were 
 full of tears. " I thought little children were al- 
 ways happy. Timmy was." She wished the 
 twins and Margaret were there to adopt the little 
 white girl as their prize Waif and Stray. Jeanne 
 and little Sarah seemed creatures of joy compared 
 to this miserable mite. If only Nancy could go 
 down on the rocks with her, she felt sure she 
 could make friends with the child. 
 
 She was still a very sober Nancy, when mother 
 came with the key to the tea-chest or the bird- 
 seed box, as Hope had wanted it called. 
 
 " Will you ask me to tea, Nancy ? " she de- 
 manded gaily. " I'm hungry as a bear after my 
 walk." 
 
 Over the tea Nancy related her last experience 
 with the strange child, the other having already 
 
 102
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 been retailed to the family. " I wonder if she can 
 be a granddaughter of old Judge Smith's," said 
 Mrs. Lee. " He's opened ' Gray Gables/ I see. I 
 remember hearing that his youngest son had a 
 little daughter whose mother died when she was 
 born. The father is an artist and lives in some 
 queer, far-away place South America, perhaps." 
 
 " This little girl is always wailing for her 
 father," Nancy remembered, " and she looks some- 
 how different and foreign, so she's probably the 
 ' Gray Gables ' child. I wish I could think of 
 something comical to make for her. Oh, I know I 
 A peanut doll family I I do believe she'll like 
 peanut dolls, and if she doesn't she's welcome to 
 throw them down and stamp on them if she wants 
 to, poor little, lonely thing." 
 
 Next day it rained. Nancy buttoned William 
 and Josephine into their raincoats and sent them 
 off to the Neck after peanuts and a spool of wire. 
 While they were gone she interviewed Rosa, 
 planned the day's meals, and mended a rip in 
 Dick's bathing-suit. The children cleared a table 
 for her on the piazza, found paste, string, ink, 
 some bits of cloth, and sewing utensils, and then 
 watched breathlessly while Nancy turned peanuts 
 into dolls' bodies, arms, legs, and faces. By the 
 time a " family " of six grotesque little wriggling 
 dolls was finished, it had stopped raining, and 
 
 103
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Josephine, who had been tremendously interested 
 in Nancy's account of the strange child, volun- 
 teered to take the dolls up to " Gray Gables." 
 
 " But I'm not sure she lives there," objected 
 Nancy. Then she laughed gleefully. " Yes, do 
 take them, Joe. Her name is Clare. Don't leave 
 them unless it's surely the right place. There ! " 
 When she was talking Nancy had printed on the 
 peanut dolls' box : " Another little bird told me 
 you lived here. LADY BIRD-IN-A-CAGE." 
 
 In an incredibly short time, Josephine was back, 
 a shocked expression on her small face. 
 
 "She lives there and she's an awfully rude 
 little girl," announced Josephine primly. "She 
 snatched at the box, and she never said ' thank 
 you.' And when the lady that was with her re- 
 minded her to say it, she wouldn't. But an old 
 man came is he her father, Nancy ? and he 
 thanked me and took me out to see the pony. 
 She wouldn't come. Is it her pony, do you s'pose, 
 Nancy? It looks so funny and little, all by itself 
 in the big barn, because they have another place for 
 all the automobiles. And the old man asked me 
 to come' again, after the pony's cart, which they've 
 sent for, is here, and drive it around. But if I've 
 got to play with that rude little girl I don't want 
 to go. She's too little for me to play with, any- 
 way." 
 
 104
 
 I'VE BEEN ON THE LOOKOUT
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 11 I've been on the lookout I " Nancy announced 
 triumphantly to Mrs. Miggs when that lady ap- 
 peared a little later in the day. " And I've found 
 the unhappiest child in Halcyon." 
 
 " You don't say ! " Mrs. Miggs's little black 
 bonnet fluttered and her eyes snapped with interest, 
 as Nancy told her about the little white girl. 
 " The dretful child ! I certainly pity those wimin 
 that has the care of her. You put them on your 
 list of unfortunates too, Miss Nancy. And jest to 
 think of all she's got to make her happy, with that 
 lovely big yard to play in and the old Judge turn- 
 ing things topsy-turvy to amuse her, so I've heard. 
 I'll ask about the father and mother as I have 
 chances to do so, and let you know." 
 
 Mrs. Miggs rubbed the ankle for a while in 
 silence. " Unhappiness that ain't reasonable," she 
 mused at last, " and unhappiness that can't be 
 cured they're both bad, but the last wrings your 
 heart. My little lame grandchild she must be just 
 about the age of your sister she lies in bed as 
 cheerful and contented, thinkin' how she'll be 
 walkin' again before long. But the chances is," 
 Mrs. Miggs dropped her voice to the tone of a con- 
 fidence, " the chances is she'll lie there the rest of 
 her life." 
 
 " Oh, what a pity 1 " Nancy's soft eyes sym- 
 pathized eagerly with her new friend. " Things 
 
 105
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 like that make little troubles look like nothing, 
 don't they ? My little white girl is just a cry-baby, 
 not a bit worth pitying, compared to yours." 
 
 " Don't you say that ! Don't you be hard on 
 her ! " warned Mrs. Miggs zestfully. " My grand- 
 child's got grit and good sperits, if her legs won't 
 work right. And sometimes I think grit and good 
 sperits is worth more than all the other things in 
 this world put together." 
 
 " I couldn't be cheerful if I knew I should never 
 walk again," sighed Nancy. 
 
 "She don't know it yit," explained Mrs. Miggs. 
 " And she shan't neither, as long as there's any 
 hope in her an' I'm 'round to chirk her up with a 
 few more dretful fibs. But if she ever has to 
 know the worst, she'll keep up. She's a wonder, 
 that child is." Mrs. Miggs grew confidential again. 
 " It's on her account I'm here with my daughter 
 'stead of up to Kittaning Corners as usual. She 
 says nobody lifts her quite so easy as her granny." 
 
 " Would she like some peanut dolls, like the 
 ones I made for my child ? " demanded Nancy. 
 
 " She'd adore some," chirped Mrs. Miggs. " But 
 my dear, what would set her up most would be to 
 hear about this Birdcage of yours that you talk 
 about. That story you made of it that that other 
 no-'count child laughed at my lamb loves stories. 
 If you'd jest explain it a little more I ain't much 
 
 106
 
 MORE NEW FRIENDS 
 
 at these pertend games myself, but I enter in all I 
 can, because it pleases her so." 
 
 " Why, it wasn't anything 1 " Nancy repeated 
 her two conversations with the little white girl, and 
 then sent Mrs. Miggs out to inspect the Birdcage, 
 so that the little masseuse departed in a state of 
 twittering delight, "jest chock-full of interes tin' 
 news," as she herself described her condition. 
 
 107
 
 CHAPTER VI 
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 " OF course you're all to go out in Johnny's 
 boat ! The fireworks will look a lot prettier from 
 the water, and besides, you can run into the har- 
 bor past city park to see what the big crowds there 
 are doing, and then past the Inn to see the dancing. 
 I shall be perfectly happy here alone." 
 
 " Are you sure you won't be the least bit nerv- 
 ous ? " Mrs. Lee asked her daughter anxiously. 
 " Rosa will be out too, you know." 
 
 " Not a bit," persisted Nancy stoutly. " I'm 
 never nervous." 
 
 " Then perhaps we will all go for a little while," 
 decided Mrs. Lee. " I can't let the children go 
 unless I'm with them, and having them on the 
 boat is by far the easiest way of looking after 
 them." 
 
 " Want to be escorted out to your private 
 summer-house, Nancy ? " asked Dick. " I say, it's 
 a perfect shame you can't go to the Inn dance." 
 
 Nancy laughed at his earnestness. " Is Johnny 
 Andrews trying to cut you out with Alexandra? 
 I'm sorry I can't be on hand to divert his atten- 
 
 108
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 tion. No thank you, Dick. I think I'll keep to 
 the piazza. I can see the bay almost as well from 
 here, and it might be spooky down among the 
 trees all by my lonesome." 
 
 " You'll have Regent to protect you," Dick re- 
 minded her, stooping to pat his collie. " He's too 
 much underfoot in the boat." 
 
 So with her chair drawn up to the table-lamp, 
 the Spoiled Kitten very sleepy from frolicking 
 with Josephine in her lap, and the collie curled 
 obediently at her feet, though he was fairly quiver- 
 ing with eagerness to be off after his master, Nancy 
 prepared to enjoy her solitary Fourth of July 
 evening as best she might. Secretly she was a 
 little annoyed at the family for leaving her. She 
 wasn't in the least frightened ; fear of imaginary 
 bogies never bothered Nancy Lee. But she had 
 had a rather stupid day, for Fourth of July cele- 
 brations had displaced the regular tennis games, 
 and everybody had been too busy to think much 
 about Nancy, who was such a self-reliant, contented 
 invalid nowadays that she received less considera- 
 tion, perhaps, than she really needed. 
 
 " I do hate to be fussed over," she thought, " but 
 all the same I'm awfully sick of sewing and read- 
 ing and sitting. I believe I'd even enjoy parchesi. 
 I wonder if Josephine would have stayed if I'd 
 offered to play her beloved game." 
 
 109
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 The Spoiled Kitten awoke from its cat-nap, purr- 
 ing vociferously, and climbed up to lick Nancy's 
 cheek affectionately. The collie yapped, as a par- 
 ticularly noisy motor went by on the road. 
 
 " Hush, Regent ! " Nancy ordered, and was 
 startled at the sound of her own voice breaking 
 the perfect quiet of the evening. 
 
 A shower of many-colored sparks flamed out 
 suddenly over the water. The fireworks had 
 begun. Nancy looked at them, read, petted the 
 kitten, called to Regent, who hated the detonations 
 that accompanied the fireworks and prowled rest- 
 lessly back and forth on the long piazza, getting 
 lost in the darkness at either end. But always at 
 the sound of Nancy's call he pattered back obedi- 
 ently, and curled up at her feet in response to her 
 " Charge, Regent ! " 
 
 Yawning, Nancy looked at her watch. Twenty- 
 five minutes past eight ; mother had meant to be 
 back by half-past. But very likely Mrs. Andrews 
 would persuade her to stay out longer. Rosa was 
 almost always back before nine. 
 
 " And then," thought Nancy, " I shall go to bed. 
 I don't care much for these fireworks. Perhaps 
 they're having some wonderful low picture effects 
 that I can't see, but the ones I can see are perfectly 
 ordinary." 
 
 " Bow wow wow wow wow I " Regent 
 
 no
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 leaped up and bounded along the piazza, barking 
 frantically. 
 
 He heard the family down at the dock, Nancy 
 decided swiftly, annoyed at herself for having 
 jumped and thereby frightened away the Spoiled 
 Kitten, who hissed at her and the noisy Regent 
 angrily from the piazza railing. 
 
 " Come here, Regent. Regent, come here I " 
 called Nancy in her sternest tones. But Regent, 
 bristling and growling out at the darkest end of 
 the long piazza, paid not the slightest attention. 
 
 His actions puzzled and worried Nancy. He 
 wasn't looking toward the water-path. He never 
 growled unless some stranger appeared in his 
 home domain, and not often then ; he was a very 
 friendly puppy. 
 
 Ah ! It was Rosa of course, Rosa and a beau, 
 coming in at the little back gate. Regent had 
 taken a curious aristocratic dislike to all men who 
 came in at that little back gate grocer's boys, 
 milk and meat men, or Rosa's suitors. Dick 
 suspected that the fish-man had started the feud 
 with a surreptitious kick. 
 
 " Rosa I Rosa I Are you back ? " called Nancy, 
 above the dog's angry growls. " Speak to Regent, 
 please, and he'll stop. Oh, be still, you naughty 
 dog I " 
 
 But Regent would not be still. Instead, he 
 
 in
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 added an agitated running accompaniment to his 
 growls ; and each time that he neared Nancy's seat, 
 he looked anxiously up in her face and gave vent 
 to an agonized howl that said as plainly as words : 
 " Here's trouble. Come and see to it, you lazy 
 girl I " 
 
 " Oh, do stop, Regent ! " cried Nancy desper- 
 ately, after one such appeal. " There's nobody 
 out there except Rosa, perhaps, and a friend of 
 hers. People have a right to the road. They 
 have a right to stand and talk out there. Well, 
 if you just won't be quiet till I've been round the 
 corner with you, I suppose I must go." Nancy 
 picked up her crutches, turned on all the piazza, 
 lights, and followed Regent, who careered about 
 joyously, and then, running ahead to the porch- 
 corner, began once more that ominous angry 
 growling. Bracing herself on one crutch, Nancy 
 laid the other against the house and reaching 
 down caught the noisy dog by the collar. 
 
 " Sh, Regent ! " she ordered. " Rosa, are you 
 out there ? Please come and show yourself. Then 
 Regent will stop." 
 
 " Is there trouble here ? Is some one calling ? " 
 demanded a masculine voice from the shrubbery 
 out by the front gate. This wasn't Rosa's suitor, 
 with his funny Swedish brogue. The voice that 
 had called was well modulated, a gentleman's 
 
 112
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 voice, and it was a gentleman, very elegant in 
 white tennis flannels, who now came quickly for- 
 ward, blinking in the bright light of all the porch 
 lamps. 
 
 " Your dog doesn't seem to care for strangers," 
 he laughed. " I've been out there in the road for 
 several minutes, wondering if the commotion he 
 was making was just fuss or real trouble. Are 
 you in any trouble ? Is there anything that I can 
 do?" 
 
 " Nothing, I think, thank you," said Nancy, 
 tugging at Regent's collar. " This silly dog has 
 an idea that something is wrong, and he made me 
 come out to see. I was only talking to him, and 
 then I called to Rosa that's our maid thinking 
 he might have heard her talking by the other gate." 
 
 " There's no one else anywhere about here, I 
 think," said the man from his place in the shad- 
 ows on the little path. " Your dog is probably 
 nervous over the fireworks. My collie always 
 runs for the cellar on the evening of July third, 
 and camps there till the last gun is fired." 
 
 Nancy glanced over her shoulder at the bay. 
 " I thought the fireworks were over some time 
 ago. Oh ! " as Regent gave a particularly vi- 
 cious tug at his collar " I think you'd better go. 
 He's never bitten any one, but he certainly acts 
 queer to-night."
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Only excitement over the fireworks," insisted 
 the man pleasantly, moving off down the path. 
 " Nobody about here, I'm sure. Good-evening, 
 madam." 
 
 " Aren't you ashamed, Regent," scolded Nancy, 
 "to be stirring up the whole neighborhood and 
 making strange gentlemen think something dread- 
 ful is happening to us? You feel better now, 
 do you ? " For the dog had quieted suddenly. 
 " Then let's go into the house, and curl up to- 
 gether on the couch and enjoy ourselves till our 
 absent family returns. But first we've got to call 
 in that Spoiled Kitten which you've scared most 
 to pieces with all your barking." 
 
 Nancy had scarcely settled herself with her 
 pacified pets, when the Lee family trouped nois- 
 ily in, all but Dick, who had stayed behind with 
 Johnny, the Littles, and Cecilia, to enjoy the 
 dancing at the Inn. The children were full of 
 the fireworks, and Nancy forgot to mention 
 Regent's odd behavior until she saw Dick at 
 breakfast next morning. 
 
 " Next time you go off and leave me," Nancy 
 told him, " please take your dog, or at least put 
 him to bed. He made such a noise that a strange 
 man came in to ask if I was in trouble." 
 
 "He did?" Dick was all interest. "Now 
 maybe you people won't fuss so much about his 
 
 114
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 chewing a few things up and knocking around 
 the place a bit. Maybe now you'll see that a 
 dog's worth while." 
 
 " Worth while 1 " Nancy scoffed. " He made 
 such a disturbance that I had to get up and go 
 around the piazza with him. And even then he 
 wouldn't stop. I had to hold him with all my 
 strength, while the strange man was talking to 
 me ; and it's a great wonder he didn't pull me 
 over and hurt my game ankle." 
 
 " It's quite evident," Dick told her loftily, 
 " that you haven't heard the news. The Parkes 
 had burglars last night." 
 
 " Burglars ! " gasped Nancy. 
 
 " Burglars on Halcyon Point ! " echoed Mrs. 
 Lee. " With only one road in, and a watchman 
 at the lodge gate to see that no suspicious char- 
 acters get by, and two policemen to patrol the 
 Point at night. Nancy, I shall never leave you 
 alone again ! " 
 
 " She's perfectly safe with Regent," asserted 
 Dick. " He evidently heard 'em prowling around, 
 looking for a likely window. Regular porch- 
 climber, the Parkes' burglar was. They found 
 his marks going up a pillar of that rose-trellis 
 thing they have along the back of the house. He 
 climbed up that way, and took out a window- 
 screen. He didn't get much, because Mr. Parke
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 happened to come home late from the city, and 
 went right up-stairs and scared him off." 
 
 " The Smiths at the big house they too haf a 
 tief," the staid Rosa broke into the breakfast con- 
 versation. " The milkman say the little girl she 
 scairt mos' to death." 
 
 "By a burglar, Rosa?" demanded Dick ex- 
 citedly. 
 
 " Dey tink so," explained Rosa. "Only he 
 don' take nothin'. He chust scare de little girl. 
 Nobody else hear him. But de milkman tell 'em 
 Mister Parke have tief, and the cook she say that's 
 what it is." 
 
 " Mr. Parke telephoned the Inn last night for a 
 detective," explained Dick. " That's how the 
 news spread so soon. He wants to get back a pin 
 that Mrs. Parke is fond of an old one, I guess it 
 was, that had been in the family. And then he 
 says he wants the man caught to protect the other 
 cottagers. I say they'd better all get dogs." 
 
 Nancy shivered. " I can't believe any burglars 
 were around here last night. The man who came 
 in to see about Regent's barking said there was 
 nobody else out there. He thought the fireworks 
 had scared Regent. Besides, he does bark some- 
 times just for mischief, Dick. You know he 
 does." 
 
 Dick waved melodramatically at the tangle of 
 
 116
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 shrubbery that secluded " The Crags " from Light- 
 house Road. " Do you really think any one could 
 be sure at night, even after a good thorough search, 
 that a man wasn't hidden in there ? This man 
 who heard you calling Rosa and quieting Regent 
 did he go in there and hunt around ? Well, 
 then, why don't you give my dog credit for some 
 sense? He barks occasionally at nothing, I'll 
 admit ; but I never knew him to growl unless 
 something was really wrong. I say, Nancy, this 
 fellow who talked to you maybe he was the 
 burglar ! " 
 
 " Dick I " Nancy was highly indignant. " He 
 was no more like a burglar than you are. He had 
 on white flannels, and his voice sounded perfectly 
 nice and gentlemanly. He owns a "collie himself, 
 he said." 
 
 " Stranger things have happened," said Dick 
 oracularly, "than sweet-voiced burglars in white 
 flannels. Were they absolutely and immaculately 
 white, Nancy ? Because if he was the Parkes' 
 burglar, I should say he must have climbed their 
 rose-arbor before he talked to you." 
 
 " I can't be sure how white his clothes were," 
 said Nancy rather crossly, " because he stood 
 down in the shadow." 
 
 "There!" Dick triumphed. "Describe him." 
 
 Nancy considered. " He was about as tall as 
 
 117
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 you. He didn't look fat. I don't think he had a 
 moustache. He looked and acted perfectly nice 
 and gentlemanly, and he came in from the road 
 because he thought I was in trouble. I saw him 
 coming up from the gate." 
 
 " He wasn't your same gallant Green Knight, I 
 suppose ? " inquired Dick casually. 
 
 " Oh, no ! " Nancy assured him. " That boy 
 wouldn't bother about a dog's barking. By all 
 we've seen and all we've heard about him, he's 
 much too unsociable. Besides, it wasn't he ; I 
 could see plenty well enough to be sure of that." 
 
 " Um I suppose you're right." Dick got up 
 briskly. " Johnny and Little Peter and I have a 
 date." 
 
 " Will you help me to swim to-day, Dick ? " 
 demanded Billy anxiously. 
 
 " If I'm back in time," Dick promised cau- 
 tiously. " Can't tell how long we fellows may be 
 busy." 
 
 " Where you going, Dick ? " piped curious Jo- 
 sephine. " I wanted you to help me to swim too." 
 
 " Never you mind where I'm going." Dick 
 strode off importantly. 
 
 " Tell the girls to come over and play tennis or 
 something," called Nancy. 
 
 " I will, if I see them. Can't keep Johnny 
 waiting forever." 
 
 118
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 On the edge of tears, Nancy watched him go, 
 heard Peter sing out, " You're late, old man," and 
 the two tramp off together, laughing over something 
 Dick had said. Dick had been so superior about 
 Regent's behavior, and now for him to flaunt a 
 secret 1 Boys did have such fun ! Nancy sat up 
 straight, and thought hard of the little white girl, 
 more miserable than usual this morning, accord- 
 ing to Rosa's account, and then of Mrs. Miggs's 
 grandchild with her " grit and good sperits." 
 The rule worked. You really couldn't weep 
 because your brother had a secret and forgot to 
 deliver your messages when you thought of the 
 unhappy child at " Gray Gables," or the child 
 with grit and good spirits who would probably 
 never walk again. 
 
 " I'm going down to the Birdcage," she told 
 Josephine and Billy, " to make peanut dolls for 
 a little sick girl that Mrs. Miggs knows. Will 
 you two help carry the things I want ? And then 
 why don't you go berrying? There must be lots 
 of raspberries over on the moor. Maybe you'd 
 get enough for a shortcake." 
 
 The Birdcage was very quiet this morning. 
 Nancy, her chair drawn up to the little table, 
 worked busily at the peanut family. Sure that 
 this time her gift would be appreciated, she took 
 extra pains with the little faces, making some as 
 
 119
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 absurd and some as lifelike as possible. Upon the 
 dresses, too, Nancy exercised all her ingenuity. 
 She made a clown, a ballet dancer, an absurd 
 creature as nearly as possible like Jane Learned in 
 the costume of the Frabjous Tortoise, 1 a bride, 
 Nancy tinkled her bell for Rosa to bring her out a 
 tulle bow for the bridal veil, and lastly twins, 
 dressed in checked gingham with sunbonnets to 
 match. 
 
 Nancy set them all up in a row and laughed 
 heartily to herself at the motley array they made. 
 Then instead of merely laying them away in their 
 box, she fastened wires around their necks and 
 strung them up in a dangling row, thus construct- 
 ing a crude sort of puppet-theater, in which the 
 peanut company disported themselves as she pulled 
 the strings. 
 
 Nancy, who still loved childish toys, was play- 
 ing contentedly with her puppets, planning a play 
 for them to tell Mrs. Miggs about, when her at- 
 tention was attracted by a snapping sound coming 
 up from the rocks below the " public rocks " 
 where the little white girl had stood. 
 
 Nancy craned her neck to look over the Bird- 
 cage railing. A girl was sitting down there alone 
 a girl older than Nancy about the age of the 
 Fair Oaks seniors, perhaps, and as pretty as that 
 
 l See "Nancy Lee." 
 1 2O
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 spoiled senior beauty, Vera Lawson. She was 
 dressed in white, and she wore no hat, but over 
 her head she held a gorgeous parasol of gaily 
 striped silk, tilting it against the sun so that, for 
 Nancy, her face was silhouetted on the bright silk. 
 A book and a bag lay on the rock beside the girl, 
 but she sat doing nothing except staring forlornly 
 out across the bay and throwing little pebbles 
 idly at the big rock in front of her. It was the 
 click of the pebbles on the stone that Nancy had 
 heard. 
 
 Nancy gazed down admiringly at the pretty 
 girl in her crisp white clothes under the gay um- 
 brella. Yes, she was even prettier than Vera. 
 There was more poise, more character in her face. 
 Her beauty was of the type that made you sure 
 you wanted to know her sure you would find 
 her interesting as well as pretty. Nancy wished 
 she would smile. Her soft cheek looked as if it 
 would curve adorably when something pleased 
 her. But instead, quite without warning, she 
 dropped her pretty face on her lap and began, very 
 quietly but quite undisguisedly, to cry. 
 
 Nancy drew back, horror-stricken. " You be on 
 the lookout ! " Mrs. Miggs had advised her. 
 " You'll find Halcyon Point ain't such a paradise 
 of joy as you might think." Then the Birdcage 
 had revealed the little white girl, and now there 
 
 121
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 was this tragedy hidden under the flaunting gaiety 
 of a Roman-striped umbrella tragedy with such 
 a lovely face and such dainty clothes. There was 
 magic in the Birdcage lookout black magic, re- 
 vealing misery in the most unlikely places. 
 Nancy felt somehow to blame for the pretty girl's 
 trouble ; as if, by being " on the lookout," she had 
 been a cause, and not merely a witness of her woe. 
 Still the pretty girl cried on ; Nancy, drawn 
 back well out of sight from below, leaned cau- 
 tiously forward occasionally, hoping she would 
 have stopped. Something dreadful must be the 
 matter. Perhaps the girl had heard bad news. 
 Somebody she was fond of had died, or Vera sug- 
 gested this her family objected to the man she 
 
 loved, or Nancy longed to know, longed 
 
 to comfort the beautiful being. But perhaps she 
 would be crotchety, like the little white girl. 
 Certainly she wouldn't want any one to see her 
 crying. All at once Nancy hit upon a plan, and 
 looked eagerly around for means whereby to ex- 
 ecute it. She couldn't risk the peanut dolls ; the 
 paste bottle would break, the scissors were too small. 
 It must be the book she had been reading, poor 
 thing ! Well, it was a stupid book, and it belonged 
 to Nancy ; if it got torn or broken in its fall, nobody 
 else could find fault. Swiftly Nancy leaned for- 
 ward, lightly she tossed the stupid book over the 
 
 122
 
 WAS HE THE BURGLAR? 
 
 railing and down to the rocks, aiming just to one 
 side of the gay umbrella. Then she dodged back 
 and waited ; the girl must be given a chance to re- 
 gain her composure. 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " said Nancy loudly, after the 
 minute's pause, and leaned cautiously forward. 
 Yes, it was all right to look now ; the pretty girl 
 was just giving her flushed cheeks a final dab with 
 her damp handkerchief. She had jumped up and 
 stood staring in a startled way at the steep bank 
 above her. 
 
 " Oh I " she gasped when she saw Nancy, " is it 
 your book? I couldn't imagine where it came 
 from." 
 
 " I'm so sorry ! " Nancy's voice was sweet and 
 eager. She did hope this big unhappy girl would 
 be more friendly than the little unhappy one. " I 
 dropped it somehow, and I can't come down, be- 
 cause I've sprained my ankle. When you come 
 back to the road, would you mind just leaving it 
 on our piazza ? I'm sorry to bother you, but it's 
 only a step I " 
 
 " I'll bring it right now," said the pretty girl, 
 smiling cordially up at Nancy. " It's no trouble, 
 and you won't want to sit there doing nothing. 
 Which way do I get up to you ? " 
 
 123
 
 CHAPTER VII 
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 " No," said the pretty girl decidedly, " I don't 
 like Halcyon very well so far. But then," she 
 added honestly, " it's not the fault of the place." 
 
 Upon close inspection she was even prettier than 
 she had looked on the beach, as she sat, a little 
 breathless and disheveled from her climb over the 
 rocks, under the fence, and straight up the Lees' 
 woody bank to the Birdcage. For she had received 
 Nancy's suggestion that she come round by the 
 road with a merry " Oh, what's the use? I always 
 prefer short-cuts." 
 
 Nancy smiled at her guest admiringly. " When 
 you know where the prettiest places are, and after 
 you've met more people maybe " Nancy hesi- 
 tated, because the pretty girl was shaking her head 
 decisively. 
 
 " Oh, it's not that I'm bored or lonely," she said. 
 " You see," she dimpled again adorably, " you see 
 I well, I don't feel the need of many people right 
 at present because I've got one person that is, 
 we've been married almost a month now. We're 
 
 124
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 spending our honeymoon here in the little cot- 
 tage out close by the lighthouse. We've taken it 
 through August." 
 
 " What a lovely long honeymoon ! " commented 
 Nancy politely, hastily rejecting one hypothesis as 
 to the cause of the girl's tears. 
 
 " Yes," said the girl curtly. " Can you cook? " 
 
 Nancy nodded. " We had classes at Fair Oaks 
 School, where I went last year, and splendid 
 chances to practice at the week-end parties that 
 Miss Marshall let us have in her bungalow. Of 
 course I can't do anything now but sit, so I'm 
 keeping house for mother planning all the meals. 
 I think that part is fun too almost as much fun 
 as the cooking." 
 
 " Fun ? " queried the pretty girl dubiously. " I 
 think all parts of housekeeping are hard work." 
 She rose suddenly and picked up the gay parasol. 
 " I must be going on." 
 
 " Oh, please don't," Nancy begged her. " I'm 
 tired to death of reading. I thank you for bring- 
 ing the book all the same, but I hoped you'd stay 
 a long while. Of course, though " she sud- 
 denly remembered the honeymoon " of course 
 you want to get back to your husband." 
 
 " Oh, it's not that ! " explained the bride hastily. 
 " I mean, he's in town to-day on business. I've 
 been down to the trolley with him, and now I 
 
 125
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ought to go home and work." She glanced at her 
 book and her bag. " I brought those along on his 
 account. He was afraid I was going to be lonely, 
 so I pretended I would spend the whole morning 
 on these rocks, which we both love. But really 
 I'm going to sweep and make cake and plan a lot 
 of meals ahead. And then of course he'll be back 
 for dinner to-night, so I want it to be an extra-good 
 one. But perhaps if you're here some other day 
 when I come to the rocks " 
 
 " Oh, yes, please do come again," Nancy begged 
 her eagerly. " Have you a good story ? I can't 
 seem to find any." 
 
 The bride held out her book smilingly. " A 
 new treatise on comets by the big French astron- 
 omer," she explained. " Want to borrow it? " 
 
 " It's not exactly my idea of summer reading," 
 laughed Nancy. " I prefer cook-books." 
 
 The pretty bride's face grew suddenly sober. 
 " I wish I did I It's a woman's business to prefer 
 cook-books, isn't it?" And raising the bright 
 parasol, she went off up the little path. 
 
 " I beg your pardon, miss." Somebody down 
 on the rocks broke in upon Nancy's wonderments 
 about frivolous-looking brides who read treatises 
 on comets in French, under Roman-striped parasols, 
 and stop reading to weep passionately about 
 what? 
 
 126
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 Again Nancy leaned forward over the Birdcage 
 railing. It was the little white girl's nurse. 
 
 " Oh, good-morning," Nancy called back to her. 
 " Is Clare sick ? We heard how the burglar fright- 
 ened her last night, and I'm so sorry about it." 
 
 " Yes, miss, she's in a state, miss. It was early 
 this morning she got frightened. She's had 
 highsterics most dreadfully, and the doctor says he 
 won't answer for her heart, poor lamb. She says 
 it was no burglar but sperits, miss, talking in her 
 room moaning and groaning and gibbering like 
 nothing mortal. And they surely left sperits' 
 tracks, which is none at all, miss. So we're quite 
 upset, not knowing what to think, and nothing 
 seeming quite right and reasonable. I've a note 
 for you, miss, but I don't know the house you 
 belong in, and besides it don't seem hardly proper 
 to leave a note at a door when it ain't addressed 
 sensible." 
 
 " How is it addressed ? " asked Nancy, politely 
 concealing her amusement. 
 
 " Lady-Bird-in-a-Cage." The nurse read it out 
 solemnly. " I do think Miss Simms she that's 
 a governess with book-learning and languages 
 might have done better than that." 
 
 " But she didn't know my name," laughed 
 Nancy, " and that certainly makes it awkward 
 when you have a note to address." 
 
 127
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " And awkwarder when you have it to deliver," 
 supplemented the nurse primly. 
 
 " Oh, you've delivered it in exactly the right 
 way," Nancy assured her gaily. " This is the 
 Birdcage, you know, this summer-house up where 
 I am. I suppose no, of course you couldn't tie 
 the note to a stone and throw it up." 
 
 " I'm afraid not, miss," said the nurse sadly, " as 
 I have nothing to tie it with." 
 
 " Then I'm afraid you'll have to go back to the 
 road and in the gate, and oh, no, I know the 
 way ! " Nancy reached a long arm down under 
 the rustic bench and produced a ball of twine. 
 She had had it brought out days ago, to tie up 
 some of the Birdcage vines, and when it had rolled 
 away into a remote corner, she had said " Bother! " 
 and left it where it was. But now the advantage 
 of this was that she could get her note up by hold- 
 ing the end of the string and tossing the ball down 
 to the staring nurse-maid, who cried " My stars 1 " 
 excitedly and ran forward to catch it. 
 
 " You'd better have thrown me the end and 
 kept the ball," she admonished careless Nancy. 
 " But as it is, I can make it fast. I'm to wait for 
 the answer." 
 
 Nancy hauled up the ball and the note, and 
 opened the latter eagerly. 
 
 " Maybe I'd like to pertend with you," was 
 
 128
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 printed in a scrawling childish hand. " I liked 
 the funny dolls." Here the writing changed to 
 neat script. " I want to thank you. I am sick. 
 Come and see me. Please. CLAKISSA SMITH." 
 
 Below was added : 
 
 "Clare grew tired over the note, so I have 
 finished it for her. Judge Smith bids me say that 
 it would be a great favor if you could come to see 
 the child, who must be kept absolutely quiet for 
 some days, and who seems to have taken a fancy 
 to you. He regrets that we do not know your 
 name. SARAH SIMMS." 
 
 " A fancy to me I " murmured Nancy. " How 
 does she act when she dislikes people, I wonder I 
 It must be those dolls she's taken a fancy to." 
 Nancy leaned over the railing. " Oh," she 
 broke off with a laugh, " I don't know your name 
 either, and it certainly is awkward not to. Mine 
 is Nancy Lee." 
 
 " I'm Susan, Miss Lee. I'll tell Miss Simms." 
 
 " Well, Susan," Nancy went on, " I haven't any 
 paper or pencil out here, and it would keep you 
 too long if I hobbled back to the house and wrote 
 an answer. Besides, I don't know what to say. I 
 don't see how I can go. You know, perhaps, that 
 Clare wants me to come and see her." 
 
 " Yes, miss. It's her one request, miss. She's 
 that pitiful, cryin' for her father and shriekin' 
 
 129
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 with fear of them sperits, and havin' a turn with 
 her heart ever so often." 
 
 " But you see, I'm lame," explained Nancy, 
 " and I'm not to try to climb in and out of a 
 carriage or a motor yet. Doctor Jennings says 
 that's the surest way to set the cure back." 
 
 " The same would apply to a flying machine, I 
 suppose, miss," said Susan sadly. " Because the 
 Judge would have that or anything else you can 
 name sent round for you. He's that set on pleas- 
 ing Clare." 
 
 " Would she like to have my younger sister 
 come?" suggested Nancy. "She's the one who 
 brought her the dolls." 
 
 " I think not, miss. She's never cared for other 
 children." 
 
 Nancy considered. " Well, perhaps I can come 
 soon, and this afternoon I'll send her a comical 
 
 note or something. And perhaps You tell 
 
 her I'm very sorry I can't come right away, and 
 to be on the lookout for a grand surprise." 
 
 " Yes, miss, and thank you. It's diverting she 
 needs, the doctor says. But with her mother dead 
 long ago and now her father marrying again and 
 shipping her off and me with her like so many 
 old clothes he's ashamed of, and she idolizing her 
 father that's always idolized her and spoiled her 
 something shameful, so her grandfather says she's 
 
 130
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 a little savage, and Miss Simms says if things 
 
 goes on like this, she'll have to leave Oh, 
 
 it's a beautiful time for me, miss, held responsible 
 as I am, in a way, for Clare's tempers. How I do 
 run on ! Good-day, miss, and thank you for Clare 
 and Judge Smith too." 
 
 It was fortunate for Nancy Lee that Mrs. Miggs 
 arrived by appointment soon after Susan's depar- 
 ture, for Nancy wanted nothing so much as to re- 
 lieve her mind. 
 
 " Your rule doesn't work, Mrs. Miggs," she in- 
 formed that little lady sternly. 
 
 Mrs. Miggs gave a bird-like start of astonish- 
 ment. " You don't say now ! What rule are 
 you referrin' to, Miss Nancy ? " 
 
 " About being on the lookout," explained 
 Nancy. " You told me to hunt around for other 
 people that had troubles, and I wouldn't mind 
 mine. Well, I didn't expect to find any others, 
 but I needn't have worried. I've found two al- 
 ready, besides the one you told me of. And now 
 my little girl has been terribly frightened and is 
 sick and wants me to come and see her. And the 
 pretty bride I've discovered to-day wouldn't tell 
 me what was the matter, so I want to go and see 
 her and find out. I just can't stand it to stay 
 still here much longer. Being on the look- 
 out it doesn't make you contented 1 It just
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 stirs you up and makes you want to do things for 
 people." 
 
 " I notice you ain't crying about it, all the 
 samey," chuckled Mrs. Miggs. 
 
 Nancy chuckled too. " No, and I don't feel a 
 bit like crying. But I do feel all stirred up and 
 as if I positively couldn't stand to sit around and 
 let things go on without me. Can't you think of 
 a remedy for that, Mrs. Miggs? Can't I go out 
 driving to-morrow? " 
 
 Mrs. Miggs's black bonnet bobbed agitatedly. 
 " You ask Doctor Sammy, and don't say I advised 
 it, either. My remedy is, you get somebody else 
 on the lookout somebody to do the walking, 
 while you do the watching. Can't you ? " 
 
 Nancy considered. " The children are too 
 young, and Dick's certainly no use with the two 
 people I've discovered so far. And mother would 
 say * You absurd child ! ' about the pretty bride, 
 and if Clare was rude to her I should feel sorry 
 I'd asked her to go there. Maybe the girls next 
 door " 
 
 " The very ones ! " twittered Mrs. Miggs eagerly. 
 " They'll be jest as interested as you be. But 
 don't you go urgin' Doctor Sammy to let you 
 out too soon. He's easy-goin' by nature. Don't 
 you tease him. I'll be round day after to-morrow, 
 when I hope not to be so rushed, and then I'll 
 
 132
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 hear all about the new case you've discovered, and 
 I'll tell you about my grandchild and those dolls. 
 Did you say this new case was a bride ? I admire 
 to hear of brides, and I notice they ain't always 
 blissfully happy, either. But a reely miserable 
 bride is a thing I never come acrost, I'm happy to 
 state." 
 
 When Cecilia and Alexandra appeared, not long 
 before luncheon, their obvious purpose was to se- 
 cure Dick for an afternoon tennis-match. 
 
 " Peter's gone off and wouldn't promise to play," 
 explained Cecilia, "but if Dick will and Peter 
 won't, we are going to telephone John Andrews." 
 
 " They're all three off together," Nancy informed 
 them, " and Dick wouldn't tell me where he was 
 going. I don't believe you can count on any of 
 them. Besides, I've got a lovely plan that would 
 take up your afternoon." And without bringing 
 in Mrs. Miggs or the Birdcage still a secret from 
 the young people next door Nancy told them 
 about the little white girl's forlorn plight and 
 then about the tearful bride, who hated house- 
 keeping and who was spending a lonely day out 
 at the cottage by the lighthouse. 
 
 " So," concluded Nancy, " I thought if Alexan- 
 dra would go to see Clare and take her a comical 
 message from me, and show her how to make a 
 puppet-theater out of her peanut dolls, because
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 she can play that way so nicely in bed, and Ce- 
 cilia, if you'd go out and call on that girl and feel 
 around to find out if there's any trouble out 
 there that we can help about, why, I should be 
 of some use in the world. I had a feeling that 
 the bride wanted to tell me something, only she 
 couldn't quite make up her mind to. She's dear, 
 Cecilia, and Clare is sort of winning somehow, 
 though she's so naughty. I'm dying to see the 
 inside of ' Gray Gables ' myself." 
 
 Nancy chattered on swiftly, fighting against the 
 constrained silence that seemed to have enveloped 
 the two cousins. 
 
 " Oh, Nancy, I couldn't go to see that queer 
 child," began Alexandra finally. " You say she's 
 a peevish, irritable little thing. I should hate 
 her. I don't care for children unless they're very 
 attractive. And then the ' Gray Gables ' people 
 are so awfully rich that it would seem like push- 
 ing in to go there." 
 
 " Well, I'm sure Aunt May wouldn't let me go 
 to call on a strange family," put in Cecilia. 
 " She's very particular. Besides, I should feel so 
 silly. What could I say when I got there ? " 
 
 " Oh, Cecilia, you can always think of plenty to 
 say," urged Nancy. " That's why I picked you 
 out for the bride. And Alexandra makes beauti- 
 ful animal pictures. She did some one day for 
 
 134
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 Bill and Joe. I'm sure any child would love 
 them." Nancy felt suddenly that her case was 
 lost. " But of course if you don't want to do it, 
 let's not think any more about it," she went on 
 bravely. " And as soon as Dick comes, I'll ask 
 him about playing tennis. He'll run over and let 
 you know." 
 
 " You aren't peeved with us, Nancy ? " asked 
 Alexandra anxiously. " You see, it looks differ- 
 ent to you, because you know these people." 
 
 " Um yes, of course," agreed Nancy. " Only 
 well, I guess I can't explain it. If Jane Learned 
 was here, she'd make you crazy to go." 
 
 " Not me," declared cock-sure Cecilia. " But 
 who's Jane Learned ? " 
 
 " She's a girl I knew at Fair Oaks School," ex- 
 plained Nancy. " She's one of the Learned twins 
 the big one. She's tall and lank and awkward. 
 Her hair is straight and sandy and it won't stay 
 fixed." 
 
 " Why doesn't she curl it ? " demanded Alexan- 
 dra, smoothing her carefully waved hair, kept in 
 perfect order by a scarcely visible net. 
 
 Nancy laughed. " She won't bother. Looks 
 aren't Jane's strong point. She leaves them to 
 Christina, the little twin." 
 
 " Um 1 " mused Cecilia, tossing her head with 
 its loosely arranged, rather untidy tresses. " I hate
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 bothering with nets and things. Aunt May is al- 
 ways scolding me for not bothering more. But I 
 do like to get stylish lines. Just now this French 
 twist is all the rage." 
 
 " I wish you'd learn to do it properly," cut in 
 Alexandra. " Yours is more of a French snarl." 
 
 Cecilia shrugged. " All right. Only what I 
 wish is that Nancy would tell us why the highly 
 unattractive person named Jane Learned would 
 make us you at least want to do queer things." 
 
 Nancy considered. " I don't know why. She 
 likes queer things herself, and she makes them 
 seem so fascinating that you forget they're queer." 
 
 Cecilia considered. " Is she popular with boys ? " 
 
 " I'm sure I don't know," Nancy told her. " I 
 never saw her with any except once when she vis- 
 ited me, and then I was having too much fun to 
 notice." 
 
 " She sounds freaky," declared Cecilia. 
 
 " C. I " Alexandra remonstrated. 
 
 " If she does " Nancy struggled hard to keep 
 her temper " it's because I can't make you see 
 her any better than I can make you see what I 
 mean about going to call on Clare and the bride." 
 
 " Yes, that's all the trouble," agreed Cecilia 
 placidly, rising to go. " You say this Jane is won- 
 derful, but you don't make us see it. You won't 
 forget to give our message to Dick, will you ? " 
 
 136
 
 " I for one should like to meet your friend, 
 Nancy," added Alexandra, as she followed Cecilia. 
 
 "But she said it just for politeness," thought 
 Nancy hotly, when they were gone. " Oh, how I 
 wish the twins were here ! I wonder if mother 
 would mind my having them." 
 
 " Hi, Nancy Lee ! " It was Dick, back from his 
 mysterious expedition. " I say, I'm going to tell 
 Rosa to hustle up luncheon. I want to get back 
 to my job." 
 
 " Cecilia and Alexandra want you to play tennis 
 this afternoon, Dick. I said you'd let them know." 
 Nancy delivered the message faithfully the mo- 
 ment Dick appeared back from his mission to 
 Rosa. 
 
 " Bother tennis I " Dick was too excited to 
 maintain his distant pose of the morning. " I tell 
 you, I've got a job and thereby hangs a tale that 
 would make your hair curl, Nancy Lee, if it wasn't 
 pretty kinky already. For unless Little Peter and 
 Johnny Andrews and myself are highly mistaken, 
 you've seen Halcyon's burglar. In fact, you know 
 more about him than anybody in these parts." 
 
 " Oh, Dick ! That nice polite man in white 
 clothes I You're absurd." 
 
 Dick shrugged and smiled at his sister loftily 
 through half closed eyes. " That theory is pretty 
 well exploded, my child. As we three fellows
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 were on our way over to examine the porch-climb- 
 er's marks on the Parkes' pergola, we saw something 
 that gave us another clue. And on the strength 
 of it we've been hired by the august owner of* Gray 
 Gables ' to ' pursue our investigation, and if any- 
 thing comes of it to send the bill to him and not 
 be afraid to charge top-prices, either.' I'm quot- 
 ing his august judgeship's exact words." 
 
 " Oh, Dick, do begin at the beginning ! " im- 
 plored Nancy. " Of course you know very well 
 that I can't understand you when you mix every- 
 thing up like this." 
 
 " Well, exercise a little imagination, my child," 
 suggested Dick blandly. 
 
 "I haven't any," sighed Nancy. "Please, 
 Dick ! " 
 
 " All right." Dick thawed obligingly, as his 
 eye fell on Nancy's bandaged ankle. " I'll tell you 
 exactly what happened, seeing it's you. I mean 
 seeing it was you who really discovered this clue. 
 Well, I mean if it hadn't been for your running on 
 to him a while ago we never should have thought 
 of trailing this suspect. But promise you won't 
 tell the other girls." 
 
 " Certainly not," Nancy promised with a good 
 deal of inward satisfaction. " Hadn't you better 
 rush over and tell them you won't play tennis, 
 Dick ? " 
 
 138
 
 A WORLD FULL OF gJJESTIONS 
 
 " I guess they'll gather it pretty fast from Little 
 Peter," chuckled Dick. " If you think I'm a bit 
 excited, you should see him." 
 
 " Oh, Dick, please begin," begged Nancy. 
 
 "All right." Dick settled himself to a business- 
 like recital. " We fellows planned last night, when 
 we heard about the Parkes' burglary, to go over 
 this morning and look at the porch-climber's tracks. 
 We'd never seen any. And this morning after k l'd 
 heard about your experiences with my dog, I told the 
 fellows that, after we'd seen them, we'd come back 
 here and hunt for more to match. That wouldn't 
 absolutely fasten the guilt on White-Flannels, but 
 it would prove that Regent wasn't a fool." 
 
 " Well, have you found some marks here? " de- 
 manded Nancy impatiently. 
 
 "Haven't looked yet. I will, though, after I've 
 finished this tale that you're so crazy to interrupt. 
 We were going along by Fresh Pond on that little 
 short-cut path, when we saw somebody moving 
 down in the bushes. Peter thought it was a boy 
 going for pond-lilies, and he yelled to him to take 
 some to their house, because his mother was anx- 
 ious to have some. The fellow ducked down 
 among the tall bushes and when he was well out 
 of sight he yelled back, ' Sorry, but I have no 
 lilies.' He was so very mysterious, ducking down 
 like, that we got curious Johnny specially. So 
 
 139
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 we did a bit of scouting off the path and down 
 through the tangle of shrubs until we got in sight 
 of our man. We watched him for a whole long 
 hour by Johnny's ticker, and it didn't seem a min- 
 ute. Guess who he was." 
 
 " The Green Knight, of course," supplied Nancy 
 breathlessly. 
 
 " Now you're getting on a bit," nodded Dick 
 approvingly. " He had on his badge of office all 
 right, including the feather. He also had a tape- 
 line, a coil of rope, a compass, and a big sheet of 
 paper. He'd just got down there, evidently, when 
 Peter yelled to him. Well, first he spread the 
 paper out on a flat stone, and laid on a lot of 
 pebbles to keep it flat he was fussy about its 
 being perfectly smooth. Then he knelt down in 
 front of it and stared for a while, first at the paper 
 and then at the surrounding scenery. He almost 
 saw us once, when he turned suddenly to look 
 behind him. Well, after a while he went up to a 
 thorn-apple tree not far from the edge of the pond. 
 He crawled in under the branches and fastened 
 his rope to a stump near the trunk. Then he laid 
 down the rope on the ground in a line from the 
 stump to a big rock on the shore of Fresh Pond. 
 Then he ran back and forth with his tape-line, 
 measuring the distance, we took it. Then he 
 stared some more at the paper, and went through 
 
 140
 
 .A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 the whole performance again, starting from another 
 stump this time, near the thorn-apple. When he 
 got back to his paper again, he stopped his whis- 
 tling, which he'd been at steadily since he began 
 his performance, and he said, * Oh, shucks 1 ' so 
 loud that we could hear. Then, after he'd waited 
 a while, he said, ' Crickets I ' And then he started 
 all over again, from a willow tree close to the edge 
 of the pond. We left then, because Little Peter 
 still wanted to go to the Parkes' and see the 
 burglar's tracks." 
 
 " Do look and see if we've got some too ! " 
 begged impetuous Nancy. 
 
 " You wait I " adjured Dick. " The best of this 
 tale is yet to come. That old millionaire that's 
 owned ' Gray Gables ' for ten years and never saw 
 it till last week, so he told us, was over at the 
 Parkes' too, looking at the burglar's trail. He's a 
 funny old fellow acts more like a jumping jack 
 than a judge. But every jump he makes counts, 
 and you can see in two minutes that he's smart 
 enough to get a million dollars or anything else 
 he specially wants." 
 
 "How exciting to have talked to a real live 
 millionaire ! " sighed Nancy enviously. 
 
 "'He didn't talk at first," amended Dick. " He 
 just ran around and looked and muttered to him- 
 self. Then all of a sudden Mr. Parke was in 
 
 141
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 town and Mrs. Parke had gone into the house for 
 something he ran up to Little Peter. * Very 
 queer burglar, this 1 ' he said. ' Why so, sir ? ' 
 asked Peter. The old man acted awfully mad 
 about something. ' One moment, if you please,' 
 he roared, as if he thought Peter had said some- 
 thing he shouldn't." 
 
 " Oh, Dick 1 " Nancy broke in excitedly. 
 " That's just like our John Smith Boss Smith, 
 you know, out at Camp Sixty-Nine, where Timmy 
 lives. He hated to have you ask questions. He 
 wanted you to wait and see what he had to say." 
 
 Dick nodded. " Judge Smith is just like that. 
 After he'd stared at Peter hard enough to bore 
 holes in him " 
 
 " Oh, Dick, that's exactly like Boss Smith ! 
 Do you suppose they can possibly " 
 
 " No, silly ! " Dick cut her short. " The Smith 
 family is too big to have its family resemblances 
 count for much. Besides, the point of my story 
 is that after he'd bored enough holes to please him 
 in Peter, he turned and bored a few in Johnny 
 and me, only Johnny wasn't at all rattled by his 
 performances. Then he asked us if we were to- 
 gether and we said yes, and then he asked us 
 what was our connection with the case, and Johnny 
 winked at Peter and me and said we were detect- 
 ives from the city. Now, don't look shocked, 
 
 142
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 Nancy Lee. That's perfectly true, and it wasn't 
 necessary to say that we were only amateur detect- 
 ives, or that our families were spending the sum- 
 mer here." 
 
 " No-o-o." Nancy was still rather doubtful. 
 " But it didn't give a very true impression." 
 
 Dick chuckled. " It certainly impressed Judge 
 Smith all right, exactly as we hoped it would. 
 He looked hard at us for a while longer, and then 
 he asked us if we had time to come over to his 
 place and he'd tell us what happened there. Of 
 course we went. His burglar, if he was a burglar, 
 took nothing. Nobody heard him but the little 
 girl, who sleeps on the top floor in a big room with 
 six windows. Her nurse-maid, who sleeps next 
 door and ran in when the child screamed, thought 
 perhaps there was a queer noise mixed with the 
 first scream she heard. The little girl said it 
 wasn't a human voice it was a ghost's. She 
 must be a queer kid. She's always lived in Italy 
 and South America, and she speaks lots of lan- 
 guages and believes all the stuff that an old Italian 
 nurse taught her. The old man is hot about that 
 idiotic nurse, as he calls her. But at the same 
 time he's sure the little girl heard something, 
 and didn't just dream it. We fellows size it 
 up that he heard something himself, only he 
 thinks it wouldn't be becoming for a judge and
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 a millionaire to get himself mixed up with a ghost 
 story." 
 
 " Well ? " questioned Nancy, as Dick appeared 
 to be lost in meditation. 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " Dick came back to the situation 
 with a start. " Did I say we were out on the road 
 all this time? Judge Smith didn't want to do 
 anything to stir up that little girl, so he decided 
 not to take us inside, where she might see us. 
 Well, all of a sudden Johnny said to the old 
 Judge : ' Sir, do you think this is the work of a 
 professional ? ' ' I do not/ snapped the Judge. 
 1 Well, neither do I,' said Johnny snapping-turtle 
 manners and cutting stares can't put anything 
 over on Johnny, you know. ' And moreover,' he 
 said, ' we already have a clue, my partners and I, 
 and I doubt if any other detectives that may be 
 working on the case have noted it. Now, how 
 would you like to have us follow it up for you ? ' 
 We were awfully proud of Johnny, though we 
 didn't know what in the world he meant. Well, 
 the upshot was the Judge snorted and poohed and 
 said good-bye, and then ran back and engaged us 
 to catch whatever was haunting ' Gray Gables ' on 
 the night of July Fourth." 
 
 " But what was Johnny's clue ? " demanded 
 Nancy anxiously. 
 
 Dick stared at her in resentful wonder. " Can't 
 
 144
 
 A WORLD FULL OF QUESTIONS 
 
 you put two and two together ? " he demanded in 
 his turn. And then, as the children came running 
 from the house, he closed the subject with a solemn 
 warning. " Not a breath of this to anybody, re- 
 member. I only told you because oh, to let off 
 steam, I guess." 
 
 But Nancy, woman-like, tried for the last word. 
 " Oh, Dick," she whispered, " you don't think my 
 nice Green Knight is a burglar ? He can't be. I 
 don't see " 
 
 " Neither do I yet," snapped Dick. " But he's 
 our clue."
 
 CHAPTER VIII 
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 THE Learned twins were coming to Halcyon to 
 visit Nancy Lee I They had been asked and had 
 accepted long before the day when Nancy, despair- 
 ing of playing her lookout game alone, and find- 
 ing Cecilia and Alexandra provokingly unrespon- 
 sive, had decided that she needed oh, bitterly 
 needed 1 Jane's genius for making the com- 
 monplace picturesque and the picturesque su- 
 premely fascinating. On one of those first miser- 
 able days before Mrs. Miggs came to start Nancy 
 off with her challenging " You be on the lookout I " 
 Mrs. Lee had written the twins. 
 
 " Poor Nancy was hunting for me on the rocks," 
 she told them, " to ask my permission to invite 
 you here for a fortnight's visit, when she sprained 
 her ankle. So you see we are all three a little re- 
 sponsible, and the sooner you can come the better." 
 
 Jane was in favor of starting immediately on 
 receipt of Mrs. Lee's appeal, but Christina insisted 
 upon ten days' delay. " We need some pretty new 
 summer clothes," she declared, " and if Nancy is 
 
 146
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 going to be laid up for a month at least and perhaps 
 longer, she'll enjoy us just as much in ten days as 
 she will now, and perhaps even more." 
 
 The course of events proved how right was little 
 Christina's theory. For the ten days were nearly 
 gone before Nancy, overwhelmed by a longing for 
 some really sympathetic spirits, timidly hinted at 
 what she wanted so much, and was met with her 
 mother's laughing rejoinder, " My dear, I was 
 beginning to wonder if I'd made a mistake in ask- 
 ing the Learneds to come. I'm really much re- 
 lieved to find that you still want them, in spite of 
 the friends you've made next door and all the 
 things you've found to do for me and the chil- 
 dren." 
 
 " Mother," said Nancy solemnly, " I'm trying to 
 do my duty, and the girls next door are fun 
 enough, but the twins are just pure joy gulps of 
 joy, as that funny Hope Haskins would say." 
 
 There were still two days to wait, and they 
 seemed long to Nancy, with nobody to be feet for 
 her in the Lookout cases. So she was delighted, 
 when, early on the second afternoon, Hope Haskins 
 trilled her unmistakable " whu-whu " along the 
 road and appeared herself at the Lees' door a 
 moment later. 
 
 " I have an afternoon off," she beamed joyously. 
 " A whole one ! I'm going to walk around the 
 
 147
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Point, stopping at all the loveliest places. This is 
 my first stop." 
 
 " Then I suppose you want to rush right out to 
 the Birdcage," laughed Nancy. 
 
 " Oh, could we ? " Hope's great brown eyes 
 flashed with delight. " You see," she explained, 
 as she danced along by Nancy's side down the 
 woodsy path, " you see, I needn't even be back at 
 five to-day. My tables have both gone on a picnic. 
 I packed them up a perfectly beautiful supper. I 
 was so grateful to them for all going the same 
 night ! " 
 
 " But isn't this a Dolphin afternoon ? " asked 
 Nancy. 
 
 Hope nodded solemnly. " Yes. But I knew 
 Miss Willis would be glad to let me off and save 
 my pay. In fact, I'm expecting any day to have 
 her tell me that I'm not needed any longer. I'm 
 not, you know. Do you think I ought to tell her 
 so, Nancy, instead of waiting for her to tell me? " 
 
 " I don't understand," parried Nancy. " Has 
 there been some trouble ? " 
 
 " One big trouble," announced Hope somberly, 
 settling herself in the chair opposite Nancy's and 
 staring off dreamily at the shimmering bay. 
 " The trouble with that shop is that it stays so 
 new. I used to think at home, where all our 
 things are old and shabby and worn out, I used 
 
 148
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR' 
 
 to think that to have all new things good new 
 things that would stay new would be too splen- 
 did for anything. But it's not, always. Oh, 
 no 1 " sighed Hope, her eyes deep pools of woe. 
 " In this case, if I saw the Dolphin things begin- 
 ning to look worn out and shabby if the pretty 
 new dishes were nicked or the shiny new floor 
 was scratched I should be glad I Miss Willis 
 would be glad I" 
 
 " Is it a pretty shop ? " asked Nancy. 
 
 " Oh, it's sweet I The tea-room has little low 
 round tables and spindly-backed chairs, Miss 
 Willis calls them Windsor chairs, I think, and 
 a beautiful shining row of old brass things above 
 the fireplace, and flowers growing in all the win- 
 dows and blossoming on all the tables. And then 
 there's a big screened-in piazza with wicker tables 
 tiffin-tables is the name for those. The top of 
 each one is a tray that lifts out, and the shelf be- 
 low is another tray that lifts out. I love to work 
 those trays," sighed Hope blissfully, " because 
 they're so convenient, and the people are generally 
 so surprised when you begin lifting them around." 
 
 " If ever I can come and see your shop, I'll eat 
 on the piazza and let you work the trays for me," 
 Nancy assured her. " And I'll smash a cup, 
 Hope, and dig my heels into the floor," she added 
 laughingly, " if you think that will help any." 
 
 149
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Your coming will help," said Hope soberly. 
 " Every one who comes helps just so much. But 
 it's dreadfully slow getting started, and the fixed 
 expenses go right on. I'm a fixed expense, except 
 to-day, of course, when I asked to be let off; and 
 I think I'm unnecessary. With business as bad 
 as it's been so far, Miss Willis could get along 
 without me perfectly well. I'm glad I didn't tell 
 her how I was counting on my money. I guess, 
 from something she said, that she'd been counting 
 on what she expected to make just as hard as I 
 was counting on mine." 
 
 " You started to tell me about your saving up 
 to go to college," Nancy suggested. " You men- 
 tioned it the day we first met." 
 
 " Oh, of course I would ! " laughed Hope. 
 " Everybody who knows me knows about col- 
 lege. Why, I believe even the cows and pigs and 
 chickens on our farm know about it. Dolly, our 
 horse, certainly does. I used to talk of it to her 
 every morning as we jogged along through the 
 Cheney woods on the way to school. It was 
 pretty dark and lonesome in there, if you didn't 
 have something nice to think about and somebody 
 to tell it to." 
 
 " You've been planning on going for a long 
 while, then ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes for four years, almost ever since I 
 
 150
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 entered the Sherwin Hollow High School. The 
 Hollow is five miles from the Corners, where we 
 live. The first year I had to walk it, unless I 
 happened to get a lift, but after that father spared 
 me Dolly." 
 
 " Goodness ! " Nancy's face was a study in as- 
 tonishment. " Do you really want to go to col- 
 lege as much as that ? As much as a ten-mile 
 walk every day for a year ? " 
 
 Hope nodded smilingly. " For four years, if 
 they couldn't have spared me Dolly." 
 
 "Why?" demanded Nancy curiously. "Do 
 you expect to have such a splendid time there ? " 
 
 " I expect," said Hope, sitting forward on the 
 edge of her chair, " I expect to find things out 
 there. I expect to learn to be wise. And no 
 matter what happens to you or how poor you are 
 or how hard you have to work in this world, if 
 you know things you can be useful and happy. 
 Of course," Hope explained conscientiously, " you 
 can be a wise person without going to college. 
 Uncle Luke Parsons, who keeps the store at the 
 Corners, is the kind of person I mean, and he 
 never went to school but two terms in his life. 
 But it seems as if college was the surest way, spe- 
 cially as then I can get a good place to teach after 
 I've graduated, and be able to help them at home." 
 Hope sighed. " It's awfully hard to make a farm
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 pay if it's a little, hilly, rocky kind of farm, 
 and if everything was shabby to start with. 
 Father works dreadfully hard, and mother just 
 slaves, and we five children help all we can. 
 Sometimes I feel mean to be here now, having 
 such a beautiful time and planning to use all the 
 money for myself. And then I think that maybe 
 my wanting an education so much is a sign that 
 I can use it. So," Hope laughed, " I've adopted 
 the owl as my sacred bird, and the owl's hoot 
 for my call, and I shall try not to be terribly 
 disappointed if Miss Willis has to let me go 
 and I have to wait a year before I can enter col- 
 
 lege." 
 
 " Nancy, Nancy ! Where are you ? " It was 
 mother's voice. 
 
 "In the Birdcage, mother!" Nancy signaled 
 back. " Oh, I'm glad you've come," she cried, 
 as Mrs. Lee appeared, " because I want to ask 
 
 you " She pulled her mother's head down to 
 
 whisper something in her ear. 
 
 " Certainly, dear," agreed Mrs. Lee cordially 
 and turned to Hope. " Nancy thinks perhaps 
 you would stay for dinner with us. Will you ? 
 Nancy, please read your note. A most impressive 
 servant in livery is standing at attention on the 
 piazza waiting for your answer." 
 
 Nancy read : 
 
 152
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 " Miss LEE : 
 
 " Dear Madam : As you know, my grand- 
 daughter, Clarissa Smith (an enfant terrible, but 
 with some excuse), commands your presence at 
 1 Gray Gables.' (Commands is quite literal, I re- 
 gret to state.) Your physician distrusts the possi- 
 ble jolting of horse-drawn vehicles or motor-cars. 
 He has no such objection to the Sedan chair. I 
 have therefore borrowed one for the occasion from a 
 museum where I possess some influence. It awaits 
 your pleasure, accompanied by trusty bearers, who 
 will bring you to ' Gray Gables ' now, or return to 
 get you at any hour specified. When no modern 
 invention fills the bill, we must revert to the past. 
 " Yours respectfully, JOHN SMITH. 
 
 " Clarissa has been howling at the top of her 
 lungs for an hour, because I let my men eat their 
 dinners before unpacking the chair and starting 
 on their errand. If you came back with them, a 
 second such explosion might be averted." 
 
 " Oh, mother, what is a Sedan chair ? " cried 
 Nancy, breaking in upon her mother's talk with 
 Hope. " And where is this one? And what shall 
 I do about going in it?" She thrust the note at 
 them. " Read it, both of you." 
 
 " A Sedan chair is the electric runabout of the 
 eighteen-thirties," Mrs. Lee explained laughingly. 
 " You must have seen one, daughter, in a museum 
 or in some old print." 
 
 " Oh, yes, Nancy, in old pictures, with beautiful
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ladies ready for a party stepping into them ! " broke 
 in Hope eagerly. "Little high boxes, with windows 
 on the sides for the ladies to peep out through, and 
 poles for the men to carry them by. And always 
 gallant gentlemen bowing the ladies out and in." 
 
 Nancy went off in a paroxysm of laughter. 
 " I know what you mean. Just imagine me riding 
 in a thing like that up Lighthouse Road and down 
 Fresh Pond Trail. Why, it's absurd ! " 
 
 " I think it's lovely ! " said Hope. 
 
 " Judge Smith must have an extraordinarily 
 fertile imagination," put in Mrs. Lee. " And he 
 must be very fond of that ' enfant terrible ' to go to 
 so much trouble to satisfy her whims. I'm afraid 
 you really ought to go now, Nancy, if Hope will 
 excuse you for a while." 
 
 " Oh, I've thought that all out," announced 
 Hope practically. " Of course you'd go now you 
 wouldn't take the chance of postponing a ride in 
 a Sedan chair. And I'll walk around the Point, 
 as I planned at first, and come back to supper, if 
 you really want me to. I'm honestly glad it's 
 happened that I can get in both the walk and the 
 supper, because my chances for rocks and pools 
 are so very uncertain." 
 
 Twenty minutes later the dwellers on Halcyon 
 Point were treated to the unusual spectacle of a
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 genuinely antique Sedan chair, which had been 
 brought to " The Crags," with its four bearers, in 
 the " Gray Gables " motor-truck, being gingerly 
 carried along the shore roads by a perspiring gar- 
 dener, an embarrassed chauffeur, an irate butler, 
 and an amused young secretary. None of the 
 four could see Nancy this was the secretary's 
 one regret, and Nancy could not see them, as 
 she sat, convulsed with laughter, on the narrow 
 straight-backed seat, her ankle buried in a nest 
 of pillows which strewed the bottom of the chair. 
 
 " Oh, Hope ought to be riding here 1 " thought 
 Nancy. " She'd imagine she was some famous 
 lady in history going to some famous place. I 
 can't do anything but giggle at the ridiculousness 
 of everything." 
 
 It was a hot, drowsy hour of early afternoon, and 
 most of the dwellers on Halcyon Point missed the 
 sight of Nancy's strange progress. But down in 
 the swamp by Fresh Pond a boy's sharp eyes spied 
 the queer cavalcade, and the boy dashed at top 
 speed up the bushy slope to the road to investigate. 
 Being very fond of reading history, the boy recog- 
 nized the Sedan chair instantly, and his jaw 
 dropped in amazement as he stood by the roadside 
 watching this curious anachronism move toward 
 him. His fascinated gaze drew Nancy's, and she 
 recognized her Green Knight. Peering out of the
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 little window, she nodded brightly, and the boy, 
 after a moment of frowning wonderment, nodded 
 back at her and pulled off his green cap with a 
 flourish. He was certainly a nice-looking boy. 
 He didn't look a bit queer or freaky. He was 
 frankly curious and amused at the Sedan chair, 
 and Nancy felt sure that if she knew how to stop 
 her bearers and dared to use her knowledge 
 the Green Knight would come and open the chair 
 door and talk with her in the most sociable fash- 
 ion. It was perfectly ridiculous to think that he 
 had anything to do with the Parkes' burglary or 
 the " Gray Gables " scare. Nancy resolved to 
 make Dick see this at the earliest opportunity. It 
 wasn't nice to track a strange boy around and try 
 to pin horrid meanings to all his silly little amuse- 
 ments. Dick and Johnny and Little Peter were 
 hidden down by the pond now, probably, watching 
 him. Nancy chuckled delightedly to think how 
 angry they must be because they couldn't come up, 
 too, to investigate her queer equipage. She hoped 
 the Green Knight would stumble on them, on his 
 way back to whatever he was doing, and embarrass 
 them fearfully. 
 
 " Well, Miss Lee, where there's a will there's a 
 way I Anybody who knows me knows that I gen- 
 erally get what I want. But I work pretty hard 
 for most of it." 
 
 156
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 They had turned in under the porte-cochere of 
 " Gray Gables," the bearers had halted, and, just 
 as in Hope's account of Sedan chairs, a gallant 
 gentleman had flung open the chair door. Only 
 he was, perhaps, a little old to fit into the picture. 
 
 " Oh ! " cried Nancy Lee delightedly at sight of 
 him. " I thought maybe it was you all the time, 
 but Dick said it couldn't be." 
 
 "Humph!" said " Jno." Smith who had "in- 
 terests " in Pine Ridge, Michigan, and who had 
 engineered the return of Timmy Lee Marshall 
 Raftery, " Boss " Smith, whose telegrams and 
 letters, with their finicky, feminine beginnings and 
 their bold, magisterial conclusions, had kept the 
 spring term at Fair Oaks in a state of pleasant ex- 
 citement. " Humph ! " said Judge Smith, million- 
 aire owner of Halcyon's show-place, which he had 
 never troubled to visit till this summer. " I don't 
 know who in thunder Dick is, but you're the one 
 who asked the most questions out at Pine Ridge. 
 I know you ! " 
 
 Nancy caught a twinkle in his keen eyes. " Is 
 Clare the grandchild that was a caution or the one 
 you hadn't ever seen ? " she demanded. 
 
 "She's both!" roared Judge Smith. "The 
 other caution is a tame a tame robin compared to 
 Clare. But then Clare's sick. Clare's lonesome. 
 She's been brought up like a little savage by a fa- 
 
 157
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ther that Well, he's my son, so I'm doing my 
 
 best by Clare. Carter," he turned abruptly to the 
 secretary, " my granddaughter's cot is out by the 
 second fountain ; take this young lady there. Help 
 her out with great care. Return when she tells 
 you to. I'll be back from Michigan some time 
 next week. Good-bye, Miss Lee." 
 
 Before she had time to ask a word about Timmy, 
 the chair door swung shut and Nancy was swaying 
 down a gravel path, through shrubberies, past rose 
 arbors and rock gardens, to the shady nook, where, 
 beside a splashing fountain that dripped out of a 
 mossy wall into a pool of pink water-lilies, the 
 little white girl lay listlessly on her little white cot. 
 She hardly looked at the Sedan chair. She never 
 smiled when Nancy leaned out with a gay greeting. 
 
 " Thank you for those little dolls," she mur- 
 mured faintly, when Nancy was established in a 
 chair by her side. " I liked those little dolls. 
 Susan said the ghost came 'cause I'm so naughty. 
 So I say thank you now every time." 
 
 " I'll show you a nice way to play with the dolls, 
 if you'll give me the box," said Nancy, wrung with 
 pity for the frightened, white-faced little creature. 
 " A way you can play in bed." 
 
 The child shook her head. " I wanter play per- 
 tend. You said it was fun. Do you know how ?" 
 
 " Why, yes, I know how. Shall I be a grown-up 
 
 158
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 lady, and you be another grown-up lady, and the 
 dolls can be our families ? " 
 
 Again the child shook her head. " You be a 
 ghost and go and hide in the bushes and scream. 
 I know it was a ghost I heard. My nurse Annun- 
 ciata said " 
 
 " I don't know how to do that kind of pretend," 
 Nancy announced briskly. " Did you ever go to 
 the theater and see a play ? " 
 
 " Oh, yes I " The child clasped her hands ex- 
 citedly. " Oh, with my own father in London, to 
 see a play about a little boy a little boy with 
 wings, and he had a little house up in the 
 sky " 
 
 " I know him," Nancy broke in quickly. " His 
 name was Peter Pan, wasn't it? I thought so. 
 He's the loveliest pretend-boy that ever was. 
 Don't you think my little house that I call ' The 
 Birdcage ' is a good deal like his ? " 
 
 " No ! " The little white girl's scorn was scath- 
 ing. " Why can't you be a ghost and scream ? " 
 
 " Because I don't know how to pretend that," 
 Nancy insisted. " Ghosts are a very horrid kind 
 of pretend, I think, Clare. There's nothing real 
 about them, you know. When you think you 
 hear them, it's not so. When you think you see 
 them, that's not so either. But I'll show you how 
 to have a lovely play with the dolls. The box can 
 
 159
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 be the theater. If we had the dolls, and some 
 string " 
 
 " Annunciata said there were ghosts," persisted 
 the tired little voice. " And Susan said " 
 
 " Susan was just teasing you, darling," broke in 
 the nurse sadly. " I've told you so over and over. 
 And I never will tease again, no matter how 
 rude you speak to me. I was only joking." 
 
 " Annunciata was joking too, I think," Nancy 
 took up the tale. " She was trying to amuse you 
 with stories " 
 
 " All right," agreed the child wearily. " You 
 can show me about the theater if you want to." 
 She brightened a little when Nancy made the 
 puppets dance. She even smiled when Nancy 
 promised her a Peter Pan doll, with wings, to add 
 to the collection. 
 
 " I guess your mother would like you to go 
 home now," she announced presently. 
 
 " Oh, Clare," interposed Susan. " That's no way 
 to treat Miss Lee, when she's taken all the trouble 
 to come here in that outlandish cart." 
 
 " Grandfather had all the trouble about that, 
 Susan," corrected Clare acutely, " and he only did 
 it because I cried so. It makes me worse to cry," 
 she concluded complacently. 
 
 " I really must go now," Nancy assured Susan, 
 who went off after the Sedan chair. 
 
 160
 
 A RIDE IN A SEDAN CHAIR 
 
 11 1 thought of course you could pertend a ghost," 
 the child sighed, when Susan was out of ear-shot. 
 
 Impulsively Nancy reached down and gathered 
 the thin little mite in her strong young arms. "I 
 can only pretend real things, Clare ladies and 
 birds with broken wings and and any real things. 
 Ghosts aren't anything, Clare. If you ever think 
 you hear one or see one, you just remember that. 
 They're not anything at all. So don't you ever be 
 scared about seeing one or hearing one. Now 
 you'll remember, won't you ? " 
 
 " I'll try to." The child snuggled close in 
 Nancy's arms. " Only, when I was little, I was so 
 sure Annunciata said " 
 
 " Never you mind her 1 " Nancy insisted. " Your 
 mother never said so. Mothers are the ones to go 
 by. My mother told me, and that's how I know. 
 Remember." 
 
 Susan was coming back. Clare stiffened a little, 
 and wriggled away from Nancy. 
 
 " You come again," she ordered imperiously, 
 " and bring that doll. Soon, 'cause I might forget 
 what you said. My mother never told me any- 
 thing." 
 
 Nancy rode back in the Sedan chair with no 
 consciousness of its absurdity. She was too busy 
 thinking how to put wings on a peanut doll. 
 Perhaps Hope could invent a way. As she liked 
 
 161
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 mermaids, she probably liked fairies also, and 
 Peter Pan was a kind of fairy. " Oh, dear, it's 
 awfully easy to promise things ! " sighed Nancy 
 Lee. 
 
 162
 
 CHAPTER IX 
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 BUT there was no time to consult Hope about 
 the winged doll. To be sure, she came down 
 Lighthouse Road just behind the Sedan chair, 
 joyously reveling in its quaintness all the way. 
 But at the very same minute, across from the 
 house next door strolled Cecilia Green and Alex- 
 andra Little, and walked up on the piazza with an 
 unmistakable air of being expected. They were 
 dressed up, too. Cecilia had on the pink dress that 
 she had worn to the Fourth of July dance at the 
 Inn, and Alexandra wore a filmy white linen, 
 crusted over with the daintiest of hand-embroidery 
 and set off by a wide rose-colored girdle. Mrs. 
 Lee came out to meet them all. 
 
 " You're coming at exactly the right time, all 
 of you." She beamed around the circle, after she 
 had introduced Hope and the neighbors. " Nancy, 
 I've enlarged your party to four. Dick, I found, 
 is staying for dinner with the Andrews family, 
 and the children insist upon my taking them for 
 a picnic. Nancy, their favorite companion on such 
 
 163
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 excursions, can't go. So, as I thought you and 
 Hope would rattle around here all by yourselves, I 
 asked these girls to come over and keep you com- 
 pany." 
 
 " That's very nice." Nancy smiled cordially at 
 the two added guests, but inwardly she felt de- 
 cidedly perturbed. She liked Cecilia and Alex- 
 andra especially Alexandra, with her little shy, 
 sweet way of lingering behind to explain some 
 impulsive utterance of her thoughtless cousin's. 
 But Hope's eyes and Hope's queer fancies and 
 Hope's gulps of joy they didn't somehow fit with 
 Cecilia's evidently regretful surprise that Dick was 
 to be away this evening, nor with the puzzled, ap- 
 praising glance that Alexandra bestowed on the 
 strange girl's wispy, straw-colored hair and faded, 
 old-fashioned blue dress. 
 
 " Alexandra never noticed her eyes I " sighed 
 Nancy, and began a valiant struggle to make her 
 dinner-party a success. 
 
 She made them all laugh over the Sedan chair 
 and Judge Smith's manners, and gasp at the 
 strange coincidence that involved the home-com- 
 ing of Timmy. Noticing that Alexandra was not 
 much interested in Timmy, Nancy heroically sup- 
 pressed a desire to talk about him for the rest of 
 the evening, told them about Clare, and then, for 
 Cecilia's special benefit, doubled back to her en- 
 
 164
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 counter with the Green Knight. And that led 
 inevitably to the story of Nancy's being rescued 
 by him on Baxter's Reef. 
 
 " How romantic ! " sighed Cecilia, thoroughly 
 interested at last. " You certainly ought to have 
 stopped and talked to him to-day, Nancy. You 
 say your mother wants to see him again. You 
 ought to have asked him over here, with that as 
 an excuse. Do get hold of him I Now that our 
 boys are off so much, it's dull as dull here." 
 
 " Do you have all day to do as you like in ? " 
 inquired Hope solemnly. 
 
 " Why, yes, of course," Cecilia told her. " Un- 
 less Aunt May wants something of us like arrang- 
 ing flowers for the house or an errand down at 
 Rocky Neck. Why?" 
 
 " Oh, I was just wondering" Hope's eyes were 
 dreamy " how long it would be before I should 
 find it dull here, without boys. I think boys are 
 lots of fun, but when I can have the sea, I don't 
 care for anything else. Just me and the tide-pools 
 
 and the rocks and the wet wind in my face 
 
 Oh, I had the most blissful walk to-day, Nancy, 
 but the sea-anemones have moved away." 
 
 " Had any mermaids moved in in their places ? " 
 demanded Nancy quizzically. 
 
 Hope flushed. " How did you know that I'd 
 named that particular pool the Mermaid's Delight, 
 
 165
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Nancy? I'm sure it's the loveliest sea-pool in the 
 whole world." 
 
 " What are you two talking about? " demanded 
 Cecilia rather impatiently, and Nancy explained 
 how she had made friends with Hope by showing 
 her all the loveliest spots on Baxter's Reef. 
 
 " I've heard about that rock, but I haven't cared 
 about going out there," said Cecilia indifferently. 
 " I suppose I've outgrown liking to climb around 
 on rocks." 
 
 " We've been to the shore every year for so long, 
 you see." Alexandra turned to Hope in pretty 
 apology. " That's what Cecilia means." 
 
 " And I never saw the ocean till this summer," 
 Hope, in her turn, explained brightly. " So I 
 suppose all my raptures are silly, but oh, I just 
 can't seem to suppress them ! " 
 
 This time Alexandra couldn't help noticing 
 Hope's eyes, and remembering that she had seen 
 them before, and that Peter, who noticed things 
 like that more than she, had spoken about seeing 
 just such blazing brown eyes down at the Inn and 
 wished he knew their owner. 
 
 " I wonder " Alexandra smiled again at Hope, 
 "I wonder where I've met you before. I'd just 
 decided that it was at Maponset summer before 
 last, but if you've never been to the sea be- 
 fore " 
 
 166
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 11 Never," said Hope decisively. " But of course 
 you might have seen me this summer at the 
 Inn." 
 
 " Oh, are you staying there ? " broke in Cecilia 
 impulsively. " Do you know the Shaw boys? " 
 
 Hope shook her head. " I don't know anybody 
 except the people at my tables and Mrs. Augustus 
 Walker, who talks to the waitresses about votes 
 for women. I'm a waitress at the Inn, and I pass 
 ices at the dances. I've seen you two at several 
 dances. Oh, and once you came to tea at ' The 
 Sign of the Dolphin ' ! I work there too, but you 
 didn't see me, because I was making extra sand- 
 wiches behind a screen. It was our big day, you 
 see. The sandwiches ran out, and the lemon." 
 She turned to Nancy for sympathy. " We were 
 so hopeful that day I " 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " agreed Nancy absently. She was 
 watching a scornful flash in Cecilia's eyes answer 
 Alexandra's shocked, indignant glance, and trying 
 desperately to think how she could smooth things 
 over. 
 
 " Hope's earning money so she can go to col- 
 lege this fall," she explained rapidly. " Is either 
 of you going? " 
 
 " Oh, no ! " chorused the cousins icily. 
 
 " Lots of the Fair Oaks girls go," volunteered 
 Nancy hastily, " and I think it must be splendid, 
 
 167
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 but I'm afraid I'm not bright enough. Did you 
 two girls like the Dolphin tea-shop ? I'm going 
 there the first day I can get so far." 
 
 " Why, it's rather small and stuffy, I thought," 
 began Cecilia. 
 
 " The big piazza " Nancy broke in. 
 
 " It looked very sunny," Cecilia cut her short 
 stiffly. 
 
 " Oh, C. ! " Alexandra remonstrated. " The 
 sandwiches were very nice." She turned to Hope, 
 who was staring from one to another of the three 
 girls in a puzzled way. " Perhaps we had some 
 of yours the extra ones you had to make. Any- 
 how, they were very nice." Alexandra's voice 
 was polite, but likewise very cold and unenthusi- 
 astic. 
 
 " Oh, thank you for liking them ! " cried Hope, 
 ignoring the coldness. " I'm sorry there were 
 other things you didn't like. I'm afraid the Dol- 
 phin wasn't at his best that day. It's hard to be 
 always at your best, isn't it? But the Dolphin 
 needn't have chosen our biggest day to act so 
 cranky. He ought to have made an effort and 
 put his best foot forward, as my mother is always 
 advising me to. Oh I " Suddenly the meaning of 
 Cecilia's frank ill-temper and Alexandra's chilly 
 politeness rushed upon Hope. " Oh, I haven't 
 done it to-night I This is my big day the love- 
 
 168
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 liest I've had in this lovely place and I I didn't 
 stop to think how my best foot would look to 
 you. ' Don't be ashamed of poverty, but don't 
 parade it.' That's another of mother's sayings." 
 She turned appealingly to Nancy. " I'm sorry," 
 she said simply. " I might just as well have kept 
 still about what I'm doing here." 
 
 " We're going to town to-morrow," announced 
 Cecilia, before Nancy could speak. " There's a 
 shoe sale at Carterson's. I'm going to buy some 
 white buck pumps with black trimmings. I 
 think they're awfully smart." 
 
 " I want gold slippers," sighed Alexandra. 
 " But even at the sale mother may think they 
 cost too much. I don't believe she'll let me pay 
 more than six dollars, and they'll probably cost 
 eight." 
 
 Hope answered Nancy's comradely smile with 
 an understanding flash of her wonderful eyes, and 
 then listened in aghast silence to the discussion 
 about shoes. Eight dollars and Alexandra said 
 they tarnished quickly and couldn't be cleaned. 
 It amounted apparently to eight dollars for about 
 three evenings' wear of the shoes. And eight 
 dollars was almost one-twelfth of a hundred, and 
 two hundred would give you a year at college, if 
 you could get a scholarship. 
 
 Before the topic of new shoes was exhausted, 
 
 169
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Mrs. Lee and the children and Dick and Little 
 Peter came in, the two parties having met at the 
 gate. In a minute Hope said she must go. 
 
 " Dick and I will walk down with you," Mrs. 
 Lee told her. " I have an errand to do at the 
 Inn. Yes, Joe, I'm coming ! " she answered a 
 cry for help from up-stairs. 
 
 " Let's all go to the Inn," suggested Cecilia 
 quickly. 
 
 " Oh, C. ! " cried thoughtful Alexandra. " You 
 and I would better stay with Nancy. Besides, 
 mother said she wants to know just where we are 
 in the evenings." 
 
 " Peter could tell her," muttered Cecilia, sink- 
 ing ill-humoredly back in her chair. 
 
 Peter was chatting gaily with Hope. " We met 
 this afternoon," he explained. " I was out on 
 Baxter's Reef reading, and suddenly I heard some 
 one say, ' Oh, you darling ! ' Of course I investi- 
 gated, but the young lady said she was addressing 
 a starfish." 
 
 " That's a fine way to scrape acquaintance, isn't 
 it ? " commented Cecilia loftily. " Making ridicu- 
 lous remarks, out loud, to starfish I " 
 
 Hope turned to her critic, her great eyes deep 
 with questioning. " Maybe you'd talk to star- 
 fish," she said gently, " if you had only about 
 four chances in a summer to hunt for them, and 
 
 170
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 if it was your first year by the sea, and if Miss 
 Little or some friend wasn't always with you to 
 listen to your raptures." 
 
 " No, she wouldn't," cried Peter gaily. " Not 
 if a strange and attractive youth, like me, for ex- 
 ample, was also within hearing. Would you, Miss 
 C. Green ? " 
 
 Before Cecilia could answer, Mrs. Lee came in, 
 and carried off Hope and Dick. 
 
 " I like that girl," announced Peter, looking 
 after them. " There's something about her that 
 makes you sit up and take notice." 
 
 Nancy could have hugged Peter for that speech. 
 Instead she only smiled at him. " Her eyes are 
 beautiful, aren't they ? " she said. 
 
 " I can't see why you two are so crazy about 
 her," broke in Cecilia irritably. " Can you, Alex- 
 andra ? " 
 
 " No not exactly," Alexandra hesitated. " But 
 perhaps we haven't seen enough of her yet to 
 judge." 
 
 " If you treated her to any more remarks like 
 the one you made about the starfish episode, Miss 
 C. Green," Peter told his cousin bluntly, " she 
 probably isn't struck all of a heap with your 
 charms. I say, Al, mother sent me to bring you 
 two home. Wants to show off her chickens to an 
 old family friend who's turned up for the evening. 
 
 171
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 If mother lights on me for delaying, you help me 
 out." 
 
 " Very well," Alexandra agreed placidly. " I'm 
 always helping one or the other of you out of 
 something, and getting blamed myself, but I don't 
 specially mind. Good-night, Nancy. I've had a 
 lovely time." 
 
 " So have I," echoed Cecilia. 
 
 " I certainly haven't," Nancy reflected, when 
 she was left to herself; and turning to a fresh page 
 in the Red Journal she relieved her feelings by 
 writing out : " Things the Twins Must Do." 
 
 "First," ran item one on the list, "make 'The 
 Sign of the Dolphin ' a perfectly grand success. 
 
 " Second," continued the catalogue, " make 
 Hope a perfectly grand success, so that Cecilia 
 and Alexandra will have to acknowledge that 
 she's a splendid girl and wish they'd been nice to 
 her. Third, investigate the tearful bride. Fourth, 
 help me with Clare, and that doll I promised to 
 make. Fifth, talk about Timmy as much as I 
 want to. Sixth, go to see Mrs. Miggs's grandchild 
 and tell me all about her. 
 
 " If they divide things up and work hard, 
 maybe they will have a little time off for swim- 
 ming and tennis and dances, poor twins ! How 
 glad I am they're not snobs or boy-crazy or afraid 
 of seeming queer. They'll like Hope and think 
 
 172
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 it's fine of her to work so hard for an education, 
 and Jane will make those other two see it. Why 
 can't I make people see things ? I am as dumb 
 as an " 
 
 " Hello, Nancy I " It was Johnny Andrews, 
 badly out of breath, and much excited. " No, I 
 can't stop. Dick here? Well, when he comes, 
 you tell him it's so. That's all -just ' it's so.' 
 He'll understand." 
 
 " But I don't," teased Nancy. " If you want me 
 to deliver your message correctly, you'd better ex- 
 plain it. A person can't remember things she 
 doesn't understand. I shall probably turn it right 
 around. I've had the same experience in geome- 
 try, and I know how it affects me." 
 
 " I guess you can remember ' it's so ' for ten min- 
 utes or thereabouts," retorted Johnny cheerfully. 
 " Did Little Peter go with Dick ? " 
 
 Nancy explained. 
 
 " Well, I shan't stop there to tell him any- 
 thing," said Johnny loftily. " Little Peter's a 
 quitter. He went off with a book this afternoon, 
 mooning around on the Reef with a story- 
 book." 
 
 " He had a very interesting time out on the 
 Reef," announced Nancy tantalizingly. " I don't 
 believe you were doing anything half so nice." 
 
 " Probably not," agreed Johnny, without dis- 
 
 173
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 playing the faintest bit of curiosity over Nancy's 
 statement. " My message hasn't anything to do 
 with this afternoon. It has to do with this even- 
 ing. Don't you forget to give it to Dick. Good- 
 bye." 
 
 Nancy speculated very hard over the cryptic 
 message. Perhaps Dick would tell her what it 
 meant; but he might be in one of his secretive, 
 lofty moods. Of course it was something about 
 the Green Knight. They had all been watching 
 him in the afternoon, until Peter deserted ; and 
 Johnny had evidently been watching him through 
 the evening. Some suspicion that they had had 
 about him Johnny had confirmed. It couldn't 
 be that he had actually proved the Green Knight 
 to be the Parkes' burglar or the disturber of " Gray 
 Gables," because in that case Johnny, who was ex- 
 citable at any time, would have been far more ex- 
 cited than he was to-night. No, it must be some 
 smaller thing that he had discovered, something 
 that tightened the net of suspicion around the 
 strange boy. 
 
 " I just wish they'd stop watching him," sighed 
 Nancy. " He's such a nice-appearing boy. Of 
 course he can't help being a little queer, with 
 such a queer mother, and nobody else in the 
 family. I just wish somebody would watch Dick 
 and Peter and Johnny for a while find them 
 
 174
 
 THE DINNER PARTY 
 
 sneaking around in the bushes and spying in the 
 dark. They'd better be careful, or some of the 
 real detectives that Mr. Parke hired will be after 
 them." 
 
 When Dick finally arrived, he proved to be in 
 quite a mellow mood. "What's so?" He an- 
 swered his sister's demand for enlightenment. 
 " Why, that your friend Green Cap digs the holes 
 that appear every morning down by Fresh Pond, 
 or some of 'em. Great, deep holes, oh, four or 
 five feet deep, and more than that square. 
 Johnny was to trail him to-night. We take turns 
 on night work," explained Dick importantly. 
 
 " Dick," demanded Nancy solemnly, " what has 
 digging a few holes, or fussing around measuring 
 distances from one tree to another, to do with be- 
 ing a burglar ? " 
 
 " What has it to do with earning an honest 
 living ? " demanded Dick. 
 
 " He isn't earning a living any more than you 
 are, Richard Arlington Lee," scoffed Nancy. 
 " He's just having fun." 
 
 " Queer fun," sniffed Dick. 
 
 " Why don't you ask him about it, instead of 
 spying around ? " 
 
 " If it's anything crooked, he'd be likely to tell 
 us, wouldn't he ? " growled Dick. " Besides, a 
 fellow can't get near enough to ask him anything. 
 
 175
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 He's as slippery as an eel. If you can catch him, 
 you're welcome to see what you can find out." 
 
 " I'll attend to it," said Nancy calmly, and added 
 a final item to the twins' formidable list. " Stop 
 this nonsensical business about the Green Knight's 
 being a burglar. If anybody can catch an eel and 
 make him talk the Terrible Twins can." 
 
 176
 
 CHAPTER X 
 
 TWINS TO THE KESCUE 
 
 " IF we go off exploring this morning and leave 
 you here alone, N. Lee, in your wonderful old 
 Lookout, you've got to promise us one thing." 
 Jane Learned, perched comfortably on the Bird- 
 cage railing, fixed her hostess with a bland, de- 
 termined stare. 
 
 " What ? " demanded Nancy absently, patting 
 into shape the green cushion whose cover she had 
 just finished sewing up. The green covering and 
 the down pillows for the Birdcage had come on 
 the same train with the Learned twins, and while 
 three tongues flew, exchanging news, exclaiming, 
 laughing, and sighing over the things the summer 
 had brought to the Fair Oaks circle, Nancy and 
 Christina had kept their fingers busy too. 
 
 " I can't sew and talk," Jane had excused her- 
 self. 
 
 " You can't sew at all," Nancy had corrected 
 her. " I don't want my Birdcage cushions to look 
 like the hats you make, Jane dearie ; so talk ahead 
 and don't feel at all guilty about not helping with 
 the cushions." 
 
 177
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 How they had chattered I Nancy had the most 
 to tell, because, in addition to her own adventures, 
 all the girls, hearing of her accident, had written 
 her long, newsy letters. Margaret Lewis was busy 
 tutoring a brother who hadn't passed his grade in 
 the public school. Margaret was worried about 
 going back to Fair Oaks ; her father and the little 
 boys needed her dreadfully, she could see that 
 more clearly every day. 
 
 " But so do we need her ! " sighed little Christina. 
 " She's so steadying." 
 
 Lloyd was in despair over Jeanne's horseman- 
 ship. " She falls off for no reason at all," wrote 
 Lloyd, " and my pony Ginger won't stay behind 
 any other horse, so my neck is lame most of the 
 time from turning around to see whether she's on 
 or off. But Jeanne is happy here in this ' queer 
 big land of America,' and poor mother loves to 
 have her with us, because she laughs at everything 
 and sings around the house. I'm trying to see 
 more to laugh at in life, to amuse mother." 
 
 Kittie Westervelt was in the seventh heaven of 
 bliss, because a boy named Cyril Baynes, who had 
 an automobile, took her riding almost every day ; 
 and Plain Mary Smith declared that Doctor Jim 
 and Mrs. Doctor Jim were perfectly splendid, that 
 she was growing almost slim, gardening and berry- 
 ing and hill-climbing on Doctor Jim's Berkshire 
 
 178
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 farm, and that her pink chiffon dress, the prin- 
 cess's " wedding present " to her, was a dream 
 " I don't want to grow vain," wrote Plain Mary 
 apologetically, " but when you've never had any 
 becoming clothes and never thought you could 
 
 have any, a pink chiffon dress like mine is 
 
 Oh, you know, Nancy, what I'm trying to say." 
 
 " She means," Jane interpreted sagely, " that 
 it's an epoch-making experience an adventure in 
 the pure joy of living. Well, none of 'em can 
 beat you in the matter of adventures, N. Lee. 
 You always did attract excitement, enviable 
 mortal I " And then Jane proceeded to try to 
 extract the promise from Nancy concerning what 
 she should and should not do while her two guests 
 were off on a morning stroll. 
 
 " It's just exactly this," she explained, in answer 
 to Nancy's question. " You're not to be on the 
 lookout any more at present. You're not to try 
 to find any more unfortunates. Your private 
 collection of Waifs and Strays is already as big as 
 we can handle. We're quite willing, of course, to 
 be Perfect Guests, and busy Wonder- Workers, and 
 to live up to all the vows of the Triangle about 
 coming to the rescue of one another. But already 
 we've got mysteries to solve, strange ladies to find 
 and champion, a business to boom, a child to divert 
 that's fully two weeks' work, you know, N. Lee." 
 
 179
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " All right," laughed Nancy. " I hereby sol- 
 emnly promise not to be on the lookout while 
 you're gone. I'll turn my back to the rocks and 
 mend stockings like anything. Because," she con- 
 fessed, " there does seem to be a sort of black magic 
 about this Birdcage. Almost everything I've dis- 
 covered has been from here." 
 
 " Then hadn't you better go back to the piazza ? " 
 suggested earnest little Christina, who took the 
 matter of arranging Nancy's tangled Lookout cases 
 very seriously indeed. 
 
 But Nancy refused to move ; the new green cush- 
 ions were so pretty, more white irises were coming 
 out in her private garden, and there was a breeze 
 down in the Birdcage that didn't reach the piazza 
 at all. So, leaving her in her favorite retreat, 
 Christina and Jane, armed with a map of the Point 
 that showed the Bride's cottage, the Green Knight's 
 home, " Gray Gables," and " The Sign of the Dol- 
 phin," sauntered out down Lighthouse Road, quar- 
 reling amiably about the best route for them to 
 pursue. Before they had decided anything, they 
 met a little girl who had been selling sweet-peas 
 among the cottagers. She had just one bunch 
 left, of the loveliest rose-pink blossoms. 
 
 " I think it would be a tactful attention to send 
 them back to Nancy," suggested Jane. 
 
 " Oh, yes," agreed Christina, and they paid for 
 
 180
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 the flowers and told the child just how to get to 
 the Birdcage. 
 
 Only a few steps further on, they met a barefoot, 
 solemn-faced boy, carrying pond-lilies. He, too, 
 had sold most of his flowers, and he offered the 
 twins what were left for a dime. Christina could 
 not resist pond-lilies and the boy, in turn, was 
 directed to the Birdcage. 
 
 " We're certainly being the Perfect Guests so 
 far," said Jane. " Please let's cross the Point first, 
 Christina. We can't hope to find a housekeeping- 
 bride dawdling around on the rocks, where we can 
 scrape acquaintance with her, in the morning, and 
 it's no time to investigate a tea-shop either. This 
 is just a preliminary exploring-trip, and I want to 
 see the real, broad ocean." 
 
 Meanwhile Nancy sat in the Birdcage talking to 
 the sweet-pea girl and the pond-lily boy, who 
 smiled sheepishly at her and dug their toes rest- 
 lessly into the knot-holes in the Birdcage floor. 
 But though they were ill at ease, they seemed 
 to enjoy their call. 
 
 " It's pretty here, ain't it ? " said the little girl. 
 " He and I live next door to each other down on 
 the Neck." 
 
 " Wa'n't many lilies to-day," volunteered the 
 boy. " You summer-folks are all crazy about 
 
 lilies." 
 
 181
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " What do you do in winter, when we've 
 gone? " asked Nancy. 
 
 " Work in the cannery," from the girl. 
 
 " After you're fourteen, or can make the in- 
 spector think you are," added the boy. 
 
 " It's awful lonesome here winters," put in the 
 girl. " All the fathers are off on the Banks fishing, 
 and you never know how they're doing, or when 
 they'll get back." 
 
 " Yes, all our fun comes in summer," the boy 
 contributed. " The Fourth of July is great for 
 us, but Thanksgiving and Christmas they're 
 frosts. I won't be a fisherman when I grow 
 up." 
 
 " You can't be anything else," said the girl, 
 " 'cept a canner, and that's worse. It's a woman's 
 job, mostly, like cooking." 
 
 " Don't you have the library and the reading- 
 room to go to after work ? " asked Nancy. 
 
 " Naw ! " the boy was scornful. " That's all for 
 the summer people. There's a libr'y in the town, 
 but the trolley doesn't run after September, and it's 
 pretty far to walk four miles. I wisht I lived in 
 the town." 
 
 " I don't," said the girl. " I'd rather live on the 
 Neck, where you c'n have flower-gardens, and 
 peddle flowers to the summer- folks. Only I do 
 wish we could save up some of our Fourth of July 
 
 182
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 till Christmas. I guess I must be going now. 
 Good-bye." 
 
 " Good-bye," echoed the boy, sidling along after 
 his little neighbor. 
 
 " Oh, tell me your names ! " Nancy called has- 
 tily after them. " Do you know Mrs. Miggs ? " 
 she asked, when introductions had been effected. 
 
 " Sure we do," said the boy heartily. 
 
 " She's an awful nice lady," testified the girl. 
 " Her daughter lives on the Neck near us, and her 
 granddaughter that's sick." 
 
 When they had gone, Nancy chuckled with de- 
 light. The twins had done it I The black magic 
 of the Birdcage lookout had infected them made 
 them play right into its hands. For here were two 
 more to be helped. 
 
 " But it's quite easy to see how," mused Nancy. 
 " We can leave a Thanksgiving and a Christmas 
 for them with Mrs. Miggs. Or we can send it 
 one that will be nice for her grandchild too. 
 Goodness I How busy being on the lookout does 
 keep you ! " 
 
 Nancy lay back among her green cushions, 
 thinking. There were ever so many little flower- 
 girls, and girls who came for washings, and paper- 
 boys, and pond-lily boys wandering about the 
 Point. They were all thin, wistful-eyed, eager 
 little creatures. Probably most of them lived 
 
 183
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 on the Neck, with its straggling lanes of ugly, 
 weather-worn, decrepit little houses, and worked 
 hard through the long, lonesome winters while 
 their fathers were at sea. It really ought to be a 
 big Christmas, enough for all of those children. 
 Nancy wondered that the summer colony had 
 never thought to do anything for them. There 
 was a big fair at the Inn every year, at which the 
 cottage people all helped, but Nancy couldn't re- 
 member what it was for certainly not, however, 
 for a children's Christmas. 
 
 " Morning, Miss Lee." Doctor " Sammy " Jen- 
 nings was peering amusedly down at his absent- 
 minded young patient. " How's the ankle ? 
 Suppose you walk across this summer-house floor 
 and see how it goes." 
 
 It went beautifully ! 
 
 " That's the advantage of good care and com- 
 plete rest," said Doctor Jennings complacently. 
 " Now can I trust you to be very careful " 
 
 " I'm afraid not," laughed Nancy. " I'm gen- 
 erally careless every chance I get." 
 
 " Mustn't be," continued the doctor. " Walk a 
 little bit to-day, and a little bit more to-morrow. 
 Yes, go driving, if you like. Tennis? Oh, you'll 
 come to that after a while not for some time, of 
 course. Better get a rubber bandage. Now don't 
 take any risks, climbing on slippery rocks. Go 
 
 184
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 slow. You don't need me any more. I'll come 
 and take you driving some day soon. Just now 
 I'm frightfully busy." 
 
 Nancy suppressed an overwhelming desire to 
 dance, to vault over the Birdcage railing, to walk 
 sedately down the path and out to find and aston- 
 ish the twins. Fortunately, just as she had de- 
 cided that it really couldn't matter how far you 
 walked, if only you were careful at every step how 
 you come down on that weak ankle, a Roman- 
 striped umbrella caught her eye, bobbing along 
 the path to the public rocks. 
 
 " Oh, you're there ! " called the pretty bride, 
 catching sight, at the same moment, of Nancy. 
 "May I come up? I think I'll go round this 
 time ; it's a very hot day, out here in the sun. 
 
 " I didn't tell you my name before. It's Marion 
 Dale Mrs. Roger Dale." The pretty bride, reap- 
 pearing after a minute in the summer-house, ap- 
 peared to be in a very brisk and businesslike 
 mood this morning. " And your name is Lee, 
 isn't it ? I saw it on your mail box. My hus- 
 band's gone to town again, and this time I feel 
 that I simply must accomplish something. So 
 I've come to you I don't know any one else out 
 here. You say you can cook, but do you know 
 about dampers? And is what you know any- 
 thing that you can tell me ? I never in all my 
 
 185
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 life heard dampers mentioned," sighed Mrs. Dale 
 forlornly. " There's not a word about them in 
 any of my ten cook-books. But apparently 
 there's nothing so important in this world, or so 
 baffling." 
 
 Nancy nodded sympathetically. " Yes, the fire 
 is certainly the worst thing about cooking. Don't 
 you know when yours is open or shut ? " 
 
 The bride shook her head. " I only know that 
 it's always too hot or too cold, or else it's out alto- 
 gether. Shuffling around those little openings, 
 and pulling handles up and down, doesn't seem to 
 make any difference, or if it does it's the wrong 
 difference." 
 
 Nancy considered, frowning. " If I could take 
 hold of that stove I It's so hard to tell you 1 
 And even after you understand the way it works, 
 you have to sort of experiment, because each stove 
 has its own little crooks. The one at Miss Mar- 
 shall's bungalow was quite different from the 
 practice ones in the Fair Oaks Domestic Science 
 kitchen. My ankle is better now but I we 
 couldn't go out this afternoon to see about it, be- 
 cause we have another engagement." 
 
 Mrs. Dale looked at her adviser sadly. " It's 
 not that I mind working hard, you understand," 
 she said almost fiercely. " I rather like things to 
 be hard. It gives you such a fine feeling when 
 
 186
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 you've mastered them. But this I simply can't 
 do it ! I burn the toast, the steak is raw inside 
 and scorched outside, and the coffee is muddy. 
 My puddings are a sticky mess, and my pies are 
 terrible. I don't a bit blame my husband for feel- 
 ing cross ! He's gone off to town to-day ' on busi- 
 ness.' I'm perfectly sure that he's really gone to 
 get a square meal." She leaned forward and faced 
 Nancy squarely. " I suppose the thing to do is 
 to give up and hire a cook." 
 
 "Why do you call it giving up?" demanded 
 Nancy. 
 
 " Why ? " repeated the bride. " Why ? It will 
 show that I'm a failure, won't it? Our beautiful 
 plan will be spoiled. Or anyway I shall be left 
 out of it." Mrs. Dale paused, and added hastily, 
 " Never mind about that part of it now. Just 
 imagine how I looked forward to doing everything 
 for my husband. I never dreamed I couldn't 
 manage. Oh, quick, tell me once more about the 
 top row of holes in my stove, and the bottom row. 
 I've just time to get back before the grocer's 
 wagon is due, and they won't leave the things, I'm 
 afraid, if I'm not there. Yes, yes, I think I see. 
 Pipe damper? I haven't found any. Yes I Yes ! 
 Oh, thank you. I'll find them all and do as 
 you've said, and perhaps I can manage that fire. 
 Ten cook-books, but not a word about dampers ! " 
 
 187
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Off went the Roman parasol, leaving Nancy a 
 little more enlightened about the case of the tear- 
 ful bride, and much more interested and more 
 anxious than before to help her out of her domestic 
 difficulties. 
 
 She was eager, of course, to tell the twins all 
 that she had learned, but the twins showed no 
 intention of coming back. What were they doing, 
 Nancy wondered, out so long in the hot sun ? She 
 would have wondered still more if she could have 
 seen them just then, pacing methodically up and 
 down a particularly hot and sunny stretch of 
 Surf Road, one on one edge, one on the other, 
 following an alert little lady who fluttered about 
 so fast that she seemed to be on both sides of the 
 road at once. And over the restless little lady's 
 trim black hat dangled a long green veil. Jane 
 had nudged Christina at sight of it, and Christina 
 had nudged back understandingly. But that was 
 when they had first caught sight of the little lady, 
 who was then running distractedly down Surf Road 
 toward the spot where the twins sat resting and 
 looking off at the sea. And as she ran, her flutter- 
 ing hands were busily pulling and twisting at the 
 fastenings of the green veil, which was drawn 
 down tight over her face. 
 
 " Oh, would you help me get off this bothering 
 thing?" she had called, the minute she saw the 
 
 1 88
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 twins. " I've lost something very valuable, and I 
 can't see to find it. Oh, never mind if you tear 
 the veil. I don't care a pin for it." 
 
 " Was it your horse that galloped past us just 
 now ? " Jane had asked, while Christina worked 
 at the knots. 
 
 " I suppose so," admitted the green-veiled lady. 
 " She tipped me over, and before I could think 
 what to do she was up and off. I oughtn't to 
 have tried to drive her by myself, I have horrible 
 luck driving horses, but I was in a hurry and 
 Jules, my gardener, was spraying roses and couldn't 
 very well stop, and Lawrence that's my boy 
 was off for the morning, before I remembered that 
 I must go to town. Lady's all right. She'll stop 
 in a minute and go to eating grass. I'll send 
 Jules after her. But what worries me is my 
 bundle. I can't lose that I " 
 
 " We'll help you hunt, if you'll tell us where to 
 look and what to look for," volunteered Christina. 
 
 " Oh, thank you, my dear I " cried the lady. 
 " It's a brown paper parcel, about a foot and a 
 half square and perhaps three inches thick, and it 
 fell out somewhere between the place back there 
 in the road where the gravel is all pawed up 
 that's where Lady started plunging and the place 
 down there where the bushes are bent. There's 
 where she spilled me out. Everything else went 
 
 189
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 out too, somewhere between those two places. I've 
 found the whip and the dust-robe and the hitch- 
 ing-rein and a letter that my boy Lawrence forgot 
 to mail for me yesterday, but I can't find my 
 bundle." 
 
 " It must have dropped down in the bushes," 
 Jane decided easily. " We'll each take one side 
 of the road. Don't you want to do something 
 about your horse before she gets any further 
 away ? " 
 
 " Oh, no," said the lady impatiently. " Lawrence 
 and Jules can attend to her later. I must find 
 this bundle ! Nothing else matters." 
 
 There was something fascinating about the 
 little lady ; she was so anxious about her lost 
 bundle, so nonchalant about her runaway horse, 
 so absurdly unsystematic in her bobbing, peering 
 progress along the road. Besides, she was the 
 lady of mystery, come out of her shrouding green 
 veil. She was the queer mother of Nancy's queer 
 Green Knight. 
 
 " Twins' luck I " muttered Jane to Christina. 
 
 The sun beat down pitilessly, and Surf Road, at 
 the point Lady had chosen for her manceuvers, 
 was stony and ankle-deep in sand. 
 
 " Do you s'pose she ever had a bundle?" mur- 
 mured Christina to Jane. " She's so queer, you 
 know, Nancy said." 
 
 190
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 But in another minute the bundle came to light, 
 Christina, in despair, having gone all the way 
 down the bank and found it impossibly far off 
 under a blackberry bush. 
 
 The green-veiled lady hugged Christina impul- 
 sively, and then hugged her bundle. " I should 
 never have found it myself I "she said. "Let's 
 sit down and rest." 
 
 " Is it all there ? " asked Jane, craftily intent on 
 getting as much information as possible in return 
 for her exhausting search after the strange lady's 
 mysterious bundle. " The wrapping paper is a 
 good deal torn at the corner." 
 
 The lady examined the tear critically, thus ex- 
 posing to Jane's curious gaze the fact that the 
 whole bundle was nothing but a sheaf of loose 
 papers. 
 
 Before Jane thought, she sniffed angrily, " Pa- 
 pers ! I thought it was money you'd lost or jew- 
 elry." 
 
 The green-veiled lady hugged her precious bun- 
 dle tighter and laughed heartily at Jane's scorn. 
 " Both those things are here, maybe," she cried, 
 " though you can't see them, and something be- 
 sides, that's any amount more precious." Her 
 eager little face grew sober. " I wish I could tell 
 you all about it, my dears, to pay you for your 
 long, hot hunt. But I mustn't. My boy Law- 
 
 191
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 rence will be highly indignant with me as it is. 
 He'll say I haven't played fair. I didn't think 
 about that before, because I was so anxious to get 
 my precious bundle, first, into the post, and then 
 back into my possession. Now I must go and re- 
 wrap it, and send poor, overworked Jules after 
 that miserable horse unless I can find Lawrence. 
 And above all, I mustn't sit here chatting with 
 you two. But I do wonder is either of you the 
 girl who sprained her ankle out on the rocks? " 
 
 " No, but we're visiting her," chorused the 
 twins. 
 
 11 Really ? How odd ! " laughed the lady. " All 
 the more reason, Lawrence would say, for me to 
 pin down this hot, ridiculous, maddening old veil 
 and proceed home to business. Please, please 
 don't think ; me rude and horrid and ungrateful. 
 I suppose you can't help thinking me perfectly 
 ridiculous ! " And with a shrouded but very 
 friendly smile, and a wave of the hand that some- 
 how made the tired, hot, puzzled twins feel pleas- 
 ant again in spite of themselves, the green-veiled 
 lady tripped away up Surf Road. 
 
 " So she isn't disfigured, and she isn't particu- 
 larly young and lovely," Jane summarized their 
 discoveries to Nancy later. " And the boy's name 
 is Lawrence and the gardener's name is Jules, and 
 I don't believe she's hiding from any importu- 
 
 192
 
 TWINS TO THE RESCUE 
 
 nate lover. She's comical and friendly and the 
 kind of person you can't help Diking. I wish I 
 could have made her explain what she meant 
 about those papers, and her not ' playing fair ' and 
 the indignation of Lawrence. Now let's swap 
 with the boys for all they know make a bargain 
 that they're to tell us everything, and among us 
 all something ought to develop. Exonerating the 
 Green Knight and family from the unjust suspi- 
 cions of their neighbors is the part of Nancy's job 
 that I like best." 
 
 " Aren't you going to help with all the other 
 things, Jane?" asked Christina anxiously. 
 
 Jane shrugged. " There'll be some easy way of 
 settling those, I imagine," she said. " That is, if 
 you and Nancy don't go to worrying and getting 
 solemncholy over them. You must remember 
 that this lookout business is a game. Mrs. Miggs 
 started Nancy on it to cheer her up, not to wear 
 her out. Everybody has to get used to seeing lots 
 of things that he can't help go wrong in this world, 
 so we might as well begin now. Anyhow," con- 
 cluded Jane calmly, " as long as you can make a 
 game of helping people, with all the hop, skip, 
 and go of a game in it, that's as long as you'll 
 really help 'em to amount to anything. Think 
 over your long and melancholy pasts and you'll 
 see that I'm right."
 
 CHAPTER XI 
 
 PUTTING A KINK IN THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 OF course, now that she was allowed to drive 
 out, Nancy transferred the tea-party she had 
 planned for the twins' first afternoon from the 
 Birdcage to the Dolphin tea-house, which she 
 couldn't wait a day longer than necessary to see. 
 The transfer was easy ; she had only to telephone 
 Louise Minot at the Inn, and Alexandra and Ce- 
 cilia, and send for one of the public carriages to 
 take her down to the new meeting-place. For un- 
 luckily nobody but Nancy herself had any faith 
 in her argument that she could walk a long way 
 if she were only careful enough. 
 
 The tea-party had no connection with tea, which 
 none of the girls ever drank if she could help it. 
 Instead, there were sandwiches, cinnamon toast, 
 lemonade, ices, little cakes, and candies, served, of 
 course, on a tiffin table on the piazza, with Hope 
 Haskins, her eyes dancing at sight of Nancy, to 
 " work " the trays. 
 
 " Can't you come and eat with us after you've 
 brought our things in ? " asked Nancy, catching 
 
 194
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 Hope in a corner. The rest of the party were 
 scattered about the rooms, looking at the pretty 
 things that were for sale or admiring Miss Willis's 
 old brasses. 
 
 " Oh, no I " said Hope, in consternation. " How 
 unbusinesslike it would look ! And if Miss Willis 
 didn't mind, how cross Miss Little and Miss Green 
 would feel. Miss Minot, too, maybe. She looked 
 funny when she saw you introducing me to your 
 two guests. Oh, Nancy, I'm glad you came to-day, 
 because it's my last week here. Fixed expenses 
 must go down. And I'm glad you came early, be- 
 cause I have errands to do later out on the Point. 
 More new dresses to carry to the little sickly girl 
 at ' Gray Gables.' Miss Willis does the loveliest 
 embroidery on them." 
 
 " Oh, Nancy, come look at these ducky ginger- 
 bread men," called Louise Minot. " Will you take 
 some back for me to Bill and Joe ? " 
 
 Nancy looked at the dolls. " Yes, of course, 
 only I want that one with wings for a sick child 
 Clare Smith at ' Gray Gables.' Hope's going 
 out there ; she can take it." 
 
 " There ! " exulted Jane in Nancy's ear. " One 
 thing on that list easily disposed of. Why not 
 dump the dampers on Hope too ? Send the bride 
 a gingerbread doll or no, some of those sweet 
 little bridey-looking cakes with swirly frosting, for 
 
 195
 
 N^NCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 her dessert to-night, and a note to say you've 
 secured her a damper expert, on the afternoon 
 indicated in her order." 
 
 " Maybe Hope isn't one." 
 
 " Sure she is I A girl with the owl for her 
 sacred bird, living out in the country, where every- 
 body is a wonderful cook she's never let dampers 
 get by her. There's another thing off our hands ! " 
 
 Nancy caught Hope again, as she flew by with 
 the first trayful for the party, and Hope was as 
 good as Jane's word for her. " Of course I can 
 show the lady if she'll let me. That's one thing 
 I certainly do know about stoves. You can 
 safely say that in your note. And Miss Willis 
 will be glad to have me go there as long as it 
 means a sale of our cakes." 
 
 " Hope, will you have to wait a year longer for 
 college ? " demanded Nancy hastily. 
 
 Hope nodded. " I'm afraid so. But anyhow, 
 I've had all the fun of thinking I was going this 
 fall. Please don't keep me any longer. It doesn't 
 look well, Nancy Lee. Besides, it's time for your 
 party to sit down." 
 
 So Nancy gathered her forces around the loaded 
 table, and amid much laughter and chattering the 
 party proceeded. Louise and Alexandra liked 
 both the twins, and Cecilia liked Christina but 
 was determined not to find anything fascinating 
 
 196
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 about Jane, just because Nancy had spoken of her 
 in such glowing terms. Besides, Cecilia was cross 
 this afternoon. Her cousin Peter had pushed her 
 off the float when they were all in swimming that 
 morning, in an unsolicited effort to " make her 
 more at home in the water," and her aunt had 
 objected to her going to the Inn for dinner with a 
 family who were strangers to the Littles. Cecilia 
 felt abused. It annoyed her to watch Hope, with 
 that shining, sparkling look in her eyes, hurrying 
 back and forth, or hovering adoringly ' behind 
 Nancy's chair. Cecilia's and Alexandra's opinion 
 of her she seemed to ignore entirely, enjoying life 
 just as thoroughly as ever. After everything had 
 been served, Hope brought a paper and pencil to 
 Nancy, whispered something in her ear, and said 
 " Thank you 1 " with a little ecstatic thrill in her 
 voice, when Nancy, having scribbled something 
 on the paper, handed it back. Cecilia could stand 
 it no longer. 
 
 " You seem to have a great many secrets with 
 our waitress," she said irritably. 
 
 " Secrets? " Nancy looked at her blankly. " Oh, 
 it's no secret. Hope is going to do an errand for 
 me. You know the pretty bride I told you about, 
 out by the lighthouse Mrs. Roger Dale is her 
 name. Well, she's been to see me again, and one 
 of her troubles is that she doesn't know anything 
 
 197
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 about stove-dampers. Hope's going to show her, 
 when she stops there with some little cakes." 
 
 Cecilia laughed disagreeably. " If that's her 
 trouble, it's fortunate I didn't go to see her. I 
 never touched a cooking-stove." 
 
 " Great Hat 1 What a helpless, hapless bride you'll 
 make !" drawled Jane, at which everybody laughed 
 but Cecilia, and Nancy hastened to change the 
 subject. 
 
 But the only thing she could think of to say 
 was, " Hope's going to lose her place here, because 
 there's not enough patronage to keep an extra girl 
 busy. That means she won't have money enough 
 to start her college course in September." 
 
 " Oh, what a shame ! " cried impulsive little 
 Christina. 
 
 " I'm sorry, I'm sure," said Cecilia stiffly, 
 " though she certainly doesn't look as if she 
 wanted any one's pity. She looks just sicken- 
 ingly happy." 
 
 " Oh, C. I " protested Alexandra. 
 
 " I can't help I mean it," Cecilia insisted. " It 
 always makes me cross to see anybody just throw- 
 ing it in your face that they're so perfectly con- 
 tented with life specially when they haven't any 
 reason to be." 
 
 " I should imagine," put in quiet Louise Minot, 
 " from what Nancy has just told us that she's do- 
 
 198
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 ing what the boys call ' keeping a stiff upper lip.' 
 I'd be doing that most of the time, I think, in her 
 place. She works in the Inn dining-room, you 
 know, and she looks about as big as a minute carry- 
 ing a heavy trayful of dishes. I never spoke to 
 her, but I've noticed that bright, excited sort of 
 expression that she always wears. She never looks 
 tired or cross." 
 
 " So you're one of her admirers, too, Louise," 
 scoffed Cecilia. She turned to her cousin. " We 
 seem to be in the minority." 
 
 " Why, of course I admire her, Cecilia," Alex- 
 andra began placidly, " for being plucky and 
 
 wanting to make the most of herself. Only " 
 
 Alexandra paused meaningly. 
 
 " I say, Nancy, I've had an idea." Jane had 
 been very quiet for her, all the afternoon, her 
 thoughts far away on the mysterious green-veiled 
 lady. But she had felt Hope's charm, and now 
 she shared Nancy's irritation at Cecilia. " Hope 
 belongs in the W. W.'s," Jane went on, after an 
 impressive pause. " Hadn't you thought of it ? 
 We must initiate her at the very earliest oppor- 
 tunity." 
 
 " Oh, yes ! " Nancy took up the idea eagerly. 
 " She would be a splendid member, wouldn't she ? 
 The W. W.V Nancy turned politely to the three 
 
 outsiders " is a secret society at Fair Oaks " 
 
 199
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 11 Started at Fair Oaks School," interposed Jane, 
 
 " but it takes in Well, the nearest that I 
 
 can tell you and keep the secrecy pledge, is to say 
 that distinguished persons wherever found are ad- 
 mitted." 
 
 " Aren't any of the rest of us eligible ? " asked 
 Louise. 
 
 Jane shrugged. " I can't see that you are, can 
 you, Christina darling? But the boys are work- 
 ing that way. We may be able to initiate them 
 before the summer is over that is, if they accom- 
 plish what we think they will, instead of what 
 they want to." 
 
 " Oh, have they told you what they do off by 
 themselves all the time ? " demanded Alexandra. 
 " Peter is a regular clam about it." 
 
 Jane smilingly pressed her advantage. " They 
 told us because we helped them. Nancy helped 
 them a lot at first, and Christina and I a little 
 this morning. You'd better get into the game." 
 Jane squinted at the Dolphin sign which swung 
 from a piazza pillar and changed the subject with 
 enlivening abruptness. " That Dolphin would be 
 a lot nicer with more kink in his tail." 
 
 " Why don't you go and tell the lady at the 
 desk so?" asked Cecilia, thinking she saw a chance 
 to disconcert this maddeningly superior girl, who 
 had found out the boys' carefully guarded secret 
 
 200
 
 THANKS, I WAS JUST GOING
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 in a day, while Cecilia had been working vainly 
 for weeks to make them confide in her. " She 
 owns this place, and evidently she's not making 
 a success of it, in spite of your wonderful Hope's 
 help. Her name is Miss Willis." 
 
 Jane arose smilingly. " Thanks, I was just 
 going," she announced, and marched blandly 
 down the piazza and in at the door. Nancy and 
 Christina stared, open-eyed, after her, Christina 
 alarmed, Nancy triumphant, but both curious and 
 longing to follow. Only that might spoil Jane's 
 plan, whatever it was; if she wanted help, she 
 would tell them. 
 
 So they sat still and joined animatedly in the 
 talk about a yacht-race for which a Mr. Ellis, a 
 guest at the Inn, had offered prizes. Mr. Ellis 
 had no boat himself didn't even care for sailing. 
 He was just a public-spirited gentleman who en- 
 joyed Halcyon and wanted to help keep things 
 lively. He didn't dance, but he subscribed gener- 
 ously to the Saturday dances, and he had been an 
 enthusiastic supporter of the Fourth of July cele- 
 bration. The race was to be on a Saturday after- 
 noon, with a picnic supper at the boat-house and 
 a moonlight " float " in the evening all Mr. El- 
 lis's idea. 
 
 " He's a funny little man," Louise explained to 
 the others, who had never heard of the wonderful 
 
 20 1
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Mr. Ellis. " He's young and rather good-looking, 
 only he's too white and soft and do-nothing for 
 my taste. He never does do anything, except 
 read and smoke and walk a little, arrayed in 
 beautiful white flannels. He is pleasant to every- 
 body and seems to want to be popular, or he 
 wouldn't bother with things like this race; but he 
 is perfectly content with his own society. He 
 1 flocks by himself/ as the boys say, except occa- 
 sionally for politeness' sake." 
 
 Cecilia sighed. " I wish I had a boat to sail 
 or knew how to sail, so I could ship as somebody's 
 helper. Peter's going to help Dick, and Cornelia 
 is going out with her brother. Suppose we girls 
 have some kind of athletic contest. Nancy, you 
 said we could have a tennis tournament. Why 
 don't we?" 
 
 Nancy laughed. " I was waiting till I could 
 play, I suppose, but that won't be yet a while. 
 We'll have one day after to-morrow. Does that 
 suit everybody? And Louise, can you invite 
 three or four extra girls from the Inn to play ? 
 Dick says that we ought to have at least eight for 
 a tournament. He knows how to draw the names 
 out and arrange for partners." 
 
 Louise would get the extra players, and the day 
 suited every one. 
 
 " Mother said that if we had a tournament she 
 
 202
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 wanted to offer prizes," contributed Alexandra. 
 " As we haven't a court or a boat, we're getting all 
 our good times through our friends, and she wants 
 to do something in return." 
 
 " If Aunt May gets prizes, they'll be worth hav- 
 ing," declared Cecilia. " Don't ask girls who play 
 too well, Louise, because I want a chance at those 
 prizes." 
 
 " It's a shame you can't play, Nancy," said little 
 Christina. " Why not wait till next week ? " 
 
 But Nancy said no ; they could do something 
 else next week, and it was better to have the 
 tennis match when everybody was enthusiastic 
 for it. 
 
 Just then Jane stuck her head out the door. 
 " Christina darling," she drawled, " come and buy 
 a duck of a candle-shade that I've discovered in 
 here." 
 
 " I don't believe I can afford " began Chris- 
 tina doubtfully. 
 
 " Hurry, please," ordered Jane, with a comical 
 gesture in the direction of the tea-party, and the 
 small twin meekly rose to the occasion. 
 
 " Isn't Jane Learned odd and amusing ?" said 
 Louise, when Christina had gone. " Do you sup- 
 pose she really said that to Miss Willis about the 
 Dolphin's tail ? " 
 
 " I don't know," laughed Nancy, " and it's no 
 
 203
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 use asking until she's ready to tell us. Whatever 
 it is, it's sure to be something comical." 
 
 It was fully ten minutes before the twins reap- 
 peared, Christina carrying the candle-shade done 
 up in a neat bundle. 
 
 " Well, did you tell her ? " asked Cecilia indif- 
 ferently. 
 
 " Sure I told her," returned Jane, " and we 
 agreed perfectly. Beginning about to-morrow 
 there'll be a kink in his tail." Jane lopped down 
 in a big wicker-chair and gave a deep sigh of sat- 
 isfaction. " Did you notice her ? " she asked the 
 party. " Miss Willis, I -mean. Great Hat, but 
 she can draw 1 Too bad she's the kind of artist 
 that hasn't any artistic sense left over for clothes, 
 and that has to be reminded what an improve- 
 ment it will be to put a curl in her Dolphin's tail. 
 In other words," said Jane, " she's a frump, and 
 she hasn't a sense of humor, but when you put it 
 up to her, she certainly can draw ! Wait till you 
 see ! " 
 
 " What did you do, Jane ? " asked Nancy. 
 " You really ought to tell us, you know, after 
 we've waited around for you so long." 
 
 Jane only shrugged again. " You'd have stayed 
 anyhow. Unfortunately there's no rush for tables, 
 to suggest the necessity of breaking up this per- 
 fectly good party. Besides, I have told you. I sug- 
 
 204
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 gested the advantage of putting a kink in the 
 Dolphin's tail, and Miss Willis agreed, and it's to 
 be done. If you want to see it, when done," con- 
 cluded Jane coldly, " I suppose you'll have to 
 come around this way to-morrow, or the day after, 
 or both." Thereafter Jane resolutely refused to 
 say anything more, and Cecilia suggested that they 
 really ought to play a little tennis before dinner. 
 Louise could use Nancy's shoes and racquet, and 
 they could take turns staying out, changing every 
 two or three games. 
 
 " There's Mr. Ellis now," said Louise, as they 
 stood by the roadside, having helped Nancy into 
 her carriage. 
 
 " He is good-looking I " 
 
 " Any man is, in good-looking flannels." 
 
 " I don't like his face ; his mouth looks mean, 
 somehow." 
 
 " Why ! " Nancy broke into the chorus of com- 
 ment, " I think he's the one who came in to see 
 about Regent's barking, the night of the Parkes' 
 burglary and the ' Gray Gables ' ghost. Oh, he 
 certainly is the one I At first Dick tried to make 
 me think I'd seen the burglar, but he rather 
 changed his mind later. Now he'll be thoroughly 
 convinced." 
 
 " Did Mr. Parke's detectives ever find out any- 
 thing about that burglary ? " asked Alexandra. 
 
 205
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " No," Louise reported, " they said there was 
 nothing to work on, and it's all been dropped." 
 
 " Good-bye I I'll have the things ready for you, 
 Louise." Nancy signaled her driver to start. She 
 was secretly anxious for the tennis practice to be 
 over. Then she and Christina could get Jane to 
 themselves, and perhaps Jane would tell them 
 what she had really said to Miss Willis. 
 
 But before the chance for confidences arrived 
 the twins had been beaten by Cecilia and Louise, 
 then by Cecilia and Alexandra, and Cecilia had 
 beaten both twins in singles three-game sets to 
 be sure, but it did suggest, as Christina said sadly, 
 that Fair Oaks was badly outclassed. 
 
 " And Jane boasted awfully about my playing, 
 on the way back here from the Dolphin," sighed 
 the small twin mournfully. 
 
 " Well, after I'd made one grand-stand play as 
 I hope," said Jane, " I thought you'd hold up our 
 athletic record. But I never saw you play worse." 
 
 " Maybe it's the strange court," suggested Nancy 
 hopefully. " Dick will give you both some good 
 hard practice to-morrow. Now, Jane ! " 
 
 Jane laughed. " Oh, it's nothing much to boast 
 about," she said shamefacedly. " That Cecilia 
 person made me feel mad right straight through, 
 and of course I felt sorry for Hope. And when I 
 thought how I'd fussed and planned and toiled 
 
 206
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 over silly old scrapes at one old school after an- 
 other, and how I'd hate to work a whole extra winter 
 up among the Vermont snow-drifts, waiting for an 
 education to come my way, and how that Cecilia 
 person never has to wait for what she wants, and 
 how we terrible twins are getting old enough to 
 take hold of something useful with all that 
 mixed up in my head," summarized Jane, " why, 
 of course I got up and walked off, when the Cecilia 
 person gave me the cue, just bound to do some- 
 thing sensible and helpful for a change. But I 
 hadn't an idea what I'd do or say when I got in 
 there. I hadn't even had a thought when I went 
 back to get Christina. But while she was buying 
 something, I had a chance to talk carelessly and 
 think hard. Then I tucked her off in a corner 
 out of hearing, and just let the sight of her back 
 hair inspire me to live up to the reputation of the 
 terrible twins. And now," Jane's manner was 
 suddenly tragic, " we can't practice tennis to- 
 morrow morning, girls, unless we get up before 
 breakfast. Because I've solemnly promised that 
 we'll all three come and work a jig-saw, or a 
 hammer and nails, or a paint-brush according to 
 circumstances, the whole morning long, over in 
 the Dolphin tea-shop. It's a big job for one 
 morning anyhow, and we can't possibly take any 
 time off. Miss Willis's nephew is coming for us 
 
 207
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 at nine o'clock. He doesn't know it yet, but he 
 
 is." 
 
 " Jane, what on earth do you mean ? " demanded 
 Nancy. 
 
 " Oh, Jane, what mess have you got us into 
 now? " wailed little Christina. 
 
 " Oh, only helping to make Dolphin garden- 
 sticks," announced Jane, " and fairy and mermaid 
 and parrot and bird-in-general garden-sticks. Re- 
 member the fairy on a garden-stick that mother 
 paid three round dollars for in New York, Chris- 
 tina darling ? Well, this Miss Willis can draw one 
 that has it beaten cold." She turned to Nancy. 
 " Green stick a yard or so long, topped by quaint 
 and amusing painted wooden figure : that's the 
 latest thing in garden decoration, to tie up your 
 loppy plants to." 
 
 " And is that the curl in the Dolphin's tail ? " 
 demanded Nancy. 
 
 "Why, it's just one more thing to sell," remon- 
 strated Christina. " The candle-shades are lovely, 
 but they didn't help much. How are people to 
 know about it, Jane ? You said to-morrow " 
 
 " Oh, the ones to sell are just a sort of side- 
 issue." Jane dismissed objections brusquely. "The 
 main point is a row of curly-tailed dolphins two 
 rows of 'em marching up each side of the front 
 walk, behind the little box trees, and more rows 
 
 208
 
 THE DOLPHIN'S TAIL 
 
 bristling along the piazza railings. Do you think 
 people can resist that ? Won't they be crazy to 
 walk up between those rows of prancing dolphins ? 
 prancing on green sticks. And then of course 
 they'll go in. And gardening is such a fad at 
 present. Seems as if anybody would want either 
 a dolphin or a mermaid for a sea-garden, or else a 
 fairy or a bird for an inland garden, to tie their 
 roses to, and their larkspur and their foxgloves 
 and their I don't know many plant names," said 
 Jane, " but I'd want some sticks. I made mother 
 promise me her three dollar garden-fairy to have 
 in our room this winter. The Dolphin brand is 
 guaranteed waterproof and lasting," added Jane 
 inconsequently, " but to-morrow we'll have to put 
 a temporary coat of water-colors on the front- 
 walk brigade, because oils won't dry quickly 
 enough." 
 
 " Jane, you make me dizzy, you go so fast," 
 declared Nancy. 
 
 " Your own fault," Jane accused her, " for in- 
 troducing me to this lookout game and to star-eyed 
 Hope isn't that a poetical phrase ? and the 
 annoying Cecilia. To continue with the arrange- 
 ments : Miss Willis's nephew the same one who 
 has a jig-saw to lend drives a carriage to take 
 people around from the trolley terminus. To- 
 morrow he's going to stick a sign on his bus : ' To 
 
 209
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Dolphin Tea-House, five cents/ He doesn't know 
 it yet, but he is. If he gets a lot of extra business, 
 the other drivers will offer to do likewise." 
 
 " It will all be splendid if it works," sighed 
 Nancy. "And of course it means that Hope 
 stays." 
 
 11 Hope stays," repeated Jane, " until it's plain 
 to be seen whether or not the drooping Dolphin 
 can be propped up by flower-sticks and reinvigor- 
 ated by curling his tail." 
 
 210
 
 CHAPTER XII 
 
 A VISIT TO THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 THE boys were growing tired of their detective- 
 work. You couldn't get anywhere with a subject 
 whose habits, though strange, were as monoto- 
 nously regular as the Green Knight's. He seemed 
 fascinated by the swamp around Fresh Pond. 
 The paper that apparently guided his operations 
 there was tattered on the edges and split from 
 much folding and unfolding, though nobody could 
 have handled a bit of rare old lace any more 
 carefully than the Knight did that precious docu- 
 ment. Morning after morning he spread it out 
 on the same flat stone, and returned to it to 
 stare and whistle between his mysterious ex- 
 periments with rope and yard-stick. As the days 
 passed he experimented less and stared more, sit- 
 ting for hours hunched up on a small stone beside 
 the mystic paper, and always he whistled and 
 whistled. 
 
 Afternoons he behaved more like a normal 
 human being. Alone on Lady's back, or with his 
 mother in the cart beside him, he rode or drove 
 
 211
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 along the winding Point roads, off toward Halcyon 
 Harbor, a resort four miles away up the coast, and 
 just before dinner-time into the town for the city 
 papers. Somebody in that queer household could 
 not get on without the day's news. 
 
 The Green Knight was a good horseman. Lady 
 curveted and pranced and shied, but she never 
 got away from the boy's control. On days when 
 there was no wind for sailing, the three amateur 
 detectives envied the Knight his horse, and wished 
 he was more sociable. Then they could swap sails 
 for horseback rides, or all crowd into the cart and 
 drive to town in pursuit of adventure, when time 
 hung heavy. 
 
 What the Green Knight did at night especially 
 late at night was, as the three detectives well 
 realized, the crux of their puzzle. Unfortunately 
 their families had views about boys being at home 
 in bed during the hours most favored by both 
 ghosts and burglars. The three could generally 
 escape after dinner and hurry back to the road 
 that skirted Fresh Pond, near which, about one 
 evening in three, the Green Knight could be found 
 digging his great square pits, or else filling in those 
 that he had dug a few nights before. Why he 
 never dug except at night, though he left the holes 
 as clear evidence against himself, if anybody had 
 wanted it, was a matter that the detectives dis- 
 
 212
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 cussed endlessly. He worked by the faint twinkle 
 of the little electric " bug-light " that he had of- 
 fered to Nancy, so that from the road he was hardly 
 more noticeable than a glowworm. But even with 
 the drawback of darkness, the Green Knight was 
 an expert at excavating. He dug, dug, dug, whis- 
 tled and whistled. The earth piled up in great 
 spadefuls beside the hole he made, and he never 
 seemed to have any doubt about the exact location 
 he wanted for this, nor any trouble in keeping it 
 square. These things puzzled the detectives, until 
 Little Peter, walking boldly down one evening to 
 question the Knight, as Nancy had suggested, 
 kicked his feet against a row of short stakes that 
 bounded the square. That was all the information 
 that Little Peter got for his trouble. 
 
 " What am I digging for ? " repeated the Knight 
 in answer to Little Peter's query. " Why, fish- 
 worms. One name for 'em is night-crawlers, so I 
 thought maybe they'd crawl up in the dark and 
 be easier to get." 
 
 " Where's your can ? " asked Little Peter suspi- 
 ciously. 
 
 "My what?" 
 
 " Your can don't you keep them in a tin can ? " 
 explained Little Peter. 
 
 " No," said the other. " I keep 'em in a paper." 
 
 " Where's your paper? " 
 
 213
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 11 In my pocket." 
 
 " I call that messy." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " said the Green Knight blandly. 
 " Not at all messy, because I've got no worms 
 yet." 
 
 " What do you use fish-worms for around here ? " 
 demanded Little Peter, in a final attempt to trap 
 the excavator. 
 
 "Well," said the Knight placidly, " if I got any, 
 I thought I'd go fishing river-fishing, I mean. 
 Of course I know you can't use worms for deep-sea 
 fishing. But as I haven't got any, I shan't go." 
 
 " How many hours have you put in trying to get 
 one worm ? " sniffed Peter. 
 
 The Green Knight stuck his face out into the 
 light of his tiny lantern and grinned wickedly. 
 " I'm awfully persistent," he explained. " Besides, 
 I've got lots of hours to waste this summer." He 
 consulted his watch. " Nine o'clock closing 
 time." He threw his spade over his shoulder, 
 picked up the lantern, and dashed up the bank 
 through the bushes at a pace that left Peter, who 
 didn't know every foot of the ground with the cer- 
 tainty of his companion, far in the rear. 
 
 After that, Little Peter, who was decidedly not 
 persistent, lost interest. " The fellow's crazy," was 
 Peter's opinion. " Anyhow, he's too good for us. 
 Old man Smith had better put a big detective like 
 
 214
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 Mr. Burns on his trail. I'm convinced that he's 
 responsible for anything queer that happens around 
 here " 
 
 " Don't talk till you've got evidence," said 
 Johnny Andrews severely. Johnny intended to be 
 either a great detective or a famous criminal lawyer 
 when he was older, and insisted upon observing 
 the rules of the game. " So far," he reminded the 
 others, " we haven't any evidence at all." 
 
 " That's so," agreed Dick. " We're wasting our 
 time. Instead of being down watching Fresh 
 Pond and that crazy-head ' digging for fish- 
 worms,' we belong up on Judge Smith's place, on 
 the chance that the ghost-racket happens again." 
 
 " Sure, we belong there," said Johnny. " Let's 
 interview the Judge and tell him so. Just be- 
 cause he thinks that 'fraid-cat little girl will 
 worry if she sees us around, is no reason for him 
 to keep us out." 
 
 " He's probably forgotten all about us and the 
 ghost too," scoffed Little Peter. " The ghost prob- 
 ably wasn't anything but that 'fraid-cat kid's bad 
 dreams. Nobody would have thought of it again, 
 if it hadn't happened on the night of the Parkes' 
 burglary." 
 
 " Then there was Regent's cutting up," put in 
 Dick, " which showed that we had suspicious 
 characters around our place. But see here, this 
 
 215
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 boy always stops at nine. His rushing off from 
 you, Peter, wasn't any trick he put up on you. 
 He always cuts for home at exactly nine o'clock, 
 and before ten their house is as dark as Egypt." 
 
 " No evidence," grumbled businesslike Johnny 
 again. " We don't know that he stays in the dark 
 house only that he goes in. But probably Peter's 
 right. Probably there won't be any more ghost. 
 And probably this smart youth named Lawrence 
 we-don't-know-what will fool us all summer. So 
 let's get busy helping Dick here to sail his boat to 
 the limit in the big race. Mother saw the cups 
 down at the Inn yesterday, and she said they're 
 peaches. A motor-boat is nice for ladylike pic- 
 nics, but I wish I had the real thing, like Dick." 
 
 And then, that very afternoon, there was a dead 
 calm on the bay and hardly a puff of wind on the 
 open sea, and, as there was nothing to be done 
 about sailing and the late afternoon was pleasanter 
 for tennis, the boys decided to go down to the 
 watch-tower and talk to the old captains. 
 
 Mrs. Miggs had told Nancy about the watch- 
 tower. It was down at the Neck, out on the end 
 of the longest wharf: a squatty little tower, but 
 high enough to command a long stretch of sea. 
 
 " The old captains sit there," Mrs. Miggs ex- 
 plained, " after they're too old to sail any longer. 
 Cap'n Silas Baker, he's lame, 'n' Cap'n John Mace, 
 
 216
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 he's lamer, so's he can jest drag up the tower steps. 
 Cap'n Cyras Mixter, he's blind, the dear old man. 
 They're the four regulars, always on hand. Cap- 
 tain Porter's younger, but he's the deafest of the 
 lot. He fishes a little in summer, but most of the 
 time he sets and smokes with the rest up in the 
 tower. Captain Blades comes when his wife 
 don't need him, and is willing. They set in a 
 row with their chairs teetered back aginst the 
 wall and smoke and talk. They love to have 
 strangers come in on 'em. Maybe you girls would 
 find it a little smoky, but your brothers would ad- 
 mire to hear the stories they've got to tell, and 
 they'd admire to tell 'em." 
 
 This sounded entertaining. Johnny wanted to 
 know if the " Banks " where the fishermen went 
 were made of fog or something more solid, and just 
 how one caught lobsters. Dick looked forward to 
 wild tales of storm and shipwreck, with dramatic 
 rescues to follow. Peter hoped that some of the 
 captains had been with the sponge fleets, and could 
 give him points on professional diving. As they 
 walked down to the Neck, discussing all these in- 
 teresting possibilities, their pace grew faster and 
 faster, until they almost ran down the long wharf 
 and up the tower stairs. But though they took 
 no pains to be quiet as they reached the door of 
 the dusky loft, where the old captains sat, watch- 
 
 217
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ing the sea through the great doors that fronted 
 the water and were always open in fair weather, 
 not a captain noticed the visitors. They were not 
 sitting in a row against the wall ; only one was 
 smoking ; they were not pining for listeners, or 
 for a chance of entertaining gossip, as Mrs. Miggs 
 had represented or rather they were already pro- 
 vided with entertainment, apparently of the most 
 thrilling nature. In the corner, on a pile of nets, 
 where its owner had tossed it, lay a green cap 
 with a tiny green feather tucked in its band. 
 Over by the wide-flung doors sat the Green 
 Knight in the center of an excited circle of alert 
 old men. On the boy's knees was spread the tat- 
 tered paper that the three intruders had seen so 
 many times laid out on the flat rock. The boy 
 was reading from it, while the eager old men 
 stared at the writing all but one, blind old Cap- 
 tain Mixter, who gazed sightlessly in the direction 
 of the boy's voice. 
 
 " ' East of ye bay there is a pond,' " read the boy, 
 " ' and on ye east side of ye pond there is an oak 
 tree ten yards from ye waterside.' ' The boy 
 paused. " It would be dead by now, of course, 
 but seems to me I've tried every stump " 
 
 The blind captain lifted his thin hand. " It's 
 not Fresh Pond that's meant, my boy. It's the 
 old horse-pond up on the Miggs farm that's 
 
 218
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 Judge Smith's place now, and all the Point land 
 beyond him belonged to it." 
 
 " What say ? Speak up, Cyrus," demanded 
 "deef" Captain Porter. 
 
 " I say Fresh Pond wa'n't there in the old days," 
 repeated Captain Mixter loudly. " You all know 
 that. Down in the holler behind the big house, 
 right where the man that built ' Gray Gables,' as 
 they call it, put his biggest barn, there's the 
 place that's meant. There's wood and rocks there 
 'bout all that feller that fixed it up saw fit to 
 leave. He was great for smoothing off and cut- 
 ting down. He dreened his horse-pond down into 
 the swamp that's Fresh Pond now. The others 
 dreened down there too put all the waste water 
 together and planted lilies. It makes the Point 
 more sightly, I must say, but it's changed all the 
 old landmarks." The blind man sighed. " You 
 look for your oak stump and your rock up behind 
 that barn." 
 
 " I see," said the boy slowly. " I thought per- 
 haps that was it from something that's written in 
 here in my grandfather's writing. I tried up there 
 one morning before breakfast, but I sort of 
 hated " 
 
 " How are you, mates?" broke in " deef" Cap- 
 tain Porter, who, happening to look up, had dis- 
 covered the three visitors hesitating in the door. 
 
 219
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Come and join us, if you so please," he added 
 sociably. 
 
 The Green Knight looked up, and quick as a 
 flash but with deft gentleness he folded the 
 precious paper and tucked it away in a big black 
 wallet. 
 
 " I must be off," he said, rising and nodding a 
 friendly nod around the circle of captains and then 
 at the boys. " I'll be in again soon, and here's 
 some of that stick-candy you fellows said you 
 liked." He pulled a square package out of his 
 pocket and laid it in Captain Mixter's hand. 
 
 The old captains watched him go wistfully. 
 
 " He's one of us," " deef " Captain Porter told 
 the new arrivals. " His granddad was a Halcyon 
 man." 
 
 " And what he don't know about the old days!" 
 testified Captain Baker admiringly. " He knows 
 who owned every foot of land round here, from 
 the Revolutionary days down. He knows the 
 names and stories of all our old sailing-vessels. 
 He's up on town history. He could draw a map 
 of the Miggs farm and the Baker farm and half a 
 dozen next beyond 'em. He's a great boy." 
 
 " What's he looking for down by Fresh Pond ? " 
 demanded Johnny daringly. 
 
 " That's his affair," snapped Captain Mixter. 
 
 " He's a great chum of ourn," Captain Baker 
 
 220
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 apologized for the other's curtness. " Drops in 
 'most every day. Tells us his private business, 
 knowing it's safe with us." 
 
 " Oh, that's all right," said Johnny. " What's 
 his name ? " 
 
 Captain Baker considered. " Dunno's I ever 
 heard him say." He raised his voice for Captain 
 Porter's benefit. " Any of you recollect hearing 
 his name? " 
 
 Nobody did. 
 
 Captain Mixter began to reminisce. " I recol- 
 lect that old horse-pond jest as well. Swam across 
 it first year I learned. There was one deep place, 
 over my head, and the fresh water didn't hold you 
 up like the bay. Sam Miggs he was jest my size 
 he stood on the bank and watched me come. I 
 remember how scared he looked. It wa'n't over 
 my head for mor'n two yards, I s'pose. The big 
 barn's right over that hole." 
 
 Silent little Captain Blades turned solemnly to 
 the newcomers. " Any of you belong in Halcyon ? " 
 
 " We've been coming here three summers," vol- 
 unteered Dick. 
 
 " Umph, summer folks!" commented Captain 
 Blades. " Any of you sailed the seas to furrin 
 parts?" 
 
 " I'm going to Japan the first chance I get," 
 volunteered Little Peter. 
 
 221
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " That boy's been round the world more than 
 once," asserted Captain Mixter proudly. " He's 
 touched at more furrin ports than any of us. 
 He's lived in furrin ports." 
 
 " We thought perhaps you'd spin us some yarns," 
 suggested Dick, half-heartedly, because he was more 
 interested now in comparing views on the Green 
 Knight's behavior with Peter and Johnny than in 
 the most thrilling sea-tales. 
 
 But Captain Mixter settled the matter. " Not 
 to-day, mates," he objected, " not to-day. We've 
 got business to tend to 'bout some old landmarks. 
 You wouldn't be interested. Any other day, when 
 we're not so busy, we'd admire to talk to you." 
 
 Down on the sunny road the three friends 
 stopped to size up the situation. 
 
 " Well, he's done us again," said Peter. " Seems 
 he can be chummy enough when he wants to, but 
 he picks his company." 
 
 " What do you gather he's after ? " queried 
 Dick. 
 
 " I've got it ! " cried Peter triumphantly, after a 
 pause. " The writing-machine lady with the 
 green veil is getting up a history of Halcyon, 
 tidy little souvenirs to sell to the summer colony. 
 Green Cap is hunting material for it old maps 
 and things." 
 
 " You don't make maps with a spade," objected 
 
 222
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 Johnny. " You don't dig up materials for a his- 
 tory book out of the ground." 
 
 " Oh, well," conceded Peter irritably, " of course 
 that's something else he's at. Can't a fellow 
 be at two things at once ? Maybe it's fish-worms, 
 
 as he said, and maybe it's Well, I'm going to 
 
 the library to read up on the history of that Miggs 
 farm," announced Peter suddenly. " You two can 
 go and beat the girls at tennis, if you feel like it. 
 I'm going to run this mystery down." 
 
 But Peter, delving till dinner-time in the stuffy 
 little reading-room on the Neck, unearthed noth- 
 ing at all notable about an oak, a rock, or a horse- 
 pond on the Miggs farm, now portioned off be- 
 tween " Gray Gables " and a dozen other summer 
 residences. And Peter might have saved himself 
 the hot and dusty search through village archives. 
 For next morning as the three boys, accom- 
 panied by Alexandra, Cecilia and the Learned 
 twins, were hurrying down to the bathing-beach, 
 Judge Smith hailed them from his big limousine. 
 
 " Haven't you detectives any report to make ? " 
 he demanded, twinkling at the boys genially, as 
 they stood in an embarrassed row in front of him. 
 " I thought you couldn't have run the creature 
 down, because we had another visitation last night. 
 I got back from the West at midnight, and before 
 four I was waked by the most unearthly yelling I 
 
 223
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ever want to hear. I'm using Clare's rooms now. 
 They're the only ones the haunt cares for, it seems, 
 so there may have been plenty of other visitations 
 while I was away. You fellows couldn't arrange 
 with your families to come up and sleep for a while ? 
 Not that I am much bothered by having a haunted 
 house on my hands," chuckled Judge Smith, " but 
 I sort of like the idea of a ghost hunt and so does 
 Clare, now that she's got over her scare a little. 
 Besides," he laughed again, " I've got a hunt 
 for buried treasure going on back of my barn, and 
 a Sedan chair stored in my garage, so three young 
 detectives in charge of a ghost-hunt on the third 
 story seems to complete the picture." 
 
 " I say," demanded Johnny Andrews, after the 
 three had exchanged doubtful glances, " are you 
 guying us, Judge Smith ? " 
 
 " Guying you ? " repeated Judge Smith irascibly. 
 " Certainly not, young man. What gives you that 
 impression ? " 
 
 " Well," began Johnny, " we're in earnest, you 
 see, Judge. We're trying to find the real person 
 who's annoying you, and who maybe robbed Mr. 
 Parke also. We don't believe in ghosts, and of 
 course we know you don't. And a hunt for buried 
 treasure sounds like some other kind of a 
 fake " 
 
 " Fake ! " broke in Judge Smith, " fake I Well, 
 
 224
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 I guess not. The young man who's doing the 
 hunting has a permit that descended to him from 
 his grandfather to search my premises. The grand- 
 father got it from the son of the ancient owner of 
 my place, and it's dated 1831. I haven't a word 
 to say in the matter. Besides, I like it. Do you 
 mean to say " he frowned at the three boys 
 " do you mean to say that you're not interested in 
 a genuine hunt for buried treasure ? Why, when 
 I was the age of you fellows I'd have been sprint- 
 ing down the road half-way back to my place by 
 now, to watch it." 
 
 " It's that boy with the green cap, of course," 
 said Peter. 
 
 " Um you know him, do you ? " asked Judge 
 Smith. 
 
 " By sight," explained Peter. " He's been 
 measuring and digging down by Fresh Pond we 
 didn't know why. Evidently he didn't find any- 
 thing there, but he wouldn't tell us what he was 
 doing." 
 
 "Is that so?" said Judge Smith. "That's 
 funny. But then he had to tell me, naturally. I 
 noticed he didn't seem very sociable shy, maybe. 
 Well now, the point is this : can you boys be on 
 hand, two at a time, say, to try to get a line on 
 this night-prowler, or, to be quite accurate, night- 
 howler. We'll discontinue using the misleading 
 
 225
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 term that I applied before, though I must say the 
 noise I heard was the most unearthly, inhuman 
 shrieking I can imagine. I don't blame Clare at 
 all for getting hysterical over it. Can you begin 
 to-night?" 
 
 The detectives solemnly agreed to have two of 
 the firm on hand that very evening, prepared to 
 sleep in the noise-haunted chamber, and then 
 started off after the girls. 
 
 " Hi ! hi ! " called Judge Smith before they had 
 gone far. " There's another thing I want to consult 
 you boys about, though I will admit " he turned 
 to the sceptical Johnny " this thing does sound a 
 good deal like a joke. I'm out looking for a girl 
 with big brown eyes a little girl, who does errands 
 for somebody or other around here. Nobody 
 knows what errand brought her to my house, but 
 my spoilt grandchild Clare wants her back. So 
 I'm out with a list of all the possible places that 
 might have sent her " 
 
 " Has she big bright brown eyes ? " demanded 
 Peter. " Quite remarkable eyes, and lots of en- 
 thusiasm and go in her manner ? " 
 
 " Sounds like it," snapped Judge Smith. " Who 
 is your girl ? " 
 
 "That's Hope Haskins. She works at the Inn, 
 and she's a friend of his sister's " Peter indicated 
 Dick with a gesture. 
 
 226
 
 THE CAPTAINS' WATCH-TOWER 
 
 " Well ! " The old man was running down the 
 long list of establishments that might have sent a 
 girl oat on an errand to " Gray Gables." " The 
 Inn's not here. I'll try it first, though just like 
 a pack of servants to remember all but the right 
 place. Good-bye, boys. To the Inn, Thomas." 
 
 11 Well, of all queer old parties ! " said Dick, 
 watching the big car out of sight. "The Green 
 Knight hasn't much on him for queerness ! Start- 
 ing out to find a girl with nice brown eyes " 
 
 " And finding her first clip," put in Peter. 
 " That's his style. Crazy over this Green Knight's 
 hunt for buried treasure " 
 
 " Say, that's what I thought of yesterday," 
 broke in Peter again, " after we'd been to see the 
 captains. I thought buried treasure would about 
 fit the case. Only it sounded too wild, so I kept 
 still." 
 
 " Nothing's too wild to be true nowadays," said 
 Johnny. " Truth is stranger than fiction. Has 
 anybody any new theories about this night-howler ? 
 And who's going to sleep up there on the first 
 shift?" 
 
 227
 
 CHAPTER XIII 
 
 A COSTLY VICTORY 
 
 "ISN'T it hot?" 
 
 " The hotter the better for tennis." 
 
 " If you could see yourself, Alice Knapp, you'd 
 realize the disadvantages of heat." 
 
 " Well, I'd rather have a good time and look 
 like a lobster than sit around in a fluffy white 
 dress and groan about how hot I am," said Jane 
 Learned, dropping down on the grass beside the 
 Lees' tennis-court. 
 
 It was the day of the much-heralded tennis 
 tournament. Jane had just been badly beaten by 
 Alice Knapp, a tow-headed girl from the Inn. 
 Louise Minot, the other two Inn girls, and Alexan- 
 dra had been eliminated in the first round. The 
 next match was between Cecilia Green, and Chris- 
 tina Learned, and the winner would play Alice 
 Knapp in the finals. To be sure, there was also 
 Nancy Lee, who had let her name go into the 
 drawing as a mere formality. There were eight 
 players without Nancy, and, as her name came 
 out of Peter Little's hat last, she would not have 
 
 228
 
 A COSTLT VICTORY 
 
 to play, or default, until the very last round, when 
 she would meet the winner of all the other 
 matches. This Dick and Peter, who had both 
 managed tournaments at school, declared to be 
 the professional method of handling the situation. 
 
 Dick, Peter, and Johnny Andrews were general 
 managers of the tournament. All the young 
 people on the Point and at the Inn had been in- 
 vited to look on, so there was a noisy and enthusi- 
 astic " gallery," which clapped all the good shots 
 impartially and inspired the players to do their 
 best. 
 
 " I don't mean to fuss about the heat," said the 
 girl who had commented on Alice Knapp's wilted 
 appearance, " but I do hate the sun in my face. 
 I'm going to move." 
 
 " You'll certainly melt if you sit on the other 
 side of the court," advised somebody, " with the 
 sun on your back." 
 
 " Well, I'll try melting then, if necessary," said 
 the girl, " for I'm certainly tired of squinting. 
 But how about the end of the court? It seems 
 quite shady there." 
 
 " Oh, lemonade I " cried Alexandra Little, spy- 
 ing Rosa coming down the path with a great bowl, 
 followed by Josephine, strutting importantly along 
 with a tray of glasses. 
 
 So it happened that when Cecilia and Christina 
 
 229
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 began to play, a few of the spectators still sat fac- 
 ing the sun on the side-line, and all the others 
 who were not off under a big tree drinking lemon- 
 ade were gathered in a spot of shade at Christina's 
 end of the court. 
 
 " Love-fifteen I " 
 
 " Love-thirty ! " 
 
 " Fifteen-thirty I " 
 
 " Fifteen-forty ! " 
 
 11 Game ! " 
 
 Cecilia's game. Cecilia was serving splendidly ; 
 Christina could not get one of her swift, low balls. 
 But Christina won on her serve. Games were 
 then one-all. After that Christina lost steadily. 
 Games were one-two, one-three, one-four, two-four, 
 the score always in Cecilia's favor. 
 
 " I say, Nancy, you'll have to go into the finals 
 and do up C. Green." Little Peter, who had been 
 " hustling " lemonade for those who still kept 
 their places by the tennis-court, strolled up to 
 Nancy's chair. 
 
 " Oh, I can't play," Nancy assured him. " I 
 might just as well have defaulted in the first 
 place. It would be awfully careless for me to race 
 around on a weak ankle." 
 
 " I thought you said it wasn't weak any more." 
 
 " Well, it isn't, really," laughed Nancy, " but I 
 don't suppose it can be perfectly strong yet. Be- 
 
 230
 
 A COSTLT VICTORY 
 
 sides, Peter, I can't believe it would be fair for me 
 to step in at the end, after the winner of all the 
 other matches is tired, and try to beat her." 
 
 " It's perfectly fair," insisted Peter. " Luck was 
 with you, that's all, in the drawing. There were 
 nine entries, including you. You were drawn out 
 last number nine. The first eight pair, then the 
 four winners pair, and so on, and you draw a blank 
 each time. * Drawing a bye ' is the technical ex- 
 pression for it. You have a perfect right to play." 
 
 " Thirty-all I " called Cecilia, who was serving. 
 " Play ! " 
 
 " Oh, isn't it " began Christina, and dived 
 
 after the flying ball. It was her point. 
 
 " And my game too, I think, Cecilia," she ex- 
 plained, coming up to the net. " The score before 
 that was forty-fifteen in my favor. That makes 
 the games three to four." 
 
 " Oh, no ! " objected Cecilia eagerly. " It was 
 thirty-all before, just as I said. I made doubles 
 once, and you got one little low ball just over the 
 net." 
 
 " And one in the back of the court." 
 
 " Oh, that one was out," said Cecilia decisively. 
 " I may not have called it so you heard, but it was 
 at least a foot out." 
 
 " It was ! " Christina stepped back into her 
 place, a worried look on her small face. The 
 
 231
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 game that she had thought safely hers must be 
 won all over again. 
 
 " Thirty-forty ! Play ! " 
 
 Christina ran too far forward, and the ball 
 dropped into the net on her side. 
 
 " Deuce. Play ! " 
 
 Christina " lobbed " her return high in the air, 
 and everybody waited breathlessly for it to come 
 down. 
 
 " Out I " called Cecilia, promptly, as it struck. 
 
 " The dust flew, C. ! It must have been on the 
 line," called Peter. 
 
 " There's a smutch of white outside the line just 
 here," retorted Cecilia easily. " That ball was 
 out : I was right beside it, and I saw it distinctly. 
 You can't possibly see my lines from that end of 
 the court." 
 
 " I say, Nancy," Peter came back to Nancy's 
 side, " you ought to have an umpire for this 
 match. That ball was in. C. juggles scores when 
 it suits her. That's why I don't want her to win 
 out." 
 
 Nancy blushed and looked anxiously to see if 
 any one had overheard Peter's confidence. " Oh, 
 Peter, I can't believe that she meant to be unfair. 
 And how can I suggest having an umpire now, 
 when we haven't had one all the time before? It 
 would be insulting to Cecilia." 
 
 232
 
 A COSTLT VICTORY 
 
 " No more than to Miss Learned." 
 
 "She's, losing." 
 
 11 Yes, and that's the whole trouble. We boys 
 are managing this match. I'm going to have one 
 of the Shaws umpire the next set. We ought to 
 have had an umpire and a score-keeper all the 
 time." 
 
 Nancy's troubled face cleared. " Cecilia won't 
 mind having an umpire if it's one of the Shaws. 
 You're a very tactful person, Peter." 
 
 " Sure, I am." Peter ran off gaily to make his 
 arrangements. Unfortunately, not knowing the 
 Shaw brothers intimately, Peter chose the wrong 
 one the slow one. Cecilia's decisive " Out " or 
 " In " was merely echoed by the umpire, and as 
 Christina offered no objections, things went on 
 much as before, all doubtful points being scored in 
 Cecilia's favor. 
 
 " Managers will umpire and keep score for 
 finals," announced Peter briskly, when, after a 
 short rest, Cecilia announced that she was ready 
 to play again. 
 
 " And you'll chase our balls too," added Cecilia, 
 with a scathing glance at Peter. 
 
 " All right," agreed Peter serenely, taking his 
 place on Alice Knapp's side of the court. 
 
 But it was no use. Cecilia had seen the flash 
 of determination in her cousin Peter's eyes, and 
 
 233
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 she yielded perforce, and then proceeded to get her 
 way in spite of him. 
 
 "Cecilia will win," Alexandra told Nancy early 
 in the match. " When she looks like that, she's 
 mad about something, and when she's mad she 
 plays like a streak." 
 
 And indeed it was by sheer good playing that 
 Cecilia won this time. 
 
 Christina Learned, who sat down on the ground 
 at Nancy's feet to rest from her vigorous exer- 
 tions, looked up at Nancy earnestly. " She's 
 really a fine player, Nancy. I wish we'd had 
 people to chase our balls, you know. But per- 
 haps I couldn't have beaten her even then. I'm 
 sorry. I ought to learn to stick up for myself 
 better." 
 
 Christina looked very small and tired and pa- 
 thetic as she spoke. Nancy felt ashamed of having 
 invited her to Halcyon, and then let Cecilia treat 
 her so unfairly. Cecilia, over on the tennis-court, 
 was shaking hands with Alice and boasting gaily 
 that she never played her best unless people were 
 watching. 
 
 " And then I did want the first prize," added 
 Cecilia. " I've seen it, you know, and " 
 
 " Cecilia, I'll play you whenever you're rested." 
 Nancy Lee tried hard to make her announcement 
 sound perfectly casual and good-natured. If she 
 
 234
 
 A COSTLY VICTORY 
 
 owed something to Christina, Cecilia, too, was her 
 guest in another way. 
 
 "Oh, I thought you'd defaulted. I'm ready any 
 time," returned Cecilia, the hard little smile that 
 Alexandra had spoken of settling again tight 
 around her mouth. 
 
 " Nancy, do you think you ought to play ?" de- 
 manded Christina in a frightened voice. 
 
 " I only know that I can't resist," laughed Nancy. 
 " Where's Jane? I let her use my racquet." 
 
 Jane was down on the wharf. " I thought I 
 should explode and disgrace you, Nancy, if I 
 watched any more of Cecilia's tennis," she ex- 
 plained, " but I'll come back now and root wildly 
 for Fair Oaks. Good for you, Nancy I " 
 
 " I think you ought to ask your mother about 
 playing, Nancy," cautioned Christina. 
 
 " I can't. She and Mrs. Little got tired of watch- 
 ing us and went off for a walk. Besides, it's all 
 right. I can't sit around forever ! " 
 
 By this time Nancy was in her most careless, 
 irresponsible mood. She had almost forgotten the 
 avenging of Christina ; she was going into the 
 match because she wanted a good, hard game of 
 tennis on her own court, which she had never yet 
 played on. She wanted the fun and excitement 
 of playing Cecilia, and perhaps of beating her. 
 She was tired of being cautious and sensible, but 
 
 235
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 she would be very careful of her ankle. She would 
 keep thinking every minute that she mustn't turn 
 it or twist it or jump high and come down hard on 
 that ankle. 
 
 It was a bad handicap, being so fearfully out of 
 practice. Nancy lost three straight games to 
 Cecilia, and after each one the hard little smile 
 deepened around Cecilia's mouth. 
 
 " Any time you like we can rest a little," sug- 
 gested Cecilia, cool and unruffled, while Nancy 
 puffed and panted from the unaccustomed exercise. 
 
 " Thanks," said Nancy, " but this is a regular 
 match. We can rest when it's over. Play your 
 best ! I shall." 
 
 Nancy's racquet caught one of Cecilia's swiftj 
 low balls and dropped it over the net into an un- 
 protected corner of the court with the beautiful 
 easy swing that is real tennis. After that stroke 
 all Nancy's skill seemed to come back. She 
 played like a whirlwind, all over her court. Swift 
 and sure, she slammed her balls on the back line, 
 the side lines, wherever they were most surely out 
 of Cecilia's reach. 
 
 The spectators applauded excitedly. The games 
 piled up and up for Nancy. And the ankle never 
 gave a twinge. It would have been nonsense to 
 miss this splendid, splendid game I 
 
 The first set was Nancy's. In the second, 
 
 236
 
 A COSTLY VICTORY 
 
 Cecilia, who had been taken unawares by Nancy's 
 sudden spurt, fought gallantly for every point. 
 There were long, exciting rallies ; swift " smashes " 
 close to the net ; maddening " lobs " that made 
 Cecilia so nervous with their slow, wavering de- 
 scent that she invariably missed them ; low, back- 
 court balls that always proved too much for Nancy, 
 who whacked at them, but only succeeded in mak- 
 ing extra work for the ball-chasing umpires. 
 
 The score tied at four games all. The fifth game 
 went to Nancy. The sixth must be hers too, 
 Nancy decided swiftly. If she lost and the games 
 stood at five-all, that meant a long deuce set that 
 would weary players and spectators alike. To cap 
 the climax, the sixth game was a deuce game. 
 Back and forth went the score : deuce, vantage in, 
 deuce, vantage out, deuce. Neither player seemed 
 able to win three points in succession. 
 
 Vantage out I That meant that Nancy was 
 ahead. One point more and the set and match 
 would be hers. 
 
 " I will get it. I will ! I must ! " Nancy whis- 
 pered to herself, as Cecilia made ready to serve. 
 
 " Give her a smasher, Cecilia ! " 
 
 " Win the point, Nancy I " 
 
 " Go for it, Cecilia ! " 
 
 The gallery comment disturbed Cecilia, who 
 served the first ball out of bounds. 
 
 237
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 11 Careful ! " called Cecilia's partisans. 
 
 " Make it doubles ! " advised Nancy's. 
 
 Recklessly Cecilia served another swift ball. It 
 was in, and Nancy returned it. Cecilia sent it 
 back. By a phenomenal rush Nancy was on hand 
 in time to " lob " it to her opponent. Steadily 
 Cecilia bided her time and sent back a splendid 
 ball close to the back line of Nancy's court. 
 Coolly Nancy swung the ball back to her oppo- 
 nent. This time Cecilia dropped it just over the 
 net. 
 
 " Oh I " breathed Nancy, and ran forward. She 
 couldn't get there in time ! She must ! Desper- 
 ately she reached for the ball, hit it with the rim 
 of her racquet, lost her balance, and slid to her 
 knees on the court, just as the ball, hanging pre- 
 cariously on the top edge of the net for an instant, 
 dropped lifelessly to the ground in Cecilia's court 
 and rolled maddeningly toward her. 
 
 " Game, set, series. Nancy Lee wins," called 
 Johnny, who was umpire-in-chief. 
 
 " That was a lucky stroke, Nancy. I congratu- 
 late you." 
 
 Cecilia stood by the net, holding out the con- 
 ventional hand to the victor. But Nancy, very 
 white and solemn, sat huddled on the ground, one 
 foot the one that belonged to the bad ankle 
 twisted under her. 
 
 238
 
 SHE REACHED FOR THE BALL
 
 A COSTLY VICTORY 
 
 " Now I've done it again ! " gasped Nancy 
 Lee. 
 
 In a minute everybody understood what had 
 happened and rushed forward to help Nancy up, 
 to scold, to sympathize, to run for Rosa and Mrs. 
 Lee, to telephone the doctor, to decide between 
 bringing Nancy to the green bench or the green 
 bench to Nancy. 
 
 " Goodness ! " sighed Nancy, as she and the 
 bench, having been somehow united, were being 
 carried up to the house. " What a mess you can 
 make of things in just a minute ! " 
 
 " Doctor Jennings isn't in won't be till late this 
 evening." 
 
 " We can't find your mother anywhere." 
 
 " Dick and Johnny can carry you right up- 
 stairs." 
 
 " Alexandra's bringing the prize, and your 
 racquet." 
 
 Nancy, sick and dull with the throbbing pain, 
 stared whitely at the sea of faces, listened, only 
 half comprehending, to the torrent of comment 
 and question, then shut her eyes to keep out the 
 rushing, dizzying procession of people and things 
 that seemed to swirl and eddy around her swaying 
 couch. 
 
 " Do anything you want to," she murmured. 
 " It hurts too much I can't think." 
 
 239
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Oh, has anything happened ? Can I help ? " 
 
 It was a new voice, with a little thrill in it that 
 made Nancy open her eyes. There standing close 
 beside her was Mrs. Roger Dale, the pretty bride 
 who did not know about stove-dampers. 
 
 " Oh, how do you do ? " Nancy tried hard to 
 be cordial to the new guest, but Mrs. Dale cut her 
 short. 
 
 " You're hurt, poor child. Is it the ankle 
 again ? What a shame ! Oh, I can see that it's 
 paining you cruelly. Shall I call my husband 
 he's waiting for me out in the road. Unless your 
 own doctor Oh, I ought to say that my hus- 
 band is a doctor too. He'll be only too glad to 
 help. Of course I think he's quite wonderful in 
 his line, and sprains happen to be in his line." 
 
 Mrs. Roger Dale did not know anything about 
 dampers ; with the aid of ten cook-books she could 
 not achieve a respectable breakfast. But she 
 knew how to send home a crowd of panicky young 
 people in record time, without hurting any one's 
 feelings. She was an adept at hurrying Rosa with 
 hot water, at consoling frightened little Josephine, 
 and making Dick and the Learned twins feel that 
 they were managing everything splendidly, with 
 just a little of her help. As for Doctor Roger Dale, 
 he was handsome enough, Nancy decided, to be 
 the husband of Mrs. Roger ; and he had a smile 
 
 240
 
 A COSTLT VICTORY 
 
 that made you like him and eyes that assured you 
 he could be trusted. He did strange things to 
 Nancy's ankle, rubbing and kneading it until he 
 brought the tears to his patient's eyes. But he 
 promised wonderful results, if Nancy would let 
 him work over the sprain once or twice more. 
 
 " A new method," he explained. " I'm just 
 back from a year in the European hospitals. No 
 need of being laid up long with a sprain nowa- 
 days, if you're willing to be hurt a good bit at 
 first." 
 
 " I mustn't forget to tell you why I stopped 
 here to-day," Mrs. Dale explained to Nancy just be- 
 fore she left. " It's to ask about that dear little girl 
 you sent out to me the other day. Oh, the little 
 cakes were delicious, but the girl who brought 
 them was even more of a gift. She showed me all 
 about my stove, and it's cooked splendidly ever 
 since. But she flew away before I'd even thanked 
 her. Could I would she be offended if I made 
 her a little present of money ? She told me how 
 she was trying to pay her way through college." 
 
 Nancy considered. " I don't know whether 
 she'd take it, Mrs. Dale, but you needn't be afraid 
 to ask her. Hope Haskins is the kind you can 
 talk things right out with." 
 
 " That's the proper spirit," exulted Jane, when 
 the Dales had gone. " We're playing 'em off 
 
 241
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 against each other, Nancy, in grand style. Hope 
 needs money. Mrs. Dale needs wisdom about 
 dampers. I believe almost everybody in this 
 world has something extra that he would be glad 
 to swap for something he wants. The only 
 trouble is to start the right criss-crosses." 
 
 " And another trouble," said Nancy soberly, " is 
 to remember your own special job, that nobody 
 else can possibly do for you. Mine was to get 
 ready to help mother as soon as I could, and get- 
 ting mad at Cecilia and sorry for Christina made 
 me forget it." 
 
 " Oh, dear I " sighed poor Christina sadly. 
 
 " Well, it won't be but a few extra days," Nancy 
 consoled her, " if Doctor Dale is right. And any- 
 way I'm the only one to blame, and it isn't any 
 use to worry now." 
 
 " Life is awfully complicated, when you're try- 
 ing to do things," sighed Jane. " Let's go up to 
 the Dolphin, Christina, and see how the curl in 
 its tail is working so far. Nancy will want to 
 know, and besides, Mrs. Lee will be back soon, 
 and mistakes are a lot easier to explain to a 
 mother when you have her all by yourself." 
 
 242
 
 CHAPTER XIV 
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE LOOKOUT GAME 
 
 THE curl in the Dolphin's tail worked. Busi- 
 ness looked up the first day ; on the second, it 
 was still brisker. On the third three carriages 
 appeared on the Point roads marked with the tea- 
 shop sign. Miss Willis's nephew, with his five- 
 cent fare to the Dolphin, was getting altogether 
 more than his share of trade. People laughingly 
 called him the jitney 'bus-man and went to the 
 Dolphin first, whatever their ultimate destination. 
 The other carriage-drivers eagerly adopted the 
 popular sign. 
 
 Nancy had to hear all this exciting news from 
 the twins, who diversified quiet afternoons in the 
 Birdcage with her by rushing off up the road to a 
 spot whence the Dolphin piazza was visible. 
 
 " Crowded I " they reported eagerly, after nearly 
 every trip. 
 
 " We saw some people going off in a carriage 
 with a regular load of garden sticks," little Chris- 
 tina added more than once. 
 
 " They must have bought at least a dozen," 
 elaborated Jane. " Every little helps." 
 
 243
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Once, on the third afternoon, commissioned 
 by Mrs. Lee, they went inside to buy cakes, and 
 Hope, her eyes blazing with happy excitement, 
 confirmed all their highest hopes. 
 
 " Seems as if we'd really got started at last," she 
 declared. " People are all so curious about the 
 queer little sticks. They come in to ask questions 
 and they always buy something. We're all so 
 happy ! Tell Nancy that our things are almost 
 beginning to wear out." 
 
 " You're staying on, of course ? " Jane ques- 
 tioned. 
 
 Hope nodded. " Such a funny thing happened 
 the other day. The old gentleman at ' Gray 
 Gables ' came to the Inn and asked for me and 
 wanted to hire me to amuse his grandchild the 
 little sick girl that Nancy knows and Miss Willis 
 makes lovely dresses for. He was fearfully angry 
 when I said I couldn't leave the Inn. But after 
 I'd explained how I'd been engaged for the whole 
 summer and how it wouldn't be honorable to stop 
 right in the busy month, when I'm most needed, 
 he was all right about it. I told him I might be 
 able to let him have my extra afternoons, if the 
 Dolphin didn't improve, and he's coming to-day 
 to see. I hope he won't be cross at the poor Dol- 
 phin." 
 
 " Nancy says he's awfully rich," suggested 
 
 244
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 Christina. " Perhaps he'd pay you more than 
 the others do." 
 
 " Oh, yes, he offered me more," said Hope 
 quietly, " but when you've given your word, you 
 can't let the amount of pay make a difference." 
 
 " I'm more and more convinced of the beauty 
 of my system," Jane told Nancy, after they had 
 given her the latest news from Hope. " Play off 
 your Lookout cases against one another and if 
 possible make both parties swap extra things 
 they've got and can't use for things they need. 
 That saves us all kinds of trouble. Only it's a bit 
 difficult arranging matters for the best interests of 
 everybody," sighed Jane. " For instance, if we 
 hadn't resuscitated the Dolphin, we could have 
 swapped some of Judge Smith's money, which 
 Hope needs so badly, for Hope's recipe for happi- 
 ness, which the grumbling Clare needs even more. 
 That would have been a very good swap." 
 
 " Well, what's the next best ? " demanded prac- 
 tical little Christina. 
 
 " There's another ' case ' that's got what Clare 
 needs " Nancy joined eagerly in the discussion. 
 " There's the Miggs child with her ' grit and good 
 spirits.' But I don't see how we're going to bring 
 the two of them together." 
 
 " Lawrence Who-are-you is a happy-sounding 
 person," put in Jane. " I should think the 
 
 245
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 naughty, woebegone Clare would adore watching 
 his treasure hunt." 
 
 " But what can she swap back to him, Jane? " 
 queried the practical twin anxiously. 
 
 " Friendship," retorted Jane promptly. " That 
 boy needs friends, I should say, particularly in- 
 fluential friends like the very rich Smiths of 
 1 Gray Gables ' to vouch for him and his mother. 
 Judge Smith appears to like him, according to 
 what the boys say, but he doesn't know anything 
 definite about him. Children are great at finding 
 things out. Clare could find out all about the 
 queerness of Lawrence what's-his-name's family, 
 and she could tell her grandfather ; and if ever the 
 time comes when they need somebody to speak up 
 for them " 
 
 " No, Jane," interposed Nancy hastily. " You 
 don't understand about Clare. She's not the kind 
 of child to make friends with anybody. The other 
 person has to do all that. You've got to coax her 
 and amuse her and cuddle her and make her do 
 as you want and not mind what she says to you. 
 Oh, cheering up Clare is a big job ! I don't believe 
 any boy could do it. Certainly not a boy as queer 
 as the Green Knight." 
 
 " All right," agreed Jane disconsolately. " May- 
 be we'll have to do it ourselves. The swap system 
 is a wonder, if I did invent it myself, but no system 
 
 246
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 is perfect. There will always be things left over 
 for the managers to attend to." 
 
 " Well, I want the little Miggs child attended to 
 more than anybody," insisted Christina. " She's 
 the saddest case of all we have. Think hard, 
 Nancy, while we're gone, how we can do some- 
 thing for her." 
 
 Doctor Dale was coming to massage Nancy's 
 ankle, and the twins had seized the opportunity to 
 let Bill and Joe conduct them out to Baxter's 
 Reef. 
 
 When she had sped them on the way, Nancy 
 lay back in her chair thinking hard not at first 
 about Mrs. Miggs's brave little grandchild, but 
 about all the happenings of the summer. Never 
 until last spring had she been interested in any- 
 thing beyond her own affairs her own good times 
 and her friends and family. And then had come 
 that big overwhelming interest Timmy. For 
 a while she had thought only of him. Now her 
 head was full of a tangled maze of other people's 
 affairs, especially other people's troubles. No 
 one of these people was as dear to her as 
 Timmy. But they all mattered, though none 
 were intimate friends, none mixed up with 
 Nancy's own personal happiness. She wanted 
 them all to come out right, like the end of a story ; 
 to find their " places in the sun " in the phrase 
 
 247
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 that Miss Marshall had explained to them so 
 beautifully in her farewell talk at Fair Oaks 
 School. And it did seem as if Nancy could help 
 a little, with Jane to think of lovely things like 
 flower-sticks and the swapping system, and Chris- 
 tina to say, " Will it work ? " whenever impractical 
 Jane and careless Nancy were inclined to go too 
 fast and expect too much. 
 
 Christina had bidden Nancy think hard about 
 Mrs. Miggs's grandchild, and finally Nancy got to 
 her. She didn't like to think very hard about 
 another girl who could never walk ; having to lie 
 in bed day after day cast such a big black shadow 
 over the sunshine of living. And Mrs. Miggs had 
 said there was no help for it. Wasn't there ? All 
 the youth and hope in Nancy cried out in revolt 
 against the idea of a lifetime of suffering. 
 
 Trying to imagine what it would be like to be 
 hopelessly crippled, Nancy closed her eyes, to shut 
 out the shady, flower-decked piazza, the lovely 
 wooded slope, the gleaming, sun-kissed, wind- 
 swept harbor. To be in bed in rather a dark, 
 homely little room in a shabby little house down 
 on the Neck, to lie there year in and year out, 
 till you were old and died, or perhaps it wouldn't 
 be so long. Two tears squeezed under Nancy's 
 tight-closed lids and streamed down her cheeks. 
 
 " Oh, good-afternoon I " called a rather embar- 
 
 248
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 rassed voice from the boat-house path. " Per- 
 haps I shouldn't have come in by way of your 
 wharf." 
 
 It was Doctor Dale. In a flash Nancy brushed 
 away those two silly tears and assured her visitor 
 rather haughtily that he was perfectly welcome to 
 use the wharf and the path, if he found it more 
 convenient. Her haughty manner was due, of 
 course, to annoyance at having been caught crying 
 and not being able to explain the reason. Doctor 
 Dale would think she was impatient at having to 
 stay quiet on such a lovely day. Well, he would 
 have to go on thinking so ; it would seem even 
 sillier to explain that she had imagined herself 
 bedridden, and cried about that ! 
 
 " I've been sailing," explained Doctor Dale, in 
 an obvious effort to cheer his melancholy patient. 
 " Sorry I'm late. There's a bully wind outside the 
 breakwater, but we had to tack in from there, 
 and that's slow work. Ankle bothering any? 
 May I look at it right here ? " 
 
 Being kneaded and poked and patted and 
 pounded didn't hurt much to-day. For a while 
 Nancy watched the doctor's deft hands with interest; 
 then his performance grew monotonous and her 
 thoughts wandered back to the other girl. For- 
 getting all about the doctor, Nancy shut her eyes 
 again and was back once more in the cheerless 
 
 249
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 little room in the shabby house down on the Neck. 
 Poor little child 1 Nancy was rather weak and 
 nervous from all that she had been through ; hard 
 things seemed harder to her just now than 
 ordinarily they would. Again those two pitying 
 tears squeezed out and slipped down her cheeks. 
 Indignant at herself, Nancy opened her eyes, 
 proudly ignoring the tears, in the hope that Doctor 
 Dale hadn't noticed them. But the hateful man, 
 who had not once lifted his eyes before from the 
 level of Nancy's ankle, was staring anxiously up 
 into her face. 
 
 " I'm sorry," he blurted out in eager apology. 
 " I hadn't any idea that I was hurting you badly. 
 You should have stopped me." 
 
 " You haven't hurt one bit," Nancy assured him 
 hastily. " It's not that at all." 
 
 " Oh, I know," the doctor nodded sagely. " Sit- 
 ting tight and missing all the fun that's going does 
 make anybody blue and miserable. But you can 
 walk now. Try it." 
 
 Obediently Nancy jumped up and paced back 
 and forth on the piazza. 
 
 " Why, it's perfectly wonderful ! " she cried. 
 " Only four days, and that ankle doesn't wobble a 
 bit. It goes beautifully. Oh, thank you so much, 
 Doctor Dale ! " 
 
 " Don't cry any more about a little thing like 
 
 250
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 that ankle," advised the doctor, hiding embarrass- 
 ment under a brusque manner. 
 
 " Oh, but I wasn't I " denied Nancy. " I was 
 it sounds pretty silly, but I was just trying to 
 imagine how it would feel not to be able to walk 
 again ever." 
 
 " Was that all the confidence you had in me ? " 
 scoffed back the doctor gaily. 
 
 " Oh, you don't understand yet ! " Nancy began 
 all over again patiently. " I wasn't thinking of 
 myself at all. I heard about a poor little crippled 
 child who lives down on the Neck, and I was 
 thinking of her and being sorry for her. Her 
 grandmother is the nurse who came here to rub 
 my other ankle I mean she came the other time 
 I hurt it. She told me about the child." 
 
 " Well, you mustn't tell me about any crippled 
 children." Doctor Dale seated himself comfortably 
 on the piazza-railing and smiled quizzically down 
 at Nancy. " I'm on my honeymoon and taking a 
 much-needed vacation into the bargain. Of course 
 emergency cases " he waved his hand at Nancy 
 " have to be attended to, in spite of honey- 
 moons. But you mustn't get me into anything 
 else." 
 
 " Oh, I wasn't," Nancy assured him earnestly. 
 " You couldn't do anything for this little girl, be- 
 cause there's nothing that can be done for her. At 
 
 251
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 least Mrs. Miggs that's her grandmother said 
 so." 
 
 " Oh, she did, did she ? " said the doctor, now 
 glaring sternly at Nancy. " Nonsense ! I don't 
 believe it." 
 
 " Oh, don't you really ? " cried Nancy eagerly. 
 11 Wouldn't it be splendid if it wasn't so ? " 
 
 " Umph ! " Doctor Roger Dale still glared 
 sternly. " Not so very splendid, as far as I can 
 see unless they do something for the child." 
 
 " Oh, no, of course not," agreed Nancy sadly. 
 " But then "she brightened" I'll tell Mrs. 
 Miggs what you've said, and of course she will do 
 something right away, if she can possibly find out 
 what to do." 
 
 " She probably can't afford to do it," growled the 
 doctor from his perch on the railing. " Not too 
 sick to be cured, but too poor to be cured : that's 
 the child's complaint, I should judge. It's the 
 complaint of a great many people in this world. 
 You're lucky not to know as much about 'em as I 
 have to." 
 
 " Oh, I hadn't thought of that." Nancy was 
 determined not to be daunted in her quest for in- 
 formation by Doctor Roger Dale's curious display 
 of ill-temper. Of course if he didn't wish to work 
 during his vacation, he needn't ; but it wouldn't 
 hurt him any, now that the subject had come 
 
 252
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 up, to tell Nancy what Mrs. Miggs should do if 
 she could afford it. " If it doesn't cost too dread- 
 fully much to cure her," Nancy went on eagerly, 
 " maybe we girls could think of a way to make 
 some money for her. Or perhaps they'd give her 
 some of the profits from the big fair they always 
 have at the Inn. It's coming early in August, I 
 think. So if you'd tell me what could bedone " 
 
 " My word ! You're a determined young lady, 
 aren't you ? " A faint smile was twitching at the 
 doctor's stern mouth. 
 
 " Why, maybe I am," admitted Nancy. " But 
 if you knew Mrs. Miggs, I'm sure you'd be de- 
 termined to help her in any way you could. She's 
 so little and she works so hard, and yet she's the 
 cheerfulest person you can imagine. The grand- 
 child is cheerful too, she says. Why, if she can 
 be cured, Mrs. Miggs will be made I " 
 
 " I didn't say the child could be cured ! " The 
 doctor was all nettles again. " How absurd ! I've 
 never seen her ! I don't even know what's the 
 matter with her. You're a very inaccurate young 
 
 woman." 
 
 "But you did say " began Nancy. The 
 
 doctor jumped down from his perch on the railing 
 and strolled impatiently off down the long piazza. 
 
 " See here 1 " He wheeled abruptly and came 
 back to Nancy's side. " I haven't yet said any- 
 
 253
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 thing worth saying. Now I'm going to ! You 
 tell this brave little grandmother that if she wants 
 another doctor young but well trained in a lot 
 of the new surgical wrinkles to come and see the 
 little lame girl, why, he'd esteem it a privilege to 
 be allowed the opportunity. Now are you satis- 
 fied?" 
 
 " But you said," gasped Nancy, " that on your 
 vacation " 
 
 " Can't you see just to look at me," the doctor 
 broke in irascibly, " that I'm not the vacation 
 kind? I can't sit around and play at amusing 
 myself. I've got too much corked up inside me. 
 The world's too sad a place too many things 
 need setting right. Didn't Marion my wife 
 tell you what we're really doing down here, while 
 her father and my mother fondly imagine that 
 I'm resting after two strenuous years in Europe, 
 and making up my mind to accept a fashionable 
 New York surgeon's offer to help him with his 
 highly lucrative practice? She didn't? I under- 
 stood from her that you're the good angel who 
 sent her the expert on stoves." 
 
 " Well, I am I I mean I did," laughed Nancy. 
 " But she only said she wanted to learn to do all 
 the cooking for you." 
 
 The doctor smiled affably. " Put it on the 
 grounds of sentiment, did she? Marion's a won- 
 
 254
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 derful woman ; she can keep a secret her scien- 
 tific father brought her up that way. But I think 
 you deserve to know why Marion's so hipped on 
 cooking. It's because we're planning to live on 
 nothing much a year in a little house on a dingy 
 city street, and be as happy as two skylarks hunt- 
 ing up all the sick, miserable people and curing 
 'em, and the stupid, untrained people and telling 
 'em how to keep well and be happy. Life's going 
 to be one big chance to help one big adventure 
 of hunting up the people who want what you 
 have to give and then giving it. My mother and 
 Marion's father are bound to be fearfully disap- 
 pointed, but Marion and I can't see things any 
 other way." 
 
 " Oh, how splendid ! " Nancy's voice was vi- 
 brant with eagerness. " Why, Doctor Dale, your 
 idea is just exactly like the Lookout game that 
 Mrs. Miggs taught me, to cheer me up about my 
 spoiled summer." 
 
 " Yes, dearie, and how's the game going now ? " 
 demanded another eager voice from the sitting- 
 room door. Then this new voice changed its tone 
 suddenly. " Oh, Miss Nancy ! " With fright- 
 ened, apologetic flutterings of the rusty black 
 bonnet and the much-darned black gloves, little 
 Mrs. Miggs, having suddenly perceived the doctor, 
 stood poised for flight. "That girl was tied up 
 
 255
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 with her dinner again," she explained, " and she 
 told me to come straight out, as you were alone. 
 When I heard talking, I s'posed it was only the 
 children. I'll run right along." 
 
 " Please don't," Nancy begged her. " It's only 
 my new doctor Doctor Dale, Mrs. Miggs." 
 
 The young doctor made his courtliest bow to the 
 shabby little lady, who beamed brightly up at him. 
 
 " I heard about Miss Nancy's being so dretful 
 careless," she told him, " and how you're curing 
 her something lovely." 
 
 " He's finished the cure already. I can walk 
 now, Mrs. Miggs," cried Nancy, and proved it. 
 
 " My I These new ways are beyond me," sighed 
 the little lady. " Makes me wisht I was young 
 and could start where you are." 
 
 " So you like new ways, do you ? " the doctor 
 asked her. 
 
 She nodded briskly. " I like all the good ones," 
 she laughed, " and the queer ones interest me. I 
 s'pose I'm dretful old-fashioned in some things, 
 but I try not to be sot. What's the use of living 
 any longer, if you're sure you know it all ? " 
 
 " There's one thing I don't know that interests 
 me," declared the doctor. " What's this Lookout 
 game that Miss Nancy says you recommend for 
 keeping patients cheerful? A doctor can't know 
 too many devices of that nature." 
 
 256
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 " I didn't tell her no game," Mrs. Miggs depre- 
 cated modestly. " I just give her a hint, and she's 
 done wonders with it. It ain't my game; it's 
 hers. I guess it takes the young to be real good at 
 playin' games, doctor. Now my little grand- 
 daughter the one that's sick she'd make a game 
 out of anything." 
 
 "Does she also play the Lookout game? "de- 
 manded the doctor. 
 
 Mrs. Miggs shook the little black bonnet sadly. 
 " She couldn't hardly not the way Miss Nancy 
 does. She hasn't the chances to. But she's got 
 a part in it, all the samey. She's Miss Nancy's 
 best case, isn't she, dearie? Miss Nancy was 
 cheered up something lovely after hearing about 
 my poor little lamb." 
 
 Nancy blushed violently. " Well, I hope I 
 have some sense," she defended herself hotly. " A 
 sprained ankle seemed pretty bad at first before 
 I knew about this quick way of curing it. But 
 Mrs. Miggs told me to be on the lookout for people 
 worse off than I, and I found plenty. That was 
 her part of the game, and the rest that I added 
 was trying to do something to help. It's been lots 
 of fun but of course you can see that." 
 
 " I can," assented the doctor briskly. " In fact 
 I agree with Mrs. Miggs that the best part of the 
 game is what you added. Now don't you let 
 
 257
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 other people play too? Because I think I've 
 heard about this little lame child, Mrs. Miggs, and 
 if she's one of Miss Nancy's cases, won't you and 
 Miss Nancy let me get into the game by trying to 
 help her? Of course I can't promise anything, 
 but some of these newfangled ways, as you call 
 them, might work." 
 
 Instead of being overjoyed at the offer, as Nancy 
 had expected, little Mrs. Miggs stared hard at her 
 would-be benefactor. " Young man," she began 
 after a moment, " you ain't seeking experience so 
 hard that you'd try silly experiments ? " 
 
 The young man in question seemed prepared for 
 Mrs. Miggs's suspicions of him. " Yes, I am 
 young," he agreed pleasantly, " but I've already 
 had a good deal of experience, nevertheless. I've 
 
 studied with " He sat down beside Mrs. 
 
 Miggs and slowly went through an exhaustive ac- 
 count of his medical education. Mrs. Miggs lis- 
 tened attentively, her gloved hands clasped in her 
 lap, until she heard the name of a great foreign 
 surgeon. 
 
 "You studied with him?" demanded Mrs. 
 Miggs. " With that very man ? " 
 
 Doctor Dale nodded. "And I think he'd tell 
 you, if you were to ask him, that I made good in 
 the work he's so splenoMd at." 
 
 " Then" Mrs. Miggs held out her black-gloved 
 
 258
 
 THE BEST MOVE IN THE GAME 
 
 hands to the doctor, as if in token that she ac- 
 cepted him, and spoke solemnly, as of deep things 
 " then I know that you're the best chance my 
 baby has of being cured. Sammy Jennings ain't 
 up on the new ways. He's been tied down here 
 all his life, and couldn't go to those foreign places 
 to learn about 'em. But he reads what he can and 
 he's told me that children worse off than my dar- 
 ling has been made as good as new by that great 
 man. And you know his ways ? You go ahead 
 and do your best, and I'll thank you with all my 
 heart, and pay you all you ask, if you'll just be 
 a little patient." 
 
 " Mrs. Miggs," said the doctor sternly, " don't 
 you know any more than that about the rules of 
 good sport? Don't you know that one always 
 plays the game for the game's sake, and for 
 nothing else? You've done it often enough, I'm 
 sure. Let me have my chance." 
 
 " Do I " begged Nancy, who had followed the 
 colloquy with breathless attention. " Please do, 
 Mrs. Miggs ! The Lookout game will come out so 
 splendidly if you will." 
 
 Mrs. Miggs lifted her little head proudly, and 
 turning from Nancy to the doctor, shook it de- 
 terminedly. 
 
 " See here ! " Doctor Dale began after a min- 
 ute. " This is only a fair exchange, Mrs. Miggs. 
 
 259
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Unless I'm a bad guesser, I've been a Lookout 
 case too or my family has. Isn't that so, Miss 
 Nancy? And Miss Nancy, a perfect stranger, 
 came to our rescue in great shape. Now doesn't 
 that put the matter on a different basis ? " 
 
 Little Mrs. Miggs considered frowningly for a 
 moment, and then threw out her gloved hands 
 in token of surrender. 
 
 " The rules of this game are too much for me, 
 doctor," she smiled. " I guess the principal thing 
 is for you to help my baby if you can. I guess I 
 can't quarrel with you on details, leastways not 
 now," concluded Mrs. Miggs significantly, and 
 made a bird-like dart to the door. " Why, I 
 clean forgot my next appointment," she muttered. 
 Then her voice broke. " I couldn't thank you 
 even if I had the time, which I haven't." And 
 with a telltale flutter of her handkerchief Mrs. 
 Miggs vanished. 
 
 260
 
 CHAPTER XV 
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 AFTER Nancy's manipulation of what little 
 Christina Learned called " the darlingest swap 
 of all," interest in the Lookout game rather lan- 
 guished. The little White Girl coolly disposed of 
 her own case by striking up a sudden and entirely 
 inexplicable friendship with Billy Lee. For 
 reasons connected with Clare's possession of a 
 pony, Billy reciprocated her friendly advances, 
 and Josephine, model of adoring sisterhood, 
 tagged along, consoled Clare when Billy informed 
 her with boyish candor that she was a 'fraid cat or 
 a silly, and kept Billy in his place by developing 
 a daring in the matter of bareback riding that 
 Billy, try his best, could not equal. Doctor Dale 
 had begun treating Mrs. Miggs's granddaughter, 
 and the hope he held out of a cure, slow but 
 certain, put new heart into the brave little nurse's 
 cheery optimism. Miss Willis, for whom the 
 Dolphin's tail had been so successfully kinked, 
 showed a proper appreciation of her sudden pros- 
 perity by sharing it. 
 
 " I can afford to pay you more now, and you're 
 
 261
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 well worth it," she told Hope Haskins. " You're 
 so quick in your motions that you do the work of 
 two girls, and I'd far rather have you than half a 
 dozen." 
 
 So Hope's eyes were always starry these days, 
 with the dear Dolphin flourishing beyond her wild- 
 est dreams, and college for next fall almost a cer- 
 tainty. Also, there had been two rainy afternoons 
 when tea-shop business was bound to languish 
 but that was almost a blessing now, because Miss 
 Willis could catch up with orders for garden-sticks 
 and on both days Miss Willis had told Hope 
 not to stay. These unexpected holidays had been 
 spent with Nancy and the twins. It took a very 
 hard rain indeed to drive the girls in from the 
 Birdcage. There, on her first free afternoon, 
 Hope was duly initiated into the W. W.'s. 
 
 " We invented 'em to save Miss I-Forgot Nancy's 
 spoiled jumper," explained Jane, when a mystic 
 ritual, arranged by her, had been finished. " When 
 a thing's spoiled, make a feature of it. That's a 
 good rule to begin life with. Well, first W. W. 
 stood for Woodland Wanderers, which is pretty but 
 tame, though I may say there wasn't anything 
 tame about one of N. Lee's woodland wanderings. 
 Well, we got tired of that, and changed to Wonder- 
 Workers. That's what you are now, star-eyed 
 Hope, a Wonder- Worker. See that you work 'em." 
 
 262
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 "Oh, could I?" demanded Hope doubtfully. 
 " Tell me about some. I shouldn't know how to 
 begin." 
 
 " At present," Jane informed her majestically, 
 " the Wonder- Workers are principally engaged in 
 helping N. Lee with her Lookout cases. We're a 
 sort of annex to her Lookout game." 
 
 " You helped with one case, you know, Hope," 
 interjected Nancy hastily, " that day you went out 
 to Mrs. Dale's and showed her about her stove- 
 dampers." 
 
 Hope laughed merrily. " But there was noth- 
 ing wonderful about that, Nancy dear," she 
 protested. " It was just plain common-sense just 
 knowing how." 
 
 " Knowing how," repeated Jane solemnly, " is 
 the whole thing, more often than not, as nobody 
 realizes better than you. Isn't the owl your sacred 
 bird and an education your highest ambition ? At 
 present the W. W.'s are trying to solve the mys- 
 tery of the queer boy who digs for treasure 
 and his queer mother who wears a green veil. 
 Apply your owlish wisdom to that problem, star- 
 eyed Hope. Have we given you all details to 
 date?" 
 
 " I think so," Hope told her, " except whether 
 the boys have heard the ghost since they've been 
 sleeping at ' Gray Gables.' ' 
 
 263
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 The three girls burst out laughing. 
 
 "They sleep right through it," explained 
 Christina. " Judge Smith's secretary, who was in 
 the next room, heard the noise faintly through the 
 wall, but he never thought to call the boys, of 
 course. He supposed they were investigating, 
 quietly, so as not to frighten the creature off. The 
 next night he heard the ghost again and went to 
 knock them up, but he had to go in and shake 
 them before they woke, and by that time, natu- 
 rally, the cries had stopped. The boys were awfully 
 ashamed." 
 
 " Did Judge Smith scold ? " asked Hope, who 
 had had an experience of the irascible old gentle- 
 man's annoyance. 
 
 " No, but he teased them unmercifully," ex- 
 plained Nancy. " Dick and Peter didn't care 
 much, but Johnny Andrews feels dreadfully. 
 He is the soundest sleeper of all, and he doesn't 
 think he can ever be a regular detective, as he'd 
 planned. He tried sitting up in a chair, but he 
 fell out and slept sounder than ever on the 
 floor." 
 
 " Well," said Hope philosophically, " it's a good 
 thing he's found out now what he can't do. He 
 can have something else already chosen before he's 
 grown up. It's time I ran home to my tables, 
 Nancy Lee." 
 
 264
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 " You're sure you can't possibly come with us in 
 Johnny's boat the evening of the regatta ? " 
 Nancy asked her. " Peter said to tell you you 
 must." 
 
 Hope shook her head sadly. " I was off duty 
 Fourth of July evening, and this time it's my turn 
 to stay in. You can't leave a hotel all to itself, 
 you see. Some of the guests will be sure to stick 
 around the house. Miss Aurelia Pringle is afraid 
 of the night air, and Mr. Richardson hates the 
 water and never goes near it. Then Mrs. Augus- 
 tus Walker, the one who talks to us about 
 suffrage, has just had what she calls an attack of 
 nerves. Doctor Jennings has been twice to see 
 her, and her bell rings about once in ten minutes. 
 So I shan't have time to sit and sigh for lost joys," 
 ended Hope quaintly. 
 
 " We shall sigh for you, Hope," Nancy told her. 
 
 " Peter specially," put in Christina. 
 
 " Oh, thank you all for that ! " cried Hope, quite 
 unconcerned over all the teasing references to Peter. 
 " The weather report says fair and warmer to- 
 morrow, so there ought to be plenty of moonlight." 
 Hope gave a little sigh. " I haven't ever been out 
 in a boat by moonlight. Touch the little silver 
 ripples for me, Nancy dear, and look hard for mer- 
 maids. Good-bye." 
 
 " Good-bye, Cinderella ! " called Jane. " Five 
 
 265
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 is your fatal hour, instead of midnight." She 
 turned to the other girls. " Wouldn't I love to be 
 her fairy godmother ! " 
 
 "The reason she's such a dear, Jane," Christina 
 assured her tall twin, " is because she doesn't need 
 a fairy godmother. She goes ahead and makes her 
 good times for herself, and she doesn't let her bad 
 times worry her. Now that call on Cecilia and 
 Alexandra that we promised each other we'd make 
 before dinner " 
 
 " Is going to be one of my bad times," Jane cut 
 in blandly. " Well, come along, girls. I'll try 
 not to let it worry me." 
 
 " Try not to worry us, Jane," amended Christina 
 severely. 
 
 11 Remember I've got to live next to Cecilia all 
 summer and other summers, too, maybe," put in 
 Nancy. 
 
 " That reminds me, Nancy." Christina pulled 
 out a letter and passed it to her twin. " Mother's 
 written to know when we're coming home. Our 
 two weeks' visit was up several days ago." 
 
 " Oh, but you can't go until we've finished the 
 Green Knight's case," Nancy protested. " You 
 don't want to, do you ? " 
 
 " Does your mother think so too ? " asked Jane, 
 evidently prompted by something in the letter she 
 was reading. 
 
 266
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 " She told me to-day to keep you just as long as 
 I could," Nancy assured them heartily. 
 
 " Then that settles it," said Jane. " Mother 
 won't specially mind, and we couldn't bear to leave 
 the mystery of the Green Knight unsolved behind 
 us. It would seem like defeat. Under the cir- 
 cumstances, N. Lee, I promise to be superbly polite 
 to the hateful Cecilia. Only don't stay long." 
 
 The mystery of the Green Knight was destined 
 to grow deeper before it was solved. Even his trio 
 of staunch defenders was forced to admit that the 
 evidence, though circumstantial, was strong against 
 him in the matter of the big robbery at the Inn. 
 Dick, Little Peter, and Johnny Andrews declared 
 solemnly that the case was as good as proven ; and 
 the two professional detectives who came out from 
 town, in the interests of the Inn management and 
 Mrs. Augustus Walker, confidentially assured their 
 clients, who confidentially told their friends, that 
 they agreed with the boys. 
 
 But Hope Haskins, who knew more about what 
 happened than any one else, disagreed. 
 
 " He's a queer boy, and queer accidents might 
 happen to him," Hope declared. " He acted as if 
 he was telling the truth, and I believe him. Be- 
 sides, I know it wasn't his hand I touched. I 
 know that positively." 
 
 267
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 But this is getting ahead of the story. 
 
 Hope was quite correct in her assumption that 
 the night of the regatta would be a busy one for her. 
 Hughes, the office-boy, was madly in love with 
 Miss Thornton, who had charge of the telephone 
 switchboard and the news-stand. This fact seemed 
 to both of them a sufficient reason for deserting 
 their posts for others, within sight of the hotel en- 
 trance and hearing of the telephone bell, on the 
 invitingly empty, moonlit piazza. But Hughes 
 speedily turned his back on the view of the en- 
 trance, and the witty remarks of her escort, or 
 perhaps the music that drifted up from the boat- 
 house and the lighted craft in the harbor, com- 
 pletely diverted Miss Thornton's attention from the 
 unromantic tinkle of the telephone. 
 
 So Hope, running down to get a paper for Mrs. 
 Augustus Walker, took two messages for guests 
 who were out on the water. Coming back to 
 change the paper Mrs. Augustus Walker, having 
 decided in the interval before its delivery that a 
 News would suit her better than a Mirror Hope 
 noticed a young man standing uncertainly in 
 front of the deserted office desk. Hope consid- 
 ered. She had no idea where Hughes was. The 
 other girls who were supposed to be on duty were 
 not to be seen. If she delayed in delivering the 
 Mirror, Mrs. Augustus Walker would certainly 
 
 268
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 change her mind again about it. So, " I'll be 
 back in just a minute," she called to the perplexed 
 figure by the office, and darted off, hoping that 
 Mrs. Augustus Walker would let her fulfil her 
 promise literally. 
 
 Hurrying back without very much delay, Hope 
 found the office enclosure still empty and the boy 
 still waiting patiently beside it. 
 
 " Has a telegram come for Lawrence, Halcyon 
 Inn ? " he demanded, as soon as Hope appeared. 
 
 " I'll see." Hope ran through the little pile of 
 telegrams on the file. 
 
 " Nothing yet," she assured him pleasantly. 
 " Did Mr. Lawrence ask you to come up and see?" 
 
 " Oh, no," said the boy easily. " It's our tele- 
 gram that is, it's my mother's. It's really a cable. 
 That's her cable address Lawrence. We live out 
 on the Point, but she ordered the message wired 
 here to save time. We haven't a telephone out 
 at our cottage, and she thought they probably 
 wouldn't bother to send a boy before morning. 
 Do they mind the Inn people, I mean ? " 
 
 " Not a bit," Hope assured him politely, and 
 suddenly spied a tiny green feather in his hat- 
 band. Could he be the Green Knight? Law- 
 rence his mother's cable address. Did one use 
 one's name for that purpose? Hope hadn't much 
 idea what a cable address was, but it seemed a 
 
 269
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 queer thing to have, especially for people who 
 didn't have a telephone. And queerness was the 
 family characteristic. " If you'll tell me where to 
 send the message, I'll have it delivered from here 
 to-night," she suggested, thinking gleefully that 
 the address would clinch the boy's identity. 
 
 But he didn't give it. " I'll wait on the piazza, 
 thank you," he said instead. " The telegram is 
 sure to come in a short time, you see." He hesi- 
 tated. " What's happening on the bay to-night? " 
 
 Hope explained. " That's why we're so deserted 
 up here. I presume you'd rather wait at the boat- 
 house." 
 
 "Crickets, no!" said the boy. "I'm not ex- 
 pected. Besides, I should be sure to get mixed 
 
 up with No, I can't do it, gay as it looks 
 
 down there, and much as I feel like gay doings. 
 I'll wait on the piazza. Crickets ! What's that ? " 
 as a bell jingled with noisy persistence. 
 
 " House-bell service. Mrs. Augustus Walker, I 
 suppose. If the telephone rings before I get back, 
 would you answer it ? It might be your tele- 
 gram." 
 
 " Sure, I'll see to it," answered the boy pleas- 
 antly. 
 
 "Thank you." Hope, having verified her sus- 
 picion as to the ownership of the noisy bell, darted 
 off, intent upon silencing it, and then finding the 
 
 270
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 missing office-force and assuring them that she 
 really couldn't run the whole hotel, considering 
 that it contained Mrs. Augustus Walker. 
 
 She found that lady in a state approaching hys- 
 teria. " Hope, where have you been ? Where 
 are my black pearls ? I told you to bring them 
 straight to me, and the next thing I knew you'd 
 vanished." 
 
 Hope stared blankly at Mrs. Walker, who was 
 sitting up in bed, one hand holding a purple 
 boudoir-cap much awry on her head, and the 
 other clutching a pink negligee tightly around 
 her throat. Had Mrs. Augustus Walker gone 
 suddenly crazy, Hope wondered dizzily, or had 
 she herself? 
 
 " Why, Mrs. Walker," she began, after a mo- 
 ment of bewildered hesitation, " you never asked 
 me to get you anything like that. I got you a 
 paper. Hadn't you better lie down ? " 
 
 " You mean to say you didn't hear me ? " de- 
 manded Mrs. Walker excitedly. " But I heard 
 you distinctly, rustling around among my suffrage 
 papers. I thought you'd decided to sit and read 
 a little, as I invited you to, the first time I rang. 
 And when I spoke, you answered me. You said 
 yes, or so I supposed, though it sounded more like 
 a grunt. And I told you not to mumble your 
 words. Didn't you hear that either ? " 
 
 271
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Oh, I wasn't there I I went straight down- 
 stairs, because I had left some one waiting in the 
 office." 
 
 " Then who You didn't go out through 
 
 my sitting-room ? " 
 
 " No," said Hope firmly. 
 
 "Then who You get my pearls now 
 
 top-drawer, right-hand corner, wardrobe trunk. 
 Hurry, oh, hurry ! " 
 
 Hope hurried. The trunk stuck, as it always 
 did whenever Hope had been instructed to open 
 it. The drawer stuck ; a month of seaside damp 
 had swelled it. And when it finally opened, it 
 held only a very big purple bow and a very small 
 bottle of smelling salts. Hope wrenched the 
 drawer loose and ran with it to Mrs. Walker. 
 
 "Gone!" cried that lady. "Gone! I told 
 somebody to get 'em, and they did it. Another 
 robbery ! " Clutching the pink negligee tighter, 
 Mrs. Augustus Walker leaped from her bed to 
 the floor, and flinging open the door chanted 
 lustily, " Help, burglars ! Help, burglars I Boy I 
 Boy ! " 
 
 Mrs. Walker's room was directly over the office. 
 
 " Shall I come up ? " called a voice from below. 
 
 " No, send Mr. Bliss. This is business for 
 the proprietor." Mrs. Walker turned to Hope. 
 " Switch on all the lights ! " she cried. " Lock all 
 
 272
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 the doors ! He hasn't been gone from here long. 
 We may catch him." 
 
 The loiterers on the piazza appeared, attracted 
 by the shouting. Miss Aurelia Pringle, discover- 
 ing its tenor, promptly fainted. Old Mr. Richard- 
 son ran to guard the front entrance, leaving 
 Hughes free to watch at the rear. Up-stairs Hope 
 went swiftly down the long corridors, switching on 
 lights in all the rooms. Almost everywhere the 
 intruder had left his trail : bureau drawers emp- 
 tied, trunks hastily unpacked, closets ransacked 
 and in disorder. On the floor above, only a few 
 rooms appeared to have been disturbed, but Hope 
 went on, lighting them all. At the entrance to 
 the servants' wing she hesitated and started to 
 turn back, then remembered with a start that she 
 had left her summer's savings in an envelope in 
 her wash-stand drawer. Mr. Bliss and Miss Willis 
 had both paid her that afternoon, and a foolish de- 
 sire to see all her little hoard together had made 
 her ask Hughes to give her her envelope out of 
 the hotel safe. Before she got it back, the regatta 
 excitement had begun, and she had stuck the pre- 
 cious envelope in the first hiding-place that sug- 
 gested itself. 
 
 "But no burglar would go back there," she 
 thought. " We have nothing worth stealing. 
 Only maybe he wouldn't know where the wait- 
 
 273
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 resses sleep. And he might easily try to get out 
 that way." This last idea furnished Hope with 
 the necessary excuse for looking after her money. 
 
 There were no lights to switch on in the narrow 
 back-hall. Fearlessly, in spite of her pretext for 
 being there, Hope felt her way to her own door 
 and then over to the corner where her match-box 
 hung. She had just found it when a shadow 
 dodged out of the next corner and swept past her. 
 Hope reached frantically after it, and caught an 
 arm, hung on for a minute, felt the arm slipping 
 away and made a final clutch at a hand that a 
 minute later had swung out at her and knocked 
 her back hard against the wall. Staggering for- 
 ward, she saw the figure a mere shadow vanish 
 down the steep back-stairs. Hope put her head 
 out the window and shouted down into the dark- 
 ness : " He's coming out the back way. He's 
 coming ! The burglar ! " 
 
 " Right-oh I " somebody called back. There 
 was the crashing 1 of a heavy body through the 
 shrubbery, a shout, then disappointed silence. 
 
 " Perhaps the policeman will get him at the 
 corner. He's been notified," suggested some- 
 body. 
 
 So no one had caught him here. Hope lighted 
 her lamp, noticed, almost without caring, that her 
 money was gone, and went wearily down to the 
 
 274
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 office. Hughes was back in his place, and Miss 
 Thornton, the picture of dutiful attention to her 
 task, bent over her switchboard. 
 
 " I say, Miss Haskins, you won't tell onus?" 
 she pleaded, as Hope passed. 
 
 " You'll keep quiet about where we were ? " 
 begged the boy. " It wouldn't have made any 
 difference " 
 
 " Crickets ! " The three looked up to see a drip- 
 ping figure standing in the door. " Has he come 
 the manager, I mean? He almost drowned 
 
 me " 
 
 It was the boy who wanted his mother's tele- 
 gram probably the Green Knight. 
 
 Just then Mr. Bliss came hurrying down from 
 an interview with Mrs. Walker. 
 
 " What do you want here ? " he asked brusquely 
 of the strange boy. 
 
 The boy explained. 
 
 " Well, it's come," called Miss Thornton, anxious 
 to appear efficient. " Jock o' Dreams a winner. 
 Best terms arranged for England. Congratulations. 
 Morris," she read from the yellow slip. 
 
 "Thanks," called the boy. "I'm too wet to 
 come in after it, but I can remember. Did the 
 manager get here all right ? He almost drowned 
 me " 
 
 " I'm the manager," snapped Mr. Bliss, " and I 
 
 275
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 never saw you before. What do you mean by say- 
 ing I nearly drowned you ? " 
 
 " I never saw you before either," said the boy 
 pleasantly. " The man who said he was the 
 manager was taller and slimmer than you. Other- 
 wise it was too dark to see. Did you get the 
 burglar ? " 
 
 " Before we go into that," said the manager 
 curtly, " suppose you finish telling me how you 
 got so wet." 
 
 The boy nodded. " One thing at a time," he 
 agreed sagely. " Why," he turned to Hope, " I 
 was waiting down here for a telegram. You know 
 about that. When the old lady up-stairs called, I 
 asked if I should come up and she said no, find 
 the manager." He nodded at Hope again. " You 
 heard us calling back and forth. Well, I went. 
 Down at the wharf a man was just coming in in a 
 boat or he might have been going out. I asked 
 if he knew where the Inn manager was, and he 
 said he was the manager, so I told him what had 
 happened. First he said, ' Get in and we'll row 
 up.' But I said, ' You're excited. We're as near 
 as we can get now. This is the Inn dock.' And 
 then he said, ' So it is. Take my oars, will you, 
 while I jump out ? ' Well, I reached for the oars, 
 and he was so excited that he let the boat slip 
 back and I was pulled in. It's a job to swim in 
 
 276
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 all your clothes. Still," added the boy pleasantly, 
 " I didn't blame him for not stopping to help me 
 out, under the circumstances. But you say he 
 wasn't the manager ? " 
 
 " And who are you ? " demanded Mr. Bliss, dis- 
 regarding the question. 
 
 " I'm Lawrence Masters, Junior," answered the 
 boy promptly, " spending the summer with my 
 mother, Mrs. Lawrence Masters, out at the cottage 
 called ' Fair Acre/ on ther Point." 
 
 " I see." Mr. Bliss's curt manner had vanished. 
 " Sorry you got wet trying to help us. You'd 
 better cut for home, hadn't you ? Here's your 
 telegram. We may call on you later to help with 
 the identification of our burglar." 
 
 " But I didn't see " began the boy. 
 
 " You heard," smiled Mr. Bliss. 
 
 "That's so," laughed the boy. "Maybe that 
 might help. Good-night, sir." 
 
 Mr. Bliss stepped quickly to the office-boy. 
 " Follow that fellow," he ordered softly. " Don't 
 lose him. If he goes to the ' Fair Acre ' place, 
 watch there till you're relieved. Annex a Point 
 policeman if you have a chance. Miss Thornton, 
 call up that detective agency. Tell 'em to send 
 out their very best men on the double-quick. Is 
 Jock o' Dreams a horse, I wonder ? It's a little 
 late in the season for the big English races." 
 
 277
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Oh, Mr. Bliss ! " Hope's eyes were big with 
 fright and unhappiness and a sense of her terrible 
 responsibility. " Oh, Mr. Bliss, that boy isn't the 
 burglar. He came for his mother's telegram, just 
 as he said. The burglar has soft, long hands, but 
 that boy's are hard and broad ; and his coat is 
 smooth, not fuzzy like that boy's. I had hold of 
 his hand and arm. Oh, I'm sorry I couldn't hold 
 tighter I But I do know that this boy is all right." 
 
 " Ever hear of accomplices, little girl ? " 
 
 " Yes, sir," responded Hope quickly. " But this 
 boy ran right off to get you." 
 
 " He ran right off," agreed Mr. Bliss, " on a 
 fool's errand, and he comes back after the burglar's 
 escape with a cock-and-bull story he can't prove. 
 It's up to the detectives, but my impression is that 
 the Masters family at ' Fair Acre ' will bear watch- 
 ing. By the way, Miss Haskins, Mrs. Walker ex- 
 onerates you of all blame." 
 
 " Oh, I do thank her for that ! " cried Hope 
 eagerly. " Because I'm afraid I ran away while 
 she was still talking, and that might have misled 
 her into thinking I was there. I lost forty-nine 
 dollars myself, Mr. Bliss." 
 
 " You did I " Mr. Bliss was duly sympathetic. 
 " Those pearls were worth four thousand, Mrs. 
 Walker says. There's no telling to-night what 
 else is gone. Oh, here they come ! " 
 
 278
 
 THAT FATAL REGATTA 
 
 The rumor of the Inn robbery had sped from the 
 boat-house out over the bay, and the guests were 
 hurrying up, in a clamorous, frightened crowd to 
 see what they had lost. Hope watched them 
 sadly, wishing she could have caught the burglar 
 for them. But they were inclined to make a 
 heroine of her for her unsuccessful attempt, and to 
 divide the blame between Mr. Bliss and the Point 
 police service. 
 
 " I'm the man you ought to hate most cordially," 
 she heard Mr. Ellis telling a bevy of ladies. " I'm 
 to blame for clearing the house out to-night and 
 so giving the fellow his chance." 
 
 " Did you lose anything, Mr. Ellis? " somebody 
 asked. 
 
 " I really haven't looked yet," returned that 
 gentleman. " Nothing of value, I dare say. A 
 man doesn't scatter his valuables about as you 
 ladies do." 
 
 " Whose boat were you in to-night, Mr. Ellis?" 
 demanded Louise Minot. 
 
 " Er I was at the boat-house," Mr. Ellis ex- 
 plained drawlingly. 
 
 " You never asked me to dance," pouted Louise. 
 
 " I didn't dance, Miss Minot. I was a bit fagged 
 with all my arrangements, you see. Just sat in 
 the cool and enjoyed life. Didn't realize what a 
 bad job I'd put up on you all." 
 
 279
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " He looks awfully hot now," reflected little 
 Hope. " I suppose he's excited. I wonder how 
 he got his trouser-leg wet." With a little shiver- 
 ing sigh Hope trudged wearily off to bed. 
 
 280
 
 CHAPTER XVI 
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 MRS. AUGUSTUS WALKER'S four-thousand-dollar 
 pearls had been seen on suffrage platforms in every 
 American metropolis. Mrs. Walker regarded 
 them as a mascot for the cause, and her attack of 
 nerves grew more acute as the days went by with- 
 out their reappearance. But it was not Mrs. 
 Walker's loss but Hope's, naturally, that fairly 
 brought tears to the eyes of Nancy and Christina, 
 and set the less sentimental Jane ablaze with 
 righteous indignation. 
 
 " It's a shame ! A burning shame ! " Jane 
 declared hotly. " Even a burglar ought to have 
 some decent feelings. He must have known that 
 poor little room was servants' quarters. And yet 
 he risked being found to prowl around there a 
 while longer and get a few extra dollars." 
 
 " Perhaps he was just hanging around, waiting 
 for a good chance to run," suggested Christina 
 charitably. " And I suppose they feel that they 
 have to use their time to advantage. It's a sort 
 of business like any other." 
 
 281
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " And it has rules of fair conduct like any other," 
 amended Jane. " If I thought that Lawrence 
 who-are-you-Masters, Jr., had anything to do with 
 a mean, sneaking, small, outrageous, underhanded 
 person like this burglar, I I'd " 
 
 " But he hasn't," objected Nancy. 
 
 Jane shook her head gloomily. " Every one 
 else thinks that he has, or that his mother has. 
 It does look fishy, all that talk about a cable and 
 then the drowning episode. It's easy to say that 
 the burglar pushed Lawrence into the water, but 
 why on earth should he ? He could easily have 
 promised to go and find the manager himself, and 
 so have avoided a scene. I met Johnny Andrews 
 just now down at the mail-box, and he discouraged 
 me dreadfully. He was feeling very gay himself, 
 because one of the real detectives has told him that 
 as you grow older you just naturally get over the 
 habit of sleeping so soundly." 
 
 " Hadn't the real detective anything more to 
 the point to tell him ? " demanded Nancy. 
 
 " No," Jane reported. " He says they haven't 
 seen anything wrong at ' Fair Acre.' Hope's soft- 
 handed, long-fingered man has vanished from 
 these parts, leaving only that one insufficient 
 clew. Lawrence Junior has dug as usual, from 
 daybreak to a civilized breakfast hour, near Judge 
 Smith's barns. Mrs. Lawrence, Senior, has wan- 
 
 282
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 dered around the garden a lot and she's stopped 
 wearing her green veil. There's nothing sus- 
 picious in that the suspicious thing was to wear 
 it." 
 
 " I don't think detective work is very interest- 
 ing," sighed Nancy. " You never seem to get any- 
 where." 
 
 " And you have to be so careful," added Chris- 
 tina, " not to let the ones you're detecting see 
 what you want." 
 
 Jane arose, the light of inspiration in her eyes. 
 " Good-bye," she said. " I'm going out on Baxter's, 
 I guess, alone to think. While I'm gone, you 
 two be thinking here." 
 
 " What about, Jane ? " demanded Christina 
 practically. 
 
 " A way to earn back Hope's money for her," 
 said Jane. " Isn't that our next job ? " 
 
 " We never can decide on anything without you, 
 Jane," protested Nancy. " All our ideas will seem 
 silly compared to what you'll just jump at in a 
 second." 
 
 " Very well, then," said Jane resignedly. 
 " Think about the weather, or don't think at all. 
 You can't come with me, if that's what you're 
 driving at, because what I'm going to do I can do 
 best by myself." 
 
 " What you're going to do ? " demanded Nancy. 
 
 283
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " That's what I said," Jane returned, and started 
 off down the path to Lighthouse Road. 
 
 Christina looked after her soberly. " She gen- 
 erally wants me," said the small twin with a sigh. 
 " Sh must be thinking of something wonderful, 
 to act like that." 
 
 What Jane was thinking of was : how to catch 
 an eel. The Lawrence boy was the eel. Johnny 
 Andrews had told her, along with other scraps of 
 assorted information, that the Green Knight had 
 finished digging, been home for breakfast, and gone 
 off to Baxter's Reef. Jane was going to Baxter's 
 Reef. She was going to find out whether the 
 Green Knight was the Inn burglar's accomplice. 
 She was going to see how he felt about Hope's 
 money. The others were all roundabout in their 
 efforts ; Jane intended to go straight to the point. 
 But first she must catch her eel, and having failed 
 at that sundry times before, she had an unwonted 
 lack of confidence in her ability to succeed this 
 time. 
 
 So she hurried very fast along the road to the 
 causeway, thinking, as she went, of various plans 
 for making the queer boy stop and talk to her. If 
 she could once get near him on the Reef, Jane felt 
 she could rely on opening the conversation in a 
 way to pique his interest and make him stop a few 
 moments, at least, to listen. 
 
 284
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 She did not meet him on the road ; the causeway 
 was deserted. Jane hopped along from one dry 
 stone to another, scanning the big rock between 
 hops. Nobody to be seen there, either; but of 
 course the boy would be out on the ocean side. 
 Gaining the top, with high hopes for the success of 
 her enterprise, Jane was bitterly disappointed to 
 find this side of the reef, also, deserted. Slowly 
 she crept down the sloping rocks. There was no- 
 body else out there. Dejectedly she sat down in a 
 sheltered nook, gazing idly out at sea. Suddenly 
 she jumped up. Almost at her elbow, just around 
 the corner of a jutting crag, somebody had begun 
 to whistle. When Jane jumped, the whistling 
 ceased abruptly, and a low voice that seemed to 
 come straight out of the rock said, " Crickets ! " 
 A minute later the Green Knight's head and 
 shoulders wriggled up through a crack in the cliff. 
 " Hello I " said the Green Knight sociably. " Sorry 
 I scared you. I'm exploring an underground pas- 
 sage. It's pretty narrow at this end." He 
 wriggled a little further out of the crevice. 
 
 " You didn't really scare me," said Jane, grin- 
 ning down at her literally trapped eel. " Want 
 me to pull you out? " 
 
 " If you'd just give me a hand up," said the boy, 
 " I could sort of walk out by some footholds there 
 are on the side." 
 
 285
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 11 All right." Holding to a point of rock behind 
 her with one hand, Jane held out the other to the 
 boy. " And when you're rested you must show 
 me where the passage begins. I love secret passages 
 and caves and things like that." 
 
 " There's a dandy cave," panted the boy, 
 struggling up from the passage-end, " over on those 
 rocks off there." He pointed to a cliff down the 
 shore. " But you can't get there except at dead 
 low tide. I'll show you some time. Let's sit down 
 here unless you'd rather go further down." 
 
 " No, I like it here," gasped Jane. The elusive 
 Green Knight was actually pressing his society 
 upon her ! He, not she, was arranging their inter- 
 view, and planning excursions for the future. 
 
 " You see," said the boy, as if reading his com- 
 panion's thoughts, " I'm going to have some fun 
 after to-day that is, if I have any luck this after- 
 noon. Wish me success ! " 
 
 " Why, yes, of course I do," said Jane, resolved 
 not to ask questions until she had switched the 
 conversation around to the topic she was most in- 
 terested in. 
 
 " Not that I haven't had fun so far," the boy 
 went on. " When you're playing around alone 
 you find out lots of things and get interested in 
 lots of things that you never bothered about before. 
 I haven't minded it as much as my mother did. 
 
 286
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 But then she doesn't care for exploring as I do, 
 and she had to wear that veil. I say, you have 
 awfully jolly times at the Lees', don't you ? " 
 
 " Rather ! " agreed Jane enthusiastically. 
 
 " They asked me to come there, the day I helped 
 your friend home," said the boy, " and I'm going 
 as soon as I can to-morrow, if my luck holds this 
 afternoon." 
 
 Jane saw a chance to switch the conversation and 
 used it. " We're interested in nothing but the Inn 
 burglary now," she said. " An awfully nice girl 
 at the Inn, a friend of ours, lost all the money she 
 had saved by working there this summer." 
 
 " She did ! What a shame I " cried the boy. 
 " So there really was a robbery. I thought the 
 comical old lady was the only one who lost any- 
 thing, and I had an idea that she'd find her jewelry 
 after a while just where she left it. So it was a real 
 robbery, was it?" 
 
 " Of course it was," Jane assured him. " Why, 
 the girl who lost the money had hold of the bur- 
 glar for a minute. If the men down-stairs had 
 been as brave as she, I don't believe he'd have got 
 away." 
 
 " I say," cried the boy, " I wasn't very keen, 
 was I ? I suppose he was the fellow who splashed 
 me into the water. But as I didn't know the 
 manager, I couldn't suspect anything wrong at 
 
 287
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 the time. I wonder if the girl I talked to was 
 your friend." 
 
 Jane nodded. " She told us about you." 
 
 " She seemed like a jolly sort," said the Knight. 
 " I say, I've saved lots of allowance this summer. 
 Spending money alone is no fun. I'm going to 
 bring some of it for you to give to her, when I 
 come to the Lees'. I'll bet my mother sends 
 some too. She can't bear to know that people are 
 in trouble and she not helping." 
 
 " Doesn't she know about the burglary, either?" 
 asked Jane. 
 
 " Crickets, no ! " said the boy. " We don't 
 know anything that's going on here. We're her- 
 mits. We've been hermits, that is. She's through 
 now. She was going to have a garden party this 
 afternoon to celebrate being through, but none of 
 our neighbors could come." 
 
 Jane resolved on a bold stroke. " Why couldn't 
 they?" she demanded. 
 
 " Oh, different reasons," said the boy easily. 
 " Mother said she guessed they thought she was 
 too queer to associate with. Being hermits does 
 make people appear queer." 
 
 " Well, you certainly appear queer," Jane burst 
 out upon him suddenly. " I've talked to you for 
 ten minutes, and you've mixed up so many things 
 I don't know about with a few things I do that 
 
 288
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 I might just as well be doing a puzzle-picture. 
 Why don't you try to act sensibly ? Why don't 
 you try to explain things instead of mixing me 
 up?" ' 
 
 " Why, I will to-morrow," said the boy gently. 
 " It wouldn't be playing the game for me to ex- 
 plain to-day. I expect it's not exactly according 
 to rules for me even to be talking to you to-day, 
 but after I'd startled you so what could I do ? I 
 didn't want to seem rude. I want to come to the 
 Lees', you see, where they have such jolly doings. 
 I liked that girl ; she was so game when her ankle 
 ached like the dickens. Those three boys seem 
 like a good sort, too, and if there's one game I'm 
 fond of it's tennis." 
 
 With as much dignity as she could command, 
 Jane scrambled to her feet. "I must be going 
 now," she said. 
 
 The boy jumped up too. " I'll show you the 
 passage," he volunteered. 
 
 " I'm afraid I haven't time now," said Jane 
 stiffly. 
 
 " Shucks I " objected the boy. " It's right on 
 your way." 
 
 " No, thank you," said Jane, starting off. 
 
 Solemnly the boy stared after her, then swiftly 
 followed. " I say," he began, " you think I'm too 
 queer to associate with, don't you ? " 
 
 289
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Maybe I do," agreed Jane, without turning 
 her head. 
 
 " But there's nothing wrong in being queer," he 
 declared. " I s'pose we are queer, my mother and 
 I, but " 
 
 "Nothing wrong, unless " Jane shrugged 
 
 meaningly. 
 
 " Unless what ? " challenged the Green Knight 
 with determination. 
 
 " Why, unless there is something wrong, of 
 course." Jane's air was suddenly superior. 
 " Queer people sometimes have queer reasons for 
 telling queer stories and doing queer things, and 
 for keeping themselves out of the way and not 
 showing their faces." 
 
 " Not showing their faces ? " repeated the boy. 
 " Oh, you mean the green veil. That's the cream 
 of the whole joke, that veil. I thought of it, and 
 my mother has needed it several times, I can tell 
 you. But if you mean you think my mother is a 
 suspicious character, because we've been playing 
 hermit so hard, you're most awfully mistaken. 
 
 Why, my mother is " The boy broke off 
 
 suddenly. " She's told me never to say that. 
 And I promised myself solemnly, cross my heart, 
 not to tell a soul about what we were doing till 
 we'd finished. I won't finish till to-morrow if I 
 have luck. Still, rather than have anybody 
 
 290
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 thinking ugly things about my mother, I'll tell 
 you anything you want to know." Jane's rapid 
 pace had brought them by this time across the 
 causeway. " Come back on the rock and sit down 
 and fire your questions." 
 
 " Tell me here," demanded Jane coolly. 
 
 Just at this critical moment a figure strolled 
 into view down the bushy path to the cause- 
 way and confronted Jane and her escort : a tall, 
 slender man, with slender, white, long-fingered 
 hands. 
 
 Seeing the two, he raised his hat to Jane and 
 called out to the boy, " Good-morning, Masters I 
 I caught an early train from town because I find 
 I must be back again this afternoon. So if we can 
 get our business over by lunch-time, it will suit 
 me, and your mother thought it might suit you 
 too." 
 
 " Yes, sir. Of course, I'll come right back with 
 you." He turned to Jane. " I'm sorry I can't 
 stop," he told her. " But it's all right. I can ex- 
 plain everything when I see you again. Wish me 
 success, so I can begin having fun to-morrow." 
 
 Ignoring the frigidity of Jane's bow, the Knight 
 waved her the gayest of good-byes and sprang up 
 the bank to join the strange man, who was tall 
 and slender and who had long, white, undoubt- 
 edly soft hands. 
 
 291
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Slowly Jane climbed the bank to the road. 
 Gloomily she trudged home. She had launched 
 her bold stroke, and it had failed. Worse than 
 that, she found her faith in the Green Knight 
 badly shaken. Why hadn't he been plain and 
 straightforward with her from the first? Then 
 the opportune interruption by the man with the 
 long, white hands. That was certainly suspi- 
 cious. And if the Knight and his mother were 
 crooks and mixed up with the Inn robbery and 
 the earlier one at the Parke cottage, why, Jane 
 had warned them. She had let the Knight know 
 they were distrusted. They would be on their 
 guard now. Jane longed to tell the boys about 
 her glimpse of the strange man, but that would 
 involve telling them also how she had muddled 
 things in her interview with the Green Knight. 
 She decided to tell nobody what had happened 
 not even Christina. 
 
 " Well, Miss Jane Learned," Nancy hailed the 
 wanderer as her lagging steps approached the 
 Birdcage, " if you've thought about as many 
 things, besides the weather and nothing at all, as 
 we have, you've been busy." 
 
 " Haven't thought of anything." Jane dropped 
 into her favorite chair. " Sun made my head 
 ache." 
 
 " Oh, you poor thing ! " Christina's resent- 
 
 292
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 ment at Jane's reserve with her was instantly 
 forgotten. 
 
 " Well, what have you decided ? " asked Jane 
 briskly, to forestall any questions about her 
 walk. 
 
 " Lots of things," returned Nancy. " First, that 
 we're going to do it earn back Hope's money. I 
 mean every single cent of it. And if we get any 
 extra, it's to be for the Rocky Neck children's 
 Christmas. The Rocky Neck children are yours 
 and Christina's case, you know, Jane. So of 
 course you want them looked out for." 
 
 " And we're going to have something that seems 
 like Hope, Jane," chimed in Christina. " Some- 
 thing sparkly and fascinating like her eyes, you 
 know. Now do you think we'd better ask Alex- 
 andra and Cecilia and Louise Minot to help ? 
 It's going to be lots of work to earn so much 
 money." 
 
 " And we've got to hurry like anything," put 
 in Nancy, " because the fte at the Inn is next 
 week Saturday. Our little thing would seem like 
 a tag- end after that." 
 
 "And just what is ours going to be? "asked 
 Jane casualty, as if she had known all about it 
 once but had forgotten some details. 
 
 " Oh, you know, Jane," answered Nancy 
 quickly. " Something queer and fascinating and 
 
 293
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 sparkly like Hope's eyes and her gulps of happi- 
 
 ness." 
 
 " Um," assented Jane absently. " Then it ought 
 to have mermaids in it and starfish in waving sea- 
 pools and moonlit ripples on the water." 
 
 " But you can't have things like that, Jane," 
 protested Christina. 
 
 " Oh, I don't know," objected Jane lazily. 
 " Maybe we could. Then there ought to be some 
 little, brave, bright, jolly, unexpected things, be- 
 cause that's like Hope, too. And an owl, of 
 course we can have the owl for an oracle, to tell 
 people's fortunes." Jane smiled reflectively. " I 
 suppose we'd better let Cecilia help. Alexandra 
 ought to be a Summer Girl Hope loves fluffy 
 summer girls. And we ought to interest Miss 
 Willis and Judge Smith and the Dales, of course. 
 So we can't very well ignore your next-door neigh- 
 bor, Nancy." 
 
 "And what shall we call it, Jane?" asked 
 Nancy, an odd note of eagerness in her voice. 
 
 " Summer-by-the-Sea," responded Jane without 
 an instant's hesitation. " Really it will be Hope's 
 summer by the sea, you understand, with the 
 troubles left out, because troubles aren't enter- 
 taining. I hope the boys will take an interest, 
 and I think they will, because they admire Hope 
 so for chasing the burglar. Don't you think 
 
 294
 
 CATCHING AN EEL 
 
 Johnny Andrews would make a lovely sprawly 
 starfish ? " Jane had been staring in front of her 
 as she talked. Now she turned her near-sighted 
 gaze upon Nancy just in time to intercept her 
 hostess in the act of silently clapping her hands, 
 while she smiled triumphantly at Christina, who 
 was looking very down-hearted. 
 
 " Thanks for your applause," said Jane calmly. 
 " Make it as loud as you like. I feel that I de- 
 serve it. I've planned this whole affair for you, 
 starting from a few general and perfectly obvious 
 suggestions." 
 
 " There ! " cried Christina joyously. " I said we 
 couldn't fool you into thinking we'd planned it, 
 and Nancy said we could. Go and make lemon- 
 ade for the crowd, Nancy ! " 
 
 Nancy rose, pouting. " Of course I spoiled it 
 all by clapping too soon," she sighed. 
 
 " Not this time, Miss I-Forgot," Jane assured 
 her comfortingly. " I've been laughing up my 
 sleeve at you two ever since I sat down here, and 
 began listening to your childish prattle. You 
 can't fool Jane Learned all the time I I've been 
 taken in once this recently, and now I'm sitting 
 up straight and taking a great deal of notice." 
 
 When Nancy had gone for the lemonade, Jane 
 reached over and hugged her little twin affection- 
 ately. " You're such a comfort, Christina dar- 
 
 295
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 ling," she said, " because you always believe in me. 
 I'll never go mooning off without you again." 
 
 " No, don't, Jane," advised Christina practi- 
 cally, " because you never remember to keep out of 
 the hot sun." 
 
 296
 
 CHAPTER XVII 
 
 " SUMMER-BY-THE-SEA " 
 
 " YOU'D think that the more people you had to 
 help, the easier things would be ; but they're much 
 harder," sighed Nancy Lee, dressing hurriedly for 
 an " afternoon of wonder, mystery, jollity, and ex- 
 citement called Summer- by-the-Sea," to quote one 
 of the posters that flaunted from the trees along 
 Lighthouse Road. Each poster was different and 
 they were all amusing, having been composed by 
 Jane Learned and laboriously printed by Peter 
 Little. Peter had shown real devotion to Hope by 
 plodding through all the most stupid and monot- 
 onous tasks connected with the entertainment in 
 her behalf. 
 
 Nobody outside the small circle of Hope's friends 
 knew that " Summer-by-the-Sea " was being given 
 mainly to make good the loss of her earnings. 
 Hope herself had no idea of it. 
 
 " She might feel embarrassed about coming," 
 Nancy had decreed, " and she mustn't miss it. 
 It will be one big gulp of joy for her, and the sur- 
 prise of getting the money afterward will be 
 another." 
 
 297
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 So the posters vaguely mentioned " local 
 benefits" ; and in view of all the promised attrac- 
 tions, nobody asked inconvenient questions. 
 
 Nancy was dressing in a corner of Josephine's 
 room, for her own had been turned over to the use 
 of what Josephine called " the fancy figures." It 
 was early, and only one " fancy figure " had 
 appeared, little Mrs. Miggs. 
 
 " I allus like to be on time," she had explained 
 her early arrival. " I do get so flustered when I 
 have to hurry." 
 
 Mrs. Miggs was to be the Owl ; at least she was 
 to personate the bird of wisdom from two to four, 
 after which Judge Smith had agreed to take her 
 place. Judge Smith was in the secret about 
 Hope, and he had not hesitated a moment in 
 promising to do " any fool thing you want " to 
 help along so good a cause. 
 
 " Well," said Mrs. Miggs, who sat, costume in 
 hand, ready to don it at the appointed hour and 
 take up her abode in the hollow tree constructed 
 by the patient Peter for the Owl's nest, " Well, 
 I've noticed that gen'ally if you want a thing done 
 quick and easy, you go do it alone." 
 
 " And then you don't have to discuss it," agreed 
 Nancy. 
 
 " Exactly," Mrs. Miggs added briskly. " But 
 of course one person can't do but just so much. 
 
 298
 
 MY BALLOONS AREN T HERE
 
 "SUMMER-BT-T HE-SEA* 
 
 And then ' the more the merrier,' as the saying 
 goes. For instance, I shall have more to look back 
 to, thinking I've worn the same disguise as the 
 richest man in Halcyon, than if he wasn't in it. 
 I hope you ain't plumb wore out, Miss Nancy, 
 with all of us draggin' different ways." 
 
 " Oh, no," laughed Nancy. " Jane said to let 
 each thing manage itself, so I have. Besides, I'm 
 not the worrying kind, you know, Mrs. Miggs. 
 I'm the careless kind. But I've tried hard to 
 think of everything necessary for to-day and I 
 hope I've succeeded. There, I'm ready ! " 
 
 " You certainly look awful nice," said Mrs. 
 Miggs, surveying Nancy admiringly. " What do 
 you represent ? " 
 
 " Just myself," laughed Nancy. " I thought 
 somebody would have to fill in cracks, so that's 
 what I'm ready for. Jane calls me general man- 
 ager, but I'm not that really. Let's go down now. 
 Do you think lots of people will come, Mrs. Miggs ? " 
 
 " You couldn't keep 'em away," declared the 
 little lady, hopping along by Nancy's side. " Hav- 
 ing a good time is a powerful sight of work for 
 most folks. They won't be apt to miss all the 
 help promised by Miss Jane's posters." 
 
 Down-stairs there was the bustle of final arrange- 
 ments and last-moment complications. 
 
 " My balloons aren't here, Nancy," Cecilia Green 
 
 299
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 assailed the general manager, who preferred to 
 consider herself a filler-in of cracks. " So I have 
 nothing to do." 
 
 Nancy manfully repressed a smile. Cecilia had 
 wanted to be a mermaid, until she found that the 
 mermaids' rocks were away off at the Little cottage. 
 Then she had wanted to be a sea-anemone, until 
 she discovered that the Shaw brothers, who had 
 originally been featured in the sea-garden, had 
 decided to dress as chefs and manage the candy 
 booth. After that Cecilia asked a great many 
 questions, heard that Louise Minot had suggested 
 being a balloon-seller, and bullied Louise, who had 
 light hair, out of the part on the plea that she 
 couldn't possibly look it. Now, dressed in a 
 picturesque Italian costume but without her 
 balloons, Cecilia stood frowning glumly at Nancy. 
 
 "Why, let me see. Couldn't you You 
 
 look so pretty, Cecilia. Couldn't you just saunter 
 around and amuse people, and get them interested 
 in doing the different things ? " 
 
 Cecilia shrugged scornfully. " No fun in that, 
 and my costume wouldn't have any point." 
 
 Nancy thought a minute longer. " Couldn't 
 you help serve ice-cream? They'll need more 
 waitresses, I'm sure. The girls there are wearing 
 peasant dresses." 
 
 " But that's so commonplace," sniffed Cecilia. 
 
 300
 
 "SUMMER-BT-T HE-SEA* 
 
 Christina Learned, who had joined them in time 
 to hear most of this colloquy, came loyally to 
 Nancy's rescue. 
 
 " You may have my place at the Lettuce Patch, 
 Cecilia," she offered. " Italians sell vegetables." 
 
 The Lettuce Patch was near the candy booth. 
 It was one of Jane's " little, brave, bright " touches 
 a novel variety of grab-bag. The paper lettuce- 
 heads were growing in a sand-bed, and patrons 
 chose their own plants, each of which had a " sur- 
 prise package " instead of a root. 
 
 " Yes, my costume would be all right for that," 
 agreed Cecilia complacently. 
 
 "But what will you do, Christina?" asked 
 Nancy anxiously. 
 
 " Oh, I'll find plenty of things," returned Chris- 
 tina, who was whole-heartedly interested in the 
 success of the afternoon. " For one I'll probably 
 have to make more lettuce plants. I don't 
 think we have enough, especially if Cecilia sells 
 them." 
 
 " I can sell lots," chimed in Cecilia eagerly. " I 
 know so many people here, somehow lots more 
 than Alexandra does." 
 
 " But, Christina, you don't want to be working 
 in the house " 
 
 Somebody else came running up to the general 
 manager with a tale of woe about the ice-cream, and 
 
 301
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Nancy had to let Christina and Cecilia settle their 
 own destinies. 
 
 Mrs. Miggs had been quite right about the effect 
 of Jane's posters upon the population of Halcyon. 
 Just as everybody who had been asked to help had 
 joyously consented, and suggested friends who 
 would like to help too, so everybody who could 
 have been expected to do so came to behold the 
 glories of " Summer-by-the-Sea," and brought 
 others with them. The mermaids, down on the 
 Littles' rocks, were admired by thronging multi- 
 tudes. The sea-gardens, to which one was carried 
 in the Andrews motor-boat, with their giant 
 starfish and mammoth sea-anemones in assorted 
 colors, were so popular that other boats had to be 
 pressed into service. More ice-cream was ordered in 
 hot haste. The gardeners sold all the flower-sticks 
 contributed by Miss Willis before three o'clock, and 
 the dairy-maids had almost as good luck with their 
 flowers. The Lettuce Patch was not half big 
 enough, in spite of Christina's efforts to keep it re- 
 plenished, and the Summer Girls' dancing pavil- 
 ion-by-courtesy on the tennis-court was a scene of 
 gaiety all the afternoon. As for the Owl, you 
 couldn't get near the wise bird's lair without a 
 long interval of patient waiting in line. 
 
 " But she's worth waiting for," Mrs. Augustus 
 Walker assured everybody loudly. Mrs. Walker, 
 
 302
 
 "SUMMER-BT-THE-SEA* 
 
 who had suddenly decided that her shattered 
 nerves needed the tonic of social intercourse, was 
 patronizing " Summer-by-the-Sea " in royal fashion. 
 " She's so quick and so clever ! I asked her about 
 my pearls, of course. ' You lost them through 
 your own fault,' she said, ' and you'll find soon 
 what became of them.' Now it was my own fault, 
 but how did she know that ? I haven't felt called 
 upon to make a laughing-stock of myself by telling 
 that part of the story. You know I really believe 
 those pearls will be found ! I thought it would do 
 me good to come down here to-day 1 " 
 
 Mrs. Miggs was such a success at pleasing the 
 crowd that Nancy wished she might keep at it all 
 the afternoon, especially as Judge Smith was mak- 
 ing himself very useful as a " barker " for the sea- 
 garden, where Clare was a pink anemone. But as 
 she was afraid of arousing his irascible temper if 
 she suggested the change, she escorted him to the 
 Owl's nest at the proper time, and there Mrs. Miggs, 
 before she relinquished the Owl's head, told his 
 fortune. 
 
 " You're a wise man," squeaked the Owl, " but 
 you ain't been for long. You've learned something 
 to your advantage this summer, and you'll learn 
 more before it's gone. Somebody'll give you a 
 lovely present " 
 
 " Here I " Judge Smith interrupted her gaily. 
 
 303
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " You're all right so far, but you'd better stop. 
 Nobody gives me presents I Now wait a minute. 
 Help me into those feathers, and then I'll tell your 
 fortune. You're going to inherit a tidy bit of 
 money before the summer's over. You're going on 
 
 a journey. You're Upon my word, I think 
 
 you're going to be married, Mrs. Miggs." 
 
 " Will you hear that? " tittered Mrs. Miggs ex- 
 citedly. " Me inherit money ? Why, there ain't 
 a Miggs in the world that's got a penny to leave, or 
 a Ferris either. I was born a Ferris. I shan't 
 worry about the journey or the wedding till I see 
 the money, Judge Smith." 
 
 After that the general manager had a strenuous 
 time of it. First Hope burned her wrist badly 
 with hot water at the tea-stand. Then Clare Smith 
 fell off her rock into the water, and though she 
 could be easily dried off, her sea-anemone costume 
 could not, and she was inconsolable until Susan 
 suggested that Billy find somebody to take his 
 place in the sea-garden, and Clare and he get her 
 pony-cart and rent rides down the road to the 
 children. Next, the girl who had been washing 
 sherbet glasses inexplicably disappeared, and 
 Nancy set to work at that job. 
 
 So it was in the kitchen, bending over her pans 
 of hot water, that, late in the afternoon, Cecilia 
 found her. 
 
 304
 
 "SUMMER-BT-THE-SEA* 
 
 " The Lettuce Patch is sold out," she announced, 
 looking in the window at hot, hurrying Nancy. 
 
 " That's good," said Nancy absently. " Want to 
 carry some of these glasses down to the Bird- 
 cage ? " 
 
 " No," said Cecilia briefly, " I'm tired but I'll 
 find Peter for you. He's another of these tireless 
 workers." 
 
 Peter appeared in a minute, followed presently 
 by Cecilia. This time she came around to the 
 kitchen door. " I'll wipe for you," she offered. 
 " Peter says I'm an awful shirk. Does does Dick 
 think I am a shirk ? " 
 
 " I never heard him say so," said Nancy. 
 
 " Peter calls me a cheat too," went on Cecilia 
 calmly. " He said you knew I cheated in the 
 tennis-match with Christina Learned." 
 
 " Oh, well " began Nancy, dreadfully em- 
 barrassed. 
 
 " Then you did think so I " Cecilia had the 
 grace to blush hard. " I thought of course you 
 wouldn't have asked me to help to-day, and Chris- 
 tina certainly wouldn't have given up her place 
 to me, if you agreed with Peter." Cecilia gave a 
 sigh. " I I didn't mean to cheat, Nancy. Hon- 
 estly, when I want to win at tennis, I see the balls 
 the way I want them to be. Look here." Cecilia 
 laid down her dish-cloth and faced Nancy sol- 
 
 305
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 emnly. " Will you please tell me what fun you've 
 had out of this show ? You've run around help- 
 ing fussy old ladies, and you've bandaged up 
 Hope Haskins, and dried off that dreadful Clare 
 Smith, and washed dishes. You haven't danced 
 once, or had an ice, or talked to any of the boys. 
 What's the use ? " 
 
 " Why, just to get things done, I suppose," 
 Nancy suggested doubtfully. " A lot of hard 
 work goes into a thing like this into anything 
 that's worth doing even into real fun." 
 
 " I never thought about that," said Cecilia. 
 " Anyhow, I always try to get out of the work. 
 So does Alexandra, but she's more polite about it, 
 so people like her better. Tell me honestly, 
 Nancy, do you really like to work for other people 
 the way you're doing to-day for Hope? " 
 
 " Yes, I do," said Nancy promptly. 
 
 " Of course it makes you awfully popular," 
 mused Cecilia. 
 
 " Oh, Cecilia ! " Nancy stopped splashing to pro- 
 test. "It'snotthat ! It'sjust oh, a feeling inside." 
 
 Cecilia sighed. " It's a feeling that's left out of 
 me, I'm afraid. But I do think it was square of 
 Christina Learned to let me have her place, and 
 I'm going to tell her so. Peter says I act as if it 
 was the natural thing for people to give up things 
 I want." 
 
 306
 
 "SUMMER-BT-THE-SEA* 
 
 " Peter's very frank, isn't he ? " laughed Nancy. 
 
 " Well," Cecilia confessed honestly, " I I 
 generally nag him into it. Here he comes now. 
 Don't you ever tell him or Alexandra that I'm be- 
 ginning to see that maybe I am a shirk and self- 
 ish and a snob and oh, but I never did mean to 
 be a cheat, Nancy ! " 
 
 " Next time you'll see the balls straight, I'm 
 sure," said Nancy cheerfully, " and I won't tell 
 them, of course. Just this one tray more of 
 glasses, Peter." 
 
 " I'll tend to those in a few minutes. Put your 
 head close to the screen, Nancy." Peter's manner 
 was full of suppressed excitement. " The Knight's 
 here with his mother and a strange man. He's 
 looking for you, I think. Come right out." 
 
 " Oh, I can't, Peter," Nancy objected sadly. 
 " These glasses will be needed in a minute, 
 and " 
 
 " I'll wash for a while," volunteered Cecilia 
 abruptly. " Go and do what he wants you to, 
 Nancy. You might give me a chance at that good 
 feeling," she added in a whisper, as Nancy hesi- 
 tated. 
 
 The Knight and his party were having ices at 
 the Birdcage. His mother and the man Jane's 
 man were obviously enjoying the ices and the 
 Birdcage, the crowd and the spirit of revelry that 
 
 307
 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 was abroad. But the Knight nibbled his ice with 
 an absent air, ignored the Birdcage, frowned at the 
 revelry, and scanned the crowd anxiously for some 
 one he could not find. When Peter and Nancy ap- 
 peared he saw them instantly, and stooping to ex- 
 plain to his mother he went to meet them. 
 
 " Hello ! " he greeted Peter cheerfully, and 
 asked after Nancy's ankle. 
 
 " Which one?" inquired Nancy demurely. 
 " I've had two sprains, and they're both well. 
 You're very slow." 
 
 " I'm afraid your tall friend who's visiting you 
 thinks so," agreed the boy. " Is she here ? " 
 
 " She's off on the rocks being a purple sea- 
 anemone," explained Nancy. " The boats take 
 you over, if you want to see her. But I didn't 
 know " 
 
 " Will you tell her that I didn't have any luck 
 that day, in spite of her good wishes ? " the boy 
 hurried on eagerly. " But I'm hoping for better 
 fortune to-morrow. I couldn't help feeling that 
 my breaking the rules of my game by talking to 
 her that day the way I did was what spoiled my 
 chance ; so I haven't dared to come and explain 
 things to her as I promised. To-day doesn't ex- 
 actly count because I came to please my mother. 
 Will you give my message, and may I come to see 
 you after to-morrow ? " 
 
 308
 
 "SUMMER-BT-T HE-SEA* 
 
 " Yes, but when did you talk to Jane ? " began 
 Nancy, when a stout elderly lady, a stranger who 
 had motored up from some other seaside colony, 
 wedged her way between Nancy and the Knight, 
 in a determined effort to see what was going on in 
 the Birdcage. Suddenly she caught sight of the 
 Knight. 
 
 " Why, Laurie Masters I " she cried. " You 
 here I Where's your mother ? Up there ? Take 
 me to her this instant ! " 
 
 With a helpless look at Nancy, the Knight let 
 himself be propelled resistlessly toward the Bird- 
 cage. Nancy watched the stout lady half smother 
 little Mrs. Masters in an embrace, shake hands 
 hurriedly with the strange man, and then, drag- 
 ging Mrs. Masters along with her, while the man 
 and Lawrence followed meekly in her train, rush 
 back to her car. 
 
 " Some place where we can talk thought you 
 were in France unfriendly not to let me know," 
 she was gasping breathlessly as she passed Nancy. 
 The Green Knight, to whom she had unceremo- 
 niously handed her coat, her shopping-bag, her 
 lorgnette, and a huge bunch of sweet-peas that 
 she had bought, stared straight ahead, his lips set 
 in an angry line. For once in his happy-go-lucky 
 life the Green Knight was distinctly annoyed. 
 
 "I say, Nancy," Peter, who had been among 
 
 309
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 the crowd, appeared at her elbow. " Who's the 
 fat old party ? Well, we have her sized as another 
 confederate. When they came, Mrs. Augustus 
 Walker sent her motor for the detectives. 
 They've evidently got wind of it somehow. Did 
 you see that fellow's hands just what Hope de- 
 scribed." 
 
 " What I want to know," said Nancy, " is when 
 that boy ever talked to Jane." 
 
 " We'll go and ask the secretive sea-flower," said 
 Peter. 
 
 " You go," Nancy told him. " Cecilia was so 
 sweet about the dishes that I'd better go back." 
 
 " Before she turns sour again," laughed Peter. 
 " Well, I'll report what Jane has to say for her- 
 self." 
 
 Peter was back before long in a state of grand 
 excitement. He found Nancy alone, Cecilia hav- 
 ing been summoned to help count the money 
 from the Lettuce Patch. 
 
 " Jane saw the same man," he explained. 
 " Why she didn't tell us about his hands passes 
 me some silly girl-whim, I gathered from her 
 muddled explanations. But it's all right any- 
 how, as he's still here. The detectives think the 
 crowd will try to make a killing at the cottages 
 the night of the Inn fair. We're going to have 
 everything guarded. Of course I shan't have the 
 
 310
 
 "SUMMER-BT-T HE-SEA' 
 
 luck to be in the right place," sighed Peter, " but 
 it's pretty exciting, nevertheless." 
 
 Nancy had finished her dishes and come out to 
 join Peter, just as Miss Aurelia Pringle appeared, 
 mincing down the path and peering about her as 
 if in search of some small and elusive object. 
 
 " Have you seen Professor Fenwick ? " she asked 
 Nancy. " I'm positively assured he's here, but I 
 can't find him." 
 
 " I'm afraid I don't know him, but I'll try to 
 find him for you," said Nancy obligingly. 
 
 " Thank you, my dear." Miss Aurelia Pringle 
 sighed with relief. " This is the second time I've 
 heard the dear man was in Halcyon. He was a 
 devoted friend of my late brother. Tall and 
 handsome, my dear, with beautiful, long hands. 
 You couldn't fail to notice his hands so refined 
 and expressive." 
 
 With a wink at Nancy, Peter joined in the con- 
 versation. " Is your friend a professor of breaking 
 and entering ? " he asked. 
 
 " He's a professor of mathematics in the best 
 boys' school in New York," returned Miss Pringle 
 acidly. " I never heard of that new science you 
 mention." She turned to Nancy. " I'll wait for 
 you here." 
 
 " Well," Peter defended himself against 
 Nancy's reproaches, " the only man whose hands
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 I've noticed to-day belongs supposedly to the pro- 
 fession of breaking and entering." 
 
 " Supposedly ! " chanted Nancy mockingly. 
 " I wish he was still here, Peter Little ! I'd 
 ask him if he was Professor Fenwick. Probably 
 that's just who he is. And then up would go 
 your silly theory about my nice Green Knight." 
 
 Peter stared. " You mean to say you still think 
 that boy and his mother are on the square ? " 
 
 Nancy nodded vigorously. " I haven't seen 
 any good reason not to think so. He did me a 
 very good turn, and I shan't go back on him until 
 I have proof positive." 
 
 " Well, Nancy Lee," said Peter solemnly, " if 
 ever I'm in trouble I hope my friends will stick 
 the way you do." 
 
 312
 
 CHAPTER XVIII 
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAY 
 
 THE Inn fair was only two days after " Summer- 
 by-the-Sea." Some people thought the success of 
 the latter entertainment would hurt the fair, but 
 others said it had merely whetted Halcyon's appe- 
 tite for gaiety. The fair opened in the afternoon, 
 but it was sure to be best patronized in the even- 
 ing, when the grounds were gay with Japanese 
 lanterns, colored lights burned over the harbor, 
 the booths were auctioning off bargains, and the 
 bands played all the time. 
 
 The cottage people were all going in the even- 
 ing. They told one another so ostentatiously in 
 public places. They repeated the statement before 
 their servants, particularly before their newer serv- 
 ants. There were a great many very new servants 
 in Halcyon that week, and they were all men- 
 servants ; they had come to mow lawns or to work 
 in the stables or to help the butler or the chauffeur. 
 They came down from town on various trains, and 
 got off singly, without so much as a side-glance 
 at one another. But one thing they all had in
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 common ; put them in the sunlight, look closely, 
 and you could catch a glint of bright metal under 
 their coats. Halcyon Point was to be very well 
 policed for the Inn fair. 
 
 Dick, Peter, and Johnny Andrews had special 
 policemen's badges too, and were so proud of the 
 distinction that they could hardly refrain from 
 flaunting them in public. Dick and Johnny were 
 to stand guard at their own places. Mrs. Little 
 would not trust Peter with theirs ; she preferred 
 one of the men from town. But Judge Smith 
 jumped at Peter's offer to look after "Gray 
 Gables." Each guard had a whistle, so it would 
 be easy to summon reinforcements. If the Hal- 
 cyon burglar made an attempt, individual or 
 collective, on the Point cottages, it seemed as if he 
 ought to pay high for it. 
 
 Peter, Dick, and Johnny spent the early even- 
 ing at the fair, going and returning in Johnny's 
 boat, because they thought that mode of departure 
 would be most inconspicuous. It was difficult for 
 the three young officials to realize that the eyes of 
 all Halcyon were not on them that night. Peter 
 was the only one who had to walk far to reach his 
 post. He skulked along in the shadows, slunk 
 up to the house, and let himself in by a little side- 
 door, as Judge Smith had suggested. He had 
 established himself in the dark at the window
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 that commanded the widest sweep of lawn, before 
 he discovered that he had arrived before Judge 
 Smith's departure. 
 
 " I've been delayed," explained that gentleman. 
 " My caution of a grandchild insists on going with 
 me. Susan could give her a better time, I'm sure. 
 And she further insisted that she wasn't properly 
 dressed for the occasion a spot of mud on one 
 stocking and a tumbled sash, I believe. Well, it 
 doesn't matter. She's learning to play, and I'm 
 learning with her. By the way, we had our ghost 
 again this morning." 
 
 " We did ! " Clare, in fresh sash and stockings, 
 hopped into the room. " I asked the boy that 
 digs if he heard it, but he didn't. He was here 
 awf'lly early. He said he wasn't coming again, 
 and I'm glad of it, because I don't like him. He 
 left a pile of dirty old stones in the stable and I 
 fell into it and had to be dressed all over. He 
 wanted to see you, grandfather, but I told him 
 you weren't here. You weren't either," Clare con- 
 cluded, as if her statement had been called in 
 question, and then added an explanatory, " But 
 I guess I did say you'd be back to-morrow. I 
 didn't want that boy tagging around to-night." 
 
 " No, we can't be bothered to-night," agreed 
 Judge Smith jovially. " Good-bye, Peter. Now, 
 Clare, forget that you've seen Peter here to-night.
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Don't mention it to a soul. He'll find that ghost 
 for you, I guess, if nobody knows he's around." 
 
 Peter sat for a while in his chosen window, 
 made two tours of the big house without finding 
 anything amiss, and finally, deciding that the rose 
 arbor by the back door was a better sentry-box than 
 the one he had first chosen, he went stealthily out 
 to it. He had not been there five minutes before 
 a suspicious rustling in the long grass near the 
 garage attracted his attention. Straining his eyes 
 Peter watched till he was sure somebody, or some- 
 thing, was there. Then, slinking in the shadows 
 and darting silently across an open space, he fell 
 upon a wriggling figure and grappled with it. 
 To his amazement it offered no resistance, merely 
 rolling from under him, and murmuring amiably, 
 " That's right, old man. Two can do this job 
 better than one." Then, as Peter's grip tightened 
 indignantly, the voice added softly, " Crickets, 
 you're choking me ! " 
 
 " I'm arresting you," corrected Peter, speaking 
 by some instinct in his adversary's whisper, " for 
 trespass and disorderly conduct, and " Sud- 
 denly Peter remembered with chagrin that he had 
 no evidence of a more serious charge against his 
 captive. 
 
 " Did you think I was the burglar? " whispered 
 the captive. 
 
 316
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 11 Never mind what I think," returned Peter 
 sternly. 
 
 " Well, I'm not. I'm Lawrence Masters, Junior, 
 and the burglar is down in that barberry tangle, 
 trying the kitchen window." 
 
 " While you watch up here and delay me," 
 murmured Peter. " I'm a police officer." He 
 showed his badge. 
 
 " That's good," breathed Lawrence Masters, 
 Junior. " If he fights, we can hit him hard for 
 resisting arrest. I say, Miss Lee's tall friend told 
 me that people here think we're queer. You don't 
 mean you think I'm in with this burglar ? " 
 
 " What are you doing here, if you're not ? " 
 
 " Looking after some buried treasure unburied 
 treasure, I mean, that's down in the stable. I was 
 
 coming up to see Judge Smith, when I say, 
 
 let's get the burglar, and then we can talk." 
 
 Peter hesitated. Here was another " fishy " 
 story, another compromising position. 
 
 " On my honor as a gentleman, I promise to 
 play fair and to help you," whispered the queer 
 boy. 
 
 " And to wait afterward until your case is 
 settled ? " 
 
 " Sure, and to show you the treasure^ and " 
 
 Peter thought hard for one long moment. There 
 certainly was a man moving stealthily on the bar-
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 berry patch near the kitchen window. The Green 
 Knight gave his word of honor. Nancy Lee be- 
 lieved in him. 
 
 " All right," whispered Peter. " You keep to 
 the right side of him as we close in, and I'll bear 
 to the left." 
 
 It had taken only a minute, that colloquy in the 
 tall grass. The man in the barberry patch, intent 
 on sounds within the house, had heard nothing. 
 He was skilfully cutting a pane from the kitchen 
 window. Peter was better at wriggling than the 
 Knight, but the Knight was wonderful at running 
 from cover to cover. He reached the edge of the 
 barberry patch first, and was crouching under a 
 very prickly bush when the man at the window 
 turned and discovered Peter, not yet hidden. 
 With a bound he dropped from the window ledge 
 out into the shrubbery on the side furthest from 
 Peter. At him flashed the Knight, regardless of 
 brambles. Peter, blowing his whistle vigorously, 
 ran round the edge of the shrubbery to make 
 a flank attack. Through the barberry tangle 
 floundered the man, just out of the Knight's reach. 
 Out he dodged into a lilac thicket. 
 
 " Grab him I " cried the Knight, flashing his 
 little electric search-light. Peter grabbed and 
 caught something soft and sleek that came off in 
 his hands a dark silk coat. After that the man's
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 white shirt made pursuit easier. The Knight got 
 the next chance to attack at close quarters, and he 
 hung on bravely. Peter got hold and hung too. 
 
 The man fought silently, desperately. " Hang 
 it all do you want me to shoot ? " he muttered once. 
 But the boys hung on, sure it was an empty threat. 
 With lights flashing in the road, and shouts and 
 running footsteps converging from every direction, 
 with a " bug-light " in the Knight's pocket, and a 
 whistle in Peter's, any burglar could see that it 
 was useless to make a bad matter worse. 
 
 " Why, Mr. Ellis ! " cried Peter in astonishment. 
 " Why, Mr. Ellis ! " Two deputies had handcuffed 
 the burglar, and the Knight had suddenly switched 
 his light full on the man's face. 
 
 " Right you are, Little Peter," returned the 
 burglar. " I'm done for. You boys put up a 
 good fight." 
 
 Peter's eyes dropped to Mr. Ellis's hands. Yes, 
 they were white and soft and slender. It made 
 fastidious Peter a little sick to think that he had 
 caught a man he knew, who knew him well enough 
 to call him by his intimate nickname. 
 
 He turned to the Green Knight, and drew him 
 to one side. " You certainly played fair," he said. 
 " Let's get out of this. Come over to the Lees' 
 and find Dick and Johnny and do some talking." 
 
 " Sure," agreed the Knight. " I passed miy
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 exam in math day before yesterday. I can talk 
 now, all anybody will stand for. But first I've 
 got to find Judge Smith and give him the treasure." 
 
 " What treasure ? " demanded Peter. 
 
 " Why, the buried treasure," explained the 
 Knight impatiently. " I found it this morning. 
 I never expected to. Crickets, but this is my 
 busy day ! " 
 
 In the end the Knight and Peter did go to the 
 Lees', as Peter had suggested, and there, when 
 Dick and Johnny, sadly envious, Nancy and 
 Christina, noisily triumphant, and Jane a little 
 shamefaced over her treatment of the other 
 Trianglers, had gathered in a sociable circle on 
 the piazza, the Green Knight, Lawrence Masters, 
 Junior, told his story. It was late when he began, 
 but even Mrs. Lee conceded that Halcyon Point 
 would naturally keep late hours on this most ex- 
 citing night in its history. 
 
 " Shucks 1 it's nothing to tell," the Green Knight 
 began his story. " It was like this. We live in 
 France. That is, we have stayed there almost 
 ever since I can remember. Paris in winter and 
 Dinard that's a jolly little place on the north 
 coast in summer. Last fall we came over here, 
 so I could go to an American school. At least 
 that was one reason, and another was because my 
 mother thought her English was getting rusty. 
 
 320
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 You see, my mother is Shucks, she's told me 
 
 never to say that ! Well, anyhow New York was 
 great. We'd had plenty of fun in France, but 
 New York was home, and there was something in- 
 teresting to do every minute. We did all the jolly 
 things there were, but this spring I found I'd 
 flunked my math and got low marks in two other 
 subjects, and when I told my mother she said she 
 couldn't scold me, because she'd fallen down on 
 her job, too. You see, my mother well, she's 
 told me never to say it, but I guess to-night is an 
 exception. My mother is a writer. I guess you 
 all know her books, but her name when she writes 
 is different. She'd been working on a novel in 
 New York, and when her publishers read it they 
 told her it wasn't up to her standard, and ought 
 not to be printed. ' And I think they are right,' 
 my mother told me when we talked things over. 
 ' Now, shall we go back to France and settle down 
 to work ? ' You see," explained the Green 
 Knight, " we always plan things together, my 
 mother and I, because we're all the family there 
 is, and we stick tight together. 
 
 " So I said, ' I hate to leave America.' ' I do, 
 too/ said my mother. ' Then we won't let America 
 beat us. We'll go down to Halcyon, where your 
 grandfather and all my grandfathers lived. We'll 
 have a little house, with only old Jules and old 
 
 321
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 Virginie ' those are our servants that we brought 
 from France ' to work for us. I'll revise my 
 book, and you'll dig at your math. We'll live like 
 hermits until we've made good.' That part about 
 hermits made me laugh, because my mother is 
 awfully sociable, and so am I. And besides, she 
 is known everywhere, and strangers are always 
 rushing up to her and saying they recognize her 
 from her pictures. So I said that if we were going 
 to live like hermits, she'd better get a dark veil 
 to hide herself under, and we went right out and 
 bought it. We've had more fun over that veil ! 
 Well, we've dug at our jobs and made good. Her 
 publishers like the novel so well now that they've 
 arranged for English editions and translations and 
 all that sort of thing. And I've passed off my 
 math. That's all," ended the Green Knight se- 
 renely. 
 
 " But you dug in the ground too," added Dick 
 Lee, who had heard from Peter about the " dirty 
 stones " in the stables at " Gray Gables." 
 
 " Oh, that was my mother's plan to keep me out 
 of mischief," explained the boy. " You can't dig 
 at math all the time, you know. She said I'd be 
 sure to pick up a lot of friends between times and 
 forget the hermit business ; and then she remem- 
 bered an old map that her father's father had 
 given his son something about buried treasure 
 
 322
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 down here at Halcyon. That was just the thing 
 for me to do alone, because of course a treasure- 
 hunt is sort of a secret. Only I had to tell Judge 
 Smith. And this morning I found the treasure 
 part of it, anyhow." 
 
 " What was it? " gasped Nancy and the twins in 
 chorus. 
 
 " Oh, ' one silver tankard, two silver vessels and 
 one gold, a chist of coin, two small silver platters 
 and much pewter ware/ " chanted the boy indiffer- 
 ently. " At least, that's what the paper said. The 
 vessels are all so black that you can't tell gold, 
 silver, and pewter apart. The ' chist ' is locked. 
 It was all I could do to lift it, so if the coins 
 are gold or even silver, there must be quite a 
 hoard." 
 
 " Weren't you fearfully excited ? " demanded 
 Jane, curious about the Knight's offhand man- 
 ner. 
 
 " Why no/ 7 he said, " I was embarrassed. I 
 was excited enough for a minute, when my 
 shovel struck something hard, but after that I 
 didn't know what to do about it. I was going to 
 leave the stuff right where it was, but Judge 
 Smith was away, and I had to put it somewhere. 
 I piled it up in the stable, in a part that they 
 don't use. I thought it would be all right till 
 morning, but when I told my mother she sent me 
 
 323
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 straight down to speak to Judge Smith or some 
 other responsible person. And in that way I got 
 mixed up with the burglar." 
 
 " For the last but not the first time," added 
 Johnny Andrews in his most judicial manner. 
 " Now will you kindly tell us the name of your 
 long-fingered friend ? I mean the fellow who was 
 with you at ' Summer-by-the-Sea.' ' 
 
 " And who came to the Reef for you," added 
 Jane quickly. 
 
 "Oh, that was Professor Fenwick. I flunked 
 my math to him and mother got him down so I 
 could know positively that I'd made good, and be 
 able to enjoy the rest of my summer. The first 
 time he came I couldn't satisfy him about loga- 
 rithms. What's exciting you so about Professor 
 Fenwick ? " 
 
 Johnny explained. 
 
 11 Well, I am relieved," sighed the Green Knight. 
 " I suppose his hands are rather extra long and 
 white for a man's. I'd rather you'd think Pro- 
 fessor Fenwick was a crook than to think any- 
 thing off-color about my mother or me." 
 
 There was a guilty silence. 
 
 " Oh ! " sighed the Knight again. " So people 
 did think we were crooks before that?" 
 
 " The girls didn't," from Peter. 
 
 " Except me, after that morning on the rocks," 
 
 324
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 confessed honest Jane. " Why wouldn't you tell 
 me anything? " 
 
 " Oh, I suppose it was silly," admitted the Green 
 Knight, " but that's the way we'd planned it, my 
 mother and I. We just thought that if we began 
 to explain about the hermit business we'd waste all 
 our time explaining. So we promised ourselves 
 not to get into any conversations until we were 
 through. Of course we didn't realize how people 
 were noticing us." 
 
 " No," said Jane, " of course a deaf foreign maid, a 
 gardener who speaks no English, a green veil, a treas- 
 ure hunt, and a hermit's reserved manner wouldn't 
 be the least bit conspicuous in any summer colony." 
 
 The boy laughed. " It does sound pretty un- 
 usual, the way you tell it." He turned to Nancy. 
 " I believe you're to blame," he declared. " Your 
 brother and his chums wouldn't have noticed me 
 much if you hadn't made me look out for you that 
 day." 
 
 " Oh, dear ! " Nancy looked the picture of woe. 
 " I never dreamed my carelessness would get any 
 one mistaken for burglar's accomplices. But 
 there's one comfort ; you didn't know it until it 
 was all over. And I've told the boys right along 
 that they were perfect sillies." 
 
 " That's right," declared Peter. " She has. I'll 
 bet I'd have hung on to you to-night and let the 
 
 325
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 right man get away if I hadn't remembered what 
 Nancy said." 
 
 " Well, if you've heard all you need out of me 
 for a while," said the Green Knight formally, " I'll 
 go up and 'tend to my treasure. Can't you fellows 
 come along?" 
 
 So it happened that Dick, Johnny, and Peter 
 were down at the stable with Judge Smith and the 
 Knight when the " Gray Gables " ghost shrieked 
 and was caught at it. 
 
 Judge Smith was more excited about the finding 
 of the treasure than any of the boys. He insisted 
 on going out to look it over at once, and he even 
 set to work to clean up the tankards and vessels 
 that night ; but after vigorous use of the garden 
 hose, the juice of two dozen lemons, most of a bag 
 of salt, and all the available supply of metal polish, 
 the " black lumps " were almost as black as ever. 
 Judge Smith was a man of action. 
 
 " Here, James," he told the chauffeur, who had 
 been summoned to contribute metal polish, " have 
 these at a jeweler's by eight to-morrow morning. 
 Get a receipt. Tell him I expect them to be pol- 
 ished like new by noon." He turned to the Green 
 Knight. "You'll let me do that? And you'll 
 leave the pile here on exhibition for a while? I 
 paid a lot for this place, but between ghosts and 
 buried treasure I'm getting my money's worth." 
 
 326
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 " They're not mine," said the boy. " They're 
 yours ; they were found on your property." 
 
 " I didn't buy any underground jewelry stores," 
 objected Judge Smith. " You had a permit " 
 
 " It was just a map," said the boy. " It didn't 
 say anything about the ownership of the treasure. 
 I never expected to find any, you see." 
 
 "Just where did you find it?" inquired Judge 
 Smith. 
 
 " I'll show you." The Knight picked up a lan- 
 tern, and armed with that and his trusty " bug- 
 light " he led the way around to the rear of the 
 stable. " Right here close to the foundation wall. I 
 measured from the oak stump half-way up the hill. 
 Old Captain Mixter remembers when it was a big 
 tree. That was one of the things mentioned in my 
 map, and the other was the old pond. Captain 
 Mixter remembered just where that was, too. So 
 I had all the landmarks I needed. I'm not sure 
 but old Captain Mixter has the best right to the 
 treasure, Judge Smith." 
 
 " Maybe he has. I'll tell James to have it ap- 
 praised. If its value runs into the thousands, we 
 ought to consider the matter of ownership pretty 
 carefully." 
 
 " Into the thousands ! Crickets ! " Leaning 
 back against the wall of the barn, the Knight 
 gave vent to a long, low whistle of incredulous 
 
 327
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 amazement. " No wonder my mother thought I 
 shouldn't leave the things lying about here over 
 night. Into the thousands ! " The Knight whis- 
 tled again shrilly. 
 
 " Judge Smith ! Oh, Judge Smith ! " It was a 
 woman's frightened voice, calling from the drive 
 in front of the stable. 
 
 " Now what's happened ? " demanded Judge 
 Smith irascibly, and seizing the Knight's lantern 
 went to find out. 
 
 It was Susan, in a state of agitation extreme 
 even for her. 
 
 " It's the ghost, sir," she gasped, " shriekin' 
 something fearful, and Miss Clare insisted I 
 should come to tell you, as no one else was about. 
 We heard it clear down-stairs, sir. I'm all of a 
 shiver, thinkin' it was running behind me in the 
 grass." 
 
 " Now, boys ! " Judge Smith's summons was 
 answered by the trio of ghost-hunters. The 
 Knight, remembering that he had left a knife 
 behind him that morning, stopped an instant to 
 look for it with his search-light. Standing close 
 to the barn-wall, he twisted the little light 
 hither and yon, and, straining his eyes after 
 his lost property, whistled softly, as was his 
 invariable habit when he was thinking or work- 
 ing intently. 
 
 328
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHT'S BIG DAT 
 
 A shrill cry sounded from the big house. 
 " Susan, you hurry up quick I It called again, 
 that old thing 1 " 
 
 The Knight, who had stopped whistling to 
 listen, broke out again in an amused trill. So the 
 ghost that Judge Smith had spoken of was abroad 
 to-night. It was certainly a big day I 
 
 " Susan, you hurry, I say ! It called another 
 time," came the shrill cry again from the big 
 house. 
 
 With a shrug the Knight started after the 
 others. It was clearly no time to be hunting a 
 mere pocket-knife. As he turned from the wall, 
 his coat-sleeve caught on some projection. It was 
 the end of a pipe, apparently, running out an inch 
 or two from the wall. 
 
 " Funny ! " muttered the boy, with his light 
 turned on and his lips close to the hole. " I never 
 noticed that before, and I can't see the use of it." 
 Then, with an annoyed shrug at having fallen 
 again into his hermit's habit of talking to himself, 
 he hurried to join the others. The ghost hunt 
 was systematic but aimless, since neither Susan 
 nor Clare could give any idea of the location of 
 the voice. Johnny and Dick went through the 
 cellars of " Gray Gables." Peter and the Knight 
 poked around the grounds and stables. Judge 
 Smith went to reassure his granddaughter. He 
 
 329
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 came back to the boys in a state of great amuse- 
 ment. 
 
 " The creature's learning to talk English," he 
 explained. "The last thing it said, according to 
 Susan, was ' Funny, I never noticed that before.' 
 Then it relapsed into its habitual mutterings." 
 
 The ghost-hunters, who had rounded up to hold 
 a consultation, laughed with Judge Smith at the 
 ghost's new accomplishment all but the Green 
 Knight. 
 
 " Why, I said that ! " he cried excitedly. " I 
 said that very sentence. I was standing by the 
 wall back near the treasure-hole. I caught my 
 sleeve on a pipe, and I stopped to look at it. I've 
 often stood against that wall to rest and think, 
 but I never noticed the pipe-hole." 
 
 " Well, how in time could Susan hear you ? " 
 demanded Judge Smith. " Let's go and look at 
 this pipe." 
 
 It was a china pipe-end. It had evidently been 
 painted when the barn was painted, and at that 
 time or some other one side had been badly 
 chipped. Judge Smith peered at it carefully, felt 
 it, and then, putting his lips to the hole, roared, 
 "Hi, Susan 1 Hi, Clare!" joyously. Then he 
 turned to the boys. " Come to the house and find 
 the other end of the contraption," he ordered. 
 " It's not a pipe. It's a speaking-tube. The man 
 
 330
 
 THE GREEN KNIGHTS BIG DAT 
 
 who sold me ' Gray Gables ' was a great horseman. 
 This wall of the barn was a partition-wall in his 
 time, with more rooms behind it. His coachman 
 slept here, with his cot against that wall. I re- 
 member the agent's telling me that I could talk 
 to the stables from almost any room in the house. 
 But I put in telephones, ordered the tubes stopped 
 up, and forgot 'em. Evidently one at least was 
 overlooked. So you're the ' Gray Gables ' ghost, 
 young man I " 
 
 " I suppose I'm part of it, anyhow," sighed the 
 Green Knight ruefully. " I never expected to be 
 mixed up in anything like this. It all comes of 
 my everlasting whistling." 
 
 " Don't you regret it, young man," ordered 
 Judge Smith. " Don't you regret it ! I've en- 
 joyed my ghost. You fellows all come to dinner 
 to-morrow night. We'll inspect the treasure, dis- 
 cuss who owns it, and who caught the ghost, and 
 I'll pay my bills. Don't you regret whistling, 
 young man ! It's a cheerful, honest habit and 
 it's given me a real lark. I decided to grow 
 young down here this summer, and I've done it, 
 thanks to my ghost." 
 
 Meanwhile down at the Inn, Hope's lovely eyes 
 had been blindfolded, and she had identified the 
 " Gray Gables " burglar by his hand as the same 
 one she had encountered.
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 " Yes, I know that hand," Hope declared un- 
 hesitatingly. " I can't be mistaken. Oh, but I'm 
 sorry ! " 
 
 " Don't you worry for a minute, kid," Mr. Ellis 
 told her. " I'm not worth it. I can stand what's 
 coming to me, all right, but I don't want to spoil 
 the shine in your eyes." He turned to the detect- 
 ives. " Her identification is a farce, of course. 
 I can furnish a complete alibi." With that Mr. 
 Ellis, gentleman-burglar, vanished from the life 
 of Halcyon Bay, and shortly afterward began a 
 long term in prison. 
 
 332
 
 CHAPTER XIX 
 
 A WONDERFUL WORLD 
 
 NANCY LEE sat on the Birdcage floor. In front 
 of her were two big wicker baskets and beside 
 them two huge piles of what appeared to be very 
 glittery snowballs. Only close inspection revealed 
 the fact that cotton-batting and frost-powder sup- 
 plied the place of real snow. Each ball con- 
 tained a toy, those in one pile being for boys and 
 in the other for girls. The snowballs were to 
 furnish the lighter part of the Rocky Neck chil- 
 dren's Christmas, and Nancy was packing them in 
 two baskets to be carefully wrapped and consigned 
 to the guardianship of Mrs. Miggs, who had 
 promised to attend to the carrying out of all 
 details of the Christmas party. 
 
 The twins had gone. Nancy had not had much 
 time to miss them, because of the Green Knight's 
 fondness for tennis. In half an hour he and Dick 
 would be back from bathing, and Dick and 
 Alexandra had challenged the Green Knight and 
 Nancy to a match. Nancy wanted to pack her 
 baskets before that, because then she could get the 
 
 333
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 boys to wrap them up. If there was one thing 
 Nancy Lee particularly hated doing it was wrap- 
 ping unwieldy bundles. Nancy laid the snow- 
 balls in neat layers, patting each one lovingly into 
 place. There were such cunning toys inside, gulps 
 of joy for some of those forlorn Neck children. 
 How lovely Hope had looked when she opened 
 her snowball and found her lost money ! Of 
 course it was too bad, Nancy reflected, that the 
 burglar had hidden his booty so securely that Mrs. 
 Augustus Walker's black pearls were still missing ; 
 but it would have spoiled the beautiful climax to 
 the " Summer-by-the-Sea " entertainment if the 
 money had not been needed for Hope. 
 
 " A man for to see you, Miss Nancy." Rosa 
 had come unperceived down the Birdcage path. 
 
 "For me?" Nancy jumped up hastily. "A 
 by> you mean, Rosa? " 
 
 " Oh, no, very old," explained Rosa, and Nancy 
 followed her to the house. 
 
 " Good-morning ! " Judge Smith, evidently in 
 his most impatient mood, was pacing the living- 
 room floor. 
 
 " Oh, won't you come out and see the snow- 
 balls?" cried Nancy impulsively. " We were so 
 sorry you couldn't be here to help wind them, 
 and to see Hope get hers. It was splendid ! " 
 
 " I don't doubt it," agreed Judge Smith drily. 
 
 334
 
 A WONDERFUL WORLD 
 
 " That little girl with the bright eyes interests me. 
 We'll get to her in a minute. I've come on busi- 
 ness. To begin with, the buried treasure is dis- 
 posed of. The boy wouldn't have it. I wouldn't 
 have it. It clearly, then, reverts to the Miggs 
 heirs, whose ancestors put it there. There's only 
 one Miggs heir that little mite of a woman down 
 on the Neck. I've had the stuff valued and sold 
 for her all but one or two things she wants to 
 keep. She looks upon the ten thousand dollars 
 from the sale as a vast fortune." 
 
 " Of course she would I " cried Nancy joyously. 
 " She'll have the loveliest time spending it. Oh, 
 I'm so glad ! " 
 
 " Um I " Judge Smith's tone was doubtful. 
 " She's a nice little woman, but too much of a 
 talker for me. She told me lots of things I didn't 
 care to know poured 'em out on me in a stream. 
 But all the same we got quite friendly she's a 
 person it's difficult to snub or to quarrel with. 
 As she'd told me some things she meant to do with 
 her money, I reciprocated. Several of the things 
 I meant to do she thoroughly disapproved of." 
 Judge Smith's eyes twinkled. " For instance, 
 when I spoke of educating that little Timmy 
 Raftery, she said the Fair Oaks girls had thought 
 of that. She asked me if I wasn't young enough 
 and smart enough to think out something for 
 
 335
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 myself. Well, I find I am young enough, and 
 smart enough. I'm going to adopt a grandchild." 
 " You mean Timmy ? " asked Nancy doubtfully. 
 " I suppose you could do more for him than we 
 girls 
 
 " I don't mean Timmy," roared Judge Smith. 
 " Timmy 's not my discovery, as I've just told you. 
 I've found somebody else that suits me just as well 
 for a grandchild, and maybe better than that 
 young rascal. I'm going to adopt Hope Haskins." 
 
 " Oh ! " cried Nancy joyously. 
 
 " I'm not going to spoil her," Judge Smith broke 
 in hastily on her ecstasy. " The reason I need to 
 adopt a grandchild is because all those I've got 
 are spoiled. So while I'm in the business of help- 
 ing somebody I've decided I may as well amuse 
 myself and have what I've always wanted : a 
 grandchild I can be tremendously, unqualifiedly 
 proud of. So, if you approve, I'm going to choose 
 Hope." 
 
 " If I approve ! " laughed Nancy. 
 
 Judge Smith nodded gravely. " Mrs. Miggs 
 said you're an expert on doing good yourself, and 
 on getting other people interested in doing it. She 
 says that if I knew all the kind things you've put 
 through this summer, I'd be astonished. And she 
 says that one of your principles is to have a good 
 time yourself as you go along." 
 
 336
 
 A WONDERFUL WORLD 
 
 Nancy agreed eagerly. " That was Jane's idea 
 to make a game of it the Lookout Game, we 
 called it. Most of the ideas were other people's, 
 Judge Smith, and other people did most of the 
 helping, too. So you mustn't think that I'm a a 
 person to consult." 
 
 " However that may be, I'm consulting you," 
 said Judge Smith irascibly. " Do you or don't 
 you think Hope Haskins needs a little help on 
 this college job, and can take it without being 
 spoiled ? " 
 
 " I certainly think' she does and can," declared 
 Nancy. " I don't believe Hope's the kind to be 
 spoiled by anything." 
 
 " Well, I shall be very careful about that," 
 snapped Judge Smith. " No, I can't stop for any 
 snowballs. I'm I'm not as cross as I sound, 
 Miss Nancy Lee. You young people have given 
 me a pretty good time this summer, among the 
 whole of you." And off he went. 
 
 With shining eyes Nancy returned to her snow- 
 balls. Recklessly now she piled them in silly 
 little snowballs, of no account at all compared 
 with the splendid chances that had come to Hope 
 and to Mrs. Miggs. 
 
 " Oh, Miss Nancy I " Fluttering down the path, 
 a picture of joyous eagerness, came Mrs. Miggs. 
 As Nancy jumped up to meet her, the little 
 
 337
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 lady's face clouded and her hands flew up despair- 
 ingly. 
 
 " You've heard ! " she sighed. " I see that on 
 your face. How I've rushed to get here, and now 
 somebody's been beforehand with me ! Ain't it 
 lovely, though? And ain't it wonderful -just as 
 the Owl said. I've inherited money ! I've been 
 to Doctor Dale to tell him we needn't worry and 
 contrive any more about a change of air an' a 
 wheel chair for my baby. There's my journey, 
 you see, to get the change of air." 
 
 " And how about your wedding, Mrs. Miggs ? " 
 teased Nancy. 
 
 The little lady bridled and blushed and fluttered. 
 Then she grew suddenly serious. " I don't mind 
 telling you something, dearie. Maybe you'll think 
 I'm forward, but at my age and his there's no time 
 to dawdle. You've heard tell of Captain Mixter, 
 Miss Nancy. He's blind and pretty helpless, and 
 he ain't made none too welcome by his son's wife. 
 Well, if he wants it too, Miss Nancy, there'll be a 
 wedding. He did want it once, when we was both 
 young, so I have hopes that he may enjoy the 
 thoughts of comin' to live with me in a snug little 
 house on the Neck where there's room for him an' 
 his parrot an' his sea-shells that his daughter-in- 
 law thinks is old-fashioned. I'll keep working 
 long's I can, an' after that we'll set by our fire 
 
 338
 
 A WONDERFUL WORLD 
 
 together. There won't be no naggin' or fault- 
 finding and all jokes and fun welcomed. Also the 
 things he likes to eat," ended Mrs. Miggs quaintly. 
 " He's my oldest friend, so why shouldn't he share 
 my good fortune ? " 
 
 Nancy put splendid zest into winning the ten- 
 nis-match. It was a wonderful world ! She was 
 thinking so over and over, as she slammed the 
 balls. They all went where she wanted them to. 
 That reminded her of Cecilia poor Cecilia, who 
 would be sitting alone, on the Littles' piazza. 
 Dick and Peter and Johnny plotted nowadays to 
 leave her out of the tennis games. They called it 
 " teaching her a lesson." Nancy was inclined to 
 approve their method, but to-day she was tender- 
 hearted. 
 
 " Ask Cecilia to play the next set with you," 
 she begged the Green Knight. " I'm tired hon- 
 estly I am. I'm not going to overwork my ankle. 
 After I'm rested I'll make us all lemonade." 
 
 Nancy really was a little tired, but what she 
 wanted was a chance to talk to mother. She had 
 told the tennis players about Hope and Mrs. 
 Miggs and they had said " Great, isn't it ? Shall 
 we toss for courts now ? " Mother would under- 
 stand. 
 
 She did. Nancy found her up-stairs on her 
 very private rest-piazza. For such wonderful 
 
 339
 
 NANCT LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 news as she had, Nancy felt that she might in- 
 trude. Mother was just as interested and just as 
 pleased as Nancy had known she would be. She 
 drew her tall daughter down beside her in her big 
 chair. 
 
 " I'm glad you've made so many friends this 
 summer," she said, " friends that count. I'm glad 
 you've made your vacation count, in spite of the 
 ankle. That's the kind of daughter I want." 
 
 " But I've made you a lot of trouble. I've been 
 much more trouble than help, I'm afraid," said 
 Nancy contritely. 
 
 Mother shook her head. " You've helped me a 
 great deal. Accidents will happen " 
 
 "Even when you're not careless," cried Nancy. 
 " But I was ! " 
 
 " And I'd rather have you find too many worth- 
 while interests outside your home than too few. 
 Caring for nobody but one's family and intimate 
 friends, thinking only of them, gives one a very 
 narrow outlook. I'd far rather you were thought- 
 less sometimes than selfish wrapped up in your 
 own little world." 
 
 " Oh, mother, you're so encouraging I " Nancy 
 rushed off to her other confidant, the faithful Red 
 Journal. The summer's adventures had filled a 
 great many pages. Yes, only two were left. She 
 would ask father to send her another the fattest 
 
 340
 
 A WONDERFUL WORLD 
 
 Red Journal he could find, and she would begin a 
 second volume. But now 
 
 " I want to know things, to be wise," wrote 
 Nancy at the top of the first empty page. " Hope 
 says you can't do without wisdom, and I think 
 she's right. But I want to put the doing of things 
 for people who need me first of all, as Doctor Dale 
 does, and I want always to have ' grit and good 
 spirits,' like dear Mrs. Miggs. And I must re- 
 member not to rush ahead too fast, as Christina is 
 always reminding me " 
 
 " Lemonade ahoy I " called the Green Knight's 
 voice under her window. 
 
 Nancy dropped the poor old Journal with a 
 bang and flew down-stairs. " Coming ! " she 
 called back. " Want to help me crack the ice ? " 
 
 The Stories in this Series are : 
 NANCY LEE 
 
 NANCY LEE'S SPRING TERM 
 NANCY LEE'S LOOKOUT 
 
 341
 
 MARGARET WARDE 
 
 THE author of the famous "Betty Wales" books, 
 no doubt the most popular college stories for 
 girls ever written, is a native of Vermont, and 
 a graduate of one of the larger girls' colleges. "I was 
 a comical, shy, studious little girl," she writes. " I 
 hated my hair because it was straight, and I never 
 cared much for dolls. I preferred tramping in the 
 woods with my brother and his friends. I began to 
 to read 'Alice in Wonderland' when I was two, and I 
 still read it sometimes out of the same nice old book. 
 It's pretty worn in places, and my copy of * Little 
 Women ' is just simply read to pieces. 
 
 " I still like the same things I always did, you see; 
 picnics, with sandwiches in a box and coffee boiled over 
 a fire; long tramps after wild flowers or berries; long 
 horse-back rides, especiallyoutin theRockies,whereyou 
 can go cross-country on a safe Mexican saddle that you 
 can't possibly fall off (because I am rather afraid of 
 horses, in spite of being so fond of them): and in winter 
 snow-shoeing through the deep woods in a snow-storm. 
 
 "Among all the other things that I do, I just 
 happened, 'once on a time', to write a book for girls, 
 because somebody asked me to and I have kept on 
 because I love girls, and the realization that some of 
 them enjoy my books makes me very happy. 
 
 " Betty Wales, Mary Brooks, Madeline Ayres and 
 the rest are types of the American College girl." 
 
 Miss Warde's books for girls are: 
 
 Betty Wales, Freshman 
 Betty Wales, Sophomore 
 Betty Wales, Junior 
 Betty Wales, Senior 
 Betty Wales, B. A. 
 Betty Wales & Co. 
 Betty Wales on the Campus 
 Betty Wales Decides 
 Nancy Lee 
 
 Nancy Lee's Spring Term 
 Nancy Lee's Lookout
 
 UC SOUTHERN REGIONAL LIBRARY FACILITY 
 
 A 000 131 394 9