THE REVELATION
When Mr. Browning entered the office a few moments later he found the
two girls clasped in each other’s arms.
Betty was wiping Jane’s eyes with her inadequate little handkerchief
and Jane was trying to laugh and making a poor business of it.
No wonder that he paused in amazement at this sight. No wonder,
either, that his heart leaped with pride and hope as he saw his
pretty Betty in the new role of comforter to Jane.
“She’s come through!” he told himself. “I knew she’d make the grade!”
Then he coughed by way of tactfully announcing his presence.
Betty pulled him down on the settee beside them and, still holding on
to Jane, told the latter’s story.
Mr. Browning was wonderful to her, Jane thought afterward, and so
comforting. He said that he would try at once to find out more about
her parentage, that he would write to the orphan asylum, or perhaps
go to Walling personally.
“Their records are usually pretty accurate,” he told Jane. “In the
meantime, don’t worry, young lady. A girl like you can’t have sprung
from any but good stock. When we find out who your parents were, I’ll
guarantee you can be proud of them. Meantime, I think I’ll have a
talk with Mr. Powell.”
This he did, and his conference with Mr. Powell resulted immediately
in one good thing, at least. He was able to find the latter a
position in Drake’s big hardware store, where he started at a salary
equal to the one he had had with Martin and Hull and where, he was
assured, there was good opportunity for advancement.
About Jane, neither Mr. Powell nor Mr. Browning was so sure. They
were almost afraid to investigate for fear they would find out
something concerning the girl’s parents that might cast a shadow over
her entire life. Nevertheless, they pledged themselves to help her,
and went about it with a will.
When Mr. Browning could not obtain satisfactory information by mail
he announced to Jane and Betty one day his intention of going to
Walling in person.
He seemed vaguely excited about something, but though both girls
questioned him, Betty more insistently than Jane, he would give them
no satisfaction, merely saying that when he found out anything
definite he would tell it to them at once but that at present he had
gained no really authentic information.
He left the office in charge of Jane, and that meant that the girl
was kept “on her toes all day” doing both her own work and the work
of her employer. This was perhaps just as well, since it kept her
from useless brooding. But it was a trying time, even though an
exciting one, for both the girls left behind.
Meanwhile, Billy Dobson came back to Greenville triumphant. He had
been gone for some time, and since he had not written, Jane was
beginning to worry for fear his mission had ended in failure after
all.
He burst unceremoniously into the office one morning just as Jane was
putting her hat on to go out.
Billy was handsomer than ever and there was an air of success about
him just now that was rather thrilling. At least, so thought Betty
from the modest obscurity of her own little desk in the rear of the
office.
Billy rushed directly to Jane and swallowed up both her outstretched
hands in his two great brown ones.
“Congratulations, Jane! Give ’em to me quick! I’ve done it!”
“Billy!”
Jane’s face was shining; her heart was thumping gloriously.
“You mean that man has really accepted your invention?”
“Accepted! Oh, boy, I’ll say he has! And at a price--oh, such a
price! Jane, feast your eyes upon me, for you’re looking at a rich
man--a man, moreover, who some day will be much richer! Are you
getting an eyeful?”
“You’re crazy, of course!” Jane laughed helplessly as Billy continued
to hold on to her hands and beam upon her. “But I don’t blame you at
all, Billy. I feel sort of--unbalanced--myself!”
They had a perfectly marvelous, idiotic time after that, and Jane
drew Betty into it, telling Billy of the investigation the latter had
instigated and giving him the signed statement of Martin Shiff to
read.
Billy looked thoughtfully at Betty after he read it, and then quietly
offered his hand.
“Thanks!” he said. “That was a mighty fine thing for you to do, and
it means a lot to me.”
Betty accepted the hand but nodded mischievously at Jane, all her
pretty dimples in evidence.
“I did it for Jane,” she said demurely. “I knew how pleased she’d be.”
Billy turned to Jane, a slow smile on his lips.
“Were you?” he asked.
Jane flushed, and was surprised and angry at herself for doing it.
“Of course I was glad,” she returned almost shortly. “Who wouldn’t
be?”
“I’d be very sorry,” said Billy gravely, “if Jane wasn’t just a
little bit more pleased than--any one else.”
Jane smiled, her own bright, cordial smile, and gave him her hand
again.
“Of course I am glad, Billy,” she said. “You know how much, without
my telling you.”
Betty smiled knowingly and hid her face so that the mischievous
dimples would not betray her thought. For who can say that all
women--even quite young ones--are not matchmakers at heart!
It was some days before Mr. Browning came home again, and the
suspense made Jane thin and etched dark circles under her eyes.
Billy, of course, had been let into her confidence, and he and Betty
between them did all they could to comfort and encourage her. But
Jane could not sleep at night for the question that said itself over
and over in her mind. “Who was my mother? Who was my father? Oh, what
will Mr. Browning find out about them?”
Then came the night when Mr. Browning arrived quite unexpectedly in
Greenville.
He had engaged a woman in the neighborhood--a bustling wiry person
by the name of Joyce--to stay with Betty during his absence. The
latter protested that she would be perfectly safe without the wiry
Mrs. Joyce, but Mr. Browning would not hear of her staying alone in
the house.
On this particular night Betty was just about ready for bed when
a familiar step on the porch and a key in the door announced the
arrival of her father.
She ran down to him. The flood of questions trembling on her lips was
checked by the look on her father’s face. He shut the door quietly
and then, with a hand on Betty’s arm, drew her into the front room.
“Dad, is anything wrong? Has anything----”
“Listen, Betty.” Mr. Browning seated himself in a chair and drew
Betty down on his knee as though she were a little child again. He
had not even thought to take off his overcoat. “I have something very
important to tell you. I wanted you to know before I saw Jane. That’s
why I timed my arrival after dark. Are you listening?”
* * * * *
The next day Betty entered her father’s office, trying to mask her
excitement. Jane was at her desk, sorting and arranging the morning
mail. Betty went directly to her.
“Jane, dear,” she said, “daddy is in town and he wants very much to
see you.”
Jane started to her feet, her face suddenly very white.
“Where is he?” she asked.
“At home. He thought that perhaps he’d better tell you--what he wants
to--there. Come along.”
“But the office----”
“Oh, bother the old office! It can take care of itself for a little
while!”
Jane was in her coat, her hat on her head in a moment. She closed and
locked the office and automatically put the key in her pocket.
The girls had almost reached Betty’s house, walking swiftly and in
silence, when Jane put a hand on the pretty girl’s arm.
“Tell me just one thing, Betty,” she begged. “Is this news--very bad?”
“Bad? No! Don’t ask me any questions, Jane Cross, or I’ll never keep
the secret--never!”
They said no more until they stepped up on the porch and the door was
opened by Mr. Browning from the inside. Mrs. Joyce had been dismissed
that morning.
Jane was trembling when Mr. Browning helped her off with her coat,
and then led her into the front room.
“Oh, whatever you have to tell me, please tell me quickly,” she
cried, her breath catching. “I can’t bear this a moment longer!”
“All right, then.” Mr. Browning pushed the girl gently down on the
couch and drew up a chair near her. Betty sat down close to Jane, one
arm about her.
“My news isn’t bad news, Jane; so don’t look like that, my dear girl.
But it is strange, so strange that it may be something of a shock to
you. Are you ready to listen?”
“Oh, yes, yes!” cried Jane.
“Well then, this is the story of a girl I know.” Mr. Browning took
a cigar from his pocket and lighted it, feigning an ease he did not
feel. “She was brought up by a woman whom she thought to be her
mother. When she found out this woman was not her mother but had
taken her from an orphan asylum, the truth came, naturally, as a
great shock to her.”
Jane sat very still now, her eyes fixed on Mr. Browning.
“There was a man who took a great interest in her, and who promised
to solve the mystery of her parentage for her. He went to the town
where the orphan asylum was located in the hope of finding out from
the authorities there something concerning this girl’s parents. He
did find out something.”
Mr. Browning paused and regarded the tip of his cigar intently for a
moment. Jane neither moved nor spoke, but sat with her eyes intently
on him.
“He found out something so strange and startling,” Mr. Browning
continued, “that he could not bring himself to believe the truth of
it at first, but must first satisfy himself with absolute proofs.
He found the proofs.” He paused, and for the first time his eyes
met Jane’s. The girl stirred, reached out her hands toward him
imploringly.
“He found,” said Mr. Browning slowly, “that the child’s real name was
not Jane, but Janet, and that her mother was Martha Harper and that
her father was Mark Harper, a sailor who lost his life in a great
gale off the coast.”
Jane was trembling again and Betty’s arm tightened about her.
“The mother,” continued Mr. Browning in a low voice, and even amid
the whirling of her own thought, Jane wondered why he became so
agitated, so distressed at the mention of her mother’s name, “tried
to make her living and support her baby, but her heart was broken
and she died, leaving the baby, the little girl, to the charity of
strangers.”
Jane found herself speaking.
“That girl was I?” she asked.
“I am coming to that,” said Mr. Browning. He bent forward and held
Jane’s gaze with his own. “This is the strange part, the almost
unbelievable part of it. I once had a sister, a gay, high-spirited
girl, who fell in love with--and finally married--a sailor. My
parents opposed the match, and when the girl married against their
wishes, declared they would have nothing more to do with her.”
“Oh, they were cruel!” cried Jane, with a catch in her voice. “Cruel!”
“Yes, it was cruel,” said Mr. Browning. He regarded the end of his
cigar for a moment, then turned his gaze again to Jane. “I want you
to listen very carefully to what I am saying now.” His tone was so
grave that Jane stared at him fascinated, her heart pounding. “That
sister of whom I have not until now been able to find a trace, though
I have tried, bore the name of Martha, and the man she married was
Mark Harper! Now, Jane, do you understand?”
Jane did not understand for a moment. She was so slow, in fact, that
Betty’s patience could not stand the strain.
“Jane, don’t you see?” she cried. “Your mother and my father were
brother and sister! That makes us--well, what does it make us, you
big silly?”
Jane stared at her, while the almost incredible truth flashed to her
mind.
“Why, Betty, it can’t be! It isn’t possible! That makes us cousins!”
“First cousins, you old darling! And, Jane, I feel as if I’d found a
million dollars!”
Betty hugged Jane and hugged her father--whose face was no longer
lined and weary--then went back to Jane and put a mischievous finger
under her chin, lifting up her serious, still incredulous face.
“I wanted you for a sister, Jane,” she said. “’Member? Well, I
couldn’t have you for my sister. But I can have you for my cousin,
and that’s almost as good, now, isn’t it?”
“Almost as good!”
It was a long time before Jane could realize the fact that she and
Betty--pretty Betty Browning who had once lived in the finest house
on Rose Hill--were cousins. It was a still longer time before she
could drag her mind away from that marvelous fact.
Mr. Browning had papers to prove his assertion, but Jane only glanced
at them. His word was enough.
Mr. Browning, fine, distinguished Mr. Browning, was her uncle--the
next best thing to one’s own father, thought Jane, and tried
wistfully to picture that Mark Harper who had died at sea. Mr.
Browning was to be Uncle Clyde after this. How intimate it sounded
and how she loved Uncle Clyde and Betty for being so good to her!
That mother, that impetuous pretty girl Martha, who had braved the
displeasure of her family to marry the man she loved! What of her?
Mr. Browning had brought a tiny locket, a pretty baby’s locket, and
in it was a sweet smiling face whose loveliness brought the tears
smarting to Jane’s longing eyes.
It had been part of the possessions of the little girl, Janet Harper,
when she came to the asylum and had been forgotten when she left.
The authorities had lost sight of her, but had kept the tiny locket,
thinking that some day some one belonging to her would come and claim
it, as some one did!
“Mother! Mother!” whispered Jane, and looking at the lovely pictured
face, gradually lost it in a swimming mist of tears.
It is to be feared that very little work was done at Mr. Browning’s
real estate office that day. True, there was some one there most of
the day and Mr. Browning went about his duties in a perfunctory way,
but Jane and Betty were somewhere in the clouds together and could
not come down to earth.
Mrs. Powell had to be told the wonderful news, of course, and laughed
and cried and exclaimed over Jane to her heart’s content. Marion
came in in the midst of the jubilation and almost had hysterics in
her joy.
“Best girl in the world!” she cried, bobbing and smiling. “Deserves
everything good! Yes, indeed. You have my blessing, Jane--or I should
say, Janet! Good luck go with you, my dear. Yes indeed, I wish it.
Truly.”
“Marion!” Lydia spoke sternly from the doorway. She had followed her
sister to the door and looked with disapproval upon the scene. “Do
come away, Marion! You talk too much!”
“Aren’t they funny?” giggled Betty a few moments later, as she linked
her arm through Jane’s and started toward home. It had been arranged
that Jane should celebrate by having dinner with her newly acquired
relatives.
“But Marion and Lydia are good-hearted,” said Jane. “They will do
anything in the world for you if they think you need help. I’ll never
forget how good they were to us when we first came to Greenville.”
“Well, if you love ’em, Jane, I suppose I’ll have to love ’em too,”
said Betty, with a sigh of mock resignation. “Here’s the butcher
store. We’ll have to stop and get the makings of a dinner.”
“Here’s the whole day gone and I’ve hardly done a stroke of work,”
said Jane. “Mr. Brown----”
“Uncle Clyde!” corrected Betty.
“Uncle Clyde,” repeated Jane with a heightened color and a quick
squeeze of Betty’s hand, “will be firing me!”
“He can’t now,” chuckled Betty, and displayed all her dimples.
“Because, you see, you’re in the family!”
A short time later the girls let themselves into Betty’s house,
chatting gayly, their arms full of bundles.
“Here comes dad,” said Betty, pausing on the threshold and looking
back to wave to her father as he turned the corner and came swiftly
toward them. “Let’s wait for him.”
So it happened that they entered the house together, Mr. Browning
with an arm about each of “his girls,” as he proudly called them.
Something unusual in the atmosphere halted them just within the door.
It was the appetizing smell of a roast browning in the oven.
“Why, dad, you didn’t tell Mrs. Joyce to come back, did you?” asked
Betty, staring at him.
“No,” answered her father briefly, and started toward the kitchen.
The girls followed, wondering.
Through the kitchen doorway they saw some one slip a pan of biscuits
in the oven--a tall handsome some one, swathed in a gingham kitchen
apron.
Mr. Browning paused as if stupefied and stood staring.
Betty drew her arm from Jane’s, shrieked wildly:
“Mother! Mother! Mother!”
She flung herself like a young meteor past her father and into the
arms of the tall, handsome woman in the gingham apron.
“Mother! Dear, darling mother! It isn’t you, is it? It’s some one
that looks like you all dressed up in my funny old apron! Oh, mother,
tell me it’s you and that I’m not dreaming!”
“You foolish child, stop mauling me so! You nearly made me spoil the
soup, and the roast will burn----”
“Oh, bother the roast! Dad--daddy, she’s come back to us!”
All this time Jane had stood, frozen by surprise, scarcely able to
move.
She saw Mr. Browning go forward slowly and take his wife’s hand, saw
the questioning look in his eyes.
“I couldn’t stay away any longer, Clyde,” she heard the proud woman
say, her eyes humble, almost pleading. “What Betty can do I can do,
and I’m ashamed that I let the child teach me this lesson. I’d like
to stay and--do my part--if you want me----”
“Well,” said Mr. Browning slowly, “I guess we won’t exactly put her
out, shall we, Bettykin?”
Jane realized then that this scene was not for her, and she turned
away, feeling for the moment just a little lonely.
But only for a moment.
Betty came flying after her, took her hand, and drew her toward the
kitchen.
“Mother!” she cried in her merry voice, all her dimples flashing,
“allow me to present another member of the family!”
* * * * *
Several years passed by, and Jane, wandering in the garden that
she and Mrs. Powell had coaxed into a riot of color, smiled as she
thought of the changes those years had seen.
She still worked in Mr. Browning’s office, and Betty, not to be
outdone in anything by her beloved cousin, worked side by side with
her.
The business had prospered. Mr. Browning was well on the way to
becoming a rich man again, and it began to look as though before long
he would be able to buy back the big house on Rose Hill if he cared
to. But they were so happy in the little cottage where the roses over
the door no longer drooped their heads in sad neglect that it is
doubtful whether they would ever have the heart to leave it.
Although Mr. and Mrs. Browning urged Jane to come and live with them
and pretty Betty tried all her dimples and all her wiles, Jane would
not leave the Powells, those good friends who had been kind to her
when she needed kindness most. Mr. Browning had been able to throw a
little business in the way of Mr. Powell now and then that he could
look after in his leisure hours, so that he, as well, was better off
than he had ever dreamed of being.
Billy had prospered too--oh, mightily.
Jane’s smile deepened when she thought of Billy. He was off on one of
his many important trips to the city now, but Jane expected him back
almost any time. The marketing of his one invention had made much
easier the placing of the others. There had been something in that
last letter of his----
A quick footstep on the gravel path behind her.
Jane turned to see Billy coming toward her, his fair hair shining in
the sun.
“’Lo Jane! Aunt Lou said I’d find you here talking to the posies.
Thought maybe you’d rather talk to me.”
“Well, so I would, perhaps. How was the trip, Billy?”
“Pretty slick. All I had to do was tell ’em to sign on the dotted
line. We’re going to be rich, Jane!”
“We?” queried Jane, with a smile.
“Yes, I said we! Because you’re going to marry me, whether you
know it or not. Don’t you think, Jane, you’ve kept me waiting long
enough?” he went on more soberly.
Perhaps it was the smell of the flowers or perhaps it was the spring
sunshine or perhaps--it was only Billy. Anyway, Jane said, “Perhaps I
have,” and Billy seemed to think he had his answer.
“Oh-h, excuse me!” A pretty face was poked about the edge of the rose
arbor, a face framed in lovely flyaway golden hair. “You ought to
hang out a sign, you two, warning everybody off the premises!”
“Come in,” grinned Billy. “You’re just in time to be invited to our
wedding.”
“When’s it to be?” came with a chuckle from Betty.
“Next week.”
“Oh, Billy!”
“Don’t talk, darling.” Betty put a hand over Jane’s mouth. “He’s
made up his mind, and when a man makes up his mind there’s no use
arguing with him. You might just as well submit as unprotestingly as
possible.”
“But, Billy, I can’t possibly----”
“No but, young lady. I have to go to the city again next week, and
you’re going with me. We’ll buy what you need when we get there.”
“No,” said Jane. “I must have at least a month, Billy.”
“A month!” cried Billy reproachfully. “How can I wait a month?”
Betty sighed and turned away.
“I see you don’t need _me_,” she murmured, with a mischievous glance.
She picked a rose from a bush near by and leveled it at them sternly.
“I’ll let you have this wedding on one condition!”
“What’s that?” they asked her, smiling.
“That you’ll let me be the bridesmaid.”
“Betty! As though we’d have any one else!”
They watched the pretty figure in the rose-colored frock until it was
out of sight, then Jane and Billy turned to walk slowly down the path
toward the garden of their dreams.
THE END
THE BARTON BOOKS FOR GIRLS
=BY MAY HOLLIS BARTON=
[Illustration: (cover of ‘Nell Grayson’s Ranching Days’)]
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. With colored jacket_
_=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid=_
_May Hollis Barton is a new writer for girls who is bound to win
instant popularity. Her style is somewhat of a mixture of that of
Louise M. Alcott and Mrs. L. T. Meade, but thoroughly up-to-date in
plot and action. Clean tales that all girls will enjoy reading._
=1. THE GIRL FROM THE COUNTRY=
_or Laura Mayford’s City Experiences_
Laura was the oldest of five children and when daddy got sick she
felt she must do something. She had a chance to try her luck in
New York, and there the country girl fell in with many unusual
experiences.
=2. THREE GIRL CHUMS AT LAUREL HALL=
_or The Mystery of the School by the Lake_
When the three chums arrived at the boarding school they found the
other students in the grip of a most perplexing mystery. How this
mystery was solved, and what good times the girls had, both in school
and on the lake, go to make a story no girl would care to miss.
=3. NELL GRAYSON’S RANCHING DAYS=
_or A City Girl in the Great West_
Showing how Nell, when she had a ranch girl visit her in Boston,
thought her chum very green, but when Nell visited the ranch in the
great West she found herself confronting many conditions of which she
was totally ignorant. A stirring outdoor story.
=4. FOUR LITTLE WOMEN OF ROXBY=
_or The Queer Old Lady Who Lost Her Way_
Four sisters are keeping house and having trouble to make both ends
meet. One day there wanders in from a stalled express train an old
lady who cannot remember her identity. The girls take the old lady
in, and, later, are much astonished to learn who she really is.
=5. PLAIN JANE AND PRETTY BETTY=
_or The Girl Who Won Out_
The tale of two girls, one plain but sensible, the other pretty but
vain. Unexpectedly both find they have to make their way in the
world. Both have many trials and tribulations. A story of a country
town and then a city.
THE RUTH FIELDING SERIES
=BY ALICE B. EMERSON=
[Illustration: (cover of ‘Ruth Fielding in Alaska’)]
_12mo. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
_=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid=_
Ruth Fielding was an orphan and came to live with her miserly uncle.
Her adventures and travels make stories that will hold the interest
of every reader.
Ruth Fielding is a character that will live in juvenile fiction.
=1. RUTH FIELDING OF THE RED MILL=
=2. RUTH FIELDING AT BRIARWOOD HALL=
=3. RUTH FIELDING AT SNOW CAMP=
=4. RUTH FIELDING AT LIGHTHOUSE POINT=
=5. RUTH FIELDING AT SILVER RANCH=
=6. RUTH FIELDING ON CLIFF ISLAND=
=7. RUTH FIELDING AT SUNRISE FARM=
=8. RUTH FIELDING AND THE GYPSIES=
=9. RUTH FIELDING IN MOVING PICTURES=
=10. RUTH FIELDING DOWN IN DIXIE=
=11. RUTH FIELDING AT COLLEGE=
=12. RUTH FIELDING IN THE SADDLE=
=13. RUTH FIELDING IN THE RED CROSS=
=14. RUTH FIELDING AT THE WAR FRONT=
=15. RUTH FIELDING HOMEWARD BOUND=
=16. RUTH FIELDING DOWN EAST=
=17. RUTH FIELDING IN THE GREAT NORTHWEST=
=18. RUTH FIELDING ON THE ST. LAWRENCE=
=19. RUTH FIELDING TREASURE HUNTING=
=20. RUTH FIELDING IN THE FAR NORTH=
=21. RUTH FIELDING AT GOLDEN PASS=
=22. RUTH FIELDING IN ALASKA=
=23. RUTH FIELDING AND HER GREAT SCENARIO=
THE BETTY GORDON SERIES
=BY ALICE B. EMERSON=
[Illustration: (cover of ‘Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm’)]
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
_=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid=_
=1. BETTY GORDON AT BRAMBLE=
FARM _or The Mystery of a Nobody_
At twelve Betty is left an orphan.
=2. BETTY GORDON IN WASHINGTON=
_or Strange Adventures in a Great City_
Betty goes to the National Capitol to find her uncle and has several
unusual adventures.
=3. BETTY GORDON IN THE LAND OF OIL=
_or The Farm That Was Worth a Fortune_
From Washington the scene is shifted to the great oil fields of our
country. A splendid picture of the oil field operations of to-day.
=4. BETTY GORDON AT BOARDING SCHOOL=
_or The Treasure of Indian Chasm_
Seeking treasures of Indian Chasm makes interesting reading.
=5. BETTY GORDON AT MOUNTAIN CAMP=
_or The Mystery of Ida Bellethorne_
At Mountain Camp Betty found herself in the midst of a mystery
involving a girl whom she had previously met in Washington.
=6. BETTY GORDON AT OCEAN PARK=
_or School Chums on the Boardwalk_
A glorious outing that Betty and her chums never forgot.
=7. BETTY GORDON AND HER SCHOOL CHUMS=
_or Bringing the Rebels to Terms_
Rebellious students, disliked teachers and mysterious robberies make
a fascinating story.
=8. BETTY GORDON AT RAINBOW RANCH=
_or Cowboy Joe’s Secret_
Betty and her chums have a grand time in the saddle.
=9. BETTY GORDON IN MEXICAN WILDS=
_or The Secret of the Mountains_
Betty receives a fake telegram and finds both Bob and herself held
for ransom in a mountain cave.
=10. BETTY GORDON AND THE LOST PEARL=
_or A Mystery of the Seaside_
Betty and her chums go to the ocean shore for a vacation and there
Betty becomes involved in the disappearance of a string of pearls
worth a fortune.
THE LINGER-NOT SERIES
=BY AGNES MILLER=
[Illustration: (cover of ‘The Linger-Nots and the Mystery House’)]
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
_=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid=_
_This new series of girls’ books is in a new style of story writing.
The interest is in knowing the girls and seeing them solve the
problems that develop their character. Incidentally, a great deal of
historical information is imparted._
=1. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE MYSTERY HOUSE=
_or The Story of Nine Adventurous Girls_
How the Linger-Not girls met and formed their club seems commonplace,
but this writer makes it fascinating, and how they made their
club serve a great purpose continues the interest to the end, and
introduces a new type of girlhood.
=2. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE VALLEY FEUD=
_or The Great West Point Chain_
The Linger-Not girls had no thought of becoming mixed up with feuds
or mysteries, but their habit of being useful soon entangled them in
some surprising adventures that turned out happily for all, and made
the valley better because of their visit.
=3. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THEIR GOLDEN QUEST=
_or The Log of the Ocean Monarch_
For a club of girls to become involved in a mystery leading back into
the times of the California gold-rush, seems unnatural until the
reader sees how it happened, and how the girls helped one of their
friends to come into her rightful name and inheritance, forms a fine
story.
=4. THE LINGER-NOTS AND THE WHISPERING CHARMS=
_or The Secret from Old Alaska_
Whether engrossed in thrilling adventures in the Far North or
occupied with quiet home duties, the Linger-Not girls could work
unitedly to solve a colorful mystery in a way that interpreted
American freedom to a sad young stranger, and brought happiness to
her and to themselves.
BILLIE BRADLEY SERIES
=BY JANET D. WHEELER=
[Illustration: (cover of ‘Billie Bradley at Twin Lakes’)]
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
_=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid=_
=1. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER INHERITANCE=
_or The Queer Homestead at Cherry Corners_
Billie Bradley fell heir to an old homestead that was unoccupied
and located far away in a lonely section of the country. How Billie
went there, accompanied by some of her chums, and what queer things
happened, go to make up a story no girl will want to miss.
=2. BILLIE BRADLEY AT THREE-TOWERS HALL=
_or Leading a Needed Rebellion_
Three-Towers Hall was a boarding school for girls. For a short time
after Billie arrived there all went well. But then the head of the
school had to go on a long journey and she left the girls in charge
of two teachers, sisters, who believed in severe discipline and in
very, very plain food and little of it--and then there was a row! The
girls wired for the head to come back--and all ended happily.
=3. BILLIE BRADLEY ON LIGHTHOUSE ISLAND=
_or The Mystery of the Wreck_
One of Billie’s friends owned a summer bungalow on Lighthouse Island,
near the coast. The school girls made up a party and visited the
Island. There was a storm and a wreck, and three little children were
washed ashore. They could tell nothing of themselves, and Billie and
her chums set to work to solve the mystery of their identity.
=4. BILLIE BRADLEY AND HER CLASSMATES=
_or The Secret of the Locked Tower_
Billie and her chums come to the rescue of several little children
who have broken through the ice. There is the mystery of a lost
invention, and also the dreaded mystery of the locked school tower.
=5. BILLIE BRADLEY AT TWIN LAKES=
_or Jolly Schoolgirls Afloat and Ashore_
A tale of outdoor adventure in which Billie and her chums have a
great variety of adventures. They visit an artists’ colony and there
fall in with a strange girl living with an old boatman who abuses her
constantly. Billie befriended Hulda and the mystery surrounding the
girl was finally cleared up.
THE CURLYTOPS SERIES
=BY HOWARD R. GARIS=
[Illustration: (cover of ‘The Curlytops at Cherry Farm’)]
_=Author of the famous “Bedtime Animal Stories”=_
_12mo. Cloth. Illustrated. Jacket in full colors_
_=Price per volume, 65 cents, postpaid=_
=1. THE CURLYTOPS AT CHERRY FARM=
_or Vacation Days in the Country_
A tale of happy vacation days on a farm.
=2. THE CURLYTOPS ON STAR ISLAND=
_or Camping out with Grandpa_
The Curlytops camp on Star Island.
=3. THE CURLYTOPS SNOWED IN=
_or Grand Fun with Skates and Sleds_
The Curlytops on lakes and hills.
=4. THE CURLYTOPS AT UNCLE FRANK’S RANCH=
_or Little Folks on Ponyback_
Out West on their uncle’s ranch they have a wonderful time.
=5. THE CURLYTOPS AT SILVER LAKE=
_or On the Water with Uncle Ben_
The Curlytops camp out on the shores of a beautiful lake.
=6. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PETS=
_or Uncle Toby’s Strange Collection_
An old uncle leaves them to care for his collection of pets.
=7. THE CURLYTOPS AND THEIR PLAYMATES=
_or Jolly Times Through the Holidays_
They have great times with their uncle’s collection of animals.
=8. THE CURLYTOPS IN THE WOODS=
_or Fun at the Lumber Camp_
Exciting times in the forest for Curlytops.
=9. THE CURLYTOPS AT SUNSET BEACH=
_or What Was Found in the Sand_
The Curlytops have a fine time at the seashore.
=10. THE CURLYTOPS TOURING AROUND=
_or The Missing Photograph Albums_
The Curlytops get in some moving pictures.
=11. THE CURLYTOPS IN A SUMMER CAMP=
_or Animal Joe’s Menagerie_
There is great excitement as some mischievous monkeys break out of
Animal Joe’s Menagerie.
_Send For Our Free Illustrated Catalogue_
CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY, Publishers New York
Transcriber’s Notes
Obvious typographical errors and punctuation errors have been
silently corrected after careful comparison with other occurrences
within the text and consultation of external sources. Some hyphens
in words have been silently removed and some silently added when
a predominant preference was found in the original book. Except
for those changes noted below, all misspellings in the text and
inconsistent or archaic usage have been retained.
Page 5: “as suddenly at is” replaced by “as suddenly as it”.
Page 13: “It you’ve got to” replaced by “If you’ve got to”.
Page 14: “clinging to its” replaced by “clinging to it”.
Page 14: “every one called his” replaced by “every one called
him”.
Page 15: “driver glared as” replaced by “driver glared at”.
Page 31: “suddenly remembed” replaced by “suddenly remembered”.
Page 40: “paint until is” replaced by “paint until it”.
Page 50: “and buring brands” replaced by “and burning brands”.
Page 60: “that I leant” replaced by “that I lent”.
Page 82: “struggled off” replaced by “straggled off”.
Page 106: “triumphant refran” replaced by “triumphant refrain”.
Page 107: “to marked yet” replaced by “to market yet”.
Page 111: “he told herself” replaced by “she told herself”.
Page 116: “she poured over” replaced by “she pored over”.
Page 166: “The tears softend” replaced by “The tears softened”.
Page 201: “with a hightened” replaced by “with a heightened”.
Page 203: “shall be, Bettykin” replaced by “shall we, Bettykin”.
Advertisement for Ruth Fielding series: “BRIARWOODHALL” replaced by
“BRIARWOOD HALL”.
Italicized text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_. Bold text is
surrounded by equal signs: =bold=.