dd's Third Husband 173
XII. Her Gift to the World 191
XIII. A Sensitive Soul 210
XIV. Mrs. Dodd's Fifth Fate 226
XV. Treasure-Trove 243
XVI. Good Fortune 264
XVII. The Lady Elaine Knows Her Heart 282
XVIII. Uncle Ebeneezer's Diary 299
XIX. Various Departures 319
XX. The Love of Another Elaine 338

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I

The End of the Honeymoon

It was certainly a queer house. Even through the blinding storm they could
distinguish its eccentric outlines as they alighted from the stage.
Dorothy laughed happily, heedless of the fact that her husband's umbrella
was dripping down her neck. "It's a dear old place," she cried; "I love it
already!"

For an instant a flash of lightning turned the peculiar windows into
sheets of flame, then all was dark again. Harlan's answer was drowned by a
crash of thunder and the turning of the heavy wheels on the gravelled
road.

"Don't stop," shouted the driver; "I'll come up to-morrer for the money.
Good luck to you--an' the Jack-o'-Lantern!"

"What did he mean?" asked Dorothy, shaking out her wet skirts, when they
were safely inside the door. "Who's got a Jack-o'-Lantern?"

"You can search me," answered Harlan, concisely, fumbling for a match. "I
suppose we've got it. Anyhow, we'll have a look at this sepulchral mansion
presently."

His deep voice echoed and re-echoed through the empty rooms, and Dorothy
laughed; a little hysterically this time. Match after match sputtered and
failed. "Couldn't have got much wetter if I'd been in swimming," he
grumbled. "Here goes the last one."

By the uncertain light they found a candle and Harlan drew a long breath
of relief. "It would have been pleasant, wouldn't it?" he went on. "We
could have sat on the stairs until morning, or broken our admirable necks
in falling over strange furniture. The next thing is a fire. Wonder where
my distinguished relative kept his wood?"

Lighting another candle, he went off on a tour of investigation, leaving
Dorothy alone.

She could not repress a shiver as she glanced around the gloomy room. The
bare loneliness of the place was accentuated by the depressing furniture,
which belonged to the black walnut and haircloth period. On the
marble-topped table, in the exact centre of the room,