of any other
person into whose hands it might fall, if it should be lost by us. The
names are indicated thus: 'A' stands for the oldest member of the
family, Mrs. Graham, for she is two years older than her husband and the
real head of the household; 'B' stands for the next younger, Mr. Graham;
'C' stands for Addie, the oldest daughter; 'D' for the next daughter,
Olga; 'E' for the only son, James, named after his father; and 'F'
stands for Glen. There, you have the whole proposition. What do you want
to do with it? Mrs. Hutchins, I neglected to mention, wants to pay all
of our expenses and hire help to take off our hands all the labor of
moving our camp."

Replies were not slow coming. Nearly every one of the girls had
something to say, as indicated by the eager attitudes of all and
requests from several to be recognized by the Guardian, who was "in the
chair." Azalia Atwood was the first one called upon.

"I think the proposition of Mrs. Hutchins is simply great," the latter
declared with vim. "It's delightfully romantic, sounds like a story with
a plot, and would make fourteen heroines out of us if we were successful
in our mission."

"I want to warn you against one danger," Miss Ladd interposed at this
point. "The natural thing for you to do at the start, after hearing this
lengthy indictment of the Graham family, is to conclude that they are a
bad lot and to feel an eagerness to set out to prove it. Now, I admit
that that is my feeling in this matter, but I know also that there is a
possibility of mistake. The Grahams may be high class people, but they
may have enemies who are trying to injure them. If you take up the
proposition of Mrs. Hutchins, you must keep this possibility in mind,
for unless you do, you might do not only the Grahams a great injustice,
but little Glen as well. It would be a pity to tear him away from a
perfectly good home that has been vilified by false accusations made by
unscrupulous enemies."

The discussion was continued for nearly an hour, the written
instructions in Katherine's possession were read aloud and then a vote
was taken. It was unanimous, in favor of performing the task proposed by
Mrs. Hutchins.

CHAPTER V.

HONORS AND SPIES.

"Why couldn't this expedition be arranged so that we girls could all win
some honors out of it?" Ruth Hazelton inquired, after the details of
Mrs. Hutchins' plan had been discussed thoroughly and the vote had been
taken.

"That is a go