II. THE M.KS. 74

IX. A RIVAL CLUB 84

X. GOOD NEIGHBORS 93

XI. PLANS 103

XII. CEDAR AND HOLLY 112

XIII. THE HARP MAN'S BENEFIT 127

XIV. CLOUDS 140

XV. DORA'S BRIGHT IDEA 156

XVI. SILVER KEYS 165

XVII. A PRISONER 172

XVIII. SOMETHING ELSE HAPPENS 183

XIX. AUNT SUKEY'S STORY 190

XX. THE ORDER OF THE BIG FRONT DOOR 198

XXI. WORK AND PLAY 206

XXII. UNCLE WILLIAM IS SURPRISED 219

XXIII. JIM 230

XXIV. A DISAPPOINTMENT 238

XXV. AUNT ZELIE 246

XXVI. THE BIG FRONT DOOR IS LEFT ALONE 255

THE STORY

OF

THE BIG FRONT DOOR.

CHAPTER I.

THE OUTLAWS.

"Come listen to me, ye gallants so free,
All ye who love mirth for to hear;
And I will tell you of a bold outlaw
Who lived in Nottinghamshire."

_Old Ballad._

Ikey Ford was the first to make the discovery, and he lost no time in
carrying the news to the others.

Great was their consternation!

"Moving into the Brown house? Nonsense, Ikey, you are making it up!"
Carl exclaimed.

"What shall we do about the banquet for King Richard?" cried Bess,
sitting down on the doorstep despairingly.

"And my racket is over there, and your grandma's fur rug, Ikey Ford!"
wailed Louise, shaking her finger at the bringer of evil tidings. He
assented meekly, adding, "and Sallie's clothes-pins."

A stranger might have been puzzled to guess what sort of calamity had
befallen the little group in the doorway of the pleasant,
hospitable-looking house among the maple trees, that warm August
morning. Something serious certainly, for Louise's dimples had
disappeared, Bess was almost tearful, and the boys, though they
affected to take it more lightly, wore plainly depressed.

"Let's go over to Ikey's and look through the fence," suggested Carl,
and