are only about three left,
and they won't last more than a minute or two!" Even as she spoke, two
of them flickered out. The remaining one struggled for another
half-minute, and flared up in one last, desperate effort. The next
instant, the room was in total darkness. So unexpected was the change,
that they all sat very still. The sudden pall of darkness in this
strange house of mystery was just a tiny bit awesome.

"Well! This _is_ a predicament!" exclaimed Fairfax Collingwood who was
first to recover from the surprise. "Fortunately I have a box of
matches!"

[Illustration: Then, with one accord they began to steer their way
around the furniture]

"Oh, don't worry!" added the practical Cynthia. "There's an extra candle
that I left on the mantel. It will do nicely to light us out." Groping
to the chimney-place with the aid of his matches, Mr. Collingwood found
the candle and lit it. Then, with one accord, they all rose and began to
steer their way around the furniture toward the hall, Goliath following.
In the hall, Mr. Collingwood looked at his watch, exclaiming:

"It is six-thirty! Who would believe it!" The two girls gave a
simultaneous gasp of dismay.

"Dinner!-- It was ready half an hour ago! What _will_ they think?" cried
Joyce.

"Never mind _what_ they think, just for to-night!" responded Mrs.
Collingwood, gaily. "You can tell them when you're explaining all this,
that what you've done for us two people is beyond the power of words to
express. They'll forgive you!" She bent down and kissed them both with a
caress that thrilled them to their finger-tips. Then they all passed out
through the great front door to the wide old veranda. Mr. Collingwood,
taking the key from his mother, locked the little door in the boarding,
after them. And in the warm, waning May afternoon, they filed down the
steps. At the gate, Mr. Collingwood turned to the girls:

"I am taking my mother back to New York for a few days. She must rest,
and we have much to talk over. I scarcely need tell you that I am _not_
returning to Australia!-- We shall come back here very soon, open up
this old home, put it in order, and probably spend the rest of our lives
between here and the South.

"Dear girls, I hardly need say to you that in all the world we shall
consider that we have no closer or more devoted friends than yourselves!
This house will always be open to you. You must look upon it as a second
home. You have given back to us the most