and her friends were
determined she would not relapse into anything so unpleasant. Plainly
the boxes were ready to be packed; then the finding of the monkey
convinced Mary that strangers had come into the studio, and were making
preparations to loot it. Who they were, and just what they "were
after, she could only surmise. But it was a most unpleasant surprise,
amounting to a shock, and that to come just when things seemed to be
shaping so favorably for everyone.

"Certainly I should not think of taking you up there again," said Mary
finally, "but what can I do about the orchids?"

"They must be cared for," Madaline said sagely, "but we could never go
up there, and perhaps--perhaps----"

"Get packed in one of the boxes, Madie?" teased Grace. "That surely
would be dreadful. But don't you worry, Mary-love. We will find a way
to take care of the studio until Professor is able to come back. Of
course, I don't see how we are ever going to let you go there again,
but since we don't have to decide that to-day let us postpone the evil.
Too bad we didn't have a chance to look into the boxes; we might have
been able to tell where they came from," she reasoned.

"Don't you dare go blaming Mally Mack for furnishing the boxes,"
objected Cleo. "I am sure no one in Bellaire would give away boxes to
steal stuff from the studio," she declared. "At any rate someone has
surely been busy up there, and I am glad our wires didn't cross again.
Fancy us going up those stairs and seeing a couple of burglars squat
among the boxes!"

This calamitous consideration acted as a spur to the romping girls, who
were once more discovering short-cuts home from Second Mountain, and
joining hands, they raced pell-mell through the daisy field, down to
the path that edged the brook.

"I think it is too mean," grumbled Madaline. "We hadn't entirely
searched all the places, nooks and boxes and things. We may have left
a lot of valuables behind us for the robbers to pack in their boxes."

Everyone laughed at Madaline's literal and explicit surmise. It was
characteristic of Madaline that she should stamp a mere guess with a
most definite label, but the excitement of the flight with the
treasures was too absorbing to admit of this trifle being noticed.

"I hope Aunt Audrey is in," said Cleo. "We must, of course, bring
these things to her at once. She will know best what to do with them."

"And we better not mention them to anyone," caution