ed Grace, "else we
might again be visited with night prowlers."

That the strange child should fall back into a condition such as the
scouts first found her in was additional cause for alarm. She scarcely
spoke in answer to the questions piled upon her. Who might have been
in the studio? What would they ever intend to do with so tiny a little
baby monkey? What had they expected to put in all those boxes? Such
questions came thicker than the stones they skipped over, but in reply
the girls received nothing but skeleton answers from Mary, and these
were built of simple, meager words.

"But the orchids? What can we do about them?" Grace insisted. This
roused Mary. She was seen to shudder, and heard to sigh before
replying:

"Girls, please forgive me for being so rude. But so much is rushing
all about me, I can hardly think. I shall never let you go with me to
the studio again----"

"Then you shan't go either!" promptly interrupted Cleo. "Your danger
would be as great as ours, and we will never leave you until every
thread of this mystery is untangled."

"Indeed, we will not," echoed Grace, while Madaline too offered her
pledge of loyalty to their new member.

"You are sure the monkey will not bite you?" questioned Cleo, glad to
change the subject.

"Oh, no indeed," Mary replied, patting the animal, that now seemed much
at home, and quite content, in the hollow of her arm. "They are wise
little creatures; we have many of them in South America, and this one
seems to be trained."

"Whatever will your aunt say, Cleo?" Grace exclaimed. "Just think of
fetching another surprise. We thought the fly catcher plant quite
wonderful; but just imagine a real little monkey!"

"Oh, Aunt Audrey loves pets," declared Cleo, "and you see how well she
has treated us!"

"I should say so," affirmed Madaline, "and we are pretty noisy pets at
that."

"Uncle Guy will be delighted with this monkey, I am sure," continued
Cleo, qualifying which monkey she referred to, "that is if he gets home
in time, and if we are allowed to keep our chatterbox. Suppose someone
takes him from us?"

"Can't have him," objected Grace, attempting to pat the dark spot of
fur in Mary's arm. "He's going to be our mascot, aren't
you--Peetootie? Wonder what we'll name him?"

"Let's have a real party for him----" But Grace had no time to finish
out her party plans, for the roof of Cragsnook now loomed up through
the trees.

"Mary," interr