discordantly
charged atmosphere.

"Do you know, girls," announced Grace, pushing aside her grapefruit, "I
feel exactly as if something were surely going to happen to-day."

"So do I," spoke up Cleo; "I feel as if a nice early hike over the big
gray mountain is going to happen, and I am sure of it."

"But I mean something odd and queer," insisted Grace.

"Did you feel that way the day you tied the man to the tree?" teased
Cleo.

"If you did, I'm not going out with you," spoke up Madaline,
disregarding table manners to the extent of making a pyramid from her
yellow muffin crumbs. "I feel awfully queer, too, and I'm not going to
take a risk with Grace, if she's going to be reckless."

"Can't see why you should fear me, Madie." Then noticing the homesick
look on the usually dimpling face, Grace "broke out," as Cleo called
her spells of exhilaration. "I'll tell you," offered Grace. "We'll
take our mountain sticks, loaded water pistols, and I have Benny's air
gun, and we'll go hunting. Of course we wouldn't really shoot bunnies,
but--we'll shoo them. Andy Mack told me yesterday the woods are just
full of all kinds of young hunters now, but they are mostly from the
city, and after flowers. You can take a bag or a basket, Madaline, to
carry home your precious roots in, because you know what a time we
always have spoiling our hats that way."

Madaline gave a wan little smile, for her, and then surprised her chums
with declaring she believed she would stay home and help Jennie
transplant some lettuce, as she loved to do transplanting.

Whether or not the remark was overheard in the kitchen, Jennie swung
open the door as Madaline finished speaking, and as she confronted the
girls there was no mistaking the look on her closely lined face.

Jennie was mad!

"Lettuce!" she repeated. "Indeed we have none to transplant. My
beautiful bed is entirely destroyed!"

"Oh, how?" exclaimed the girls.

"I don't know," replied the maid, still seething with indignation, "but
I'm likely to think it wasn't a mountain rabbit that did the damage,
for the plants were yanked up by the roots, and bunnies just nibble the
tops!"

"Oh, that's such a shame!" declared Cleo, "and you were counting on
having it just right when Uncle Guy returns. Who would do that?"

"Well, there's some awful queer folks around here lately," went on
Jennie, as she slipped the breakfast dishes on the tray. "They don't
know anything about folks' right