ght in the shower?" anxiously asked Madaline with
trowel in hand, and beautifully decked out in one of Mrs. Dunbar's
artist's smocks, somewhat bedaubed with paint. "We were alarmed. The
lightning struck a tree over in the orchard."

"But it couldn't strike us, for we were buried in a beautiful cave, and
if we had only known what a perfectly fine little bandit hang-out we
were going to discover, we would have brought our hike packs along.
Sorry you missed it all, Madie," said Cleo affectionately.

"But we had a visitor," announced Madaline. "He came just after you
left, and he asked so many questions, Jennie sent me out with an excuse
to get Michael. He said he was looking for a place to board, but we
knew better. He was looking for information," she declared. "We
transplanted a whole bed of tomatoes though. Don't I bear evidence of
the applied arts in my smock and with the aroma of the green vines
proclaiming me--the man with the rake?" she finished grandly.

"A lovely little speech, Madaline. You are a very artistic farmer,"
Cleo complimented. "And I hope your tomatoes tomate beautifully. But
tell us about your visitor?"

"Oh, he wore a yellow duster, like an automobile coat and----"

"That's the man we saw!" Grace interrupted, forgetting in her
excitement the plan of keeping their adventure from Madaline.

"Yes, he went toward Second Mountain," continued Madaline,
unsuspiciously, "and Jennie told Michael to be sure and let Shep loose,
so he would know we had a big dog around. Jennie doesn't like Shep to
run through her garden, of course, but she said it would be a good
thing to have that man know we were guarded."

"Yes," answered Cleo, exchanging glances with Grace. "It's a good
thing to have a dog in a big forest like this. Aunt Audrey home?"

"Nope," replied Madaline. "Come on, let's dress, Jennie promised to go
to the Lake with us after dinner."

"Oh, goody, goody," exclaimed Cleo. "Come on, Grace. I feel like an
escaped eel in these togs. We had a good time in our old scout
uniforms, didn't we? Nothing like it in a good drenching downpour,"
and she spread out her khaki skirt at each hip in imitation pannier
effect, although the effect was rather slippery, to say the least.

It was while Madaline was washing, Cleo and Grace made opportunity to
exchange opinions on the strange visitor.

"Do you suppose he is following us?" asked Grace. "If so, don't you
think we had better tell Jennie