I thought
him. What a useless life for a man of his age. I don't like him even if
he is ever so clever, and though his uncle is a dear. Girls, if I tell
you something will you promise me not to laugh? Cross your heart and
body. I won't tell you unless you do."

"Oh, then we have no choice, Mollie," laughed Grace.

"You may laugh a little," relented Mollie, who was giggling softly to
herself. "Do you know what I suddenly thought, when Bab and I saw that
great white object come sailing over our heads this afternoon? Like a
flash it popped into my mind. Here comes 'The Great White Also!'"

Barbara shrieked with laughter in spite of her promise. "Oh, you funny
Mollie!" she exclaimed.

"What is the child talking about?" inquired the puzzled Ruth. "The Great
White Also! What utter nonsense!"

Mollie blushed. "Do you remember," she asked, "a paragraph in the first
geography you studied at school? It read: 'The brown bear, the black
bear, and the great white also inhabit the northern regions of North
America.' Well, when I was small child I always thought 'the great white
also' was some strange kind of animal. For a long time I wondered and
wondered what it could be. Finally I asked mother and Bab to explain the
sentence to me. Of course they thought it a lovely joke; but, just the
same, I never could get over my first impression. It flashed into my head
this afternoon, when I saw that strange white thing struggling in the
air--at last here comes 'The Great White Also!' Wasn't it too absurd? I
have been laughing to myself ever since."

"Children, what on earth is the matter?" inquired Miss Sallie, appearing
at the bedroom door in her dressing gown. "You will waken the dead with
your racket. Ruth, come to bed, at once, and tell me what you are
laughing about."

CHAPTER VII

MOLLIE FOLLOWS THE TRAIL

"Mollie have you seen my red sweater?" called Grace a few days later. "I
can't find it anywhere; yet I am sure I left it out here on this bench
last night. Naki and Ceally haven't seen it. Horrid thing! It has taken
wings and flown away just when I wanted it. Do come with us. Ruth, Bab
and I are going over into the forest to try to learn to shoot. Naki is to
teach us."

"Does Miss Sallie know?" asked Mollie, who was not in a good humor. Bab
had been lecturing her for her sudden dislike of Reginald Latham. It
seemed to Mistress Barbara unreasonable that Mollie had taken such an
unaccountable prejudice against a y