ust at this instant."

Nevertheless Madge peeped over Phil's shoulder. Judge Hilliard had
presented each one of the houseboat girls with an exquisite little pin,
an enameled model of their houseboat, done in white and blue, the colors
of the "Merry Maid."

* * * * *

The wedding was over. There were still a few guests in the dining room
saying good-bye to Mrs. Curtis and Tom; but Madeleine and Judge Hilliard
had gone. The four girls and Miss Jenny Ann found a resting place in the
beautiful French music room.

Madeleine's wedding presents were in the library, just behind the music
room.

"It was simply perfect, wasn't it, Miss Jenny Ann?" breathed Lillian, as
they drew their chairs together for a talk.

"Madeleine must be perfectly happy," sighed Eleanor sentimentally. "Judge
Hilliard is so good-looking."

"Oh, dear me!" broke in Madge, coming out of a brown study. She was
sitting in a big carved French chair. "I don't see how Madeleine Curtis
could have left her mother and this beautiful home for any man in the
world. I am sure if I had such an own mother I should never leave her,"
finished the little captain.

"Until some one came along whom you loved better," interposed Miss Jenny
Ann.

"That could never be, Miss Jenny Ann," declared Madge stoutly, her blue
eyes wistful. "Why, if my father is alive and I find him, I shall never
leave him for anybody else."

"What's that noise?" demanded Phyllis sharply.

It was after six o'clock and the Curtis home was brilliantly lighted. The
window blinds were all closed. But there was a curious rapping and
scratching at one of the windows that opened into a small side yard.

"It may be one of the servants," suggested Miss Jenny Ann, listening
intently.

"It can't be," rejoined Madge. "No one of them would make such a strange
noise."

"I think I had better call Tom," breathed Eleanor faintly. "It must be a
burglar trying to steal Madeleine's wedding gifts."

Madge shook her head. "Wait, please," she whispered. She ran to the
window. There was the faint scratching noise again! Madge lifted the
shade quickly. Perched on the window sill was the oddest figure that ever
stepped out of the pages of a fairy book. It was impossible to see just
what it was, yet it looked like a little girl. One hand clung to the
window facing, a small nose pressed against the pane.

"Why, it's a child!" exclaimed Miss Jenny Ann in tones of relief