Lord for that!" she sobbed.

CHAPTER XXX

HAPPY DAYS

The sun was shining on a shimmering sea. Little waves were breaking on the
white sands. The gulls were wheeling about in big circles. Gathered in
the old-fashioned living room of the lighthouse were the motor girls, and
two other girls, Rosalie and Nancy Ford. Also the boys were there, Mrs.
Raymond, her brother, and Mr. Beacon, the Kimballs' lawyer. He had just
concluded some remarks. It was the day after the strange night scene at
the Shark's Tooth.

"And to think how it all came about," spoke Cora. "It is like a play, or
a book."

"It fits together like one of those Chinese puzzles," remarked Jack. "At
first it seems as if it never will, but one little touch, and--there you
are!"

"And it was Cora who supplied the one little touch," said Belle.

"Oh, I didn't do it all," remonstrated Cora.

"Well, your finding Mrs. Raymond in the burning garage started the whole
affair," insisted Ed. "But for that we never would have known of Nancy
Ford, nor how important she was in this puzzle."

"I don't want to be important," answered Nancy, with a smile. "I just want
to go off somewhere quietly."

"And you may," spoke Mr. Beacon, the lawyer, with a smile. "The court
proceedings will not take long, now that your guardian is arrested. The
judge will require no further proof than his commission of the crime to
remove him from having charge of you and your property, and some one else
will be named in his place."

"I wish the judge would name you!" exclaimed Nancy impulsively.

"Thank you!" laughed Mr. Beacon.

Mrs. Raymond had told her story. On up to the time she had fled from the
office, when the two men came in, and her wanderings until she went into
the Kimball garage, my readers need no enlightenment. After leaving
Cora's house so suddenly, for fear she might be suspected of having
accidentally set the fire, the poor woman wandered from place to place,
vainly seeking Nancy Ford. It was Mrs. Raymond whom the sheep herder
had met that night when he spoke kindly to her. After that she kept
moving about, getting work in various offices, for she was an expert
in her line. But she could not find Nancy, for reasons very well known
to my readers.

"And oh, how kind one of you girls was to me!" exclaimed Mrs. Raymond.
"Your money saved my life I believe," and she held out the little silver
purse.

Finally, she explained, matters reached a point where she co