names, the more sure I
felt that we had arrived.

My next step was to look feverishly through the Clovertown names for a
real estate agent. I found one, and without saying a word to the
Angel, I called him up.

"Hello, Central. Give me Long Distance. Hello, Long Distance. Give
me sixty-five Clovertown, please! Yes! All right. Is this Close and
Murphy? Well, this is New York. I want to ask you if Peach Orchard is
to let. What? I say, I would like to know if Miss Bucks would like to
let Peach Orchard? She would? Well, how large is it? Four? Oh,
five? Is there a good house on the place? And a stable? That's nice.
I see. Yes. Well, I would like to see it to-day if I could, but it is
snowing here. Not snowing there? Well, we might try. What time does
a train leave 125th Street? In forty minutes? Well, my husband and I
will be on that train. Oh, that's very nice. Our name is Jardine--Mr.
and Mrs. Aubrey Jardine. Yes, I understand. Very well. Good-bye."

I hung up the receiver, and rushed into the dining-room.

"Hurry with luncheon, Aubrey!" I said. "I've rented a place in
Clovertown, and we go out to take possession to-day. We leave in forty
minutes!"

Aubrey looked up with interest.

"I heard you at the telephone. You are a crazy little cat," he said,
but I could see that he was charmed. We love to do crazy things.

"He's going to meet us at the station with a carriage," I explained as
I struggled into my coat with Mary's help, and Aubrey pawed madly
around in the dark closet for overshoes for both of us.

Mary flew about like a distracted hen until she saw us safely started.
Most people would have gone mad at our erratic proceedings, but nothing
ever disturbed Mary's equanimity. In fact, crises fairly delighted
her. In an emergency she rose to the heights of Napoleon.

Finally we started, caught the train, and arrived. The gallant Mr.
Close met us, true to his word, and in five minutes we were on our way
to Peach Orchard.

As we drove into the grounds, Mr. Close clapped his hand to his
forehead with an exclamation.

"What is it?" I said, with a sinking heart.

"I've forgotten the key!"

"Never mind," I said, blithely. "We can easily get in through a
window. My husband used to be a burglar."

It never occurred to me that the poor man would take such an idiotic
remark seriously, so we neither of us looked at him until we had
examined every door and window to find if ha