Beside the lighthouse itself was another building in which was housed the fog siren--that solemn-toned horn the voice of which Edna had at first believed was the "mewing" of a cow. And when she had seen the mechanism that governed it, Edna declared that it "ought to sound as loud as an elephant, let alone a cow." "But you never heard an elephant, Edna Price!" cried Carolyn. "How do you know an elephant's voice is any louder than a cow's?" "My goodness! Isn't an elephant bigger?" "Why, voices don't go according to size. Baby Laird, when he wants to, can scream louder than _I_ can--and he isn't half as big," said the philosophical Carolyn. "And that old bullfrog in Uncle Smith Dodge's tughole can make more noise when he barks than Prince." They might have had to argue the case before their host had there not been a welcome call to dinner by the shining-faced George, who had spread a cloth upon a flat rock in the shade of another rock, and under his mistress' direction set forth such a repast that the little girls' eyes sparkled when they saw it. "Isn't it nice to be rich?" Edna whispered to Carolyn. "Oh, how I love that salad! And lady fingers! Dear me, Car'lyn May, don't you wish you could eat every day like this?" "No," responded Carolyn, promptly. "For I know I should make myself sick if I did. This is a party, and parties would be no fun if we had 'em ev'ry day." This practical statement brought no rejoinder from Carolyn's friend, for she was staring at a stranger who was approaching. Carolyn turned her head to look, too. It was the saturnine man who had unpleasantly impressed Carolyn on two previous occasions--once at the Corners and once in the poor tenement house in New York where Baby Laird had lived. "Ah! Here he is now!" their host said quickly, and rose to meet the newcomer. Although he seemed to have expected the saturnine man, Carolyn did not think his employer was glad to see him. His brow bent sternly. What they at first said the little girls did not hear, for they met some yards from the flat rock at which the party was lunching. The lady gave the person who had interrupted their repast no attention whatever. But suddenly Carolyn heard her name called. She looked over her shoulder and saw her friend beckoning to her. "My husband wishes to speak to you, child," said the lady. Carolyn May got up, excused herself politely, and ran to join her host and the dark-browed fellow. The latter stared at the little girl with surprise as well as chagrin, when she drew near. "I recognize your informant," he said harshly, turning from the child to his employer. "Heaven--and René--only know where we were. Up in some backwoods settlement. We were actually lost, sir. Otherwise we would not have got so far off the right trail to Boston."