+-------------------------------------------------+ |Transcriber’s note: | | | |Obvious typographic errors have been corrected. | | | +-------------------------------------------------+ MAIDA’S LITTLE HOUSE [Illustration] Maida’s Little House BY INEZ HAYNES IRWIN Author of MAIDA’S LITTLE SHOP, MAIDA’S LITTLE SCHOOL, ETC. [Illustration: Decoration] GROSSET & DUNLAP Publishers : : New York COPYRIGHT, 1921, BY B. W. HUEBSCH, INC. _First printing, November, 1921_ _Second printing, October, 1922_ _Third printing, August, 1928_ _Fourth printing, July, 1931_ PRINTED IN THE U. S. A. TO BARBARA IVERSON HAYNES CONTENTS CHAPTER PAGE I. THE HOME COMING 7 II. THE PLAN 20 III. THE JOURNEY 31 IV. THE LITTLE HOUSE 44 V. MORNING 58 VI. AFTERNOON 72 VII. TWILIGHT 79 VIII. NIGHT 91 IX. PLANS 95 X. RESPONSIBILITY 103 XI. VISITORS 109 XII. BETSY’S FIND 125 XIII. DISCOVERY 140 XIV. THE TERROR 150 XV. ARTHUR’S ADVENTURE 156 XVI. MYSTERY 164 XVII. CRESCENT MOON BEACH 171 XVIII. EXPIATION 186 XIX. MAIDA’S MOOD 192 XX. MAIDA’S FIND 198 XXI. TRAGEDY 210 XXII. SILVA’S MESSAGE 219 XXIII. SILVA’S STORY 228 XXIV. GUESTS 244 XXV. THE END OF SUMMER 248 XXVI. PROMISE 256 MAIDA’S LITTLE HOUSE CHAPTER I THE HOME COMING “I wonder when Maida’s coming back?” said Rosie Brine as she approached the trio of children who sat on the Lathrop lawn. The three were Laura Lathrop; her brother, Harold Lathrop; their friend, Arthur Duncan. Rosie did not join them on the grass. She seated herself in the hammock behind them and began to swing, first slowly, then so violently that her black curls swept back and forth with her swift progress and her speech came in jerks. “I wouldn’t mind--how long I had to wait--if I only knew--when she was coming.” Nobody answered. Rosie had only asked a question that they all asked at intervals, hoping against hope that somebody would make a comforting guess. “I don’t believe she’s _ever_ coming back,” Rosie answered herself, recklessly swinging almost over their heads. Arthur Duncan, a big broad-shouldered boy with tousled thick brown hair beating down over his forehead and almost veiling eyes as steady as they were black, answered this. “Oh Maida’s coming home some time. She promised and she always keeps her promises.”