* * * * * "Just once I was almost discovered," continued Mr. Sanders. "And that was the other day when my cat--cried. Just then some one was passing--" "I was," blurted out Nancy. "And I heard you singing!" Every one laughed. "Was I singing, really?" asked the professor. "Well, I might have been for I was surely very happy. The anemometer was working beautifully down there, in my--cistern!" "Cistern!" Every one seemed to cry out the word. "He was in the cistern!" Nancy gasped. "That was where I heard the--noises coming from!" "In the cistern!" It took some time for the older folks to realize the significance of the revelation, but the girls and boys seemed instantly to understand. "Yes, and you would be surprised what fine quarters I've had there. I have that nice, perfectly dry cistern actually furnished, even a rug on the floor! Chairs and a table, a looking glass--oh, you are all invited to inspect now," announced the professor cheerily, "for my precious instrument has been safely shipped to the manufacturers, and I've been able--" "He's paid me more than a thousand dollars," declared Mr. Townsend, rising from his chair and addressing the house, "and I think it's only fair that folks around here should know how well I've made out on my investment." "Yes indeed," Miss Townsend chimed in, "if any body in Long Leigh has heard me say I was worried about Brother Elmer's money affairs," she sort of hesitated before framing that term, "I just want them to know now that we've made more money by Mr. Sanders investment in six months, than we would make in six years in this little store." A burst of applause followed this. And presently every one seemed to be talking at once. The formality of the occasion was lost in a round of enthusiastic interest; the men demanding to know more about the invention, while the women and girls were keen to hear all about the cistern. Sibyl was glad to tell them about the curious little work shop under the ground, and she soon had a group of the young folks listening to her story. "I thought it was awful, at first," she explained, "but, of course, I'm used to father's peculiar experiments. He has invented some wonderful instruments," she said this in a properly restrained voice. "They are being used in the college observatories, where they make weather predictions, you know," she pointed out. "And I did notice some little pipes sticking out of the sides of that cistern box," Nancy now remembered. "I might have known, but I was too surprised to investigate," she admitted frankly. "Really girls," Sibyl went on, "Dad has that cistern furnished like a room. You walk down a little ladder, and sit on a regular chair--" "But isn't it dark?" Ruth wanted to know.