"Well, we'll think about it," he said. "If you girls want to go to a winter camp, I see no reason why you could not. Of course there are complications, but perhaps we can get over those." "Complications!" cried Grace. "Girls, we'll not stir another step until we hear all about those complications! It sounds very interesting." "It surely does," agreed Betty and Mollie. CHAPTER III THE COMPLICATIONS "Before I begin," said Mr. Ford, as he glanced over the papers that littered the table, "let me ask, has anything new come up about your friend Amy? Is she any nearer solving the mystery of her identity?" "No," replied Betty. "Then what occurred to-day?" "Oh, it was that horrid Alice Jallow!" exclaimed Mollie. "Excuse me, Mr. Ford!" she cried, impulsively, "but I just can't help saying it." "You are excused," he said, smiling. By turns the girls told what had happened on the ice. "Humph! Rather strange," mused the lawyer. "Quite a coincidence. I don't believe I ever told you, Grace," and he looked at his daughter, "but, as a matter of fact, I am the principal owner of this lumber camp where you girls may go." "No, you never told me, Daddy." "Well, I am. I bought it some time ago as an investment, but things went wrong. I guess the right men didn't have charge. Neither the lumber business, nor the leasing of camp sites and bungalows to Summer vacationists and Fall hunters, paid. The matter got into the courts and I had myself named as receiver, so I could better look after my interest. Now I don't know just what I am going to do, except that I want some one up there to see to things. If I can get Ted Franklin and his wife I know it will be all right, and you girls will have a fine time with them. "You can have a bungalow or a cabin or two to yourselves, if you like, and lay in enough provisions for all winter. It's on a branch of the Argono River," he went on, "and you can skate all the way to camp on the ice, if you like. But we'll discuss the details later." "What about the complications, Daddy?" asked Grace, laughing. "I'm coming to them. Mr. Jallow, the father of your friend Alice----" "She isn't our friend," said Grace, quickly. "Well, anyhow, her father is mixed up in this lumber camp business. He owns a lot of property next to mine, and he claims some that I think should belong to me." "He does?" cried Mollie. "That's just like the Jallows! Always taking what doesn't belong to them--even the reputation of other girls. She borrowed my botany a year ago and never returned it." Mr. Ford smiled. "I don't know anything about the girl Alice," he said, "but that Jallow is certainly a sharper, to be moderate. He and I will have a clash if he doesn't look out!" and Mr. Ford's hands clenched. "What about, Daddy?" asked Grace.