When Brian went to the barn the next morning he found “Old Prince” standing at the gate. While he was still trying to find some plausible explanation of the strange incident, after unharnessing the horse and giving him his morning feed, an excited call from Betty Jo drew his attention. With an answering shout, he started for the house. The excited girl met him halfway, and gave him Auntie Sue's note. When Brian had read the brief and wholly inadequate message, they stood looking at each other, too mystified for speech. Brian read the note, again, aloud, speaking every word with slow distinctness. “Well, I'll be hanged!” he ejaculated, at the close of the remarkable communication, staring at Betty Jo. “It wouldn't in the least surprise me if we were both hanged before night,” returned Betty Jo. “After this from Auntie Sue, I am prepared for anything. What on earth DO you suppose has happened?” Brian shook his head: “It is too much for me!” Together they went to the house, and the place seemed strangely deserted. Every possible explanation that suggested itself, they discussed and rejected. “One thing we can depend upon,” said Brian, at last, when they had exhausted the resources of their combined imaginations: “Auntie Sue knows exactly what she is doing, and she is doing exactly the right thing. I suppose we will know all about it when she returns.” Betty Jo looked again at the note: “'I will be back in a few days,'” she read slowly. “'Be good children, and take care of things.'” Again, they regarded each other wonderingly. Then Betty Jo broke the silence with an odd little laugh: “I feel like we were cast away on some desert island, don't you?” “Something like that,” Brian returned. Then, to relieve the strain of the situation, he added: “I suppose 'Bess' will have to be milked and the chores finished just the same.” “And I'll get breakfast for us,” agreed Betty Jo, as he started back to the barn. In the safe seclusion of the stable, with no one but “Old Prince” and “Bess” to witness his agitation, Brian endeavored to bring his confused and unruly thoughts under some sort of control.