“Well did you ever?” Kitty exclaimed. “What did she mean by that?” “I think she was threatening us,” Doris said in a low tone, listening to make certain that the housekeeper had gone on down the hall. “She was excited and didn’t know how much she was giving away.” “She undoubtedly thinks we’re interfering with something.” “Their plans, of course. Undoubtedly, Cora is in on the scheme. We’ll have to be careful not to let her suspect that we know anything.” “Perhaps we had better go home,” Kitty suggested doubtfully. “I don’t like the way things are happening.” “Oh, Kit, we don’t want to go home now,” Doris protested. “If we do, that horrid man will get all of the Misses Gates’s money. We must help them if we can.” “I suppose so,” Kitty sighed. “All right, I’m game if you are. We’ll see it through to a finish. Thank goodness we have Wags with us, only I wish he were a bulldog so he could take a chunk out of any one that tries to annoy us.” “Wags isn’t very popular now,” Doris laughed, “and he’s the sweetest little dog in the world. I don’t see how folks can help but like him. Hurry up, and get that other shoe on, Kit, or we never shall get downstairs.” Hastily the girls finished dressing, and carried Wags down to the porch where they once more tied him. “Poor thing must be about starved,” Doris said sympathetically. “After breakfast we’ll see if we can’t get a bone for him.” Returning to the living room they found Azalea and Iris waiting for them. Contritely, the girls apologized for oversleeping. “It isn’t very late,” Iris said kindly. “Only nine o’clock and we seldom have breakfast before eight-thirty.” “We were tired last night,” Kitty declared, “and we spent a lot of time talking. We’ll see that it doesn’t happen again.” “It really doesn’t matter,” Azalea assured her with a smile. “We were young once and remember how hard it was to get up early in the morning.” Breakfast was waiting and the four went at once to the dining room. As Cora served, she cast sullen glances at the two girls, and this was not lost upon them. Breakfast finished, Doris went to the kitchen to ask for something to feed Wags. As she had anticipated, the request met with a storm of anger, but the timely appearance of Iris caused Cora’s manner to abruptly change. She gave Doris a pan of scraps with a show of good grace. “After you have fed your dog, you girls might like to see the garden,” Iris suggested. “Indeed we would.” Doris left the pan of food at the side porch and then, with Kitty and the Misses Gates, began a tour of the yard. She glanced curiously toward the locked gates at the front of the house and wondered if either of the ladies would offer an explanation. Iris had brought her garden shears with her, and as they wandered about, she cut each of the girls a gorgeous bouquet of roses. Presently they came to a stone bench and a tiny lily pool and here they paused.