By ten o’clock all of the Brownies, including Hanny, had arrived on the grounds. First of all, before taking turns working at the stand, the children visited the greenhouse where the tulips were to be judged. In addition to the Golden Beauty and the Candy Stripe, other varieties had been displayed by Rosedale growers. There were groupings of Parrot tulips, Darwins and hybrids. One section of the room was devoted to tiny tulips suitable only for rock gardens. “Do you think the Golden Beauty will win?” Hanny anxiously asked her little friends. “Of course,” said Vevi loyally. “Uncle Peter says that Mr. and Mrs. Mattox have a very fine tulip,” Hanny went on. “The judges seem to like it too.” Now two men and a lady had been selected to award the prize ribbons. The three were experts in judging tulips. They wandered back and forth between the rows of flowers, making notes on paper. Now and then they whispered together. It was hard to tell though, which tulip they thought was the best. Vevi noticed a tall stranger in a gray suit who had entered the greenhouse. He seemed to be watching the persons who came in, rather than looking at the flowers. “Who is that man?” Vevi asked, pointing him out to Hanny and Connie. “No one I ever saw before,” Connie replied carelessly. “Maybe he is one of Mr. Piff’s friends.” The stranger, however, did not speak to the flower festival promoter when the latter came into the greenhouse. In fact, the man did not talk to anyone. “Maybe he is a detective,” Vevi decided. “Mrs. Langley may have hired him to watch the prize tulips.” Convinced that this was so, she went over to ask the garden club president about it. “No, dear,” Mrs. Langley assured her, “I do not have a detective on the grounds.” “Then who is that man who keeps watching everyone so closely?” Vevi asked. Mrs. Langley turned to glance at the tall man in the gray suit. She had never seen him before. “He probably is from some nearby town,” she told Vevi. “Many persons are here today that I do not know.” “Maybe he is a friend of Mrs. Gabriel,” Vevi speculated. She had noticed that the man kept watching both Mrs. Gabriel and the Mattox couple who had come to the show together. “Who is Mrs. Gabriel?” inquired Mrs. Langley absently. She was not paying very much attention to the conversation for her mind was on other important matters. “Mrs. Gabriel is very fond of flowers,” Vevi remarked. “I guess she must have one of the largest gardens in Rosedale.” “Why do you think that, dear?” Mrs. Langley knew every interesting garden in the entire city and had never heard of one maintained by a Mrs. Gabriel. “Because Mrs. Gabriel buys so many tulip bulbs.” Vevi replied. “She tried to place a very large order with Peter Van Der Lann. When he wouldn’t take it, she went to the Mattox Nursery with her business.”