The Secret at Lone Tree Cottage by Carolyn Keene

The Secret at Lone Tree Cottage by Carolyn Keene

Author:Carolyn Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: fiction, juvenile, mystery
Publisher: Distributed Proofreaders Canada
Published: 1934-05-15T05:00:00+00:00


CHAPTER XII

Two Visits

“Uncle Ned,” said Jean, on the way back to Starhurst, “we must have the day off tomorrow. It’s only once in a blue moon that you come to Starhurst.”

“Depends on what Mrs. Crandall says,” answered Captain Dana noncommittally.

“Please ask her,” begged Louise.

“Oho! You want me to do the asking. You’re afraid she’ll turn you down,” he laughed.

“Well, she might.”

The girls knew that it was extremely probable that the request would be refused if they were to make it themselves.

“Well, it’s true I haven’t seen much of you on this visit,” said their uncle. “Maybe your headmistress will not like the idea—but I’ll ask her, anyway. Yet if your marks show up poorly at Christmas time, she’ll blame me.”

Uncle Ned had to use considerable tact and diplomacy to convince Mrs. Crandall that the Dana girls should be granted the holiday. She raised many objections, making the tart comment that they seemed more interested in mysteries than in their studies. Finally, however, she granted them permission to stay away from classes the following day. The girls were jubilant.

“Now we’ll get somewhere,” declared Jean. “Uncle Ned has helped us a great deal so far. We’ll take him out to the Tisdales. I’d like to know if Mrs. Tisdale has had any report from her detective.”

“And then we’ll go back and see Mrs. Brixton.”

“Do you believe she is the real Mrs. Brixton?”

“I don’t know what to think. If she is deceiving us, she is a good actress,” said Louise.

Shortly after nine o’clock the next morning they all set out for the home of their teacher. Louise had thoughtfully brought along a book as a present for Mr. Tisdale as an excuse for calling.

“I’ll talk to the old gentleman,” said Uncle Ned, as they made their plans. “That will give you two a chance to have a chat with Mrs. Tisdale. She hasn’t seen this woman who calls herself Mrs. Brixton, has she?”

“We haven’t said a word about her.”

“Do you think that’s wise? It seems to me she ought to know that much, anyway. If you can bring the two of them face to face, so much the better. If this Mrs. Brixton is really her daughter, Mrs. Tisdale will be able to help her, even without telling her husband.”

The girls agreed that this was sensible advice. When they reached their destination, old Mr. Tisdale was introduced to Uncle Ned. So great was the captain’s ability for making friends that within a short time the two men were chatting as if they had known each other for years. Captain Dana won Mr. Tisdale’s heart at once by sympathizing with him in his illnesses and by inviting him to describe his various ailments. He then volunteered an account of an operation he had once undergone. Mr. Tisdale, highly delighted, came back with the story of his operation. Uncle Ned then offered an account of a siege of rheumatism, and Mr. Tisdale traded an attack of asthma for it, both at considerable length. Within ten minutes it was obvious that Mr.



Download



Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.