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11-8
ANSWERS TO QUESTIONS - CHAPTER 8
1. The three major forms of business organizations are the sole
proprietorship, the partnership, and the corporation.
The sole proprietorship is a business owned by one individual.
The partnership is a business that is owned by two or more persons
with the intent to make a profit.
The corporation is a legal entity that is organized according to the
laws of the state in which it is formed. The business organization is
separate from its owners.
2. The sole proprietorship is formed when an individual decides to
engage in some activity that provides goods or services, with the
intent of making a profit.
3. The partnership agreement is a legal agreement that defines the
responsibilities of each partner and specifies the division of profits
and losses. In order to form a partnership, there must be some type
of agreement. It can simply be the agreement between parties to
perform certain duties or make certain contributions of resources or
services. While a written agreement is not required for legal
purposes, a written document reduces the chance for of
misunderstanding.
4. The phrase separate legal entity simply means that the business
organization operates separately from its owners. The corporation
is referred to as a "separate legal entity" and conducts business with
the same rights and responsibilities as a person.
5. The articles of incorporation constitute a legal document that is filed
with the appropriate state agency requesting the official formation
of a corporation. The articles of incorporation generally set forth the
name of the corporation, the proposed date of incorporation, the
purpose for which the corporation is formed, the expected life of the
corporation, provisions for the capital stock of the corporation, and
the names and addresses of the members of the board of directors.

11-9
6. The stock certificate is issued as evidence of ownership in a
corporation and represents a certain proportionate share of the
business ownership.
7. The stock market crash of 1929 and the subsequent economic
depression led to the passage of the Securities and Exchange Acts of
1933 and 1934. These acts were passed to regulate the issuance of
stock and govern exchanges of publicly traded stock. A part of this
regulation extends to the formulation of certain accounting policies
for companies listed on the stock exchanges (publicly traded stock).
8. The corporate form of business has both advantages and
disadvantages.
Advantages:
(1) Limited liability. Owners are not held personally responsible for
the actions of the corporation. Generally, the maximum amount an
owner can lose is limited to his/her amount of the investment.
(2) Continuity of existence. Corporations do not cease to exist
when an owner dies, disposes of his interest, retires, etc.
(3) Free transferability of ownership interest. An owner can readily
sell or transfer an interest to another party without interfering in the
corporation's business.
(4) Ease of raising capital. It is generally easier to attract many
small investors rather than one or two investors willing to invest
large sums of money or assets in a business.
Disadvantages:
(1) Regulation. Corporations are subject to considerably more
regulation, both state and federal, than are sole proprietorships and
partnerships. Corporations are required to file separate income tax
returns and public corporations are required to comply with SEC
regulations.
(2) Double taxation. The most important disadvantage of the
corporation is double taxation. Since a corporation is a separate
legal entity, it must file and pay tax on corporate profits. When
these profits are distributed to the owners (shareholders), these
distributions are not deductible for the corporation and are taxable
income to the shareholders.

11-10
9. The limited liability company is a relatively new organizational form
in the United States and operates similar to a partnership in that
income is taxed at the owner level. That is, the limited liability
company does not pay tax, but the owners must pay tax on
company profits. It is similar to a corporation in the sense that the
owners have limited personal liability similar to a corporation. The
personal assets of the owners are protected from business creditors.
10. The term double taxation as it applies to a corporation means that
earnings are taxed both at the corporate level and the shareholder
level when earnings are distributed in the form of dividends. For
example, assume JCL, Inc. had taxable income of $100,000 and
distributed $50,000 of the earnings to the shareholders as dividends.
The corporation would pay tax on $100,000 at corporate income tax
rates, and the shareholders would pay tax on $50,000 at their
individual income tax rates. Consequently, $50,000 of the income
from the corporation would be taxed twice.
11. Contributed capital is the capital that is acquired by the corporation
from owners of the corporation. For example, the sale of stock to an
investor is a type of contributed capital.
Retained earnings is the capital of a corporation that has been
generated through the earnings process of a corporation and kept in
the corporation (i.e., not distributed to owners).
12. For both sole proprietorships and partnerships, contributed capital
and retained earnings are combined in one capital account for
financial statement reporting. Capital acquisitions are additions to
the capital account of the owners or partners; earnings of the
business are additions (losses are reductions) to the capital
accounts; and distributions to owners (withdrawals) are reductions
from the capital account. Corporations maintain separate accounts
for contributed capital and retained earnings.
13. Because corporations can be owned by millions of individuals, they
are able to pool the resources of many individuals which permits
access to billions of dollars of capital. Proprietorships and

11-11
partnerships are bound by the financial condition of a few, private
investors.
14. a. Legal capital: Par value multiplied by the number of
shares issued. This represents the minimum amount of
assets that should be maintained as a protection for
creditors.
b. Par value of stock: An arbitrary value that is assigned to a
share of stock usually at the time of incorporation. Par
value, historically, has represented the maximum liability
of the investor.
c. Stated value of stock: An arbitrary value that is assigned
to a share of stock by the board of directors. It has little
relevance to investors or creditors.
d. Market value of stock: The price that must be paid to purchase
a share of stock.
e. Book value of stock: The amount of equity of one share of
stock, i.e., (assets − liabilities) divided by the number of shares
of stock outstanding.
f. Authorized shares of stock: The number of shares that a
corporation has been authorized by the state to issue.
g. Issued stock: Stock that has been sold to shareholders.
h. Outstanding stock: Issued stock that is owned by outside
parties, i.e., stock that has been issued and not repurchased by
the corporation.
i. Treasury stock: Previously issued stock that has been
repurchased by the corporation.
j. Common stock: A class of stock that possesses certain rights
usually not given to other classes of stock. These rights
include the right to share in the distribution of profits, the right

11-12
to share in the distribution of corporate assets upon
liquidation, the right to vote on certain matters that affect the
corporate charter, and the right to participate in the selection
of directors for the corporation.
k. Preferred stock: A class of stock that is given preferential
treatment over common shareholders in some matters, usually
in the distribution of earnings. However, certain other
shareholder rights may not be present; for instance, voting
rights.
l. Dividends: Distributions of corporate profits to shareholders.
15. Cumulative preferred stock: A class of preferred stock for which the
stipulated dividend, if not paid, accumulates from one year to the
next. If a corporation does not pay dividends one year, the unpaid
dividend amount is carried forward and when dividends are paid in
later years, any unpaid portion of past dividends (called dividends in
arrears) is paid first, before any dividends may be paid on common
stock.
Noncumulative preferred stock: A class of preferred stock whose
unpaid dividend is not carried forward to future years. If dividends
are not declared in one year, they are lost.
16. No-par stock is stock for which a par value has not been established
by the corporation. No-par stock may have a stated value. If so,
issuance of the stock is recorded exactly the same way as par value
stock.
If the stock has neither a par nor stated value, the entire issuance
amount is assigned to the capital stock account.
17. Dividend per share: $100 par x 10% = $10 per share. The total
dividends per year are $10,000 (1,000 shares x $10). The total
dividend to be paid to preferred shareholders is $30,000, the current
year's dividend plus that of the past two years.

11-13
18. The amount added to the common stock account is equal to par
value times the number of shares issued or $200,000 (10,000 x $20).
The amount of cash received is $300,000 (10,000 x $30).
19. Par value and stated value are similar in meaning in the sense that
they are arbitrary values assigned to stock. Par value is assigned in
the charter at the time of incorporation. Stated value is determined
by the board of directors after incorporation.
20. A company will repurchase its own stock for a number of reasons.
Some of the most common reasons include: (1) to reduce the
number of shares outstanding and thus increase the earnings per
share, (2) to accumulate stock to use for employee bonus plans, (3)
to accumulate stock to be used in a merger or acquisition, (4) to
avoid a hostile takeover, and (5) to keep the stock price high with
active trading.
21. The purchase of treasury stock decreases total equity by increasing
the treasury stock account which is a contra-equity account.
22. Even though the stock was purchased for $30 per share and resold
for $35 per share, there is no gain on the sale. The difference in the
purchase and sales price is additional contributed capital because it
is from capital invested by stockholders. It is reported on the
balance sheet in the stockholders’ equity section as paid-in capital.
Treasury Stock is a contra equity account.
23. The declaration date is the date the dividend is officially declared by
the corporation's board of directors. The declaration of the dividend
creates a legal liability to pay the dividend. The record date is the
date that establishes the ownership of the stock by specific
shareholders to whom the dividends will be paid. Payment date is
the date the dividend checks are actually written and mailed to the
shareholders.
24. A stock dividend may be declared to give the shareholders some
reward when the corporation does not have sufficient cash to
distribute. The stock dividend will give each shareholder additional
shares in proportion to their stock ownership. After the stock

11-14
dividend, each shareholder owns exactly the same proportion of the
corporation as he owned before the dividend. The effect on the
accounting equation is to transfer the amount of the stock dividend
from retained earnings to contributed capital.
A stock split is a method used to lower the market price of a share of
stock. A stock split replaces old shares with a proportionate number
of new shares. For instance, in a three-for-one stock split, a
shareholder that owns one share of stock would now own three
shares; in addition, the par value is proportionately reduced.

11-15
25. A stock dividend is declared either to compensate shareholders
when cash is not available or to lower the market price of a share of
stock.
26. The primary reason for declaring a stock split is to reduce the market
value of stock by increasing the number of shares outstanding on
the market. This makes the stock more affordable and may,
therefore, increase demand for the stock.
27. In a stock split, the number of shares is increased according to the
amount of the split and the par is reduced proportionately. In a five-
for-one split, the new number of shares would be five times the old:
10,000 x 5 = 50,000. The par amount would be reduced to one-fifth
of the original amount: $20 ÷ 5 = $4.
28. When retained earnings are appropriated, an equal amount of cash
is not necessarily set aside. However, retained earnings that are
appropriated are not available to be paid out as dividends.
29. Equity financing (i.e., capital acquired from owners) is the largest
source of financing for most U.S. businesses.
30. Equity financing refers to capital acquired from owners; usually the
term refers to issuance of stock.
Debt financing refers to borrowing in the form of notes and bonds
payable.
31. A widely held corporation is one in which the stock is held by a large
number of investors.
A closely held corporation is one in which ownership is concentrated
in the hands of a few people.
32. In deciding whether to declare dividends, the board of directors
must consider whether the corporation has sufficient cash to cover
operating requirements and meet emergencies. The board may also
wish to retain earnings in order to pay dividends in years when cash

11-16
flows are low. In addition, the board may restrict dividends in order
to finance future expansion of the business.

11-17
SOLUTIONS TO EXERCISES - CHAPTER 8
EXERCISE 8-1
Transactions
Cash Acquired from Owner $30,000
Revenues 50,000
Expenses 22,300
Withdrawals 10,000
Alex Ard Sole Proprietorship
Financial Statements
For the Year Ended December 31, 2014
Income Statement
Revenues $50,000
Expenses (22,300)
Net Income $27,700
Capital Statement
Beginning Capital Balance $ -0-
Plus: Capital Acquired from Owner 30,000
Plus: Net Income 27,700
Less: Withdrawal by Owner (10,000)
Ending Capital Balance $47,700

11-18
EXERCISE 8-1 (cont.)
Alex Ard Sole Proprietorship
Balance Sheet
As of December 31, 2014
Assets
Cash $47,700
Total Assets $47,700
Liabilities $ -0-
Equity
Ard, Capital 47,700
Total Liabilities and Equity $47,700
Statement of Cash Flows
Cash Flows From Operating Activities:
Inflow from Revenues $50,000
Outflow for Expenses (22,300)
Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities $27,700
Cash Flows From Investing Activities -0-
Cash Flows From Financing Activities:
Inflow from Owner $30,000
Outflow for Owner Withdrawals (10,000)
Net Cash Flow from Financing Activities 20,000
Net Change in Cash 47,700
Plus: Beginning Cash Balance -0-
Ending Cash Balance $47,700

11-19
EXERCISE 8-2
Transactions:
Cash Contributions
D. Cushing $ 70,000 33.33%
S. Tadlock 140,000 66.67%
Total $210,000 100.00%
Revenues $ 75,000
Expenses 39,000
Cushing Withdrawal 2,000
Tadlock Withdrawal 4,000
CT Partnership
Income Statement
Revenues $75,000
Expenses (39,000)
Net Income $36,000
Capital Statement
Beginning Capital Balance $ -0-
Plus: Capital Acquired from Owners 210,000
Less: Withdrawals by Owners (6,000)
Ending Capital Balance $240,000

11-20
Prepared for the instructor’s use:
Analysis of Capital Accounts:
Cushing Tadlock Total
Beginning Capital Balance $ -0- $ -0- $ -0-
Investments 70,000 140,000 210,000
Net Income 36,000
D. Cushing 33.33% 12,000
S. Tadlock 66.67% 24,000
Withdrawals (2,000) (4,000) (6,000)
Ending Capital Balances $80,000 $160,000 $240,000

11-21
CT Partnership
Balance Sheet
Assets
Cash $240,000
Liabilities $ -0-
Equity
D Cushing, Capital $ 80,000
S. Tadlock, Capital 160,000
Total Equity 240,000
Total Liabilities and Equity $240,000
Inflow from Revenues $ 75,000
Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities $36,000
Inflow from Partners $210,000
Outflow for Partners’ Withdrawals (6,000)

11-22
EXERCISE 8-3
Transactions:
Issued 10,000 shares of $10 par stock @ $16 $160,000
Revenues 71,000
Expenses 46,500
Dividends Paid 5,000
Bozeman Corporation
Income Statement
Revenues $71,000
Expenses (46,500)
Net Income $24,500
Statement of Changes in Stockholders’ Equity
Beginning Common Stock $ -0-
Plus: Issuance of Common Stock 160,000
Ending Common Stock $160,000
Beginning Retained Earnings $ -0-
Less: Dividends (5,000)
Ending Retained Earnings 19,500
Total Stockholders’ Equity $179,500

11-23
Bozeman Corporation
Balance Sheet
Assets
Cash $179,500
Liabilities $ -0-
Stockholders’ Equity
Common Stock, $10 par value,
10,000 shares issued and outstanding $100,000
Paid-In Capital in Excess of Par 60,000
Total Paid-In Capital 160,000
Retained Earnings 19,500
Total Liabilities and Stockholders’ Equity $179,500
Inflow from Revenues $71,000
Net Cash Flow from Operating Activities $ 24,500
Inflow from Issue of Stock $160,000
Outflow for Dividends (5,000)

11-24
EXERCISE 8-4
a.
Balance Sheet Income Statement Stmt. of
Even
t
Assets = Liab + Stkholders’ Equity Rev. − Exp
.
= Net Inc. Cash Flow
Cash = + C. Stk. + PIC Exc.
3/1 240,000 = NA + 200,000 + 40,000 NA − NA = NA 240,000 FA
5/2 450,000 = NA + 300,000 + 150,000 NA − NA = NA 450,000 FA
b.
Common Stock:
20,000 shares x $10= $200,000
30,000 shares x $10= 300,000
Total $500,000
c.
Paid-In Capital in Excess of Par
20,000 shares x ($12 − $10)= $ 40,000
30,000 shares x ($15 − $10)= 150,000
Total $190,000
d. Total Paid-In Capital:
Common Stock $500,000
Paid-In Capital in Excess of Par 190,000
Total $690,000
e. Total Assets: Cash $690,000

11-25
EXERCISE 8-5
Summary of Transactions
Event
Cash
Received
Common
Stock
PIC in
Excess CS
Preferred
Stock
PIC in
Excess PS
1. 640,000 400,000 240,000
2. 1,040,000 1,000,000 40,000
3. 1,200,000 600,000 600,000
Totals 2,880,000 1,000,000 840,000 1,000,000 40,000
Stockholders’ Equity:
Preferred Stock, $50 stated value, 4% cumulative
class A, 100,000 shares authorized, 20,000 shares
issued and outstanding $1,000,000
Common Stock, $10 par value, 500,000 shares
authorized, 100,000 shares issued and
outstanding
1,000,000
Paid-In Capital in Excess of SV, Preferred Stock 40,000
Paid-In Capital in Excess of Par, Common Stock 840,000
Retained Earnings -0-
Total Stockholders’ Equity $2,880,000

11-26
EXERCISE 8-6
Bailey Corporation
Statements Model
Event Assets = Stockholders’ Equity Rev. − Exp. = Net Inc. Cash Flow
Cash =
Pref.
Stock +
No-Par
C. Stock +
PIC in
Excess
1. 250,000 = NA + 250,000 + NA NA − NA = NA 250,000 FA
2. 126,000 = 120,000 + NA + 6,000 NA − NA = NA 126,000 FA

11-27
EXERCISE 8-7
a. 3,500 shares x $8 market value per share of stock = $28,000
b.
Event Assets = Stockholders’
Equity
Rev. − Exp. = Net Inc. Cash Flows
Cash + Van =
Com.
Stk. + PIC Exc.
1. 80,000 + NA = 50,0001 + 30,000 NA − NA = NA 80,000 FA
2. NA + 28,000 = 17,5002 + 10,500 NA − NA = NA NA
1
10,000 x $5 = $50,000
2
3,500 x $5 = $17,500

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[149]
“O, Dick, that’s ever so nice of you! We girls are wild to
go.” Nann fairly beamed at him.
“Wall, so long. We’ll see you ’bout noon tomorrow.” This
from Gib. Dick waved his cap and smiled back over his
shoulder.
“I can hardly wait,” Nann said, as the two girls went into
the cabin. “I feel in my bones that we’re going to find
clues that will solve all of the mysteries soon.”

CHAPTER XX.
ONE MYSTERY SOLVED
A glorious autumn morning dawned and Dories sat up
suddenly. Shaking Nann, she whispered excitedly: “I
hear it again.”
“What? The ghost? Was he ringing the bell?” This
sleepily from the girl who seemed to have no desire to
waken, but, at her companion’s urgent: “No, not the
bell! Do sit up, Nann, and listen. Isn’t that the airplane
coming back? Hark!”
Fully awake, the other girl did sit up and listen. Then
leaping from the bed, she ran to the window that
overlooked the wide expanse of marsh.
“Yes, yes,” she cried. “There it is! It’s flying low, as
though it were going to land, and it’s heading straight
for the old ruin. Get dressed as quickly as you can.”
“But why?” queried the astonished Dories. “We can’t get
any nearer than we did yesterday; that is, not by land,
and the tide is high again, and so we can’t go out in the
punt.”

[150]
Nann did not reply, but continued to dress hurriedly, and
so her friend did likewise.
“I don’t know why it is,” the former confided a moment
later, “but I feel in my bones that this is the day of the
great revelation.”
“Not according to the yellow messages. They would tell
us that in seven days we would know all.” Dories was
brushing her brown hair preparing to weave it into two
long braids.
“But, as I told you before,” Nann remarked, “I don’t
believe the papers refer to the old ruin mystery at all. In
fact, I think the ghost that writes the message on the
papers does not even know there is an old ruin
mystery.”
“Well, you’re a better detective than I am,” Dories
confessed as she tied a ribbon bow on the end of each
braid. “I haven’t any idea about anything that is
happening.”
The girls stole downstairs and ran out on the beach,
hoping to see the airplane, but the long, shining white
beach was deserted and the only sound was the
crashing of the waves over the rocks and along the
shore, for the tide was high.
“I wonder if Dick and Gib heard the plane passing over
their town?” Dories had just said, when Nann, glancing
in the direction of the road, exclaimed gleefully, “They
sure did, for here they come at headlong speed this
very minute.” The big, boney, white horse stopped so
suddenly when it reached the sand that both of the
boys were unseated. Laughingly they sprang to the

[151]
[152]
beach and waved their caps to the girls, who hurried to
meet them.
“Good morning, boys!” Nann called as soon as they
were near enough for her voice to be heard above the
crashing of the waves. “I judge you also saw the plane.”
“Yeah! We’uns heerd it comin’ ’long ’fore we saw it, an’
we got ol’ Spindly out’n her stall in a twinklin’, I kin tell
you.”
The city lad laughed as though at an amusing memory.
“The old mare was sound asleep when we started, but
when she heard that buzzing and whirring over her
head, she thought she was being pursued by a regiment
of demons, seemed like. She lit out of that barn and
galloped as she never had before. Of course the
airplane passed us long ago, but that gallant steed of
ours was going so fast that I wasn’t sure that we would
be able to stop her before we got over to the island.”
Gib, it was plain, was impatient to be away, and so
promising to report if they found anything of interest,
the lads raced toward the point of rocks, while the girls
went indoors to prepare breakfast. Dories found her
Great-Aunt Jane in a happier frame of mind than usual.
She was sitting up in bed, propped with pillows, when
her niece carried in the tray. And when a few moments
later the girl was leaving the room, she chanced to
glance back and was sure that the old woman was
chuckling as though she had thought of something very
amusing. Dories confided this astonishing news item to
Nann while they ate their breakfast in the kitchen.
“What do you suppose Aunt Jane was thinking about? It
was surely something which amused her?” Dories was
plainly puzzled.

[153]
Nann smiled. “Doesn’t it seem to you that your aunt
must be thoroughly rested by this time? I should think
that she would like to get out in the sunshine these
wonderful bracing mornings. It would do her a lot more
good than being cooped up indoors.”
Dories agreed, commenting that old people were
certainly queer. It was midmorning when the girls,
having completed their few household tasks, again went
to the beach to look for the boys. The tide was going
out and the waves were quieter. Arm in arm they
walked along on the hard sand. Dories was saying,
“Aunt Jane told me that she would like to read to herself
this morning. I was so afraid that she would ask me to
read to her. Not but that I do want to be useful
sometimes, but this morning I am so eager to know
what the boys are doing. I wish they would come. I
wonder where they went.”
“I think I know,” Nann replied. “I believe they are lying
flat on the big smooth rock on which we sat that day
Gibralter told us the story of the Phantom Yacht. You
recall that we had a fine view of the old ruin from
there.”
“But why would they be lying flat?” Dories, who had
little imagination, looked up to inquire.
“So that they could observe whoever might enter the
old ruin without being observed, my child.”
“But, Nann, why would anyone want to get into that
dreadful place unless it was just out of curiosity, which,
of course, is our only motive.”
“I’m sure I don’t know,” the older girl had to confess,
adding: “That is a mystery that we have yet to solve.”

[154]
Suddenly Nann laughed aloud. “What’s the joke?” This
from her astonished companion. Since Nann continued
to laugh, and was pointing merrily at her, Dories began
to bristle. “Well, what’s funny about me? Have I
buttoned my dress wrong?”
The other maid shook her head. “It’s something about
your braids,” she replied.
“Oh, I suppose I put on different colored ribbons. I
remember noticing a yellow one near the red.” She
swung both of the braids around as she spoke, but the
ribbon bows were of the same hue. Tossing them back
over her shoulder, she said complacently: “This isn’t the
first of April, my dear. There’s nothing the matter with
my braids and so—” But Nann interrupted, “Isn’t there?
Unbeliever, behold!” Leaping forward, she lifted a braid,
held it in front of her friend, and pointed at a bit of
crumpled yellow paper. Dories laughed, too.
“Well,” Nann exclaimed, “that proves to my entire
satisfaction that a supernatural being does not write the
notes and hide them just where we will be sure to find
them.”
“But who do you suppose does write them?” Dories
asked. “This morning I’ve been close enough to four
people to have them slip that folded paper in my hair
ribbon. Their names are Nann Sibbett, Great-Aunt Jane,
Gibralter Strait and Dick Moore. Dick, of course, is
eliminated because he was nowhere about when the
messages first began to appear. It isn’t your hand-
writing,” the speaker was closely scrutinizing the note,
“and, as for Gib, I’m not sure that he can write at all.”
Then a light of conviction appeared in her eyes. “Do you
know what I believe?” she turned toward her friend as

[155]
one who had made an astonishing discovery. “I believe
Great-Aunt Jane writes these notes and that she gets up
out of bed when we are away from home and hides
them.”
Nann laughed. “I agree with you perfectly. I suspected
her the other day, but I didn’t want to tell you until I
was more sure. But why do you suppose she does it—if
she does?”
Dories shook her head, then she exclaimed: “Now I
know why Aunt Jane was chuckling to herself when I
looked back. She had just slipped the folded paper into
my hair ribbon, I do believe.”
“The next thing for us to find out is when and why she
does it?” The girls had stopped at the foot of the rocks
and Nann changed the subject to say: “I wonder why
the boys don’t come. It’s almost noon. We’ll have to go
back and prepare your Aunt Jane’s lunch.” She turned
toward the home cottage as she spoke. Dories gave a
last lingering look up toward the tip-top rock. “Maybe
they have been carried off in the airplane,” she
suggested.
“Impossible!” Nann said. “It couldn’t depart without our
hearing.”
When they reached the cabin, Dories whispered, “I’ve
nine minds to show Aunt Jane the notes and watch her
expression. I am sure I could tell if she is guilty.”
“Don’t!” Nann warned. “Let her have her innocent fun if
she wishes.” Then, when they were in the kitchen
making a fire in the wood stove, Nann added, “I believe,
my dear girl, that there is more to the meaning of those
messages than just innocent fun. I believe your Aunt

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[157]
Jane is going to disclose to you something far more
important than the solving of the ruin mystery. She may
tell you where the fortune is that your father should
have had, or something like that.”
Dories, who had been filling the tea-kettle at the kitchen
pump, whirled about, her face shining. “Nann Sibbett,”
she exclaimed in a low voice, “do you really, truly think
that may be what we are to know in seven days? O,
wouldn’t I be glad I came to this terrible place if it
were? Then Mother darling wouldn’t have to sew any
more and you and I could go away to school. Why just
all of our dreams would come true.”
“Clip fancy’s wings, dearie,” Nann cautioned as she cut
the bread preparing to make toast. “Usually I am the
one imagining things, but now it is you.”
Dories looked at her aunt with new interest when she
went into her room fifteen minutes later with the tray,
but the old woman, who was again lying down,
motioned her to put the tray on a small table near and
not disturb her. As Dories was leaving the room, her
aunt called, “I won’t need you girls this afternoon.”
“Just as though she divined our wish to go somewhere,”
Nann commented, a few moments later, when Dories
had told her.
“I’ll tell you what let’s do,” the younger girl suggested,
“let’s pack a lunch of sandwiches and olives and
cookies. Then when the boys come we can have a
picnic. It’s noon and they didn’t have a lunch with them,
I am sure.”
“Good, that will be fun,” Nann agreed. “I’ll look now and
see if they are coming. We don’t want them to escape

[158]
us.”
A moment later she returned from the front porch
shaking her head. “Not a trace of them,” she reported.
Hurriedly they prepared a lunch and packed it in a box.
Then, after donning their bright-colored tams and
sweater coats, they went out the back door and were
just rounding the front of the cabin when Nann
exclaimed, “Here they come, or rather there they go, for
they do not seem to have the least idea of stopping
here.”
Nann was right. The two lads had appeared, scrambling
over the point of rocks, and away they ran along the
hard sand of the beach, acknowledging the existence of
the girls merely by a hilarious waving of the arms.
Nann turned toward her friend, her large eyes glowing.
“They’ve found a clue, I’m sure certain! You can tell by
the way they are racing that they are just ever so
excited about something.” As she spoke the boys
disappeared over a hummock of sand, going in the
direction of the inlet where Gibralter kept his punt
hidden.
Dories clapped her hands. “I know!” she cried elatedly.
“They’re going out in the punt. The tide has turned! Oh,
Nann, what do you suppose they saw?”
“I believe they saw the pilot of the airplane enter the
old ruin, so now they are going to get the punt, and
they’re in a great hurry to get back to the creek before
the airplane leaves.”
“Oh! How exciting! Do you suppose they will make it?”

[159]
Nann intently watched the blue water beyond the
hummock of sand as she replied, “I believe they will.”
Then she added, “Oh, dear, I do hope they’ll take time
to stop and get us. It wouldn’t be fair for them to have
all the thrills, since we girls found the channel in the
marsh.”
“Of course they’ll take us,” Dories replied, although in
her heart of hearts she rather hoped they would not, as
she was not as eager as Nann for adventure. “You know
Dick said it wouldn’t be fair to go without us.”
Nann nodded. Then, with sudden brightening, “Hurry!
Here they come! Let’s race down to the point o’ rocks
and see if they want to hail us.”
Then, as they started, “Do you know, Dori, I feel as
though something most unexpected is about to happen.
I mean something very different from what we think.”
The girls had reached the point of rocks and were
standing with shaded eyes, gazing out at the glistening
water.
The flat-bottomed boat slowly neared them. Dick held
one oar and Gib the other. They both had their backs
toward the point and evidently they had not seen the
girls.
“Why, I do declare! They aren’t going to stop. They’re
going right by without us.” Nann felt very much
neglected, when suddenly Gib turned and grinned
toward them with so much mischief in his expression
that Dories concluded: “They did that just to tease. See,
they’re heading in this way now.”

[160]
This was true, and Dick, making a trumpet of his hands,
called: “Want to come, girls? If so, scramble over to the
flat rock, quick’s you can! We’re in a terrifical hurry!”
Dories and Nann needed no second invitation, but
climbed over the jagged rocks and stood on the broad
one which was uncovered at low tide and which served
as a landing dock.
Dick, the gallant, leaped out to assist them into the
punt, then, seizing his oar, he commanded his mate,
“Make it snappy, old man. We want to catch the modern
air pirate before he gets away with his treasure.”

[161]
CHAPTER XXI.
A CHANNEL IN THE SWAMP
The wind was from the shore and Gib suggested that
the small sail be run up. This was soon done and away
the little craft went bounding over the evenly rolling
waves and, before very many minutes, the point was
rounded and the swamp reached.
“Where is the airplane anchored?” Nann inquired,
peering curiously into the cove which was unoccupied
by craft of any kind.
“Well, we aren’t sure as to that,” Dick told her, speaking
softly as though fearing to be overheard. “We climbed
to the top of the rocks and lay there for hours, or so it
seemed to me. We were waiting for the tide to turn so
we could go out in the punt. But all the time we were
there we didn’t see or hear anything of the airplane or
the pilot. Of course, since it’s a seaplane, too, it’s
probably anchored over beyond the marsh.
“Now my theory is that the pilot has a little tender and
that in it he rowed up the creek and probably, right this
very minute, he is in the old ruin, and like as not if we
go up there we will meet him face to face.”

[162]
“Br-r-r!” Dories shuddered and her eyes were big and
round. “Don’t you think we’d better wait here? We could
hide the punt in the reeds and watch who comes out.
You wouldn’t want to meet—a—a—”
Dories was at a loss to conjecture who they might meet,
but Gib chimed in with, “Don’t care who ’tis!” Then,
looking anxiously at the girl who had spoken, he said,
“’Pears we’d ought to’ve left you at home. ’Pears like
we’d ought.”
The boy looked so truly troubled that Dories assumed a
courage she did not feel. “No, indeed, Gib! If you three
aren’t afraid to meet whoever it is, neither am I. Row
ahead.”
Thus advised, the lad lowered the small sail, and the
two boys rowed the punt to the opening in the marsh.
It was just wide enough for the punt to enter. “Wall, we
uns can’t use the oars no further, that’s sure sartin.” Gib
took off his cap to scratch his ear as he always did when
perplexed.
“I have it!” Dick seized an oar, stepped to the stern,
asked Nann to take the seat in the middle of the boat
and then he stood and pushed the punt into the narrow
creek.
They had not progressed more than two boat-lengths
when a whizzing, whirring noise was heard and the
seaplane scudded from behind a reedy point which had
obscured it, and crossed their cove before taking to the
air. Then it turned its nose toward the island. All that
the watchers could see of the pilot was his leather-
hooded, dark-goggled head, and, as he had not turned

[163]
in their direction, it was quite evident that he didn’t
know of their existence.
“Gone!” Dick cried dramatically. “’Foiled again,’ as they
say on the stage.”
“Wall, anyhow, we’re here, so let’s go on up the creek
and see what’s in the ol’ ruin.”
Dick obeyed by again pushing the boat along with the
one oar. Dories said not a word as the punt moved
slowly among the reeds that stood four feet above the
water and were tangled and dense.
“There’s one lucky thing for us,” Nann began, after
having watched the dark water at the side of the craft.
“That sea serpent you were telling about, Gib, couldn’t
hide in this marsh.”
“Maybe not,” Dick agreed, “but it’s a favorite feeding
ground for slimy water snakes.” Nann glanced anxiously
at her friend, then, noting how pale she was, she
changed the subject. “How still it is in here,” she
commented.
A breeze rustled through the drying reed-tops, but there
was indeed no other sound.
In and out, the narrow creek wound, making so many
turns that often they could not see three feet ahead of
them.
For a moment the four young people in the punt were
silent, listening to the faint rustle of the dry reeds all
about them in the swamp. There was no other sound
save that made by the flat-bottomed boat, as Dick,
standing in the stern, pushed it with one oar.

[164]
“There’s another curve ahead,” Nann whispered.
Somehow in that silent place they could not bring
themselves to speak aloud.
“Seems to me the water is getting very shallow,” Dories
observed. She was staring over one side of the boat
watching for the slimy snakes Dick had told her made
the marsh their feeding ground.
“H-m-m! I wonder!” Nann, with half closed eyes looked
meditatively ahead.
“Wonder what?” her friend glanced up to inquire.
“I was thinking that perhaps we won’t be able to go
much farther up this channel, since the tide is going
out. The water in the marsh keeps getting lower and
lower.”
“Gee-whiliker, Nann!” Dick looked alarmed. “I believe
you’re right. I’ve been thinking for some seconds that
the pushing was harder than it has been.”
They had reached a turn in the narrow channel as he
spoke, but, when he tried to steer the punt into it, the
flat-bottomed boat stopped with such suddenness that,
had he not been leaning hard on the oar, he would
surely have been thrown into the muddy water. As it
was, he lost his balance and fell on the broad stern
seat. Dories, too, had been thrown forward, while Gib
leaped to the bow to look ahead and see what had
obstructed their progress.
“Great fish-hooks! If we haven’t run aground,” was the
result of his observation.

[165]
“Nann’s right. This here channel dries up with the tide
goin’ out.”
“Then the only way to get to the old ruin is to come
when the turning tide fills this channel in the marsh,”
Dick put in.
“Wall, it’s powerful disappointin’,” Gib looked his distress,
“bein’ as the tide won’t turn till ’long about midnight, an’
you’ve got to go back to Boston on the evening train.”
“I’d ought to go, to be there in time for school on
Monday,” the lad agreed.
“Couldn’t you make it if you took the early morning
train?” Nann inquired.
“May be so,” Dick replied, “but we can decide that later.
The big thing just now is, how’re we going to get out of
this creek?”
“Why—” The girls looked helplessly from one boy to the
other. “Is there any problem about it? Can’t you just
push out the way you pushed in?”
Dick’s expression betrayed his perplexity. “Hmm! I’m not
at all sure, with the tide going out as fast as it is now.”
“Gracious!” Dories looked up in alarm. “We won’t have
to stay in this dreadful marsh until the tide turns, will
we?” Then appealingly, “Oh, Dick, please do hurry and
try to get us out of here. Aunt Jane will be terribly
worried if we don’t get home before dark.”
The boy addressed had already leaped to the stern of
the boat and was pushing on the one oar with all his
strength. Gib snatched the other oar and tried to help,

[166]
but still they did not move. Then Nann had an
inspiration. “Dori,” she said, “you catch hold of the reeds
on that side and I will on this and let’s pull, too. Now,
one, two, three! All together!”
Their combined efforts proved successful. The punt
floated, but it was quite evident that they would have to
travel fast to keep from again being grounded, so they
all four continued to push and pull, and it was with a
sigh of relief that they at last reached deeper water as
the channel widened into the sea.
“Well, that certainly was a narrow escape,” Nann
exclaimed as the punt slipped out of the narrow channel
of the marsh into the quiet waters of the cove.
“Now we know why the pilot of the airplane left. He
probably visits the old ruin only at high tide, when he is
sure that there is water enough in the creek,” Dick
announced.
Dories seemed greatly relieved that the expedition had
returned to the open, and, as it was sheltered in the
cove, the boys soon rowed across to the point of rocks.
“If Gib could leave the punt here where the water is so
sheltered and quiet, your mother, Dick, would not object
even if you went out when the tide is high, would she?”
Nann inquired.
“No, indeed,” the boy replied. “Mother merely had
reference to the open sea. A punt would have little
chance out there if it were caught between the surf and
the rocks, but here it is always calm.”
While they had been talking, Gib had been busy letting
his home-made anchor overboard. It was a heavy piece

[167]
of iron tied to a rope, which in turn was fastened to the
bow.
“Hold on there, Cap’n!” Dick merrily called. “Let the
passengers ashore before you anchor.” Gib grinned as
he drew the heavy piece of iron back into the punt.
Then Dick rowed close to the rocks and assisted the
girls out.
“What shall we do now?” he turned to ask when he saw
that Gib had pushed off again. He dropped the anchor a
little more than a boat length from the point, pulled off
his shoes and stockings and waded to the rocks. After
putting them on again he joined the others, who had
started to climb.
When they reached the wide, flat “tiptop” rock Dories
sank down, exclaiming, “Honestly, I never was so
hungry before in all my life.” Then, laughingly, she
added, “Nann Sibbett, here we have been carrying that
box of lunch all this time and forgot to eat it. The boys
must be starved.”
“Whoopla!” Dick shouted. “Starved doesn’t half express
my famished condition. Does it yours, Gib?”
The red-headed boy beamed. “I’m powerful hungry all
right,” he acknowledged, “but I’m sort o’ used to that.”
However, he sat down when he was invited to do so and
ate the good sandwiches given him with as much relish
as the others.
Half an hour later they were again on the sand walking
toward the row of cottages. Nann glanced at the upper
window of the Burton cabin, and Dick, noticing, glanced
in the same direction. Then, smiling at the girl, he said,

[168]
“I guess, after all, there has been no one in the cottage.
The blind is still closed just as I left it yesterday.”
“We’ll look again tonight,” Nann said, adding, “We’ll
each have to carry a lantern.”
“What are you two planning?” Dories asked suspiciously.
“Can’t you guess the meaning that underlies our present
conversation?” Nann smilingly inquired.
“Goodness, I’m almost afraid that I can,” was her
friend’s queer confession. “I do believe you are plotting
a visit to the old ruin at the turn of the tide, and that
will not be until midnight, Gib said.”
“It’s something like that,” Dick agreed.
“Well, you can count me out.” Dories shuddered as she
spoke.
Nann laughed. “I know just exactly what will happen
(this teasingly) when you hear me tiptoeing down the
back stairs. You’ll dart after me; for you know you’re
afraid to stay alone in our loft at night.”
“You are wrong there,” Dories contended. “Now that I
know about the ghost, I won’t be afraid to stay alone,
and I would be terribly afraid to go to the ruin at
midnight, even with three companions.”
“Speaking of lanterns,” Dick put in, “if it’s foggy we
won’t be able to go at all. That would be running
unnecessary risks, but if it is clear, there ought to be a
full moon shining along about midnight, and that will
make all the light we will need.” Then he hastened to
add, “But we’ll take lanterns, for we might need them

[169]
[170]
inside the old ruin, and what is more, I’ll take my
flashlight.”
The boys had left the white horse tied to the cottage
nearest the road. When they had mounted, Spindly
started off as suddenly as hours before it had stopped.
“Good-bye,” Dick waved his cap to the girls, “we’ll
whistle when we get to the beach.”
“Just look at Spindly gallop,” Dories said. “The poor
thing is eager to get to its dinner, I suppose.” Arm in
arm they turned toward their home-cabin.
“My, such exciting things are happening!” Nann
exclaimed joyfully. “I wouldn’t have missed this month
by the sea for anything.”
Dories shuddered. “I’ll have to confess that I’m not very
keen about visiting the old ruin at——” She interrupted
herself to cry out excitedly, “Nann, do look over toward
the island. We forgot all about that sea plane. There it is
just taking to the air. What do you suppose it has been
doing out on that desolate island all this time?”
Nann shook her head, then shaded her eyes to watch
the airplane as it soared high, again headed for Boston.
“Little do you guess, Mr. Pilot,” she called to him, “that
tonight we are to discover the secret of your visits to
the old ruin.”
“Maybe!” Dories put in laconically.

[171]
CHAPTER XXII.
THE OLD RUIN AT MIDNIGHT
Never had two girls been more interested and excited
than were Dories and Nann as midnight neared. Of
course they neither of them slept a wink nor had they
undressed. Nann had truly prophesied. Dories declared
that when she came to think of it, nothing could induce
her to stay alone in that loft room at midnight, and that
if she were to meet a ghost or any other mysterious
person, she would rather meet him in company of Nann,
Dick and Gib.
Every hour after they retired, they crept from bed to
gaze out of the small window which overlooked the
ocean. At first the fog was so dense that they could see
but dimly the white line of rushing surf out by the point
of rocks.
“Well, we might as well give up the plan,” Dories
announced as it neared eleven and the sky was still
obscured.
But Nann replied that when the moon was full it often
succeeded in dispelling the fog by some magic it
seemed to possess, and that she didn’t intend to go to

[172]
sleep until she was sure that the boys weren’t coming.
She declared that she wouldn’t miss the adventure for
anything.
Dories fell asleep, however, and, for that matter, so, too,
did Nann, and since they were both very weary from the
unusual excitement and late hours, they would not have
awakened until morning had it not been for a low
whistle at the back of the cabin.
Instantly Nann sprang up. “That must be Gib,” she
whispered. Then added, jubilantly: “It’s as bright as day.
The moon is shining now in all its splendor.”
In five seconds the two girls had crept down the outer
stairway, and as they tiptoed across the back porch, two
dark forms emerged from the shadows and approached
them.
“Hist!” Gib whispered melodramatically, bent on making
the adventure as mysterious as possible. “You gals track
along arter us fellows, and don’t make any noise.”
Then without further parley, Gib darted into the shadow
of the woodshed, and from there crept stealthily along
back of the seven boarded-up cabins.
“What’s the idea of stealing along like this?” Nann
inquired when the wide sandy spaces were reached.
“We thought we’d keep hidden as much as possible,”
Dick told her. “For if that airplane pilot is anywhere
around, we don’t want him to get wise to us.”
“But, of course, he isn’t around,” Dories said. “How
could he be? An airplane can’t fly over our beach

[173]
without being heard. It would waken us from the
deepest sleep, I am sure.”
They were walking four abreast toward the point which
loomed darkly ahead of them. “I suppose you’re right,”
Dick agreed, “but it sort of adds to the zip of it to
pretend we’re going to steal upon that airplane pilot and
catch him at whatever it is that he comes here to do.”
The girls did not need much assistance in climbing the
rocks nor in descending on the side of the cove.
Gibralter, as before, removed his shoes and stockings,
waded out to the punt, drew up the anchor and then
returned for the others. The moon had risen high
enough in the clear starlit sky to shine down into the
narrow channel in the marsh and, as the water
deepened continually and was flowing inward, it was
merely a matter of steering the flat-bottomed boat,
which the boys did easily, Dick in the stern with an oar
while Gib in the bow caught the reeds first on one side
and then on the other, thus keeping the blunt nose of
the punt always in the middle of the creek.
“Sh! Don’t say a loud word,” Gib cautioned, as they
reached the curve where the afternoon before they had
run aground.
“Goodness, you make me feel shivery all over,” Dories
whispered. “Who do you suppose would hear if we did
speak out loud?”
“Dunno,” Dick replied, “but we won’t take any chances.”
The creek was perceptibly widening and the rising tide
carried them along more swiftly, but still the reeds were
high over their heads and so, even though Dick was
standing as he pushed with an oar, he could not see the

[174]
old ruin, but abruptly the marsh ended and there, high
and dry on a mound, stood the object of their search,
looking more forlorn and haunted than it had from a
distance.
The boys had been about to run the boat up on the
mound, when suddenly, and without a sound of
warning, Dick shoved the punt as fast he could back
into the shelter of the reeds from which they had just
emerged.
“Why d’y do that?” Gib inquired in a low voice. “D’y see
anything that scared you, kid?”
“I saw it, too!” Dories eyes were wide and startled.
“That is, I thought I saw a light, but it went out so
quickly I decided maybe it was the moonlight flashing
on something.”
“Maybe it was and maybe it wasn’t.” Dick moved the
punt close to the edge of the reeds that they might
observe the ruin from a safe distance.
“But who could be in there?” Nann wondered. “We have
never seen anyone around except the pilot of the
airplane and we have all agreed that he can’t be here
tonight.”
“No, he isn’t!” Dick was fast recovering his courage. “I
believe Dories may have been right Probably it was only
reflected moonlight. Perhaps you girls had better remain
in the punt while we fellows investigate.”
“No, indeed, we’ll all go together.” Nann settled the
matter. “Now shove back up to the mound, Dick, and
let’s get out.” This was done and the four young people
climbed from the punt and stood for a long silent

[175]
moment staring at the ruin that loomed so dark and
desolate just ahead of them.
“Thar ’tis! Thar’s that light agin!” Gib seized his friend’s
arm and pointed, adding with conviction: “Dori was
right. It’s suthin’ swingin’ in the wind an’ flashin’ in the
moonlight.”
“Gib,” Nann said, “that is probably what the people in
Siquaw Center have seen on moonlight nights.”
“Like’s not!” the red-headed lad agreed. Then stealthily
they tiptoed toward the two tall pillars that stood like
ghostly sentinels in front of the roofless part of the
house which had once been the salon.
The side walls were crumbled, but the rear wall stood
erect, supporting one side of the roof which tipped
forward till it reached the ground, although one corner
was upheld by a heap of fallen stone.
“I suppose we’ll have to creep beneath that corner if we
want to see what’s under the roof,” Dick said. He looked
anxiously at the girls as he spoke, but Nann replied
briskly, “Of course we will. Who’ll lead the way?”
“Since I have a flashlight, I will,” the city boy offered.
“Here, Nann, give me your lantern and I’ll light it. Then
if you girls get separated from us boys, you won’t be in
the dark.”
“Goodness, Dick!” Dories shivered. “What in the world is
going to separate us? Can’t we keep all close together?”
“Course we can,” Gib cheerfully assured her. “Dick kin
go in furst, you girls follow, an’ I’ll be rear guard.”

[176]
“You mean I can go in when I find an opening,” the city
boy turned back to whisper. Somehow they just couldn’t
bring themselves to talk out loud.
Nann held her lantern high and looked at the corner
nearest where a crumbling wall upheld the roof. “There
ought to be room to creep in over there,” she pointed,
“if it weren’t for all that debris on the ground.”
“We’ll soon dispose of that,” Dick said, going to the spot
and placing his flashlight on a rock that it might illumine
their labors. The two boys fell to work with a will tossing
away bricks and stones and broken pieces of plaster.
At last an opening large enough to be entered on hands
and knees appeared. Dick cautioned the girls ta stay
where they were until he had investigated. Dories gave
a little startled cry when the boy disappeared, fearing
that the wall or the roof might fall on him. After what
seemed like a very long time, they heard a low whistle
on the inside of the opening. Gib peered under and
received whispered instructions from Dick. “It’s safe
enough as far as I can see. Bring the girls in.” And so
Dories crept through the opening, followed by Nann and
Gib. Rising to their feet they found themselves in what
had one time been a large and handsomely furnished
drawing-room. A huge chandelier with dangling crystals
still hung from the cross-beams, and in the night wind
that entered from above they kept up a constant low
jangling noise. Heavy pieces of mahogany furniture
were tilted at strange angles where the rotting floor had
given way.
“Watch your step, girls,” Dick, in the lead, turned to
caution. “See, there’s a big hole ahead. I’ll go around it
first to be sure that the boards will hold. Aha, yonder is

[177]
[178]
a partition that is still standing. I wonder what room is
beyond that.”
“Look out, Dick!” came in a low terrorized cry from
Dories. The boy turned to see the girl, eyes wide and
frightened, pointing toward a dark corner ahead.
“There’s a man crouching over there. I’m sure of it! I
saw his face.”
Instantly Dick swung the flashlight until it illumined the
corner toward which Dories was still pointing. There was
unmistakably a face looking at them with piercing dark
eyes that were heavily overhung with shaggy grey
brows.
For one terrorized moment the four held their breath.
Even Dick and Gib were puzzled. Then, with an
assumption of bravery, the former called: “Say, who are
you? Come on out of there. We’re not here to harm
anything.”
But the upper part of the face (that was all they could
see) did not change expression, and so Dick advanced
nearer. Then his relieved laughter pealed forth.
“Some man—that,” he said, as he flashed the light
beyond the pile of debris which partly concealed the
face.
“Why, if it isn’t an old painting!” Nann ejaculated.
And that, indeed, was what it proved to be. Battered by
its fall, the broken frame stood leaning against a
partition.
“I believe its a portrait of that cruel old Colonel
Woodbury himself,” Dories remarked. Then eagerly

[179]
added, “I do wish we could find a picture of that sweet
girl, his daughter. Ever since Gib told us her story I have
thought of her as being as lovely as a princess. Though
I don’t suppose a real princess is always beautiful.”
“I should say not! I’ve seen pictures of them that
couldn’t hold a candle to Nann, here.” This was Dick’s
blunt, boyish way of saying that he admired the fearless
girl.
Gib, having found a heavy cane, was poking around in
the piles of debris that bordered the partition and his
exclamation of delight took the others to his side as
rapidly as they could go.
“What have you found, old man?” Dick asked, eagerly
peering at a heap of rubbish.
“Nuther picture, seems like, or leastwise I reckon it’s
one.”
Gib busied himself tossing stones and fragments of
plaster to one side, and when he could free it, he lifted
a canvas which faced the wall and turned it so that light
fell full upon it.
“Gee-whiliker, it’s yer princess all right, all right!” he
averred. “Say, wasn’t she some beaut, though?”
There were sudden tears in Nann’s eyes as she spoke.
“Oh, you poor, poor girl,” she said as she bent above the
pictured face, “how you have suffered since that long-
ago day when some artist painted your portrait.”
“Even then she wasn’t happy,” Dories put in softly. “See
that little half-wistful smile? It’s as though she felt much
more like crying.”

[180]
“And now she is a woman and over in Europe
somewhere with a little girl and boy,” Nann took up the
tale; but Gib amended: “Not so very little. Didn’t we
cal’late that if they’re livin’ the gal’d be about sixteen,
an’ the boy eighteen or nineteen?”
“Why, that’s so.” Nann looked up brightly. “When I
spoke I was remembering the story as you told it, and
how sad the young mother looked when she landed
from the snow-white yacht and led a little boy and girl
up to this very house to beg her father to forgive her.
But I recall now, you said that was at least ten years
ago.”
“What shall we do with this beautiful picture?” Dories
inquired. “It doesn’t seem a bit right to leave it here in
all this rubbish, now that we’ve found it.”
“Let’s take it into the next room,” Dick said; “maybe
we’ll find a better place to leave it.”
They had reached an opening in the rear partition, but
the heavy carved door still hung on one hinge,
obstructing their passage.
“We must get through somehow,” Nann, the
adventurous, said. “I feel in my bones that the next
room holds something that will help solve the mystery
of the air pilot’s visits.”
Dories held the painting while Nann flashed the light
where it would best aid the boys in removing the debris
that held the old door in such a way that it obstructed
their passage into the room back of the salon.
A long half-hour passed and the boys labored, lifting
stones and heavy pieces of ceiling, but, when at last the

[181]
floor space in front of the heavy door was cleared, they
found that something was holding it tight shut on the
other side.
“Gee-whiliker!” Dick ejaculated, removing his cap and
wiping his brow. “Talk about buried treasure. If it’s as
hard to get at as it is to get through this door, I——”
He was interrupted by the younger girl, who said: “Let’s
pretend there is a treasure behind this door, and after
all, maybe there is. Perhaps the air pilot is a smuggler of
some kind and brings things here to hide.” Dories had
made a suggestion which had not occurred to the boys.
“That’s so!” Dick agreed. “But if he gets into the next
room, he must have an entrance around at the back of
the ruin. No one has been through this door since the
flood undermined the old house.”
Gib was still trying to open the stubborn door. He put
his shoulder against it. “Come on, Dick, help a fellow,
will you?” he sang out.
The boys pushed as hard as they could and the door
moved just the least bit, then seemed to wedge in a
way that no further assaults upon it could effect.
“Whizzle! What if that pilot feller is on the other side
holdin’ it. What if he is?”
“But he couldn’t be,” Nann protested. “We all agreed
long ago that he couldn’t be here because how could he
arrive in the airplane without being heard?”
“I know what I’m a-goin’ to do,” Gib’s expression was
determined. “I’m a-goin’ to smash a hole in that ol’ door
and crawl through.”

[182]
Dick sprang to get a heavy stone from one of the
crumbling side walls and Gib, having procured another,
the two boys began a battering which soon resulted in a
loud splintering sound and one of the heavy panels was
crashed in.
Gib wiggled his way through and Dick handed him the
searchlight. “Huh, we’re bright uns, we are!” came in a
muffled voice from the other room. “Thar’s as much
rubbish a holdin’ the door on this side as thar was on
the other, but I, fer one, jest won’t move a stick o’ it.”
“No need to!” Nann said blithely. “Make that hole a little
bigger and we can all go through the way you did.”
This was quickly done and the boys assisted the two
girls through the opening. Then they stood close
together looking about them as Dick flashed the light.
The room was not quite as much of a wreck as the
salon had been. In it a mahogany table stood and the
chairs with heavily carved legs and backs had been little
harmed. With a little cry of delight, Nann dragged
Dories toward an old-fashioned mahogany sideboard.
“Don’t you love it?” she said enthusiastically, turning a
glowing face toward her companion. “Wouldn’t you
adore having it?” But before Dories could voice her
admiration, Dick, having looked at his watch, exclaimed:
“Gee-whiliker, I’ll have to beat it if I am to catch that
early train back to Boston. I hate to break up the party.”
He hesitated, glancing from one to the other.
“Of course you must go!” Nann, the sensible, declared.
“There’s another week-end coming.” Then turning to her
friend, who was still holding the picture, she said: “Dori,
let’s leave the painting of our princess standing on the
old mahogany sideboard.” When this had been done,

[183]
she addressed the picture: “Good-bye, Lady of the
Phantom Yacht. Keep those sweet blue eyes of yours
wide open that you may tell us what mysterious things
go on in this old ruin while we are away.”
The pictured eyes were to gaze upon more than the
pictured lips would be able to tell.

[184]
CHAPTER XXIII.
LETTERS OF IMPORTANCE
The young people found the grey of dawn in the sky
when they emerged through the hole under one corner
of the roof and a new terror presented itself. “What if
the receding tide had left their boat high and dry.” But
luckily there was still enough water in the narrow creek
to take them out to the cove. Since they were in haste,
the sail was put in place and a brisk wind from the land
took them out and around the point. There was still too
high a surf to make possible a landing on the platform
rock and so the girls were obliged to go with the boys
as far as the inlet in which Gib kept his punt. The white
horse had been tied to a scrubby tree near, but, before
he mounted, Dick took off his hat and held out a hand
to each of the girls in turn, assuring them that he had
been ever so glad to meet them and that if all went
well, he would return the following week-end.
“And we will promise not to visit the old ruin again until
you come,” Nann told him. The boy’s face brightened.
“O, I say!” he exclaimed, “that’s too much to ask.” But
Gib assured him that half the fun was having him along.

[185]
Just before they rode away, Dick turned to call: “Keep a
watch-out on our cabin, will you, Nann? I really don’t
believe anyone has been there, however. Mother
remembered that she had left the back door open.”
“All right. We will. Good-bye.”
Slowly the girls walked toward their home-cabin. “Do
you suppose we ought to tell Aunt Jane that we visited
the old ruin at midnight?” Dories asked.
“Why, no, dear, I don’t,” was the thoughtful reply. “Your
Aunt Jane told us to do anything we could find to amuse
us, don’t you recall, that very first day after we had
opened up the cottage and were wondering what to
do?”
Dories nodded. “I remember. She must have heard us
talking while we were dusting and straightening the
living-room. That was the day that I said I believed the
place was haunted, and you said you hoped there was a
ghost or something mysterious.”
Nann stopped and faced her companion. Her eyes were
merry. “Dori Moore,” she exclaimed, “I believe your aunt
did hear my wish and that she has been trying to grant
it by writing those mysterious messages and leaving
them where we would find them.”
“Maybe you are right,” her friend agreed. “I wish we
could catch her in the act.” Then Dories added: “Nann,
if Aunt Jane is really doing that just for fun, then she
can’t be such an old grouch as I thought her. You know
I told you how I was sure that I heard her chuckling.”
The older girl nodded, then as the back porch of the
cabin had been reached, they went quietly up the steps

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