Augusta Huiell Seaman

“ Do you know that Sally is around as well as ever, now, and came up to the hotel to inquire for you this morning? She's as strong as a little ox, that child!"
"But where is Miss Camilla?" suddenly inquired Doris. "She hurt her foot, did n't she?"
"She certainly did, but she insisted on remaining in her own home, and Sally begged her mother to be allowed to stay there with her and the undetachable Genevieve, of course, and take care of her and wait on her. So there they are, and there you will proceed in the automobile this afternoon, if you feel well enough to make the visit." ”

“ She longed to go down to the shore and play in the row-boat, and dabble her bare toes in the water, and indulge in the eternally fascinating experiment of catching crabs with a piece of meat tied to a string and her father's old crab-net. What was the use of living when one was doomed to drag out a wonderful afternoon on a tiny, hopelessly uninteresting porch out in the backwoods? Existence was nothing but a burden. ”

“ Miss Camilla's house offered attractions not a few, chiefly in the way of unlimited cookies and other eatables. But her enjoyment of the cookies was tempered by the fact that the whole party suddenly took it into their heads to proceed to the cellar, and, what was even worse, to attempt again the loathsome undertaking of scrambling through the narrow place in the wall and the journey beyond. She herself accompanied them as far as the cellar, but further than that she refused to budge. ”

“ At first she did not give it much thought, but it came again, louder this time, and she sat up with a jerk. Was some one calling her? It was a strange, muffled sound, and it seemed as if it were like a voice trying to pronounce her name. ”

“ I really would not care to predict what it would be worth to any one interested in the subject.
"And you can tell your friend Sally, of the adventurous spirit, that she's got 'Treasure Island' licked a mile (to use a very inelegant expression) and right here on her own native territory, too! I take off my hat to you both. You 've done better than a couple of boys who have been playing at pirates and hunting for their treasure all their youthful days. Henceforth, when I yearn for blood-curdling adventures and hairbreadth escapes, I 'll come to you two to lead the way!" ”

“ Sally had continued, "you stay right on this porch or in the sitting-room, and don't you dare venture a foot away from it. Will you promise?" Again Genevieve had nodded. "Nothing will hurt you if you mind what we say, and by and by we 'll come back and show you something awfully nice." Genevieve had seriously doubted the possibility of this latter statement, but she was helpless in their hands.
"And here's plenty of cookies and a glass of jam," Miss Camilla had supplemented, "and we 'll come back to you soon, you blessed baby!" ”

“ Craig, who had seen the baby many times before. "How are you, dear? Where are the others? Inside?"
"No," answered Genevieve. "In de garden. Dowis, she said, 'Come. Find some one!’"
"Oh, they 're in the garden, are they! Well, we 'll go around there and give them a surprise, Henry. Doris will simply be bowled over to see her 'daddy' here so unexpectedly. And I'm very anxious to meet this Miss Camilla she has talked so much about. Come and show us the way, Genevieve." ”