CONTENTS

Chapter. Page.

  1. The Interrupted Story[7 ]
  2. What Madge Found in the Attic[18 ]
  3. An Unexpected Meeting[35 ]
  4. The Challenge[46 ]
  5. The Mysterious Box[57 ]
  6. Flora Betrays a State Secret[66 ]
  7. Awarding the Prizes[76 ]
  8. The Hour of Triumph[95 ]
  9. Madge Morton's Secret[102 ]
  10. Adrift on Chesapeake Bay[108 ]
  11. The Awakening[120 ]
  12. A Deserted Island[132 ]
  13. Life in the Woods[142 ]
  14. Caught in a Stampede[152 ]
  15. Behind Closed Doors[165 ]
  16. The Disappointed Knights[173 ]
  17. Can We Go to the Rescue?[183 ]
  18. A New Use for a Kite[193 ]
  19. The Impossible Happens[201 ]
  20. The Recognition[212 ]
  21. Back to the "Merry Maid"[219 ]
  22. The Stars and Stripes Forever[226 ]
  23. The Surprise[237 ]
  24. The Telling of the Secret[248 ]

Madge Morton's Secret

[ CHAPTER I ]

THE INTERRUPTED STORY

A girl in a green gown was cosily ensconced among the spreading branches of an old apple tree. She was reading, and she never stirred except to turn the pages of her book or to reach out for another red apple after dropping the core of the previous one.

It was a glorious morning in early September, and the old Virginia orchard was sweet with the odor of ripening apples. A press under a tree still dripped with the juices of yesterday's cider-making. The bees and flies buzzed lazily about it. There was no one but the girl in sight.