ELEANOR, dear, do you know who the two Indian Chiefs were who appeared so mysteriously at our 'Feast of Mondamin'? They followed Lillian and me about all evening and wouldn't take off their masks."
Eleanor was propped up in a big, four-post mahogany bed with half a dozen pillows under her lame shoulder. One arm and shoulder were tightly bandaged. Eleanor had had a serious time since her accident. For rheumatism, caused by her exposure to the rain, had set in in the strained shoulder. She was now much better, though still feeling a good deal used up, and she found it very difficult to move.
Eleanor turned her head and smiled languidly at the excited Madge.
"Of course I don't know who the Indians were. Dear me, I had forgotten all about them. I suppose they must have been Mrs. Preston's and Miss Betsey's burglars. Has any one caught them?" Eleanor was getting interested.
"I should say not," giggled Madge cheerfully. "Those Indian braves were no other persons than our highly respected friends, Mr. Tom Curtis and Mr. George Robinson! The sillies came all the way here just to be present at the corn roast, and then rushed off without telling us who they were. Tom was awfully cross because I never mentioned their appearance at the feast in any of my first letters. But I forgot all about them, there has been so much else going on. Only in my last letter I just happened to say that Mr. Preston had never been able to find out anything about his burglars, and that the two men dressed as Indians, whom Mr. Preston had always suspected, had disappeared."
Eleanor laughed. "Of course Tom had to 'fess up' after that, didn't he? Tom would so hate to do anything that might arouse suspicion. I think Tom Curtis is the most honorable boy I ever knew. Don't you?" asked Eleanor.
"Of course I do," answered Madge emphatically. "By the way, Tom and George will be back in a short time now with the motor launch. As soon as you are well enough we shall probably start off again, though our holiday time is almost over. You and I have distinguished ourselves by getting lost on this houseboat trip, haven't we, Nellie, dear? Only it is the old story. It was my fault that I got into trouble, while yours was only an accident, you poor thing!" Madge patted Eleanor's hand softly.
The bedroom door now opened to admit Phyllis and Lillian. Phil carried a large dish of ginger cookies, hot from the oven, and Lillian a platter heaped with a pile of snowy popcorn. Both girls planted themselves on the side of Eleanor's bed.
"Phil, I thought you and Lillian promised to go walking with Harry Sears and Jack Bolling," protested Madge. "I was to take care of Nellie this afternoon while Miss Jenny Ann and Miss Betsey drove with Mrs. Preston to look at the 'ha'nted house' we have talked so much about."
Lillian shook her golden head calmly. "Did not want to go walking," she remarked calmly. "Phil and I broke our engagements. We decided that we would much rather stay with you and Nellie." She smiled and gave Eleanor a hug. "Cook is going to send up a big pitcher of lemonade in a few minutes. Who wouldn't rather stay at home than go walking with two tiresome boys on an afternoon like this?"