They left the note in the usual place and went off chuckling.
“We’ll have to tell Cousin Rindy,” said Ellen.
“And a lot of others,” returned Mabel. “That’s a picturesque old house, Ellen; it’s a pity some one doesn’t buy it and fix it up. The stable and hen-house are in pretty good order; if the house were painted and had a new roof, it could be made a pretty place.”
“The ghost would have to be exorcised before any one would undertake to do the repairs,” Ellen answered. “It would be a fine place for an artist; the stable could be turned into a studio, and think what a view there is.”
“True. I might buy it, but Gran would be scandalized if I turned it into a studio for an artist; she thinks they are a godless lot, and musicians are not far behind. She doesn’t half approve of my visits to Aunt Nell and her unconventional friends. She thinks Aunt Nell is old enough to discriminate, but I am a mere infant who should be safeguarded against the wiles of that wild Bohemian set, as she calls them.”
Ellen laughed. “Respectable Bohemia is one of the loveliest places in the world, but there is a set that goes to the limit, I must confess, though I don’t think even that is any worse than the fast set in the social world.”
“Don’t I know that? It is because of what I have seen in that fast set that I am sick of society in general, and want to get out into something better. I never saw any drinking, gambling, or immoral doings among Aunt Nell’s artist friends. Think of dear, good Mr. Barstow, the Austins, and your own parents, all such sincere, high-minded, single-hearted people. It is among such that I want to cast my lot.”
“Me, too,” responded Ellen cordially. And here the talk ended.
As soon as they returned they poured forth the tale of their adventure. Miss Rindy listened attentively, but with disapproval written on her face. “You don’t mean to say that you two have been carrying on with a strange man,” she reproved when the tale was done.
“Well, it hasn’t gone very far,” answered Mabel cheerfully; “and the creature wouldn’t know us from a side of sole leather if he were to meet us in broad daylight. We know him as one Robert MacDonald, but he hasn’t the faintest idea who we are. Naturally we are wild to see what he looks like, and we have evolved a scheme which we want you to help us carry out.”