“Signaling for help. With semaphore flags—just as we all used to do in the Scouts.”
“But where were you, Mary Lou?” asked her father. “Sit down and tell us all about it.”
“First tell me whether you’re hungry,” put in her mother.
“No, not specially,” replied Mary Louise. “They fed us pretty well at the insane asylum.”
It was fun to watch her parents’ startled expressions at this announcement—fun now that the experience was all over.
“Insane asylum!” they both repeated in horror. And then for the first time they noticed her blue calico dress.
Mary Louise nodded and proceeded to tell her story. Briefly and quickly, for she remembered that she wanted to catch the two criminals.
“Has Mr. Frazier run away too?” she inquired, when she had finished.
“No, he’s over at his hotel,” replied Mr. Gay. “I saw him this morning.”
“You must arrest him, Daddy!” cried the girl. “He was the cause of the three fires at Shady Nook. I know it!”