ON a post card came Jimmy's reply. It was decidedly enigmatical and short.
"Look out for eavesdroppers. Your affectionate brother."
The post card was lying on Cecil's plate when she came in to dinner on a certain Saturday afternoon. She hastily slipped it into her pocket. On Saturday afternoon there was, of course, a half holiday. Only those who were working very hard for a coming examination dreamt of turning to books on such a lovely day as this.
Kate, who seemed to have completely recovered her spirits, and who was more popular than ever at St. Dorothy's, was off on a long botanical expedition with several other girls. Molly had a headache, and preferred a quiet time in her own room. Cecil meanwhile felt Jimmy's card burning a hole in her pocket.
"Look out for eavesdroppers," she repeated to herself.
Until she received her brother's frank communication, it had never occurred to her to solve the mystery in this way.
"Eavesdropping is such a schoolboy trick!" she said to herself. "I doubt whether there is anything in Jimmy's solution, but such as it is, I am bound to act on it. I shall visit the summerhouse this afternoon."
Cecil went to her cubicle as this thought came to her, and hastily put on her hat, jacket, and gloves.
"Are you coming with us, Cecil?" called out Kate, who was just preparing for her own walk in the cubicle near by.