In spite of her real concern for Rosemary's disappointment, Lorraine enjoyed the Easter holidays. There was much to be done in them. Morland and Claudia were anxious to revisit the Sea-Nymph's Grotto1, which had been neglected during the winter, so with Landry in attendance they chose a fine day, and had another delightful2 picnic there. Fortunately the tides had not reached as high as the mouth of the cave, and their "furniture" was undisturbed; even the shell patterns remained as formerly3, though the sea-weed was brown and shrivelled. That was a matter easily remedied, however, for the rock pools below were full of pink and green algæ, and corallines beautiful enough for a mermaid's bouquet4.
"It would be a ripping place for a hermit," said Morland. "I expect it beats a dug-out hollow. I shall often think of it when I'm called up!"
"Me go to the war too!" said Landry suddenly.
He spoke5 so seldom that Claudia turned in surprise.
"No, Landry, dear, I couldn't spare you."
[182]"But Morland's going!"
"All the more reason why you should stay at home and take care of me."
"Me want to be with you both," said Landry fretfully.
"But that can't be. The Government will send papers, and then Morland will have to go."
There was trouble in the boy's blue eyes; his poor dull brain seemed to be making a supreme7 effort to understand. He spoke again, still in the language of a little child.
"Landry will take the nasty papers and hide them, and then Morland stay at home."
"No, no, dear! Landry couldn't do that," laughed Claudia, fondling his hand. "You must be my good boy and look after me when he's gone."
Landry relapsed once more into his habitual8 silence, but it was evident that a new and unusual access of thought was stirring in his feeble mind. He kept looking at Morland with awakened9 interest. Lorraine, watching, wondered what was the result of his cogitations. His own sister and brother, accustomed to his moods, took no more notice of an occurrence that seemed trivial at the moment, but afterwards bore unexpected fruit.
"When we've made the cave so nice, it seems almost a pity to keep it quite to ourselves," suggested Morland after a pause.
"Why, but we all pledged ourselves to absolute secrecy10!"
"I know we did."
[183]"Whom do you want to bring here?" enquired11 Claudia suspiciously.
"Oh, nobody in particular. Only Madame Bertier was asking me one day if there were any caves along the coast. I thought she'd like to see this one."
"You're not to bring that Russian woman here! I don't like her. I hope you did not tell her about it?"
"Of course not!"
"Honest Injun?"
"Crystal clear I didn't!"
"It's our secret, and nobody is to know," said Claudia, still ruffled12. "Let us all take a sort of oath!"
"Right oh! I shan't break it!" agreed Lorraine emphatically.
"Will you swear, Morland?" urged Claudia.
"Who's going to tell?" asked Morland huffily. "What a fuss you girls make about nothing. The cave might be full of diamonds instead of only shells!"
"Only shells, indeed!" Claudia's tone was belligerent13.
"I wish you'd both help me to collect some shells," put in Lorraine, trying to patch up peace. "I want some more desperately14 badly for the museum."
A duty which Lorraine had undertaken during the holidays was the arrangement of the school museum. She was the curator, but during term time she was so fully6 occupied that she had never [184]been able to sort and label the specimens15 which the girls had brought to her. The whole collection had been so far stored away in boxes. Now, however, Miss Kingsley had set apart special premises16 for the museum. There was an unused room at The Gables that in the days of former tenants17 had been occupied by the coachman. It adjoined the house, but was approached by an outside staircase from the yard. It had been filled with lumber18, but Miss Kingsley had had this cleared away, the floor had been scrubbed, and some old desks moved in to serve as cases for the specimens.
Miss Kingsley and Miss Janet had gone away for Easter, and the servants were also taking a much-needed rest. The Gables therefore was shut up for the holidays, though the charwoman, who lived in a cottage close by, went in to scrub and clean. Before leaving, Miss Kingsley had given Lorraine the key of the museum, so that she might enter it when she wished, quite independently of going to the house.
Lorraine spent very happy mornings there—sometimes alone, sometimes with Claudia to help her. With the aid of natural history books from the school library, she identified and labelled the specimens to the best of her ability. It was a quiet kind of work that appealed to her. She felt that the room was going to be a tremendous acquisition to the school. All sorts of treasures could find a home on the walls, secure from the meddlesome19 fingers of juniors. She intended to keep it as a sort of sanctum for the monitresses, and had visions [185]of holding committee meetings there, and bringing tea in thermos20 flasks21.
One morning she had arranged to spend a little time at the museum and to meet Claudia, who had promised to come and help her. The trysting-place was the old windmill, and Lorraine stood there waiting. Claudia was late—the Castleton family were always late for everything—and Lorraine walked impatiently up and down the road. Footsteps coming round the corner made her turn expectantly. To her surprise, the new-comer was not her friend, but her uncle, Mr. Barton Forrester.
"Why, Uncle!" she exclaimed. "What are you doing up here? I thought you were so busy at the office?"
"So I am; and I ought to be at work now. This is what comes of being a special constable22! There's a pretty to-do to-day! The telephone wires have been cut, and the job is to discover where!"
"The telephone wires cut!" echoed Lorraine. "But who has cut them?"
"Some spy, I suppose. One has constantly to be on the lookout23 for treachery, especially in a place like this. If we could only find out where the leakage24 is! There, Lorraine, I can't stay. I've got to see Mr. Jermyn immediately."
Uncle Barton—busy, energetic little man that he was—waved his hand to his niece and hurried away up the road, just as Claudia, also in a hurry, turned the corner. Lorraine cut short her apologies with the news about the telephone wires.
[186]"It means," she explained, "that, until they find the place and can mend it, Porthkeverne's cut off by telephone from all other places. You may depend upon it, as Uncle says, there's some treachery at the bottom of this. Isn't it horrible to think that there may be spies in the town, ready to betray one's country?"
"Dreadful!" shuddered26 Claudia. "They ought to intern27 everyone who's the least bit under suspicion."
The two girls walked rapidly to The Gables, and went into the school-yard and up the outside staircase. Lorraine had the key in her pocket, and unlocked the museum. Directly she entered, she noticed that the room was not as she had left it. Some of the desks and boxes had certainly been moved. She remembered exactly how she had placed them yesterday. Her first thought was that Mrs. Jones, the charwoman, must have been in to clean; but that was clearly impossible, for she herself had the key. Who could have intruded28 into the sanctum, and for what reason? She discussed it with Claudia. It gave them both a most uncanny feeling to think that someone had been able to enter. The Gables was practically shut up. Had a burglar been picking the locks during Miss Kingsley's absence? There seemed to be nothing in the museum likely to excite the cupidity29 of even an amateur thief; the specimens, though interesting to the school, were of no monetary30 value. Lorraine's glance went slowly round the room, and took in the desks and boxes, the walls, on [187]which she had pinned natural history prints, and finally wandered up to the ceiling. Ah, here was a clue at last! The trap-door in the corner had certainly been moved—it did not now quite fit down. There was about an inch of light to be seen round its edge. A horrible idea suggested itself to the girls. Suppose somebody was in hiding up there!
The bare notion blanched31 their cheeks. With one accord they fled from the room, locked the door on the outside, and scurried32 down the steps. In the yard they paused. What was to be done next? They did not feel capable of tackling a possible burglar unaided, yet it seemed rather weak to run away.
"Let's fetch Morland!" said Claudia.
The suggestion seemed a good one. Lorraine was only too content to throw herself upon masculine aid. They walked at double speed to Windy Howe, and hauled Morland from the piano. He stopped in the middle of a Brahms sonata33, and offered at once to go back with them to the school.
"You see, Miss Kingsley and everybody's away, and there's only the charwoman about," explained Lorraine. "I know sh............