Madge Morton's Trust   By: Amy D. V. Chalmers

Madge Morton's Trust

By AMY D. V. CHALMERS

Author of Madge Morton, Captain of the Merry Maid; Madge Morton's Secret, Madge Morton's Victory.

PHILADELPHIA HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY

COPYRIGHT, 1914, BY HOWARD E. ALTEMUS

CONTENTS

CHAPTER. PAGE.

I. A LATE ARRIVAL 7

II. THE DOCTOR'S SUGGESTION 17

III. DAVID FINDS A FRIEND 27

IV. THE SEARCH 40

V. PULLING UP ANCHOR FOR NEW SCENES 52

VI. WANDERLUST 60

VII. THE RESCUE 72

VIII. THE MOTOR BOAT DISASTER 84

IX. LEAVING THE HOUSEBOAT TO TAKE CARE OF ITSELF 96

X. A GHOST STORY 104

XI. THE FEAST OF MONDAMIN 112

XII. A BOY'S TEMPTATION 124

XIII. ELEANOR GETS INTO MISCHIEF 137

XIV. "CONFUSION WORSE CONFOUNDED" 149

XV. THE BLACK HOLE 158

XVI. THE BETTER MAN 169

XVII. THE BIRTH OF SUSPICION 181

XVIII. DAVID'S MYSTERIOUS ERRAND 191

XIX. GHOSTS OF THE PAST 200

XX. THE FANCY DRESS PARTY 213

XXI. THE INTERRUPTION 221

XXII. MADGE MORTON'S TRUST 232

XXIII. THE LITTLE CAPTAIN'S STORY 241

XXIV. "GOOD LUCK TO THE BRIDE" 248

Madge Morton's Trust

CHAPTER I

A LATE ARRIVAL

It was a particularly hot day in early July. A girl came out on the back porch of an old fashioned New England house and dropped into a hammock. She looked tired, but her big black eyes were eager with interest.

She held a fat letter in her hand which contained many pages. At the top of the letter was a pen and ink drawing of a miniature houseboat with five girls running about on the deck, their hair blowing, their skirts awry. One of them held a broom in her hand; she was the domestic Eleanor! Another waved a frying pan; Miss Jenny Ann Jones, Chief Cook and Chaperon! The third girl was drying her long, blonde hair in the sun; Miss Lillian Seldon, the beauty of the houseboat party!

The girl in the hammock recognized herself: she was feeding a weird looking animal on four legs with a spoon. And standing among the others, apparently talking as fast as she possibly could, and doing no work of any kind, was a young woman whom the artist had carefully labeled "Madge."

Phyllis Alden laughed until the tears rolled down her cheeks. She could not recall having laughed in two months, and she was sure she would keep on giggling as long as she read her letter.

"Miss Alden" a woman in the uniform of a professional nurse appeared at the door "your mother says do you know where the twins are? She is restless about them. I promised her I would come to you. I am sorry to disturb you; I know you are tired."

"Not a bit of it, Miss Brazier," insisted Phil stoutly. "Those dreadful babies! I had forgotten I had not seen them in the last half hour. Of course, they are in mischief. I will look for them right away."