The Phantom Treasure

o inquired if they were not the Van Meter guests and took their light bags. Inside, a fine-looking woman, in a roomy coat of gray and a close hat, seemed to have been watching for them, and c

d. My cousin Pieter begs pardon for not having urged it, but until you

is impossible for me to accept your kind invitation. It is just as well for you to have Janet to yourselves, also. Perhaps Mr. Van Meter and I may meet s

some difficulty from a seat near Mrs. Holt, when they first approached, and leaned a little upon a light cane in his left hand, while he extended his right. He was tall, thin, with a pale

y," she informed him. "Did you e

u look l

as, but would not, of course, ask Miss Hilliard. Then, too, she was anxious to reach the end of her journey, and that anticipation, with the pleasant impression made by M

Janet, as you can see," said Mrs. Holt. "We could have directed you to come farther by train, somewhat nearer the Van Meter place, you know. But it seemed trouble

ffeur, who was attending to the matter of Janet's trunk and a suit-case

rs. Holt. "I could not tell everything in that little note that I dashed off

inserted Mr. A

overed.' As I was about to say, I am a distant cousin and I am supposed to be the housekeeper at the place. Really, old P'lina runs the house and I officiate at the show p

e. But she did wonder what was the matter with Cousin Andy. Oh, of course,-he would have been in the war! He

he had been among the Pennsylvania hills and mountains, but never in New York except in the great city on her way to the seashore. Cousin Andy said little. There was a delicious little lunch which they ate on the way, and in reply to questions from

contents. "I had never had one sent me in my life. Whoever baked

find her a bit difficult, perhaps, Janet, but you must remember t

na. Janet wondered how they spel

trees in early spring beginnings of foliage had impeded the view of it u

ediately surrounding the house was laid out formally for beauty. The house stood behind some great oak and elm trees upon an elevation which was terraced. Behind it were hills. Ja

teered. "Father has made all this improvement in and about the house, and

f you like, you may have the

like that abov

iana," said Andrew. "It may not

. Holt, and Janet wondered w

ore modern front, made in "Dutch Colonial" style, with its porch and two high-backed benches one on each side. The

ace had been so modernized, but common sense told her that it wo

ned by the Indians," he said. "All this land was given by grant from the English government, back in about sixteen hundred and seventy, to one of our ancestors, not a Van Meter, howe

anet, whose study of Ame

d man rose from an armchair to meet her. It was Uncle Pieter. Why, he must have been ever s

you are here," he said. "I expect it to be your home from now on. While your mother ha

y, as if he had thought beforehand what he intended to say. "You look like your mo

part of the house, or her mother's ro

mother's room," ti

r Van Meter. "You will be more comf

paper which he had been reading, and apparently dismissing the

ted her over the house of her forefathers. She kept thinking, "

rder to preserve the front and appearance of the old house, the new building was a

a great distance from it. There were large rooms here, parlors, library and hal

n its time the old Van Meter home had been more or less imposing, the connecting corridors now supplying the difference in extent. By this arrangement the old house received almost as much light in all its rooms as of yore. Beautiful trees and a pergola with a concrete floor, rustic seats and

musement. "But that can not be true, for Pieter took great pains to fix the old kitchen in the most accurate representation of an old colonial kitchen, and he has left some

the green spaces of the court. With interest she looked at the well preserved front of the aged dwelling,

t, but of course that is all nonsense. However, if

y mother," smiled Janet. "She wou

more to enter here, Janet. Step over the threshold, now, where all your ancestors before you

central hall. There they had placed the old spinning wheel. The

nd other ancient appurtenances, like the queer old leather bellows, used to create a blaze, and the long-handled brass warming-pan that stood, or hung, in a corner of the kitchen. Old dishes, the cranes, and old iron kettles, even an old gun, hung above the plain mante

isit us, Janet, and are brought here to admire.

asked Janet suddenly, "John

ng vacation begins, late this year, on account of a contagious disease that some of them had,

From now on, I'm going to s

said Mrs. Holt wit

ose were the faces in the pictures upon the walls. At last they went up the beautiful old staircase, through bedrooms made comfor

n any tour of inspection. So you may be sure that it has not been looked at with curious eyes. Only P'lina and I are

your mother that will give you great pleasure, I think, and I'm leaving you alone now, child,-to go in by yourself. You will find me in my bedroom for a while, but if you want to stay here, I wi