A Ticket to Adventure / A Mystery Story for Girls

was coming. A faint light was creeping in over the cabin

about their little farm. All her life she had lived where boats chug-chugged in the harbor and auto horns sounded in the streets. He

than one morning it was the quack-quack of some old gander of the wild du

e of summer was over. Bravely the battle had been fought. The Hughes family had come to this valley to win themselves a home. She was one of them, in s

. It's been a ticket to duty and endless labor. And yet," she sighed, "I'm not complaining." A gr

d, silently. "Bill has

sensation than sound, she knew at once that it was made by no wild thing. But what could it

in Palmer, he had packed up a generous supply of food, charged to his mother's account at the government commiss

tisfied if we are to enjoy the more abundant life. Besides, what is there to do? There are six hundred men working in gangs. They will clear up our land for us and build cabins before sno

ped mountains! Florence, as she bent over her work in their large garden, had wat

ld borrow a horse and go packing away into those mountains. The breathing spell had never come. And now, the brief autu

secure cabin, had Bill been there to point it out. He was not there. So the cabin was built of green logs. Already you could see daylight through the cracks, and Bill's mother,

with rust, he had returned triumphant. He had found gold. In the spring he would begin ope

ous. For him they hid the cracks in their cabin, his unplowed field, his uncut woodpile. And, because

she snuggled down beneath the bla

motor. She laughed at the thought of a speedboat on

d! Never had plants grown and flourished as theirs did. Mark's tomatoes were a complete success. Twice, it was true, the mercury dropped to a point perilously near freezing and their heads rested on uneasy pillows. But the Alas

canned wild fruit, raspberries, blueberries, high bush cranberries, and their storeroom crowded with groceries, all paid for. What was more, a horse! "Old Nig," bought from a

er once. "And when duty is done, let adv

d. "God surely knows all our

an airplane motor. She judged by the sound that it was circling for a landing, perhaps on their littl

e up! An airplane! And it's going

ps just in time to see the beautiful blue and gray airplane,

he water and away on the wing, leaving the intruder

orence, Mary, Mark, Bill, and Dave. The hydroplane had b

"How's the chances for sourdough panc

laughed. "Plate o

got a hunting party. Probably going after moose or grizzly bears." Nevertheless, she was ready enough to offer to the party t

nting belt filled with shells, riding breeches and high boots, seemed

the kitchen, she gripped her arm hard, "that man's the one who roared a

rose shrill and high. "I don't like

hate that

swered hastily. "Anyway,

do you kn

tch this, she was a

of the men was explaining to Mark. "Wonderful spo

lucky!" Bil

de no r

just right," Mark said a

th it?" the youn

ell," Mark puc

e pilot looked

ome speedboats back in the Copper Country. I tinkered with

ver once or twice?"

Be gl

hant, Mark emerged from the plane. He ha

iastic. "Want to go along as my mechanic? G

ow," said Mark quietly

Mark. He loved growing things and wonderful machinery. Growing was over for this year. Dull, dreary days of au

ournfully. "I can't go. There is sti

ut in. "Take

thing abo

Bill, never too

A half hour later, Bill sail

eks felling green trees to cut with his new buzz-saw. Be fine

been built by someone else. That this someone had hidden a big copper kettle and, perhaps, seven golden candlesticks near

heavy footsteps outside did she hurry into the large front room. Then, through the open door, she heard a loud sigh, followed by the creak of a bench

of the cabin," the girl thought in w