MADGE MORTON'S SECRET

By

AMY D. V. CHALMERS

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

PHILADELPHIA
HENRY ALTEMUS COMPANY

Copyright,
1914,
by Howard E. Altemus

CONTENTS

Chapter. Page.

1. The Interrupted Story7
2. What Madge Found in the Attic18
3. An Unexpected Meeting35
4. The Challenge46
5. The Mysterious Box57
6. Flora Betrays a State Secret66
7. Awarding the Prizes76
8. The Hour of Triumph95
9. Madge Morton's Secret102
10. Adrift on Chesapeake Bay108
11. The Awakening120
12. A Deserted Island132
13. Life in the Woods142
14. Caught in a Stampede152
15. Behind Closed Doors165
16. The Disappointed Knights173
17. Can We Go to the Rescue?183
18. A New Use for a Kite193
19. The Impossible Happens201
20. The Recognition212
21. Back to the "Merry Maid"219
22. The Stars and Stripes Forever226
23. The Surprise237
24. The Telling of the Secret248

Madge Morton's Secret

CHAPTER I

THE INTERRUPTED STORY

A girl in a green gown was cosily ensconced among the spreading branches of an old apple tree. She was reading, and she never stirred except to turn the pages of her book or to reach out for another red apple after dropping the core of the previous one.

It was a glorious morning in early September, and the old Virginia orchard was sweet with the odor of ripening apples. A press under a tree still dripped with the juices of yesterday's cider-making. The bees and flies buzzed lazily about it. There was no one but the girl in sight.

Some distance to the left was a red brick house, separated from the orchard by a low stone fence and the length of the kitchen garden. It had a big, white colonnaded balcony in front and a smaller veranda in the rear.

The girl in the apple tree read on, unaware that a carriage had driven up to the front of this house and that a woman and a young man were alighting from it. A few moments later a girl came out on the back veranda. She put her hands to her lips and hallooed. She whistled and called. Then she ran up and down the garden, searching everywhere.

"Madge, Madge! where are you?" she cried. "Oh, do answer me in a hurry! I have something so important to tell you!"

The girl in the apple tree did not stir. She was oblivious to everything except her story. Her cousin, Eleanor, called and called again, then ran to the stables. Pompey, the colored boy, declared that he had not seen Miss Madge all morning. Once Eleanor leaned over the orchard fence. The green of Madge's frock was too near the color of the foliage to show through the trees. Eleanor gave up her search in despair.

"All right, Madge Morton," she murmured, "if you will go off by yourself without telling a soul where you are going, you must take the consequences—though I am so sorry," added Eleanor. "Poor