“Now I’ll sleep better,” Bess sighed. The girls
went to bed happy and excited.
The next day everyone’s attention was focused
on a new boarder. Shortly after church services,
Mrs. Alice Salisbury and her daughter Nona ar-
rived in an expensive sedan. Mrs. Salisbury
walked with a cane, and complained loudly of her
arthritis as the girls helped her into the house.
Nona waited only long enough to see that her
mother was made comfortable. Then she an-
nounced that she must hurry back to the city
nearby, where she lived.
“Mother was born on a farm,” she told Mrs.
Byrd as she stepped into the car, “and she simply
pines for the country. I thought this arrangement
might be ideal since she’s never entirely happy
with me in the city. I’ll drive down to see her
week ends. I do hope she’ll be happier here at
Red Gate Farm.”
Joanne and her friends hoped so too, but they
were not at all certain, for it became increasingly
apparent that Mrs. Salisbury could not be happy
anywhere. She found no fault with the immacu-
late farmhouse or the lovely view from her bed-
room window, but she constantly complained of
her various aches and pains. She talked inces-
santly about her many operations. She had a sharp
tongue and delighted in using it.
“She wouldn’t be so bad, if only she’d stop
talking operations,” George burst out. “Makes
me feel as though I’m ready for the hospital
myself!”
By the time the girls had adjusted themselves .
to Mrs. Salisbury, the second boarder arrived. He
was Karl Abbott, a diamond-in-the-rough type of
man. In spite of his sixty-three years, he boasted
that he was as spry as his son Karl Jr., who had
brought him.
Karl Jr., who worked in a nearby city, was a
personable young man. The girls, particularly
Bess, were sorry he could not remain with his
father.
The girls liked Mr. Abbott very much, but
they were appalled by his tremendous appetite.
“I wish we could turn him out in the yard to
forage for himself,” Joanne sighed several days
later as she peeled her second heaping pan of
potatoes. “It’s all I can do to keep one helping
ahead of him!”
At first Mr. Abbott insisted upon remaining in
the kitchen, teasing the girls as they worked and
sampling the food. Then he fell into the habit of
sitting on the front porch with Mrs. Salisbury
and chatting with her for hours. Frequently they
became involved in violent arguments about
trivial matters just for diversion.
After one of their disagreements Mrs. Salisbury
would maintain a stony silence which was refresh-
ing. But Mr. Abbott would once again take refuge
in the kitchen!
In spite of such slight annoyances, the days at
Red Gate Farm passed very pleasantly. Nancy
would go into town on various errands for the
boarders and sometimes Mrs. Byrd.
One day she had just returned to the farm from
a shopping trip and on her way to the house
stopped at the mailbox.
“There might be a letter from Dad,” she
thought, and drew out a stack of mail.
She took it all into the house, where Mrs. Byrd
asked Nancy to distribute the letters. As she was
sorting them out, she came to one addressed to
the Black Snake Colony.
“Look!” Nancy exclaimed. “This letter be-
longs to the nature cult. The mailman must have
put it in our box by mistake.”
“What will you do?” asked Bess seriously.
“Drive over with it?”
“Of course not,” growled Mr. Abbott, who had
just entered the room. “You keep away from
those outrageous people. Take it back to the post
office.”
Nancy studied the postmark. It was very
blurred. Could it be Riverside Heights, or was
she mistaken? Her curiosity about the mysterious
cult was now even more aroused. Perhaps she
could deliver the letter in person! But she got no
further in her plan, for just then a neighbor
passed on his way to town. Mrs. Byrd handed him
the letter to remail.
Nancy felt disappointed, but was determined
to find out in some way what was going on “over
the hill.” “If I can only be alone with Bess and