"There's a special messenger," exclaimed Dorothy, with a little flutter.
"I hope there's nothing the matter--"

The boy with the bag strapped over his shoulder had dismounted from his
muddy bicycle, and was now at the door of the Cedar mansion.

Tavia slipped through the hedge after Dorothy. It seemed the message
must be from Dalton, somehow, and she too, like Dorothy, felt a trifle
agitated.

The maid had answered the ring, and now the boy was wandering along the
path, content that his time-mark allowed a few moments for such
recreation.

Mrs. White appeared on the piazza presently. Dorothy and Tavia were
within its portals, waiting to be summoned.

"My dear," began the hostess, "I have just received a message from Major
Dale. He wants you to come home--at once. He is called to Rochester on
important business, and as he says Mrs. Martin is not well, so he cannot
leave without having his little housekeeper in charge of things--
Dorothy, you are a real Dale, able at your age to keep house."

"Aunt Libby sick," was Dorothy's first thought and exclamation.

"The Rochester case," declared Tavia. "That means the Burlock mystery is
going to be cleared up."

"The major did not, of course, hint at the nature of his business, but I