His lawyer needed him, he said, and then again he wanted to see his sister Sue, who had run down to Walnut Hill for the day.

(Sue, it might as well be stated, had not yet put in an appearance at Beach Haven, nor had she given any notice of her near arrival; a fact which had not disturbed Lucy in the least until she attempted to explain to Jane.) "I've got to pull up, little woman, and get out for a few days," Max had begun.

"Morton's all snarled up, he writes me, over a mortgage, and I must straighten it out.

I'll leave Bones [the tiger] and everything just as it is.

Don't mind, do you ?" "Mind! Of course I do!" retorted Lucy.