t perfectly lovely--and so
do I," said the Story Girl.

"Do YOU know the secret of the locked room?" cried Cecily.

"Yes, the Awkward Man told me all about it last night. I told you I'd
find out the mystery some time."

"And what is it?"

"I can't tell you that either."

"I think you're hateful and mean," exclaimed Felicity. "It hasn't
anything to do with Miss Reade, so I think you might tell us."

"It has something to do with Miss Reade. It's all about her."

"Well, I don't see how that can be when the Awkward Man never saw or
heard of Miss Reade until she came to Carlisle in the spring," said
Felicity incredulously, "and he's had that locked room for years."

"I can't explain it to you--but it's just as I've said," responded the
Story Girl.

"Well, it's a very queer thing," retorted Felicity.

"The name in the books in the room was Alice--and Miss Reade's name is
Alice," marvelled Cecily. "Did he know her before she came here?"

"Mrs. Griggs says that room has been locked for ten years. Ten years ago
Miss Reade was just a little girl of ten. SHE couldn't be the Alice of
the books," argued Felicity.

"I wonder if she'll wear the blue silk dress," said Sara Ray.

"And what will she do about the picture, if it isn't hers?" added
Cecily.

"The picture couldn't be hers, or Mrs. Griggs would have known her for
the same when she came to Carlisle," said Felix.

"I'm going to stop wondering about it," exclaimed Felicity crossly,
aggravated by the amused smile with which the Story Girl was listening
to the various speculations. "I think Sara is just as mean as mean when
she won't tell us."

"I can't," repeated the Story Girl patiently.

"You said one time you had an idea who 'Alice' was," I said. "Was your
idea anything like the truth?"

"Yes, I guessed pretty nearly right."

"Do you suppose they'll keep the room locked after they are married?"
asked Cecily.

"Oh, no. I can tell you that much. It is to be Miss Reade's own
particular sitting room."

"Why, then, perhaps we'll see it some time ourselves, when we go to see
Miss Reade," cried Cecily.

"I'd be frightened to go into it," confessed Sara Ray. "I hate things
with mysteries. They always make me nervous."

"I love them. They're so exciting," said the Story Girl.

"Just think, this will be the second wedding of people we know,"
reflected Cecily. "Isn't that interesting?"

"I only hope the next thing won't be a funeral," remarked Sara Ray
gl