ith a vivid blush. "You know I meant
_all_ the boys--not one!"

"Selfish girl--she wants them all!" laughed Mollie.

Glorious were they--those winter days in Florida, where the outdoor
girls enjoyed themselves to the utmost. Had it not been for one little
rift in the lute, their pleasure and happiness would have been
complete--and that rift was the absence of Will. Grace seemed to feel it
more keenly as day passed day and no word came.

Her father did write saying that the inquiry was progressing slowly, and
that it would take some time to have scanned each list of minor
offenders who had been "hired" out to contractors under an old law,
operative only in certain cases. As for naming any special locality
where Will might be, that was impossible, as yet.

Mrs. Stonington seemed very much improved by her stay in the South, but
she was not yet out of danger, the doctor said, and must use care. Her
husband and Amy were still anxious about her, and watched her carefully;
for, though she was no relation to Amy, she still acted, and in reality
was, almost as a mother to the girl.

Amy's newly-found brother paid one visit to the bungalow in the orange
grove, but could not stay long, as his business was increasing. He
reported all well in Deepdale.

"By the way," he said with a chuckle, "those old friends of yours, Alice
Jallow and Kittie Rossmore, have started a sort of automobile club. I
guess they're trying to rival you."

"They're not friends of ours," said Mollie quickly, "and as for being
rivals--we refuse to consider them as such."

"Well, I don't blame you."

The orange picking was in full swing now, and the girls spent many happy
days in the grove. They learned many new ways of eating oranges, and
marveled at the difference in flavor of the fruit picked from the trees,
from that as they recalled it in the North.

The laborers supplied by Mr. Belton had proved to be good workers, and
more were sent for, the girls taking Mr. Hammond up to the clearing in
the motor boat to arrange about them. Grace hoped to have some news of
her brother, but the contractor said he had not been able to get any
clues.

It was about a week after this, on a fine sunny day, not as warm as some
of its predecessors, that Betty proposed a trip in her motor boat.

"Let's go quite a distance up the river," she suggested. "There are new
sights to see, Mr. Hammond says, and no bars to run upon after we pass
the landing where Mr. Belton