etter. So I shall always love
these scout boys on account of you and would like to read about
them but my eyes are not very strong.

And now I say good-bye to you, my dear young friend and often I
will think of you after I go to the Home.

Mrs. Mary Haskell
Hicksville, North Carolina.

The quiet of Hicksville, North Carolina, could have been no deeper than
the stillness which prevailed when the scouts finished reading this
letter. They seemed to feel that if they moved or spoke it would destroy
a spell and prove this whole amazing business a dream. Within the ward
the voice of some patient could be heard in petulant complaint. Nurses
with silent tread, moved in and out of the apartment. An auto horn could
be heard tooting somewhere in the distance. But Warde and Roy were in
Hicksville, North Carolina.

Warde was the first to speak. Modest, as he always was, he now uttered a
thought which had lingered in his mind for many days. "Now I know why he
said '_Doctor Cawson_,'" he observed quietly. "He belongs in the
south. I know why he didn't say _Tranto_ and _Monreal_; it was
because he never lived in those places. But of course, that doesn't
prove anything, I guess."

"It proves something about _you_," said Roy proudly. Oh, he could
afford to be generous and happy!

"We don't need any proof," said Pee-wee; "haven't we got proof enough?
What more do you want? Now what have you all got to say? You're so
smart!"

No one had anything to say, not even Detective Ferrett. All he could do
was whistle perplexedly. The overworked, thin, trembling arm of poor
Mrs. Haskell had reached out and dealt him a knockout blow, under the
exclusive auspices of Pee-wee Harris, mascot of the raving Ravens, scout
of the first class, master of good turns, defender and exponent of good
scout law Number Two, First Bridgeboro, New Jersey, Troop, Boy Scouts of
America!

[Footnote 3: Specifications he probably meant.]

CHAPTER XXXIII

THE MYSTERY

It was many days before all the bits of this strange puzzle were put
together and the full truth revealed. As the condition of the invalid
improved his memory returned to him. This wonderful effect of the
operation on his skull was noticeable first in the recollection of
trifles and disconnected events in his life. Usually he got these
confused at first but each item in the marvelous catalogue