the mother who
left her little girl in my arms."

He stroked his beard thoughtfully. The papers were plainly a
considerable responsibility to carry. He looked out over the sea again,
and shook his head thoughtfully.

"Are they letters or documents?" asked Cleo.

"Little of both," replied the captain. "And this is my plan. You girls
must know some organization that would just take this little
responsibility off Dave's shoulders."

"Certainly," spoke up Louise. "The Girl Scouts have a very trustworthy
headquarters, and if this particular piece of work was not ours we could
very readily place it where it belongs."

"Exactly, just exactly. That's what I've been a-thinkin'," said the
Captain.

"There are Children's Aids, Travellers' Aids and all sorts of legal aids
for just such purposes," said Margaret, "and if we bring anything
confidential to the secretary at our headquarters, you may rest assured
it will be placed where it belongs."

"Now, isn't that fine!" exclaimed the old sailor. "But you are not goin'
up to the city soon, I take it, and I've just got a notion I'd like them
papers put in safer quarters. No tellin' when I may be transferred, and
then I wouldn't have time to think of the little tin box. Could one of
you take it now, and put it in your family safe?" he asked.

The girls looked at one another speculatively. No one was personally
anxious to assume such a responsibility.

"Louise, your daddy is a lawyer. He would know all about a thing like
that. You take it?" urged Margaret.

After some discussion Louise finally agreed to accept the charge and old
Dave shuffled over to his cupboard, procured a rusty tin box, and placed
it in the scout's hand.

"There," he said with a sigh of relief. "I'm glad to get rid of that. It
was like the little bundle of letters tied with blue ribbon, that we
read about in love stories--not much to the world, but a lot to the
right girl," he orated.

Louise looked at the box almost reverently. Just as Dave had said "not
much to the world but a lot to the right girl," she thought.

"All right, Captain," she said bravely. "I am sure, simple as this is it
does mean something, and as you say, Kitty is not yet wise enough to
appreciate her mother's letters. So I accept the charge, and you may
call upon me to report at any time you choose."

"Now, if I'm sent over to the Hook, I won't have to move quite so much,"
said Dave with something like a chuckle, for the box was a