The Project Gutenberg EBook of Mr. Wicker's Window, by Carley Dawson

This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or
re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org

Title: Mr. Wicker's Window

Author: Carley Dawson

Illustrator: Lynd Ward

Release Date: May 24, 2009 [EBook #28952]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK MR. WICKER'S WINDOW ***

Produced by Sankar Viswanathan, Greg Weeks, and the Online
Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net

Transcriber's Note:

Extensive research did not uncover any evidence that
the U.S. copyright on this publication was renewed.

MR.

WICKER'S WINDOW

by

Carley Dawson

Illustrated by

Lynd Ward

1952

HOUGHTON MIFFLIN COMPANY BOSTON

The Riverside Press Cambridge

Copyright, 1952, by

CARLEY DAWSON and LYND WARD

* * * * *

_For

those at

Second Family

House_

* * * * *

CHAPTER 1

[Illustration]

Christopher Mason felt numb. It seemed to him that he was as good as
an orphan already, for his father, a Commander in the Navy, was far
away at sea, and Chris's mother was in a hospital, not expected to
live.

Chris scuffed along the brick pavements of Georgetown, but he did not,
as he usually did, look about at its familiar houses. This friendly
core of the growing city of Washington, D.C., today seemed to him
almost hostile.

Georgetown, where Chris lived, is the oldest part of the capital city,
built by early English settlers long years before Washington itself
was even planned. Grouped at the head of the navigable part of the
Potomac River, above Georgetown's bluffs, the Potomac foams and dashes
over wild rocks and waterfalls, and across the river, the country
starts.

Chris had just left his mother's sister, his Aunt Rachel. Aunt Rachel,
white-faced, was preparin