CHAPTER I

"It'll be an awfully long day," said Robin.

"Yes," said Peter and Jan.

"We'd better do something then," said Robin.

"Yes," said Peter and Jan again.

But it was difficult to know exactly what to do! For to-day was the day on which the Lennox cousins were to arrive—Dick and Donald, who had been invited to spend the last weeks of the holidays with the Vaughans. The Vaughans had been looking forward to this day immensely, but now it had come at last they felt that they could hardly get through the hours before their visitors would actually arrive. There would be "tons of things," as Peter said, "to do then," but there seemed nothing to do to-day.

"Let's go over to the Island," said Robin at last.

The island lay in the middle of the river that flowed at the bottom of the Vaughans' garden; it was only the work of a few minutes to pull across to the wooded little place where Brown the gardener had his cottage, but where, otherwise, the birds had it pretty much to themselves, as Jan said.

For the Vaughans were tremendously hard workers; Robin was entered for his first real exam.; Peter and Jan were each head of their forms at their respective schools, and "meant to keep head." Thus the Island certainly was left to the birds except in the holidays; but—a holiday camp was to be one of the tremendous pleasures ahead when the Lennoxes came.

"For they're Scouts, you see, like us, so they're sure to be keen," Robin had said, in appealing to his mother.

"It'll be such awfully good practice," Peter had gone on.

"And, as I'm a Guide——!" Jan had begun.

Mrs. Vaughan had laughed; she was a "jolly good mother for Scouts and Guides to have," as the boys and girls declared, because "she never fussed." She trusted them and left them to themselves, so that they might learn "self-reliance," as she told them. After she had laughed, however, on this occasion she shook her head. "I have no objection to your camping out for a night or two," she said. "After all, Robin camped with his troop last year, and the holiday won't have done much for him if he can't captain the rest of you over on the Island, but——"

"Oh, Mother!" said Jan, who guessed what was coming.

"Yes, I won't have Jan sleeping out of doors. Pneumonia two years ago, you remember, Jan? Or perhaps you don't,—you were too small; but—I do! No, Jan may choose either to sleep at home and join the boys by day, or—" Mrs. Vaughan wrinkled her brow—"perhaps Gardener's wife, Mrs. Brown, has a spare room. Yes, of course she has. Now, Jan, would you feel more on the spot and more of a regular camper if I could arrange for you to sleep in the Island Cottage?" "Oh, yes." Jan's eyes sparkled with delight.

"And the Lennox boys are Scouts too, so they'll be willing enough, I've no doubt," went on Mrs. Vaughan. "In fact I mentioned something of the plan to your aunt, and she seemed very pleased. Well, I think it can be arranged, but—it would be well to wait for really settled weather, wouldn't it?"

"The wind's in a good quarter now," Peter had said.

That had been yesterday, and the Lennoxes were coming in a few hours. It had been decided, though, that for a day or two the newcomers should sleep at the Chase and be introduced to the interests that the house and garden afforded. "You must remember," as Mrs. Vaughan told the children, "everything will be new and interesting to them. It is the first time they have been to the Chase, and the house will mean a good deal to them as belonging to their mother's family for so many generations. They may not want to camp out just at once, and——"

"It's queer, isn't it?" said Peter to the others as they made their way over to the Island, "to think that they've never yet seen the house, though Father is their uncle, and everything!"

"That's because they've always lived so far north," said Robin, "though it isn't as though the Chase is as it used to be, then—in the old days I mean. They'll understand that, though; they must have heard——" he sighed. "It must have been rippingly jolly," he said, "to live here in the old days."

"It is—now," said Jan loyally; but she and Peter knew what Robin meant. For the Chase had been the home of the Vaughan family for generations; it was an old rambling place standing in large grounds, but, ever since the children could remember, most of the house had been shut up and empty. Stories of the old days when their father and his sister had been young—before the change of fortunes had come which had made everything so different—were interesting to hear, if a little strange to understand.

"I often wonder," said Jan, when they were making their way across to the Island for another look at the camping ground on which they had fixed, "exactly what the mystery was."

"I do, too. But Dad never told us. When War's over, and he's back, perhaps he will. We'll be older," said Robin. "It's—a family secret, something to do with something that happened. It killed Grandfather, I believe. He died of a broken heart, or something. There was lots of money to pay, too, and—the Chase has been pretty nearly all shut up ever since, but——"

"I think it's strange," said Jan, "and I think it'd be better to tell us. We might help, you know. Oh, of course I know we all work frightfully hard at school because we're to bring back the family fortunes, but there are things I want to know about. There's a gap in the gallery where a picture's been taken down,—in between the portraits of Dad and Aunt Agnes when they were children,—Mother wouldn't tell me why. Not that I'd ask again, but——"

"Perhaps the Lennoxes will know," suggested Peter.

"If they do, I'm not sure that we ought ——" Robin was beginning when the sound of a horn was heard. It was Mrs. Vaughan's signal to the children when they were on the Island that they were wanted at once at home. At its sound the three turned their steps back to the boat, and in a few minutes Robin and Peter were pulling across. "Oh, my dears," said their Mother, standing on the opposite bank, her face quite pale with anxiety, "such an unexpected thing has happened!"

CHAPTER II

"Whatever is it, mother?" asked Robin anxiously.

For Mrs. Vaughan's face was quite pale with worry as she stood on the bank while they rowed towards her. "Don't pull right in," she said. "Though I suppose it doesn't matter out of doors. It's—— Better not, perhaps, under the circumstances. Stay there—on the water, and I'll talk to you from here."

"Why! What—ever——!" The eyes of the three grew large and round. Then an awful idea struck Peter. "Mother, you don't mean to say that anything's happened. You talk as though we'd got the Plague! Whatever is it?" He racked his brain to think of some possible horror. "Well, it isn't that the Lennoxes have wired to say that they can't come, for, if so——!"

"It's—worse." Mrs. Vaughan laughed ruefully. "One of them has arrived. It's—Dick; but—oh, he's covered with spots! Came out in the train, so he says; and, poor boy, he's feeling pretty bad, I think. It's certain to be something infectious, particularly as Donald—so Dick says—has been kept at home for a day or two, because this morning he woke up with a terrible headache, and wasn't well enough to travel."

"Measles! Well, we've had them!" said

Robin hopefully.

"So have they. I greatly fear that it's scarlet fever. The poor boy is terribly annoyed with himself for coming, but how could they think of such a thing as scarlet fever? No; I pity his mother—so far away—as much as I pity myself. I've sent for Dr. Greig, and, in the meantime, you had better all three stay over on the Island for tea. Get Gardener's wife to give you some, and explain to her. I'm so sorry, dears, that all this has just happened when you had planned such a happy time."

"Sorry for us! It's you—and Dick, of course," said Robin. "Cheero, mother; let us help. Scouts know all about First Aid!"

"So do Guides," added Jan quickly.

"First Aid is not needed for scarlet fever. None of you have had it, you know; and there's your exam. ahead, Robin. You can't run risks. No, I only called you to tell you; for you must keep out of the way till the Doctor's told me definitely what it is. I'll blow the horn again as soon as I've news." Their mother waved her hand and was gone.

"Wheww!" said Robin; and they rowed in silence to the other side of the water. In an instant their castle of hopes was in bits, and their holiday seemed spoilt. "If I wasn't a Scout I'd feel inclined to—jolly well——!" Peter vented his feelings in kicking up a huge clod of turf as he stepped ashore.

"And if I wasn't a Guide, I'd——" Jan's voice sounded pretty near to tears.

"No cousins—or as bad as none; perhaps worse, for Mother'll be worked to death," continued Peter; "all our ripping preparations spoilt! No camp——!"

"Steady on!" called Robin; he could have grumbled a bit himself, easily enough, but he wasn't going to. He had been thinking hard instead, and he broke out suddenly: "I've got an idea. No, I won't say what it is till I know if it's needed. Don't give up hopes of the camp yet, and let's go meanwhile and ask Brownie about tea."

The gardener's house, to which they turned their steps rather dejectedly, was a very old stone cottage, as old as the Chase itself. It had been used for generations as the home of one or other of the keepers, having been built in a convenient place, so it was said, for the operations of possible river-poachers to be watched. Old Brown the gardener, though he had been in the service of the family all his life, had only lived in the cottage for about fifteen years. With the fall of the family fortunes the outdoor as well as the indoor staff of the Chase had been reduced, and at present he was a regular handy-man, the only man, indeed, about the place. His wife welcomed the three comfortably enough; and under the soothing influence of Brownie's scones and home-made jam their spirits began to rise. By the time the "third cup" stage was reached they were able at last to unburden themselves to their kind-hearted listener.

"We'd expected such lots of fun when the Lennoxes came," said Peter.

"Sure, my dear," said Brownie, nodding commiseratingly.

"They're sure to be jolly, you see, being relations!" said Jan ingenuously; "and besides"—heedless of a warning touch from Robin, who didn't believe in talking over family matters, she went on confidingly—"we somehow hoped they might know what the mystery is. You know, Brownie, at least, but I don't suppose you've ever thought about it——"

"Have you?" asked Peter suddenly, as the old woman did not answer, but rose busily to poke the fire.

"Sure, my dear, and having been in service at the House before ever I married Brown——" began the old body a little confusedly.

"I say," Robin broke in, "look here, Jan and Peter. And, Brownie, I'm not sure——"

"There's the horn!" interrupted Peter suddenly. The clear sound came faintly over the water.

"Aye, the horn it is, sure enough," said Brownie in a relieved voice, "and hadn't you better be going to see?"

But she spoke to an empty kitchen: the three were gone. Down to the water's side they raced, and were just pushing off when their mother began to call to them. "You needn't come over; I can speak from here. Yes, it is what I feared. Dr. Greig says there's no mistake about it. And Donald says that there was a case in his form at school. Now, what I'm to do with you I don't know."

"Mother," began Robin, "listen; I know a tremendously good way out of the difficulty."

"What is it?" inquired Mrs. Vaughan.

"It's nothing more nor less than the camp!" said Robin; "and, if you'll stay there for an instant, I'll row over and tell you what I mean."

CHAPTER III

"It's like this," said Robin, as he hung over the side of the boat, "at first I thought we couldn't do anything, but we can. It's stupid to suggest that we should come and nurse Dick, because we'd be sure to catch it, and give miles more trouble. Even if we don't nurse him, there'll be the chance of infection. So—suppose we stay here!"

"My dear boy," began Mrs. Vaughan, "but——"

"Don't 'but,' Mother; do listen. We were to have a camp, weren't we? Well, let's begin at once. I suppose Dick and his spots are now in the bedroom leading out of Peter's and mine, so it's jolly likely——"

"Yes," Mrs. Vaughan nodded her head. "I put him there before I had realised——. Then, as he had infected the place, I thought he'd better stay. I meant to move him to one of the unoccupied rooms, but so far I haven't managed it, and——"

"Well then, think of my idea. If we move into the house we'll be in quarantine when term begins. No one—not even school—could say we've been near infection if we stay here. There's Brown's house, too, if——"

Mrs. Vaughan's face was beginning to clear: "You'd promise not to sleep out if it were wet? I'm sure Brownie would arrange for Jan, and anything you might want. Well, Robin—I'm not so sure that your plan isn't a good one after all. And, if it does work, it will be a decided help to me."

"Hurray!" shouted Robin. "Hurray!" shouted the other two. This was Robin's plan, was it? they thought; well, it was a jolly good one. Peter waved an oar in the air.

"Listen though," said their mother anxiously, "for if I am going to allow it, I have any amount to say first."

But in half an hour every single thing was arranged. Jan, despatched to fetch Brownie, appeared in due course with the old woman, who seemed as "adaptable as a jolly old glove," as Peter said, hugging her. She was delighted to provide the campers with food and anything that they might need, and was overjoyed that there was a possibility of "Miss Jan" staying at the cottage. "And in bad weather, the young gentlemen too! Yes, ma'am, to be sure," said Brownie. "But—" her voice sounded a little fearful and dubious as she spoke—"there's only the attic, ma'am, with the sloping roof; they wouldn't be fr——"

"Of course not." Mrs. Vaughan's voice sounded almost impatient; she broke off hastily, and Brownie said no more. "Really, Robin," declared his mother, with a change of tone, "I don't know what I should do without you. It seems a very good plan. Now, if only the weather——"

"Wind's in the right quarter," said Peter, with sparkling eyes.

"And—you'll blow your horn every day after breakfast, Mother," begged Jan, "and come and talk to us, won't you? We won't come to the house at all, but we'll send letters by Brown."

"Very well, good-bye till to-morrow." Mrs. Vaughan turned, looking greatly relieved.

"Good luck to Dick; and take care of yourself, Mother," shouted the three as she disappeared, waving her hand at the bend of the path.

"And now, what are we to do?" inquired Peter of his older brother.

"I'll jolly well show you that, old chap," said Robin. "We've got to pitch a camp, and that pretty quickly too, for arrangements have taken time. It's fortunate that we decided on the site; but we've got to make our sleeping-place, you know."

"Better sleep to-night in the large attic, Master Robin, perhaps," suggested Brownie, but she looked relieved at the boys' emphatic refusal of her offer. The attic wanted clearing out; no one had slept there since the Browns took possession, and it was a veritable ark of lumber. "And I've Miss Jan's room to get ready," thought the old woman.

Jan herself was only too eager to help the boys in their preparations; a camper she intended to be from morn till eve; only for the nights would she condescend to the shelter of a roof. Guide as she was, too, her services proved invaluable; with the boys she collected fuel for the fire as to the manner born; dry bark and chips were collected for kindling purposes, and larger pieces of dead wood for the blaze later on. The sun was not strong enough at that time in the afternoon for the fire to be lighted by the help of the burning-glass that Robin always carried, but a single match sufficed in his practised hands; then, when the flame was safely spluttering, he left the fire to the tender mercies of his sister, and the two boys turned their attention to the preparation of a sleeping-place.

"It's miles too late to get through with a real hut," said Robin. "We're likely to be on this Island for a while, and we might spend some of our time in building a real good one. What do you say to working up for our Pioneer Badge while we're here, Peter? Good idea, don't you think?"

Peter nodded; he was rather unusually silent, and was evidently thinking something out.

"For to-night we'd better see about a temporary shelter"—Robin was busily engaged in pulling armfuls of bracken as he spoke; "there's a likely tree-trunk over there, and we might lay one of our staves against that fork that comes some way up the trunk. We'll need a jolly lot of bracken to thatch it across, so you and Jan had better both come along here and pull some. It'll be better than sleeping in the attic to spend the night under the stars."

Peter nodded again; then he spoke. "About that attic, Robin," he said, "didn't you twig from the way Brownie spoke, that there is something mysterious about the place?"

CHAPTER IV

"I never knew such a chap as you for getting ideas into your head," said Robin. "Mysterious! Why? you've got mysteries on the brain, it seems to me!"

"Be prepared!" quoted Peter with twinkling eyes.

"Oh, all serene; but 'be prepared' for to-night too, if you've no objection," the old campaigner spoke dryly. "You don't exactly want to get a chill before morning, do you, and be compelled to sleep at the Cottage till the end of the camp?"

This idea struck Peter as sound; he fell to, therefore, with a will. Jan came along, too, having first set one of the boys' dixies on the now blazing camp-fire. "Suppose you'll want your supper after this, won't you?" she asked.

"Rather, I should say so," but the two boys were too busy to talk much. Already the night shelter was beginning to look quite professional. One of the scout-staves was laid against and bound to the trunk of a straight young tree; the framework thus formed was thatched very closely with leafy boughs and bracken, and the whole bivouac was complete.

"It's simply perfect," remarked Jan, surveying the results of their labours with glowing eyes.

"And perfectly simple," added Peter; but Robin, as Captain of the campers, was anxious to set them both to work again as soon as possible.

"We've got the temporary shelter pitched all right," he said, "with its back away from the wind; but we'll want a trench dug all round it. Suppose there's heavy rain in the night, and we get flooded out! Not that I think there will be, but we'll be prepared."

"Now I see why you would have the camp on a slope, old chap," said Peter, coming up. "The trench will carry the water straight down to the river. Jolly neat idea."

The digging of the small ditch took the rest of the boys' energies; about three inches deep they made it. Meanwhile Jan installed herself as camp-cook, and began preparations for the first meal of all. After a flying visit to Island Cottage she returned with a saucepan, a jug of milk, and a loaf of bread, as well as three new-laid eggs. The milk was boiled in the saucepan, and the eggs were cooked in the dixie of hot water. Jan was trying her best to make three slices of rather smoky toast, and burning her cheeks badly in the endeavour, when the boys—their labours over for a time—approached the camp-fire.

Suppers are nearly always welcome; but this particular supper was voted the rippingest on record. And, afterwards, as the day slowly faded to dusk, the three sat in the firelight saying very little but enjoying, every one of them, the magic of the late summer evening in their own particular way. The spell was broken at last by a little shiver from Jan, and Robin jumped up. "Here, it's time we fetched a rug or two, Peter, from the Cottage. And, Jan, Brownie will have your room ready by this time. We will take you home, and then we'll turn in ourselves."