CHAPTER XXVII 



Philip's hunt 



Since Tommy and his father saw the strange 

 girl, Philip Todd has been out looking for her 

 almost every day. He has sat in the woods watch- 

 ing about old trees and shrubs, and he has even 

 been to Secret Valley. It isn't often he goes there, 

 and this time he looked around for her until his 

 ideas got twisted, and he took a wrong path to 

 get back to the pool. He never reached the pool 

 again. 



It was about four o'clock in the afternoon when 

 he gave up looking for her, and he didn't hurry as 

 he went along the wrong path. He came to a 

 place where there were the greatest number of 

 white flowers. He thought they had been asleep 

 and were just awakening; for every minute or so 

 one that looked like a bud would slowly open. 



" They're a lazy lot," Philip thought, " even 

 if they are pretty. A great time in the day this 

 to be peeping open. They're more drowsy than 

 Spring Beauty." 



It was cool and still in the woods where these 

 flowers were, and Philip thought as he could not 

 find the strange girl, he might just as well watch 



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