flowers, and the girls used to help him.

"As I heard the story, he has been for a long time searching for a rare
orchid that is said to grow around here. He never could find it until one
day, by chance, an old colored man came in with a crumpled and wilted
specimen, mixed in with some other stuff he had. Mr. Madison saw it, and
grew excited at once, wanting to know where it had come from.

"The colored man told him as well as he could, and Mr. Madison decided to
set off in search of this flower--if an orchid is a flower?" and the
clerk looked questioningly at the girls.

"Oh, indeed it is a flower, and a most beautiful one," Ruth assured him.

"Well, Mr. Madison was about to start off on a little expedition, when he
was taken ill. He was much disappointed, as some naturalist society had
offered him a big prize for a specimen of this particular plant.

"Then the girls, wishing to help their father, said they would go in
search of it. They owned a good-sized motor boat, and had often gone off
before, remaining several days at a time. They know how to take care of
themselves."

"That's the kind of girls I like," declared Alice. "It seems doubly hard
on them, though, that they should be lost."

"And lost they are," concluded the clerk. "Not a word has been heard of
them since they set off into the wilds. When they did not come back,
after several days, Mr. Madison organized a searching party. But, beyond
a few traces of the girls, nothing could be found."