Chapter I: Front Matter

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Transcriber's note:

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The Mary Lou Series

THE MYSTERY AT DARK CEDARS

by

EDITH LAVELL

A. L. Burt Company Publishers New York Chicago

The Mary Lou Series by EDITH LAVELL

The Mystery at Dark Cedars The Mystery of the Fires The Mystery of the Secret Band

Copyright, 1935, by A. L. Burt Company Printed in the United States of America

_To My Daughter_
Jeanne Marie Lavell
_Who loves mystery stories_

Contents

CHAPTER PAGE
I. The House of Mystery 11
II. The Robbery 26
III. Suspects 41
IV. Interviewing Hannah 52
V. The Stolen Treasure 63
VI. A Wild Ride 76
VII. "Hands Up!" 90
VIII. A Confession 101
IX. The Fifty-Dollar Bill 114
X. Night at Dark Cedars 126
XI. The Picnic 142
XII. Bound and Gagged 156
XIII. Detective Work 168
XIV. Bad News 181
XV. An Alibi 193
XVI. Spreading the Net 204
XVII. The Empty House 215
XVIII. Found! 228
XIX. Conclusion 243

_Characters_

Mary Louise Gay a girl detective.
Jane Patterson her chum.
Miss Mattie Grant spinster at Dark Cedars.
Elsie Grant orphan, niece of Miss Grant, living at Dark Cedars.
Mrs. Grace Grant sister-in-law to Miss Grant.
family of Mrs. Grace Grant.
John Grant middle-aged bachelor
Harry Grant younger bachelor
Ellen Grant Pearson married daughter
Corinne Pearson granddaughter, girl of nineteen
Hannah and William Groben servants at Dark Cedars.
Mr. Gay, Mrs. Gay, Joseph (Freckles) Gay family of Mary Louise.
Max Miller, Norman Wilder, Hope Dorsey, Bernice Tracey friends of
Mary Louise.
Mrs. Abraham Lincoln Jones a colored woman.
Mira a gypsy fortune teller.
Silky Mary Louise's dog.