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                             DOROTHY DALE'S
                              GREAT SECRET


                                   BY
                            MARGARET PENROSE

      AUTHOR OF "DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY," "DOROTHY DALE AT
                         GLENWOOD SCHOOL," ETC.


                              ILLUSTRATED


                                NEW YORK
                         CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY




                        THE DOROTHY DALE SERIES
                          By Margaret Penrose

                          Cloth. Illustrated.

                     DOROTHY DALE: A GIRL OF TO-DAY
                    DOROTHY DALE AT GLENWOOD SCHOOL
                      DOROTHY DALE'S GREAT SECRET

                     (Other Volumes in preparation)


                   CUPPLES & LEON COMPANY    NEW YORK


                          Copyright, 1909, by
                         Cupples & Leon Company

                      Dorothy Dale's Great Secret




                                CONTENTS


  CHAPTER                                                           PAGE
  I. An Automobile Ride                                                1
  II. Tavia Has Plans                                                 17
  III. A Cup of Tea                                                   28
  IV. The Apparition                                                  39
  V. An Untimely Letter                                               47
  VI. On the Lawn                                                     55
  VII. At Sunset Lake                                                 63
  VIII. A Lively Afternoon                                            72
  IX. Dorothy and Tavia                                               79
  X. Leaving Glenwood                                                 88
  XI. A Jolly Home-Coming                                             96
  XII. Dorothy is Worried                                            109
  XIII. Little Urania                                                118
  XIV. The Runaway                                                   129
  XV. A Spell of the "Glumps"                                        139
  XVI. Dorothy in Buffalo                                            147
  XVII. At the Play                                                  161
  XVIII. Behind the Scenes                                           172
  XIX. The Clue                                                      183
  XX. Dorothy and the Manager                                        195
  XXI. Adrift in a Strange City                                      205
  XXII. In Dire Distress                                             211
  XXIII. The Secret--Conclusion                                      231




                      DOROTHY DALE'S GREAT SECRET




                               CHAPTER I
                           AN AUTOMOBILE RIDE


"There is one thing perfectly delightful about boarding schools,"
declared Tavia, "when the term closes we can go away, and leave it in
another world. Now, at Dalton, we would have to see the old schoolhouse
every time we went to Daly's for a pound of butter, a loaf of bread--and
oh, yes! I almost forgot! Mom said we could get some bologna. Whew! Don't
your mouth water, Dorothy? We always did get good bologna at Daly's!"

"Bologna!" echoed Dorothy. "As if the young ladies of Glenwood School
would disgrace their appetites with such vulgar fare!"

At this she snatched up an empty cracker box, almost devouring its
parifine paper, in hopes of finding a few more crumbs, although Tavia had
poured the last morsels of the wafers down her own throat the night
before this conversation took place. Yes, Tavia had even made a funnel of
the paper and "took" the powdered biscuits as doctors administer headache
remedies.

"All the same," went on Tavia, "I distinctly remember that you had a
longing for the skin of my sausage, along with the end piece, which you
always claimed for your own share."

"Oh, please stop!" besought Dorothy, "or I shall have to purloin my hash
from the table to-night and stuff it into--"

"The armlet of your new, brown kid gloves," finished Tavia. "They're the
very color of a nice, big, red-brown bologna, and I believe the
inspiration is a direct message. 'The Evolution of a Bologna Sausage,'
modern edition, bound in full kid. Mine for the other glove. Watch all
the hash within sight to-night, and we'll ask the girls to our
clam-bake."

"Dear old Dalton," went on Dorothy with a sigh. "After all there is no
place like home," and she dropped her blond head on her arms, in the
familiar pose Tavia described as "thinky."

"But home was never like this," declared the other, following up
Dorothy's sentiment with her usual interjection of slang. At the same
moment she made a dart for a tiny bottle of Dorothy's perfume, which was
almost emptied down the front of Tavia's blue dress, before the owner of
the treasure had time to interfere.

"Oh