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We’ll start at ten o’clock,” Donna Mae said. “I’ll tell Bess and George.”
    At ten Alex drove to the front door in a station wagon. When the girls from River Heights came out they wore pastel summer cottons.
    “How pretty you all look!” Alex remarked as he alighted to help the girls in. Then to Nancy, who stood to one side, he whispered, “Please sit next to me. I want to talk to you about the mystery.”
    “Oh, there’s plenty of time for that,” Nancy replied coolly, ignoring the invitation. “Donna Mae just wants us to have fun today.” She deliberately climbed into the rear seat, where Bess and George would sit.
    As they neared the city, Donna Mae, next to Alex, directed him to a fine old street in the residential area. She asked him to stop in front of a two-story, balconied yellow house. The property was surrounded by a wrought-iron fence with an oleander pattern. In the garden beyond were several magnolia trees and oleander bushes. Bess gave a sigh of admiration.
    “The oleander blossom,” Donna Mae explained, “is the city flower of New Orleans. The juice of the bush itself is poisonous, you know.”
    “Why are we stopping here?” Alex asked her.
    “Madame Dupre, who lives here, rents costumes for the Mardi Gras,” Donna Mae replied. “Her selection is exceptional and the costumes unique.”
    Alex decided to remain in the car while the girls went inside. It took only a few minutes to choose their costumes. At Donna Mae’s insistence her friends would represent fairies in the play. They would wear white, fluffy tulle ballet dresses with wings attached. George grumbled that she was going to feel very silly in hers.
    “I hardly think I rate wings, anyway!” she said wryly. “And the costume reminds me of dancing school when I was four years old!”
    Donna Mae had her way, however. The costumes were packed and the girls walked outside with the boxes. To their amazement Alex and the station wagon were not in sight.
    “Now where did he go?” asked Donna Mae, annoyed.
    Minutes later Alex returned and explained that he had been doing some sight-seeing while waiting for them.
    “We’ll tour the old city first,” said Donna Mae, “and then lunch at Antoine’s.”
    The Vieux Carré, or old city, was nestled on the east bank of the Mississippi. The modern city of New Orleans spread beyond it for some distance. Alex parked and the tour began on foot.
    The visitors were intrigued by the narrow streets and sidewalks, the ancient shops and restaurants, and the homes with their heavy wooden doors and iron hinges and locks.
    The two- and three-story buildings looked delightfully quaint with their lovely wrought-iron railings. Boxes of bright-colored flowers dotted the porches. Here and there were open gates leading to charming old-fashioned courtyards.
    “Visitors are welcome to walk in and look around,” Donna Mae announced as she led the way into one of the gardens.
    “Oh, how artistic!” Bess exclaimed
    The flagstone courtyard was decorated with tubs of flowering bushes in full bloom. In the center a fountain played and at the far side a curved stone stairway led upward to a flower-decked balcony. The warm tropical sunshine lent an air of tranquility to the scene.
    “It’s heavenly, simply heavenly!” Bess sighed.
    As the sight-seers left the quaint spot, Donna Mae said, “Nancy, you and the girls will surely want to see the haunted house. It’s famous in this area.”
    “What makes it haunted?” Bess asked quickly.
    “Well,” began Donna Mae, “a long, long time ago there was a fire in the old house. The owner and his wife were not there when it happened, so firemen and neighbors broke in and saved what furniture they could. To their horror they found slaves chained in the attic.
    “When the owner and his wife heard that their dreadful cruelty had been discovered, they ran away. But it’s said that the ghosts of those slaves haunt the place.”
    “I don’t think I want to see