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kept Ben from going through there,” Mandie said.
    â€œBut we were only taking a shortcut to school in order to get back before the curfew bell. And Mrs. Taft herself kept us here that late, so I don’t think Mrs. Taft will be too upset about it,” Celia said.
    Mandie looked at Celia and said, “You’re right. I hadn’t thought about that. It was my grandmother who almost made us late in getting back to school. We were having a conversation about Mollie’s visit here, and no one noticed the time until Grandmother suddenly looked at the clock and rushed us off back to school.”
    â€œIt’s good you girls had Ben with you, because I understand that is a deserted warehouse area, and all kinds of tramps hang out there,” Tommy said to the girls. “Even the boys at our school are forbidden to go there.”
    â€œWe wouldn’t have been there without Ben because he was the one who knew the shortcut through there,” Mandie said. “What is in those warehouses in that alley? Ben only said it was businesses of some kind.”
    Robert laughed and said, “I doubt there’s much business going on down that alley. It’s just old dilapidated warehouses that ought to be torn down.”
    â€œAnd how do you know that?” Celia asked teasingly.
    â€œWell, I don’t know anything about it for sure, just what I’ve heard and what Mr. Chadwick said when he put it off limits for our school,” Robert explained.
    â€œIf the place is isolated and no one lives or works there, I wonder what a puppy was doing in there. I know I heard a puppy whine while we were standing on the street after the rig broke down,” Mandie said.
    â€œIt was probably a stray dog of some kind,” Tommy said.
    â€œIt sounded like a small puppy, and I’ve been wanting to go back and see about it,” Mandie said.
    â€œOh no, I wouldn’t go back in there if I were you. There might be bums hanging around those old buildings,” Tommy quickly told her.
    â€œIt would be all right to go there in the daytime to look for that puppy, wouldn’t it?” Mandie asked.
    â€œNo, no, bums don’t just pack up and leave wherever they are staying when it gets daylight. No, I’d say stay away from there,” Tommy replied.
    Later, as everyone sat around the dining table, Mandie thought about the conversation with Tommy. Should she attempt to go back in that alley and look for the puppy?
    Mollie had come back to the parlor holding Hilda by the hand, practically dragging the girl along with her, just as Mrs. Taft led the group to the dining room for the evening meal. Aunt Rebecca had immediately taken charge and placed the two girls on either side of her at the table, to Mandie’s relief. She and Celia wanted a chance to talk to Tommy and Robert without interruptions from Mollie.
    And while Mandie talked with Tommy, she tried to watch her grandmother and Miss Prudence to figure out whether the schoolmistress had told Mrs. Taft about their shortcut through the alley. The adults were involved in their own conversation, and Mollie and Hilda were interested in their food.
    Then Mandie realized the boys knew where the alley was, and if she could find out the location from them, then she and Celia wouldn’t have to go all over town looking for it. That is, if they decided to take a chance and go back.
    â€œThis alley isn’t really very far from our school, is it?” Mandie asked Tommy as she laid down her fork.
    â€œOnly a few blocks from Main Street, actually. Go north on King Street and you run right into it,” Tommy explained. “Mr. Chadwick had made it clear to us about the exact location so we couldn’t say we wandered down there by mistake.”
    â€œAnd I don’t suppose you fellows ever have done that?” Mandie asked with a grin.
    Tommy laughed and said, “Keep this secret, but that is the first thing we did. Most of