The Betty Gordon Series by Alice B. Emerson 1920-1932

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The Betty Gordon Series was published by Cupples and Leon from 1920 through 1932.  The series was written by several different people under the pseudonym of Alice B. Emerson, a pseudonym that was also used for the Ruth Fielding series.

List of Titles

  1. Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm, 1920
  2. Betty Gordon in Washington, 1920
  3. Betty Gordon in the Land of Oil, 1920
  4. Betty Gordon at Boarding School, 1921
  5. Betty Gordon at Mountain Camp, 1922
  6. Betty Gordon at Ocean Park, 1923
  7. Betty Gordon and Her School Chums, 1924
  8. Betty Gordon at Rainbow Ranch, 1925
  9. Betty Gordon in Mexican Wilds, 1926
10. Betty Gordon and the Lost Pearls, 1927
11. Betty Gordon on the Campus, 1928
12. Betty Gordon and the Hale Twins, 1929
13. Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm, 1930
14. Betty Gordon on No-Trail Island, 1931
15. Betty Gordon and the Mystery Girl, 1932 

Betty Gordon/Ruth Fielding Poll Results

Here are the results to the Betty Gordon/Ruth Fielding poll:

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Do you like Betty Gordon or Ruth Fielding better?

Betty Gordon (have read only Betty Gordon) - 0 votes - 0%

Betty Gordon (have read both series) - 8 votes - 33.3%

Ruth Fielding (have read only Ruth Fielding) - 13 votes - 54.2%

Ruth Fielding (have read both series) - 3 votes - 12.5%

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Since the Betty Gordan and Ruth Fielding series were cross-promoted and are generally collected by the same group of people, this poll's purpose was to determine whether people prefer one series over the other.

I can draw several conclusions. First, more people collect Ruth Fielding than Betty Gordon. This is probably because the Ruth Fielding books are much easier to find and because Mildred Wirt Benson wrote some of the Ruth Fielding books, making them popular among Nancy Drew collectors.

Second, most people have only read the Ruth Fielding books, probably for the above reasons.

Third, of the 11 respondents who have read both series, 72.7% like Betty Gordon better and 27.3% like Ruth Fielding better. What this means to me is that the Betty Gordon series probably is a little better overall than the Ruth Fielding series since people seem to prefer it when they have read both series.

I have read both series, and I like the Betty Gordon series better. I do have to admit, though, that the last five to ten Ruth Fielding books are about as good as the Betty Gordon series. The reason I do not like the Ruth Fielding series better is because the first half of the Ruth Fielding series is kind of bland. Those books are worth reading in order to get the full story of the Ruth Fielding series, but they are a bit boring at times.

The Early Betty Gordon Dust Jackets

All fifteen volumes of the Betty Gordon series were printed with this style of dust jacket:


For a time, I thought that the above dust jacket was the only type of dust jacket used for the Betty Gordon series. After I learned of an earlier format, I began trying to find one and was finally able to purchase one of them:


I was beginning to wonder when I would ever be able to find one. I was happy that no one else bid on the auction. I made some good purchases in December!

Since this dust jacket is for volume six, I can safely assume that at least volumes one through six were printed with this style of dust jacket. These dust jackets are very scarce and much harder to find than the second style of dust jacket.

Notice that RUTH FIELDING is quite LARGE on the dust jacket. This is a good example of the heavy cross promotion of the Betty Gordon and Ruth Fielding series.

Betty Gordon is a mostly unknown early series and one of my favorites. I feel like all series book enthusiasts should check out Betty Gordon. Follow this link

http://www.readseries.com/joslaw/bgch1.htm

for the text of the first Betty Gordon book. Many of the early series books are in the public domain and are readily available online without having to spend a cent.

Betty Gordon Prices

I decided to look at what I paid for each of my Betty Gordon books, which are pictured in my previous post. Some of the prices were kept down by buying books that were part of larger lots. Large lots of books are always the way to go if a collector wishes to keep costs down and does not mind having to sell the extras.

I rounded the prices to the nearest dollar.

#1 Bramble Farm - $15
#2 Washington - $9
#3 Land of Oil - $15
#4 Boarding School - $25
#5 Mountain Camp - $6
#6 Ocean Park - $15
#7 School Chums - ?
#8 Rainbow Ranch - $5
#9 Mexican Wilds - ?
#10 Lost Pearls - $32
#11 Campus - $27
#12 Hale Twins - $28
#13 Mystery Farm - $22
#14 No-Trail Island - $46
#15 Mystery Girl - $40

I do not have record of what I paid for School Chums and Mexican Wilds, but my cost for each would most likely have been under $15 each.

#12, 13, and 14 are the hardest titles to find. I consider #14 to be the very hardest title to find. It was the title that was elusive for me, and I was pleased when I won an auction and paid only $46. I was prepared to pay quite a bit more, but the other bidders did not bid very high. The low demand for this series keeps the prices down. I sold an extra of #15 earlier this year for around $70, so it sometimes sells for higher amounts even though it is easier to find than the previous three titles.

My Betty Gordon Books

I recently upgraded three of my Betty Gordon books. My set is finally beginning to look pretty good on the shelf:


Of course this means that I once again have some Betty Gordon books with dust jackets to sell. I also have an extra of Betty Gordon and the Mystery Girl in dust jacket which has a nicer spine than mine but the front panel is slightly worse. My extra of Mystery Girl is my second extra of that title, but I have failed to upgrade the one in my collection both times since the extras have not been better to my satisfaction. Perhaps I will upgrade it, someday. I'd also like to upgrade Rainbow Ranch and Mystery Farm eventually.

The books that I upgraded are Lost Pearls, Campus, and Hale Twins, so sometime soon I will sell those titles with dust jackets. I also have an extra of Mystery Farm that does not have a dust jacket, and as previously mentioned, I have an extra of Mystery Girl with dust jacket.

When I first assembled my set of Betty Gordon books, I had to settle for several titles in bare books without dust jackets. I also had to be satisfied with several rough condition dust jackets. The Betty Gordon series is a somewhat difficult set to build, so it is necessary to settle for books and jackets that are not in top condition unless one wishes to spend years trying to build a set.

The Betty Gordon and Ruth Fielding series were heavily cross-promoted, so they are like sister series. This is why I have a poll asking which of the two series people like better. I'm not surprised that Ruth Fielding has more votes, since the Ruth Fielding books seem to be much more abundant. However, I feel that the Betty Gordon series is a better series overall, from start to finish. The Ruth Fielding series is quite good towards the end, but I feel that the earlier titles are much weaker than the later titles. Once my poll ends, I'm going to create a more specific poll about the two series. I suspect that the people who voted that they like Ruth Fielding better may not have read both series. I have read both and like Betty Gordon better.

Final Thoughts on the Betty Gordon Series

I finished reading the Betty Gordon series. The last books in the series are not as good as the earlier books, but this does not mean that the last books are not good. The earlier books are outstanding, and the later books are just good or very good.

Volumes 1 through 11 are the ones that I consider to be outstanding. Most of these books had me hooked immediately and held my interest from beginning to end. There is one instance in which I had trouble getting into one of the first 11 books, and this occurred in Betty Gordon at Ocean Park. I found Sally Cutler's description of her father's circus to be overlong and tedious. The description takes up all of Chapter 3 and should have been cut done to a couple of pages at most. In all fairness, the book is a children's book, and the description would certainly have been of more interest to a child. Otherwise, I have no complaints about the first 11 books.

Volume 12, Betty Gordon and the Hale Twins, interested me greatly until the Hale twins are abandoned and thrust into Betty's care. From this point, the book centers a bit too much on the toddlers, and Betty and Bob are forced to act like parents as they care for the children. Their responsibility rather hinders them in their adventures. This is why series book heroes and heroines normally do not have young children in their care.

I had some trouble getting into volume 13, Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm, because of the strong Kentucky mountain dialect, as stated in a previous post. However, the book greatly redeemed itself by the second half, and Betty had some splendid adventures in some spooky passageways. I will remember Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm as a very good book.

I also greatly enjoyed volume 14, Betty Gordon at No-Trail Island, but I do have a complaint with the plot. The one vital piece of information about the whereabouts of Mrs. Britton's missing papers is completely ignored by Uncle Dick, Betty, and Bob the entire time that they search for the papers. On page 37, Mrs. Britton tells them that her husband exclaimed, "Martha! Papers under—" just as he died. This information is never mentioned again as the young people search for the papers. It never occurs to them to search for the papers under something. They search in a haphazard fashion, and it is quite by accident that the papers are found on page 201, under something. Nancy Drew would have done better; at least she would have remembered Mrs. Britton's comment and followed up on it.

Volume 15, Betty Gordon and the Mystery Girl, is another story that I had a little trouble getting into and caring about the plot. It had a weaker plot than most of the books in the series, but I did overall enjoy the story.

I enjoyed the Betty Gordon series more so than the Ruth Fielding series. My primary problem with the Ruth Fielding series is that Ruth is too independent, so there isn't quite as much jolly interaction between Ruth and her friends as there is between Betty and her friends. Also, Ruth's best friend, Helen Cameron, tends to be a bit annoying at times, kind of like Penny Parker's best friend, Louise Sidell.

In closing, I would highly recommend the Betty Gordon series to other series book enthusiasts. I will add a Betty Gordon section to my series book site soon. I need to finish writing around five of the summaries. I enjoyed each book so much that I was more interested in reading than in writing summaries.

Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm

I have finished reading Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm. The book did begin to redeem itself by around halfway through it. Overall, I ended up enjoying the book by the end. The "Kentucky mountain dialect" became more bearable the further into the book I read, and the story became more compelling. In one scene, I greatly enjoyed the dialect, simply because the entire scene was so ludicrous. From pages 100-101:

"Watch her!" jeered the old man bitterly. "Her kind needs watching. So clean and r'aring to get eddicated. My oldest sis wuz like that thirty years ago. Just as purty a gal! Just as—" he gulped and covered his unwilling emotion with a mutter. "But the eddication she got down civilization way ruined her and she turned agin her kin to marry a Stolling!" He spat out the word venomously. "And she dared to come and live with the varmint in these here mountains. I filled his arm full of shot once, but I could nevah reach his heart."

Betty looked at the man in horror, but he went on: "You'd bettah skip out and leave the farm to them as has a bettah right to it, for my dead sistah's spirit air roaming through the rooms a-crying for the sin she darst to do agin her own blood kin."

With this amazing statement, the big mountaineer started to stalk disdainfully away. But Bob restrained him.

"Look here!" cried the boy angrily. "It is you who should leave, not I. The farm belongs to me. What do you mean by talking in such a fashion? You're on my land right now, and I don't care for any of your insolence. Now go and don't let me catch you or your son hanging around here again or I will call the sheriff."

"You'd call the sheriff, huh? Ha! things have come to a purty pass when a feller cain't walk on his own land. This land should be mine, I tell you."

The mountaineer was working himself into a towering rage.

"Should be and being are two different things," said Bob coolly.

The man raised his gun to his shoulder, thought better of it, then, glowering, turned away, too full of rage for speech. But before the laurel bushes hid him from view he threw a parting shot: "My time air coming, youngster! And watch that woman! She and my sistah air made of the same tan bark!"

"Bogy-man! Bogy-man!" shrilled the boy, sticking his tongue at them before he, too, disappeared in the laurel.

"What disagreeable people!" cried Betty.

The sad thing is that I actually know a few people like that.

The first few chapters of the book were uninteresting and, at times, not very well-written. For instance, pages 13 and 14 contain this horrible paragraph:

It was fun to wander with Bob along the beautiful streets of Cleveland. It was fun to visit the different shops and ask Bob's opinion as to color and weight. It was fun to help select Bob's outfit. It was fun to pile their purchases into the car and hunt an ice-cream parlor. It was fun to linger over the tall parfait glasses and exchange confidences and plan for the trip into the Kentucky mountains, for Betty and Bob had had many good times together since they had first met at Bramble Farm.

Okay, I get it—it was fun. Now, can we move on?

Dialect in Old Series Books

The old series books often have exaggerated dialect in them. Most frequently the dialect is "negro dialect" and is very unflattering to the character who speaks the dialect. Sometimes the dialect is that of a foreigner, such as a Chinese person, or that of someone who lives in the mountains or in the Deep South. I almost always find the various dialects to be extremely annoying because the words are spelled phonetically and have to be sounded out in order for the reader to interpret what the word is supposed to be. I am the type of person who prefers to read stories in which the words are spelled correctly. So to me, the dialects are pointless distractions from the story. Additionally, the dialects are almost always rather offensive.

I am now reading Betty Gordon at Mystery Farm. Betty Gordon, Bob Henderson, and Uncle Dick travel to the mountains of Kentucky to inspect a property that Bob has inherited. I am having to endure the "Kentucky mountain dialect" on almost every page of this book. I'm not used to seeing hit for it and sot for set—at least I think sot means set—I could be wrong. Needless to say, the dialect is obnoxious and slows down my reading. I will say that it is a little easier for me now since I'm around a third of the way through the book. However, I still don't like it.

Here is one sample from page 28:

"Hit's this-a-way, stranger. Thar's abandoned coal mines underneath. I heerd you-all coming down thar and I told Ramsey I knowed you wouldn't see hit quick enough, noway. I reckon you-all haven't been here afore? Have you?"

And another quote from page 32:

"I hope you won't think hard on me, for Gus is powerful sot agin me and my pappy. He called we-alls thieves. I reckon he ain't got no call to say that, noways. Me and my pappy nevah took nothing of his'n. You say now that the farm is yourn?"

I could give many more examples. I am glad that this book wasn't the first in the series. If it had been the first book, I might not have ever picked up another Betty Gordon. I am beginning to agree with people who have stated that the last few titles in the Betty Gordon series are not as good as the earlier titles. The series does seem to be on the decline with the books that I am currently reading.

To go back to the subject of dialects and how much they annoy me—it is in part because of the grossly-exaggerated "negro" dialects of Sam and Dinah that I have never been able to stomach reading the Bobbsey Twins books. I remember picking up one of the earliest Bobbsey Twins books, and Dinah spoke in such a way that it was extremely difficult to follow. Additionally, I noticed a certain word, which was spoken by Dinah, spelled phonetically on one page, and then spelled correctly when spoken by Dinah just a couple of pages later. It disgusted me that the author would belittle the character in such a way and not even be able to be consistent about it.

I did read and enjoy several of the revised-text Bobbsey Twins books as a child, so I am aware that the books are worthwhile. However, I remain unmotivated to build a set. I do not like the series books which were written for younger children quite as much as the ones which were written for older children.

The National Road

Having lived entirely in the South, I had never heard of the National Road until I read about it in Betty Gordon and the Hale Twins. This is one of the reasons I love series books; I am always learning something new. As Uncle Dick, Betty, and Bob travel on the National Road, Uncle Dick tells them about it:

"I doubt if many Americans know that the National Road is one of the greatest wagon roads in the world and was, at one time, the most widely known and heavily traveled road in the United States. In the old days, before the time of the 'steam king,' the coachman, blowing his bugle at every town, would dash up to the tavern, handling his four matched horses with masterly art. He would bring the latest gossip from the east or the news from the west while the teams were changing, then he would dash away over the mountains to the next tavern. Of course the stage-coach driver was a romantic figure to all children."

Uncle Dick goes on to explain that the road was planned to run from Cumberland, Maryland, to St. Louis, passing through Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and Illinois, but that the western part of the road was never finished.

On page 44:

"Oh, look!" exclaimed Betty. "What are those queer, little octagonal houses, Bob? I've noticed a number of them along the way."

"I've been wondering myself," replied Bob.

"Those are toll-houses," Richard Gordon explained. "In the olden days when the National Road was in the height of its power and glory, these toll-houses, supplied with strong iron gates swung to massive iron posts, were located about fifteen miles apart to enforce the payment of tolls for the upkeep of the National Road. A few of these toll-houses, relics of olden times, remain and are now kept up by the D. A. R."

This was all very interesting to me. I found some information about the National Road on several websites, including the National Road Heritage Corridor. I also found pictures of couple of the toll houses on this page of that site.

Betty Gordon Learns a Lesson

I am now reading Betty Gordon and the Lost Pearls, which is volume 10 in the 15 title Betty Gordon series. In this book, Betty Gordon learns a valuable lesson about accepting rides from strange men. From pages 33-35:

"My name is Walter Brisket and my buddy's name is Sidney Gold," said the darkly handsome young man, taking a cigarette from a little blue and gold pasteboard box. He lighted the cigarette and leaned familiarly toward Betty, fixing his bold, questioning eyes upon her face.

"How about a date this evening?" he inquired. "The minute I set eyes on you I said, 'That is the girl for me!' "

"Oh!" exclaimed Betty, startled. She moved a little closer to Norma. Alice glanced back and Betty was aware that her friend's face was white with anxiety.

The car dashed madly on at the rate of sixty miles an hour.

Walter Brisket laughed loudly and edged nearer to Betty. "Must not spring the shy violet act. It isn't done these days, you know."

"Please sit over," demanded Betty, suddenly losing her temper. "I'm not springing any kind of an act and I'm not making dates. All I want is to get to Maysville. I shall gladly pay you for your trouble if you'll only behave yourself and get us there."

Walter Brisket laughed loudly.

"Pretty little spitfire! Pay? Pay? Your payment is goin' to be a kiss and I'm goin' to get payment in advance!"

He seized the indignant girl in his arms. Betty felt his foul breath upon her cheek, and she screamed in terror.

As Betty Gordon cried out in terror Alice and Norma screamed in sympathy. The whole affair seemed like some dreadful nightmare to the three schoolgirls.

Sidney Gold chuckled wickedly to himself and stepped on the gas. The car shot forward at such terrific speed that it swayed from side to side and was in danger of overturning.

"Make her kiss you, Walt!" Gold cried, with a grin. "Have your fun. You always were a winner with the girls!"

Fortunately, Betty, Alice, and Norma are able to escape from the automobile before anything does happen. Even so, this scene is quite unusual for a series book, particularly one from 1927. I am finding the Betty Gordon series to be remarkable in a number of different ways.

I continue to greatly enjoy the Betty Gordon series. So far I like the Betty Gordon series better than the Ruth Fielding series. On my ratings scale of 1 to 5 that can be found in a previous post, I would give the Betty Gordon series at least a 4. I still feel like the Betty Gordon series has a lot more in common with Trixie Belden than it does with Nancy Drew. Even so, the Betty Gordon series is a definite precursor to the Nancy Drew series. It is interesting to see how bits and pieces of both Ruth Fielding and Betty Gordon became Nancy Drew.

Betty Gordon and the Peabodys

When Betty and Bob left Bramble Farm during Betty Gordon in Washington, it troubled me that they left Mrs. Peabody behind with her mean, miserly husband. I felt like it was a stray loose end that needed tying. The one common thread through most all series books is that unhappy people who deserve happiness always manage to achieve some level of happiness. I wanted so much for something to happen to make things better for Mrs. Peabody!

During Betty Gordon in Mexican Wilds, Betty and Bob briefly revisit the Peabodys at Bramble Farm. They don't stay with the Peabodys; after all, Mr. Peabody hates them, and they are hardly welcome at the farm. Rather, Betty and Bob stay with Dr. Guerin and his family and go with Dr. Guerin one afternoon to Bramble Farm. I was very pleased that during Betty and Bob's brief visit with Mr. Peabody a confrontation occurred that resulted in Mrs. Peabody finally having something go right for her. I won't get into the specifics here as I don't want to spoil any details. The end result is that Mrs. Peabody's situation at the farm was going to be better from that point on and that she would have to put up with less out of Mr. Peabody.

I am so pleased that the series finally tied up that one loose end from the first two books.

Betty Gordon - The Prototype for Trixie Belden

In the past, I have read comments that Betty Gordon and her friends Bobby and Libbie are prototypes for Nancy, Bess, and George of the Nancy Drew series. While this is true to an extent, I see Betty Gordon more as a prototype for Trixie Belden. As I read the first book, Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm, I was especially struck by several strong similarities to the Trixie Belden series. I continue to notice similarities as I now read the sixth book, Betty Gordon at Ocean Park.

In Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm, Betty goes to stay at Bramble Farm, which is run by a mean old miser, Mr. Peabody. Mr. Peabody keeps a poorhouse boy, Bob Henderson, whom he beats ruthlessly. Betty and Bob become close friends and decide to run away from Bramble Farm.

In the Trixie Belden series, Trixie Belden lives on a farm named Crabapple Farm. Additionally, in Trixie Belden and the Secret of the Mansion, a mean old miser, Mr. Frayne, lives near Trixie's home. Mr. Frayne's nephew, Jim Frayne, shows up on the Frayne property looking for his uncle. Jim has run away from home in order to escape from his cruel stepfather who beats him. This makes Jim the victim of cruelty just like Bob Henderson. It is also hinted at times that Trixie is Jim's special girl. Likewise, I get the impression that Betty Gordon and Bob Henderson may eventually be more than just friends.

Betty Gordon's personality is very similar to Trixie's personality. Trixie angers easily, often fails to think before she makes thoughtless statements, and has a knack for taking chances and getting herself into trouble. Trixie is also a tomboy. In Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm, Betty remarks, "I haven't really played with dolls since we moved from the city. I like outdoor things." Later, Betty confesses, "I have a temper, Uncle Dick. I get so raging mad! If I don't tell you, some one else will, or else you'll see me 'acting up,' as Mrs. Arnold says, before you go. So I thought I'd better tell you."

On pages 12-13 of Betty Gordon at Ocean Park, Betty Gordon is described as follows:

Impulsive she was, and rather daring and reckless, but her determination and her ability to carry through a thing once it was begun, tempered that natural impatience and impulsiveness. Her character was more rounded than that of most girls of her age, and she won the confidence of older people because of such attributes.

Some of the banter between Betty and her friends reminds me of the banter between Trixie Belden and the other Bob-Whites. On page 9 of Betty Gordon at Ocean Park, Betty's friend Louise exclaims, "Elucidate, Miss Know-It-All!" I can't help thinking of Mart Belden.

Betty Gordon attends Shadyside School, and the name reminds me of Trixie Belden's hometown of Sleepyside. Trixie Belden attends Sleepyside Junior-Senior High. Last, Betty is about the same age as Trixie Belden. Betty is twelve years old at the beginning of the first book and is thirteen to fourteen years old by the sixth book.

The First Four Betty Gordon Books

I am nearly finished with the fourth Betty Gordon book. So far, I have been very impressed with this series. The early Ruth Fielding books were good but not great, and the series got better as it progressed. The early Betty Gordon books are great, and I dare to say that they may even be outstanding. They are well-written, highly-interesting stories.

The authors for the Betty Gordon series were Josephine Lawrence for #1-4, 7, and 9; W. Bert Foster for #5 and 6; Elizabeth M. Duffield Ward for #8; and Eunice W. Creager for #10-15. I have read that the series is uneven because of the different authors and that the later volumes are not as good as the earlier volumes. It will be interesting to see whether this is true.

I do know that the early volumes are excellent and are well worth reading. I am enjoying them greatly. The easiest way for me to measure how much I like a series book is to consider how long it takes me to read the book. I find that I want to resume reading these early Betty Gordon books at any available opportunity. I am reading them more rapidly than I read the early Ruth Fielding books.

A few quotes from Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm

Betty Gordon is a sassy, impetuous 12 year old girl. She reminds me a lot of Trixie Belden. Like Trixie, Betty speaks before she thinks and is very hot-tempered, particularly when she witnesses injustice. Betty is sent to live with Mrs. Peabody, an old school friend of her uncle, and Mrs. Peabody's husband is a mean old miser. On page 87, Mr. Peabody scolds Bob, a poorhouse boy who works for him, for getting back a little late.

"You take that pail of whitewash and don't let me see you again till you get the pig house done, you miserable, sneaking poorhouse rat! You'll go without dinner to pay for wasting my time like this! Clear out now."

"How dare you!" Betty's voice was shaking, but she stood up in the wagon and looked down at Mr. Peabody bravely. "How dare you taunt a boy with what he isn't responsible for? It isn't his fault that he was born in the poorhouse, nor his fault that we're late. I made him stop and help put a buggy wheel on. Oh, how can you be so mean, and close and hateful?"

Betty later scolds herself for sinking to Mr. Peabody's level and tells herself that she is living in his house, even though she hates it, and she has no right to be disrespectful to him.

The first few books in the Betty Gordon series were written by Josephine Lawrence, who also wrote the Riddle Club books. The Riddle Club books are generously sprinkled with humor, and this first book in the Betty Gordon series has the same type of humor. On pages 100-101, Betty's impulsiveness creates a very funny tableau:

She woke in the dark to hear a noise directly under her bed!

She sat up, her eyes trying to pierce the darkness, wondering why she had not taken the precaution of looking under the bed before she locked herself into a room with a burglar.

"If I look now and see his legs, I'll faint away, I know I shall," she thought, her teeth chattering, though the night was warm. "I wish to goodness Uncle Dick had sent me a revolver."

That reminded her of the shotgun downstairs. With Betty to think was to act, and she sprang noiselessly out of bed and ran to the door. Thank goodness, the bolt slipped without squeaking. Downstairs ran Betty and lifted the heavy shotgun from its place over the mantel. She was no longer afraid, and her eyes sparkled with excitement. She was having a grand adventure. She had shot a gun a few times under Mr. Arnold's instructions and careful supervision when he was teaching his boys how to handle one, and she thought she knew all about it.

She gained her room, breathless, for the gun was heavy. At the threshold she stopped a moment to listen. Yes, there was a the noise again. The burglar was unaware of her flight.

Unaware herself of the absurdity of her deductions, Betty raised the heavy gun and pointed it toward the bed. As well as she could tell, she was aiming under the bed. She shut her eyes tight and fired.

The gun kicked unmercifully, and Betty ejaculated a loud "Ow!" which was lost in the babble of sound that immediately followed the shot. There was a the sound of breaking glass under the bed, a shrill scream from Mrs. Peabody, and the thunderous bellow of Mr. Peabody demanding: "What in Sam Hill are those varmints up to now?" Evidently he attributed the racket to Wapley and Lieson, who had been known to come home late from Glenside.

In a few minutes they were all gathered at Betty's door, Bob open-mouthed and speechless, the two men sleepily curious, the Peabodys loudly demanding to know what the matter was.

It turns out that there wasn't a burglar under Betty's bed, but I won't spoil it by revealing exactly what it was.

Betty Gordon at Bramble Farm

Page 42:

The letter rambled on for several pages, complaining rather querulously of hard times and the difficulties under which the writer and her husband managed to "get along."

"Doesn't sound like Agatha, somehow," worried Uncle Dick, a slight frown between his eyes. "She was always a good-natured, happy kind of girl. But most likely she can't write a sunny letter. I know we used to have an aunt whose letters were always referred to as 'calamity howlers.' "

I had to laugh at the name "calamity howlers," used to describe a letter in which the writer bemoans all of his problems. I immediately thought of the Howlers in the Harry Potter books, except a calamity howler would howl about the writer's misfortunes!