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Show CHAPTER XXI - 139 •- Jim and Athena Standish had been away from home almost five weeks and everything at Gaven House was more or less at a standstill until their return. girls Tom had driven the1 to the early service at church on Sunday, and after lunch they went into their father's study to relax. Trips to the public library were not made so often now because they had discovered the many easily accessible volumes. Mr. Gaven had been a prolific reader and his books were numerous. A great deal of them were written in French, but jim had also added quite a few of his favorites. With their parents away they enjoyed browsing amongst the many interesting volumes. There was an unusual quiet around the house. Tom was active outdoors with his gardening and other jobs while Maddie was constantly busy indoors. Dixie dozed on the floor at their feet. Penny could not concentrate on her reading, no matter how hard she tried. Her thoughts were on Claudine and Dirk as her eyes strayed to the booklined walls, the ceiling and the windows.If she went back, in her mind, and retraced all the events that had happened since the ghost had first appeared to her, perhaps she could come across something that might help her solve the mystery of Dirk's disappearance. She went over and sat down at on her father's big desk where he worked . his business In the evenings. Taking a pad of paper and pencil she jotted down, in outline form, everything she could think of. She carefully went over all the circumstances that had occurred, her conversations with Claudine, Tom, Maddie and Chang Lin, but anything definite eluded her. She traced her thoughts to when she had been transported back to the young lovers' time. The various places she and the ghost had met, the house, the garden. She tried to place in her mind the people she had seen at Claudine's wedding, the garden party, the engagement celebration, but outside of Claudine"s parents, Andre" , Dirk and Maddie,no one else registered in |