"I don't hear it," said Sam. "Perhaps it doesn't ring."
"Probably it rings in the back of the house," answered his big brother.
Again the boys waited, and while they did so all heard talking at a distance.
"Somebody in the kitchen, I guess," said Tom. "Maybe we had better go around there. Some country folks don't use their front doors excepting for funerals and when the minister comes."
Leaving their dress-suit cases on the piazza, the Rover boys walked around the side of the farmhouse in the direction of the kitchen. The building was a low and rambling one and they had to pass a sitting-room. Here they found a window wide open to let in the fresh air and sunshine.
"Now, you must go, really you must!" they heard in a girl's voice. "I haven't done a thing this afternoon, and what will papa say when he gets back?"
"Oh, that's all right, Minnie," was the answer in masculine tones. "You like us to be here, you know you do. And, remember, we haven't seen you in a long time."
"Yes, I know, Mr. Flockley, but"
"Oh, don't call me Mr. Flockley. Call me Dudd."
"Yes, and please don't call me Mr. Koswell,"
