CHAPTER XVI
ONE MYSTERY EXPLAINED
Meantime, Cecily Marlowe, immured in the lonely house, had been having an experience all her own. And when the girls came to see her, the day after the visit to the ship, she too was bursting with news. But she quietly waited till they had told their own tale, and was as puzzled as they about the strange translation of the characters on the bracelet. Of anything pertaining to China or the Chinese she had not the remotest notion, and could not understand how it could have any connection with her affairs.
“Now you must hear my story,” she began, when they had discussed the newest development till there was nothing left to discuss. “It’s about Miss Benedict. She has—but just wait, and I’ll begin at the beginning. It was two nights ago, and she had one of t
