Nan Sherwood at Palm Beach; or, Strange adventures among the orange groves

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 NAN SHERWOOD
 AT
 PALM BEACH

 OR

 STRANGE ADVENTURES AMONG
 THE ORANGE GROVES

 BY

 ANNIE ROE CARR

 Author of "Nan Sherwood at Pine Camp," "Nan
 Sherwood's Winter Holidays," "Nan Sherwood
 at Rose Ranch," etc.

 _ILLUSTRATED_

 NEW YORK
 GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
 PUBLISHERS




 BOOKS FOR GIRLS

 BY
 ANNIE ROE CARR

 THE NAN SHERWOOD SERIES

 NAN SHERWOOD AT PINE CAMP
  Or The Old Lumberman's Secret
 NAN SHERWOOD AT LAKEVIEW HALL
  Or The Mystery of the Haunted Boathouse
 NAN SHERWOOD'S WINTER HOLIDAYS
  Or Rescuing the Runaways
 NAN SHERWOOD AT ROSE RANCH
  Or The Old Mexican's Treasure
 NAN SHERWOOD AT PALM BEACH
  Or Strange Adventures Among the Orange Groves

 GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY
 NEW YORK

 COPYRIGHT 1921, BY
 GEORGE SULLY & COMPANY

 _Nan Sherwood at Palm Beach_

 _Printed in the U. S. A._


[Illustration: The music carried them far away on golden wings of
melody. (_See page 190_)]




 CONTENTS


 CHAPTER                                                         PAGE

 I.      THE CRASH ON THE HILL                                     1
 II.     NEARLY A TRAGEDY                                         13
 III.    THE OLD LADY                                             20
 IV.     SOLVING A PROBLEM                                        27
 V.      CALLED TO ACCOUNT                                        34
 VI.     A GLORIOUS PROSPECT                                      41
 VII.    IN THE DORMITORY                                         47
 VIII.   ON THE ROAD                                              55
 IX.     THE JOY OF GIVING                                        62
 X.      A MIDNIGHT FEAST                                         69
 XI.     A DANGEROUS PLOT                                         76
 XII.    ALMOST A DISASTER                                        85
 XIII.   THE WILY STRANGER                                        94
 XIV.    GREAT EXPECTATIONS                                      104
 XV.     WE'RE OFF!                                              114
 XVI.    FUN AND NONSENSE                                        123
 XVII.   THE MYSTERIOUS MEN                                      131
 XVIII.  A STARTLING REVELATION                                  138
 XIX.    AN ATTEMPTED THEFT                                      147
 XX.     THOSE MEN AGAIN                                         156
 XXI.    THE BEGINNING OF ROMANCE                                165
 XXII.   PALM BEACH AT LAST                                      173
 XXIII.  A TROPICAL PARADISE                                     181
 XXIV.   NAN IS FRIGHTENED                                       188
 XXV.    MOONLIGHT                                               198
 XXVI.   WORTH A FORTUNE                                         208
 XXVII.  WALTER TO THE RESCUE                                    217
 XXVIII. CAUGHT                                                  228
 XXIX.   "WHEN THE SPIRIT MOVES"                                 237




 ILLUSTRATIONS


 The music carried them far away on the golden wings of melody
     (Page 190)                                       _Frontispiece_

                                                         FACING PAGE

 The three girls bent eagerly over Mrs. Bragley as she opened one
     paper after another                                          66
 Nan's eyes were following the figures of two men strolling down
     the deck                                                    140
 He pushed Nan from him with such force that she stumbled and
     fell                                                        216




 NAN SHERWOOD
 AT PALM BEACH




 CHAPTER I

 THE CRASH ON THE HILL


"Smooth as glass!" ejaculated Nan Sherwood, as she came in sight of
Pendragon Hill and noted the gleaming stretch of snow and ice that ran
down to the very edge of Lake Huron.

"And you're the girl that said coasting time would never, _never_ come,"
laughed her chum, Bess Harley, who was walking beside her with her hand
on a rope attached to a bobsled that four girls were drawing.

"Never is a long word," admitted Nan. "I didn't quite mean that; but the
weather's been so mild up to now that I was getting desperate."

"Nan registering desperation," put in Laura Polk, she of the red hair
and irrepressible spirits.

Laura struck an attitude of mock desperation, but the effect was marred
when her foot slipped and she went down with a thump.

Her laughing mates helped her to her feet and brushed the snow off her
dress.

"The wicked stand on slippery places," quoted Grace Mason mischievously.

"Yes," Laura came back, as quick as a flash, "I see that they do, but I
can't."

The shout of laughter that followed atoned somewhat for her loss of
dignity--although she had not lost much, for Laura and dignity were
hardly on speaking terms.

Laughing and chattering, all trying to talk at once and all succeeding,
the bevy of light-hearted girls reached the top of the hill.

Before them stretched Lake Huron, extending farther than their eyes
could see.