露易丝从代理人佩吉关于农场前主人维格的讲述中发现诸多疑点，她向约翰叔叔说了自己的大胆猜测却被他断然否定，于是露易丝打算自己私下调查清楚此事。她想到埃塞尔·汤普森可能了解真相，决定把她邀请来。
Louise Merrick was the eldest of Uncle John's nieces，having just passed her eighteenth birthday.In the city she was devoted to the requirements of fashionable society and—urged thereto by her worldly—minded mother—led a mere butterfly existence.Her two cousins frankly agreed that Louise was shallow，insincere and inclined to be affected；but of the three girls she displayed the most equable and pleasant disposition and under the most trying circumstances was composed and charming in manner.For this reason she was an agreeable companion，and men usually admired her graceful ？gure and her piquanta，pretty face with its crown of f luffyb blonde hair and winning expression.There was a rumor that she was engaged to be married to Arthur Weldon，a young man of position in the city；but Uncle John ignored the possibility of losing one of his cherished nieces and declared that Louise was still too young to think of marriage.
When away from her frivolousc mother and the inconse—quent home environments the girl was more unaffected and natural in her ways，and her faults were doubtless more the result of education than of natural tendency.
One thing was indisputable，however：Louise Merrickwas a clever girl，possessing a quick intellect and a keen insight into the character of others.Her apparent shallowness was a blind of the same character as her assumed graciousness，andwhile she would have been more lovable without any pretencea or shamb she could not have been Louise Merrick and allow others to read her as she actually was.Patsy and Beth thought they knew her，and admired or liked rather than loved their cousin.Uncle John thought he knew her，too，and was very proud of his eldest niece in spite of some discovered qualities that were not wholly admirable.
An extensive course of light literature，not void of "detective stories，"had at this moment primed Louise with its in？uence to the extent of inducing her to scent a mystery in the history of Captain Wegg.The plain folks around Millville might speculate listlessly upon the "queer doin's"at the farm，and never get anywhere near the truth.Indeed，the strange occurrences she had just heard were nearly forgotten in the community，and soon would be forgotten altogether—unless the quick ear of a young girl had caught the clue so long ignored.
At first she scarcely appreciated the importance of the undertaking.It occurred to her that an effort to read to the bottom of the sea captain's romance would be a charming diversion while she resided atc Millville，and in undertaking the task she laughingly accused herself of becoming an amateur detective—an occupation that promised to be thrilling and delightful.
Warned，however，by the rebuffa she had met with from Uncle John，the girl decided not to confide either her suspicions or her proposed investigation to anyone for the present，but to keep her own counsel until she could surprise them all with the denouementb or required assistance to complete her work.
Inspired by the cleverness and fascination of this idea，Louise set to work to tabulatec the information she had received thus far，noting the element of mystery each fact evolved.First，Captain Wegg must have been a rich man in order to build this house，maintain two servants and live for years in comfort without any income from his barren farm lands.What became of his money after his death？Why was his only son obliged to fly to the cities in order to obtain a livelihood？
Secondly，the Captain，a surly and silent man，hadbrought hither—perhaps by force—a young woman as his wife who was so unhappy that she pined away and died.Who was this woman？What had rendered her so unhappy and despairing？