Ever since his father had been lost at sea, Jeptha Brewster had gradually accepted the changes in his life. Then one day Jeptha read a notice in the weekly paper: "The former Samuel Custer residence on Route 1, Janesville Beach, has been leased by Miss Beatrice Pomeroy of New York and London." Jeptha was overcome with curiosity about the "new people." He'd heard they were a mad housesold with a rather strange boy about Jeptha's age, Indian servants, and a chained cheetah, of all things! These unusual people captured his imagination and broadened his viewpoint. He discoverd in John a friend with loyalty to match his own. And between them they worked out a wonderful solution for two familites who had faced tragedy and learned to rise above it. A classic children's book by Marguerite Vance, originally published in 1960.