Keene Carolyn

Jean and Louise Dana are given a valuable study lamp by their Uncle Ned. The girls plan to place it in their study room at Starhurst when they return for their sophomore year. But before the girls leave, the lamp is stolen! After the sisters return to Starhurst, they discover the lamp in a secondhand shop and buy it back. Unwittingly, the girls make an enemy of their classmate, Lettie Briggs, not only because the girl had planned to buy the lamp but because the Danas' room is the one Lettie wanted to have at Starhurst. The Danas are overjoyed when they discover that their friend Evelyn Starr has returned to Starhurst. Evelyn's family once owned Starhurst, but Evelyn and her brother now have very little money, and Evelyn is unsure that she can pay for the tuition. The Danas hope that they can find a way to help Evelyn stay at Starhurst, little realizing that the solution to Evelyn's problem is held within the antique study lamp.

Miss Tisdale, Jean and Louise Dana's favorite teacher, disappears mysteriously one afternoon. The Danas search for clues and discover her car abandoned on a nearby road. The key is still in the ignition, and there are signs of a struggle. Miss Tisdale has been abducted! Jean and Louise learn that Miss Tisdale has been supporting her widowed twin sister, who has been disowned by their parents ever since she married. Mrs. Brixton is being threatened by her husband's former partner, and the Danas suspect that this man is responsible for Miss Tisdale's strange disappearance. The police cannot be contacted, because Miss Tisdale's father is in frail health and the shock of her disappearance could kill him. The Danas seek Uncle Ned Dana's help in tracking down Miss Tisdale, and the three Danas undertake their difficult mission without assistance.