Mrs. Seaman, whose mystery stories for boys and girls of from ten to sixteen years old have been so successful, with this new book will add a new group to her admirers, namely, the very little boys and girls between the ages of six and ten years. For "Melissa-Across-the-Fence" was written especially for these small readers.

Melissa's mother was a seamstress who lived in a very small house, but next door to it was a very grand mansion in which no one lived. And then one day all was hustle and confusion in the great house as servants and trunks moved in. But the house still remained a mystery to Melissa, who gazed at it from her window. Then one day a small face appeared at a bay window, and a little boy held up a paper with huge letters on it for Melissa to read. His message said: "I am so lonely." And Melissa answered with equally large letters on her toy blackboard.

The author unfolds a touching and absorbing story in which Melissa and the little boy in the grand house are the chief figures.

From the dust jacket