Hour of Enchantment: A Mystery Story for Girls

In Short

Set during the Century of Progress exposition, this juvenile mystery follows Florence Huyler and her friend Petite Jeanne as they become entangled with an elusive, long-eared thief who leaps across suspended cable lines to steal ancient Chinese relics. While Florence tracks a three-bladed, jewel-encrusted knife and its missing temple treasures, Jeanne takes a job posing as a movie star on a fairground studio lot. Combining local atmosphere with fast-paced intrigue, the story celebrates youthful independence, resourcefulness, and the power of loyalty. Its blend of technological wonders and theatrical spectacle has kept it a charming piece of period fiction.

The Story

The adventure opens high above the Chicago World’s Fair. Florence Huyler, standing atop a six-hundred-foot tower on the Sky Ride, spots a enigmatic Chinese man wearing a yellow coat and umbrella who possesses remarkably long ears. Before her eyes, the man performs a breathtaking tightrope walk across the high-altitude steel cables over the crowd. He drops into the lagoon below, leaving behind a trail of mystery and a jewel-encrusted, three-bladed knife used in ancient temple rituals to ward off evil spirits.

Florence soon joins forces with Erik Nord, an adventurer raised in China who has been attempting to recover stolen Mongolian art treasures, including the knife, an ancient bell, and silk banners. They discover that the long-eared man is desperate to reclaim these items to break a drought and curse affecting his village. Meanwhile, Florence’s close friend, Petite Jeanne—a girl raised by gypsies who possesses a flair for light opera and drama—encounters Jensie Crider, a young mountain girl from Kentucky working night shifts at the replica Rutledge Tavern in the Lincoln Group exhibit.

Through Jensie, Jeanne meets cinema actress Lorena LeMar. Disillusioned with public life and eager to join a luxury yachting trip, LeMar convinces Jeanne to act as her double. Jeanne steps onto the fairground movie lot, posing as LeMar to film a historical feature about Abraham Lincoln's early life. Facing demanding directors and the pressure of live audiences in the grandstands, Jeanne relies on Jensie’s knowledge of the southern mountains to capture the authentic spirit of the role.

Throughout her acting stint, strange occurrences haunt the group: footsteps echo through dark exhibits, an old reed organ plays ghostly melodies at midnight, and a phantom hearse appears near the Lincoln group. At the same time, Florence pursues the long-eared thief across the fairgrounds in a series of close encounters, chasing him across the lagoon in a motorboat and eventually facing him aboard an old, floating wooden ship off the shores of Lake Michigan. Standing her ground on the vessel, Florence refuses to give up the sacred knife.

When the movie wraps up, Jeanne’s performance is revealed to be a triumph. At the grand premiere under the floodlights, she declines a lucrative contract, choosing to remain true to her humble roots as Petite Jeanne. She reveals that she had hidden the missing Chinese bell and banners inside a ordinary laundry bag checked at a local hotel. With the artifacts safely returned to Erik Nord to be sent back to China, Jensie receives the funds needed to attend college, and the friends part ways after an unforgettable season.

How It Unfolds

A tightrope walk in the sky Florence Huyler looks out from a Sky Ride tower and witnesses a long-eared man in a yellow coat balancing on high cables, drawing the gaze of thousands before he vanishes into the night.

Echoes at Rutledge Tavern Jeanne meets Jensie Crider, a mountain girl maintaining the Lincoln Group exhibits, and the girls hear a mysterious organ melody playing in the dark, deserted room at midnight.

A secret double takes the stage Hollywood star Lorena LeMar convinces Jeanne to take her place on a fairground movie lot, prompting Jeanne to throw herself into playing a historical drama about Abraham Lincoln.

Chasing shadows across the lagoon Florence and Erik Nord pursue the long-eared thief in a small motorboat across open waters, eventually getting rescued by friendly local fishermen when their motor stalls.

The battle on the old ship Confronted on a towed wooden vessel off the lake shore, Florence stands up to the long-eared man, refusing to hand over the sacred three-bladed knife.

Curtain call and secrets revealed Following a triumphant movie premiere, Jeanne reveals she had stored the stolen Chinese banners and bell in a checked laundry bag, successfully returning them so they can be sent home.

The People

• Florence Huyler is a brave, practical, and observant young woman working on the Enchanted Island. She wants to solve the mystery of the stolen artifacts, facing direct danger on high towers and open waters to protect those around her.
• Petite Jeanne is an expressive, impulsive girl raised by gypsies. She longs for theatrical artistic expression and adventure, taking on the role of a movie star's double while remaining fiercely loyal to her humble identity.
• Jensie Crider is an earnest, hard-working girl from the Kentucky mountains who manages the Lincoln exhibit. She wants to earn enough money to attend a country college, acting as the emotional and historical anchor for Jeanne's film role.
• Erik Nord is a worldly young adventurer raised in China. He seeks to recover stolen temple artifacts and return them to their original homes, acting as Florence's brave ally throughout the search.
• The Long-Eared Chinaman is a skilled performer and thief who seeks the three-bladed knife, bell, and banners, believing their return is vital to save his home village from drought and bad fortune.

In Its Own Voice

“Tall towers glowing like shafts of white hot metal, great structures changing color like giant chameleons, now pink, now yellow, now pale blue, fountains of fire leaping up from the gleaming surface of the lagoon.”

Florence and Jeanne gaze out at the Century of Progress exposition, captivated by its brilliant lights and modern architecture.

“Death like an overflowing stream / Sweeps us away. Our life’s a dream, / An empty tale, a morning flower / Cut down and withered in an hour.”

Jeanne recites an old religious song inside the quiet dark of Rutledge Tavern, capturing the solemn historical memory of the frontier.

“Priests of Buddha fight demons, that knife. White man take knife, take bell, take banners. Now demons come back.”

The long-eared intruder explains the spiritual urgency driving his attempt to reclaim the stolen ritual items.

What It's Really About

Beneath its swift adventure beats, the book explores the tension between modern theatrical spectacle and authentic human value. The Fair grounds present a stark contrast: high-tech steel towers and commercial film sets stand directly alongside humble historical reconstructions like the Lincoln cabin. Jeanne's refusal to keep her stolen movie identity shows that personal integrity matters more than celebrity status. Meanwhile, the story treats cultural artifacts with moral weight, presenting the long-eared man not merely as a thief, but as someone driven by a duty to restore balance to his home community.

Why Read It Today

This novel offers an atmospheric glimpse into 1930s popular fiction, rich with period detail from the Chicago World's Fair. Readers who enjoy vintage juvenile mysteries will appreciate the fast movement, atmospheric settings, and independent female protagonists who handle their own crises without relying on adult intervention. The book moves briskly through strange encounters, midnight organ music, and movie-set drama, keeping its narrative simple, clear, and direct.

Modern readers should note that the text reflects the racial stereotypes and melodramatic dialect common in early twentieth-century series fiction. The portrayal of international characters relies on dramatic tropes of the period. However, for those interested in historical fairgrounds, early cinema setups, and traditional American adventure series, the book remains an entertaining time capsule of classic mystery writing.