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diff --git a/.gitattributes b/.gitattributes new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6833f05 --- /dev/null +++ b/.gitattributes @@ -0,0 +1,3 @@ +* text=auto +*.txt text +*.md text diff --git a/10465-0.txt b/10465-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..d7c84c5 --- /dev/null +++ b/10465-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,5733 @@ +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10465 *** + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + +OR + +CAMPING AND TRAMPING FOR FUN AND HEALTH + +BY LAURA LEE HOPE + +1913 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I A FLUTTERING PAPER + + II THE TRAMPING CLUB + + III JEALOUSIES + + IV A TAUNT + + V AMY'S MYSTERY + + VI THE LEAKY BOAT + + VII TO THE RESCUE + + VIII CLOSING DAYS + + IX OFF ON THE TOUR + + X ON THE WRONG ROAD + + XI THE BARKING DOG + + XII AT AUNT SALLIE'S + + XIII THE MISSING LUNCH + + XIV THE BROKEN RAIL + + XV "IT'S A BEAR!" + + XVI THE DESERTED HOUSE + + XVII IN CHARGE + + XVIII RELIEVED + + XIX A LITTLE LOST GIRL + + XX THE BOY PEDDLER + + XXI THE LETTER + + XXII A PERILOUS LEAP + + XXIII THE MAN'S STORY + + XXIV BY TELEGRAPH + + XXV BACK HOME + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A FLUTTERING PAPER + + +Four girls were walking down an elm-shaded street. Four girls, walking +two by two, their arms waist-encircling, their voices mingling in rapid +talk, punctuated with rippling laughter--and, now and then, as their +happy spirits fairly bubbled and overflowed, breaking into a few waltz +steps to the melody of a dreamy song hummed by one of their number. The +sun, shining through the trees, cast patches of golden light on the stone +sidewalk, and, as the girls passed from sunshine to shadow, they made a +bright, and sometimes a dimmer, picture on the street, whereon were other +groups of maidens. For school was out. + +"Betty Nelson, the idea is perfectly splendid!" exclaimed the tallest of +the quartette; a stately, fair girl with wonderful braids of hair on +which the sunshine seemed to like to linger. + +"And it will be such a relief from the ordinary way of doing things," +added the companion of the one who thus paid a compliment to her chum +just in advance of her. "I detest monotony!" + +"If only too many things don't happen to us!" This somewhat timid +observation came from the quietest of the four--she who was walking with +the one addressed as Betty. + +"Why, Amy Stonington!" cried the girl who had first spoken, as she tossed +her head to get a rebellious lock of hair out of her dark eyes. "The very +idea! We _want_ things to happen; don't we, Betty?" and she caught the +arm of one who seemed to be the leader, and whirled her about to look +into her face. "Answer me!" she commanded. "Don't we?" + +Betty smiled slightly, revealing her white, even teeth. Then she said +laughingly, and the laugh seemed to illuminate her countenance: + +"I guess Grace meant certain kinds of happenings; didn't you, Grace?" + +"Of course," and the rather willowy creature, whose style of dress +artistically accentuated her figure, caught a pencil that was slipping +from a book, and thrust it into the mass of light hair that was like a +crown to her beauty. + +"Oh, that's all right, then," and Amy, who had interposed the +objection, looked relieved. She was a rather quiet girl, of the +character called "sweet" by her intimates; and truly she had the +disposition that merited the word. + +"When can we start?" asked Grace Ford. Then, before an answer could be +given, she added: "Don't let's go so fast. We aren't out to make a +walking record to-day. Let's stop here in the shade a moment." + +The four came to a halt beneath a great horsechestnut tree, that gave +welcome relief from the sun, which, though it was only May, still had +much of the advance hint of summer in it. There was a carriage block near +the curb, and Grace "draped herself artistically about it," as Mollie +Billette expressed it. + +"If you're tired now, what will you be if we walk five or six miles a +day?" asked Betty with a smile. "Or even more, perhaps." + +"Oh, I can if I have to--but I don't have to now. Come, Betty, tell us +when we are to start." + +"Why, we can't decide now. Are you so anxious all of a sudden?" and Betty +pulled down and straightened the blue middy blouse that had been rumpled +by her energetic chums. + +"Of course. I detest waiting--for trains or anything else. I'm just dying +to go, and I've got the cutest little traveling case. It--" + +"Has a special compartment for chocolates; hasn't it, Grace?" asked +Mollie Billette, whose dark and flashing eyes, and black hair, with just +a shade of steely-blue in it, betrayed the French blood in her veins. + +"Oh, Grace couldn't get along without candy!" declared Betty, with a +smile. + +"Now that's mean!" exclaimed Grace, whose tall and slender figure, and +face of peculiar, winsome beauty had gained her the not overdrawn +characterization of "Gibson girl." "I don't see why Billy wants to always +be saying such horrid things about me!" + +"I didn't say anything mean!" snapped Mollie, whose pseudonym was more +often "Billy" than anything else. "And I don't want you to say that I +do!" Her eyes flashed, and gave a hint of the hidden fire of temper which +was not always controlled. The other girls looked at her a bit +apprehensively. + +"If you don't like the things I say," she went on, "there are those who +do. And what's more--" + +"Billy," spoke Betty, softly. "I'm sure Grace didn't mean--" + +"Oh, I know it!" exclaimed Mollie, contritely. "It was horrid of me to +flare up that way. But sometimes I can't seem to help it. I beg your +pardon, Grace. Eat as many chocolates as you like. I'll help you. Isn't +that generous?" + +She clasped her arms about the "Gibson-girl," and held her cheek close to +the other's blushing one. + +"Don't mind me!" she cried, impulsively. Mollie was often this way--in a +little whirlwind of temper one moment, and sweetly sorry for it the +next, albeit her little spasms of rage were never serious, and seldom +lasted long. + +"Forgiven," murmured Grace. "But I am really anxious to know when we can +start our Camping and Tramping Club. I think the idea is perfectly +splendid! How did you come to think of it, Betty?" + +"I got the idea from a book--it isn't original by any means. But then +I always have been fond of walking--out in the country especially. +Only it isn't so much fun going alone. So it occurred to me that you +girls would like to join. We can take a nice long tramp the first +opportunity we get." + +"Just us four?" asked Grace. + +"No, not necessarily. We can have as many members as we like." + +"I think four is a nice number," spoke Amy. She was rather shy, and not +given to making new friends. + +"We four--no more!" declaimed Mollie. "Suppose we do limit it to +four, Betty?" + +"Well, we can talk of that later. And I do so want to talk of it. I +thought we'd never get out of school," and the four who had just been +released from the Deepdale High School continued their stroll down the +main street of the town, talking over the new plan that had been proposed +that morning by Betty Nelson--the "Little Captain," as she was often +called by her chums, for she always assumed the leadership in their fun +and frolics. + +"Will we just walk--walk all the while?" asked Grace. "I'm afraid I +shan't be able to keep up to you girls in that case," and she swung about +on the sidewalk in a few steps of a mazy waltz with Amy. + +"Of course we won't walk all the while," explained Betty. "I haven't all +the details arranged yet, but we can set a certain number of miles to +cover each day. At night we'll stop somewhere and rest." + +"That's good," sighed Grace, with a glance at her small and daintily +shod feet. + +"Oh, here comes your brother Will!" Betty called to her. + +"And that horrid Percy Falconer is with him," went on Mollie. "I--I can't +bear him!" + +"He's seen Betty--that's why he's hurrying so," spoke Grace. "Probably +he's bought a new cane he wants to show her." + +"Stop it!" commanded Betty, with a blush. "You know I can't bear him any +more than you girls can." + +"You can't make Percy believe that--my word!" and Mollie imitated the +mannerism perfectly. For young Falconer, be it known, was partial to good +clothes of a rather flashy type, and much given to showing them off. He +had very little good sense--in fact, what little he had, some of his +enemies used to say, he displayed when he showed a preference for pretty +Betty Nelson. But she would have none of his company. + +"I don't see why Will wants to bring him along," remarked his sister +Grace, in a petulant tone. "He knows we don't like him." + +"Perhaps Will couldn't help it," suggested Amy. + +"That's nice of you to say, Amy," commented Grace. "I'll tell Will--some +time when I get a chance." + +"Don't you dare! If you do I'll never speak to you again!" and the pink +surged to a deeper red in Amy's cheeks. + +"Betty'd much rather have Will pick up Allen Washburn," remarked Mollie, +in decisive tones. "Wouldn't you, Bet?" + +"Oh, please don't say such things!" besought Betty. "I don't see why you +always--" + +"Hush, they'll hear you," cautioned Grace. "Let's pretend we don't see +them. Hurry up! I've got a quarter, and I'll treat you to sodas. Come on +in Pierson's drug store." + +"Too late!" moaned Billy, in mock-tragic tones. "They are waving to +us--we can't be too rude." + +Will Ford, the brother of Grace, accompanied by a rather overdressed +youth slightly older, had now come up to the group of girls. + +"Good afternoon!" greeted Percy Falconer, raising his hat with an +elaborate gesture. "Charming weather we're having--my word!" Percy rather +inclined to English mannerisms--or what he thought were such. + +"Hello, Sis--and the rest of you!" said Will, with a more hearty, and +certainly a more natural, air. "What's doing?" + +"Grace was going to treat," said Amy slowly; "she is so good about +that--only--" + +"Oh, girls! This is on me!" exclaimed Percy. "I shall be delighted. May I +have the honor?" and again he took off his hat with an elaborate bow. + +"Shall we?" Betty telegraphed this question to her friends with her +eyes. + +"Take the goods the gods provide," murmured Grace. "I can save my quarter +for another time." + +With a rather resigned air Betty followed her chums into the drug store +and presently all were lined up before the marble-topped counter. + +"The soda's delicious to-day," murmured Grace. "I've a good notion to get +some fudge," and she began toying with a little silver purse. + +"Save your money for our club," advised Mollie. "Did you hear of our +expedition?" she asked Will. + +"No, what's that? Are you going to try for the East or West pole?--seeing +that the North and South ones have been captured," and he laughed, +thereby getting some of the soda down his "wrong throat." + +"Serves you right," murmured his sister, as he coughed. + +"Betty is going to form a Camping and Tramping Club," went on Amy. + +"Fine!" exclaimed Percy. "Are you going to take gentlemen? If so, +consider my application." + +"Oh, we really mean to _walk_!" exclaimed Grace, with a glance at +the too-small patent leather shoes the overdressed youth thrust +out ostentatiously. If he understood the allusion he gave no sign +of so doing. + +"What's the game, Sis?" asked Will, quizzically. + +"Why, it isn't anything very elaborate," explained Betty, as she finished +her soda. "It occurred to me that, as school closes exceptionally early +this year, some of us girls could go for a two weeks' tramping tour +before our regular summer vacation." + +"And we're all in love with the idea," declared Amy. + +"Twenty miles a day is our limit," added Mollie, smiling behind the +youth's back. + +"Twenty miles!" faltered Percy. "You never can do it--never!" + +"Oh, yes, we can," said Betty, assuredly. + +"Now do you still wish to join?" asked Grace, pointedly, glancing at +Percy. + +"You never can do twenty miles!" affirmed Percy. "Let's have some more +soda!" he added quickly, to change the subject. + +To the credit of Grace Ford, who was really very fond of sweets, be it +said that she refused, and that with the mocking eyes of all the girls +fastened on her. + +"I've had enough," spoke Betty. "You walk with me," she whispered to +Amy. "I don't want Percy to bore me. Stay near me, do!" + +"I will," promised Amy. + +Balked of his design to stroll beside Betty, Percy was forced to be +content with Mollie, and she, with malice aforethought, talked at him in +a way he could not understand, but which, the other girls overhearing, +sent them into silent spasms of laughter. + +"Don't you find it troublesome to carry a cane all the while?" Mollie +asked him, sweetly ignorant. + +"Oh, I don't _have_ to carry it," he said quickly. + +"Don't you? I thought on account of not being able to walk--" + +"Why, Mollie--I can walk all right." + +"Oh, I misunderstood you. You said twenty miles was too much." + +"I meant for girls." + +"Oh, then you carry the cane for dogs." + +"No, indeed. I'm not afraid of dogs." + +"He doesn't know she's 'spoofing' him--I believe that is the proper +English word; isn't it?" whispered Grace, who was with her brother. + +"Correct, Sis." + +"Whatever did you want to bring him along for?" + +"Couldn't help it. He fastened to me when I came out of school, and I +couldn't shake him off. Is Bet mad?" + +"You know she doesn't like him." + +"Well, tell her it wasn't my fault, when you get the chance; will you? I +don't want to get on her bad books." + +"I'll tell her." + +"I say, Sis, lend me a quarter; won't you? I'm broke." + +"You had the same allowance that I did." + +"I know, but I need just that much to get a catching glove. Go +on--be a sport." + +"I--" + +"Don't say you haven't got it. Weren't you going to treat the crowd when +I brought Percy along and let you sting him?" + +"Such horrid slang!" + +"Go on, be a sport! Lend me the quarter!" + +Grace produced it from her purse. There were several other coins in it. + +"Say, you're loaded with wealth! Where'd you get it?" + +"I just didn't spend it." + +"Go on! And you with a two-pound box of chocolates--or what's left of +'em--under your bed!" + +"Will Ford, did you dare go snooping in my room?" and she grasped his +arm, apprehensively. + +"I couldn't help seeing 'em. I was looking for my ball, that rolled +in there." + +"Did you--did you eat them all?" she faltered. + +"Only a few. There's Allen Washburn, I want to speak to him," and Will +ran off uncermoniously, to join a tall, good-looking young man who was on +the other side of the street. The latter, seeing the girls, raised his +hat, but his glance rested longest on Betty, who, it might have been +observed, blushed slightly under the scrutiny. + +"Allen always has a book with him," murmured Amy. + +"Yes, he's studying law, you know," spoke Betty. + +Some other girls joined the four then, and Percy, seeing that he was +rather ignored, had the sense to leave, making an elaborate departure, +after what he considered the correct English style. + +"Thank goodness!" murmured Mollie. "Puppies are all right, but I like +better-trained ones!" and her dark eyes flashed. + +"Billy!" exclaimed Grace, reproachfully, shaking an accusing finger at +her friend. + +"Well, you don't like him any more than--than Betty does!" + +"Hush!" warned the Little Captain. "He'll hear you." + +"I don't care if he does," was the retort. + +Gradually the main part of the town had been left as the girls walked +slowly on. Houses were fewer now, and the trees not so large, nor well +cared for. The sun seemed to increase in warmth as it approached the +west, wherein was a bank of fluffy clouds that soon would be turned into +masses of golden, purple and olive. + +"Oh, girls, I simply must rest again!" exclaimed Grace, as, with a wry +face, she made for a smooth stump, which was all that was left of a +great oak that had recently been cut down, as it had died, and was in +danger of falling. + +"What! Again?" cried Mollie. "Say, Grace, my dear, you never will be able +to keep up with us on the tramp, if you give out so easily now. What is +the matter?" + +"Matter? Look at her shoes!" cried Amy. "Such heels!" + +"They're not so awful high!" and Grace sought to defend her footwear from +the three pairs of accusing eyes. + +"It's a very pretty boot," remarked Betty. "But hardly practical, my +dear." + +"I suppose not," sighed Grace. "But I just simply could not resist the +temptation to take them when the sales-girl tried them on me. I saw them +in Robertson's window, and they were such a bargain--a sample shoe she +said--that's why they're so narrow." + +"You can wear a narrow size," spoke Mollie with a sigh. "I wish I could." + +"Oh, I think your shoes are a lovely shape," spoke Grace. "I wish I had +your high instep." + +"Move over," begged Amy. "There's room for two on that stump, Grace." + +Grace obligingly moved, and her friend sat beside her, idly swinging a +couple of books by a long strap. Betty and Mollie supported themselves by +draping their arms about each other's waists. + +"'Patience on a monument,'" quoted Betty, looking at the two on +the stump. + +"Which one?" asked Mollie with a laugh. + +"We'll divide the virtues between us; won't we, Amy?" exclaimed Grace, +putting her head on the other's shoulder. "Now I'm--" + +"The sleeping beauty!" supplied Betty, "Do come on!" and after a little +argument, in which Grace insisted that she had not had more than a +minute's respite, the four started off again. They were approaching the +outskirts of the town in the vicinity of which they all lived. + +"If this weather keeps up we can't start off on our tramping and camping +trip any too soon," remarked Grace. + +"When can we arrange for it?" asked Amy. "I think it is the nicest idea I +ever heard of." + +"You can all come over to my house to-night," suggested Betty. "We can +make some plans then, perhaps." + +"Let's, then!" cried impulsive Mollie. "But do you really intend to do +any camping, Betty?" + +"Yes, if we can. Of course not for any length of time--say a night or +two. There are one or two places where camps are open the year +around, and all you have to do is to go there and board, just as you +would at a hotel." + +"Only it must be much nicer," said Amy. + +"It is--lots." + +They had reached a place where the highway ran under a railroad line, +that crossed on a high bridge. As the girls came under the structure a +fluttering bit of paper on the ground caught the eyes of Betty. Rather +idly she picked it up, and the next moment she uttered a cry that brought +her chums to her side in some alarm. + +"Look!" she exclaimed. "A five hundred dollar bill is pinned to this +paper! A five hundred dollar bill, girls!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE TRAMPING CLUB + + +With staring eyes, and with breaths that were labored, the three chums +gathered about Betty. She held the bill, and the paper pinned to it, +stretched tightly between her slim fingers. + +"Is it--is it real?" gasped Grace. + +"Of course it's real," declared Amy. + +"How do you know?" asked Mollie. "I confess I never saw a five hundred +dollar bill all at once before." + +"Did you see it in pieces?" asked Grace. "What a lot of money!" + +"How many pounds of chocolates would it buy?" asked Amy, with a laugh. + +"Don't you dare say chocolate to me!" commanded Grace. + +"It is real," went on Betty, who had not spoken since picking up the +money. "There's no doubt of that." + +"If findings were keepings you'd be well off," said Mollie. "How lucky +you are!" and sighed. + +"Of course I can't keep it," decided Betty. "But I wonder who could +have dropped it?" and she looked up at the railroad bridge over their +heads, as if she might see some one standing there waiting for the +return of the bill. + +"What is that paper pinned to it?" asked Grace, as she took hold of it +while Betty held the bank note by the two ends. + +"That's so--I forgot to look at that," said the finder. She turned it +over. There was some writing on it. It said: + +"_ This is my last five hundred dollar bill--all that is left of my +fortune. This is to remind me that if I don't make good use of this I +don't deserve any more luck. It is make or break with me now! Which +will it be?_" + +The girls were silent for a moment or two after reading this strange +message that had come to them in such a queer manner. Then Betty said: + +"Girls, what do you make of it?" + +"It's a joke!" declared Grace. + +"It sounds far from being a joke," spoke Betty, seriously. "Girls, there +may be a grim tragedy here." + +"How romantic!" sighed Mollie. "What shall we do with the money?" + +"We must take it home and consult our folks about it," decided Betty. +"I'll ask papa--and you might refer the question to yours, Amy. Being a +broker, he's quite likely to know about such things, and can tell us +what to do. This is quite a lot of money to lose, I wonder how we can +find the owner?" + +"Advertise?" + +"Maybe there'll be a notice in the post office." + +"It can't have been here very long. Perhaps we'll meet whoever it belongs +to, coming back to look for it," spoke Grace. + +Thus came some opinions, and while various others were rapidly formed and +expressed, and as the girls are speculating on how the bill, and the +attached paper, came to lie so openly on the highway, I hope I may be +permitted to insert here a little descriptive matter that will, perhaps, +give the reader a clearer understanding of the characters of this story. + +And as Betty Nelson had, by right of more than one informal conquest, +reached the position of leader, I can do no better than begin with her. + +Betty was about sixteen years old. She was not exactly what one would +call "pretty"--that is, at first glance. More likely she would have been +spoken of as "good-looking." At least by the boys. And certainly Betty +was good to look upon. Her face showed her character. There was a calm +thoughtfulness about it that suggested strength of mind, and yet it was +not the type of face called "strong." It was purely girlish, and it +reflected her bright and vivacious manner perfectly. How her features +lighted up when she spoke--or listened--her friends well knew. Her eyes +seemed always to be dancing with fun, yet they could look calmly at +trouble, too. + +And when Betty Nelson looked at trouble that same trouble seemed to melt +away--to flee as though it had no right to exist. And this not only as +regarded her own troubles, but those of her friends as well. Intensely +practical was Betty, yet there was a shade of romance in her character +that few suspected. Perhaps the other girls had so often taken their +little troubles to Betty, listening to her advice and sympathy, that they +forgot she might have some of her own. But, under it all, Betty had a +romantic nature, that needed but a certain influence to bring it out. + +Full of life and vigor she was always ready to assume the leadership in +whatever of fun or work was at hand. Perhaps that is why she was often +called "The Little Captain," and certainly she deserved the name. Her +father, Charles Nelson, was a wealthy carpet manufacturer, his factory +being just outside of Deepdale, and her mother, Rose, was one of the +society leaders of the town, though there was no elaborate social system. + +A regular "Gibson girl," was Grace Ford, not only in form but in face. +There was that well-rounded chin, and the neck on which was poised a +head with a wonderful wealth of light hair. The other girls rather +envied Grace her hair--especially Mollie, who was a decided brunette. +And, as I have said, Grace dressed to advantage. There had been a time +when she bemoaned the fact that she was tall--"regular bean-pole" her +brother had taunted her with being--and Grace--well, she had slapped +him. But this was some years ago. But now, with the newer styles that +seem to forbid the existence of hips, and with skirts that so +circumscribe the steps that fast walking is impossible, Grace fitted in +perfectly. She was artistically tall and slender, which fact none knew +better than she herself. + +But Grace was not vain. She did pose at times, but it was done naturally +and without undue thought. She just could not help it. + +Her brother Will made no end of fun about her--even at this date, but +Grace had sufficient composure to ignore him now, and only smiled +sweetly, remarking: + +"You only show how little you know, Billie-boy. Run along now and +play ball!" + +Then Will, trying to think of some cutting thing to say, would hasten to +join his bosom friend Frank Haley, perhaps remarking as they tramped off: + +"Hanged if I can understand girls anyhow." + +"Why, what's up?" + +"Oh, Grace is such a primper. She's got a new dress and some sort of +fancy dingus on it doesn't mix in right. She says it makes her look too +stout, and she's going to have it changed." + +"Hum! I think your sister is a mighty stunning-looking girl." + +"I'll tell her you said so." + +"If you do I'll rub your nose in the mud!" and then, as they thought, +philosophising further on the queerness of girls in general, the boys +departed to the ball field. + +The father of Grace and Will Ford was a lawyer with more than a local +reputation. He was often called on to handle big cases of state-wide +interest, and had made a modest fortune in the practice of his +profession. + +Of Mollie Billette--"Billy" to her chums, I hardly know what to say. +Aged fifteen, the daughter of a well-to-do widow, Mrs. Pauline Billette, +Mollie seemed older than either Betty or Grace, though she was a year +younger. Yet she did not assume anything to herself by reason of this +seeming difference in years; and the difference was only seeming. + +Perhaps it was that bit of French blood making her so quick-tempered--so +vivacious--so mature-appearing--that accounted for it. And it was, very +likely, that same French blood that gave her a temper which was not to be +admired, and which Mollie tried so hard to conquer. But her friends knew +her failing, and readily forgave her. Besides Mollie there were the +comical twins--Dora--never called anything but Dodo--and Paul, aged four. +They were always getting into mischief, and out again, and were "just too +sweet and dear for anything," as Betty put it. Betty, being an only +child, rather hungered for brothers and sisters. + +And now we come to Amy Stonington. Poor Amy! There was something of a +mystery about her. She realized something of it herself when she was old +enough to know that she was not in physical characteristics at all like +her parents--at least she regarded Mr. and Mrs. John Stonington as her +parents. And yet she could not understand why she was not more like them +in type, nor why, of late, she had often come upon them talking earnestly +together, which talk ceased as soon as she entered the room. In +consequence of which Amy was not very happy these days. + +Yet the most that she feared was that her parents were mapping out a +career for her. She was talented in music, playing the piano with a +technique and fire that few girls of her age could equal. More than once, +after a simple concert in the High School, at which she played, teachers +had urged Mr. and Mrs. Stonington to send her to some well-known teacher, +or even abroad to study. + +"But if that's what they're planning I just won't go!" said Amy to +herself, after one of those queer confidences she had broken up. "I'd die +of loneliness if they sent me away." + +So much for our four girls. + +Dear Deepdale the girls always called it--Dear Deepdale! They always +spoke affectionately of their home town, the only residence place any of +them had ever really known, for though some of them had lived as children +in other places, their years, since they were old enough to appreciate +localities, had been spent in Deepdale. + +And certainly it was a town of much natural beauty, to which a certain +amount of civic pride added, had made for local enjoyment in parks, +memorials and statues. Though there were only about fifteen thousand +residents, there was a spirit about Deepdale that many a fair-sized city +might have envied--a spirit of progress. + +Deepdale was situated on the Argono river, which gave a natural +advantage, and provided a setting that could not be improved upon. The +stream ran around two sides of the place, the waters curling gracefully +around a bend which had been laid out in a little pleasure park. + +There were some who protested against this "waste" of good and valuable +dockage facilities, but the town committeemen, wisely ignoring +objections, had, at some cost, acquired the land, and made what was one +of the prettiest spots for miles around--a little breathing place on the +very edge of the beautiful river. + +Nor was the river the only attractive bit of water about Deepdale. The +stream emptied into Rainbow Lake, some miles below the town, and Rainbow +Lake fully justified its name. It was a favorite scene of canoeing and +motor-boat parties, and many summer residences dotted its shores. In +summer white tents of campers gleamed beneath the trees on its banks. + +Situated in the lake were a number of islands, also camping sites, and +much frequented, in summer, by little parties of young people who +landed there after a trip on the lake, to rest in the shade of the leafy +trees. Triangle Island, so called from its shore outline, was the +largest of those that seemed floating on the lake, like green jewels in +a setting of silver. + +Several steamers of good size plied on the Argono river, one a freight +and passenger boat, belonging to a local line going as far as Clammerport +at the foot of the lake. Often school society excursions were held, and +the boys and girls made merry on the trip. + +About Deepdale were several thriving farming communities, for the +slightly rolling land was well suited to cultivation. The town, and the +outlying farms filled a sort of valley, girt around with hills of +sufficient size and height to be called mountains, at least by the local +inhabitants who were proud of them. + +There were valleys in these mountains, some large and others merely +glens, though Shadow valley, one of the most beautiful, was only of +medium size. It was a favorite spot for excursionists who wanted a change +from the water route, there being a sort of summer resort and picnic +ground at one end of this valley. + +The other end was not so often visited. It had once formed the estate of +a very wealthy man, who built a large mansion there. But, on his death, +the property was contested for in the courts by several heirs and for +years had been tied up by litigation. So the mansion became deserted. + +Of sufficient importance to have a railroad, as well as a steamer line, +Deepdale was well provided with transportation facilities. + +True, the railway was only a branch one, but it connected with the main +road running to New York, and this was enough for the people of Deepdale. +The town also boasted of a paper, the _Weekly Banner_, and there was a +good high and grammar school in town, besides numerous stores, and other +establishments, including a moving picture theatre--this last rather an +innovation. + +Our girls--I call them ours, for it is with their fortunes that we shall +be chiefly concerned--our girls lived near each other on the outskirts +of the town. + +Betty and her parents occupied an old-fashioned stone house, that had +once been the manor of a farm. But it was old-fashioned outwardly only, +for within it was the embodiment of culture and comfort. It set well back +from the street, and a lane of elms led from the front porch to the +thoroughfare. Back of the house was an old-fashioned garden, likewise +well-shaded, and there were the remains of an apple orchard, some of the +trees still bearing fruit. + +On the other side of the street, and not far off, was the home of +Grace--a modern brick house of tasteful design. It had ample grounds +about it, though being rather new could not boast of such noble trees as +those that added dignity to the old stone house. + +Amy Stonington lived in a large, rambling wooden structure, too large for +the needs of the family, but artistic nevertheless. It was just around +the corner from the residence of Betty, and the yards of the two girls +joined---if you can call the big orchard of Betty's home a "yard." + +Mollie's home was near the river, about ten minutes' walk from that of +the other three girls. It was a wooden house of a dull red that mingled +well in tone with the green grass and the spreading trees that +surrounded it. + +And now I believe I have mentioned my principal characters, and places, +though others will be introduced to you from time to time as our story +progresses. + +So on this pleasant spring day, for one of the few times, Amy was not +brooding on the subject that had given her such uneasiness of late. +Nor were the other girls concerned with anything save the finding of +the five hundred dollar bill, which absorbed everything else for the +time being. + +"Who could have lost it?" wondered Mollie. + +"There aren't so many persons in Deepdale who can afford to throw away +money like this," added Amy. + +"It wasn't thrown away--it was lost," declared Betty, "and we must find +the owner if we can." + +"Especially after such a pathetic message," said Grace. "Poor fellow! His +last big bill!" + +"What makes you think it was a _man_?" asked Amy. + +"That isn't a girl's writing," insisted Grace. + +"Fine! You'll be a detective if you keep on--or should I say +detectivess?" asked Mollie, with a laugh. + +"I wonder what that note means?" inquired Mollie. + +"Why," said Betty, "it seems to indicate that some young man ran +through a fortune--or lost it--and had only five hundred dollars left. +He was going to try to redeem his standing or wealth with this, and +probably wrote this to remind himself not to fail. I used to have a +habit of leaving my room untidy, and Daddy suggested once that I write +a notice to myself, and pin it where I would see it as I came out each +morning. I did, and I cured myself. This young fellow probably tried +the same system." + +"What makes you think he is _young_?" Grace wanted to know. + +"I'm following your line of reasoning--no elderly man would do +anything like this--write such a strange memorandum to himself. I'm +sure he is young." + +"And--good-looking?" asked Amy, smiling. + +"Let us hope so--if we are to return the money to him in person," +suggested Mollie. + +"Well, the best thing to do is to put that in some secure place, Betty," +advised Grace. "Has your father a safe at home?" + +"Yes." + +"Then let him keep it, and we can put an advertisement in the _Banner_. +'Found--a sum of money. Owner can have same by proving property, and +paying for this advertisement.' How is that?" + +"Wouldn't you ask for a reward?" came from Mollie. + +"The idea--of course not!" + +"But he might _give_ us one," suggested Amy, "without being asked." + +Then talking excitedly about the find, and speculating on how it could +have come in the road, the girls accompanied Betty to her house. Mrs. +Nelson was duly astonished at the news, and agreed with the chums that +the best plan was that suggested by Grace. Accordingly, when Mr. Nelson +came home, the bill and the queer attached note, were put in his safe. +Then an advertisement was telephoned to the paper. + +"And now let's talk about our Camping and Tramping Club," proposed Betty, +for her three chums had called that evening after supper. + +"I spoke to mamma about it," said Mollie, "and she said she thought I +could go. But we must stay with friends, or relatives, at night; she +won't let me put up at a hotel." + +"Of course not!" cried Betty--"none of us will. Now my plan is this: +Papa and mamma have a number of relatives living in distant towns, but +all in this vicinity. Probably you girls have some also. Now, why +couldn't we arrange a tour that would take us on a circuit say of--two +hundred miles--" + +"Two hundred miles!" came in a horrified chorus. + +"Why, yes, that's not much. We can take three weeks to it, and that's +only a little over ten miles a day--not counting Sundays, of course. If +we can't walk ten miles a day--" + +"Oh, that's not so bad," admitted Amy. + +"I can easily do that," assented Mollie. + +"What about our meals?" asked Grace. + +"Can't you carry enough chocolate fudge to do between morning and +evening?" asked Amy, with a laugh. + +"I've got that part all planned," began Betty. "Or at least I have an +idea about it. We can get breakfast and supper at our friends' or +relatives' and at noon we can go to restaurants, or to houses along the +way. Why, we can even take a little camping outfit with us, and make +coffee on the road, carrying sandwiches, too." + +"Fine!" cried Amy and Mollie. + +"Make chocolate--not coffee," begged Grace. + +"Well, chocolate then," assented Betty. + +"I have a couple of aunts somewhere out Bessingford way," spoke Amy. + +"And mamma has a cousin or two near Millford," went on Grace. + +"Now, it's your turn, Mollie," said Betty. + +"Oh, I have some wood-pile relations scattered about the country!" +exclaimed the French girl, her eyes sparkling. "I guess they would be +glad to entertain us." + +"And I can fill in the between-spaces with uncles and aunts and cousins, +I think," spoke Betty. "Now let's make out a partial list." + +It took some little time to do this, but it was finally accomplished. + +"Well, shall we decide on it?" asked Betty after a pause. "Shall we form +the Deepdale Camping and Tramping Club?" + +"I move you, Miss Chairman, that we do!" exclaimed Grace. "The sooner +the better." + +"Second the motion!" came laughingly from Mollie. + +"All in favor--" + +"Aye!" came in a joyous chorus, and the little club was thus +quickly formed. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +JEALOUSIES + + +"What do they find to talk about so often?" + +"And so secretly. As soon as any of us other girls come near they begin +to speak of the weather--or something like that." + +Thus remarked Alice Jallow to Kittie Rossmore a few days after the +formation of the Camping and Tramping Club. The question and comments +took place in the court of the High School, just before the bell was to +ring for the morning session. + +"It's all Betty Nelson's doings," declared Alice, who had often tried to +make herself more intimate with the quartette of friends, but +unsuccessfully. The other girls did not care for these two. + +"Yes. Grace, Mollie and Amy will do anything Betty tells them," +asserted Kittie. + +"I don't see why she is so popular. She hasn't a bit of style about her." + +"I should say not! Her skirt is entirely too wide, and her blouse never +seems cut right." + +"They say her mother doesn't believe in style. But I do," said Alice. +"I'd rather have a cheap dress, if it was in style, than something +old-fashioned, even if it cost a lot more." + +"So would I. Look at them now, with their heads together! I wonder if +they're going to have a dance?" + +"I don't know. How can we find out?" + +"Leave it to me. Jennie Plum is quite friendly with Mollie. I'll get her +to ask some questions." + +"Do; and then tell me. I'm sure they're getting up some affair." + +"I shouldn't wonder. If they'd only ask us--" + +"We have a right to be asked!" and Alice flared up. + +The warning bell interrupted further conversation, and the girls and boys +filed into their classrooms. + +As Alice had remarked, there was a good deal of talk going on among the +four members of the newly-formed Camping and Tramping Club. Every spare +moment the four seemed to have something to say to each other, as one or +the other thought of some new point to consider. + +Following the hasty formation of the organization, the girls had sent +letters to their friends and relatives asking if it would be convenient +to entertain them. Some favorable answers had been received, others were +delayed. There were no refusals. + +"As soon as we know on whom we can depend, we can make up a schedule--'an +itinerary'"--Betty had said. "We will know just where we will stop each +night, so the folks can send us word, if they have to," she added. + +"Why should they have to, unless something happens?" asked Amy. + +"Oh, that five hundred dollar bill might be claimed," said Betty. "We'd +want to know about that." + +"And you haven't heard a word yet?" asked Grace. + +"Not a word! I telephoned to the paper, and they said no replies had come +in there. If that young man is depending on this money to make his +fortune, I'm afraid he'll be broken instead of made, to use his own +expression," and Betty sighed. + +The warning bell had broken in on their talk, as it had on that of the +rival girls. And then began the school day. + +It was warm--very warm for that time of year, being early May, and as the +members of the new Camping and Tramping Club looked from the open +windows, out to where Spring was already forcing into bloom the flowers, +and urging the trees to greater activity, as regards the tender green +leaves, there came an almost overpowering desire to toss aside books and +papers, and get out where the smell of the brown earth mingled with the +perfume of growing vegetation. + +The teachers, doubtless, found it difficult also, for the call of nature +manifested itself to them, and the girls and boys, rather selfishly, did +not make it as easy as they might. + +The noon recess again brought the four friends together, and Betty +showed a tentative program she had surreptitiously scribbled during a +study period. + +It contained the names of towns, with the available relatives of the +girls set down opposite each one, and a rough calculation of the time +required to walk from one place to the other. + +"It seems as if we ought to start at once," exclaimed Mollie. "Aren't you +just dying to go, Amy?" + +"I am--yes." There was hesitation in the tones. + +"Why, what is the matter?" asked Grace, quickly. "Are you ill, Amy?" for +the girl looked pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. + +"No, I'm all right. But papa and mamma don't seem to want me to go--at +least they say they rather I would not just at present." + +"The idea!" + +"After we have it almost all arranged!" + +"Why not?" + +These comments and the question were fairly shot at Amy. + +"I--I don't know," she faltered. "At first they did not seem to mind--but +last night--oh, I dare say it will, be all right, girls. Don't mind me," +and Amy tried to smile, though it could easily be seen that it cost her +an effort. + +She did not want to tell that she had overheard her parents discussing +something the night before that troubled her--a topic that had been +hushed when she unexpectedly came into the room. And that it had to do +with the proposed little trip Amy was sure. Yet Mr. and Mrs. Stonington +had at first shown much interest in it, and had written to various +relatives asking them to entertain the girls. + +"Stuck up things!" murmured Alice Jallow, toward the close of the noon +recess, when the four chums had kept to one corner of the school court, +eating their lunches, and never joining in the activities, or talk, of +the other pupils. + +"I wonder what they can be planning?" murmured Alice. "If they're +getting up a new society, we'll do the same, and we won't ask them to +join." + +"Indeed we won't," agreed her chum. "That Betty Nelson thinks she can +run the school. I'll show her that she can't!" + +"And if they knew what I know about Amy Stonington I don't believe they'd +be so thick with her." + +"What do you mean?" + +"It's a secret." + +"Oh, tell me, Alice," pleaded Kittie. "You know I won't ever +tell--honest!" + +"Promise?" + +"Promise!" + +"Well then--oh, come over here. There's that horrid Sadie Jones trying to +hear what we're saying," and the two girls, arm in arm, strolled off to a +distant part of the court. + +The afternoon session wore on. The day grew warmer, the sky became +overcast, and there was the dull muttering of distant thunder. There +seemed a tension in the air--as if something was going to snap. Doubtless +you have often felt it--a sensation as though pins and needles were +pricking you all over. As though you wanted to scream--to cry +out--against an uncertain sensation that gripped you. + +In the various classrooms the droning voices were heard--of the +pupils in recitations, or of the teachers as they patiently explained +some point. + +The thunder rumbled nearer and nearer. Now and then a vivid flash of +lightning split the sombre clouds. At such times the nervous girls would +jump in their seats, and there would follow hysterical, though quickly +subdued, bursts of laughter from their more stolid mates, or the boys. + +The four who were to go on the walking tour together were in the Latin +class. Amy was standing up, translating--or trying to translate--a +passage from Caesar. She halted and stammered, though usually she got +perfect marks in this study. + +"Take it a bit slower, Miss Stonington," suggested Miss Greene, the +teacher. "That is very good. You should know that word--_nequaquam_--take +your time." + +"_Nequaquam"_ said Amy faintly, "not ever--" + +There was a titter from Alice Jallow, in which Kittie Rossmore joined. +Poor Amy looked distressed. Tears came into her eyes. + +There shot across the black heavens a vivid flash of lightning, and a +bursting crash so promptly came echoing that nearly every one of the +girls started from her desk, and a number screamed, while even the boys +were startled. + +Then, with a low moan, Amy swayed, and fell backward into the arms of +Betty. + +"She's fainted!" exclaimed Miss Greene. "Girls, keep quiet! Some one get +me a glass of water!" + +There was a stir among the boys who occupied one side of the big room, +and Frank Haley hastened out. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A TAUNT + + +With a great crash, a deluge of rain, a wind that swept the spray across +the school room, and the rumbling of thunder, punctuated by vivid, +hissing flashes of lightning, the storm broke. At once the tension--that +of nature as well as that of the nerves of the girls--was relieved. A +sound, like a great sigh, was heard in the room. There were one or two +faint cries, some laughter, and the members of the class were themselves +again. The balance had been restored. + +"She will be all right presently," said Miss Greene, quietly, as she +helped place Amy on a couch in her own private room. "Close some of the +windows, girls, the rain is coming in." + +Her firm and cheering words, and her calm manner, aided in the work of +restoration that had begun when the nerve-tension was lessened. The girls +were themselves again, most of them going quietly to their seats, while +Betty and Grace helped Miss Greene restore Amy to consciousness. They +had loosed her collar, and some ammonia had been procured from the +physics laboratory by Frank, who also brought water. + +"I can't imagine what made her faint," whispered Grace. "She never did +such a thing before." + +"Probably it was the storm," said the teacher. "I have often noticed that +just before a severe electrical disturbance I felt 'like flying to +pieces,' to put it crudely. Then when the rain came I would get calm +again. I remarked that Amy did not seem quite herself while reciting, and +perhaps I should have excused her, but I hoped, by letting her fix her +attention on the lesson, that the little spell might pass over." + +"It was that horrid Alice Jallow giggling at her!" declared Mollie, who +had come softly into the room. "I could--" she clenched her hands, and +her dark eyes gleamed. + +"Mollie," said Betty softly, and the threatened fit of anger passed over. + +"She will come to in a moment," remarked Miss Greene, as she saw Amy's +eyelids fluttering. "It was just a nervous strain. I have seen it +happen before." + +"Not with Amy," declared Grace, positively. + +"No; but in other girls." + +"I do hope Amy isn't going to be ill," said Betty. "We want her to come +on the walk with us." + +"I have heard of your little club," said the teacher, with a smile. "The +idea is a very good one; I hope you have a pleasant time. I think it will +do all of you good. I wish more of my girls would take up systematic +walking. We would have better recitations, I think." + +"Poor Amy!" murmured Grace. "I wonder what could have caused it?" and she +looked down at her pale, little chum. + +"It was because Alice laughed at her!" declared Mollie, half fiercely. + +"I think not," spoke Betty, softly. "Amy has not been quite herself of +late. She--" + +But she was not destined to finish that sentence, for the girl under +discussion opened her eyes, and struggled to sit up. + +"You're all right," said Miss Greene, softly. "Lie still, my dear." + +"Where am I--what happened? Oh, I remember. Did I faint?" and she asked +the question in some alarm. + +"You did, my dear; but there was no harm in that," spoke Miss Greene +softly, and she laughed in a low voice. + +"I--I never did such a thing before. What made me?" + +"The storm, Amy. It was the electrical disturbance, I think. My! how +it rains!" + +A perfect deluge was descending, but it had brought a calm to the waiting +earth, and calm to tired girlish nerves as well. Amy sighed, and then sat +up. The color came back into her pale face. + +"I am all right now," she said, more firmly, and was soon able to walk. + +"Stay here a little longer," urged Miss Greene, "Betty, Mollie and Grace +may remain with you. I will go out to the other pupils. Some of them may +be alarmed." + +A crash of thunder almost smothered her words, and the girls started +nervously. The three glanced apprehensively at Amy, but she smiled +bravely and said: + +"Don't worry about me. I'm all right. It was silly of me to go off +that way." + +The storm raged and tore about the school, and gradually spent its fury. +Miss Greene gave up the attempt to have a Latin recitation, and the class +was permitted to engage in general conversation. + +It was the final period of the day, and soon school was over. Most of the +girls remained, however, for few had brought rain coats or umbrellas, +there being no hint that morning of the deluge that was to come. Then +the rain gradually slackened, and the pupils departed. + +"Don't come to school to-morrow, if you don't feel well," urged Miss +Greene, as Amy and her chums left. + +"Oh, I'll be all right," she brightly answered. + +"I wish we were going to start on our tramp to-morrow!" exclaimed Betty +as they walked along the damp country road toward their homes, the sweet +smell of the newly-watered earth mingling with the scent of grass and +flowers. "The country is just lovely now." + +"It will still be as lovely next month," said Mollie. "Only two weeks +more of school, and then we will be on our way." + +"Do you feel all right, Amy?" asked Grace. "Have a--" + +"No, she won't have a _chocolate_, if that's what you're going to say!" +spoke Mollie, quickly. "Do you want to make her get worse?" + +"I wasn't going to say chocolate--so there!" snapped the usually +gentle-mannered Grace. "Don't be so quick, Billy." + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," and the French girl showed her contrition. "I +forgot you can think of something beside candy." + +"I was going to ask her if she wanted my smelling salts," Grace went on, +and Amy accepted the little bottle. + +There was much talk that afternoon of the coming trip. Some further +letters had been received from relatives who would welcome the girls at +the various stopping places. + +"This about completes our schedule," remarked Betty, as she noted down, +on a map she had drawn, the names of some persons and places. "Everything +is coming on fine, girls." + +"Isn't it nice!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"You're sure to come; aren't you, Amy?" asked Grace. + +"Yes, of course--that is--" A shadow seemed to pass over her face, and +then her pale cheeks became pink. "Oh, I guess you can count on me," she +finally declared. "I was just thinking--oh, it doesn't matter. Let's see +now, Betty, how many stopping places do you count on?" + +"About eight. Of course there may be more, and we may have to stay in one +place longer than I figure on, and we might skip some places altogether." + +"What about the camp?" asked Mollie. + +"I am arranging for that," spoke Grace. "Papa's half-brother lives in +Cameron. He and his wife maintain a sort of camp there for those who +love the woods and outdoors. Mamma has written, and arrangements will be +made for us to have a cabin or bungalow there for a few days." + +"Won't it be glorious!" cried Mollie, taking Amy in a waltzing hold and +whirling about the room with her, while she hummed a dreamy song. + +They were at Betty's house discussing their coming trip, and it was +nearly supper time when they dispersed. Grace insisted on accompanying +Amy part of the way home. + +"I don't want you to faint again and be all by yourself," she said. + +"Silly! I shall do nothing of the sort," declared Amy, but Grace +had her way. + +It was the next afternoon, when Betty and Grace were having a game of +tennis on the court that had been laid out back of the High School, that +Alice Jallow and Kittie Rossmore came past, arm in arm. They paused for a +moment to watch the game, and during a lull Alice remarked: + +"When does the tramping club start?" + +"As soon as school closes," replied Betty, for the term ended unusually +early that year. + +"Have you the party all made up?" inquired Kittie, and it was evident +that she had a reason for asking. + +"Pretty much," answered Betty, wondering what was to follow. "It's your +serve," she added to Grace. + +"Alice and I are very fond of walking," proceeded Kittie. "We thought if +the Camping and Tramping Club was to be a general one--that is, if you +wanted more members--we'd like to join." + +Betty caught her breath. It was a hard answer to give. + +"I'm awfully sorry," she said softly, coming over to where Alice and +Kittie stood. "If we had known before we might have arranged it. But our +membership is limited to four now." + +"You four, I presume," and there was almost a sneer in the voice of Alice +as she looked at the four chums. + +"Yes, it so happens. You see we are going to stop each night at the +houses of friends or relatives, and of course--" + +"I see--the accommodations are limited; are they?" and again that sneer +was manifest. + +"Yes, they are, I'm sorry to say," spoke Betty. "But why don't you girls +form another club? You could easily do that, and we could be together all +day, if not at night. Why don't you?" she asked, brightly. + +"We might," said Alice, cooly. "Come on, Kittie," she added. "I guess +we're not wanted here." + +"The idea!" cried Mollie. "Betty, I've a good notion to--" + +"Hush!" cautioned Betty, placing a hand on the arm of her impetuous chum. +"Don't say anything. It will only make matters worse. They are trying to +provoke us." + +Kittie and Alice walked off, their arms about each other's waist, +laughing heartily at something in which they seemed to find a good joke. + +"Let us finish the game," suggested Betty quietly to Grace, and they did. + +"I don't see how they could be so bold as to ask us," murmured Mollie. + +It was one afternoon, a few days before the close of school for the term, +which also would mark the start of the outdoor girls on their tramping +tour that, as she was packing her books to leave her desk for the day, +Betty saw a note fall out of her Latin grammar. + +"That's strange," she murmured, half aloud, "I wonder who could have put +that there? Who is it from, I wonder?" + +"As if you didn't know!" laughed Amy, coming up behind her friend. They +were alone in the classroom for the moment. + +"Why, what do you mean?" asked Betty blushing slightly. + +"I think I saw Will give Grace a note this noon," went on Amy. "Ah, +secrets! And doesn't it happen that Will and Allen Washburn are quite +chummy? If the initials A.W. aren't on that note, Betty--" + +"Of course they're not! The idea! Allen Washburn needn't think--" + +"Oh, I know he needn't send notes to you this way, but perhaps Will +forgot to deliver it, and Grace just slipped it into your book, intending +to tell you of it. Ah, Betty!" + +"Silly. It isn't that at all. See, I'll let you read the note." + +Hastily Betty unfolded it. There was but a single unsigned sheet of +paper, and scrawled on it were these words: + +"Before you go camping and tramping ask Amy Stonington who her father and +mother are." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AMY'S MYSTERY + + +Betty was quick to comprehend the cruel words, and in an instant she had +crumpled the anonymous scrawl in her hand. But she was the fraction of a +second too late. Amy had read it. + +Betty heard the sound of Amy's sigh, and then the catch in her breath. +She turned quickly. + +"Amy!" cried Betty. "Did you see it? Oh, my dear! The meanness of it! The +awful meanness! Oh, Amy, my dear!" and she put her arms around her +trembling companion. "Oh, if I only knew who sent it!" + +"I--I can guess!" faltered Amy. + +"Who?" + +"Alice Jallow." + +"The--the cat!" + +Betty simply could not help saying it. + +"Let--let me see it again," whispered Amy. "I didn't mean to read your +note, Betty, but I saw it before I realized it." + +"My note? It isn't mine! I wouldn't own to receiving such a scrawl! Oh, +Amy, I'm so sorry!" + +"Never mind, Betty. I--I've been expecting it." + +"You have?" + +"Yes. That--that is what has been bothering me of late. You may have +noticed--" + +"I've noticed that you haven't quite been yourself, Amy, my dear, but I +never suspected--and you think Alice sent this?" + +"I'm almost sure of it. It has to be known sooner or later. But don't say +anything to Alice." + +"Why not? The idea! She ought to be exposed--and punished. I'll go to--" + +"No, please don't, Betty. It--it is true, and--and there is no use +giving her the satisfaction of knowing that she has--has hurt me," +faltered Amy. + +"Oh, the meanness of it!" murmured Betty. "But, Amy dear, I don't +understand. This doesn't at all look like the writing of Alice Jallow." + +"I know; she has disguised her scribbling, that's all. But it doesn't +matter. I'll never charge her with it." + +"Why not?" + +"I haven't the heart. Oh, Betty, I'm afraid it's only too true! I really +don't know who my father and mother are!" + +"Amy!" + +"No, I don't. I've suspected a mystery a long while, and now I am sure I +am mixed up in one." + +"Amy Stonington!" cried Betty. "Do you mean to tell me--look here, let's +get to some quiet place. Some one will be coming in here. We can go to +Miss Greene's room. She has gone for the day. But perhaps you don't want +to tell me, Amy." + +"Oh, yes I do. I want to tell all you girls. And then maybe--" + +"Amy Stonington!" exclaimed Betty. "If you're going to hint--and I see +that you are--that we'd pay any attention to this note, or let it make +any difference between us--even if it's true--which I don't +believe--let's see--what do I want to say--I'm all confused. Oh, I know. +I mean that it shan't make a particle of difference to us--if you never +had a father or mother--" + +"Oh, of course I had--some time," and Amy smiled through a mist of tears. +"Only there's a mystery about them--what became of them." + +"Why I thought--all of us thought--that Mr. and Mrs. Stonington were your +parents," said the wondering Betty. + +"So did I, until lately. Then I began to notice that papa and mamma--as I +thought them--were frequently consulting together. They always stopped +talking when I came near, but I supposed it might be about some plans +they had for sending me away to be educated in music. So I pretended not +to notice. Though I did not want to go away from dear Deepdale. + +"Their queer consultations increased, and they looked at me so strangely +that finally I went to mamma--no, my aunt, as I must call her, and--" + +"Your aunt!" exclaimed Betty. + +"Yes, that is what Mrs. Stonington is to me; or, rather she was poor dear +mamma's aunt. I am going to call her aunt, however, and Mr. Stonington +uncle. They wish it." + +"Oh, then they have told you?" + +"Yes. It was the night before the day that I fainted in school. It was +thinking of that, I guess, that unnerved me." + +"Why, Amy! A mystery about you?" + +"Yes, and one I fear will never be found out. I'll tell you about it." + +"Not unless you'd rather, dear," and Betty put her arms about her chum as +they sat on the worn sofa in Miss Greene's retiring room. + +"I had much rather. I want you and Grace and Mollie to know. Maybe--maybe +you can help me," she finished with a bright smile. + +"You see it was this way. Of course I don't remember anything about it. +All my recollections are centered in Deepdale, and about Mr. and Mrs. +Stonington. It is the only home I have ever really known, though I have a +dim recollection of having, as a child, been in some other place. But +that is like a dream. + +"But it seems that when I was a very little girl both my parents lived +in a distant city. Then one day there was a terrible storm, the river +rose, and there was a flood. This I was told by my uncle and aunt, as I +am going to call them. Who my father and mother were I never knew, +except from what I have heard, but it seems that Mrs. Stonington was +mamma's aunt. + +"In the flood our house was washed away, but I, then a small baby, was +found floating on a sort of raft tied to a mattress on a bed. I was taken +to a farm house, and found pinned to my dress was an envelope." + +"Just an envelope?" + +"Yes. There might have been a letter in it, but if there was it had been +washed out in the flood and rain. But the envelope was addressed to Mrs. +Stonington here, and she was telegraphed to. Her husband hurried on, for +he knew of the flood and feared for his wife's relatives who lived in +that town. He took me back with him, and I have lived with Uncle John +and Aunt Sarah ever since." + +"But your father and mother, Amy?" + +"No one ever knew what became of them. They--they were never found, +though a careful search was made. I was the only one left." + +"And was there nothing to tell of your past life?" + +"There wasn't much to tell, you see--I was so small. There was a sort +of diary in the bed with me, but it only gave details of my baby +days--probably it was written by my mother--for the handwriting is +that of a woman. Aunt Sarah gave it to me the other day. I shall +always treasure it." + +"And is that all?" + +"Well, there was a mention of something--in a vague sort of way--that I +was to inherit when I grew up. Whether it was land or money no one can +tell. The reference is so veiled. Even Uncle John, and he is a stock and +bond broker, you know, says he is puzzled. He has had a search made in +Rockford--that's where the flood was--but it came to nothing. And so +that is all I know of my past." + +"But your aunt must know something of your mother if they were +relatives." + +"Very little. They saw each other hardly at all, and not for some years +before my mother's marriage, Aunt Sarah says. How my parents came to pin +the Stoningtons' address on my baby dress they can only guess. And I'll +never know. Probably they did it before they were--were drowned." + +"Then your name isn't Stonington after all, Amy?" + +"Oh, yet it is. The queer part of it is that my mother is said to have +married a man of the same name as Uncle John, but no relative, as far as +we can learn. So I'm Amy Stonington just the same. My uncle and aunt +formally adopted me after they found that there was no hope of locating +my parents. And so I've lived in ignorance of the mystery about me until +just the other day." + +"And then they told you?" + +"Yes. It was discussing the advisability of this that caused Uncle John +and Aunt Sarah to confer so often. Then they decided that I was getting +old enough to be told. They said they would rather it would come to me +from themselves than from strangers." + +"Oh, then others know of it?" + +"Yes, a few persons in town, but they were good enough to keep it quiet +for my sake. Among them, so Uncle John told me, were Alice Jallow's +people. That is why I think she wrote the note. She must have found out +about my secret in some way, and thought to taunt me with it." + +"The mean creature!" + +"Oh, I don't mind. I was only afraid you girls--" + +"Amy Stonington! If you even hint at such a thing again we'll never +forgive you! As if we cared! Why, I think it's perfectly wonderful to +have such a romance about you. I know the other girls will be crazy about +it. Of course, it's sad, too, dear. But maybe some day, you'll find out +that your father and mother aren't--aren't gone--at all, and you'll have +them again." + +"That's what I've been hoping since I knew. But there is very little +chance, after all these years. Uncle John told me not to hope. You see, +they must have been drowned. The worst is that I can't recall them. They +never corresponded with aunt and uncle in years. I don't know what sort +of a home I had--or--or whether I had brothers or sisters." + +"No, I suppose there isn't much chance of your parents having escaped the +flood. And yet I've read--in books--" + +"Oh, yes--in books. But this is real life, Betty. And now, dear, I've +told you all I know. As I said, it shocked me when I first heard it, but +I'm pretty well over it now. Only it did startle me when I read that note +over your shoulder." + +"I should think it would. When I see Alice--" + +"Please don't say anything to her!" pleaded Amy. "Please don't! Let her +see that--that it hasn't made a bit of difference." + +"I will. A difference? Why, we'll love you all the more Amy,--if that's +possible." + +"That's good of you. Now shall we--" + +"Hark, some one is coming!" exclaimed Betty, tiptoeing to the door, while +Amy shrank back on the sofa. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LEAKY BOAT + + +There was a moment of silence, and then the relieved voice of Betty was +heard to say: + +"Oh, it's Grace. I'm so glad. I thought--" + +"What are you doing here?" asked the newcomer. It was evident from her +rather mumbled words--which mumbling I have been unable to reproduce in +cold type--that Grace was eating candy. + +"Have some chocolate?" she went on, holding out a bag. + +"Oh, Grace! Chocolate at such a time as this!" rebuked Betty, her mind +filled with the story she had just heard. + +"Why, what's the matter with the time?" + +"Amy is in there," and she motioned to the private room. + +"Gracious! Has she fainted again?" + +"No; where is Mollie?" + +"Coming. There she is. We were looking everywhere for you. Alice +Jallow said--" + +"The horrid thing!" burst out Betty. "Why, whatever can have happened? +You look quite tragic!" + +"I am. Come in here!" + +Grace advanced, and not even the prospect of hearing what she guessed was +going to be some sort of a strange secret could stop her from taking +another helping of candy. Betty saw and murmured: + +"You are hopeless." + +"What's up?" asked Mollie, gliding into the room, her dark hair straying +rather rebelliously from beneath her hat. + +"Come in," invited Betty, and soon the four were sitting together, while +in a sort of dialogue Betty and Amy told the pathetic little story. + +"And that's how it stands," finished Betty. "I wanted to do something--or +say something--to make Alice Jallow feel--" + +"She should be punished--we should all cut her--she ought to be put out +of school!" burst out the impulsive Mollie. "I shall go to Miss Greene--" + +"You'll do nothing of the sort, Billy!" exclaimed Betty, as she detained +the girl, who had already started from the room. "Amy doesn't wish it. +Besides, I think Alice will be sorry enough later for what she has done." + +"I had rather you wouldn't go to her," spoke Amy, quietly. + +"Oh, well, of course--" began Mollie. "I do wish I had better control of +myself," she added, rather sadly. "I start to do such rash things--" + +"Indeed you do, my dear," spoke Grace. "But we know you don't mean it. +Here--help yourself," and she extended the candy bag. + +"I couldn't--I don't feel like it. I--I feel all choked up in here!" +exclaimed Mollie, placing her hand on her firm, white throat. "I--I want +to do something to--to that--cat!" Her eyes filled with tears. + +"That's what I called her!" said Betty. "But we mustn't let her know that +she has annoyed us. Sometimes I feel real sorry for Alice. She seems +rather lonesome." + +"I suppose the story will be all over school soon," went on Grace. + +"I shan't mind," spoke Amy, softly. + +"Well, I'm glad you don't, my dear," remarked Betty. "It's more romantic +than anything else--after you get over the sad part of it." + +"And I am trying to do that," said Amy, bravely. + +Together the four girls came out of the school. Most of the other pupils +had gone home, for vacation days were near, and study hours were +shortened on account of examinations. + +"There she is now," said Mollie, as they turned a corner. + +"Who?" questioned Betty. + +"That Jallow girl and her familiar--Kittie. Her name is too good for +her." + +"Don't notice her," suggested Betty, "and don't, for goodness sake, speak +to them. We don't want a scene. Perhaps Alice only did it +impulsively--and did not really mean it." + +If the reputed author of the anonymous letter, and her close friend, +hoped for any demonstration on the part of those they had hoped to wound, +they were disappointed. + +In calm unconsciousness of the twain, the quartette passed on, +talking gaily--though it was a bit forced--of their coming trip. And +I must do Alice the justice to say that later she was truly sorry for +what she had done. + +"There's Will!" exclaimed Grace, as she caught sight of her brother. "And +Frank Haley is with him. Here, girls, take what's left of these +chocolates, or Will won't leave one." + +"Does he know you have them?" asked Amy, accepting a few. + +"Yes, he saw me buying them. Oh, bother! There comes that Percy +Falconer, and he has a new suit. Vanity of vanities!" + +The course of Will and his chum, as well as that of the "faultless +dresser," as he hoped he appeared, brought them toward the girls. There +was no escape, and the little throng walked onward. Betty kept close to +Amy, for she knew just how she must feel after the disclosure. + +"Ah, good afternoon, ladies!" greeted Percy. "Wonderful weather we're +having. My word!" + +"Beastly beautiful!" mocked the irrepressible Mollie. "Horribly lovely, +isn't it, what?" + +"Oh, I say now," began Percy. "I--really--" + +"Where'd you get the clothes?" broke in Will. + +"They're a London importation." + +"London importation, my eye!" exclaimed Frank. "Why, Cohen's Emporium, on +Main street, has the same thing in the window marked thirteen +ninety-eight--regular fourteen dollars." + +"Oh, I say now! Quit your spoofing!" + +"Give us some candy, Sis!" begged Will. "Come on, now, I know +you've got it!" + +"I had it, we have it--they had it--thou hast it--not!" quoted Grace, +with a laugh. "Nothing doing this time, little brother of mine." + +"And you ate all those chocolates?" This in semi-horrified tones. + +"We--not I," corrected his sister. + +Percy Falconer, after vainly trying to get in place to walk beside Betty, +who frustrated him by keeping Amy close to her, drifted off to find new +sartorial worlds to conquer. + +The others walked on, the boys joining in the talk and laughter. Amy +seemed to have recovered her spirits, and the girls made no reference to +the little tragedy which they knew would soon become public property. + +"So you are really determined to go off on that walking trip?" asked +Will, who had floated back to join Mollie. + +"We certainly are. Why, don't you think we can do it?" + +"Perhaps. But I think you'll run at the sight of the first tramp--or cow; +and as for a storm--good night!" + +"Thank you--for nothing!" and Mollie's dark eyes had little of fun in +them as they looked into those of Will Ford. + +Eventually Will and Frank left them, and the girls continued on until +they reached Mollie's house. + +"Come in," she invited. "I know they baked to-day, and we'll have a cup +of tea and some cake. It will refresh us." + +"I ought to be going--home," said Amy, with a little hesitating pause at +the word "home." + +"Oh, do come in!" begged the French girl. + +As they entered the yard the twins, hand in hand and solemn-eyed, came +down the walk to meet them. + +"Oh, the dears!" gushed Grace. + +"Isn't she too sweet," whispered Betty, as she caught up Dodo. + +"And in need of soap and water, as usual," commented Mollie, drily. "But +Nanette can do nothing with them. They are clean one minute--_voila_! +like little Arabs the next! What would you have?" and she threw herself +into a tragic gesture, in imitation of the imported French maid, at which +her chums laughed. + +"Have you a kiss for me, Paul?" demanded Grace, of the little fellow, +when she had replaced his sister on the walk. + +"Dot any tandy?" came the diplomatic inquiry. + +"Listen to the mercenary little wretch!" cried his older sister. "Paul, +_ma cherie_, where are your manners?" + +"Has oo dot any tandy?" came in inflexible accents. + +"I might find--just a morsel--if you'd kiss me first," stipulated Grace. + +"Tandy fust," was the imperturbable retort. "I like tandy--Dodo like +tandy--we bofe like tandy!" + +"The sum total of childish happiness!" laughed Betty "Do, Grace, if you +have any left, relieve this suspense." + +Some candy was forthcoming, and then, with more of it spread on +their faces than had entered their chubby mouths, the twins toddled +off content. + +"Girls, what do you say to a little row on the river?" asked Mollie, when +they had been refreshed by cakes and tea. "My boat will hold us all, and +we can float down and talk of our coming trip." + +"Float down--and--_row_ back," remarked Grace, with emphasis. + +"The exercise will do you good. We must get in--training, I believe the +proper word is--in training for our hike." + +"Hike?" queried Betty. + +"Suffragist lingo for walk," explained Mollie. "Come on." + +The Argono river ran but a short distance from Mollie's home, and soon +the four girls were in an old-fashioned, but safely constructed, barge, +half drifting and half rowing down the picturesque stream. + +The afternoon sun was waning behind a bank of clouds, screened from the +girls by a fringe of trees. And as they floated on they talked at +intervals of Amy's secret, and of the coming fun they expected to have. + +"Let's get farther out in the middle," suggested Betty, when they came to +a wide part of the river. "It's more pleasant there, and the air is +fresher. It is very warm." + +"Yes, I think we will have another storm," agreed Grace. "If it rains now +it isn't so likely to when we start." + +She was pulling on one pair of oars and Mollie on a second, the others +relieving them occasionally. Soon the boat was in the middle of the +stream. They had gone on for perhaps half a mile, when Betty, who was +sitting comfortably in the stern, toying with the rudder ropes, uttered +an exclamation. + +"Oh!" she cried. "My feet are wet! Mollie, the boat is leaking!" + +"Leaking?" + +"Yes! See, the water is fairly pouring in!" + +Mollie made a hasty examination under the bottom boards of her craft. + +"Girls!" she cried, in tragic tones, "there's a hole in the boat!" + +"Don't say that!" begged Amy, standing up. + +"Sit down!" sternly ordered Betty. "There is no danger! Sit down or +you'll fall overboard!" + +"Oh, but see the water!" cried the nervous Amy. "It is coming in faster!" + +And indeed it was. + +"It is those twins!" declared Mollie. "I told them not to get in my boat, +but they must have, and they've loosened the drain plug so that it came +out a moment ago. Quick! See if you can find it!" + +There was a frightened search for the plug that fitted in a hole in the +bottom of the boat, through which aperture the water could be drained out +when the craft was on shore. + +"It isn't here!" cried Grace. "Oh, Mollie!" + +"Keep quiet! It must be here!" insisted the owner of the boat. "It +couldn't get out. Look for it! Find it! Or, if you can't, we'll stuff a +handkerchief in the hole!" + +Meanwhile the water continued to pour in through the bottom of the boat, +setting the boards afloat, and thoroughly wetting the skirts of the +girls. And they were now in the centre of the widest part of the river. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TO THE RESCUE + + +Rapidly the water rose in the boat. It had now set the bottom boards +more fully afloat, and the girls in vain tried to raise their feet out +of the incoming flood. They stared at the swirling water, fascinated for +the moment. + +"Girls, we simply must do something!" cried Betty, usually the one to +take the initiative. + +"Row ashore! Row ashore!" begged Amy. "It's so deep out here." + +"It isn't much shallower near shore," remarked Mollie. "What can have +become of that plug?" and, pulling in her oars she began feeling about in +the bottom of the boat, moving her hand around under the water. + +"Maybe the twins took it to make a cat's cradle with," suggested Grace. + +"No, it couldn't have been out when we started or the water would have +come in at once," said Mollie. "It has come out only a few minutes ago. +We simply must find it!" + +"Row ashore--row ashore!" insisted Amy. + +Betty had swung the boat's head around, but the craft was now badly +water-laden, and did not move quickly. The current of the river was +carrying them down the stream. + +"Oh, girls!" cried Amy, her voice trembling somewhat, "it's +getting deeper!" + +"It certainly isn't stopping from coming in," murmured Mollie. "Where +_is_ that plug!" + +Desperately she continued to feel about, while the other girls cast +anxious eyes toward the shore, that now seemed so far away. + +"And there's not another boat in sight!" exclaimed Betty. "We must call +for help!"' + +"I have it! I have the plug!" suddenly cried Mollie, pulling on +something. + +"Ouch! That's my foot--my toe!" cried Grace. "Let go!" + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Betty, in disappointed tones. + +"I thought I had it!" said Mollie. "Wait until I catch those twins!" + +"We--we never may see them again," faltered Amy, whose recent rather +tragic experience; had gotten on her nerves. + +"Stop that!" commanded Betty, a bit sharply. + +"Oh, how fast the water is coming in!" moaned Grace. "I'm going to +faint--I know I'm going to faint!" + +"Don't you dare!" cried Mollie, quickly. "If you do I'll never speak to +you again! There! Take that!" She reached over on the seat beside Grace, +caught up a chocolate from a bag and thrust the confection into the tall +girl's mouth. "That will keep you from saying such silly things, and also +from fainting," remarked Mollie, practically. "Now, girls, since we can't +find that plug, we've got to do the next best thing." + +"If we could only whittle one!" said Betty. + +"If we had a knife we might cut a piece off one of the oars, or the side +of the boat," went on Mollie, "but as we haven't--we can't. We must +arrange to take knives with us on our tour, though!" + +"It's no time to talk about tours now!" moaned Amy. "We--we'll never +get ashore." + +"Nonsense!" cried Betty. "We've got to. If we can't find a plug, or make +one, we'll have to stuff something in the hole. Girls, your +handkerchiefs!" She seemed to have a sudden inspiration. + +She began rolling hers into a sort of cylindrical shape as she spoke. The +other girls saw her idea, and passed over their tiny squares of linen, +which Betty rolled with her own. + +"That's one of my best ones," sighed Grace, as she parted with hers. "I +got it on my birthday." + +"It's in a good cause--never mind," remarked Betty, firmly. "And you'll +get it back, you know--when we get ashore." + +"If we ever get ashore, you mean," spoke Amy. + +"Stop it!" commanded the Little Captain, sharply. "Of course we'll get +ashore. Now, Billy, where is that hole?" + +"Wherever the water seems to be coming in fastest," replied the owner of +the boat. "Oh, be quick, Betty. We can't float much longer!" + +"Well, we can swim," coolly replied Betty, as she began feeling about for +the hole in the bottom of the boat. Meanwhile she looked closely at the +surface of the water in the craft, which had now risen until it was close +to the under side of the seats. The girls were quite wet. The boat was +harder than ever to row. + +"That plug ought to be floating somewhere hereabouts," she murmured. + +"It's probably caught in a crack, or under one of the seats," said +Mollie. "Hurry up, Betty. The hole is right near where you were feeling +that time." + +"Yes, you can see the water bubbling up," added Amy. "Oh, do hurry, or +we'll sink!" + +"Well, then we can swim," said Betty, coolly. "It's a good thing we all +know how." + +"But--in our clothes!" protested Amy. + +"Oh, I guess we can do it if we try," went on Betty. "There, I have the +handkerchiefs in the hole!" she exclaimed, as she forced the wadded-up +linens into the aperture. "Now let's row harder!" + +"Oh, but I'm soaked!" sighed Grace. Indeed, they were all in no very +comfortable plight. + +They succeeded in heading the boat for shore, but they had only rowed a +short distance when Grace cried: + +"The water is still coming in!" + +There was no doubt about it. They all stared at the place where, under +water, Betty had thrust in the handkerchiefs. There was a string of +small bubbles, showing that the river water was still finding its way +into the boat. + +"Help! Help! Help!" suddenly called Amy. + +"Why--what's the matter?" demanded Betty, in alarm. + +"Oh, there's someone on shore, near a boat! It's a man--or a boy! He +must come out and rescue us!" said Amy, and there was a trace of tears +in her voice. + +"What's--the--matter?" came the hail from the one on shore. + +"We're--sinking!" called Betty, making a megaphone of her hands. "Come +out and save us!" + +"All right!" and then the following words were lost as the wind carried +them aside. The youth on shore--the girls could now see that he was a +youth--began shoving out a boat. He did not seem very adept in the +knowledge of rowing, and took quite a little time to get under way. + +"Oh, it's that Percy Falconer!" cried Betty. "He'll never get to us! +Girls, I guess we'll have to swim for it, after all!" + +"Look--there comes someone else!" suddenly cried Amy. "Oh, Grace, it's +your brother Will!" + +"Thank goodness for that," murmured Betty. "Now we have some chance. If +he can only make Percy listen to reason, and put back for him." + +"They seem to be having some argument," said Grace. "Oh, if that Percy +isn't the--" + +She did not finish, for they were all vitally interested in what was +taking place on shore. Will and Percy seemed to be having a difference +of opinion, and it appeared that Percy wanted to shine as a lone hero +in the rescue that must be performed quickly now, if it was to be +performed at all. + +"Come back with that boat!" Will could be heard to cry. "You don't know +how to row!" + +"I do so!" retorted Percy, the wind now carrying the words to the girls. + +"Come back here!" insisted Will, firmly, "or I'll--" + +"We'll be too late!" almost whined Percy. "They said they were sinking!" + +"Come back here!" fairly shouted Will. "I can row twice as fast as you, +and we'll make better time even if you do put back. Come on, or I'll jump +in and swim out to you, and chuck you overboard! Come back!" + +This argument proved effective. Possibly Percy was thinking what would +happen to his clothes if Will put his threat into execution. At any rate, +he swung the big boat around and a few moments later Will and he, the +former pulling vigorously on the oars, were on their way to rescue the +now thoroughly frightened girls. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSING DAYS + + +"Oh, Will, do hurry! My dress will be ruined!" + +Thus called Grace, as she frantically waved to her brother to hasten +his stroke. + +"Huh!" he panted. "Dress! A nice time to think--of dresses--when +they're--almost sinking!" + +"Are they--do you think they'll sink--and be drowned?" faltered Percy. + +"They may sink--they're not very likely to be drowned, though," grunted +Will, as he glanced over his shoulder to get his course straight. "They +can all swim. Pull on your left more. We'll pass 'em if you don't!" + +"Sink! I can't--I can't swim. Oh, dear!" cried Percy. + +"I know it. That's why I wanted you to come back and get me. You'd look +nice rescuing four girls all alone," said Will. "And you not able to swim +a stroke!" + +"I could do it," protested Percy, in self-defense. + +"Maybe," agreed Will. "Anyhow, it's lucky I happened to come along." + +"And it's a good thing I heard them hollering, and got the boat ready," +said the well-dressed lad, whose attire was now rather disheveled from +the haste of rowing. + +"That's right, Percy. I'll give you credit for that." + +"Oh, do hurry, boys!" cried Mollie. "We'll be under in another minute." + +"Coming!" cried Will. "Pull harder, Percy!" + +"I can't!" + +"You've got to!" That seemed to be all there was to it. Percy +pulled harder. + +Only just in time did Will and his companion reach the boat that was on +the verge of sinking. And only the skill and good sense of the girls, and +the knowledge that they could swim if they happened to fall into the +water, enabled the rescue to be made. For it was no easy task to +disembark from one craft to the other, especially with one nearly +submerged. But, while Will and Percy held the gunwale of their boat close +to that of the half-sunken one, the girls carefully crawled out and soon, +rather wet, considerably dismayed, but, withal, calmer than might have +been expected, the quartette was safe in the larger craft. + +"Oh, what a relief!" exclaimed Mollie, wringing some water from the +bottom of her skirt. + +"But look at my dress--and this is only the second time I've worn it!" +cried Grace, in distress. "It will be ruined." + +"All it needs is pressing," said Will, disdainfully. + +"What do you think this is--a pair of your trousers?" demanded his +sister, indignantly. "Pressing! It is ruined!" + +"We're all drenched," spoke Amy. "But it doesn't matter as long as +we're safe." + +"That's the way to look at it!" exclaimed Will. "How did it happen, +anyhow?" + +"Plug out of the bottom," explained Mollie, sententiously. "The twins!" + +"I see! Say, she's going down all right!" This Will remarked as the boat +from which the girls had climbed settled lower and lower in the water. + +"Oh, can't we save it?" cried Mollie. "My poor boat!" + +"I'll use one of the oars as a buoy," said Will. "I'll fasten it to the +painter. It will probably drift, but it will run into the eddy at the +Point, and we can get it to-morrow." + +Quickly he knotted the end of the painter about one of the oars. Then +taking the others into the craft that Percy had commandeered for the +occasion, the two boys rowed the girls back to the dock at the foot of +the slope that led to Mollie's house. + +"Come in, girls," she invited. "We can get dry, and Will can go for some +decent things for you three." + +"I'll go, too!" exclaimed Percy, eagerly. And for once the girls were +glad of his services. + +Up the walk went the four bedraggled ones. The twins saw them coming, +and, grave-eyed and solemn, came down to meet them. + +"Oo's wet," remarked Dodo. + +"Drefful wet," echoed Paul. + +"Yes, you naughty children!" scolded Mollie. "Why did you take the +plug--the wooden peg--out of sister's boat? Why did you do it?" + +"Dodo do it," remarked Paul, with the ancient privilege of the accusing +man. "Dodo want to make a doll." + +"Oo helped me," came from the little girl. "Oo helped!" + +"But us put it back," asserted Paul. + +"Yes, but it came out, and sister and her friends were nearly drowned. +You were naughty children--very naughty!" + +"Oo dot any tandy?" demanded Dodo, fixing her big eyes on Grace. + +"Candy! Good land sakes, no! Candy? The idea!" + +"We 'ikes tandy," added Paul. + +Then out came Mrs. Billette, startled at the sight of the dripping +figures. + +"Oh, did you fall in?" she asked, with a tragic gesture. + +"No, we fell out," said her daughter, laughing. "It's all right, momsey, +but we must get dry. Girls, give Will and Percy your orders." + +"Perhaps we had better telephone," suggested Betty. + +"Oh, yes!" chorused the others. + +Soon the desired garments had been specified, and the boys promised to +bring them in suitcases as soon as might be. Then the drenched ones made +themselves comfortable in Mollie's home, and, while waiting, talked over +the accident. + +That it had not resulted more seriously was due to a combination of +circumstances. + +"For once Percy was really useful," commented Amy, kindly. + +"Yes, but we'll never hear the last of it," declared Grace. "He'll +think we are his eternal debtors from now on. Oh, here comes Will! +I'm so glad." + +Soon clothed, and if not exactly in their right minds, at least on the +verge of getting there, the four came out to thank the boys, and there +was more talk of the occurrence. + +"I hope nothing like this happens when we set off on our tour," said Amy. +"It won't be so comfortable then to be drenched." + +"Don't speak of it, my dear," begged Betty. The little happening--not so +little, either, when one considers the possibility--had one good effect. +It had raised Amy out of the slough of despond into which she had +unwittingly strayed, or been thrust. + +I shall pass rapidly over the next few days, for nothing of moment +happened. I say nothing of moment, and yet there was, for the story of +the mystery concerning Amy's parentage became generally known, as might +have been expected. + +There were curious glances cast at Amy, and more than one indiscreet girl +tried to draw her out about the matter. This made it hard for Amy, and +she was so upset about it that Mrs. Stonington kept her home from school +for two days. + +Then, chiefly by reason of the sensible attitude of Betty, Grace and +Mollie, there came a more rational feeling, and it was agreed that the +affair was not so uncommon after all. + +The chums of Amy said nothing about the letter Alice had written. That +she had was very evident from her actions, for she was at first defiant, +and then contrite, and several times it was seen that she had been +crying. But she said nothing, perhaps being too proud to admit her fault. + +"We'll just treat her as if nothing had happened," said Betty, and this +advice was followed. Alice was not generally liked, but the three chums +were so pleasant to her, in contrast with the conduct of the other girls, +that it must have been as coals of fire on her head. + +Mollie's boat was easily recovered, and the handkerchiefs that had been +stuffed in the hole were of some service afterward, though rather stained +by river water. The missing plug was found fast under a seat brace, which +accounted for it not floating. + +As for the five-hundred-dollar bill, nothing was heard of the owner, and +it, with the attached paper, remained in Mr. Nelson's safe. The +advertisement about it was published again, and though there were several +inquiries from persons who had lost money, they could lay no claim to +this particular bankbill. + +"We'll just have to wait to solve that mystery," said Grace. "Maybe until +after we come back from our tour." + +Arrangements to start on the journey had rapidly been completed. Betty +had made out the schedule. + +"We'll leave Deepdale early in the morning," she said, "and go on to +Rockford. There we're due to stop with my aunt. We can take lunch +wherever we find it most convenient, but we'll make Rockford at +dusk, I hope." + +"I certainly trust so," said Mollie. "A night on a country +road--never, my dear!" + +"The next night we'll stop in Middleville," went on Betty, "at Amy's +cousin's house. From there to Broxton, where Grace's married sister +will put us up, and then, in turn to Simpson's Corners--that's my +uncle, you know--to Flatbush, where Grace's mother's niece has kindly +consented to receive us; on to Hightown, that's Mollie's aunt's place; +to Cameron--that's where we'll go to the camp that Mr. Ford's +half-brother runs." + +She paused to make a note and to glance over the schedule to make sure of +some points. + +"Then we'll go to Judgville, where my cousin lives, and that will be our +last stopping place. Then for home," she finished. + +"It sounds good," said Mollie. + +"It will be lovely," declared Betty. "Are you sure your--your aunt and +uncle won't have any further objections to you going, Amy?" + +"Oh, sure! It was only because they thought that I might be upset on +hearing of the mystery that they didn't want me to go. But I'm over +that now." + +"Bravely over it," murmured Betty, as she put her arms about her chum's +shoulders. + +The examinations were on, and boys and girls were working hard, for, +because of the need of some repairs to the school, it had been decided to +cut the summer term short. + +Then came the closing days, with the flowers, the simple exercises, +and the farewell to the graduating class, of which our girls were +not members. + +"Two days more and we'll be off on our wonderful tour!" exclaimed Mollie, +as she and the others came out of school on the final day. "Oh, I can +hardly wait!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +OFF ON THE TOUR + + +"How do we look?" + +"Don't you think these skirts are too short?" + +"Isn't it fine to have--pockets?" + +"Oh, Grace Ford! You'll never be able to walk in those shoes! Girls, just +look at those French heels!" It was Amy who spoke. + +"They're not French!" declared Grace, driven to self-defense. "They're a +modified Cuban." + +"Not enough modification, then; that's what I say!" exclaimed Mollie, the +three expressions which opened this chapter having come from Betty, Grace +and Amy, respectively. "They're of the French--Frenchy, Grace, my dear!" + +"I don't care! I tried to get fitted in the kind of shoes you girls +have," and Grace looked at the stout and substantial walking boots of her +companions, "but they didn't have my size. The man is going to send for +them, and he said he'd forward them to Middleville. They'll be there when +we arrive." + +"All right, as long as you're going to get them," spoke Betty. +"You never could belong to our Camping and Tramping Club in those +shoes, Grace." + +"Well, they're the largest I have, and I don't think the heels are so +very high; do you?" and she appealed to the others. + +"Here are Will and Frank," spoke Amy. "We'll let them decide." + +"Oh, Will is sure to say something mean," declared his sister. "Don't you +dare mention heels to him!" + +"Ready for the hike?" demanded Will, as he came up with his chum. + +"We start in half an hour," replied Betty, in the front yard of whose +house the others were gathered. "Gracious, I know I haven't half the +things I need. What did I do with that alcohol stove?" + +"I saw you put it in the case," said Amy. + +"Oh, yes, so I did. I declare I don't know what I'm doing! Now, girls, is +there anything else to be thought of?" + +"If there is, I'm not capable of it," declared Mollie. "I am a wreck," +and she leaned against patient Amy for support. + +"We'll go part way with you," offered Will. + +"You shall not!" exclaimed his sister. "You'll make all manner of fun of +us, and--" + +"No, we won't--I promise!" exclaimed Frank, earnestly. + +"Oh, let them come," pleaded Betty. + +"Then go get Percy," urged Grace. + +"Don't you dare!" cried Betty. + +"Well, here comes Allen Washburn, anyhow," went on the tall girl. "At +least we'll have enough escorts." Betty blushed and hurried into the +house on some pretense or other. + +The girls were to travel "light," taking with them only a few articles of +clothing. Their suitcases they had arranged to send on ahead, so that +they would be at each stopping place in the evening when the little party +arrived. Then on leaving in the morning the satchels would again be +dispatched in advance. Near the end of the route trunks would await them. + +The girls expected to get their dinners wherever it was most convenient, +and Betty had drawn up a sort of schedule that, should they be able to +keep up to it, would mean comfort at noon. As I have explained, the +breakfasts and suppers would be eaten at the homes of friends or +relatives. + +The girls had a little alcohol stove, a teapot and saucepan, and they +expected, under favorable circumstances, to stop by the roadside and +brew a cup of tea, each girl carrying an aluminum cup and saucer. +Evaporated cream and sugar, to be replenished from time to time, formed +part of their stores. Sandwiches, to be procured as needed, would form a +staple food. + +The day was a "perfect" one for June. Clad in their new suits of olive +drab, purposely designed for walking, with sensible blouses, containing +pockets, with skirts sufficiently short, stout boots and natty little +caps, the outdoor girls looked their name. Already there was the hint of +tan on their faces, for they had been much in the open of late. + +They had assembled at Betty's house for the start, and were about ready +to leave, though there seemed to be much confusion at the last minute. + +Their first stopping place, at least for the night, would be the town of +Rockford, about sixteen miles away, where Betty's aunt lived. They +expected to remain two nights there, using the second day to walk to a +certain old historic mill that was said to be worthy of a visit. + +The good-byes were said, over and over again, it seemed, and a number of +friends called to wish the girls good luck. Betty, who had been voted +into the place of leader, looked over her small command. What it lacked +in numbers it made up in attractiveness, for certainly no prettier +picture could have been viewed than the one the girls presented that +June morning, beneath the trees in the big yard. + +"Well, are we ready?" finally asked Betty. + +"As ready as we ever shall be," replied Grace. + +"Then--what shall I say--forward--march?" + +"Just say--hike!" cried the irrepressible Will. + +"Don't mind him!" cautioned his sister. "Oh, I've left my handkerchief in +your house, Betty!" and she hastened to secure it. + +But, finally, after a few more forgotten articles had been collected, the +girls were ready to start. Mr. Nelson came out to wave a farewell, and +his wife appeared, to add more to her already numerous cautions. + +"What shall I do with that five hundred dollar bill?" asked Betty's +father. "If the owner comes, shall I give it up?" + +"Don't you dare!" she cried. "At least, not until we girls have a chance +to see him. We want to find out about the romance back of it. Write to us +if it's claimed." + +"All right--I will," he said, with a laugh. + +"But it doesn't seem as though, after this lapse of time, that it would +be called for. Good-bye!" + +"Good-bye! Good-luck!" + +This was echoed and re-echoed. Then the four members of the Camping and +Tramping Club started down the pleasant country road, whereon the June +sun shone in golden patches through the leafy branches of the trees. + +"A good omen," breathed Amy, who walked beside Betty. + +Will, Frank and Allen brought up the rear, carrying the small valises or +suitcases the girls had packed. The little cavalcade passed Mollie's +house, Mrs. Billette appearing at the window to wave another farewell. +The twins were not in sight. + +"For which I am thankful--they'd cry to come," said their sister, "and +they are dreadful teases." + +As the girls and their escorts swung around a turn in the highway a +little later, about a mile from Mollie's house, Grace looked back to cry +out in almost tragic accents: + +"Look! The twins! They're following us," and the others turned around +to see Dodo and Paul, hand in hand, trudging bravely and determinedly +after them. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE WRONG ROAD + + +Molly, for a moment, looked as if she wanted to cry from sheer vexation, +for the getting ready to start had been trying on all of them. Then the +humor of the situation appealed to her, and she exclaimed, as the +solemn-eyed twins drew: nearer: + +"Dodo--Paul--what does this mean? Go back home at once! Mamma will be +dreadfully worried about you. Go back." + +"We tum too," lisped Dodo. + +"We go for walk wit oo, Mollie," Paul added. + +"The little dears!" murmured Amy. + +"You wouldn't say so if you had to go all the way back with them," +exclaimed the sister. "Dodo--Paul, you must go home at once." + +"Dot any tandy?" asked Dodo, seeing, doubtless, a chance to make capital +out of the escapade. + +"Candy! The idea!" + +"We go back if oo dot tandy," spoke Paul, cunningly, seeing the drift of +his small sister's scheme. "We 'ikes tandy." + +"I'll give them some if they promise to go back," spoke Grace, making a +motion toward her little case that Frank carried. + +"No, they must not be bribed," said Mollie, firmly. "I shall insist on +their going back. And oh! what faces they have! They must have been +eating candy already this morning." + +"Our tandy all gone," spoke Dodo. "Oo dive us tandy we go back; won't us, +Paul?" and confidingly she looked up into her brother's face. + +"We go for tandy," he affirmed, and there was an air of determination +about him that boded no good for the girls. + +"You must go back!" declared Mollie. + +"We go for walk," said Dodo. "Tum on, Paul. We dot fings to eat same +as dem," and proudly she displayed a very dirty bag, the opening of +which disclosed a rather jumbled collection of bread and butter, and +cookie crumbs. + +"An' I dot a gun to shoot bad bears," went on Paul, shouldering a wooden +article, that, by a wide stretch of the imagination could be seen to +somewhat resemble a musket. "Gun go bang-bang!" explained the little +chap, "bad bears run 'way off. Turn on, Dodo, we go wif 'em," and he +nodded at the "hikers," as Will unfeelingly characterized his sister and +her chums. + +"Go back! Go back!" cried Mollie, now again on the verge of tears. "Oh, +you bad children! What shall I do? Mamma will be dreadfully worried, and +if we take them back we'll lose a lot of time. What shall we do, girls?" + +"We go back for tandy--lots of tandy," spoke the inexorable Dodo. "We +'ikes tandy; don't us, Paul?" + +"Yes," said Paul, simply. + +"The easiest way out of it is to give them some candy," said Grace, in a +low voice, but, low as it was, the twins heard. Their eyes brightened at +once, and they came eagerly forward. + +"Oh, dear, I suppose it is the only thing to do," affirmed Mollie. "Will +you go straight back if you get some candy?" she asked. "Straight home +to mamma?" + +"Ess--we bofe go," promised Dodo, who usually led her small brother. "We +'ikes tandy," she reiterated. + +"Me tan shoot bears to-morrow," said Paul, philosophically. "Where is +tandy?" With him evidently the prospect of present enjoyment was +preferable to the future possibility of becoming a great hunter. + +"Here you are!" cried Grace, as she took out some chocolates. "Now be +good children. Do you think it safe for them to go back alone, Mollie?" + +"That's so, I never considered that. I wonder if we'll have to go with +them? Oh, isn't this annoying, and we're behind time now! We'll never get +to Rockford to-night. What shall I do?" + +"We take 'em back if oo dive us some tandy!" mocked Will, who, with his +chums, had been an interested observer of the little scene. + +"Smarty!" exclaimed his sister. "But I'll take you at your word just the +same. Here, Frank--Allen--you see that he performs his part of the +contract," and she held the candy box out to the other two, who +laughingly accepted the bribe. + +Then with the hands of the trusting, and now contented, twins in theirs, +Will and Frank bade the girls good-speed and led away the two small ones +on their homeward way, Allen following them after a farewell to Betty. + +"At last we are off!" murmured Mollie. "I'm so sorry it happened, girls!" + +"Why, the idea!" cried Betty. "It was just a little pleasant episode, and +we'll remember it all day, and laugh." + +"But it may make us late," suggested Mollie, anxiously. + +"Not much," went on the Little Captain. "It wasn't your fault, anyhow. We +can just walk a little faster to make up for it--that is, if, Grace +thinks she can stand it." + +"Oh, you won't find me complaining," declared the girl whose footwear had +been the subject of comment. "I'm not as comfortable as you, perhaps," +she admitted, "but I will be when I get my other shoes. And now, let's +give ourselves up to the enjoyments of the way--and day. Oh, isn't it +just lovely!" + +Indeed, a more auspicious start--barring the little delay caused by the +twins--could not have been provided. The day was one of those balmy ones +in June, when it is neither too hot nor too blowy, when the breeze seems +fairly laden with the sweet scent of flowers, and the lazy hum of bees +mingles with the call of birds. + +The way led out along a pleasant country road, which, for some distance, +wound in and out among great maples that formed a leafy shade which might +be most acceptable later in the day, since there was the promise of +considerable heat at noon. + +As yet it was early, a prompt enough start having been made to allow of +an easy pace along the road. + +"For," Betty had said in reviewing the procedure to be followed, "we +don't want to tire ourselves out on the first stage of our trip. We +ought to begin gradually. That is the way all athletes train." + +"Oh, then we are going to be athletes?" asked Amy. + +"Walking athletes, at least," responded the leader. "Now, girls, if any +of you feel like resting at any time, don't hesitate to say so. We want +this to be an enjoyment, not a task, even if we are a regular club." + +So perfect was the day, and in such good spirits were the girls, that +even the simplest sights and happenings along the highway brought forth +pleased comments. The sight of a cow placidly chewing her cud in a +meadow, the patient creature standing knee-deep amid the buttercups, was +a picture they all admired, Mollie carried a little camera, and insisted +on snapping the bovine, though the other girls urged her to save some +films with which to take their own pictures. + +"But that cow will make such a lovely enlargement," said Mollie. "It's +like an artist's painting." + +Bravely they marched along, with a confident swing and firm tread--at +least, all but Grace trod firmly, and she rather favored herself on +account of her high heels. But her chums were good enough not to laugh. + +They passed farm houses, in the kitchen doors of which appeared the +women and girls of the household, standing with rolled-up sleeves, arms +akimbo, looking with no small wonder at the four travelers. + +There were comments, too, not always inaudible. + +"I wonder what they're selling?" one woman asked her daughter, as +they paused in their work of washing a seemingly innumerable number +of milk pans. + +"They take us for peddlers," said Amy. + +A little later a small boy, who had been playing horse in front of his +house, scuttled back toward the kitchen, crying out: + +"Ma--ma! Come an' see the suffragists!" + +"Oh, mercy!" exclaimed Betty. "What will we be taken for next?" + +But it was fun, with all that, and such a novelty to the girls that they +wondered why they had not before thought of this means of spending part +of their vacation. + +The sun crept higher in the sky, and the warmth of the golden beams +increased. The girls were thankful, now, for any shade they might +encounter, and they were fortunate in that their way still lay in +pleasant places. They came to a little brook that ran under the road, and +not far from it a roadside spring bubbled up. Their collapsible drinking +cups came in useful, and they remained for a little while in the shade +near the cool spot. + +"Where shall we eat our lunch?" asked Grace, as the ever-mounting sun +approached the zenith. + +"Are you hungry already?" asked Amy. + +"I am beginning to feel the pangs," admitted the tall, graceful girl. + +"Then you can't have eaten much candy," commented Mollie. + +"Only three pieces." + +"Hurrah! Grace is reforming!" cheered Betty. "That's fine!" + +"I don't see why you're always making fun of me," Grace said, as she +pouted. "I'm sure you are all just as fond of chocolate as I am." + +"Never mind," consoled Mollie. "We will eat soon, for I confess to having +an appetite on my own account." + +Deciding to eat, at least on this first day of the tramp, a lunch of +their own providing, rather than go to some restaurant, country hotel, or +stop at a chance farm house, the girls had brought with them packages of +food, and the alcohol stove for a cup of tea, or some chocolate. + +"This looks to be a perfect place for our picnic," said Betty, as, on +passing a farm, they saw the plow-horses unhitched and led under a tree +to partake of their hay and oats. "It must be noon by that sign," went +on the Little Captain, confirming her guess by a glance at her watch. "It +is," she said. "So we'll eat here," and she indicated a little grassy +knoll under a great oak tree at the side of the road. + +"There's the most beautiful spring of water here, too," went on Grace. +"Shall we make tea?" + +"Do!" exclaimed Mollie. "I'm just dying for a good hot cup. But not +too strong." + +Soon they had merrily gathered about the greensward table, on which paper +napkins formed the cloth. The sandwiches were set out, with a bottle of +olives to add to the attractiveness, and then the little kettle was put +on the alcohol stove, which had been set up in the shelter of the great +oak's massive trunk. + +"It's boiling!" finally announced Betty. "Hand me the tea ball, +Amy, my dear." + +Pouring the steaming water over the silver tea ball, Betty circulated it +around in the cup, until one fragrant brew was made. She passed this over +to Mollie, and proceeded to make another. + +"It's delicious!" cried the French girl, as she tasted it, cream and +sugar having been added. "Oh, isn't this just lovely!" + +"Perfect," murmured Grace. "I wouldn't have missed this for anything!" + +In pure enjoyment they reclined on the grass after the meal, and then, as +Betty, after a look at her watch, warned them that the better half of +their journey still lay before them, they started off again. + +They had proceeded a mile or so, and the way was not so pleasant now, for +the road was sandy, when they came to a fork of the highway. A time-worn +sign-post bore letters that could scarcely be made out, and, though they +had a road map, the girls were not quite sure which way to take to get to +Rockford. They were debating the matter, alternately consulting the map +and the sign-post, when a farmer drove past. + +"Which road to Rockford, please?" hailed Betty. + +"Th' left!" he exclaimed, sententiously. "G'lang there!" This last to the +horses, not to the girls. + +"The road map seems to say the road to the right," murmured Betty, as the +farmer drove that way himself. + +"Well, he ought to know," insisted Grace. "We'll take the left," +and they did. + +If they had hoped to have all go smoothly on this, their first day of +tramping, the girls were destined to disappointment. In blissful +ignorance they trudged on, talking so interestedly that they never +thought to glance at the sign-boards, of which they passed several. + +It was Amy who discovered the error they had made--or rather, the error +the farmer had caused them to make. Again coming to a dividing of the +ways, they saw a new sign-board, put up by a local automobile +organization. + +"Eight miles to Hamptown, and ten to Denby," read Amy. "Girls, where is +Rockford?" + +Anxiously they stared at the sign. + +"It doesn't seem to say anything about Rockford," murmured Grace. + +"Maybe someone has moved our town," suggested Mollie, humorously. + +Betty looked puzzled, annoyed and a little anxious. A snub-nosed, +freckle-faced boy came along whistling, and beating the dust of the road +with a long switch. + +"Which is the road to Rockford, little boy?" asked Betty. + +"Huh?" + +"I say, which is the road to Rockford?" + +"Give him a candy if you have any left, Grace," suggested Mollie, in +a low tone. + +"Are you folks peddlin' candy?" asked the boy, and his eyes shone. + +"No, but we have some," answered Betty. "We want to get to Rockford." + +"You're five miles off the road," exclaimed the boy, with a grin, as +though he took personal delight in their dilemma. "You come the wrong +way. Huh!" + +"Oh, dear!" murmured Mollie. "Don't you give him any candy, Grace." + +"It isn't his fault that we went wrong," spoke Betty. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BARKING DOG + + +Disappointment, and not a little worriment, held the four girls silent +for a moment. Then Betty, feeling that it was her place to assume the +leadership, said: + +"Are you sure, little boy? A man told us, at the last dividing of the +roads, to take the left, as that led to Rockford." + +"Well, he didn't know what he was talking about," asserted the little +chap, with the supreme confidence of youth. "To get to Rockford you've +got to go back." + +"All that distance?" cried Grace. "We'll never make it in time." + +"Isn't there a shorter way--some cross-road we can take?" inquired Betty. + +"Who's got the candy?" inquired the little chap, evidently thinking that +he had already earned some reward. + +"Here!" said Grace, hopelessly, holding out an almost emptied box. "But +please--_please_ don't tell us we're lost." + +"Oh, you ain't exactly lost!" exclaimed the urchin, with a grin. "I live +just down the road a piece, and it's only a mile to Bakersville. That's a +good town. They got a movin' picture show there. I went onct!" + +"Did you indeed?" said Betty. "But we can't go there. Isn't there some +way of getting to Rockford without going all the way back to the fork? +Why, it's miles and miles!" + +"I wish I had that man here who directed us wrongly!" exclaimed Mollie, +with a flash of her dark eyes. "I--I'd make him get a carriage and drive +us to your aunt's house, Betty." + +"That would not be revenge enough," declared Grace. "He ought to be made +to buy us each a box of the best chocolates." + +"Nothing like making the punishment fit the crime," murmured Betty. + +"Say, are you play-actors?" demanded the boy, who had stood in +opened-mouth wonder during this dialogue. The girls broke into peals of +merry laughter that, in a measure, served to relieve the tension on +their nerves. + +"Now do please tell us how to get to Rockford?" begged Mollie when they +had quieted down. "We must be there to-night." + +"Well, you kin git there by goin' on a mile further and taking the +main road that goes through Sayreville," said the boy, his mouth +full of candy. + +"Would that be nearer than going back to where we made the mistake?" +Betty asked. + +"Yep, a lot nearer. Come on; I'll show you as far as I'm goin'," and the +boy started off as though the task--or shall I say, pleasure?--of leading +four pretty girls was an every-day occurrence. + +"We never can get there before dark," declared Mollie. + +"Oh, yes, we will," said Betty, hopefully. "We can walk faster +than this." + +"If you do I'll simply give up," wailed Grace. "These shoes!" and she +leaned against a tree. + +And to the eternal credit of the other girls be it said that they did not +remark: "I told you so!" + +Silently and unconcernedly, the snub-nosed boy led them on. Finally +he came to his own home, and rather ungallantly, did not offer to +go farther. + +"You jest keep on for about half a mile," he said, "an' you'll come to a +cross-road." + +"I hope it isn't too cross," murmured Grace, with a grave face. + +"Huh?" + +The boy looked at her wonderingly. + +"I mean not cross enough to bite," she went on. + +"You turn to the left," the boy continued, "and keep straight on till you +get to Watson's Corners. Then you turn to the right, keep on past an old +stone church, turn to the right and that's a straight road to Rockford." +He looked curiously at Grace, as though in doubt as to her sanity. "A +cross road!" he murmured. + +"Gracious, we'll never remember all that!" exclaimed Amy. + +"I have it down!" said practical Betty, as she wrote rapidly in her note +book. "I'm sure we can find it. Come on, girls!" + +"Have another candy," invited Grace, hospitably extending the now nearly +depleted box. + +"Sure--thanks!" exclaimed the boy, but he backed quickly away from her. +Her joke had fallen on a suspicious mind, evidently. + +The girls trudged on, rather silent now, for somehow the edge of their +enjoyment seemed to have been taken off. But still they were not +discouraged. They were true outdoor girls, and they knew, even if worse +came to worst, and darkness found them far from their destination, and +Betty's aunt's house, that no real harm could come to them. + +Successfully they found the various points of identification mentioned +by the freckled boy, and at last they located a sign-post that read: + +FIVE MILES TO ROCKFORD + +"Five miles!" exclaimed Grace, with a tragic air. "We can never do it!" + +"We must!" declared Betty, firmly. "Of course we can do it. Why, even +with going out of our way as we did, we won't have covered more than +eighteen miles to-day. And we set twenty as an average." + +"But this is the first day," said Mollie. + +"We can--we _must_ get to Rockford to-night," insisted Betty. + +Rather hopelessly they tramped on. The sun seemed to sink with surprising +rapidity after getting to a certain point in the western sky. + +"It's dropping faster and faster all the while!" cried Amy, as they +watched it from a crest of the road. + +"Never mind--June evenings are the longest of the year," consoled Betty. + +They hurried on. The sun sank to its nightly rest amid a bed of golden, +green, purple, pink and olive clouds, and there followed a glorious maze +of colors that reached high up toward zenith. + +"Girls, we simply must stop and admire this--if it's only for a +minute!" exclaimed Grace. "Isn't that wonderful!" and she pointed a +slender hand, beautified by exquisitely kept nails, toward the gorgeous +sky picture. + +"Every minute counts!" remarked practical Betty. Yet she knew better than +to worry her friends. + +The glow faded, and again the girls advanced. From the fields came the +lowing of the cows, as they waited impatiently for the bars of the +pastures to be let down. A herd of sheep was driven along the road, +raising a cloud of dust. From farm houses came the barking of dogs and +the not unmusical notes of conch or tin horns, summoning the "men folks" +to the evening meal. + +"Girls, we're never going to make it in time!" exclaimed Grace as the sky +darkened. "We must see if we can't stop at one of these houses over +night," and she pointed to a little hamlet they were approaching. + +"Grace!" exclaimed Betty. "Aunt Sallie would be worried to death if we +didn't come, after she expected us." + +"Then we must send her word. I can't go another step." + +They all paused irresolutely. They were in front of a big white house--a +typical country home. Betty glanced toward it. + +"It's too bad," she said. "I know just how you feel, and yet can we go up +to one of these places, perfect strangers, and ask them to keep us over +night? It doesn't seem reasonable." + +"Anything is reasonable when you have to," declared Mollie. "I'll ask," +she volunteered, starting toward the house. "The worst they can say is +'no,' and maybe we can hire a team to drive to Rockford, if they can't +keep us. I can drive!" + +"Well, we'll ask, anyhow," agreed Betty, rather hopelessly. She hardly +knew what to do next. + +As they advanced toward the House the savage barking of a dog was heard, +and as they reached the front gate the beast came rushing down the walk, +while behind him lumbered a farmer, shouting: + +"Here! Come back! Down, Nero! Don't mind him, ladies!" he added. "He +won't hurt you!" + +But the aspect, and the savage growls and barks, of the creature seemed +to indicate differently, and the girls shrank back. Betty, reaching in +her bag, drew out the nearly emptied olive bottle for a weapon. + +"Don't hit him! Don't hit him!" cried the farmer. "That will only make +him worse! Come back here, Nero!" + +"Run, girls! Run!" begged Amy. "He'll tear us to pieces!" and she +turned and fled. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT AUNT SALLIE'S + + +Probably that was the most unwise course poor Amy could have taken. Dogs, +even the most savage, seldom come to a direct attack unless their +prospective victim shows fear. Then, like a horse that takes advantage of +a timid driver, the creature advances boldly to the attack. + +It was so in this case. The other girls, not heeding Amy's frantic +appeal, stood still, but she ran back toward the road, her short skirt +giving her a chance to exercise her speed. The dog saw, and singling out +her as the most favorable for his purposes, he leaped the fence in a +great bound and rushed after the startled girl. + +"Stop him! Stop him!" + +"Oh, Amy!" + +"If she falls!" + +"I know I'm going to faint!" + +"Don't you dare do it, Grace Ford!" + +"Why doesn't that man keep his dog chained?" + +These were only a few of the expressions that came from the lips of the +girls as, horror-stricken, they watched the dog rush after poor Amy. + +Never had she run so fast--not even during one of the basket ball +games in which she had played, nor when they had races at the Sunday +school picnic. + +And, had it not been for a certain hired man, who, taking in the +situation as he came on the run from the barn, acted promptly, Amy might +have been severely injured. As it was the farmer's man, crossing the yard +diagonally, was able to intercept the dog. + +"Run to the left, Miss! Run to the left!" he cried. Then, leaping the low +fence at a bound, he threw the pitchfork he carried at the dog with such +skill that the handle crossed between the brute's legs and tripped it. +Turning over and over in a series of somersaults, the dog's progress was +sufficiently halted to enable the hired man to get to it. He took a firm +grip in the collar of the dog and held on. Poor Amy stumbled a few steps +farther and then Betty, recovering her scattered wits, cried out: + +"All right, Amy! All right! You're in no danger!" + +And Amy sank to the ground while her chums rushed toward her. + +"Hold him, Zeke! Hold him!" cried the farmer, as he came lumbering up. +"Hold on to him!" + +"That's what I'm doin'!" responded the hired man. + +"Is th' gal hurted? Land sakes, I never knew Nero to act so!" went on the +farmer apologetically. "He must have been teased by some of th' boys. Be +you hurted, Miss?" + +Pale and trembling, Amy arose. But it was very evident that she had +suffered no serious harm, for the dog had not reached her, and she had +simply collapsed on the grass, rather than fallen. + +The dog, choking and growling, was firmly held by the hired man, who +seemed to have no fear of him. + +"I'm awfully sorry," said the farmer, contritely. "I never knew him to +act like that." + +"Some one has tied a lot of burrs on his tail," called out the hired man. +"That's what set him off." + +"I thought so. Well, clean 'em off, and he'll behave. Poor old Nero!" + +Even now the dog was quieting down, and as the hired man removed the +irritating cause of the beast's anger it became even gentle, whining as +though to offer excuses. + +"I can't tell you how sorry I am," went on the farmer. "You're strangers +around here, I take it." + +"Yes," said Betty, "and we lost our way. We're going to Rockford. We must +be there to-night." + +"Rockford?" + +"Yes, my aunt lives there." + +"And who might your aunt be?" + +"Mrs. Palmer." + +"Bill Palmer's wife?" + +"Yes, that's Uncle Will I guess," and Betty laughed. + +"Pshaw now! You don't say so! Why, I know Bill well." + +The farmer's wife came bustling out. + +"Is the young lady hurt, Jason? What got into Nero, anyhow? I never see +him behave so!" + +"Oh, it was them pesky boys! No, she's not hurt." + +Amy was surrounded by her chums. She was pale, and still trembling, but +was fast recovering her composure. + +"Won't you come in the house," invited the woman. "We're jest goin' t' +set down t' supper, and I'm sure you'd like a cup of tea." + +"I should love it!" murmured Grace. + +"What be you--suffragists?" went on the woman, with a smile. + +"That's the second time we've been taken for them to-day," murmured +Betty, "Do we look so militant?" + +"You look right peart!" complimented the woman. "Do come in?" + +Betty, with her eyes, questioned her chums. They nodded an assent. +Really they were entitled to something it seemed after the unwarranted +attack of the dog. + +"We ought to be going on to Rockford," said Betty, as they +strolled toward the pleasant farm house. "I don't see how we can +get there now--" + +"You leave that to me!" said the farmer, quickly. "I owe you +something on account of the way Nero behaved. Ain't you ashamed of +yourself?" he charged. + +The dog crouched, whined and thumped the earth with a contrite tail. He +did not need the restraining hand of the hired man now. + +"Make friends," ordered the farmer. The dog approached the girls. + +"Oh--don't!" begged Amy. + +"He wouldn't hurt a fly," bragged the farmer. "I can't account for his +meanness." + +"It was them burrs," affirmed the hired man. + +"Mebby so. Wa'al, young ladies, come in and make yourselves t' hum! +Behave, Nero!" for now the dog was getting too friendly, leaping up and +trying to solicit caresses from the girls. "That's th' way with him, one +minute he's up to some mischief, an' th' next he's beggin' your, pardon. +I hope you're not hurt, miss," and he looked anxiously at Amy. + +"No, not at all," she assured him, with a smile that was brave and +winning. "I was only frightened, that's all." + +"I'm glad of that. I'll have t' tie that dog up, I guess," and he +threw a little clod of earth at the now cringing animal, not hitting +him, however. + +"Oh, don't hurt him," pleaded Betty. + +"Hurt him! He wouldn't do that, miss!" exclaimed the hired man, who now +had to defend himself from the over-zealous affections of the dog. "He's +too fond of him. Nero isn't a bad sort generally, only some of the boys +worried him." + +The girls, with the farmer and his man in the lead, walked toward the +house, the woman hurrying on ahead to set more places at the table. + +"I'm afraid we're troubling you too much," protested Betty. + +"Oh, it's no trouble at all," the farmer assured her. "And I owe you +something on account of my dog's actions." + +"But really, ought we to stay?" asked Grace. "It's getting dark, Betty, +and your aunt--" + +"Say, young ladies!" exclaimed the farmer, "I'll fix that all right. As +soon as you have a bite to eat I'll hitch up and drive you over to +Rockford, to Bill Palmer's." + +"Oh!" began Betty, "we couldn't think--" + +She stopped, for she did not know what to say. Truly, it was quite a +dilemma in which they found themselves, and they must stay somewhere that +night. To remain at a strange farm house was out of the question. Perhaps +this was the simplest way after all. + +"It won't be any trouble at all," the farmer assured her. "I've got +a fast team and a three-seated carriage. I'll have you over there +in no time." + +"Then perhaps we'd better not stop for supper," said Mollie. "Your aunt +might be worrying, Betty, and--" + +"We'll telephone her!" exclaimed the farmer. "I've got a 'phone--lots of +us have around here--and I can let her know all about it. Or you can talk +to her yourself," he added. + +So it was arranged; and soon Betty was talking to her anxious relative +over the wire. Then, after a bountiful supper, which the girls very much +enjoyed, the farmer hitched up his fine team, and soon they were on +their way to Mrs. Palmer's. The drive was not a long one. + +"My!" exclaimed Mollie, as they bowled along over the smooth road, under +a young moon that silvered the earth, "this is better than walking!" + +"I should say so," agreed Grace, whose shoes hurt her more than she +cared to admit. + +"You are both traitors to the Club!" exclaimed Betty. "The idea of +preferring riding to walking!" + +"Oh, it's only once in a while," added Mollie. "Really, pet, we've had a +perfectly grand time." + +"Even with the dog," added Amy, who was now herself again. "I was +silly to run." + +"I don't blame you," said the farmer, "and yet if you hadn't, maybe Nero +wouldn't have chased you. It's a good thing not to run from a dog. If you +stand, it let's him see you're not afraid." + +"Put that down in your books, girls," directed Betty. "Never run from a +dog. That advice may come in useful on our trip." + +Half an hour later they were at Mrs. Palmer's house, and received a +hearty welcome, the telephone message having done much to relieve the +lady's anxiety. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MISSING LUNCH + + +"Oh, but these shoes are so comfortable!" + +"I'm glad of that, Grace." + +"Though I didn't really delay you much; did I?" + +"No, I wasn't complaining," and Betty put a caressing hand on the arm of +her companion. + +"We'll be able to make up for lost time now," said Mollie, as she shifted +her little valise from one hand to the other. "Your aunt was certainly +generous in the matter of lunch, Betty," she went on. + +"Yes, she said this country air would give us good appetites." + +"I'm sure I don't need any," spoke Amy. "I've been hungry ever since +we started." + +The four girls were again on the broad highway that was splashed and +spotted with the streaks of the early sun as it slanted through the elms +and maples along the road. They had spent two nights at the home of +Betty's aunt, that lady having insisted on a little longer visit than was +at first planned. She made the girls royally welcome, as did her +husband. Grace's shoes had been sent to her at Rockford, having been +telephoned for. + +"But if we stay another day and night here," said Betty, "not that we're +not glad to, Aunt Sallie--why we can't keep up to our schedule in +walking, and we must cover so many miles each day." + +"You see it's in the constitution of our club," added Grace. "We can't +violate that." + +"Oh, come now!" insisted Mr. Palmer. "You can stay longer just as well as +not. As for walking, why we've got some of the finest walks going, right +around Rockford here. You'd better stay. We don't very often see you, +Betty, and your aunt isn't half talked out yet," and he solemnly winked +over the head of his wife. + +"The idea!" she exclaimed. "As if I'd talked half as much as you had." + +And so the girls had remained. They had greatly enjoyed the visit. In +anticipation of their coming Mrs. Palmer had prepared "enough for a +regiment of hungry boys," to quote her husband, and had invited a number +of the neighboring young people to meet the members of the Camping and +Tramping Club. + +The dainty rooms of the country house, with their quaint, old-fashioned, +striped wall paper, the big four-poster beds, a relic of a by-gone +generation, the mahogany dressers with their shining mirrors, and the +delightful home-like atmosphere--all had combined to make the stay of the +girls most pleasant. + +The day after their arrival by carriage they had gone on a long walk, +visiting a picturesque little glen not far from the village, being +accompanied by a number of girls whose acquaintance Betty and her chums +had made. Some of them Betty had met before. + +The idea of a walking club was enthusiastically received by the country +girls, and they at once resolved to form one like the organization +started by Betty Nelson. In fact they named it after her, in spite of +her protests. + +In the afternoon the girls went for a drive in Mr. Palmer's big +carriage, visiting places of local interest. And in the evening there +was an old-fashioned "surprise party"--a real surprise too, by the way, +for Betty and her chums had never dreamed of it. It was a most +delightful time. + +Mr. and Mrs. Palmer had tried to persuade their niece and her chums to +stay still longer, but they were firm in their determination to cover the +two hundred miles--more or less--in the specified time. + +So they had started off, and the snatches of conversation with which I +begun this chapter might have been heard as the four walked along the +pleasant country road. + +"We've had very good luck so far," said Mollie, as she skipped a few +steps in advance on the greensward. "Not a bit of rain." + +"Don't boast!" cautioned Betty. "It will be perfectly terrible if it +rains. We simply can't walk if it does." + +"I don't see why not," spoke Mollie, trying to catch Amy in a waltz hug +and whirl her about. + +"My, isn't she getting giddy!" mocked Grace. + +"I feel so good!" cried Mollie, whose volatile nature seemed fairly +bubbling over on this beautiful day. And indeed it was a day to call +forth all the latent energies of the most phlegmatic person. The very air +tingled with life that the sunshine coaxed into being, and the gentle +wind further fanned it to rapidity of action. "Oh, I do feel so happy!" +cried Mollie. + +"I guess we all do," spoke Grace, but even as she said this she could not +refrain from covertly glancing at Amy, over whose face there seemed a +shade of--well, just what it was Grace could not decide. It might have +been disappointment, or perhaps an unsatisfied longing. Clearly the +mystery over her past had made an impression on the character of this +sweet, quiet girl. But for all that she did not inflict her mood on her +chums. She must have become conscious of Grace's quick scrutiny, for with +a laugh she ran to her, and soon the two were bobbing about on the uneven +turf in what they were pleased to term a "dance." + +"Your aunt was certainly good to us," murmured Mollie, a little later. +"I'm just dying to see what she has put up for our lunch." For Mrs. +Palmer had insisted, as has been said, on packing one of the little +valises the girls carried with a noon-day meal to be eaten on the road. +Mollie was entrusted with this, her belongings having been divided among +her chums. + +"Oh," suddenly cried Grace, a moment later, "I forgot something!" + +"You mean you left it at my aunt's house?" asked Betty, coming to a stop +in the road. + +"No, I forgot to get some of those lovely chocolates that new drug store +sells. They were delicious. For a country town I never ate better." + +"Grace, you are hopeless!" sighed Betty. "Come along, girls, do, or +she'll insist on going back for them. And we must get to Middleville on +time. It won't do to fall back in our schedule any more." + +"I sent a postal to my cousin from your aunt's house," said Amy, at +whose relatives the girls were to spend the night. "I told her we surely +would be there." + +"And so we will," said Betty. "Gracious, I forgot to mail this card to +Nettie French," and she produced a souvenir card from her pocket. + +"Never mind, you can put it in the next post-office we come to," +suggested Grace. "Oh, dear! I'm so provoked about those chocolates. I'm +positively famished, and I don't suppose it is anywhere near lunch time?" +and she looked at her watch. "No, only ten o'clock," and she sighed. + +Laughing at her, the girls stepped on. For a time the road ran +along a pleasant little river, on which a number of canoes and +boats could be seen. + +"Oh, for a good row!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"We'll have plenty of chances this summer," said Betty. "It has +hardly begun." + +"I wonder where we will spend our vacation?" spoke Mollie. + +"We'll talk about that later," said Betty. "I hope we can be together, +and somewhere near the water." + +"If we only could get a motor boat!" sighed Grace. "Oh, Bet, if no one +claims that five hundred dollars maybe we can get a little launch with +it, and camp at Rainbow Lake." + +"I'm only afraid some one will claim it," spoke Betty. "I dropped papa a +card, telling him to send me a line in case a claimant did appear." + +"Oh, let's sit down and rest," proposed Mollie, a little later. "There's +a perfect dream of a view from here and it's so cool and shady." + +The others were agreeable, so they stopped beneath some big trees in a +grassy spot near the bank of the little stream. Grace took advantage of +the stop to mend a pair of stockings she was carrying with her. It was so +comfortable that they remained nearly an hour and would have stayed +longer only the Little Captain, with a look at her watch, decided that +they must get under way again. + +"Now it's noon!" exclaimed Grace, when they had covered two miles after +their rest. "Mollie, open the lunch and let's see what it contains." + +There was a startled cry from Mollie. A clasping of her hands, a raising +of her almost tragic eyes, and she exclaimed: + +"Oh, girls, forgive me! I forgot the lunch! I left it back there where we +rested in the shade!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE BROKEN RAIL + + +Dumb amazement held the girls in suspense for a moment. Then came a +chorus of cries. + +"Mollie, you never did that!" + +"Forgot our lunch!" + +"And we're so hungry!" + +"Oh, Mollie, how could you?" + +"You don't suppose I did it on purpose; do you?" flashed back the guilty +one, as she looked at the three pairs of tragic, half-indignant and +hopeless eyes fastened on her. + +"Of course you didn't," returned Betty. "But, oh, Mollie, is it really +gone? Did you leave it there?" + +"Well, I haven't it with me, none of you have, and I don't remember +picking it up after we slumped down there in the shade. Consequently I +must have left it there. There's no other solution. It's like one of +those queer problems in geometry, or is it algebra, where things that are +equal to the same thing are equal to each other," and she laughed with +just the hint of hysteria. + +"But what are we to do?" demanded Grace. "I am so hungry, and I know +there were chicken sandwiches, and olives, in that lunch. Oh, Mollie!" + +"Oh, Mollie!" mocked the negligent one. "If you say that +again--that way--" + +Her temper was rising but, by an effort, she conquered it and smiled. + +"I am truly sorry," she said. "Girls, I'll do anything to make up for it. +I'll run back and get the lunch--that is, if it is there yet." + +"Don't you dare say it isn't!" cried Betty. + +"Why can't we all go back?" suggested Amy. "Really it won't delay us so +much--if we walk fast. And that was a nice place to eat. There was a +lovely spring just across the road. I noticed it. We could make tea--" + +"Little comforter!" whispered Betty, putting her arms around the other. +"We will all go back. The day is so perfect that there's sure to be a +lovely moon, and we can stop somewhere and telephone to your cousin if we +find we are going to be delayed. She has an auto, I believe you said, and +she might come and get us." + +"Stop!" commanded Mollie. "We are a walking club, not a carriage or auto +club. We'll walk." + +"Then let's put our principles into practice and start now," proposed +Grace. "We'll have a good incentive in the lunch at the end of this +tramp. Come on!" + +There was nothing to do but retrace their steps. True, they might have +stopped at some wayside restaurant, but such places were not frequent, +and such as there were did not seem very inviting. And Aunt Sallie had +certainly put up a most delectable lunch. + +The girls reached the spot where they had stopped for a rest, much sooner +than they had deemed it possible. Perhaps they walked faster than usual. +And, as they came in sight of the quiet little grassy spot, Mollie +exclaimed: + +"Oh, girls, I see it. Just where I so stupidly left it; near that big +rock. Hurry before someone gets there ahead of us!" + +They broke into a run, but a moment later Grace cried: + +"Too late! That tramp has it!" + +The girls stopped in dismay, as they saw a rather raggedly-dressed man +slink out from the shadow of a tree and pick up the lunch valise. He +stood regarding it curiously. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Grace. "And I was so hungry!" + +Betty strode forward. There was a look of determination on her face. +She spoke: + +"Girls, I'm not going to let that tramp take our lovely lunch. Come on, +and I'll make him give it back!" + +"Betty!" cried Amy. "You'd never dare!" + +"I wouldn't? Watch me!" + +The man was still standing there, looking at the valise as if in doubt +whether or not to open it. Betty with a glance at her chums walked on. +They followed. + +"That--that's ours, if you please," said Betty. Her voice was weaker than +she had thought it would be, and quite wobbly, too. Her knees, she +confessed later, were in the same state. But she presented a brave front. +"That--that's our lunch," she added, swallowing a lump in her throat. + +The man--he certainly looked like a tramp, as far as his clothes were +concerned, but his face was clean--turned toward the girls with a smile. + +"Your lunch!" he exclaimed, and his voice was not unmusical, "how +fortunate!" + +He did not say whether it was fortunate for them--or himself. + +"We--we forgot it. We left it here," explained Mollie. "That is, I +left it here." + +"That is--unfortunate," said the man. "It seems--it seems to be a fairly +substantial lunch," and he moved the bag up and down. + +"It ought to be--for four of us," breathed Amy. + +"Allow me," spoke the man, and with a bow he handed the missing lunch to +Betty. The girls said afterward that her hand did not tremble a bit as +she accepted it. And then the Little Captain did something most +unexpected. + +"Perhaps you are hungry, too," she said, with one of her winning smiles, +a smile that seemed to set her face in a glow of friendliness. "We are +on a tramping tour--I mean a walking tour," she hastily corrected +herself, feeling that perhaps the man would object to the word "tramp." +She went on: + +"We are on a walking tour, visiting friends and relatives. We generally +take a lunch at noon." + +"Yes, that seems to be the universal custom," agreed the man. "That is, +for some persons," and he smiled, showing his white teeth. + +"Are you--are you hungry?" asked Betty, bluntly. + +"I am!" He spoke decidedly. + +"Then perhaps--I'm sure we have more here than we can eat--and we'll +soon--I mean comparatively soon--be at a friend's house--perhaps--" + +She hesitated. + +"I would be very glad," and again the man bowed. + +Betty opened the little satchel--it was a miniature suitcase--and a +veritable wealth of lunch was disclosed. There were sandwiches without +number, pickles, olives, chunks of cake, creamy cheese-- + +"Are you sure you can spare it?" asked the man. "I'm sure I don't +want to--" + +"Of course we can spare it," put in Mollie, quickly. + +"Well then I will admit that I am hungry," spoke the unknown. "I am not +exactly what I seem," he added. + +Betty glanced curiously at him. + +"Don't be alarmed," he went on quickly. "I am not exactly sailing under +false colors except in a minor way. Now, for instance, you took me for a +tramp; did you not?" He paused and smiled. + +"I--I think we did," faltered Mollie. + +"And I don't blame you. I have, for the time being, assumed the +habiliments of a knight of the road, for certain purposes of my own. I +am--well, to be frank, I am trying to find something. In order to carry +out my plans I have even begged my way, and, not always successfully. +In fact--" + +"You are hungry!" exclaimed Grace, and her chums said she made a move as +though to bring out some chocolates. Grace, later, denied this. + +"I am hungry," confessed the tramp--as he evidently preferred to appear. + +Betty took out a generous portion of food. + +"It is too much," the wayfarer protested. + +"Not at all," Betty insisted. "We have a double reason for giving it to +you. First, you are hungry. Second, please accept it as a reward for--" + +"For not eating all of your lunch after I found it, I suppose you were +going to say," put in the man, with a smile. "Very well, then I'll +accept," and he bowed, not ungracefully. + +He had the good taste--or was it bashfulness--to go over to a little +grove of trees to eat his portion. Grace wanted to take him a cup of +chocolate--which they made instead of tea--but Betty persuaded her not +to. The girls ate their lunch, to be interrupted in the midst of it by +the man who called a good-bye to them as he moved off down the road. + +"He's going," remarked Amy. "I wonder if he had enough?" + +"I think so," replied Betty. "Now, girls, we must hurry. We have been +delayed, and--" + +"I'm so sorry," put in Mollie. "It was my fault, and--" + +"Don't think of it, my dear!" begged Grace. "Any of us might have +forgotten the lunch, just as you did." + +As they walked past the place which the tramp had selected for his dining +room, Betty saw some papers on the ground. They appeared to be letters, +and, rather idly, she picked them up. She looked into one or two of the +torn envelopes. + +"I wouldn't do that," said Grace. "Maybe those are private letters. He +must have forgotten them. I wonder where he has gone? Perhaps we can +catch him--he might need these papers. But I wouldn't read them, Betty." + +"They're nothing but advertising circulars," retorted the Little Captain. +"Nothing very private about them. I guess he threw them all away." + +She was about to let them fall from her hand, when a bit of paper +fluttered from one envelope. Picking it up Betty was astonished to read +on the torn portion the words: + +"_I cannot carry out that deal I arranged with you, because I have had +the misfortune to lose five hundred dollars and I shall have to_--" + +There the paper, evidently part of a letter to someone, was torn off. +There were no other words. + +"Girls!" cried Betty, "look--see! This letter! That man may be the one +whose money we found! He has written about it--as nearly as I can recall, +the writing is like that in the note pinned to the five hundred dollars. +Oh, we must find that tramp!" + +"He wasn't a tramp!" exclaimed Grace. + +"No, I don't believe he was, either," admitted Betty. "That's what he +meant when he spoke of his disguise, and looking for something. He's +hunting for his five hundred dollars. Oh, dear! which way did he go?" + +"Toward Middleville," returned Amy. + +"Then we must hurry up and catch him. We can explain that we have +his money." + +"But are you sure it is his?" asked Mollie. + +"This looks like it," said Betty, holding out the torn letter. + +"But some one else might have lost five hundred dollars," +protested Grace. + +"Come on, we'll find him, and ask him about it, anyhow," suggested +Betty. "Middleville is on our way. Oh, to think how things may turn out! +Hurry, girls!" + +They hastily gathered up their belongings and walked on, talking of their +latest adventure. + +"He was real nice looking," said Mollie. + +"And quite polite," added Amy. + +"And do you think he may be traveling around like a tramp, searching for +that bill?" asked Grace. + +"It's possible," declared Betty: "Perhaps he couldn't help looking like a +tramp, because if he has lost all his money he can't afford any other +clothes. Oh, I do hope we find him!" + +But it was a vain hope. They did not see the man along the road, and +inquiries of several persons they met gave no trace. Nor had he +reached Middleville, as far as could be learned. If he had, no one had +noticed him. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Betty, when they had exhausted all possibilities, "I +did hope that money mystery was going to be solved. Now it's as far off +as ever. But I'll keep this torn piece of letter for evidence. Poor +fellow! He may have built great hopes on that five hundred dollar +bill--then to lose it!" + +They went to the house of Amy's cousin in Middleville. There they spent +an enjoyable evening, meeting some friends who had been invited in. Amy +said nothing about the disclosure to her of the strange incident in her +life. Probably, she reflected, her relative already knew it. + +Morning saw them on the move again, with Broxton, where a married sister +of Grace lived, as their objective point. The day was cloudy, but it did +not seem that it would rain, at least before night. + +And even the frown of the weather did not detract from the happiness +of the chums. They laughed and talked as they walked on, making merry +by the way. + +Stopping in a country store to make sure of their route they were +informed that by taking to the railroad track for a short distance they +could save considerable time. + +"Then we ought to do it," decided Betty, "for we don't want to get caught +in the rain," and she glanced up at the clouds that were now more +threatening. + +They reached the railroad track a short distance out of the little +village, and proceeded down the stretch of rails. + +"There's a train in half an hour," a man informed them, "but you'll be +off long before then." + +"I hope so," murmured Amy. + +They had nearly reached the end of the ballasted way, when Betty, who was +in the lead, came to a sudden halt. + +"What is it," asked Mollie, "a snake? Oh, girls!" + +"No, not a snake," was the quick answer. "But look! This rail is broken! +It must have cracked when the last train passed. And another one--an +express--is due soon! If it runs over that broken rail it may be wrecked! +Girls, we've got to stop that train!" and she faced her chums resolutely. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"IT'S A BEAR!" + + +"What can we do?" It was Grace who asked the question. It was Betty, the +Little Captain, who answered it. + +"We must stop the train," she said. "We must wave something red at it. +Red always means danger." + +"Mollie's tie," exclaimed Amy. Mollie was wearing a bright vermilion +scarf knotted about the collar of her blouse. + +"It isn't big enough," decided Betty. "But we must do something. That man +said the train would come along soon. It's an express. A slow train might +not go off the track, as the break is only a small one. But the +express--" + +She paused suggestively--apprehensively. + +"There's a man!" cried Grace. + +"A track-walker!" cried Betty. "Oh, he'll know what to do," and she +darted toward a man just appearing around the curve--a man with a sledge, +and long-handled wrench over his shoulder. + +"Hey! Hey!" Betty called. "Come here. There's a broken rail!" + +The man broke into a run. + +"What's that?" he called. "Got your foot caught in a rail? It's a frog--a +switch that you mean. Take off your shoe!" + +"No, we're not caught!" cried Betty, in shrill accent. "The rail +is broken!" + +The track-walker was near enough now to hear her correctly. And, +fortunately, he understood, which might have been expected of him, +considering his line of work. + +"It's a bad break," he affirmed, as he looked at it, "Sometimes the heat +of the sun will warp a rail, and pull out the very spikes by the roots, +ladies. That's what happened here. Then a train--'twas the local from +Dunkirk--came along and split the rail. 'Tis a wonder Jimmie Flannigan +didn't see it. This is his bit of track, but his wife is sick and I said +I'd come down to meet him with a bite to eat, seein' as how she can't put +up his dinner. 'Tis lucky you saw it in time, ladies." + +"But what about the train?" asked Betty. + +"Oh, I'll stop that all right. I'll flag it, and Jimmie and me'll put in +a new rail. You'll be noticin' that we have 'em here and there along the +line," and he showed them where, a little distance down the track, there +were a number placed in racks made of posts, so that they might not rust. + +From his pocket the track-walker pulled a red flag. It seemed that he +carried it there for just such emergencies. He tied it to his pick +handle, and stuck the latter in the track some distance away from the +broken rail. + +"The engineer'll see that," he said, "and stop. Now I'll go get Jimmie +and we'll put in a new rail. You young ladies--why, th' railroad +company'll be very thankful to you. If you was to stop here now, and the +passengers of the train were told of what you found--why, they might even +make up a purse for you. They did that to Mike Malone once, when he +flagged the Century Flier when it was goin' to slip over a broken bridge. +I'll tell 'em how it was, and how you--" + +"No--no--we can't stay!" exclaimed Betty. "If you will look after the +broken rail we'll go on. We must get to Broxton." + +"Oh, sure, it'll not take the likes of you long to be doin' that," +complimented the man, with a trace of brogue in his voice. "You look +equal to doin' twice as much." + +"Well, we don't want to be caught in the rain," spoke Mollie. + +"Ah, 'twill be nothin' more than a sun shower, it will make your +complexions better--not that you need it though," he hastened to add. +"Good luck to you, and many thanks for tellin' me about this broken rail. +'Tis poor Jimmie who'd be blamed for not seein' it, and him with a sick +wife. Good-bye to you!" + +The girls, satisfied that the train would be flagged in time, soon left +the track, the last glimpse they had of the workman being as he hurried +off to summon his partner to replace the broken rail. + +That he did so was proved a little later, for when the girls were walking +along the road that ran parallel to the railroad line some distance +farther on, the express dashed by at a speed which seemed to indicate +that the engineer was making up for lost time. + +Several days later the girls read in a local paper of how the train had +been stopped while two track-walkers fitted a perfect rail in place of +the broken one. And something of themselves was told. For the +track-walker they had met had talked of the young ladies he had met, and +there was much printed speculation about them. + +"I'm glad we didn't give our names," said Grace. "Our folks might have +worried if they had read of it." + +"But we might have gotten a reward," said Mollie. + +"Never mind--we have the five hundred dollars," exclaimed Grace. + +"It may already be claimed," spoke Betty. + +When they had seen the express go safely by, thankful that they had had a +small share in preventing a possible loss of life, the girls continued on +their way. They stopped for lunch in a little grove of trees, brewing +tea, and partaking of the cake, bread and meat Amy's cousin had provided. +Amy had torn her skirt on a barbed wire fence and the rent was sewed up +beside the road. + +The clouds seemed to be gathering more thickly, and with rather +anxious looks at the sky the members of the Camping and Tramping Club +hastened on. + +"Girls, we're going to get wet!" exclaimed Mollie, as they passed a +cross-road, pausing to look at the sign-board. + +"And it's five miles farther on to Broxton!" said Amy. "Can we +ever make it?" + +"I think so--if we hurry," said Betty. "A little rain won't hurt us. +These suits are made to stand a drenching." + +"Then let's walk fast," proposed Grace. + +"She wouldn't have said that with those other shoes," remarked +Amy, drily. + +"Got any candy?" demanded Mollie. "I'm hungry!" + +Without a word Grace produced a bag of chocolates. It was surprising how +she seemed to keep supplied with them. + +The girls were hurrying along, now and then looking apprehensively at the +fast-gathering and black clouds, when, as they turned a bend in the road, +Amy, who was walking beside Grace, cried out: + +"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!" + +"What's that--a new song?" demanded Mollie, laughing. + +"No--look! look!" screamed Amy, and she pointed to a huge, hairy creature +lumbering down the middle of the highway. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE DESERTED HOUSE + + +The girls screamed in concert, and whose voice was the loudest was a +matter that was in doubt. Not that the Little Captain and her chums +lingered long to determine. The bear stopped short in the middle of the +road, standing on its hind legs, waving its huge forepaws, and lolling +its head from side to side in a sort of Comical amazement. + +"Run! Run!" screamed Betty. "To the woods!" + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" That seemed the extent of Mollie's vocabulary just then. + +"Climb a tree," was the advice of Grace. + +"Is he coming? Is it coming after us?" Amy wanted to know. + +She glanced over her shoulder as she put the question, and there +nearly followed an accident, for Amy was running, and the look back +caused her to stumble. Betty, who was racing beside her, just managed +to save her chum from a bad fall. All the girls were running--running +as though their lives depended on their speed. Luckily they wore +short, walking skirts, which did not hinder free movement, and they +really made good speed. + +[Illustration: THE BEAR STOPPED SHORT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.] + +They crossed the road and plunged into the underbrush, crashing through +it in very terror. They clung to their small suitcases instinctively. +Then suddenly, as they ran on, there came the clear notes of a bugle in +an army call. Betty recalled something. + +"Stop, girls!" she cried. + +"What, with that bear after us?" wailed Grace. "Never!" + +"It's all right--I tell you it's all right!" went on Betty. + +"Oh, she's lost her mind! She's so frightened she doesn't know what she +is saying!" exclaimed Mollie. "Oh, poor Betty!" + +"Silly! Stop, I tell you. That bear--" + +Again came the notes of the bugle, and then the girls, looking through +the fringe of trees at the road, saw a man with a red jacket, and wearing +a hat in which was a long feather, come along, and grasp a chain that +dangled from the leather muzzle which they had failed to notice on the +bear's nose. + +"It's a tame bear!" cried Betty. "That's what I meant. He won't harm us. +Come on back to the road! Oh, I've torn my skirt!" and she gazed ruefully +at a rent in the garment. + +The girls hesitated a moment, and then, understanding the situation, and +being encouraged by the fact that the man now had his bear in charge, +also seeing another man, evidently the mate of the first, approaching +with a second bear, they all went back to the highway. The bugle blew +again, and one of the bears, at a command from the man, turned a clumsy +somersault. + +Grace burst into hysterical laughter, in which she was joined by +the others. + +"Weren't we silly!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"Oh, but it looked just like a real bear!" gasped Amy in self-defense. + +"Listen to her," said Betty. "A real bear--why, of course it is. Did you +think it was the Teddy variety?" + +"Oh, you know what I mean," spoke Amy, "I thought it was a wild bear." + +"It probably was--once," remarked Grace. + +They were all out in the road now, and the two men, with the bears, were +slowly approaching. Evidently the foremost man had seen the precipitate +flight of the girls, so, taking off his hat, and bowing with foreign +politeness, he said: + +"Excuse--please. Juno him get away from me--I chase after--I catch. +Excuse, please." + +"That's all right," said Betty, pleasantly. "We were frightened for +a minute." + +"Verra sorry. Juno made the dance for the ladies!" + +He blew some notes on a battered brass horn, and began some foreign +words in a sing-song tone, at which the bear moved clumsily about on its +hind feet. + +"Juno--kiss!" the man cried. + +The great shaggy creature extended its muzzle toward the man's face, +touching his cheek. + +"Excuse--please," said the bear-trainer, smiling. + +"Come on girls," suggested Amy. The place was rather a lonely one, though +there were houses just beyond, and the two men, in spite of their bows, +did not seem very prepossessing. + +With hearts that beat rapidly from their recent flight and excitement, +the girls passed the bears, the men both taking off their hats and +bowing. Then the strange company was lost to sight down a turn in the +road, the notes of the bugles coming faintly to the girls. + +"Gracious! That _was_ an adventure!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"I thought I should faint," breathed Amy. + +"Have a chocolate--do," urged Grace. + +"They're nourishing," and she held out some. + +"Girls, we must hurry," spoke Betty, "or we'll never get to Broxton +before the rain. Hurry along!" + +They walked fast, passing through the little village of Chanceford, +where they attracted considerable attention. It was not every day +that four such pretty, and smartly-attired, girls were seen on the +village main street--the only thoroughfare, by the way. Then they +came to the open country again. They had been going along at a good +pace, and were practically certain of reaching Grace's sister's house +in time for supper. + +"It's raining!" suddenly exclaimed Betty, holding up her hand to +make sure. + +A drop splashed on it. Then another. Amy looked up into the clouds +overhead. + +"Oh!" she cried. "A drop fell in my eye." + +Then with a suddenness that was surprising, the shower came down hard. +Little dark spots mottled the white dust of the road. + +"Run!" cried Mollie. "There's a house. We can stay on the porch until the +rain passes. The people won't mind." + +A little in advance, enclosed with a neat red fence, and setting back +some distance from the road was a large, white house, with green +shutters. The windows in front were open, as was the front door, and +from one casement a lace curtain flapped in the wind. + +"Run! Run! We'll be drenched!" cried Grace, thinking of her new walking +suit. Without more ado the girls hurried through the gate, up the gravel +walk and got to the porch just as the rain reached its maximum. It was +coming down now in a veritable torrent. + +"Queer the people here don't shut their door," remarked Betty. + +"And see, the rain is coming in the parlor window," added Amy. + +"Maybe they don't know it," suggested Grace. "Oh, the wind is blowing the +rain right in on us!" she cried. + +"I wonder if it would be impertinent to walk in?" suggested Mollie. + +"We at least can knock and ask--they won't refuse," said Betty. "And +really, with the wind this way, the porch is no protection at all." + +She rapped on the open door. There was no response and she tapped +again--louder, to make it heard above the noise of the storm. + +"That's queer--maybe no one is at home," said Grace. + +"They would hardly go off and leave the house all open, when it looked so +much like rain," declared Amy. "Suppose we call to them? Maybe they are +upstairs." + +The girls were now getting so wet that they decided not to stand on +ceremony. They went into the hall, through the front door. There was a +parlor on one side, and evidently a sitting room on the other side of the +central hall. + +"See that rain coming in on the curtains and carpets!" cried Betty. +"Girls, we must close the windows," and she darted into the parlor. +The others followed her example, and soon the house was closed against +the elements. + +Breathless the girls waited for some sign or evidence of life in the +house. There was none. The place was silent, the only sound being the +patter of the rain and the sighing of the wind. The girls looked at each +other. Then Betty spoke: + +"I don't believe there's a soul here!" she exclaimed. "Not a soul! The +house is deserted!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN CHARGE + + +"No one here? What do you mean?" + +"Betty Nelson, what a strange thing to say!" + +"Of course there must be some one here. They're only upstairs, maybe, +shutting the windows there." + +Thus spoke Mollie, Grace and Amy in turn. Betty listened patiently, and +then suggested: + +"Just hearken for a minute, and see if you think anyone is upstairs +shutting windows." + +Then all listened intently. There was not a sound save that caused by the +storm, which seemed to increase in fury instead of diminishing. + +"There is no one here," went on Betty positively. "We are all alone in +this house." + +"But where can the people be?" asked Grace. "They must be people living +here," and she looked around at the well-kept, if somewhat +old-fashioned, parlor. + +"Of course the house is lived in--and the people must have left it only +recently," said Betty. "That's evident." + +"Why did they go off and leave it?" asked Mollie. + +"That's the mystery of it," admitted Betty. "It's like the mystery of the +five hundred dollar bill. We've got to solve it." + +"Perhaps--" began Amy in a gentle voice. + +"Well?" asked Betty encouragingly. + +"Maybe the lady was upstairs shutting the windows when she saw the storm +coming, and she fell, or fainted or something like that." + +"That's so!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"We'll look," decided Betty. + +"Betty!" chorused Grace and Amy. + +"Why not?" the Little Captain challenged. "We've got to get at the +bottom of this." + +"But suppose we should find her--find some one up there in a--faint," and +Amy motioned toward the upper rooms. + +"All the more reason for helping them," said practical Betty. "They may +need help. Come on!" + +The girls left their things in the hall, and, rather timidly, it must be +confessed, ascended the stairs. But they need not have been afraid of +seeing some startling sight. The upper chambers were as deserted as the +rooms below. In short, a careful examination throughout the house failed +to disclose a living creature, save a big Maltese cat which purred and +rubbed in friendly fashion against the girls. + +"The house is deserted!" declared Betty again. "We are in sole and +undisputed possession, girls. We're in charge!" + +"For how long?" asked Amy. + +"Until this storm is over, anyhow. We can't go out in that downpour," and +Betty glanced toward the window against which the rain was dashing +furiously. "We must close down the sashes here, too!" she exclaimed, for +one or two were open, and the water was beating in. + +"What can have happened?" murmured Mollie. "Isn't it strange?" + +"I've no doubt it can be explained simply," said Betty. "The woman who +lives here may have gone to a neighbor's house and failed to notice the +time. Then she may be storm-bound, as we are." + +"No woman would remain at a neighbor's house, and leave her own alone, +with a lot of windows up, the front door open and a beating rain coming +down," said Grace, positively. "Not such a neat housekeeper as the woman +here seems to be; she'd come home if she was drenched," and she glanced +around the well-ordered rooms. + +"You've got to think up a different reason than that, Betty Nelson." + +"Besides, what of the men folks?--there are men living here--at least +one, for there's a hat on the front rack," put in Amy. "Where are the +men, or the man?" + +"They'll be along at supper time," declared Betty. + +"Besides, maybe that hat is just kept there to scare tramps," said Grace. +"I've often heard of a lone woman borrowing a man's hat--when she didn't +have--didn't want, or couldn't get a man." + +"That's so," admitted Betty. "But, speaking of supper reminds me--what +are we going to do about ours?" + +"It is getting nearly time," murmured Mollie. "But we simply can't tramp +through that rain to your sister's house, Grace." + +"No, we'll have to wait. Oh, dear! Isn't this a queer predicament to be +in, and not a chocolate left?" she wailed, as she looked in the box. +"Empty!" she cried quite tragically. + +The rain still descended. It was not, for the moment, pouring as hard as +at first, but there was a steadiness and persistency to it that did not +encourage one in the belief that it would soon stop. The big drops dashed +against the windows intermittently, as the wind rose and fell. + +Around one angle of the house the gale howled quite fiercely, and in the +parlor, where there was an open fireplace, it came down in gusts, sighing +mournfully out into the room, with its old horsehair furniture, the +pictures of evidently dead-and-gone relatives, in heavy gold frames, +while in other frames were fearfully and wonderfully made wreaths of +flowers--wax in some cases, and cloth in the remainder, being the medium +in which nature was rather mocked than simulated. + +The girls stood at the windows, staring drearily out. They could just see +a house down the road on the other side. In the other direction no +residences were visible--just an expanse of rain-swept fields. And there +seemed to be no passers-by--no teams on the winding country road. + +"Oh, but this is lonesome," said Amy, with a sigh. + +"Girls, what are we to do?" demanded Mollie. + +"We simply must go on to my sister's," declared Grace. "What will she +think, if we don't come?" + +As if in answer, the storm burst into another spasm of fury, the +rain coming down in "sheets, blankets and pillow cases," as Mollie +grimly put it. + +"We can never go--in this downpour," declared Betty. "It would be sheer +madness--foolishness, at any rate. We would be drenched in an instant, +and perhaps take cold." + +"If there was only some way to let your sister know," spoke Mollie. "I +wonder if there's a telephone?" + +It needed but a little survey to disclose that there was none. + +"If we could only see someone--send for a covered carriage, or send some +word--" began Amy. + +"Oh, well, for the matter of my sister worrying, that doesn't amount to +much," interrupted Grace. "When I wrote I told her it was not exactly +certain just what day we would arrive, as I thought we might spend more +time in some places than in others. That part is all right. What's +worrying me is that we can't get to any place to spend the night--we +can't have any supper--we--" + +"Girls!" cried Betty, with sudden resolve, "there is only one +thing to do!" + +"What's that?" the others chorused. + +"Stay here. We'll get supper here--there must be food in the house. If +the people come back we'll ask them to keep us over night--there's +room enough." + +"And if they don't come?" asked Amy, shivering a little. + +"Then we'll stay anyhow!" cried the Little Captain. "We are in charge and +we can't desert now." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +RELIEVED + + +That Betty's suggestion was the most sensible one which could have been +made they were all willing to admit when they had thought of it for a +little while. + +"Of course it is possible for us to go out in this storm, and tramp on to +Broxton," said Betty. "But would it be wise?" + +"Indeed not!" exclaimed Grace, as she glanced down at her trim suit, +which the little wetting received in the dash to the house had not +spoiled. "If we were boys we might do it, but, as it is--" + +"I won't admit that we can't do it because we are _not_ boys," said +Betty. "Only just--" + +"Only we're just not going out in this storm!" said Mollie, decidedly. +"We'll stay here, and if the people come back, and make a fuss, we'll +pay, just as we would at a hotel. They won't be mean enough to turn us +out, I think." + +"We'll stay--and get supper," cried Betty. "Come on, I'm getting +hungrier every minute!" + +"If the people do come," remarked Amy, "they ought to allow us something +for taking care of their house--I mean if they attempt to charge us as a +hotel would, we can tell them how we shut the windows--" + +"At so much per window," laughed Mollie. "Oh, you are the queerest girl!" +and she hugged her. + +"Well, let's get supper," proposed Betty again. "It will soon be dark, +and it isn't easy going about a strange house in the dark." + +"There are lamps," said Mollie, pointing to several on a shelf in +the kitchen. + +"Oh, I didn't exactly mean that," went on Betty, rolling up her sleeves. +"Now to see what's in the ice box--at least, I suppose there is an ice +box. There's a fire in the stove, and we can cook. Oh, girls! It's going +to be real jolly after all!" + +"And how it does rain!" exclaimed Amy. "We never could have gone on in +this drenching downpour." + +It was an exceedingly well-ordered house, and the girls, who had been +wisely trained at home, had no difficulty in locating an ample supply of +food. They invaded the cellar, and found plenty of canned fruit, tomatoes +and other things. There were hams, shoulders of bacon, eggs, and some +fresh meat. Great loaves of evidently home-made bread were in the pantry. + +"We shall dine like kings!" cried Grace. + +"Better than some kings," said Betty. "Only I don't see any chocolates, +Grace," and she laughed. + +"Smarty!" was the other's retort, but she laughed also. + +Such a jolly meal as it was! The girls, once they had decided in their +minds to make the best of a queer situation, felt more at home. They +laughed and joked, and when supper was over, the dishes washed, and the +lamps lighted, they gathered in the old-fashioned parlor, and Betty +played on a melodeon that gave forth rather doleful sounds. + +However, she managed to extract some music from its yellowed keys, and +the girls sang some simple little part-songs. + +"Too bad we haven't an audience," murmured Grace, as they ended up with +"My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." + +"The rain is audience enough," spoke Mollie. "As for someone's Bonnie +lying over the _ocean_--the yard is a perfect _lake_!" she went on, +looking from the window. + +"It would have been foolish to go on," said Betty. "I am glad we have +such a comfortable place." + +And comfortable it certainly was. The house, while a typical country +residence, was very convenient and well ordered. Careful people lived in +it--that was easy to see. And as the rain pelted down, the girls sat +about, the cat purring contentedly near them, and a cheerful fire burning +on the hearth in the parlor. + +"I hope they won't make a fuss about the liberties we are taking," said +Mollie, putting some extra sticks on the blaze. "Some persons never open +their parlors in the country." + +"These people don't seem of that sort," said Amy. "At least, the parlor +was open enough when we closed the windows." + +"And how it rains!" murmured Grace, with a little nervous shiver. + +"Suppose the people come back in the middle of the night?" asked Mollie. +"They'll think we are burglars." + +"We must leave a light burning," decided Betty, "and a note near it +explaining why we came in and that we are asleep upstairs. Then they +will know." + +That was decided on as the best plan, and it was carried out. The girls +went to bed, but it was some time before they got to sleep, though +finally the steady fall of rain wooed them to slumber. No one entered +during the night, and the morning came, still retaining the rain. + +"Will it ever clear?" asked Mollie, hopelessly. + +"The wind is changing," spoke Betty. "I think we can soon start." + +"But can we go away and leave the house alone?" asked Amy. "Ought we not +to stay until the owners come back?" + +"How can we tell when they will come back?" demanded Grace. "Besides, I +must let my sister know why we were detained." + +"I suppose we will have to go on," said Betty. "If the persons living +here didn't care about deserting their place we ought not to." + +"But what will they think when they come in and see that someone has been +here?" asked Mollie. + +"We must leave a note explaining, and also some money for the food +we took," decided Betty. "Or we can stop at the next house and tell +how it was." + +They debated these two plans for some time, finally deciding on part of +both. That is, they would leave a note and a sum of money that they +figured would pay for what they had eaten. They made no deduction for +closing the windows against the rain. They would also stop at the +nearest house and explain matters to the residents there, asking them to +communicate with the occupants of the deserted house. + +When this point had been reached, and when the note had been written, and +wrapped around the money, being placed in a conspicuous place in the +front hall, the girls were ready to leave. + +The rain had slackened, and there was a promise of fair weather. +Breakfast had been partaken of, and the dishes washed. The house was as +nearly like it had been as was possible to leave it. + +"Well, let's start," proposed Grace. + +They went towards the front door, and as they opened it they saw +advancing up the walk a lady with a large umbrella, a large carpet bag, +wearing a large bonnet and enveloped in the folds of a large shawl. She +walked with determined steps and as she came on she glanced toward the +house. As she saw the four girls on the porch she quickened her pace. + +"Girls, we're relieved," said Betty, in a low voice. "Here comes the +owner, or I'm much mistaken!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A LITTLE LOST GIRL + + +"What are you doing here? Who are you? How long have you been here? Is +Mrs. Black in there?" + +These questions were fairly shot at the girls, who stood in rather +embarrassed silence on the porch. The sun was now breaking through the +clouds in warm splendor, and they took this for a good omen. + +"Well, why don't you answer?" demanded the rather aggressive woman. "I +can't see what you are doing here!" + +She stuck her umbrella in the soft earth along the graveled walk. + +"We--we came in to shut the windows," said Amy, gently. + +A change came over the woman's face. She frowned--she smiled. She turned +about and looked toward the nearest house. Then she spoke. + +"Do you mean to tell me," she demanded, "that after I called her on the +telephone, Martha Black didn't come over, shut my windows, lock up my +house, and feed the cat? Didn't she?" + +"We don't know. I'm afraid we don't know Mrs. Black," answered Betty. She +was getting control of herself now. The aggressive woman had rather +startled her at first. + +"She lives down there," and the owner of the deserted house pointed +toward the nearest residence. + +"No one is here but us," said Betty. "We closed the windows, and we fed +the cat. We also fed ourselves, but we left the money to pay for it. +Shall I get it?" + +The woman stared at her blankly. + +"I--I'm afraid I don't understand," she returned, weakly. + +"I'll explain," said Betty, and she did, telling how they had come in +for shelter from the storm, how they had found the windows open, how +they had closed up the place and had eaten and slept in it. Now they +were going away. + +"Well if that doesn't beat all!" cried the woman, in wonder. + +"We couldn't understand how no one was at home," went on Betty. + +"Well, it's easy enough explained," said the woman. "I'm Mrs. Kate +Robertson. Yesterday afternoon I got a telephone message from Kirkville, +saying my husband, who works in the plaster mill there, was hurt. Of +course that flustered me. Hiram Boggs brought the message. Of course you +don't know him." + +"No," answered Betty, as Mrs. Robertson paused for breath. + +"Well, I was flustered, of course, naturally," went on the large lady. "I +just rushed out as I was, got into Hiram Bogg's rig--he drives good +horses, I will say that for him--I got in with him, just as I was, though +I will say I had all my housework done and was thinking what to get for +supper. I got in with Hiram, and made him drive me to the depot. I knew I +just had time to get the three-thirty-seven train. And I got it. And me +with only such things as I could grab up," she added, with a glance at +her attire, which, though old fashioned, was neat. + +"On my way to the station," she resumed, "I stopped at the drug store, +telephoned to Martha Black, and asked her to run over and close up my +house, for it looked like a storm." + +"It did rain," put in Mollie. + +"I should say it did. And Martha never closed my house?" It was a +direct question. + +"No, we did," said Betty. "Probably she forgot it." + +"I'll have to see. Well, anyhow, when I got to my husband I found he +wasn't much hurt after all. Still I stayed over night with him, as there +wasn't a train back. And when I saw you girls on my porch I couldn't +think what had happened. Are you a Votes for Women crowd?" + +"No," said Betty. "We're a walking club." + +"No politics?" + +"None whatever." + +"All right. Now, then, I'll see why Martha didn't come over. I can't +understand." + +"Perhaps this is she now," said Betty, as another woman was seen coming +up the walk. + +"It is," said Mrs. Robertson. "That's Martha Black." + +The two met. There was much talk, of which the girls caught some, and +then the explanation came. Mrs. Black had started to come over to Mrs. +Robertson's house to close the windows as she saw the rain, but, pausing +to attend to some household duties, she was a little late. Then she +looked over and saw the sashes shut down, and thought that Mrs. Robertson +had come back to attend to them herself. As the storm kept up, she did +not have a chance to call, and only on seeing Mrs. Robertson arrive did +she suspect anything wrong. Meanwhile the girls had been in charge, but +Mrs. Black was not aware of it. + +"Well, I must say I thank you," said Mrs. Robertson, to Betty and her +chums. "And as for me taking your money, I'd never dream of it! Won't you +stay to dinner?" + +"We must be off," replied Betty, and soon, after more talk and +explanations, and the return of the money left by the girls in the hall, +the travelers were on their way once more. + +"Well, I must say, they were neat and clean," observed Mrs. Robertson, as +she went through her house. "Real nice girls." + +But Betty and her chums did not hear this compliment. They went on to +visit the sister of Grace, who was not greatly alarmed at their delay, +though she was amused at the narrative of their experience. They remained +there over night, and the next day went on to Simpson's Corners, where +they were the guests of Betty's uncle. This was a typical country +settlement, and the girls only remained one night. Their next stopping +place was to be Flatbush, where Mollie's aunt lived. + +The weather was fine now, after the storm, and the roads pleasant through +the country. The grass was greener than ever, the trees fully in leaf, +and there were many birds to be heard singing. + +Save for minor adventures, such as getting on the wrong road once or +twice, and meeting a herd of cattle, which did them no harm, nothing of +moment occurred to the girls on their trip toward Flatbush. + +They had stopped for lunch in the little village of Mooretown, eating at +the roadside, under some great oak trees, and making chocolate instead of +tea for a change. Then came a rest period before they went forward again. + +They were within two miles of their destination, going along a peaceful +country road, arched with shady trees, and running parallel for a +distance with a little river, when Betty paused and called: + +"Hark! Listen! Someone is crying!" + +"Gracious, I hope it isn't the twins!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"Out here? Never!" said Grace. + +The crying increased, and then they all saw a little girl sitting on a +stone under a tree, sobbing as if her heart would break. Betty hurried up +to the tot. + +"What is the matter?" she asked, pillowing the tousled yellow head +on her arm. + +"I--I'se losted!" sobbed the little girl "P'ease take me home! +I'se losted!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BOY PEDDLER + + +"What are we to do?" asked Amy, in dismay. + +"We can't leave her here," added Mollie, and at the word "leave" the +child broke into a fresh burst of tears. + +"I'se losted!" she sobbed. "I don't got no home! I tan't find muvver! +Don't go 'way!" + +"Bless your heart, we won't," consoled Betty, still smoothing the tousled +hair. "We'll take you home. Which way do you live?" + +"Dat way," answered the child, pointing in the direction from which the +girls had come. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Grace. "Have we got to go all the way back again?" + +"Me live dere too!" exclaimed the lost child, indicating with one chubby +finger the other direction. + +"Gracious! Can she live in two places at once?" cried Mollie. +"What a child!" + +"She can't mean that," said Betty. "Probably she is confused, and +doesn't know what she is saying." + +"Me do know!" came from the tot, positively. She had stopped sobbing now, +and appeared interested in the girls. "Mamma Carrie live dat way, mamma +Mary live dat way," and in quick succession she pointed first in one +direction and then the other. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Amy. "It's getting worse and worse!" + +"You can't have two mammas, you know," said Betty, gently. "Try and tell +us right dearie, and we'll take you home." + +"I dot two mammas," announced the child, positively. "Mamma Carrie live +down there, mamma Mary live off there. I be at mamma Carrie's house, and +I turn back, den I get losted. Take me home!" + +She seemed on the verge of tears again. + +"Here!" exclaimed Grace, in desperation. "Have a candy--do--two of them. +But don't cry. She reminds me of the twins," she added, with just the +suspicion of moisture in her own eyes. The lost child gravely accepted +two chocolates, one in each hand, and at once proceeded to get about as +much on the outside of her face as went in her mouth. She seemed more +content now. + +"I can't understand it," sighed Mollie. "Two mothers! Who ever heard of +such a thing?" + +"Me got two muvvers," said the child, calmly, as she took a bite first of +the chocolate in her left hand, and then a nibble from the one in the +right. "One live dat way--one live udder way." + +"What can she be driving at?" asked Amy. + +"There must be some explanation," said Betty, as she got up from the +stump on which she had been sitting, and placed the child on the ground. +"We'll take her a little distance on the way we are going," she went on. +"Perhaps we may meet someone looking for her." + +"And we can't delay too long," added Mollie. "It will soon be supper +time, and my aunt, where we are going to stay to-night, is quite a +fusser. I sent her a card, saying we'd be there, and if we don't arrive +she may call up our houses on the telephone, and imagine that all sorts +of accidents have befallen us." + +"But we can't leave her all alone on the road," spoke Betty, indicating +the child. + +"Don't 'eeve me!" pleaded the lost tot. "Me want one of my muvvers!" + +"It's getting worse and worse," sighed Mollie, wanting to laugh, but not +daring to. + +Slowly the girls proceeded in the direction they had been going. They +hoped they might meet someone who either would be looking for the child, +or else a traveler who could direct them properly to her house, or who +might even assume charge of the little one. For it was getting late and +the girls did not feel like spending the night in some strange place. It +was practically out of the question. + +They were going along, Betty holding one of the child's hands, the +other small fist tightly clutching some sticky chocolates, when a turn +of the road brought the outdoor girls in sight of a lad who was seated +on a roadside rock, tying a couple of rags around his left foot, which +was bleeding. + +Beside the boy, on the ground, was a pack such as country peddlers often +carry. The lad seemed in pain, for as the girls approached, their +footfalls deadened by the soft dust of the road, they heard him murmur: + +"Ouch! That sure does hurt! It's a bad cut, all right, and I don't see, +Jimmie Martin, how you're going to do much walking! Why couldn't you look +where you were going, and not step on that piece of glass?" + +He seemed to be finding fault with himself. + +"Gracious!" exclaimed Mollie. "I hope this isn't another lost one. We +seem to be getting the habit." + +"He appears able to look after himself," said Amy. + +The boy heard their voices and looked up quickly. Then, after a glance at +them, he went on binding up his foot. But at the sight of him the little +girl cried: + +"Oh, it's Dimmie! Dat's my Dimmie! He take me to my two muvvers!" She +broke away from Betty and ran toward the boy peddler. + +"Why, it's Nellie Burton!" the lad exclaimed. "Whatever are you +doing here?" + +"I'se losted!" announced the child, as though it was the greatest fun in +the world. "I'se losted, and dey found me, but dey don't know where my +two muvvers is. 'Oo take me home, Dimmie." + +"Of course I will, Nellie. That is, if I can walk." + +"Did oo hurt oo's foot?" + +"Yes, Nellie. I stepped on a piece of glass, and it went right through my +shoe. But it's stopped bleeding now." + +"Do you know this little girl?" asked Betty. "We found her down the road, +but she can't seem to tell us where she lives. First she points in one +direction and then the other, and--" + +"And we can't understand about her two mothers," broke in Mollie. "Do, +please, if you can, straighten it out. Do you know her?" + +"Yes, ma'am," answered the boy peddler, and his voice was pleasant. He +took off a rather ragged cap politely, and stood up on one foot, resting +the cut one on the rock. "She's Nellie Burton, and she lives about a +mile down that way," and he pointed in the direction from which the +girls had come. + +"I live dere sometimes," spoke the child, "and sometimes down dere," and +she indicated two directions. "I dot two muvvers." + +"What in the world does she mean?" asked Mollie, hopelessly. + +"That's what she always says," spoke the boy. "She calls one of her aunts +her mamma--it's her mother's sister, you see. She lives about a mile from +Nellie's house, and Nellie spends about as much time at one place as she +does at the other. She always says she has two mothers." + +"I _has_" announced the child, calmly, accepting another chocolate +from Grace. + +"And you know Nellie?" asked Betty, pointedly. + +"Yes," said the boy. "You see, I work through this part of the country. I +peddle writing paper, pens, pins, needles and notions," he added, +motioning to his pack. "I often stop at Nellie's house, and at her +aunt's, too. They're my regular customers," he added, proudly, and with +a proper regard for his humble calling. + +"I'm doing pretty well, too," he went on. "I've got a good trade, and I'm +thinking of adding to it. I'll take little Nellie back home for you," he +offered. "I'm going that way. Sometimes, when I'm late, as I am to-day, +her mother keeps me over night." + +"That's nice," said Betty. "We really didn't know what to do with her, +and we ought to be in Flatbush at my friend's aunt's house," and she +indicated Mollie. "Will you go with your little friend?" Betty asked of +the child. + +"Me go wif Dimmie," was the answer, confidently given. "Dimmie know +where I live." + +"But can you walk?" asked Amy, as they all noticed that the boy's foot +was quite badly cut. + +"Oh, I guess I can limp, if I can't walk," he said, bravely. "If I +had a bandage I might tie it up so I could put on my shoe. Then I'd +be all right." + +"Let me fix it," exclaimed Betty, impulsively. "I know something about +bandaging, and we have some cloth and ointment with us. I'll bandage up +your foot." + +"Oh, I couldn't think of troubling you!" he protested. "I--I guess I +can do it," but he winced with pain as he accidentally hit his foot on +the stone. + +"Now you just let me do it!" insisted the Little Captain. "You really +must, and you will have to walk to take Nellie home. That will be +something off our minds." + +"Maybe we can get a lift," suggested the boy. "Often the farmers let me +ride with them. There may be one along soon." + +"Let us hope so--for your sake as well as Nellie's," spoke Grace. "It's +really kind of you, and quite providential that we met you." + +"Yes, ma'am," replied the boy, looking from one pretty girl to the other. +"I'll take care of Nellie. I've known her for some time, you see. I +peddle around here a lot. My father's dead, I haven't got any relatives +except a sick aunt that I go to see once in a while, and I'm in business +for myself." + +"You are quite a little soldier," complimented Betty, as she got out the +bandages and salve. "You are very brave." + +"Oh, I haven't got any kick coming," he answered, with a laugh. "Of +course, this cut foot will make me travel slow for a while, and I can't +get to all my customers on time. But I guess they'll save their trade for +me--the regulars will. + +"I might be worse off," the lad continued, after a pause. "I might be in +as bad a hole as that fellow I saw on the train not long ago." + +"How was that?" asked Betty, more for the sake of saying something +rather than because she was interested. The boy himself had carefully +washed out the cut at a roadside spring, and as it was clean, the girl +applied the salve and was; skillfully wrapping the bandage around the +wound. "What man was that?" she added. + +"Why," said the boy, "I had a long jump to make from one town to another, +and, as there weren't any customers between, I rode in the train. The +only other passenger in our car was a young fellow, asleep. All of a +sudden he woke up in his seat, and begun hunting all through his pockets. +First I thought he had lost his ticket, for he kept hollerin', 'It's +gone! I've lost it! My last hope!' and all things like that. I was goin' +to ask him what it was, when he shouted, 'My five hundred dollar bill is +gone! and out of the car he ran, hoppin' off the train, which was +slowin' up at a station. That was tough luck, losin' five hundred +dollars. Of course I couldn't do it, for I never had it," the boy added, +philosophically, as he watched Betty adjusting the bandage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE LETTER + + +The effect of the boy's words on the girls was electrical. Betty paused +midway in her first-aid work and stared at him. Grace, who had, +unconsciously perhaps, been eating some of her chocolates, dropped one +half consumed. Amy looked at Betty to see what the Little Captain would +do. Mollie murmured something in French; just what does not matter. + +"Did--did he really lose a five hundred dollar bill?" faltered Betty, as +she resumed her bandaging, but her hands trembled in spite of herself. + +"Well, that's what he said," replied the boy. "He sure did make an awful +fuss about it. I thought he was crazy at first, and when he ran and +jumped off the train I was sure of it." + +"Did he get hurt?" asked Amy, breathlessly. + +"No, ma'am, not as I could see. The train was slowing up at a station, +you know. I think it was Batesville, but I'm not sure." + +"That's the next station beyond Deepdale," murmured Grace. + +"What's that, ma'am?" asked the boy, respectfully. + +"Oh, nothing. We just know where it is, that's all. A five hundred dollar +bill! Fancy!" She glanced meaningly at her companions. + +"Well, that's what he hollered," said the boy. "And he was real +excited, too." + +"Did you know him?" asked Betty, as she finished with the bandage. + +"Never saw him before nor since. It was quite some time ago. I'd just +bought a new line of goods. Anyhow, I'm glad it wasn't me. I couldn't +afford to lose many five hundred dollar bills," and he laughed frankly. +"That's about as much as I make in a year--I mean, altogether," he said, +quickly, lest the girls get an exaggerated notion of the peddling +business. "I can't make that clear, though I hope to some time," he +said, proudly. + +"Me want to go home," broke in little Nellie. "Me want my muvvers." + +"All right, I'll take you to your real mother," spoke the boy peddler. "I +guess I can walk now, thank you," he said to Betty. "Couldn't I give you +something--some letter paper--a pencil. I've got a nice line of pencils," +he motioned toward his pack. + +"Oh, no, thank you!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"We are only too glad to help you," added Betty. "You have done us a +service in looking after the little girl." + +"To say nothing of the five hundred dollar bill," added Grace, in +a low tone. + +"Hush!" cautioned Betty, in a whisper. "Don't let him know anything +about it." + +"And you are sure you wouldn't know that man again?" asked Mollie. "I +mean the one you spoke of?" + +"Well, I'd know him if I saw him, but I'm not likely to. He was tall and +good looking, with a little black mustache. He got out of the train in a +hurry when he woke up. You see, he was sitting with his window open--it +was very hot--he fell asleep. I noticed him tossing around in his seat, +and every once in a while he would feel in his pocket. Then he hollered." + +"Maybe someone robbed him," suggested Betty, yet in her heart she knew +the bill she had found must belong to this unknown young man--the very +man to whom they had once given something to eat. + +"No one was in the car but him and me," said the boy, "and I know I +didn't get it. Maybe he didn't have it--or maybe it fell out of the +window. Anyhow, he cut up an awful row and rushed out. He might have +dreamed it." + +"Me want to go home!" whined Nellie. + +"All right--I'll take you," spoke the boy. "I can walk fine now. Thank +you very much," and he pulled on his shoe, gingerly enough, for the cut +was no small one. Then, shouldering his pack, and taking hold of Nellie's +hand--one having been refilled with chocolates by Grace--the boy peddler +moved off down the road limping, the girls calling out good-bys to him. + +"I hope it's all right--to let that child go off with him," said Mollie. + +"Of course it is," declared Betty. "That boy had the nicest, cleanest +face I've ever seen. And he must suffer from that cut." + +"Oh, I think it will be all right," said Amy. "You could trust that boy." + +"I agree with you," remarked Grace. "Fancy him seeing the man lose the +five hundred dollar bill we found!" she added. + +"Do you think it's the same one?" asked Betty. + +"I'm sure of it," said Mollie. + +"I guess I am too," admitted the Little Captain. "He was the tramp. Now I +will know what to do." + +"What?" chorused her chums. + +"Let the railroad company know about it. They must have had some +inquiries. I never thought of that before. Look, he is waving to us." + +"And little Nellie, too," added Grace. The boy and the little lost girl +had reached a turn in the road. They looked back to send a voiceless +farewell, the child holding trustingly to the boy's hand. + +"Come on!" exclaimed Mollie, as the two passed from sight. "We'll hardly +get to my aunt's in time for supper." + +And they hastened on. + +Somewhat to their relief they learned, on reaching the home of Mrs. +Mulford, in Flatbush--Mrs. Mulford being Mollie's aunt--that the boy +peddler was quite a well-known and much-liked local character. He was +thoroughly honest, and could be trusted implicitly. Some time later the +girls learned from Mollie's aunt that the little lost tot had reached +home safely, and that the boy had to remain at her house for a week to +recover from the cut on his foot. + +The mother of the lost child took quite an interest in Jimmie Martin, the +boy peddler, and looked after him, so the news came to Mrs. Mulford, who +had friends acquainted with the parents of the child who insisted she had +"two muvvers." + +So that little incident ended happily, and once more the outdoor girls +were left to pursue their way as they had started out. They stayed a day +with Mollie's aunt, a rain preventing comfortable progress, and when it +cleared they went on to Hightown, where they stopped with Grace's cousin. + +"And now for the camp!" exclaimed Betty, one morning, when they were +headed for Cameron, where a half-brother of Mr. Ford maintained a sort of +resort, containing bungalows, and tents, that he rented out. It was near +a little lake, and was a favorite place in summer, though the season was +too early for the regulars to be there. Mr. Ford had written to Harry +Smith, his half-brother, and arranged for the girls to occupy one of the +bungalows for several days. Mrs. Smith agreed to come and stay with them +as company. + +"Though we don't really need a chaperon," laughed Grace. "I think we can +look after ourselves." + +"It will be better to have her at the bungalow," said Betty, and so it +was arranged. + +Betty had written to the railroad company, asking if any report of a +lost sum of money had been received, and the answer she got was to +the contrary. + +"That leaves the five hundred dollar mystery as deep as ever," she said, +showing the letter to her chums. It had reached them at Hightown. + +"Maybe we should have told that boy peddler, and asked him to be on the +lookout," suggested Amy. + +"No, I do not think it would have been wise to let him have the facts," +said Betty. + +The girls found the camp in the woods a most delightful place. The +bungalow was well arranged and furnished, and, though there were no other +campers at that time, the girls did not mind this. + +"I'll write home and ask Will to come," said Grace. "He might like to +spend a few days here, and Uncle Harry said he could take a tent if +he liked." + +"Ask Frank Haley, too," suggested Amy. + +"And Percy Falconer!" added Mollie, with a sly glance at Betty. + +"Don't you dare!" came the protest. + +"I meant Allen Washburn," corrected Mollie. + +"He can't come--he has to take the bar examinations!" cried Betty, +quickly. + +"How do you know?" she was challenged. + +"He wrote--" and then Betty blushed and stopped. Her companions laughed +and teased her unmercifully. + +There was some mail for the girls awaiting them at Mr. Smith's house, +having been forwarded from Deepdale. And Betty's letter contained a +surprise. Among other things, her mother wrote: + +"There have been some inquiries made here about the five hundred dollar +bill. Down at the post-office the other day a man came in and posted a +notice, saying he had lost such a sum of money somewhere in this part +of the country. His name is Henry Blackford, and the address is +somewhere in New York State. It was on the notice, but some mischievous +boys got to skylarking and tore it off. Your father is going to look +into the matter." + +"Oh, maybe he'll find the owner of the money, after all!" cried Mollie. + +"Maybe," returned Betty. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A PERILOUS LEAK + + +The boys came to the camp at Cameron--Will, Frank--and, as a +surprise--Allen Washburn. Betty could hardly believe it when she saw him, +but he explained that he had successfully passed his bar examinations, +and felt entitled to a vacation. Will had invited him on the receipt of +his sister's letter. + +"And we'll have some dandy times!" exclaimed Will. + +"What about the man looking for his five hundred dollars?" asked Grace, +for her brother and the other boys knew of the find, and also of the +notice put up in the post-office. + +"No one seems to know much about him," said Will, when he had been told +of Mrs. Nelson's letter. "He hurried in, stuck up that notice, and +hurried out again. Then some kids tore off the address." + +"He's crazy," affirmed Frank. + +"It does seem so," admitted Will. "He asked the postmaster if anyone had +found a big sum of money, and of course Mr. Rock--slow as he always +is--didn't think about the advertisement in the _Banner_. He said he +didn't know of anyone picking up a fortune, and the man hurried off." + +"I must write to him, if I can learn that address," said Betty. + +The weather continued exceptionally fine, and life in the woods, in the +tent for the boys and the bungalow for the girls, was well-nigh ideal. +They stayed there a week, enjoying the camping novelty to the utmost. At +night they would gather around a campfire and sing. Sometimes they went +out on the lake in a small launch Mr. Smith owned. + +Not far away was a resort much frequented by the summer colonists, and +though it was not yet in full swing there were some amusements opened. +These the young people enjoyed on several evenings. + +"Well, I do hope my new suitcase comes tomorrow," spoke Grace, for she +had written for one to be forwarded to her, containing fresh garments. + +"And I need some clothes!" cried Mollie. "This walking is harder on them +than you'd think." + +Fortunately the garments came on time, and in fresh outfits the girls +prepared to bid farewell to the camp, and once more proceed on their +way. The boys begged for permission to accompany them, but Betty was firm +in refusing. + +"We said we would make this tour all by ourselves," she declared, "and we +are going to do it. Some other time you boys may come along. But there is +only another day or so, and we will be back home. Please don't tease." + +The boys did, but that was all the good it availed them. The girls +were obdurate. + +From Cameron they were to go to Judgeville, a thriving town of about ten +thousand inhabitants. Betty's cousin lived there, and had planned a round +of gaieties for her young relative and friends. They were to stay three +days, and from there would keep on to Deepdale, thus completing the +circuit they had mapped out. + +So far they had been very fortunate, not much rain coming to interfere +with their progress. The morning they were to leave camp, however, the +weather changed, and for three miserable days they were compelled to +remain in the bungalow. + +Not that they stayed indoors all the while, for the travelers fully +merited the title, "Outdoor Girls," and they lived up to it. They tramped +even in the rain, and managed to have a good time. + +But the rain sent the boys home, for rain in a tent is most depressing, +and as all the other bungalows were being repaired, they could not live +in one with any comfort. + +But finally the sun came out, and the girls really set off on almost the +last stage of their tour. They expected to be in Judgeville at night, +though the walk was about the longest they had planned for any one day. + +Shortly before noon their way took them along a highway that paralleled +the railroad--the same line that ran to Deepdale. And, naturally, the +talk turned to the finding of the five hundred dollar bill. + +"Do you suppose we'll ever find the owner?" asked Mollie. + +"Of course we will!" exclaimed Betty. "It is only a question of time." + +Once or twice Amy looked back down the railroad track, and Grace, +noticing this, in the intervals of eating chocolate, finally asked: + +"What is it, Amy?" + +"That man," replied the quiet girl. "He's been following us for +some time." + +"Following us!" cried Betty. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean walking along the railroad track back of us." + +"Well, that may not mean he is following us. Probably he wants to get +somewhere, and the track is the shortest route." + +"He's looking down as though searching for something," said Mollie. + +"Maybe he's a track-walker," suggested Amy. + +"No, he isn't dressed like that," asserted Betty. She turned and looked +at the man. He seemed young, and had a clean-shaven face. He paid no +attention to the girls, but walked on, with head bent down. + +"We must soon stop for lunch," proposed Mollie. "I have not left it +behind this time," and she held out the small suitcase that contained the +provisions put up that morning. "I'm just dying for a cup of chocolate!" + +"We will eat soon," said Betty. "There's a nice place, just beyond that +trestle," and she pointed to a railroad bridge that crossed a small but +deep stream, the highway passing over it by another and lower structure. + +As the girls hurried on, the man passed them, off to the left and high on +the railroad embankment. He gave them not a glance, but hastened on with +head bent low. + +When he reached the middle of the high railroad bridge, or trestle over +the stream, he paused, stooped down and seemed to be tying his shoelace. +The girls watched him idly. + +Suddenly the roar of an approaching train was heard. The man looked up, +seemed startled, and then began to run toward the end of the bridge. + +It was a long structure and a high one, and, ere he had taken a dozen +steps over the ties, the train swept into sight around a curve. The road +was a single-track one, and on the narrow trestle there was no room for a +person to avoid the cars. + +"He'll be killed!" cried Mollie. + +Fascinated, the girls looked. On came the thundering train. The whistle +blew shrilly. The young man increased his pace, but it was easy to see +that he could not get off the bridge in time. + +Realizing this, he paused. Coming to the edge of the ties on the bridge, +he poised himself for a moment, and with a glance at the approaching +locomotive, which was now whistling continuously, the man leaped into the +stream below him. + +"Oh!" screamed Grace, and then she and the others looked on, almost +horrified, as the body shot downward. + +[Illustration: THE MAN LEAPED INTO THE STREAM.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE MAN'S STORY + + +There was a great splash, and the man disappeared under the water. It all +occurred suddenly, and the man must have made up his mind quickly that he +had not a chance to stay on the trestle when the train passed over it. + +"He'll be killed!" cried Mollie. "Oh, Betty, what can we do?" + +"Nothing, if he really is killed," answered the practical Little Captain. +"But he jumped like a man who knew how to do it, and how to dive. The +water is deep there." + +"Come on!" cried Amy, for once taking the initiative, and she darted +toward the bank of the stream. + +"There he is!" cried Betty. "He's come up!" + +As she spoke, the man's head bobbed into view, and, giving himself a +shake to rid his eyes of water, he struck out for the shore. + +"Oh, he's swimming! He's swimming!" Mollie exclaimed. "We must get him a +rope--a plank--anything! We'll help you!" she called, and she ran about +almost hysterically. + +The man was now swimming with long, even strokes. He seemed at home in +the water, even with his clothes on, and the long jump had evidently not +injured him in the least. + +He reached the bank, climbed up, and stood dripping before the four young +travelers. + +"Whew!" he gasped, taking off his coat and wringing some water from it. +"That was some jump! I had to do it, though!" + +"Indeed you were fortunate," said Betty. "Are you hurt?" + +"Not a bit--a little shaken up, that's all. I should not have been on +that bridge, as a section hand warned me a train was due, and the trestle +is very narrow. But I was taking a short cut. Railroads seem to bring me +bad luck. This is the second time, in a little while, that I've had +trouble on this same line." + +Grace was rummaging about in the valise she carried. + +"Where's our alcohol stove?" she demanded, of Mollie. + +"Why? What do you want of it?" + +"I'm going to make him a cup of hot chocolate. He must need it; +poor fellow!" + +"I'll help you," said Mollie, and the two set up the little heating +apparatus in the lee of a big rock. + +"Are you sure you're not hurt?" asked Betty, anxiously. + +"Oh, I'm all right," the man assured the girls. "I wish I had some dry +clothes. This is about the only suit I have. However, the sun will soon +dry them, but they'll need pressing." + +"We're making you some chocolate," spoke Grace. "It will be ready soon, +and keep you from getting cold." + +The man--he was young and good-looking--smiled, showing his even, +white teeth. + +"You seemed prepared for emergencies," he said to Betty. "Are you +professional travelers?" + +"Just on a walking tour. We're from Deepdale. We're going home to-morrow, +after stopping over night in Judgeville. We were just going to get our +noon-day lunch when we saw you jump." + +"Indeed," remarked the young man, who was now wringing out his vest. +"From Deepdale; eh? I've been through there on the train. This line runs +there; doesn't it?" and he motioned to the one he had so hastily left. + +"Yes," answered Betty. "But we never walk the track--though we did once +for a short distance." + +"And we found a broken rail, and told a flagman and he said the train +might have been wrecked," remarked Amy. + +It was the first she had spoken in some time. The young man looked at her +sharply--rather too long a look, Betty thought; but there was nothing +impertinent in it. + +"Railroads--or, rather, this one--have been the cause of two unpleasant +experiences to me," the young man went on. "I was nearly injured just +now, and not long ago I lost quite a sum of money on this line." + +At the mention of money Betty started. The others looked at her. + +"How did it happen?" asked Betty, and then of a sudden she stared at the +young man. "Excuse me, but, but--haven't we met before?" she stammered. + +"Sure!" he answered, readily. "You young ladies were kind enough to share +your lunch with me one day." + +"Oh!" cried Mollie. "But you--you looked different then!" + +"You had a mustache and long hair," murmured Amy. + +"That's right, so I did. But I had my hair cut day before yesterday and +the mustache taken off. Changes me quite a lot; doesn't it?" + +"Yes," replied Betty. "But you were saying something about losing money +on this line," she added, quickly. + +"Well, I was on my way to New York, expecting to complete a business +deal. I fell asleep in the car, for I was quite tired, and I guess I had +been thinking pretty hard on that business matter. You see a fellow +offered me an option on a small, but good, concern, for four hundred +dollars. I knew if I could clinch the deal, and get the option, that some +friends of mine would invest in it, and I'd have a good thing for myself. + +"Well, as I say, I fell asleep. Then I dreamed someone was trying to get +my pocketbook. It was a sort of nightmare, and I guess I struggled with +the dream-robber. Then, all of a sudden, I woke up, and--" + +"Was your pocketbook gone?" asked Mollie. + +"No, but my money was. And that was the funny part of it. How anyone +could get the money without taking the pocketbook I couldn't see. +And there wasn't anyone in the car with me but a boy--a peddler, I +think he was." + +The girls looked at each other. Matters were beginning to fit together +most strangely. + +"I didn't know what to do," the young man went on. "I didn't want to say +anything that would seem as if I accused the boy, and I felt the same +about the trainmen. I knew if I said the money had been taken and the +pocketbook left they would only laugh at me. I was all knocked out, and +hardly knew what I was doing. I jumped off the train, and went back over +the line, thinking the bill might have blown out of the window. But--" + +"That is just what did happen!" cried Betty. + +"What's that?" the man exclaimed, excitedly. + +"I say that is exactly what happened!" went on the Little Captain. "At +least, that is how I account for it." + +"What sort of a bill did you lose?" asked Mollie, trying not to +get excited. + +"It was one of five hundred dollars, and--" + +"Did it have a--anything pinned to it?" exclaimed Betty. + +"It did--a note. Wait, I can tell you what it said on it." He hesitated a +moment and then repeated word for word the writing on the note pinned to +the bill the girls had picked up. "But I don't see how you know this!" he +added, wonderingly. + +"We know--because we found your five hundred dollar bill!" exclaimed +Betty. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +BY TELEGRAPH + + +The man stared at the girls as if he could not believe what Betty had +said. A strange look came over his face. + +"If this is a joke, please drop it," he began. "I am almost crazy as it +is. I don't know what I am doing. I--" + +"It isn't a joke!" declared Betty. "It may sound strange, but it's all +true. We did find your bill, under the railroad bridge in Deepdale. It's +in my father's safe now." + +"That's great--it's fine. I'd given it up long ago. I advertised, and put +up a notice in the post-office, and--" + +"Yes, my mother wrote me about it," said Betty. "But she did not give +your address, for some naughty boys tore it off the notice." + +"And do you really think someone tried to rob you?" asked Mollie. + +"I don't know what to think," frankly admitted the young man. "There was +a boy in the same car--" + +"He never took it!" exclaimed Grace. + +"How do you know?" the young man asked. + +"Because we met that boy, and he told us just how you acted when you +discovered your loss. Besides, that boy is thoroughly honest." + +"Say, is there anything about my case that you girls don't know?" asked +the young man with a smile. "But before I go any further, perhaps I had +better introduce myself--" + +"Oh, we know your name!" exclaimed Betty. + +"You do? And you never saw me before?" + +"You forget that your name was signed to the notice in the +post-office--Mr. Blackford," and Betty blushed. + +"That's so. But I don't know your names, and, if it's not too +impertinent, after the service you have rendered me--" + +"We'll tell you--certainly," interrupted Betty, and she introduced +herself and her chums. + +"I suppose you will wonder how I played the part of a tramp," said the +young man. "I will tell you why. I was almost out of my mind, and I +imagined that by going around looking ragged I might pick up some news of +my lost money from the tramps along the railroad." + +Then he told of how he had started to write a letter, stating he could +not buy the business he was after, and had then torn the letter up, +because he still hoped to find the bill and get control of the business. + +"And we found part of that letter," cried Betty. "We tried to find you, +too, but you had disappeared." + +"Indeed. I know how that happened--I took a short cut through the woods." + +"The chocolate is ready!" called Grace, a little later. "Won't you have +some, Mr. Blackford?" + +"Thank you, I will. Say, but you young ladies are all right. Do you do +this sort of thing often?" + +"Well, we like to be outdoors," explained Betty, as she handed him a cup +of the hot beverage. "We like to take long walks, but this is the first +time we ever went on a tour like this." + +"And we've had the _best_ time!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"And _such_ adventures," added Grace. "Will you have more chocolate?" + +"No, thank you. That was fine. Now I must try and get dry. But I'm used +to this sort of thing. I'm from the West, and I've been in more than +one flood." + +"You have!" cried Amy, and the others knew of what she was thinking--her +own case. "I hope he didn't have the same sort of trouble I had, though," +she thought. + +"Perhaps if you were to walk along your clothes would dry quicker," said +Betty. "And if you went on to Judgeville you might be able to get a +tailor to press them." + +"Thanks, I believe I will. That is, if you don't mind being seen with +such a disreputable figure as I cut." + +"Of course we don't mind!" declared Betty. "We are getting rather +travel-stained ourselves." + +"Our trunks will be waiting for us at your cousin's house, Betty," spoke +Grace, for it was there they were to spend the last night of their now +nearly finished tour. "We can freshen up," went on the girl who loved +candy, "and enter into town in style. I hope mamma put in my new gown and +another pair of shoes." + +"Grace Ford! You don't mean that you'd put on a new dress to finish up +this walking excursion in, do you?" asked Mollie. + +"Certainly I shall. We don't know who we might meet as we get into +Deepdale." + +"We will hardly get in before dusk," said Betty. "From Judgeville there +is the longest stretch of all, nearly twenty-two miles." + +"Oh, dear!" groaned Grace. "We'll never do it. Why did you arrange for +such a long walk, Betty?" + +"I couldn't help it. There were no other relatives available, and I +couldn't have any made to order. There was no stopping place between here +and home." + +"Oh, I dare say I can stand it," murmured Grace. "But I guess I won't +wear my new shoes in that case. Twenty-two miles!" + +"It is quite a stretch," said Mr. Blackford. + +He helped Grace put away the alcohol stove, and the cups in which the +chocolate had been served. They were washed in the little stream, and +would be cleansed again at the house of Betty's cousin. + +"You haven't asked us when we are going to give you that five hundred +dollar bill," said Mollie, as they started for Judgeville. + +"Well," spoke Mr. Blackford, with a laugh, "I didn't want to seem too +anxious. I knew that it was safe where you had put it, Miss Nelson," and +he looked at Betty. "Besides, I have been without it so long now that it +seems almost as if I never had it. And from all the good it is going to +do me, perhaps I might be better off without it now." + +"We didn't exactly understand what you meant by the note you wrote," +said Betty. + +"Well, I'll tell you how that was," he said, frankly. "You see, I was +left considerable money by a rich relative, but I had bad luck. Maybe I +didn't have a good business head, either. Anyhow, I lost sum after sum in +investments that didn't pan out, and in businesses that failed. I got +down to my last big bill, and then I heard of this little business I +could get control of in New York. + +"I said I'd make that my last venture, and to remind myself how +desperate my chances were I just jotted down those words, and pinned the +note to the bill. Then I must have gotten excited in my dream. I know +just before I fell asleep I kept taking the bill out of the pocketbook, +and looking at it to make sure I had it. I might have done that while +half asleep, and it blew out of the window. That's how it probably +happened, and you girls picked up the money. I can't thank you enough. +But I'm afraid it will come to me too late to use as I had intended," +the man went on, with a sigh. + +"Why?" asked Betty. + +"Because the option on the business I was going to buy expires at +midnight to-night, and as you say the five hundred dollars is in +Deepdale, I don't see how I am going to get it in time to be of +any service." + +"Isn't that too bad!" cried Amy. + +"And we might have brought it with us," said Mollie. + +"Only we didn't think it would be wise to carry that sum with us," spoke +Grace. "And we never thought the owner of it would jump off a railroad +trestle right in front of us," she added, with a laugh. + +"No, of course not," admitted Mr. Blackford, drily. "You couldn't foresee +that. Neither could I. Well, it can't be helped. Maybe it will be for the +best in the end. I'll have the five hundred, anyhow, and perhaps I can +find some other business. But I did want to get this one on which I had +the option. However, there's no help for it." + +A sudden light of resolve came into Betty's eyes. She confronted the +owner of the bill. + +"There's no need for you to lose your option!" she exclaimed. + +"But I don't see how I can get the money in time. I might if I had an +airship; but to go to Deepdale, and then to New York with it, is out of +the question." + +"No!" cried Betty. "We can do it by telegraph! I've just thought of a way +out. You can take up that option yet, Mr. Blackford!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BACK HOME + + +Betty Nelson's chums stared at her. So did Mr. Blackford. Betty herself, +with flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, looked at them all in turn. Her +idea had stimulated her. + +"What--how--I don't see--" stammered Mr. Blackford. "If you--" + +"It's this way!" cried Betty, all enthusiasm. "You know you can transfer +money by telegraph in a very short time--it only takes a few minutes to +do it--really it's quicker than an airship," and she smiled at Mr. +Blackford. + +"That's so," he admitted. "I see now." + +"I'll have my father telegraph the five hundred dollars to me at +Judgeville," explained Betty. "Then I can give it to you, and you can +telegraph it to your business man in New York. It is sure to reach +there before midnight, and you can take up your option, if that is the +proper term." + +"It is--very proper," said Mr. Blackford. "I believe you have the right +idea, Miss Nelson. I should have thought of that myself, but that shows +I am really not a good business man." + +"Now let's hurry on to town," proceeded Betty. "We haven't any too +much time." + +It was rather an astonished telegraph operator who, a little later, was +confronted by four pretty girls, a man who looked as if he had been in a +shipwreck, and a much-flustered lady. The latter was Betty's cousin, at +whose house the girls had stopped. It was necessary for the recipient of +the money to be identified, and this Betty's cousin, who knew the +operator, agreed to look after. + +There was a little delay, but not much, and soon Mr. Blackford was in a +position to take up his option. A local bank, where the telegraph concern +did business, paid over the five hundred in cash, and four hundred of +this was at once sent on to New York, by telegraph. + +"I hope it reaches my man," said Mr. Blackford. "I have told him to +wire me here." + +A little later word was received that the transaction had been +successfully carried out. Mr. Blackford could now get control of +the business. + +"And it's all due to you young ladies!" he said, gratefully. "I don't +know how to thank you. You are entitled to a reward--" + +"Don't you dare mention it!" cried Betty, + +"Well, some day I'll pay you back for all you did for me!" he exclaimed, +warmly. "I won't forget. And now that I have some money to spare, I'm +going to get a new suit of clothes." + +He said good-bye to the girls, promising to see them again some time, and +then he left, having made arrangements to go on to New York and finish up +his business affairs. + +"Well, now that it is all over, won't you come on to the house and have +supper?" said Betty's cousin, as they came out of the telegraph office. +"I must say, you girls know how to do things." + +"Oh, you can always trust Betty for that," said Mollie. + +"It just did itself," declared Betty. "Everything seemed to work out of +its own accord from the time we found the five hundred dollar bill." + +"But you helped a lot," insisted Amy. + +"Indeed she did," added Grace. + +"Well, our walking tour will soon be over," Betty said as they neared her +cousin's house. "We'll be home to-morrow. We've had lots of fun, and I +think it has done us all good. We'll soon be home." + +"But not without a long walk," said Grace, with a sigh. "I wonder what we +shall do next? We must keep out of doors." + +"We have a long vacation before us--all summer," said Amy. "I do wish we +could spend it together." + +"Maybe we can," said Betty. "We'll see." + +And how the four chums enjoyed the vacation that was opening may be +learned by reading the next volume of this series, which will be entitled +"The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake; Or, The Stirring Cruise of the Motor +Boat _Gem._" + +The stay of the girls at the home of Betty's cousin was most enjoyable. +They remained two nights, instead of one, sending word of the change of +their plans to their parents. Then, early in the morning, they started +for home on the last stage of their tour. + +"Twenty-two miles!" sighed Grace, as they set out. "Oh, dear!" + +But they were not destined to walk all the way. About five miles from +town they saw a big touring car approaching, and as it neared them they +beheld Will Ford and his chum Frank in it. + +"Hurray!" cried Grace's brother. + +"Welcome to our city!" added Frank. "Get in and we'll take you home +in style." + +"Oh, you boys!" cried Betty, but she and the others got in. Off they +started, all of them seemingly talking at once, and in a short time they +arrived at Deepdale. They attracted considerable attention as they passed +through the town in the car Will and Frank had hired to honor the members +of the Camping and Tramping Club. + +"But it rather spoiled our record, I think," said Betty. "We were to +walk all the way." + +"Oh, we walked enough," declared Grace. "I did, anyhow," and she glanced +at her shoes. + +"But it was fun!" exclaimed Amy. + +"Glorious!" cried Mollie. + +A little later the four tourists were warmly welcomed at their respective +homes, later meeting for a general jollification at Mollie's house. + +"Oh, you dears!" cried Betty, trying to caress the twins, Paul and Dodo, +both at once. "And we saw the dearest little lost girl. Shall I tell you +about her?" + +"Dive us tum tandy fust," said Dodo, fastening her big eyes on Grace. "Us +'ikes tandy--don't us, Paul?" + +"Us do," was the gurgling answer, and Grace brought out her confections. + +And, now that the four girls are safely at home again, we will take +leave of them. + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 10465 *** diff --git a/LICENSE.txt b/LICENSE.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6312041 --- /dev/null +++ b/LICENSE.txt @@ -0,0 +1,11 @@ +This eBook, including all associated images, markup, improvements, +metadata, and any other content or labor, has been confirmed to be +in the PUBLIC DOMAIN IN THE UNITED STATES. + +Procedures for determining public domain status are described in +the "Copyright How-To" at https://www.gutenberg.org. + +No investigation has been made concerning possible copyrights in +jurisdictions other than the United States. Anyone seeking to utilize +this eBook outside of the United States should confirm copyright +status under the laws that apply to them. diff --git a/README.md b/README.md new file mode 100644 index 0000000..08b7c86 --- /dev/null +++ b/README.md @@ -0,0 +1,2 @@ +Project Gutenberg (https://www.gutenberg.org) public repository for +eBook #10465 (https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/10465) diff --git a/old/10465.txt b/old/10465.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..b9b6434 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/10465.txt @@ -0,0 +1,6162 @@ +The Project Gutenberg eBook, The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale , by Laura Lee +Hope + + +This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with +almost no restrictions whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or +re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included +with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org + + + + + + + + +Title: The Outdoor Girls of Deepdale + +Author: Laura Lee Hope + +Release Date: December 15, 2003 [eBook #10465] + +Language: English + +Character set encoding: US-ASCII + + +***START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE *** + + +E-text prepared by Juliet Sutherland, Mary Meehan, and the Project +Gutenberg Online Distributed Proofreading Team + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + +OR + +CAMPING AND TRAMPING FOR FUN AND HEALTH + +BY LAURA LEE HOPE + +1913 + + + + + + + +CONTENTS + +CHAPTER + + I A FLUTTERING PAPER + + II THE TRAMPING CLUB + + III JEALOUSIES + + IV A TAUNT + + V AMY'S MYSTERY + + VI THE LEAKY BOAT + + VII TO THE RESCUE + + VIII CLOSING DAYS + + IX OFF ON THE TOUR + + X ON THE WRONG ROAD + + XI THE BARKING DOG + + XII AT AUNT SALLIE'S + + XIII THE MISSING LUNCH + + XIV THE BROKEN RAIL + + XV "IT'S A BEAR!" + + XVI THE DESERTED HOUSE + + XVII IN CHARGE + + XVIII RELIEVED + + XIX A LITTLE LOST GIRL + + XX THE BOY PEDDLER + + XXI THE LETTER + + XXII A PERILOUS LEAP + + XXIII THE MAN'S STORY + + XXIV BY TELEGRAPH + + XXV BACK HOME + + + + +THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE + + + + +CHAPTER I + +A FLUTTERING PAPER + + +Four girls were walking down an elm-shaded street. Four girls, walking +two by two, their arms waist-encircling, their voices mingling in rapid +talk, punctuated with rippling laughter--and, now and then, as their +happy spirits fairly bubbled and overflowed, breaking into a few waltz +steps to the melody of a dreamy song hummed by one of their number. The +sun, shining through the trees, cast patches of golden light on the stone +sidewalk, and, as the girls passed from sunshine to shadow, they made a +bright, and sometimes a dimmer, picture on the street, whereon were other +groups of maidens. For school was out. + +"Betty Nelson, the idea is perfectly splendid!" exclaimed the tallest of +the quartette; a stately, fair girl with wonderful braids of hair on +which the sunshine seemed to like to linger. + +"And it will be such a relief from the ordinary way of doing things," +added the companion of the one who thus paid a compliment to her chum +just in advance of her. "I detest monotony!" + +"If only too many things don't happen to us!" This somewhat timid +observation came from the quietest of the four--she who was walking with +the one addressed as Betty. + +"Why, Amy Stonington!" cried the girl who had first spoken, as she tossed +her head to get a rebellious lock of hair out of her dark eyes. "The very +idea! We _want_ things to happen; don't we, Betty?" and she caught the +arm of one who seemed to be the leader, and whirled her about to look +into her face. "Answer me!" she commanded. "Don't we?" + +Betty smiled slightly, revealing her white, even teeth. Then she said +laughingly, and the laugh seemed to illuminate her countenance: + +"I guess Grace meant certain kinds of happenings; didn't you, Grace?" + +"Of course," and the rather willowy creature, whose style of dress +artistically accentuated her figure, caught a pencil that was slipping +from a book, and thrust it into the mass of light hair that was like a +crown to her beauty. + +"Oh, that's all right, then," and Amy, who had interposed the +objection, looked relieved. She was a rather quiet girl, of the +character called "sweet" by her intimates; and truly she had the +disposition that merited the word. + +"When can we start?" asked Grace Ford. Then, before an answer could be +given, she added: "Don't let's go so fast. We aren't out to make a +walking record to-day. Let's stop here in the shade a moment." + +The four came to a halt beneath a great horsechestnut tree, that gave +welcome relief from the sun, which, though it was only May, still had +much of the advance hint of summer in it. There was a carriage block near +the curb, and Grace "draped herself artistically about it," as Mollie +Billette expressed it. + +"If you're tired now, what will you be if we walk five or six miles a +day?" asked Betty with a smile. "Or even more, perhaps." + +"Oh, I can if I have to--but I don't have to now. Come, Betty, tell us +when we are to start." + +"Why, we can't decide now. Are you so anxious all of a sudden?" and Betty +pulled down and straightened the blue middy blouse that had been rumpled +by her energetic chums. + +"Of course. I detest waiting--for trains or anything else. I'm just dying +to go, and I've got the cutest little traveling case. It--" + +"Has a special compartment for chocolates; hasn't it, Grace?" asked +Mollie Billette, whose dark and flashing eyes, and black hair, with just +a shade of steely-blue in it, betrayed the French blood in her veins. + +"Oh, Grace couldn't get along without candy!" declared Betty, with a +smile. + +"Now that's mean!" exclaimed Grace, whose tall and slender figure, and +face of peculiar, winsome beauty had gained her the not overdrawn +characterization of "Gibson girl." "I don't see why Billy wants to always +be saying such horrid things about me!" + +"I didn't say anything mean!" snapped Mollie, whose pseudonym was more +often "Billy" than anything else. "And I don't want you to say that I +do!" Her eyes flashed, and gave a hint of the hidden fire of temper which +was not always controlled. The other girls looked at her a bit +apprehensively. + +"If you don't like the things I say," she went on, "there are those who +do. And what's more--" + +"Billy," spoke Betty, softly. "I'm sure Grace didn't mean--" + +"Oh, I know it!" exclaimed Mollie, contritely. "It was horrid of me to +flare up that way. But sometimes I can't seem to help it. I beg your +pardon, Grace. Eat as many chocolates as you like. I'll help you. Isn't +that generous?" + +She clasped her arms about the "Gibson-girl," and held her cheek close to +the other's blushing one. + +"Don't mind me!" she cried, impulsively. Mollie was often this way--in a +little whirlwind of temper one moment, and sweetly sorry for it the +next, albeit her little spasms of rage were never serious, and seldom +lasted long. + +"Forgiven," murmured Grace. "But I am really anxious to know when we can +start our Camping and Tramping Club. I think the idea is perfectly +splendid! How did you come to think of it, Betty?" + +"I got the idea from a book--it isn't original by any means. But then +I always have been fond of walking--out in the country especially. +Only it isn't so much fun going alone. So it occurred to me that you +girls would like to join. We can take a nice long tramp the first +opportunity we get." + +"Just us four?" asked Grace. + +"No, not necessarily. We can have as many members as we like." + +"I think four is a nice number," spoke Amy. She was rather shy, and not +given to making new friends. + +"We four--no more!" declaimed Mollie. "Suppose we do limit it to +four, Betty?" + +"Well, we can talk of that later. And I do so want to talk of it. I +thought we'd never get out of school," and the four who had just been +released from the Deepdale High School continued their stroll down the +main street of the town, talking over the new plan that had been proposed +that morning by Betty Nelson--the "Little Captain," as she was often +called by her chums, for she always assumed the leadership in their fun +and frolics. + +"Will we just walk--walk all the while?" asked Grace. "I'm afraid I +shan't be able to keep up to you girls in that case," and she swung about +on the sidewalk in a few steps of a mazy waltz with Amy. + +"Of course we won't walk all the while," explained Betty. "I haven't all +the details arranged yet, but we can set a certain number of miles to +cover each day. At night we'll stop somewhere and rest." + +"That's good," sighed Grace, with a glance at her small and daintily +shod feet. + +"Oh, here comes your brother Will!" Betty called to her. + +"And that horrid Percy Falconer is with him," went on Mollie. "I--I can't +bear him!" + +"He's seen Betty--that's why he's hurrying so," spoke Grace. "Probably +he's bought a new cane he wants to show her." + +"Stop it!" commanded Betty, with a blush. "You know I can't bear him any +more than you girls can." + +"You can't make Percy believe that--my word!" and Mollie imitated the +mannerism perfectly. For young Falconer, be it known, was partial to good +clothes of a rather flashy type, and much given to showing them off. He +had very little good sense--in fact, what little he had, some of his +enemies used to say, he displayed when he showed a preference for pretty +Betty Nelson. But she would have none of his company. + +"I don't see why Will wants to bring him along," remarked his sister +Grace, in a petulant tone. "He knows we don't like him." + +"Perhaps Will couldn't help it," suggested Amy. + +"That's nice of you to say, Amy," commented Grace. "I'll tell Will--some +time when I get a chance." + +"Don't you dare! If you do I'll never speak to you again!" and the pink +surged to a deeper red in Amy's cheeks. + +"Betty'd much rather have Will pick up Allen Washburn," remarked Mollie, +in decisive tones. "Wouldn't you, Bet?" + +"Oh, please don't say such things!" besought Betty. "I don't see why you +always--" + +"Hush, they'll hear you," cautioned Grace. "Let's pretend we don't see +them. Hurry up! I've got a quarter, and I'll treat you to sodas. Come on +in Pierson's drug store." + +"Too late!" moaned Billy, in mock-tragic tones. "They are waving to +us--we can't be too rude." + +Will Ford, the brother of Grace, accompanied by a rather overdressed +youth slightly older, had now come up to the group of girls. + +"Good afternoon!" greeted Percy Falconer, raising his hat with an +elaborate gesture. "Charming weather we're having--my word!" Percy rather +inclined to English mannerisms--or what he thought were such. + +"Hello, Sis--and the rest of you!" said Will, with a more hearty, and +certainly a more natural, air. "What's doing?" + +"Grace was going to treat," said Amy slowly; "she is so good about +that--only--" + +"Oh, girls! This is on me!" exclaimed Percy. "I shall be delighted. May I +have the honor?" and again he took off his hat with an elaborate bow. + +"Shall we?" Betty telegraphed this question to her friends with her +eyes. + +"Take the goods the gods provide," murmured Grace. "I can save my quarter +for another time." + +With a rather resigned air Betty followed her chums into the drug store +and presently all were lined up before the marble-topped counter. + +"The soda's delicious to-day," murmured Grace. "I've a good notion to get +some fudge," and she began toying with a little silver purse. + +"Save your money for our club," advised Mollie. "Did you hear of our +expedition?" she asked Will. + +"No, what's that? Are you going to try for the East or West pole?--seeing +that the North and South ones have been captured," and he laughed, +thereby getting some of the soda down his "wrong throat." + +"Serves you right," murmured his sister, as he coughed. + +"Betty is going to form a Camping and Tramping Club," went on Amy. + +"Fine!" exclaimed Percy. "Are you going to take gentlemen? If so, +consider my application." + +"Oh, we really mean to _walk_!" exclaimed Grace, with a glance at +the too-small patent leather shoes the overdressed youth thrust +out ostentatiously. If he understood the allusion he gave no sign +of so doing. + +"What's the game, Sis?" asked Will, quizzically. + +"Why, it isn't anything very elaborate," explained Betty, as she finished +her soda. "It occurred to me that, as school closes exceptionally early +this year, some of us girls could go for a two weeks' tramping tour +before our regular summer vacation." + +"And we're all in love with the idea," declared Amy. + +"Twenty miles a day is our limit," added Mollie, smiling behind the +youth's back. + +"Twenty miles!" faltered Percy. "You never can do it--never!" + +"Oh, yes, we can," said Betty, assuredly. + +"Now do you still wish to join?" asked Grace, pointedly, glancing at +Percy. + +"You never can do twenty miles!" affirmed Percy. "Let's have some more +soda!" he added quickly, to change the subject. + +To the credit of Grace Ford, who was really very fond of sweets, be it +said that she refused, and that with the mocking eyes of all the girls +fastened on her. + +"I've had enough," spoke Betty. "You walk with me," she whispered to +Amy. "I don't want Percy to bore me. Stay near me, do!" + +"I will," promised Amy. + +Balked of his design to stroll beside Betty, Percy was forced to be +content with Mollie, and she, with malice aforethought, talked at him in +a way he could not understand, but which, the other girls overhearing, +sent them into silent spasms of laughter. + +"Don't you find it troublesome to carry a cane all the while?" Mollie +asked him, sweetly ignorant. + +"Oh, I don't _have_ to carry it," he said quickly. + +"Don't you? I thought on account of not being able to walk--" + +"Why, Mollie--I can walk all right." + +"Oh, I misunderstood you. You said twenty miles was too much." + +"I meant for girls." + +"Oh, then you carry the cane for dogs." + +"No, indeed. I'm not afraid of dogs." + +"He doesn't know she's 'spoofing' him--I believe that is the proper +English word; isn't it?" whispered Grace, who was with her brother. + +"Correct, Sis." + +"Whatever did you want to bring him along for?" + +"Couldn't help it. He fastened to me when I came out of school, and I +couldn't shake him off. Is Bet mad?" + +"You know she doesn't like him." + +"Well, tell her it wasn't my fault, when you get the chance; will you? I +don't want to get on her bad books." + +"I'll tell her." + +"I say, Sis, lend me a quarter; won't you? I'm broke." + +"You had the same allowance that I did." + +"I know, but I need just that much to get a catching glove. Go +on--be a sport." + +"I--" + +"Don't say you haven't got it. Weren't you going to treat the crowd when +I brought Percy along and let you sting him?" + +"Such horrid slang!" + +"Go on, be a sport! Lend me the quarter!" + +Grace produced it from her purse. There were several other coins in it. + +"Say, you're loaded with wealth! Where'd you get it?" + +"I just didn't spend it." + +"Go on! And you with a two-pound box of chocolates--or what's left of +'em--under your bed!" + +"Will Ford, did you dare go snooping in my room?" and she grasped his +arm, apprehensively. + +"I couldn't help seeing 'em. I was looking for my ball, that rolled +in there." + +"Did you--did you eat them all?" she faltered. + +"Only a few. There's Allen Washburn, I want to speak to him," and Will +ran off uncermoniously, to join a tall, good-looking young man who was on +the other side of the street. The latter, seeing the girls, raised his +hat, but his glance rested longest on Betty, who, it might have been +observed, blushed slightly under the scrutiny. + +"Allen always has a book with him," murmured Amy. + +"Yes, he's studying law, you know," spoke Betty. + +Some other girls joined the four then, and Percy, seeing that he was +rather ignored, had the sense to leave, making an elaborate departure, +after what he considered the correct English style. + +"Thank goodness!" murmured Mollie. "Puppies are all right, but I like +better-trained ones!" and her dark eyes flashed. + +"Billy!" exclaimed Grace, reproachfully, shaking an accusing finger at +her friend. + +"Well, you don't like him any more than--than Betty does!" + +"Hush!" warned the Little Captain. "He'll hear you." + +"I don't care if he does," was the retort. + +Gradually the main part of the town had been left as the girls walked +slowly on. Houses were fewer now, and the trees not so large, nor well +cared for. The sun seemed to increase in warmth as it approached the +west, wherein was a bank of fluffy clouds that soon would be turned into +masses of golden, purple and olive. + +"Oh, girls, I simply must rest again!" exclaimed Grace, as, with a wry +face, she made for a smooth stump, which was all that was left of a +great oak that had recently been cut down, as it had died, and was in +danger of falling. + +"What! Again?" cried Mollie. "Say, Grace, my dear, you never will be able +to keep up with us on the tramp, if you give out so easily now. What is +the matter?" + +"Matter? Look at her shoes!" cried Amy. "Such heels!" + +"They're not so awful high!" and Grace sought to defend her footwear from +the three pairs of accusing eyes. + +"It's a very pretty boot," remarked Betty. "But hardly practical, my +dear." + +"I suppose not," sighed Grace. "But I just simply could not resist the +temptation to take them when the sales-girl tried them on me. I saw them +in Robertson's window, and they were such a bargain--a sample shoe she +said--that's why they're so narrow." + +"You can wear a narrow size," spoke Mollie with a sigh. "I wish I could." + +"Oh, I think your shoes are a lovely shape," spoke Grace. "I wish I had +your high instep." + +"Move over," begged Amy. "There's room for two on that stump, Grace." + +Grace obligingly moved, and her friend sat beside her, idly swinging a +couple of books by a long strap. Betty and Mollie supported themselves by +draping their arms about each other's waists. + +"'Patience on a monument,'" quoted Betty, looking at the two on +the stump. + +"Which one?" asked Mollie with a laugh. + +"We'll divide the virtues between us; won't we, Amy?" exclaimed Grace, +putting her head on the other's shoulder. "Now I'm--" + +"The sleeping beauty!" supplied Betty, "Do come on!" and after a little +argument, in which Grace insisted that she had not had more than a +minute's respite, the four started off again. They were approaching the +outskirts of the town in the vicinity of which they all lived. + +"If this weather keeps up we can't start off on our tramping and camping +trip any too soon," remarked Grace. + +"When can we arrange for it?" asked Amy. "I think it is the nicest idea I +ever heard of." + +"You can all come over to my house to-night," suggested Betty. "We can +make some plans then, perhaps." + +"Let's, then!" cried impulsive Mollie. "But do you really intend to do +any camping, Betty?" + +"Yes, if we can. Of course not for any length of time--say a night or +two. There are one or two places where camps are open the year +around, and all you have to do is to go there and board, just as you +would at a hotel." + +"Only it must be much nicer," said Amy. + +"It is--lots." + +They had reached a place where the highway ran under a railroad line, +that crossed on a high bridge. As the girls came under the structure a +fluttering bit of paper on the ground caught the eyes of Betty. Rather +idly she picked it up, and the next moment she uttered a cry that brought +her chums to her side in some alarm. + +"Look!" she exclaimed. "A five hundred dollar bill is pinned to this +paper! A five hundred dollar bill, girls!" + + + + +CHAPTER II + +THE TRAMPING CLUB + + +With staring eyes, and with breaths that were labored, the three chums +gathered about Betty. She held the bill, and the paper pinned to it, +stretched tightly between her slim fingers. + +"Is it--is it real?" gasped Grace. + +"Of course it's real," declared Amy. + +"How do you know?" asked Mollie. "I confess I never saw a five hundred +dollar bill all at once before." + +"Did you see it in pieces?" asked Grace. "What a lot of money!" + +"How many pounds of chocolates would it buy?" asked Amy, with a laugh. + +"Don't you dare say chocolate to me!" commanded Grace. + +"It is real," went on Betty, who had not spoken since picking up the +money. "There's no doubt of that." + +"If findings were keepings you'd be well off," said Mollie. "How lucky +you are!" and sighed. + +"Of course I can't keep it," decided Betty. "But I wonder who could +have dropped it?" and she looked up at the railroad bridge over their +heads, as if she might see some one standing there waiting for the +return of the bill. + +"What is that paper pinned to it?" asked Grace, as she took hold of it +while Betty held the bank note by the two ends. + +"That's so--I forgot to look at that," said the finder. She turned it +over. There was some writing on it. It said: + +"_ This is my last five hundred dollar bill--all that is left of my +fortune. This is to remind me that if I don't make good use of this I +don't deserve any more luck. It is make or break with me now! Which +will it be?_" + +The girls were silent for a moment or two after reading this strange +message that had come to them in such a queer manner. Then Betty said: + +"Girls, what do you make of it?" + +"It's a joke!" declared Grace. + +"It sounds far from being a joke," spoke Betty, seriously. "Girls, there +may be a grim tragedy here." + +"How romantic!" sighed Mollie. "What shall we do with the money?" + +"We must take it home and consult our folks about it," decided Betty. +"I'll ask papa--and you might refer the question to yours, Amy. Being a +broker, he's quite likely to know about such things, and can tell us +what to do. This is quite a lot of money to lose, I wonder how we can +find the owner?" + +"Advertise?" + +"Maybe there'll be a notice in the post office." + +"It can't have been here very long. Perhaps we'll meet whoever it belongs +to, coming back to look for it," spoke Grace. + +Thus came some opinions, and while various others were rapidly formed and +expressed, and as the girls are speculating on how the bill, and the +attached paper, came to lie so openly on the highway, I hope I may be +permitted to insert here a little descriptive matter that will, perhaps, +give the reader a clearer understanding of the characters of this story. + +And as Betty Nelson had, by right of more than one informal conquest, +reached the position of leader, I can do no better than begin with her. + +Betty was about sixteen years old. She was not exactly what one would +call "pretty"--that is, at first glance. More likely she would have been +spoken of as "good-looking." At least by the boys. And certainly Betty +was good to look upon. Her face showed her character. There was a calm +thoughtfulness about it that suggested strength of mind, and yet it was +not the type of face called "strong." It was purely girlish, and it +reflected her bright and vivacious manner perfectly. How her features +lighted up when she spoke--or listened--her friends well knew. Her eyes +seemed always to be dancing with fun, yet they could look calmly at +trouble, too. + +And when Betty Nelson looked at trouble that same trouble seemed to melt +away--to flee as though it had no right to exist. And this not only as +regarded her own troubles, but those of her friends as well. Intensely +practical was Betty, yet there was a shade of romance in her character +that few suspected. Perhaps the other girls had so often taken their +little troubles to Betty, listening to her advice and sympathy, that they +forgot she might have some of her own. But, under it all, Betty had a +romantic nature, that needed but a certain influence to bring it out. + +Full of life and vigor she was always ready to assume the leadership in +whatever of fun or work was at hand. Perhaps that is why she was often +called "The Little Captain," and certainly she deserved the name. Her +father, Charles Nelson, was a wealthy carpet manufacturer, his factory +being just outside of Deepdale, and her mother, Rose, was one of the +society leaders of the town, though there was no elaborate social system. + +A regular "Gibson girl," was Grace Ford, not only in form but in face. +There was that well-rounded chin, and the neck on which was poised a +head with a wonderful wealth of light hair. The other girls rather +envied Grace her hair--especially Mollie, who was a decided brunette. +And, as I have said, Grace dressed to advantage. There had been a time +when she bemoaned the fact that she was tall--"regular bean-pole" her +brother had taunted her with being--and Grace--well, she had slapped +him. But this was some years ago. But now, with the newer styles that +seem to forbid the existence of hips, and with skirts that so +circumscribe the steps that fast walking is impossible, Grace fitted in +perfectly. She was artistically tall and slender, which fact none knew +better than she herself. + +But Grace was not vain. She did pose at times, but it was done naturally +and without undue thought. She just could not help it. + +Her brother Will made no end of fun about her--even at this date, but +Grace had sufficient composure to ignore him now, and only smiled +sweetly, remarking: + +"You only show how little you know, Billie-boy. Run along now and +play ball!" + +Then Will, trying to think of some cutting thing to say, would hasten to +join his bosom friend Frank Haley, perhaps remarking as they tramped off: + +"Hanged if I can understand girls anyhow." + +"Why, what's up?" + +"Oh, Grace is such a primper. She's got a new dress and some sort of +fancy dingus on it doesn't mix in right. She says it makes her look too +stout, and she's going to have it changed." + +"Hum! I think your sister is a mighty stunning-looking girl." + +"I'll tell her you said so." + +"If you do I'll rub your nose in the mud!" and then, as they thought, +philosophising further on the queerness of girls in general, the boys +departed to the ball field. + +The father of Grace and Will Ford was a lawyer with more than a local +reputation. He was often called on to handle big cases of state-wide +interest, and had made a modest fortune in the practice of his +profession. + +Of Mollie Billette--"Billy" to her chums, I hardly know what to say. +Aged fifteen, the daughter of a well-to-do widow, Mrs. Pauline Billette, +Mollie seemed older than either Betty or Grace, though she was a year +younger. Yet she did not assume anything to herself by reason of this +seeming difference in years; and the difference was only seeming. + +Perhaps it was that bit of French blood making her so quick-tempered--so +vivacious--so mature-appearing--that accounted for it. And it was, very +likely, that same French blood that gave her a temper which was not to be +admired, and which Mollie tried so hard to conquer. But her friends knew +her failing, and readily forgave her. Besides Mollie there were the +comical twins--Dora--never called anything but Dodo--and Paul, aged four. +They were always getting into mischief, and out again, and were "just too +sweet and dear for anything," as Betty put it. Betty, being an only +child, rather hungered for brothers and sisters. + +And now we come to Amy Stonington. Poor Amy! There was something of a +mystery about her. She realized something of it herself when she was old +enough to know that she was not in physical characteristics at all like +her parents--at least she regarded Mr. and Mrs. John Stonington as her +parents. And yet she could not understand why she was not more like them +in type, nor why, of late, she had often come upon them talking earnestly +together, which talk ceased as soon as she entered the room. In +consequence of which Amy was not very happy these days. + +Yet the most that she feared was that her parents were mapping out a +career for her. She was talented in music, playing the piano with a +technique and fire that few girls of her age could equal. More than once, +after a simple concert in the High School, at which she played, teachers +had urged Mr. and Mrs. Stonington to send her to some well-known teacher, +or even abroad to study. + +"But if that's what they're planning I just won't go!" said Amy to +herself, after one of those queer confidences she had broken up. "I'd die +of loneliness if they sent me away." + +So much for our four girls. + +Dear Deepdale the girls always called it--Dear Deepdale! They always +spoke affectionately of their home town, the only residence place any of +them had ever really known, for though some of them had lived as children +in other places, their years, since they were old enough to appreciate +localities, had been spent in Deepdale. + +And certainly it was a town of much natural beauty, to which a certain +amount of civic pride added, had made for local enjoyment in parks, +memorials and statues. Though there were only about fifteen thousand +residents, there was a spirit about Deepdale that many a fair-sized city +might have envied--a spirit of progress. + +Deepdale was situated on the Argono river, which gave a natural +advantage, and provided a setting that could not be improved upon. The +stream ran around two sides of the place, the waters curling gracefully +around a bend which had been laid out in a little pleasure park. + +There were some who protested against this "waste" of good and valuable +dockage facilities, but the town committeemen, wisely ignoring +objections, had, at some cost, acquired the land, and made what was one +of the prettiest spots for miles around--a little breathing place on the +very edge of the beautiful river. + +Nor was the river the only attractive bit of water about Deepdale. The +stream emptied into Rainbow Lake, some miles below the town, and Rainbow +Lake fully justified its name. It was a favorite scene of canoeing and +motor-boat parties, and many summer residences dotted its shores. In +summer white tents of campers gleamed beneath the trees on its banks. + +Situated in the lake were a number of islands, also camping sites, and +much frequented, in summer, by little parties of young people who +landed there after a trip on the lake, to rest in the shade of the leafy +trees. Triangle Island, so called from its shore outline, was the +largest of those that seemed floating on the lake, like green jewels in +a setting of silver. + +Several steamers of good size plied on the Argono river, one a freight +and passenger boat, belonging to a local line going as far as Clammerport +at the foot of the lake. Often school society excursions were held, and +the boys and girls made merry on the trip. + +About Deepdale were several thriving farming communities, for the +slightly rolling land was well suited to cultivation. The town, and the +outlying farms filled a sort of valley, girt around with hills of +sufficient size and height to be called mountains, at least by the local +inhabitants who were proud of them. + +There were valleys in these mountains, some large and others merely +glens, though Shadow valley, one of the most beautiful, was only of +medium size. It was a favorite spot for excursionists who wanted a change +from the water route, there being a sort of summer resort and picnic +ground at one end of this valley. + +The other end was not so often visited. It had once formed the estate of +a very wealthy man, who built a large mansion there. But, on his death, +the property was contested for in the courts by several heirs and for +years had been tied up by litigation. So the mansion became deserted. + +Of sufficient importance to have a railroad, as well as a steamer line, +Deepdale was well provided with transportation facilities. + +True, the railway was only a branch one, but it connected with the main +road running to New York, and this was enough for the people of Deepdale. +The town also boasted of a paper, the _Weekly Banner_, and there was a +good high and grammar school in town, besides numerous stores, and other +establishments, including a moving picture theatre--this last rather an +innovation. + +Our girls--I call them ours, for it is with their fortunes that we shall +be chiefly concerned--our girls lived near each other on the outskirts +of the town. + +Betty and her parents occupied an old-fashioned stone house, that had +once been the manor of a farm. But it was old-fashioned outwardly only, +for within it was the embodiment of culture and comfort. It set well back +from the street, and a lane of elms led from the front porch to the +thoroughfare. Back of the house was an old-fashioned garden, likewise +well-shaded, and there were the remains of an apple orchard, some of the +trees still bearing fruit. + +On the other side of the street, and not far off, was the home of +Grace--a modern brick house of tasteful design. It had ample grounds +about it, though being rather new could not boast of such noble trees as +those that added dignity to the old stone house. + +Amy Stonington lived in a large, rambling wooden structure, too large for +the needs of the family, but artistic nevertheless. It was just around +the corner from the residence of Betty, and the yards of the two girls +joined---if you can call the big orchard of Betty's home a "yard." + +Mollie's home was near the river, about ten minutes' walk from that of +the other three girls. It was a wooden house of a dull red that mingled +well in tone with the green grass and the spreading trees that +surrounded it. + +And now I believe I have mentioned my principal characters, and places, +though others will be introduced to you from time to time as our story +progresses. + +So on this pleasant spring day, for one of the few times, Amy was not +brooding on the subject that had given her such uneasiness of late. +Nor were the other girls concerned with anything save the finding of +the five hundred dollar bill, which absorbed everything else for the +time being. + +"Who could have lost it?" wondered Mollie. + +"There aren't so many persons in Deepdale who can afford to throw away +money like this," added Amy. + +"It wasn't thrown away--it was lost," declared Betty, "and we must find +the owner if we can." + +"Especially after such a pathetic message," said Grace. "Poor fellow! His +last big bill!" + +"What makes you think it was a _man_?" asked Amy. + +"That isn't a girl's writing," insisted Grace. + +"Fine! You'll be a detective if you keep on--or should I say +detectivess?" asked Mollie, with a laugh. + +"I wonder what that note means?" inquired Mollie. + +"Why," said Betty, "it seems to indicate that some young man ran +through a fortune--or lost it--and had only five hundred dollars left. +He was going to try to redeem his standing or wealth with this, and +probably wrote this to remind himself not to fail. I used to have a +habit of leaving my room untidy, and Daddy suggested once that I write +a notice to myself, and pin it where I would see it as I came out each +morning. I did, and I cured myself. This young fellow probably tried +the same system." + +"What makes you think he is _young_?" Grace wanted to know. + +"I'm following your line of reasoning--no elderly man would do +anything like this--write such a strange memorandum to himself. I'm +sure he is young." + +"And--good-looking?" asked Amy, smiling. + +"Let us hope so--if we are to return the money to him in person," +suggested Mollie. + +"Well, the best thing to do is to put that in some secure place, Betty," +advised Grace. "Has your father a safe at home?" + +"Yes." + +"Then let him keep it, and we can put an advertisement in the _Banner_. +'Found--a sum of money. Owner can have same by proving property, and +paying for this advertisement.' How is that?" + +"Wouldn't you ask for a reward?" came from Mollie. + +"The idea--of course not!" + +"But he might _give_ us one," suggested Amy, "without being asked." + +Then talking excitedly about the find, and speculating on how it could +have come in the road, the girls accompanied Betty to her house. Mrs. +Nelson was duly astonished at the news, and agreed with the chums that +the best plan was that suggested by Grace. Accordingly, when Mr. Nelson +came home, the bill and the queer attached note, were put in his safe. +Then an advertisement was telephoned to the paper. + +"And now let's talk about our Camping and Tramping Club," proposed Betty, +for her three chums had called that evening after supper. + +"I spoke to mamma about it," said Mollie, "and she said she thought I +could go. But we must stay with friends, or relatives, at night; she +won't let me put up at a hotel." + +"Of course not!" cried Betty--"none of us will. Now my plan is this: +Papa and mamma have a number of relatives living in distant towns, but +all in this vicinity. Probably you girls have some also. Now, why +couldn't we arrange a tour that would take us on a circuit say of--two +hundred miles--" + +"Two hundred miles!" came in a horrified chorus. + +"Why, yes, that's not much. We can take three weeks to it, and that's +only a little over ten miles a day--not counting Sundays, of course. If +we can't walk ten miles a day--" + +"Oh, that's not so bad," admitted Amy. + +"I can easily do that," assented Mollie. + +"What about our meals?" asked Grace. + +"Can't you carry enough chocolate fudge to do between morning and +evening?" asked Amy, with a laugh. + +"I've got that part all planned," began Betty. "Or at least I have an +idea about it. We can get breakfast and supper at our friends' or +relatives' and at noon we can go to restaurants, or to houses along the +way. Why, we can even take a little camping outfit with us, and make +coffee on the road, carrying sandwiches, too." + +"Fine!" cried Amy and Mollie. + +"Make chocolate--not coffee," begged Grace. + +"Well, chocolate then," assented Betty. + +"I have a couple of aunts somewhere out Bessingford way," spoke Amy. + +"And mamma has a cousin or two near Millford," went on Grace. + +"Now, it's your turn, Mollie," said Betty. + +"Oh, I have some wood-pile relations scattered about the country!" +exclaimed the French girl, her eyes sparkling. "I guess they would be +glad to entertain us." + +"And I can fill in the between-spaces with uncles and aunts and cousins, +I think," spoke Betty. "Now let's make out a partial list." + +It took some little time to do this, but it was finally accomplished. + +"Well, shall we decide on it?" asked Betty after a pause. "Shall we form +the Deepdale Camping and Tramping Club?" + +"I move you, Miss Chairman, that we do!" exclaimed Grace. "The sooner +the better." + +"Second the motion!" came laughingly from Mollie. + +"All in favor--" + +"Aye!" came in a joyous chorus, and the little club was thus +quickly formed. + + + + +CHAPTER III + +JEALOUSIES + + +"What do they find to talk about so often?" + +"And so secretly. As soon as any of us other girls come near they begin +to speak of the weather--or something like that." + +Thus remarked Alice Jallow to Kittie Rossmore a few days after the +formation of the Camping and Tramping Club. The question and comments +took place in the court of the High School, just before the bell was to +ring for the morning session. + +"It's all Betty Nelson's doings," declared Alice, who had often tried to +make herself more intimate with the quartette of friends, but +unsuccessfully. The other girls did not care for these two. + +"Yes. Grace, Mollie and Amy will do anything Betty tells them," +asserted Kittie. + +"I don't see why she is so popular. She hasn't a bit of style about her." + +"I should say not! Her skirt is entirely too wide, and her blouse never +seems cut right." + +"They say her mother doesn't believe in style. But I do," said Alice. +"I'd rather have a cheap dress, if it was in style, than something +old-fashioned, even if it cost a lot more." + +"So would I. Look at them now, with their heads together! I wonder if +they're going to have a dance?" + +"I don't know. How can we find out?" + +"Leave it to me. Jennie Plum is quite friendly with Mollie. I'll get her +to ask some questions." + +"Do; and then tell me. I'm sure they're getting up some affair." + +"I shouldn't wonder. If they'd only ask us--" + +"We have a right to be asked!" and Alice flared up. + +The warning bell interrupted further conversation, and the girls and boys +filed into their classrooms. + +As Alice had remarked, there was a good deal of talk going on among the +four members of the newly-formed Camping and Tramping Club. Every spare +moment the four seemed to have something to say to each other, as one or +the other thought of some new point to consider. + +Following the hasty formation of the organization, the girls had sent +letters to their friends and relatives asking if it would be convenient +to entertain them. Some favorable answers had been received, others were +delayed. There were no refusals. + +"As soon as we know on whom we can depend, we can make up a schedule--'an +itinerary'"--Betty had said. "We will know just where we will stop each +night, so the folks can send us word, if they have to," she added. + +"Why should they have to, unless something happens?" asked Amy. + +"Oh, that five hundred dollar bill might be claimed," said Betty. "We'd +want to know about that." + +"And you haven't heard a word yet?" asked Grace. + +"Not a word! I telephoned to the paper, and they said no replies had come +in there. If that young man is depending on this money to make his +fortune, I'm afraid he'll be broken instead of made, to use his own +expression," and Betty sighed. + +The warning bell had broken in on their talk, as it had on that of the +rival girls. And then began the school day. + +It was warm--very warm for that time of year, being early May, and as the +members of the new Camping and Tramping Club looked from the open +windows, out to where Spring was already forcing into bloom the flowers, +and urging the trees to greater activity, as regards the tender green +leaves, there came an almost overpowering desire to toss aside books and +papers, and get out where the smell of the brown earth mingled with the +perfume of growing vegetation. + +The teachers, doubtless, found it difficult also, for the call of nature +manifested itself to them, and the girls and boys, rather selfishly, did +not make it as easy as they might. + +The noon recess again brought the four friends together, and Betty +showed a tentative program she had surreptitiously scribbled during a +study period. + +It contained the names of towns, with the available relatives of the +girls set down opposite each one, and a rough calculation of the time +required to walk from one place to the other. + +"It seems as if we ought to start at once," exclaimed Mollie. "Aren't you +just dying to go, Amy?" + +"I am--yes." There was hesitation in the tones. + +"Why, what is the matter?" asked Grace, quickly. "Are you ill, Amy?" for +the girl looked pale, and there were dark circles under her eyes. + +"No, I'm all right. But papa and mamma don't seem to want me to go--at +least they say they rather I would not just at present." + +"The idea!" + +"After we have it almost all arranged!" + +"Why not?" + +These comments and the question were fairly shot at Amy. + +"I--I don't know," she faltered. "At first they did not seem to mind--but +last night--oh, I dare say it will, be all right, girls. Don't mind me," +and Amy tried to smile, though it could easily be seen that it cost her +an effort. + +She did not want to tell that she had overheard her parents discussing +something the night before that troubled her--a topic that had been +hushed when she unexpectedly came into the room. And that it had to do +with the proposed little trip Amy was sure. Yet Mr. and Mrs. Stonington +had at first shown much interest in it, and had written to various +relatives asking them to entertain the girls. + +"Stuck up things!" murmured Alice Jallow, toward the close of the noon +recess, when the four chums had kept to one corner of the school court, +eating their lunches, and never joining in the activities, or talk, of +the other pupils. + +"I wonder what they can be planning?" murmured Alice. "If they're +getting up a new society, we'll do the same, and we won't ask them to +join." + +"Indeed we won't," agreed her chum. "That Betty Nelson thinks she can +run the school. I'll show her that she can't!" + +"And if they knew what I know about Amy Stonington I don't believe they'd +be so thick with her." + +"What do you mean?" + +"It's a secret." + +"Oh, tell me, Alice," pleaded Kittie. "You know I won't ever +tell--honest!" + +"Promise?" + +"Promise!" + +"Well then--oh, come over here. There's that horrid Sadie Jones trying to +hear what we're saying," and the two girls, arm in arm, strolled off to a +distant part of the court. + +The afternoon session wore on. The day grew warmer, the sky became +overcast, and there was the dull muttering of distant thunder. There +seemed a tension in the air--as if something was going to snap. Doubtless +you have often felt it--a sensation as though pins and needles were +pricking you all over. As though you wanted to scream--to cry +out--against an uncertain sensation that gripped you. + +In the various classrooms the droning voices were heard--of the +pupils in recitations, or of the teachers as they patiently explained +some point. + +The thunder rumbled nearer and nearer. Now and then a vivid flash of +lightning split the sombre clouds. At such times the nervous girls would +jump in their seats, and there would follow hysterical, though quickly +subdued, bursts of laughter from their more stolid mates, or the boys. + +The four who were to go on the walking tour together were in the Latin +class. Amy was standing up, translating--or trying to translate--a +passage from Caesar. She halted and stammered, though usually she got +perfect marks in this study. + +"Take it a bit slower, Miss Stonington," suggested Miss Greene, the +teacher. "That is very good. You should know that word--_nequaquam_--take +your time." + +"_Nequaquam"_ said Amy faintly, "not ever--" + +There was a titter from Alice Jallow, in which Kittie Rossmore joined. +Poor Amy looked distressed. Tears came into her eyes. + +There shot across the black heavens a vivid flash of lightning, and a +bursting crash so promptly came echoing that nearly every one of the +girls started from her desk, and a number screamed, while even the boys +were startled. + +Then, with a low moan, Amy swayed, and fell backward into the arms of +Betty. + +"She's fainted!" exclaimed Miss Greene. "Girls, keep quiet! Some one get +me a glass of water!" + +There was a stir among the boys who occupied one side of the big room, +and Frank Haley hastened out. + + + + +CHAPTER IV + +A TAUNT + + +With a great crash, a deluge of rain, a wind that swept the spray across +the school room, and the rumbling of thunder, punctuated by vivid, +hissing flashes of lightning, the storm broke. At once the tension--that +of nature as well as that of the nerves of the girls--was relieved. A +sound, like a great sigh, was heard in the room. There were one or two +faint cries, some laughter, and the members of the class were themselves +again. The balance had been restored. + +"She will be all right presently," said Miss Greene, quietly, as she +helped place Amy on a couch in her own private room. "Close some of the +windows, girls, the rain is coming in." + +Her firm and cheering words, and her calm manner, aided in the work of +restoration that had begun when the nerve-tension was lessened. The girls +were themselves again, most of them going quietly to their seats, while +Betty and Grace helped Miss Greene restore Amy to consciousness. They +had loosed her collar, and some ammonia had been procured from the +physics laboratory by Frank, who also brought water. + +"I can't imagine what made her faint," whispered Grace. "She never did +such a thing before." + +"Probably it was the storm," said the teacher. "I have often noticed that +just before a severe electrical disturbance I felt 'like flying to +pieces,' to put it crudely. Then when the rain came I would get calm +again. I remarked that Amy did not seem quite herself while reciting, and +perhaps I should have excused her, but I hoped, by letting her fix her +attention on the lesson, that the little spell might pass over." + +"It was that horrid Alice Jallow giggling at her!" declared Mollie, who +had come softly into the room. "I could--" she clenched her hands, and +her dark eyes gleamed. + +"Mollie," said Betty softly, and the threatened fit of anger passed over. + +"She will come to in a moment," remarked Miss Greene, as she saw Amy's +eyelids fluttering. "It was just a nervous strain. I have seen it +happen before." + +"Not with Amy," declared Grace, positively. + +"No; but in other girls." + +"I do hope Amy isn't going to be ill," said Betty. "We want her to come +on the walk with us." + +"I have heard of your little club," said the teacher, with a smile. "The +idea is a very good one; I hope you have a pleasant time. I think it will +do all of you good. I wish more of my girls would take up systematic +walking. We would have better recitations, I think." + +"Poor Amy!" murmured Grace. "I wonder what could have caused it?" and she +looked down at her pale, little chum. + +"It was because Alice laughed at her!" declared Mollie, half fiercely. + +"I think not," spoke Betty, softly. "Amy has not been quite herself of +late. She--" + +But she was not destined to finish that sentence, for the girl under +discussion opened her eyes, and struggled to sit up. + +"You're all right," said Miss Greene, softly. "Lie still, my dear." + +"Where am I--what happened? Oh, I remember. Did I faint?" and she asked +the question in some alarm. + +"You did, my dear; but there was no harm in that," spoke Miss Greene +softly, and she laughed in a low voice. + +"I--I never did such a thing before. What made me?" + +"The storm, Amy. It was the electrical disturbance, I think. My! how +it rains!" + +A perfect deluge was descending, but it had brought a calm to the waiting +earth, and calm to tired girlish nerves as well. Amy sighed, and then sat +up. The color came back into her pale face. + +"I am all right now," she said, more firmly, and was soon able to walk. + +"Stay here a little longer," urged Miss Greene, "Betty, Mollie and Grace +may remain with you. I will go out to the other pupils. Some of them may +be alarmed." + +A crash of thunder almost smothered her words, and the girls started +nervously. The three glanced apprehensively at Amy, but she smiled +bravely and said: + +"Don't worry about me. I'm all right. It was silly of me to go off +that way." + +The storm raged and tore about the school, and gradually spent its fury. +Miss Greene gave up the attempt to have a Latin recitation, and the class +was permitted to engage in general conversation. + +It was the final period of the day, and soon school was over. Most of the +girls remained, however, for few had brought rain coats or umbrellas, +there being no hint that morning of the deluge that was to come. Then +the rain gradually slackened, and the pupils departed. + +"Don't come to school to-morrow, if you don't feel well," urged Miss +Greene, as Amy and her chums left. + +"Oh, I'll be all right," she brightly answered. + +"I wish we were going to start on our tramp to-morrow!" exclaimed Betty +as they walked along the damp country road toward their homes, the sweet +smell of the newly-watered earth mingling with the scent of grass and +flowers. "The country is just lovely now." + +"It will still be as lovely next month," said Mollie. "Only two weeks +more of school, and then we will be on our way." + +"Do you feel all right, Amy?" asked Grace. "Have a--" + +"No, she won't have a _chocolate_, if that's what you're going to say!" +spoke Mollie, quickly. "Do you want to make her get worse?" + +"I wasn't going to say chocolate--so there!" snapped the usually +gentle-mannered Grace. "Don't be so quick, Billy." + +"Oh, I beg your pardon," and the French girl showed her contrition. "I +forgot you can think of something beside candy." + +"I was going to ask her if she wanted my smelling salts," Grace went on, +and Amy accepted the little bottle. + +There was much talk that afternoon of the coming trip. Some further +letters had been received from relatives who would welcome the girls at +the various stopping places. + +"This about completes our schedule," remarked Betty, as she noted down, +on a map she had drawn, the names of some persons and places. "Everything +is coming on fine, girls." + +"Isn't it nice!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"You're sure to come; aren't you, Amy?" asked Grace. + +"Yes, of course--that is--" A shadow seemed to pass over her face, and +then her pale cheeks became pink. "Oh, I guess you can count on me," she +finally declared. "I was just thinking--oh, it doesn't matter. Let's see +now, Betty, how many stopping places do you count on?" + +"About eight. Of course there may be more, and we may have to stay in one +place longer than I figure on, and we might skip some places altogether." + +"What about the camp?" asked Mollie. + +"I am arranging for that," spoke Grace. "Papa's half-brother lives in +Cameron. He and his wife maintain a sort of camp there for those who +love the woods and outdoors. Mamma has written, and arrangements will be +made for us to have a cabin or bungalow there for a few days." + +"Won't it be glorious!" cried Mollie, taking Amy in a waltzing hold and +whirling about the room with her, while she hummed a dreamy song. + +They were at Betty's house discussing their coming trip, and it was +nearly supper time when they dispersed. Grace insisted on accompanying +Amy part of the way home. + +"I don't want you to faint again and be all by yourself," she said. + +"Silly! I shall do nothing of the sort," declared Amy, but Grace +had her way. + +It was the next afternoon, when Betty and Grace were having a game of +tennis on the court that had been laid out back of the High School, that +Alice Jallow and Kittie Rossmore came past, arm in arm. They paused for a +moment to watch the game, and during a lull Alice remarked: + +"When does the tramping club start?" + +"As soon as school closes," replied Betty, for the term ended unusually +early that year. + +"Have you the party all made up?" inquired Kittie, and it was evident +that she had a reason for asking. + +"Pretty much," answered Betty, wondering what was to follow. "It's your +serve," she added to Grace. + +"Alice and I are very fond of walking," proceeded Kittie. "We thought if +the Camping and Tramping Club was to be a general one--that is, if you +wanted more members--we'd like to join." + +Betty caught her breath. It was a hard answer to give. + +"I'm awfully sorry," she said softly, coming over to where Alice and +Kittie stood. "If we had known before we might have arranged it. But our +membership is limited to four now." + +"You four, I presume," and there was almost a sneer in the voice of Alice +as she looked at the four chums. + +"Yes, it so happens. You see we are going to stop each night at the +houses of friends or relatives, and of course--" + +"I see--the accommodations are limited; are they?" and again that sneer +was manifest. + +"Yes, they are, I'm sorry to say," spoke Betty. "But why don't you girls +form another club? You could easily do that, and we could be together all +day, if not at night. Why don't you?" she asked, brightly. + +"We might," said Alice, cooly. "Come on, Kittie," she added. "I guess +we're not wanted here." + +"The idea!" cried Mollie. "Betty, I've a good notion to--" + +"Hush!" cautioned Betty, placing a hand on the arm of her impetuous chum. +"Don't say anything. It will only make matters worse. They are trying to +provoke us." + +Kittie and Alice walked off, their arms about each other's waist, +laughing heartily at something in which they seemed to find a good joke. + +"Let us finish the game," suggested Betty quietly to Grace, and they did. + +"I don't see how they could be so bold as to ask us," murmured Mollie. + +It was one afternoon, a few days before the close of school for the term, +which also would mark the start of the outdoor girls on their tramping +tour that, as she was packing her books to leave her desk for the day, +Betty saw a note fall out of her Latin grammar. + +"That's strange," she murmured, half aloud, "I wonder who could have put +that there? Who is it from, I wonder?" + +"As if you didn't know!" laughed Amy, coming up behind her friend. They +were alone in the classroom for the moment. + +"Why, what do you mean?" asked Betty blushing slightly. + +"I think I saw Will give Grace a note this noon," went on Amy. "Ah, +secrets! And doesn't it happen that Will and Allen Washburn are quite +chummy? If the initials A.W. aren't on that note, Betty--" + +"Of course they're not! The idea! Allen Washburn needn't think--" + +"Oh, I know he needn't send notes to you this way, but perhaps Will +forgot to deliver it, and Grace just slipped it into your book, intending +to tell you of it. Ah, Betty!" + +"Silly. It isn't that at all. See, I'll let you read the note." + +Hastily Betty unfolded it. There was but a single unsigned sheet of +paper, and scrawled on it were these words: + +"Before you go camping and tramping ask Amy Stonington who her father and +mother are." + + + + +CHAPTER V + +AMY'S MYSTERY + + +Betty was quick to comprehend the cruel words, and in an instant she had +crumpled the anonymous scrawl in her hand. But she was the fraction of a +second too late. Amy had read it. + +Betty heard the sound of Amy's sigh, and then the catch in her breath. +She turned quickly. + +"Amy!" cried Betty. "Did you see it? Oh, my dear! The meanness of it! The +awful meanness! Oh, Amy, my dear!" and she put her arms around her +trembling companion. "Oh, if I only knew who sent it!" + +"I--I can guess!" faltered Amy. + +"Who?" + +"Alice Jallow." + +"The--the cat!" + +Betty simply could not help saying it. + +"Let--let me see it again," whispered Amy. "I didn't mean to read your +note, Betty, but I saw it before I realized it." + +"My note? It isn't mine! I wouldn't own to receiving such a scrawl! Oh, +Amy, I'm so sorry!" + +"Never mind, Betty. I--I've been expecting it." + +"You have?" + +"Yes. That--that is what has been bothering me of late. You may have +noticed--" + +"I've noticed that you haven't quite been yourself, Amy, my dear, but I +never suspected--and you think Alice sent this?" + +"I'm almost sure of it. It has to be known sooner or later. But don't say +anything to Alice." + +"Why not? The idea! She ought to be exposed--and punished. I'll go to--" + +"No, please don't, Betty. It--it is true, and--and there is no use +giving her the satisfaction of knowing that she has--has hurt me," +faltered Amy. + +"Oh, the meanness of it!" murmured Betty. "But, Amy dear, I don't +understand. This doesn't at all look like the writing of Alice Jallow." + +"I know; she has disguised her scribbling, that's all. But it doesn't +matter. I'll never charge her with it." + +"Why not?" + +"I haven't the heart. Oh, Betty, I'm afraid it's only too true! I really +don't know who my father and mother are!" + +"Amy!" + +"No, I don't. I've suspected a mystery a long while, and now I am sure I +am mixed up in one." + +"Amy Stonington!" cried Betty. "Do you mean to tell me--look here, let's +get to some quiet place. Some one will be coming in here. We can go to +Miss Greene's room. She has gone for the day. But perhaps you don't want +to tell me, Amy." + +"Oh, yes I do. I want to tell all you girls. And then maybe--" + +"Amy Stonington!" exclaimed Betty. "If you're going to hint--and I see +that you are--that we'd pay any attention to this note, or let it make +any difference between us--even if it's true--which I don't +believe--let's see--what do I want to say--I'm all confused. Oh, I know. +I mean that it shan't make a particle of difference to us--if you never +had a father or mother--" + +"Oh, of course I had--some time," and Amy smiled through a mist of tears. +"Only there's a mystery about them--what became of them." + +"Why I thought--all of us thought--that Mr. and Mrs. Stonington were your +parents," said the wondering Betty. + +"So did I, until lately. Then I began to notice that papa and mamma--as I +thought them--were frequently consulting together. They always stopped +talking when I came near, but I supposed it might be about some plans +they had for sending me away to be educated in music. So I pretended not +to notice. Though I did not want to go away from dear Deepdale. + +"Their queer consultations increased, and they looked at me so strangely +that finally I went to mamma--no, my aunt, as I must call her, and--" + +"Your aunt!" exclaimed Betty. + +"Yes, that is what Mrs. Stonington is to me; or, rather she was poor dear +mamma's aunt. I am going to call her aunt, however, and Mr. Stonington +uncle. They wish it." + +"Oh, then they have told you?" + +"Yes. It was the night before the day that I fainted in school. It was +thinking of that, I guess, that unnerved me." + +"Why, Amy! A mystery about you?" + +"Yes, and one I fear will never be found out. I'll tell you about it." + +"Not unless you'd rather, dear," and Betty put her arms about her chum as +they sat on the worn sofa in Miss Greene's retiring room. + +"I had much rather. I want you and Grace and Mollie to know. Maybe--maybe +you can help me," she finished with a bright smile. + +"You see it was this way. Of course I don't remember anything about it. +All my recollections are centered in Deepdale, and about Mr. and Mrs. +Stonington. It is the only home I have ever really known, though I have a +dim recollection of having, as a child, been in some other place. But +that is like a dream. + +"But it seems that when I was a very little girl both my parents lived +in a distant city. Then one day there was a terrible storm, the river +rose, and there was a flood. This I was told by my uncle and aunt, as I +am going to call them. Who my father and mother were I never knew, +except from what I have heard, but it seems that Mrs. Stonington was +mamma's aunt. + +"In the flood our house was washed away, but I, then a small baby, was +found floating on a sort of raft tied to a mattress on a bed. I was taken +to a farm house, and found pinned to my dress was an envelope." + +"Just an envelope?" + +"Yes. There might have been a letter in it, but if there was it had been +washed out in the flood and rain. But the envelope was addressed to Mrs. +Stonington here, and she was telegraphed to. Her husband hurried on, for +he knew of the flood and feared for his wife's relatives who lived in +that town. He took me back with him, and I have lived with Uncle John +and Aunt Sarah ever since." + +"But your father and mother, Amy?" + +"No one ever knew what became of them. They--they were never found, +though a careful search was made. I was the only one left." + +"And was there nothing to tell of your past life?" + +"There wasn't much to tell, you see--I was so small. There was a sort +of diary in the bed with me, but it only gave details of my baby +days--probably it was written by my mother--for the handwriting is +that of a woman. Aunt Sarah gave it to me the other day. I shall +always treasure it." + +"And is that all?" + +"Well, there was a mention of something--in a vague sort of way--that I +was to inherit when I grew up. Whether it was land or money no one can +tell. The reference is so veiled. Even Uncle John, and he is a stock and +bond broker, you know, says he is puzzled. He has had a search made in +Rockford--that's where the flood was--but it came to nothing. And so +that is all I know of my past." + +"But your aunt must know something of your mother if they were +relatives." + +"Very little. They saw each other hardly at all, and not for some years +before my mother's marriage, Aunt Sarah says. How my parents came to pin +the Stoningtons' address on my baby dress they can only guess. And I'll +never know. Probably they did it before they were--were drowned." + +"Then your name isn't Stonington after all, Amy?" + +"Oh, yet it is. The queer part of it is that my mother is said to have +married a man of the same name as Uncle John, but no relative, as far as +we can learn. So I'm Amy Stonington just the same. My uncle and aunt +formally adopted me after they found that there was no hope of locating +my parents. And so I've lived in ignorance of the mystery about me until +just the other day." + +"And then they told you?" + +"Yes. It was discussing the advisability of this that caused Uncle John +and Aunt Sarah to confer so often. Then they decided that I was getting +old enough to be told. They said they would rather it would come to me +from themselves than from strangers." + +"Oh, then others know of it?" + +"Yes, a few persons in town, but they were good enough to keep it quiet +for my sake. Among them, so Uncle John told me, were Alice Jallow's +people. That is why I think she wrote the note. She must have found out +about my secret in some way, and thought to taunt me with it." + +"The mean creature!" + +"Oh, I don't mind. I was only afraid you girls--" + +"Amy Stonington! If you even hint at such a thing again we'll never +forgive you! As if we cared! Why, I think it's perfectly wonderful to +have such a romance about you. I know the other girls will be crazy about +it. Of course, it's sad, too, dear. But maybe some day, you'll find out +that your father and mother aren't--aren't gone--at all, and you'll have +them again." + +"That's what I've been hoping since I knew. But there is very little +chance, after all these years. Uncle John told me not to hope. You see, +they must have been drowned. The worst is that I can't recall them. They +never corresponded with aunt and uncle in years. I don't know what sort +of a home I had--or--or whether I had brothers or sisters." + +"No, I suppose there isn't much chance of your parents having escaped the +flood. And yet I've read--in books--" + +"Oh, yes--in books. But this is real life, Betty. And now, dear, I've +told you all I know. As I said, it shocked me when I first heard it, but +I'm pretty well over it now. Only it did startle me when I read that note +over your shoulder." + +"I should think it would. When I see Alice--" + +"Please don't say anything to her!" pleaded Amy. "Please don't! Let her +see that--that it hasn't made a bit of difference." + +"I will. A difference? Why, we'll love you all the more Amy,--if that's +possible." + +"That's good of you. Now shall we--" + +"Hark, some one is coming!" exclaimed Betty, tiptoeing to the door, while +Amy shrank back on the sofa. + + + + +CHAPTER VI + +THE LEAKY BOAT + + +There was a moment of silence, and then the relieved voice of Betty was +heard to say: + +"Oh, it's Grace. I'm so glad. I thought--" + +"What are you doing here?" asked the newcomer. It was evident from her +rather mumbled words--which mumbling I have been unable to reproduce in +cold type--that Grace was eating candy. + +"Have some chocolate?" she went on, holding out a bag. + +"Oh, Grace! Chocolate at such a time as this!" rebuked Betty, her mind +filled with the story she had just heard. + +"Why, what's the matter with the time?" + +"Amy is in there," and she motioned to the private room. + +"Gracious! Has she fainted again?" + +"No; where is Mollie?" + +"Coming. There she is. We were looking everywhere for you. Alice +Jallow said--" + +"The horrid thing!" burst out Betty. "Why, whatever can have happened? +You look quite tragic!" + +"I am. Come in here!" + +Grace advanced, and not even the prospect of hearing what she guessed was +going to be some sort of a strange secret could stop her from taking +another helping of candy. Betty saw and murmured: + +"You are hopeless." + +"What's up?" asked Mollie, gliding into the room, her dark hair straying +rather rebelliously from beneath her hat. + +"Come in," invited Betty, and soon the four were sitting together, while +in a sort of dialogue Betty and Amy told the pathetic little story. + +"And that's how it stands," finished Betty. "I wanted to do something--or +say something--to make Alice Jallow feel--" + +"She should be punished--we should all cut her--she ought to be put out +of school!" burst out the impulsive Mollie. "I shall go to Miss Greene--" + +"You'll do nothing of the sort, Billy!" exclaimed Betty, as she detained +the girl, who had already started from the room. "Amy doesn't wish it. +Besides, I think Alice will be sorry enough later for what she has done." + +"I had rather you wouldn't go to her," spoke Amy, quietly. + +"Oh, well, of course--" began Mollie. "I do wish I had better control of +myself," she added, rather sadly. "I start to do such rash things--" + +"Indeed you do, my dear," spoke Grace. "But we know you don't mean it. +Here--help yourself," and she extended the candy bag. + +"I couldn't--I don't feel like it. I--I feel all choked up in here!" +exclaimed Mollie, placing her hand on her firm, white throat. "I--I want +to do something to--to that--cat!" Her eyes filled with tears. + +"That's what I called her!" said Betty. "But we mustn't let her know that +she has annoyed us. Sometimes I feel real sorry for Alice. She seems +rather lonesome." + +"I suppose the story will be all over school soon," went on Grace. + +"I shan't mind," spoke Amy, softly. + +"Well, I'm glad you don't, my dear," remarked Betty. "It's more romantic +than anything else--after you get over the sad part of it." + +"And I am trying to do that," said Amy, bravely. + +Together the four girls came out of the school. Most of the other pupils +had gone home, for vacation days were near, and study hours were +shortened on account of examinations. + +"There she is now," said Mollie, as they turned a corner. + +"Who?" questioned Betty. + +"That Jallow girl and her familiar--Kittie. Her name is too good for +her." + +"Don't notice her," suggested Betty, "and don't, for goodness sake, speak +to them. We don't want a scene. Perhaps Alice only did it +impulsively--and did not really mean it." + +If the reputed author of the anonymous letter, and her close friend, +hoped for any demonstration on the part of those they had hoped to wound, +they were disappointed. + +In calm unconsciousness of the twain, the quartette passed on, +talking gaily--though it was a bit forced--of their coming trip. And +I must do Alice the justice to say that later she was truly sorry for +what she had done. + +"There's Will!" exclaimed Grace, as she caught sight of her brother. "And +Frank Haley is with him. Here, girls, take what's left of these +chocolates, or Will won't leave one." + +"Does he know you have them?" asked Amy, accepting a few. + +"Yes, he saw me buying them. Oh, bother! There comes that Percy +Falconer, and he has a new suit. Vanity of vanities!" + +The course of Will and his chum, as well as that of the "faultless +dresser," as he hoped he appeared, brought them toward the girls. There +was no escape, and the little throng walked onward. Betty kept close to +Amy, for she knew just how she must feel after the disclosure. + +"Ah, good afternoon, ladies!" greeted Percy. "Wonderful weather we're +having. My word!" + +"Beastly beautiful!" mocked the irrepressible Mollie. "Horribly lovely, +isn't it, what?" + +"Oh, I say now," began Percy. "I--really--" + +"Where'd you get the clothes?" broke in Will. + +"They're a London importation." + +"London importation, my eye!" exclaimed Frank. "Why, Cohen's Emporium, on +Main street, has the same thing in the window marked thirteen +ninety-eight--regular fourteen dollars." + +"Oh, I say now! Quit your spoofing!" + +"Give us some candy, Sis!" begged Will. "Come on, now, I know +you've got it!" + +"I had it, we have it--they had it--thou hast it--not!" quoted Grace, +with a laugh. "Nothing doing this time, little brother of mine." + +"And you ate all those chocolates?" This in semi-horrified tones. + +"We--not I," corrected his sister. + +Percy Falconer, after vainly trying to get in place to walk beside Betty, +who frustrated him by keeping Amy close to her, drifted off to find new +sartorial worlds to conquer. + +The others walked on, the boys joining in the talk and laughter. Amy +seemed to have recovered her spirits, and the girls made no reference to +the little tragedy which they knew would soon become public property. + +"So you are really determined to go off on that walking trip?" asked +Will, who had floated back to join Mollie. + +"We certainly are. Why, don't you think we can do it?" + +"Perhaps. But I think you'll run at the sight of the first tramp--or cow; +and as for a storm--good night!" + +"Thank you--for nothing!" and Mollie's dark eyes had little of fun in +them as they looked into those of Will Ford. + +Eventually Will and Frank left them, and the girls continued on until +they reached Mollie's house. + +"Come in," she invited. "I know they baked to-day, and we'll have a cup +of tea and some cake. It will refresh us." + +"I ought to be going--home," said Amy, with a little hesitating pause at +the word "home." + +"Oh, do come in!" begged the French girl. + +As they entered the yard the twins, hand in hand and solemn-eyed, came +down the walk to meet them. + +"Oh, the dears!" gushed Grace. + +"Isn't she too sweet," whispered Betty, as she caught up Dodo. + +"And in need of soap and water, as usual," commented Mollie, drily. "But +Nanette can do nothing with them. They are clean one minute--_voila_! +like little Arabs the next! What would you have?" and she threw herself +into a tragic gesture, in imitation of the imported French maid, at which +her chums laughed. + +"Have you a kiss for me, Paul?" demanded Grace, of the little fellow, +when she had replaced his sister on the walk. + +"Dot any tandy?" came the diplomatic inquiry. + +"Listen to the mercenary little wretch!" cried his older sister. "Paul, +_ma cherie_, where are your manners?" + +"Has oo dot any tandy?" came in inflexible accents. + +"I might find--just a morsel--if you'd kiss me first," stipulated Grace. + +"Tandy fust," was the imperturbable retort. "I like tandy--Dodo like +tandy--we bofe like tandy!" + +"The sum total of childish happiness!" laughed Betty "Do, Grace, if you +have any left, relieve this suspense." + +Some candy was forthcoming, and then, with more of it spread on +their faces than had entered their chubby mouths, the twins toddled +off content. + +"Girls, what do you say to a little row on the river?" asked Mollie, when +they had been refreshed by cakes and tea. "My boat will hold us all, and +we can float down and talk of our coming trip." + +"Float down--and--_row_ back," remarked Grace, with emphasis. + +"The exercise will do you good. We must get in--training, I believe the +proper word is--in training for our hike." + +"Hike?" queried Betty. + +"Suffragist lingo for walk," explained Mollie. "Come on." + +The Argono river ran but a short distance from Mollie's home, and soon +the four girls were in an old-fashioned, but safely constructed, barge, +half drifting and half rowing down the picturesque stream. + +The afternoon sun was waning behind a bank of clouds, screened from the +girls by a fringe of trees. And as they floated on they talked at +intervals of Amy's secret, and of the coming fun they expected to have. + +"Let's get farther out in the middle," suggested Betty, when they came to +a wide part of the river. "It's more pleasant there, and the air is +fresher. It is very warm." + +"Yes, I think we will have another storm," agreed Grace. "If it rains now +it isn't so likely to when we start." + +She was pulling on one pair of oars and Mollie on a second, the others +relieving them occasionally. Soon the boat was in the middle of the +stream. They had gone on for perhaps half a mile, when Betty, who was +sitting comfortably in the stern, toying with the rudder ropes, uttered +an exclamation. + +"Oh!" she cried. "My feet are wet! Mollie, the boat is leaking!" + +"Leaking?" + +"Yes! See, the water is fairly pouring in!" + +Mollie made a hasty examination under the bottom boards of her craft. + +"Girls!" she cried, in tragic tones, "there's a hole in the boat!" + +"Don't say that!" begged Amy, standing up. + +"Sit down!" sternly ordered Betty. "There is no danger! Sit down or +you'll fall overboard!" + +"Oh, but see the water!" cried the nervous Amy. "It is coming in faster!" + +And indeed it was. + +"It is those twins!" declared Mollie. "I told them not to get in my boat, +but they must have, and they've loosened the drain plug so that it came +out a moment ago. Quick! See if you can find it!" + +There was a frightened search for the plug that fitted in a hole in the +bottom of the boat, through which aperture the water could be drained out +when the craft was on shore. + +"It isn't here!" cried Grace. "Oh, Mollie!" + +"Keep quiet! It must be here!" insisted the owner of the boat. "It +couldn't get out. Look for it! Find it! Or, if you can't, we'll stuff a +handkerchief in the hole!" + +Meanwhile the water continued to pour in through the bottom of the boat, +setting the boards afloat, and thoroughly wetting the skirts of the +girls. And they were now in the centre of the widest part of the river. + + + + +CHAPTER VII + +TO THE RESCUE + + +Rapidly the water rose in the boat. It had now set the bottom boards +more fully afloat, and the girls in vain tried to raise their feet out +of the incoming flood. They stared at the swirling water, fascinated for +the moment. + +"Girls, we simply must do something!" cried Betty, usually the one to +take the initiative. + +"Row ashore! Row ashore!" begged Amy. "It's so deep out here." + +"It isn't much shallower near shore," remarked Mollie. "What can have +become of that plug?" and, pulling in her oars she began feeling about in +the bottom of the boat, moving her hand around under the water. + +"Maybe the twins took it to make a cat's cradle with," suggested Grace. + +"No, it couldn't have been out when we started or the water would have +come in at once," said Mollie. "It has come out only a few minutes ago. +We simply must find it!" + +"Row ashore--row ashore!" insisted Amy. + +Betty had swung the boat's head around, but the craft was now badly +water-laden, and did not move quickly. The current of the river was +carrying them down the stream. + +"Oh, girls!" cried Amy, her voice trembling somewhat, "it's +getting deeper!" + +"It certainly isn't stopping from coming in," murmured Mollie. "Where +_is_ that plug!" + +Desperately she continued to feel about, while the other girls cast +anxious eyes toward the shore, that now seemed so far away. + +"And there's not another boat in sight!" exclaimed Betty. "We must call +for help!"' + +"I have it! I have the plug!" suddenly cried Mollie, pulling on +something. + +"Ouch! That's my foot--my toe!" cried Grace. "Let go!" + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Betty, in disappointed tones. + +"I thought I had it!" said Mollie. "Wait until I catch those twins!" + +"We--we never may see them again," faltered Amy, whose recent rather +tragic experience; had gotten on her nerves. + +"Stop that!" commanded Betty, a bit sharply. + +"Oh, how fast the water is coming in!" moaned Grace. "I'm going to +faint--I know I'm going to faint!" + +"Don't you dare!" cried Mollie, quickly. "If you do I'll never speak to +you again! There! Take that!" She reached over on the seat beside Grace, +caught up a chocolate from a bag and thrust the confection into the tall +girl's mouth. "That will keep you from saying such silly things, and also +from fainting," remarked Mollie, practically. "Now, girls, since we can't +find that plug, we've got to do the next best thing." + +"If we could only whittle one!" said Betty. + +"If we had a knife we might cut a piece off one of the oars, or the side +of the boat," went on Mollie, "but as we haven't--we can't. We must +arrange to take knives with us on our tour, though!" + +"It's no time to talk about tours now!" moaned Amy. "We--we'll never +get ashore." + +"Nonsense!" cried Betty. "We've got to. If we can't find a plug, or make +one, we'll have to stuff something in the hole. Girls, your +handkerchiefs!" She seemed to have a sudden inspiration. + +She began rolling hers into a sort of cylindrical shape as she spoke. The +other girls saw her idea, and passed over their tiny squares of linen, +which Betty rolled with her own. + +"That's one of my best ones," sighed Grace, as she parted with hers. "I +got it on my birthday." + +"It's in a good cause--never mind," remarked Betty, firmly. "And you'll +get it back, you know--when we get ashore." + +"If we ever get ashore, you mean," spoke Amy. + +"Stop it!" commanded the Little Captain, sharply. "Of course we'll get +ashore. Now, Billy, where is that hole?" + +"Wherever the water seems to be coming in fastest," replied the owner of +the boat. "Oh, be quick, Betty. We can't float much longer!" + +"Well, we can swim," coolly replied Betty, as she began feeling about for +the hole in the bottom of the boat. Meanwhile she looked closely at the +surface of the water in the craft, which had now risen until it was close +to the under side of the seats. The girls were quite wet. The boat was +harder than ever to row. + +"That plug ought to be floating somewhere hereabouts," she murmured. + +"It's probably caught in a crack, or under one of the seats," said +Mollie. "Hurry up, Betty. The hole is right near where you were feeling +that time." + +"Yes, you can see the water bubbling up," added Amy. "Oh, do hurry, or +we'll sink!" + +"Well, then we can swim," said Betty, coolly. "It's a good thing we all +know how." + +"But--in our clothes!" protested Amy. + +"Oh, I guess we can do it if we try," went on Betty. "There, I have the +handkerchiefs in the hole!" she exclaimed, as she forced the wadded-up +linens into the aperture. "Now let's row harder!" + +"Oh, but I'm soaked!" sighed Grace. Indeed, they were all in no very +comfortable plight. + +They succeeded in heading the boat for shore, but they had only rowed a +short distance when Grace cried: + +"The water is still coming in!" + +There was no doubt about it. They all stared at the place where, under +water, Betty had thrust in the handkerchiefs. There was a string of +small bubbles, showing that the river water was still finding its way +into the boat. + +"Help! Help! Help!" suddenly called Amy. + +"Why--what's the matter?" demanded Betty, in alarm. + +"Oh, there's someone on shore, near a boat! It's a man--or a boy! He +must come out and rescue us!" said Amy, and there was a trace of tears +in her voice. + +"What's--the--matter?" came the hail from the one on shore. + +"We're--sinking!" called Betty, making a megaphone of her hands. "Come +out and save us!" + +"All right!" and then the following words were lost as the wind carried +them aside. The youth on shore--the girls could now see that he was a +youth--began shoving out a boat. He did not seem very adept in the +knowledge of rowing, and took quite a little time to get under way. + +"Oh, it's that Percy Falconer!" cried Betty. "He'll never get to us! +Girls, I guess we'll have to swim for it, after all!" + +"Look--there comes someone else!" suddenly cried Amy. "Oh, Grace, it's +your brother Will!" + +"Thank goodness for that," murmured Betty. "Now we have some chance. If +he can only make Percy listen to reason, and put back for him." + +"They seem to be having some argument," said Grace. "Oh, if that Percy +isn't the--" + +She did not finish, for they were all vitally interested in what was +taking place on shore. Will and Percy seemed to be having a difference +of opinion, and it appeared that Percy wanted to shine as a lone hero +in the rescue that must be performed quickly now, if it was to be +performed at all. + +"Come back with that boat!" Will could be heard to cry. "You don't know +how to row!" + +"I do so!" retorted Percy, the wind now carrying the words to the girls. + +"Come back here!" insisted Will, firmly, "or I'll--" + +"We'll be too late!" almost whined Percy. "They said they were sinking!" + +"Come back here!" fairly shouted Will. "I can row twice as fast as you, +and we'll make better time even if you do put back. Come on, or I'll jump +in and swim out to you, and chuck you overboard! Come back!" + +This argument proved effective. Possibly Percy was thinking what would +happen to his clothes if Will put his threat into execution. At any rate, +he swung the big boat around and a few moments later Will and he, the +former pulling vigorously on the oars, were on their way to rescue the +now thoroughly frightened girls. + + + + +CHAPTER VIII + +CLOSING DAYS + + +"Oh, Will, do hurry! My dress will be ruined!" + +Thus called Grace, as she frantically waved to her brother to hasten +his stroke. + +"Huh!" he panted. "Dress! A nice time to think--of dresses--when +they're--almost sinking!" + +"Are they--do you think they'll sink--and be drowned?" faltered Percy. + +"They may sink--they're not very likely to be drowned, though," grunted +Will, as he glanced over his shoulder to get his course straight. "They +can all swim. Pull on your left more. We'll pass 'em if you don't!" + +"Sink! I can't--I can't swim. Oh, dear!" cried Percy. + +"I know it. That's why I wanted you to come back and get me. You'd look +nice rescuing four girls all alone," said Will. "And you not able to swim +a stroke!" + +"I could do it," protested Percy, in self-defense. + +"Maybe," agreed Will. "Anyhow, it's lucky I happened to come along." + +"And it's a good thing I heard them hollering, and got the boat ready," +said the well-dressed lad, whose attire was now rather disheveled from +the haste of rowing. + +"That's right, Percy. I'll give you credit for that." + +"Oh, do hurry, boys!" cried Mollie. "We'll be under in another minute." + +"Coming!" cried Will. "Pull harder, Percy!" + +"I can't!" + +"You've got to!" That seemed to be all there was to it. Percy +pulled harder. + +Only just in time did Will and his companion reach the boat that was on +the verge of sinking. And only the skill and good sense of the girls, and +the knowledge that they could swim if they happened to fall into the +water, enabled the rescue to be made. For it was no easy task to +disembark from one craft to the other, especially with one nearly +submerged. But, while Will and Percy held the gunwale of their boat close +to that of the half-sunken one, the girls carefully crawled out and soon, +rather wet, considerably dismayed, but, withal, calmer than might have +been expected, the quartette was safe in the larger craft. + +"Oh, what a relief!" exclaimed Mollie, wringing some water from the +bottom of her skirt. + +"But look at my dress--and this is only the second time I've worn it!" +cried Grace, in distress. "It will be ruined." + +"All it needs is pressing," said Will, disdainfully. + +"What do you think this is--a pair of your trousers?" demanded his +sister, indignantly. "Pressing! It is ruined!" + +"We're all drenched," spoke Amy. "But it doesn't matter as long as +we're safe." + +"That's the way to look at it!" exclaimed Will. "How did it happen, +anyhow?" + +"Plug out of the bottom," explained Mollie, sententiously. "The twins!" + +"I see! Say, she's going down all right!" This Will remarked as the boat +from which the girls had climbed settled lower and lower in the water. + +"Oh, can't we save it?" cried Mollie. "My poor boat!" + +"I'll use one of the oars as a buoy," said Will. "I'll fasten it to the +painter. It will probably drift, but it will run into the eddy at the +Point, and we can get it to-morrow." + +Quickly he knotted the end of the painter about one of the oars. Then +taking the others into the craft that Percy had commandeered for the +occasion, the two boys rowed the girls back to the dock at the foot of +the slope that led to Mollie's house. + +"Come in, girls," she invited. "We can get dry, and Will can go for some +decent things for you three." + +"I'll go, too!" exclaimed Percy, eagerly. And for once the girls were +glad of his services. + +Up the walk went the four bedraggled ones. The twins saw them coming, +and, grave-eyed and solemn, came down to meet them. + +"Oo's wet," remarked Dodo. + +"Drefful wet," echoed Paul. + +"Yes, you naughty children!" scolded Mollie. "Why did you take the +plug--the wooden peg--out of sister's boat? Why did you do it?" + +"Dodo do it," remarked Paul, with the ancient privilege of the accusing +man. "Dodo want to make a doll." + +"Oo helped me," came from the little girl. "Oo helped!" + +"But us put it back," asserted Paul. + +"Yes, but it came out, and sister and her friends were nearly drowned. +You were naughty children--very naughty!" + +"Oo dot any tandy?" demanded Dodo, fixing her big eyes on Grace. + +"Candy! Good land sakes, no! Candy? The idea!" + +"We 'ikes tandy," added Paul. + +Then out came Mrs. Billette, startled at the sight of the dripping +figures. + +"Oh, did you fall in?" she asked, with a tragic gesture. + +"No, we fell out," said her daughter, laughing. "It's all right, momsey, +but we must get dry. Girls, give Will and Percy your orders." + +"Perhaps we had better telephone," suggested Betty. + +"Oh, yes!" chorused the others. + +Soon the desired garments had been specified, and the boys promised to +bring them in suitcases as soon as might be. Then the drenched ones made +themselves comfortable in Mollie's home, and, while waiting, talked over +the accident. + +That it had not resulted more seriously was due to a combination of +circumstances. + +"For once Percy was really useful," commented Amy, kindly. + +"Yes, but we'll never hear the last of it," declared Grace. "He'll +think we are his eternal debtors from now on. Oh, here comes Will! +I'm so glad." + +Soon clothed, and if not exactly in their right minds, at least on the +verge of getting there, the four came out to thank the boys, and there +was more talk of the occurrence. + +"I hope nothing like this happens when we set off on our tour," said Amy. +"It won't be so comfortable then to be drenched." + +"Don't speak of it, my dear," begged Betty. The little happening--not so +little, either, when one considers the possibility--had one good effect. +It had raised Amy out of the slough of despond into which she had +unwittingly strayed, or been thrust. + +I shall pass rapidly over the next few days, for nothing of moment +happened. I say nothing of moment, and yet there was, for the story of +the mystery concerning Amy's parentage became generally known, as might +have been expected. + +There were curious glances cast at Amy, and more than one indiscreet girl +tried to draw her out about the matter. This made it hard for Amy, and +she was so upset about it that Mrs. Stonington kept her home from school +for two days. + +Then, chiefly by reason of the sensible attitude of Betty, Grace and +Mollie, there came a more rational feeling, and it was agreed that the +affair was not so uncommon after all. + +The chums of Amy said nothing about the letter Alice had written. That +she had was very evident from her actions, for she was at first defiant, +and then contrite, and several times it was seen that she had been +crying. But she said nothing, perhaps being too proud to admit her fault. + +"We'll just treat her as if nothing had happened," said Betty, and this +advice was followed. Alice was not generally liked, but the three chums +were so pleasant to her, in contrast with the conduct of the other girls, +that it must have been as coals of fire on her head. + +Mollie's boat was easily recovered, and the handkerchiefs that had been +stuffed in the hole were of some service afterward, though rather stained +by river water. The missing plug was found fast under a seat brace, which +accounted for it not floating. + +As for the five-hundred-dollar bill, nothing was heard of the owner, and +it, with the attached paper, remained in Mr. Nelson's safe. The +advertisement about it was published again, and though there were several +inquiries from persons who had lost money, they could lay no claim to +this particular bankbill. + +"We'll just have to wait to solve that mystery," said Grace. "Maybe until +after we come back from our tour." + +Arrangements to start on the journey had rapidly been completed. Betty +had made out the schedule. + +"We'll leave Deepdale early in the morning," she said, "and go on to +Rockford. There we're due to stop with my aunt. We can take lunch +wherever we find it most convenient, but we'll make Rockford at +dusk, I hope." + +"I certainly trust so," said Mollie. "A night on a country +road--never, my dear!" + +"The next night we'll stop in Middleville," went on Betty, "at Amy's +cousin's house. From there to Broxton, where Grace's married sister +will put us up, and then, in turn to Simpson's Corners--that's my +uncle, you know--to Flatbush, where Grace's mother's niece has kindly +consented to receive us; on to Hightown, that's Mollie's aunt's place; +to Cameron--that's where we'll go to the camp that Mr. Ford's +half-brother runs." + +She paused to make a note and to glance over the schedule to make sure of +some points. + +"Then we'll go to Judgville, where my cousin lives, and that will be our +last stopping place. Then for home," she finished. + +"It sounds good," said Mollie. + +"It will be lovely," declared Betty. "Are you sure your--your aunt and +uncle won't have any further objections to you going, Amy?" + +"Oh, sure! It was only because they thought that I might be upset on +hearing of the mystery that they didn't want me to go. But I'm over +that now." + +"Bravely over it," murmured Betty, as she put her arms about her chum's +shoulders. + +The examinations were on, and boys and girls were working hard, for, +because of the need of some repairs to the school, it had been decided to +cut the summer term short. + +Then came the closing days, with the flowers, the simple exercises, +and the farewell to the graduating class, of which our girls were +not members. + +"Two days more and we'll be off on our wonderful tour!" exclaimed Mollie, +as she and the others came out of school on the final day. "Oh, I can +hardly wait!" + + + + +CHAPTER IX + +OFF ON THE TOUR + + +"How do we look?" + +"Don't you think these skirts are too short?" + +"Isn't it fine to have--pockets?" + +"Oh, Grace Ford! You'll never be able to walk in those shoes! Girls, just +look at those French heels!" It was Amy who spoke. + +"They're not French!" declared Grace, driven to self-defense. "They're a +modified Cuban." + +"Not enough modification, then; that's what I say!" exclaimed Mollie, the +three expressions which opened this chapter having come from Betty, Grace +and Amy, respectively. "They're of the French--Frenchy, Grace, my dear!" + +"I don't care! I tried to get fitted in the kind of shoes you girls +have," and Grace looked at the stout and substantial walking boots of her +companions, "but they didn't have my size. The man is going to send for +them, and he said he'd forward them to Middleville. They'll be there when +we arrive." + +"All right, as long as you're going to get them," spoke Betty. +"You never could belong to our Camping and Tramping Club in those +shoes, Grace." + +"Well, they're the largest I have, and I don't think the heels are so +very high; do you?" and she appealed to the others. + +"Here are Will and Frank," spoke Amy. "We'll let them decide." + +"Oh, Will is sure to say something mean," declared his sister. "Don't you +dare mention heels to him!" + +"Ready for the hike?" demanded Will, as he came up with his chum. + +"We start in half an hour," replied Betty, in the front yard of whose +house the others were gathered. "Gracious, I know I haven't half the +things I need. What did I do with that alcohol stove?" + +"I saw you put it in the case," said Amy. + +"Oh, yes, so I did. I declare I don't know what I'm doing! Now, girls, is +there anything else to be thought of?" + +"If there is, I'm not capable of it," declared Mollie. "I am a wreck," +and she leaned against patient Amy for support. + +"We'll go part way with you," offered Will. + +"You shall not!" exclaimed his sister. "You'll make all manner of fun of +us, and--" + +"No, we won't--I promise!" exclaimed Frank, earnestly. + +"Oh, let them come," pleaded Betty. + +"Then go get Percy," urged Grace. + +"Don't you dare!" cried Betty. + +"Well, here comes Allen Washburn, anyhow," went on the tall girl. "At +least we'll have enough escorts." Betty blushed and hurried into the +house on some pretense or other. + +The girls were to travel "light," taking with them only a few articles of +clothing. Their suitcases they had arranged to send on ahead, so that +they would be at each stopping place in the evening when the little party +arrived. Then on leaving in the morning the satchels would again be +dispatched in advance. Near the end of the route trunks would await them. + +The girls expected to get their dinners wherever it was most convenient, +and Betty had drawn up a sort of schedule that, should they be able to +keep up to it, would mean comfort at noon. As I have explained, the +breakfasts and suppers would be eaten at the homes of friends or +relatives. + +The girls had a little alcohol stove, a teapot and saucepan, and they +expected, under favorable circumstances, to stop by the roadside and +brew a cup of tea, each girl carrying an aluminum cup and saucer. +Evaporated cream and sugar, to be replenished from time to time, formed +part of their stores. Sandwiches, to be procured as needed, would form a +staple food. + +The day was a "perfect" one for June. Clad in their new suits of olive +drab, purposely designed for walking, with sensible blouses, containing +pockets, with skirts sufficiently short, stout boots and natty little +caps, the outdoor girls looked their name. Already there was the hint of +tan on their faces, for they had been much in the open of late. + +They had assembled at Betty's house for the start, and were about ready +to leave, though there seemed to be much confusion at the last minute. + +Their first stopping place, at least for the night, would be the town of +Rockford, about sixteen miles away, where Betty's aunt lived. They +expected to remain two nights there, using the second day to walk to a +certain old historic mill that was said to be worthy of a visit. + +The good-byes were said, over and over again, it seemed, and a number of +friends called to wish the girls good luck. Betty, who had been voted +into the place of leader, looked over her small command. What it lacked +in numbers it made up in attractiveness, for certainly no prettier +picture could have been viewed than the one the girls presented that +June morning, beneath the trees in the big yard. + +"Well, are we ready?" finally asked Betty. + +"As ready as we ever shall be," replied Grace. + +"Then--what shall I say--forward--march?" + +"Just say--hike!" cried the irrepressible Will. + +"Don't mind him!" cautioned his sister. "Oh, I've left my handkerchief in +your house, Betty!" and she hastened to secure it. + +But, finally, after a few more forgotten articles had been collected, the +girls were ready to start. Mr. Nelson came out to wave a farewell, and +his wife appeared, to add more to her already numerous cautions. + +"What shall I do with that five hundred dollar bill?" asked Betty's +father. "If the owner comes, shall I give it up?" + +"Don't you dare!" she cried. "At least, not until we girls have a chance +to see him. We want to find out about the romance back of it. Write to us +if it's claimed." + +"All right--I will," he said, with a laugh. + +"But it doesn't seem as though, after this lapse of time, that it would +be called for. Good-bye!" + +"Good-bye! Good-luck!" + +This was echoed and re-echoed. Then the four members of the Camping and +Tramping Club started down the pleasant country road, whereon the June +sun shone in golden patches through the leafy branches of the trees. + +"A good omen," breathed Amy, who walked beside Betty. + +Will, Frank and Allen brought up the rear, carrying the small valises or +suitcases the girls had packed. The little cavalcade passed Mollie's +house, Mrs. Billette appearing at the window to wave another farewell. +The twins were not in sight. + +"For which I am thankful--they'd cry to come," said their sister, "and +they are dreadful teases." + +As the girls and their escorts swung around a turn in the highway a +little later, about a mile from Mollie's house, Grace looked back to cry +out in almost tragic accents: + +"Look! The twins! They're following us," and the others turned around +to see Dodo and Paul, hand in hand, trudging bravely and determinedly +after them. + + + + +CHAPTER X + +ON THE WRONG ROAD + + +Molly, for a moment, looked as if she wanted to cry from sheer vexation, +for the getting ready to start had been trying on all of them. Then the +humor of the situation appealed to her, and she exclaimed, as the +solemn-eyed twins drew: nearer: + +"Dodo--Paul--what does this mean? Go back home at once! Mamma will be +dreadfully worried about you. Go back." + +"We tum too," lisped Dodo. + +"We go for walk wit oo, Mollie," Paul added. + +"The little dears!" murmured Amy. + +"You wouldn't say so if you had to go all the way back with them," +exclaimed the sister. "Dodo--Paul, you must go home at once." + +"Dot any tandy?" asked Dodo, seeing, doubtless, a chance to make capital +out of the escapade. + +"Candy! The idea!" + +"We go back if oo dot tandy," spoke Paul, cunningly, seeing the drift of +his small sister's scheme. "We 'ikes tandy." + +"I'll give them some if they promise to go back," spoke Grace, making a +motion toward her little case that Frank carried. + +"No, they must not be bribed," said Mollie, firmly. "I shall insist on +their going back. And oh! what faces they have! They must have been +eating candy already this morning." + +"Our tandy all gone," spoke Dodo. "Oo dive us tandy we go back; won't us, +Paul?" and confidingly she looked up into her brother's face. + +"We go for tandy," he affirmed, and there was an air of determination +about him that boded no good for the girls. + +"You must go back!" declared Mollie. + +"We go for walk," said Dodo. "Tum on, Paul. We dot fings to eat same +as dem," and proudly she displayed a very dirty bag, the opening of +which disclosed a rather jumbled collection of bread and butter, and +cookie crumbs. + +"An' I dot a gun to shoot bad bears," went on Paul, shouldering a wooden +article, that, by a wide stretch of the imagination could be seen to +somewhat resemble a musket. "Gun go bang-bang!" explained the little +chap, "bad bears run 'way off. Turn on, Dodo, we go wif 'em," and he +nodded at the "hikers," as Will unfeelingly characterized his sister and +her chums. + +"Go back! Go back!" cried Mollie, now again on the verge of tears. "Oh, +you bad children! What shall I do? Mamma will be dreadfully worried, and +if we take them back we'll lose a lot of time. What shall we do, girls?" + +"We go back for tandy--lots of tandy," spoke the inexorable Dodo. "We +'ikes tandy; don't us, Paul?" + +"Yes," said Paul, simply. + +"The easiest way out of it is to give them some candy," said Grace, in a +low voice, but, low as it was, the twins heard. Their eyes brightened at +once, and they came eagerly forward. + +"Oh, dear, I suppose it is the only thing to do," affirmed Mollie. "Will +you go straight back if you get some candy?" she asked. "Straight home +to mamma?" + +"Ess--we bofe go," promised Dodo, who usually led her small brother. "We +'ikes tandy," she reiterated. + +"Me tan shoot bears to-morrow," said Paul, philosophically. "Where is +tandy?" With him evidently the prospect of present enjoyment was +preferable to the future possibility of becoming a great hunter. + +"Here you are!" cried Grace, as she took out some chocolates. "Now be +good children. Do you think it safe for them to go back alone, Mollie?" + +"That's so, I never considered that. I wonder if we'll have to go with +them? Oh, isn't this annoying, and we're behind time now! We'll never get +to Rockford to-night. What shall I do?" + +"We take 'em back if oo dive us some tandy!" mocked Will, who, with his +chums, had been an interested observer of the little scene. + +"Smarty!" exclaimed his sister. "But I'll take you at your word just the +same. Here, Frank--Allen--you see that he performs his part of the +contract," and she held the candy box out to the other two, who +laughingly accepted the bribe. + +Then with the hands of the trusting, and now contented, twins in theirs, +Will and Frank bade the girls good-speed and led away the two small ones +on their homeward way, Allen following them after a farewell to Betty. + +"At last we are off!" murmured Mollie. "I'm so sorry it happened, girls!" + +"Why, the idea!" cried Betty. "It was just a little pleasant episode, and +we'll remember it all day, and laugh." + +"But it may make us late," suggested Mollie, anxiously. + +"Not much," went on the Little Captain. "It wasn't your fault, anyhow. We +can just walk a little faster to make up for it--that is, if, Grace +thinks she can stand it." + +"Oh, you won't find me complaining," declared the girl whose footwear had +been the subject of comment. "I'm not as comfortable as you, perhaps," +she admitted, "but I will be when I get my other shoes. And now, let's +give ourselves up to the enjoyments of the way--and day. Oh, isn't it +just lovely!" + +Indeed, a more auspicious start--barring the little delay caused by the +twins--could not have been provided. The day was one of those balmy ones +in June, when it is neither too hot nor too blowy, when the breeze seems +fairly laden with the sweet scent of flowers, and the lazy hum of bees +mingles with the call of birds. + +The way led out along a pleasant country road, which, for some distance, +wound in and out among great maples that formed a leafy shade which might +be most acceptable later in the day, since there was the promise of +considerable heat at noon. + +As yet it was early, a prompt enough start having been made to allow of +an easy pace along the road. + +"For," Betty had said in reviewing the procedure to be followed, "we +don't want to tire ourselves out on the first stage of our trip. We +ought to begin gradually. That is the way all athletes train." + +"Oh, then we are going to be athletes?" asked Amy. + +"Walking athletes, at least," responded the leader. "Now, girls, if any +of you feel like resting at any time, don't hesitate to say so. We want +this to be an enjoyment, not a task, even if we are a regular club." + +So perfect was the day, and in such good spirits were the girls, that +even the simplest sights and happenings along the highway brought forth +pleased comments. The sight of a cow placidly chewing her cud in a +meadow, the patient creature standing knee-deep amid the buttercups, was +a picture they all admired, Mollie carried a little camera, and insisted +on snapping the bovine, though the other girls urged her to save some +films with which to take their own pictures. + +"But that cow will make such a lovely enlargement," said Mollie. "It's +like an artist's painting." + +Bravely they marched along, with a confident swing and firm tread--at +least, all but Grace trod firmly, and she rather favored herself on +account of her high heels. But her chums were good enough not to laugh. + +They passed farm houses, in the kitchen doors of which appeared the +women and girls of the household, standing with rolled-up sleeves, arms +akimbo, looking with no small wonder at the four travelers. + +There were comments, too, not always inaudible. + +"I wonder what they're selling?" one woman asked her daughter, as +they paused in their work of washing a seemingly innumerable number +of milk pans. + +"They take us for peddlers," said Amy. + +A little later a small boy, who had been playing horse in front of his +house, scuttled back toward the kitchen, crying out: + +"Ma--ma! Come an' see the suffragists!" + +"Oh, mercy!" exclaimed Betty. "What will we be taken for next?" + +But it was fun, with all that, and such a novelty to the girls that they +wondered why they had not before thought of this means of spending part +of their vacation. + +The sun crept higher in the sky, and the warmth of the golden beams +increased. The girls were thankful, now, for any shade they might +encounter, and they were fortunate in that their way still lay in +pleasant places. They came to a little brook that ran under the road, and +not far from it a roadside spring bubbled up. Their collapsible drinking +cups came in useful, and they remained for a little while in the shade +near the cool spot. + +"Where shall we eat our lunch?" asked Grace, as the ever-mounting sun +approached the zenith. + +"Are you hungry already?" asked Amy. + +"I am beginning to feel the pangs," admitted the tall, graceful girl. + +"Then you can't have eaten much candy," commented Mollie. + +"Only three pieces." + +"Hurrah! Grace is reforming!" cheered Betty. "That's fine!" + +"I don't see why you're always making fun of me," Grace said, as she +pouted. "I'm sure you are all just as fond of chocolate as I am." + +"Never mind," consoled Mollie. "We will eat soon, for I confess to having +an appetite on my own account." + +Deciding to eat, at least on this first day of the tramp, a lunch of +their own providing, rather than go to some restaurant, country hotel, or +stop at a chance farm house, the girls had brought with them packages of +food, and the alcohol stove for a cup of tea, or some chocolate. + +"This looks to be a perfect place for our picnic," said Betty, as, on +passing a farm, they saw the plow-horses unhitched and led under a tree +to partake of their hay and oats. "It must be noon by that sign," went +on the Little Captain, confirming her guess by a glance at her watch. "It +is," she said. "So we'll eat here," and she indicated a little grassy +knoll under a great oak tree at the side of the road. + +"There's the most beautiful spring of water here, too," went on Grace. +"Shall we make tea?" + +"Do!" exclaimed Mollie. "I'm just dying for a good hot cup. But not +too strong." + +Soon they had merrily gathered about the greensward table, on which paper +napkins formed the cloth. The sandwiches were set out, with a bottle of +olives to add to the attractiveness, and then the little kettle was put +on the alcohol stove, which had been set up in the shelter of the great +oak's massive trunk. + +"It's boiling!" finally announced Betty. "Hand me the tea ball, +Amy, my dear." + +Pouring the steaming water over the silver tea ball, Betty circulated it +around in the cup, until one fragrant brew was made. She passed this over +to Mollie, and proceeded to make another. + +"It's delicious!" cried the French girl, as she tasted it, cream and +sugar having been added. "Oh, isn't this just lovely!" + +"Perfect," murmured Grace. "I wouldn't have missed this for anything!" + +In pure enjoyment they reclined on the grass after the meal, and then, as +Betty, after a look at her watch, warned them that the better half of +their journey still lay before them, they started off again. + +They had proceeded a mile or so, and the way was not so pleasant now, for +the road was sandy, when they came to a fork of the highway. A time-worn +sign-post bore letters that could scarcely be made out, and, though they +had a road map, the girls were not quite sure which way to take to get to +Rockford. They were debating the matter, alternately consulting the map +and the sign-post, when a farmer drove past. + +"Which road to Rockford, please?" hailed Betty. + +"Th' left!" he exclaimed, sententiously. "G'lang there!" This last to the +horses, not to the girls. + +"The road map seems to say the road to the right," murmured Betty, as the +farmer drove that way himself. + +"Well, he ought to know," insisted Grace. "We'll take the left," +and they did. + +If they had hoped to have all go smoothly on this, their first day of +tramping, the girls were destined to disappointment. In blissful +ignorance they trudged on, talking so interestedly that they never +thought to glance at the sign-boards, of which they passed several. + +It was Amy who discovered the error they had made--or rather, the error +the farmer had caused them to make. Again coming to a dividing of the +ways, they saw a new sign-board, put up by a local automobile +organization. + +"Eight miles to Hamptown, and ten to Denby," read Amy. "Girls, where is +Rockford?" + +Anxiously they stared at the sign. + +"It doesn't seem to say anything about Rockford," murmured Grace. + +"Maybe someone has moved our town," suggested Mollie, humorously. + +Betty looked puzzled, annoyed and a little anxious. A snub-nosed, +freckle-faced boy came along whistling, and beating the dust of the road +with a long switch. + +"Which is the road to Rockford, little boy?" asked Betty. + +"Huh?" + +"I say, which is the road to Rockford?" + +"Give him a candy if you have any left, Grace," suggested Mollie, in +a low tone. + +"Are you folks peddlin' candy?" asked the boy, and his eyes shone. + +"No, but we have some," answered Betty. "We want to get to Rockford." + +"You're five miles off the road," exclaimed the boy, with a grin, as +though he took personal delight in their dilemma. "You come the wrong +way. Huh!" + +"Oh, dear!" murmured Mollie. "Don't you give him any candy, Grace." + +"It isn't his fault that we went wrong," spoke Betty. + + + + +CHAPTER XI + +THE BARKING DOG + + +Disappointment, and not a little worriment, held the four girls silent +for a moment. Then Betty, feeling that it was her place to assume the +leadership, said: + +"Are you sure, little boy? A man told us, at the last dividing of the +roads, to take the left, as that led to Rockford." + +"Well, he didn't know what he was talking about," asserted the little +chap, with the supreme confidence of youth. "To get to Rockford you've +got to go back." + +"All that distance?" cried Grace. "We'll never make it in time." + +"Isn't there a shorter way--some cross-road we can take?" inquired Betty. + +"Who's got the candy?" inquired the little chap, evidently thinking that +he had already earned some reward. + +"Here!" said Grace, hopelessly, holding out an almost emptied box. "But +please--_please_ don't tell us we're lost." + +"Oh, you ain't exactly lost!" exclaimed the urchin, with a grin. "I live +just down the road a piece, and it's only a mile to Bakersville. That's a +good town. They got a movin' picture show there. I went onct!" + +"Did you indeed?" said Betty. "But we can't go there. Isn't there some +way of getting to Rockford without going all the way back to the fork? +Why, it's miles and miles!" + +"I wish I had that man here who directed us wrongly!" exclaimed Mollie, +with a flash of her dark eyes. "I--I'd make him get a carriage and drive +us to your aunt's house, Betty." + +"That would not be revenge enough," declared Grace. "He ought to be made +to buy us each a box of the best chocolates." + +"Nothing like making the punishment fit the crime," murmured Betty. + +"Say, are you play-actors?" demanded the boy, who had stood in +opened-mouth wonder during this dialogue. The girls broke into peals of +merry laughter that, in a measure, served to relieve the tension on +their nerves. + +"Now do please tell us how to get to Rockford?" begged Mollie when they +had quieted down. "We must be there to-night." + +"Well, you kin git there by goin' on a mile further and taking the +main road that goes through Sayreville," said the boy, his mouth +full of candy. + +"Would that be nearer than going back to where we made the mistake?" +Betty asked. + +"Yep, a lot nearer. Come on; I'll show you as far as I'm goin'," and the +boy started off as though the task--or shall I say, pleasure?--of leading +four pretty girls was an every-day occurrence. + +"We never can get there before dark," declared Mollie. + +"Oh, yes, we will," said Betty, hopefully. "We can walk faster +than this." + +"If you do I'll simply give up," wailed Grace. "These shoes!" and she +leaned against a tree. + +And to the eternal credit of the other girls be it said that they did not +remark: "I told you so!" + +Silently and unconcernedly, the snub-nosed boy led them on. Finally +he came to his own home, and rather ungallantly, did not offer to +go farther. + +"You jest keep on for about half a mile," he said, "an' you'll come to a +cross-road." + +"I hope it isn't too cross," murmured Grace, with a grave face. + +"Huh?" + +The boy looked at her wonderingly. + +"I mean not cross enough to bite," she went on. + +"You turn to the left," the boy continued, "and keep straight on till you +get to Watson's Corners. Then you turn to the right, keep on past an old +stone church, turn to the right and that's a straight road to Rockford." +He looked curiously at Grace, as though in doubt as to her sanity. "A +cross road!" he murmured. + +"Gracious, we'll never remember all that!" exclaimed Amy. + +"I have it down!" said practical Betty, as she wrote rapidly in her note +book. "I'm sure we can find it. Come on, girls!" + +"Have another candy," invited Grace, hospitably extending the now nearly +depleted box. + +"Sure--thanks!" exclaimed the boy, but he backed quickly away from her. +Her joke had fallen on a suspicious mind, evidently. + +The girls trudged on, rather silent now, for somehow the edge of their +enjoyment seemed to have been taken off. But still they were not +discouraged. They were true outdoor girls, and they knew, even if worse +came to worst, and darkness found them far from their destination, and +Betty's aunt's house, that no real harm could come to them. + +Successfully they found the various points of identification mentioned +by the freckled boy, and at last they located a sign-post that read: + +FIVE MILES TO ROCKFORD + +"Five miles!" exclaimed Grace, with a tragic air. "We can never do it!" + +"We must!" declared Betty, firmly. "Of course we can do it. Why, even +with going out of our way as we did, we won't have covered more than +eighteen miles to-day. And we set twenty as an average." + +"But this is the first day," said Mollie. + +"We can--we _must_ get to Rockford to-night," insisted Betty. + +Rather hopelessly they tramped on. The sun seemed to sink with surprising +rapidity after getting to a certain point in the western sky. + +"It's dropping faster and faster all the while!" cried Amy, as they +watched it from a crest of the road. + +"Never mind--June evenings are the longest of the year," consoled Betty. + +They hurried on. The sun sank to its nightly rest amid a bed of golden, +green, purple, pink and olive clouds, and there followed a glorious maze +of colors that reached high up toward zenith. + +"Girls, we simply must stop and admire this--if it's only for a +minute!" exclaimed Grace. "Isn't that wonderful!" and she pointed a +slender hand, beautified by exquisitely kept nails, toward the gorgeous +sky picture. + +"Every minute counts!" remarked practical Betty. Yet she knew better than +to worry her friends. + +The glow faded, and again the girls advanced. From the fields came the +lowing of the cows, as they waited impatiently for the bars of the +pastures to be let down. A herd of sheep was driven along the road, +raising a cloud of dust. From farm houses came the barking of dogs and +the not unmusical notes of conch or tin horns, summoning the "men folks" +to the evening meal. + +"Girls, we're never going to make it in time!" exclaimed Grace as the sky +darkened. "We must see if we can't stop at one of these houses over +night," and she pointed to a little hamlet they were approaching. + +"Grace!" exclaimed Betty. "Aunt Sallie would be worried to death if we +didn't come, after she expected us." + +"Then we must send her word. I can't go another step." + +They all paused irresolutely. They were in front of a big white house--a +typical country home. Betty glanced toward it. + +"It's too bad," she said. "I know just how you feel, and yet can we go up +to one of these places, perfect strangers, and ask them to keep us over +night? It doesn't seem reasonable." + +"Anything is reasonable when you have to," declared Mollie. "I'll ask," +she volunteered, starting toward the house. "The worst they can say is +'no,' and maybe we can hire a team to drive to Rockford, if they can't +keep us. I can drive!" + +"Well, we'll ask, anyhow," agreed Betty, rather hopelessly. She hardly +knew what to do next. + +As they advanced toward the House the savage barking of a dog was heard, +and as they reached the front gate the beast came rushing down the walk, +while behind him lumbered a farmer, shouting: + +"Here! Come back! Down, Nero! Don't mind him, ladies!" he added. "He +won't hurt you!" + +But the aspect, and the savage growls and barks, of the creature seemed +to indicate differently, and the girls shrank back. Betty, reaching in +her bag, drew out the nearly emptied olive bottle for a weapon. + +"Don't hit him! Don't hit him!" cried the farmer. "That will only make +him worse! Come back here, Nero!" + +"Run, girls! Run!" begged Amy. "He'll tear us to pieces!" and she +turned and fled. + + + + +CHAPTER XII + +AT AUNT SALLIE'S + + +Probably that was the most unwise course poor Amy could have taken. Dogs, +even the most savage, seldom come to a direct attack unless their +prospective victim shows fear. Then, like a horse that takes advantage of +a timid driver, the creature advances boldly to the attack. + +It was so in this case. The other girls, not heeding Amy's frantic +appeal, stood still, but she ran back toward the road, her short skirt +giving her a chance to exercise her speed. The dog saw, and singling out +her as the most favorable for his purposes, he leaped the fence in a +great bound and rushed after the startled girl. + +"Stop him! Stop him!" + +"Oh, Amy!" + +"If she falls!" + +"I know I'm going to faint!" + +"Don't you dare do it, Grace Ford!" + +"Why doesn't that man keep his dog chained?" + +These were only a few of the expressions that came from the lips of the +girls as, horror-stricken, they watched the dog rush after poor Amy. + +Never had she run so fast--not even during one of the basket ball +games in which she had played, nor when they had races at the Sunday +school picnic. + +And, had it not been for a certain hired man, who, taking in the +situation as he came on the run from the barn, acted promptly, Amy might +have been severely injured. As it was the farmer's man, crossing the yard +diagonally, was able to intercept the dog. + +"Run to the left, Miss! Run to the left!" he cried. Then, leaping the low +fence at a bound, he threw the pitchfork he carried at the dog with such +skill that the handle crossed between the brute's legs and tripped it. +Turning over and over in a series of somersaults, the dog's progress was +sufficiently halted to enable the hired man to get to it. He took a firm +grip in the collar of the dog and held on. Poor Amy stumbled a few steps +farther and then Betty, recovering her scattered wits, cried out: + +"All right, Amy! All right! You're in no danger!" + +And Amy sank to the ground while her chums rushed toward her. + +"Hold him, Zeke! Hold him!" cried the farmer, as he came lumbering up. +"Hold on to him!" + +"That's what I'm doin'!" responded the hired man. + +"Is th' gal hurted? Land sakes, I never knew Nero to act so!" went on the +farmer apologetically. "He must have been teased by some of th' boys. Be +you hurted, Miss?" + +Pale and trembling, Amy arose. But it was very evident that she had +suffered no serious harm, for the dog had not reached her, and she had +simply collapsed on the grass, rather than fallen. + +The dog, choking and growling, was firmly held by the hired man, who +seemed to have no fear of him. + +"I'm awfully sorry," said the farmer, contritely. "I never knew him to +act like that." + +"Some one has tied a lot of burrs on his tail," called out the hired man. +"That's what set him off." + +"I thought so. Well, clean 'em off, and he'll behave. Poor old Nero!" + +Even now the dog was quieting down, and as the hired man removed the +irritating cause of the beast's anger it became even gentle, whining as +though to offer excuses. + +"I can't tell you how sorry I am," went on the farmer. "You're strangers +around here, I take it." + +"Yes," said Betty, "and we lost our way. We're going to Rockford. We must +be there to-night." + +"Rockford?" + +"Yes, my aunt lives there." + +"And who might your aunt be?" + +"Mrs. Palmer." + +"Bill Palmer's wife?" + +"Yes, that's Uncle Will I guess," and Betty laughed. + +"Pshaw now! You don't say so! Why, I know Bill well." + +The farmer's wife came bustling out. + +"Is the young lady hurt, Jason? What got into Nero, anyhow? I never see +him behave so!" + +"Oh, it was them pesky boys! No, she's not hurt." + +Amy was surrounded by her chums. She was pale, and still trembling, but +was fast recovering her composure. + +"Won't you come in the house," invited the woman. "We're jest goin' t' +set down t' supper, and I'm sure you'd like a cup of tea." + +"I should love it!" murmured Grace. + +"What be you--suffragists?" went on the woman, with a smile. + +"That's the second time we've been taken for them to-day," murmured +Betty, "Do we look so militant?" + +"You look right peart!" complimented the woman. "Do come in?" + +Betty, with her eyes, questioned her chums. They nodded an assent. +Really they were entitled to something it seemed after the unwarranted +attack of the dog. + +"We ought to be going on to Rockford," said Betty, as they +strolled toward the pleasant farm house. "I don't see how we can +get there now--" + +"You leave that to me!" said the farmer, quickly. "I owe you +something on account of the way Nero behaved. Ain't you ashamed of +yourself?" he charged. + +The dog crouched, whined and thumped the earth with a contrite tail. He +did not need the restraining hand of the hired man now. + +"Make friends," ordered the farmer. The dog approached the girls. + +"Oh--don't!" begged Amy. + +"He wouldn't hurt a fly," bragged the farmer. "I can't account for his +meanness." + +"It was them burrs," affirmed the hired man. + +"Mebby so. Wa'al, young ladies, come in and make yourselves t' hum! +Behave, Nero!" for now the dog was getting too friendly, leaping up and +trying to solicit caresses from the girls. "That's th' way with him, one +minute he's up to some mischief, an' th' next he's beggin' your, pardon. +I hope you're not hurt, miss," and he looked anxiously at Amy. + +"No, not at all," she assured him, with a smile that was brave and +winning. "I was only frightened, that's all." + +"I'm glad of that. I'll have t' tie that dog up, I guess," and he +threw a little clod of earth at the now cringing animal, not hitting +him, however. + +"Oh, don't hurt him," pleaded Betty. + +"Hurt him! He wouldn't do that, miss!" exclaimed the hired man, who now +had to defend himself from the over-zealous affections of the dog. "He's +too fond of him. Nero isn't a bad sort generally, only some of the boys +worried him." + +The girls, with the farmer and his man in the lead, walked toward the +house, the woman hurrying on ahead to set more places at the table. + +"I'm afraid we're troubling you too much," protested Betty. + +"Oh, it's no trouble at all," the farmer assured her. "And I owe you +something on account of my dog's actions." + +"But really, ought we to stay?" asked Grace. "It's getting dark, Betty, +and your aunt--" + +"Say, young ladies!" exclaimed the farmer, "I'll fix that all right. As +soon as you have a bite to eat I'll hitch up and drive you over to +Rockford, to Bill Palmer's." + +"Oh!" began Betty, "we couldn't think--" + +She stopped, for she did not know what to say. Truly, it was quite a +dilemma in which they found themselves, and they must stay somewhere that +night. To remain at a strange farm house was out of the question. Perhaps +this was the simplest way after all. + +"It won't be any trouble at all," the farmer assured her. "I've got +a fast team and a three-seated carriage. I'll have you over there +in no time." + +"Then perhaps we'd better not stop for supper," said Mollie. "Your aunt +might be worrying, Betty, and--" + +"We'll telephone her!" exclaimed the farmer. "I've got a 'phone--lots of +us have around here--and I can let her know all about it. Or you can talk +to her yourself," he added. + +So it was arranged; and soon Betty was talking to her anxious relative +over the wire. Then, after a bountiful supper, which the girls very much +enjoyed, the farmer hitched up his fine team, and soon they were on +their way to Mrs. Palmer's. The drive was not a long one. + +"My!" exclaimed Mollie, as they bowled along over the smooth road, under +a young moon that silvered the earth, "this is better than walking!" + +"I should say so," agreed Grace, whose shoes hurt her more than she +cared to admit. + +"You are both traitors to the Club!" exclaimed Betty. "The idea of +preferring riding to walking!" + +"Oh, it's only once in a while," added Mollie. "Really, pet, we've had a +perfectly grand time." + +"Even with the dog," added Amy, who was now herself again. "I was +silly to run." + +"I don't blame you," said the farmer, "and yet if you hadn't, maybe Nero +wouldn't have chased you. It's a good thing not to run from a dog. If you +stand, it let's him see you're not afraid." + +"Put that down in your books, girls," directed Betty. "Never run from a +dog. That advice may come in useful on our trip." + +Half an hour later they were at Mrs. Palmer's house, and received a +hearty welcome, the telephone message having done much to relieve the +lady's anxiety. + + + + +CHAPTER XIII + +THE MISSING LUNCH + + +"Oh, but these shoes are so comfortable!" + +"I'm glad of that, Grace." + +"Though I didn't really delay you much; did I?" + +"No, I wasn't complaining," and Betty put a caressing hand on the arm of +her companion. + +"We'll be able to make up for lost time now," said Mollie, as she shifted +her little valise from one hand to the other. "Your aunt was certainly +generous in the matter of lunch, Betty," she went on. + +"Yes, she said this country air would give us good appetites." + +"I'm sure I don't need any," spoke Amy. "I've been hungry ever since +we started." + +The four girls were again on the broad highway that was splashed and +spotted with the streaks of the early sun as it slanted through the elms +and maples along the road. They had spent two nights at the home of +Betty's aunt, that lady having insisted on a little longer visit than was +at first planned. She made the girls royally welcome, as did her +husband. Grace's shoes had been sent to her at Rockford, having been +telephoned for. + +"But if we stay another day and night here," said Betty, "not that we're +not glad to, Aunt Sallie--why we can't keep up to our schedule in +walking, and we must cover so many miles each day." + +"You see it's in the constitution of our club," added Grace. "We can't +violate that." + +"Oh, come now!" insisted Mr. Palmer. "You can stay longer just as well as +not. As for walking, why we've got some of the finest walks going, right +around Rockford here. You'd better stay. We don't very often see you, +Betty, and your aunt isn't half talked out yet," and he solemnly winked +over the head of his wife. + +"The idea!" she exclaimed. "As if I'd talked half as much as you had." + +And so the girls had remained. They had greatly enjoyed the visit. In +anticipation of their coming Mrs. Palmer had prepared "enough for a +regiment of hungry boys," to quote her husband, and had invited a number +of the neighboring young people to meet the members of the Camping and +Tramping Club. + +The dainty rooms of the country house, with their quaint, old-fashioned, +striped wall paper, the big four-poster beds, a relic of a by-gone +generation, the mahogany dressers with their shining mirrors, and the +delightful home-like atmosphere--all had combined to make the stay of the +girls most pleasant. + +The day after their arrival by carriage they had gone on a long walk, +visiting a picturesque little glen not far from the village, being +accompanied by a number of girls whose acquaintance Betty and her chums +had made. Some of them Betty had met before. + +The idea of a walking club was enthusiastically received by the country +girls, and they at once resolved to form one like the organization +started by Betty Nelson. In fact they named it after her, in spite of +her protests. + +In the afternoon the girls went for a drive in Mr. Palmer's big +carriage, visiting places of local interest. And in the evening there +was an old-fashioned "surprise party"--a real surprise too, by the way, +for Betty and her chums had never dreamed of it. It was a most +delightful time. + +Mr. and Mrs. Palmer had tried to persuade their niece and her chums to +stay still longer, but they were firm in their determination to cover the +two hundred miles--more or less--in the specified time. + +So they had started off, and the snatches of conversation with which I +begun this chapter might have been heard as the four walked along the +pleasant country road. + +"We've had very good luck so far," said Mollie, as she skipped a few +steps in advance on the greensward. "Not a bit of rain." + +"Don't boast!" cautioned Betty. "It will be perfectly terrible if it +rains. We simply can't walk if it does." + +"I don't see why not," spoke Mollie, trying to catch Amy in a waltz hug +and whirl her about. + +"My, isn't she getting giddy!" mocked Grace. + +"I feel so good!" cried Mollie, whose volatile nature seemed fairly +bubbling over on this beautiful day. And indeed it was a day to call +forth all the latent energies of the most phlegmatic person. The very air +tingled with life that the sunshine coaxed into being, and the gentle +wind further fanned it to rapidity of action. "Oh, I do feel so happy!" +cried Mollie. + +"I guess we all do," spoke Grace, but even as she said this she could not +refrain from covertly glancing at Amy, over whose face there seemed a +shade of--well, just what it was Grace could not decide. It might have +been disappointment, or perhaps an unsatisfied longing. Clearly the +mystery over her past had made an impression on the character of this +sweet, quiet girl. But for all that she did not inflict her mood on her +chums. She must have become conscious of Grace's quick scrutiny, for with +a laugh she ran to her, and soon the two were bobbing about on the uneven +turf in what they were pleased to term a "dance." + +"Your aunt was certainly good to us," murmured Mollie, a little later. +"I'm just dying to see what she has put up for our lunch." For Mrs. +Palmer had insisted, as has been said, on packing one of the little +valises the girls carried with a noon-day meal to be eaten on the road. +Mollie was entrusted with this, her belongings having been divided among +her chums. + +"Oh," suddenly cried Grace, a moment later, "I forgot something!" + +"You mean you left it at my aunt's house?" asked Betty, coming to a stop +in the road. + +"No, I forgot to get some of those lovely chocolates that new drug store +sells. They were delicious. For a country town I never ate better." + +"Grace, you are hopeless!" sighed Betty. "Come along, girls, do, or +she'll insist on going back for them. And we must get to Middleville on +time. It won't do to fall back in our schedule any more." + +"I sent a postal to my cousin from your aunt's house," said Amy, at +whose relatives the girls were to spend the night. "I told her we surely +would be there." + +"And so we will," said Betty. "Gracious, I forgot to mail this card to +Nettie French," and she produced a souvenir card from her pocket. + +"Never mind, you can put it in the next post-office we come to," +suggested Grace. "Oh, dear! I'm so provoked about those chocolates. I'm +positively famished, and I don't suppose it is anywhere near lunch time?" +and she looked at her watch. "No, only ten o'clock," and she sighed. + +Laughing at her, the girls stepped on. For a time the road ran +along a pleasant little river, on which a number of canoes and +boats could be seen. + +"Oh, for a good row!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"We'll have plenty of chances this summer," said Betty. "It has +hardly begun." + +"I wonder where we will spend our vacation?" spoke Mollie. + +"We'll talk about that later," said Betty. "I hope we can be together, +and somewhere near the water." + +"If we only could get a motor boat!" sighed Grace. "Oh, Bet, if no one +claims that five hundred dollars maybe we can get a little launch with +it, and camp at Rainbow Lake." + +"I'm only afraid some one will claim it," spoke Betty. "I dropped papa a +card, telling him to send me a line in case a claimant did appear." + +"Oh, let's sit down and rest," proposed Mollie, a little later. "There's +a perfect dream of a view from here and it's so cool and shady." + +The others were agreeable, so they stopped beneath some big trees in a +grassy spot near the bank of the little stream. Grace took advantage of +the stop to mend a pair of stockings she was carrying with her. It was so +comfortable that they remained nearly an hour and would have stayed +longer only the Little Captain, with a look at her watch, decided that +they must get under way again. + +"Now it's noon!" exclaimed Grace, when they had covered two miles after +their rest. "Mollie, open the lunch and let's see what it contains." + +There was a startled cry from Mollie. A clasping of her hands, a raising +of her almost tragic eyes, and she exclaimed: + +"Oh, girls, forgive me! I forgot the lunch! I left it back there where we +rested in the shade!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIV + +THE BROKEN RAIL + + +Dumb amazement held the girls in suspense for a moment. Then came a +chorus of cries. + +"Mollie, you never did that!" + +"Forgot our lunch!" + +"And we're so hungry!" + +"Oh, Mollie, how could you?" + +"You don't suppose I did it on purpose; do you?" flashed back the guilty +one, as she looked at the three pairs of tragic, half-indignant and +hopeless eyes fastened on her. + +"Of course you didn't," returned Betty. "But, oh, Mollie, is it really +gone? Did you leave it there?" + +"Well, I haven't it with me, none of you have, and I don't remember +picking it up after we slumped down there in the shade. Consequently I +must have left it there. There's no other solution. It's like one of +those queer problems in geometry, or is it algebra, where things that are +equal to the same thing are equal to each other," and she laughed with +just the hint of hysteria. + +"But what are we to do?" demanded Grace. "I am so hungry, and I know +there were chicken sandwiches, and olives, in that lunch. Oh, Mollie!" + +"Oh, Mollie!" mocked the negligent one. "If you say that +again--that way--" + +Her temper was rising but, by an effort, she conquered it and smiled. + +"I am truly sorry," she said. "Girls, I'll do anything to make up for it. +I'll run back and get the lunch--that is, if it is there yet." + +"Don't you dare say it isn't!" cried Betty. + +"Why can't we all go back?" suggested Amy. "Really it won't delay us so +much--if we walk fast. And that was a nice place to eat. There was a +lovely spring just across the road. I noticed it. We could make tea--" + +"Little comforter!" whispered Betty, putting her arms around the other. +"We will all go back. The day is so perfect that there's sure to be a +lovely moon, and we can stop somewhere and telephone to your cousin if we +find we are going to be delayed. She has an auto, I believe you said, and +she might come and get us." + +"Stop!" commanded Mollie. "We are a walking club, not a carriage or auto +club. We'll walk." + +"Then let's put our principles into practice and start now," proposed +Grace. "We'll have a good incentive in the lunch at the end of this +tramp. Come on!" + +There was nothing to do but retrace their steps. True, they might have +stopped at some wayside restaurant, but such places were not frequent, +and such as there were did not seem very inviting. And Aunt Sallie had +certainly put up a most delectable lunch. + +The girls reached the spot where they had stopped for a rest, much sooner +than they had deemed it possible. Perhaps they walked faster than usual. +And, as they came in sight of the quiet little grassy spot, Mollie +exclaimed: + +"Oh, girls, I see it. Just where I so stupidly left it; near that big +rock. Hurry before someone gets there ahead of us!" + +They broke into a run, but a moment later Grace cried: + +"Too late! That tramp has it!" + +The girls stopped in dismay, as they saw a rather raggedly-dressed man +slink out from the shadow of a tree and pick up the lunch valise. He +stood regarding it curiously. + +"Oh, dear!" cried Grace. "And I was so hungry!" + +Betty strode forward. There was a look of determination on her face. +She spoke: + +"Girls, I'm not going to let that tramp take our lovely lunch. Come on, +and I'll make him give it back!" + +"Betty!" cried Amy. "You'd never dare!" + +"I wouldn't? Watch me!" + +The man was still standing there, looking at the valise as if in doubt +whether or not to open it. Betty with a glance at her chums walked on. +They followed. + +"That--that's ours, if you please," said Betty. Her voice was weaker than +she had thought it would be, and quite wobbly, too. Her knees, she +confessed later, were in the same state. But she presented a brave front. +"That--that's our lunch," she added, swallowing a lump in her throat. + +The man--he certainly looked like a tramp, as far as his clothes were +concerned, but his face was clean--turned toward the girls with a smile. + +"Your lunch!" he exclaimed, and his voice was not unmusical, "how +fortunate!" + +He did not say whether it was fortunate for them--or himself. + +"We--we forgot it. We left it here," explained Mollie. "That is, I +left it here." + +"That is--unfortunate," said the man. "It seems--it seems to be a fairly +substantial lunch," and he moved the bag up and down. + +"It ought to be--for four of us," breathed Amy. + +"Allow me," spoke the man, and with a bow he handed the missing lunch to +Betty. The girls said afterward that her hand did not tremble a bit as +she accepted it. And then the Little Captain did something most +unexpected. + +"Perhaps you are hungry, too," she said, with one of her winning smiles, +a smile that seemed to set her face in a glow of friendliness. "We are +on a tramping tour--I mean a walking tour," she hastily corrected +herself, feeling that perhaps the man would object to the word "tramp." +She went on: + +"We are on a walking tour, visiting friends and relatives. We generally +take a lunch at noon." + +"Yes, that seems to be the universal custom," agreed the man. "That is, +for some persons," and he smiled, showing his white teeth. + +"Are you--are you hungry?" asked Betty, bluntly. + +"I am!" He spoke decidedly. + +"Then perhaps--I'm sure we have more here than we can eat--and we'll +soon--I mean comparatively soon--be at a friend's house--perhaps--" + +She hesitated. + +"I would be very glad," and again the man bowed. + +Betty opened the little satchel--it was a miniature suitcase--and a +veritable wealth of lunch was disclosed. There were sandwiches without +number, pickles, olives, chunks of cake, creamy cheese-- + +"Are you sure you can spare it?" asked the man. "I'm sure I don't +want to--" + +"Of course we can spare it," put in Mollie, quickly. + +"Well then I will admit that I am hungry," spoke the unknown. "I am not +exactly what I seem," he added. + +Betty glanced curiously at him. + +"Don't be alarmed," he went on quickly. "I am not exactly sailing under +false colors except in a minor way. Now, for instance, you took me for a +tramp; did you not?" He paused and smiled. + +"I--I think we did," faltered Mollie. + +"And I don't blame you. I have, for the time being, assumed the +habiliments of a knight of the road, for certain purposes of my own. I +am--well, to be frank, I am trying to find something. In order to carry +out my plans I have even begged my way, and, not always successfully. +In fact--" + +"You are hungry!" exclaimed Grace, and her chums said she made a move as +though to bring out some chocolates. Grace, later, denied this. + +"I am hungry," confessed the tramp--as he evidently preferred to appear. + +Betty took out a generous portion of food. + +"It is too much," the wayfarer protested. + +"Not at all," Betty insisted. "We have a double reason for giving it to +you. First, you are hungry. Second, please accept it as a reward for--" + +"For not eating all of your lunch after I found it, I suppose you were +going to say," put in the man, with a smile. "Very well, then I'll +accept," and he bowed, not ungracefully. + +He had the good taste--or was it bashfulness--to go over to a little +grove of trees to eat his portion. Grace wanted to take him a cup of +chocolate--which they made instead of tea--but Betty persuaded her not +to. The girls ate their lunch, to be interrupted in the midst of it by +the man who called a good-bye to them as he moved off down the road. + +"He's going," remarked Amy. "I wonder if he had enough?" + +"I think so," replied Betty. "Now, girls, we must hurry. We have been +delayed, and--" + +"I'm so sorry," put in Mollie. "It was my fault, and--" + +"Don't think of it, my dear!" begged Grace. "Any of us might have +forgotten the lunch, just as you did." + +As they walked past the place which the tramp had selected for his dining +room, Betty saw some papers on the ground. They appeared to be letters, +and, rather idly, she picked them up. She looked into one or two of the +torn envelopes. + +"I wouldn't do that," said Grace. "Maybe those are private letters. He +must have forgotten them. I wonder where he has gone? Perhaps we can +catch him--he might need these papers. But I wouldn't read them, Betty." + +"They're nothing but advertising circulars," retorted the Little Captain. +"Nothing very private about them. I guess he threw them all away." + +She was about to let them fall from her hand, when a bit of paper +fluttered from one envelope. Picking it up Betty was astonished to read +on the torn portion the words: + +"_I cannot carry out that deal I arranged with you, because I have had +the misfortune to lose five hundred dollars and I shall have to_--" + +There the paper, evidently part of a letter to someone, was torn off. +There were no other words. + +"Girls!" cried Betty, "look--see! This letter! That man may be the one +whose money we found! He has written about it--as nearly as I can recall, +the writing is like that in the note pinned to the five hundred dollars. +Oh, we must find that tramp!" + +"He wasn't a tramp!" exclaimed Grace. + +"No, I don't believe he was, either," admitted Betty. "That's what he +meant when he spoke of his disguise, and looking for something. He's +hunting for his five hundred dollars. Oh, dear! which way did he go?" + +"Toward Middleville," returned Amy. + +"Then we must hurry up and catch him. We can explain that we have +his money." + +"But are you sure it is his?" asked Mollie. + +"This looks like it," said Betty, holding out the torn letter. + +"But some one else might have lost five hundred dollars," +protested Grace. + +"Come on, we'll find him, and ask him about it, anyhow," suggested +Betty. "Middleville is on our way. Oh, to think how things may turn out! +Hurry, girls!" + +They hastily gathered up their belongings and walked on, talking of their +latest adventure. + +"He was real nice looking," said Mollie. + +"And quite polite," added Amy. + +"And do you think he may be traveling around like a tramp, searching for +that bill?" asked Grace. + +"It's possible," declared Betty: "Perhaps he couldn't help looking like a +tramp, because if he has lost all his money he can't afford any other +clothes. Oh, I do hope we find him!" + +But it was a vain hope. They did not see the man along the road, and +inquiries of several persons they met gave no trace. Nor had he +reached Middleville, as far as could be learned. If he had, no one had +noticed him. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Betty, when they had exhausted all possibilities, "I +did hope that money mystery was going to be solved. Now it's as far off +as ever. But I'll keep this torn piece of letter for evidence. Poor +fellow! He may have built great hopes on that five hundred dollar +bill--then to lose it!" + +They went to the house of Amy's cousin in Middleville. There they spent +an enjoyable evening, meeting some friends who had been invited in. Amy +said nothing about the disclosure to her of the strange incident in her +life. Probably, she reflected, her relative already knew it. + +Morning saw them on the move again, with Broxton, where a married sister +of Grace lived, as their objective point. The day was cloudy, but it did +not seem that it would rain, at least before night. + +And even the frown of the weather did not detract from the happiness +of the chums. They laughed and talked as they walked on, making merry +by the way. + +Stopping in a country store to make sure of their route they were +informed that by taking to the railroad track for a short distance they +could save considerable time. + +"Then we ought to do it," decided Betty, "for we don't want to get caught +in the rain," and she glanced up at the clouds that were now more +threatening. + +They reached the railroad track a short distance out of the little +village, and proceeded down the stretch of rails. + +"There's a train in half an hour," a man informed them, "but you'll be +off long before then." + +"I hope so," murmured Amy. + +They had nearly reached the end of the ballasted way, when Betty, who was +in the lead, came to a sudden halt. + +"What is it," asked Mollie, "a snake? Oh, girls!" + +"No, not a snake," was the quick answer. "But look! This rail is broken! +It must have cracked when the last train passed. And another one--an +express--is due soon! If it runs over that broken rail it may be wrecked! +Girls, we've got to stop that train!" and she faced her chums resolutely. + + + + +CHAPTER XV + +"IT'S A BEAR!" + + +"What can we do?" It was Grace who asked the question. It was Betty, the +Little Captain, who answered it. + +"We must stop the train," she said. "We must wave something red at it. +Red always means danger." + +"Mollie's tie," exclaimed Amy. Mollie was wearing a bright vermilion +scarf knotted about the collar of her blouse. + +"It isn't big enough," decided Betty. "But we must do something. That man +said the train would come along soon. It's an express. A slow train might +not go off the track, as the break is only a small one. But the +express--" + +She paused suggestively--apprehensively. + +"There's a man!" cried Grace. + +"A track-walker!" cried Betty. "Oh, he'll know what to do," and she +darted toward a man just appearing around the curve--a man with a sledge, +and long-handled wrench over his shoulder. + +"Hey! Hey!" Betty called. "Come here. There's a broken rail!" + +The man broke into a run. + +"What's that?" he called. "Got your foot caught in a rail? It's a frog--a +switch that you mean. Take off your shoe!" + +"No, we're not caught!" cried Betty, in shrill accent. "The rail +is broken!" + +The track-walker was near enough now to hear her correctly. And, +fortunately, he understood, which might have been expected of him, +considering his line of work. + +"It's a bad break," he affirmed, as he looked at it, "Sometimes the heat +of the sun will warp a rail, and pull out the very spikes by the roots, +ladies. That's what happened here. Then a train--'twas the local from +Dunkirk--came along and split the rail. 'Tis a wonder Jimmie Flannigan +didn't see it. This is his bit of track, but his wife is sick and I said +I'd come down to meet him with a bite to eat, seein' as how she can't put +up his dinner. 'Tis lucky you saw it in time, ladies." + +"But what about the train?" asked Betty. + +"Oh, I'll stop that all right. I'll flag it, and Jimmie and me'll put in +a new rail. You'll be noticin' that we have 'em here and there along the +line," and he showed them where, a little distance down the track, there +were a number placed in racks made of posts, so that they might not rust. + +From his pocket the track-walker pulled a red flag. It seemed that he +carried it there for just such emergencies. He tied it to his pick +handle, and stuck the latter in the track some distance away from the +broken rail. + +"The engineer'll see that," he said, "and stop. Now I'll go get Jimmie +and we'll put in a new rail. You young ladies--why, th' railroad +company'll be very thankful to you. If you was to stop here now, and the +passengers of the train were told of what you found--why, they might even +make up a purse for you. They did that to Mike Malone once, when he +flagged the Century Flier when it was goin' to slip over a broken bridge. +I'll tell 'em how it was, and how you--" + +"No--no--we can't stay!" exclaimed Betty. "If you will look after the +broken rail we'll go on. We must get to Broxton." + +"Oh, sure, it'll not take the likes of you long to be doin' that," +complimented the man, with a trace of brogue in his voice. "You look +equal to doin' twice as much." + +"Well, we don't want to be caught in the rain," spoke Mollie. + +"Ah, 'twill be nothin' more than a sun shower, it will make your +complexions better--not that you need it though," he hastened to add. +"Good luck to you, and many thanks for tellin' me about this broken rail. +'Tis poor Jimmie who'd be blamed for not seein' it, and him with a sick +wife. Good-bye to you!" + +The girls, satisfied that the train would be flagged in time, soon left +the track, the last glimpse they had of the workman being as he hurried +off to summon his partner to replace the broken rail. + +That he did so was proved a little later, for when the girls were walking +along the road that ran parallel to the railroad line some distance +farther on, the express dashed by at a speed which seemed to indicate +that the engineer was making up for lost time. + +Several days later the girls read in a local paper of how the train had +been stopped while two track-walkers fitted a perfect rail in place of +the broken one. And something of themselves was told. For the +track-walker they had met had talked of the young ladies he had met, and +there was much printed speculation about them. + +"I'm glad we didn't give our names," said Grace. "Our folks might have +worried if they had read of it." + +"But we might have gotten a reward," said Mollie. + +"Never mind--we have the five hundred dollars," exclaimed Grace. + +"It may already be claimed," spoke Betty. + +When they had seen the express go safely by, thankful that they had had a +small share in preventing a possible loss of life, the girls continued on +their way. They stopped for lunch in a little grove of trees, brewing +tea, and partaking of the cake, bread and meat Amy's cousin had provided. +Amy had torn her skirt on a barbed wire fence and the rent was sewed up +beside the road. + +The clouds seemed to be gathering more thickly, and with rather +anxious looks at the sky the members of the Camping and Tramping Club +hastened on. + +"Girls, we're going to get wet!" exclaimed Mollie, as they passed a +cross-road, pausing to look at the sign-board. + +"And it's five miles farther on to Broxton!" said Amy. "Can we +ever make it?" + +"I think so--if we hurry," said Betty. "A little rain won't hurt us. +These suits are made to stand a drenching." + +"Then let's walk fast," proposed Grace. + +"She wouldn't have said that with those other shoes," remarked +Amy, drily. + +"Got any candy?" demanded Mollie. "I'm hungry!" + +Without a word Grace produced a bag of chocolates. It was surprising how +she seemed to keep supplied with them. + +The girls were hurrying along, now and then looking apprehensively at the +fast-gathering and black clouds, when, as they turned a bend in the road, +Amy, who was walking beside Grace, cried out: + +"Oh, it's a bear! It's a bear!" + +"What's that--a new song?" demanded Mollie, laughing. + +"No--look! look!" screamed Amy, and she pointed to a huge, hairy creature +lumbering down the middle of the highway. + + + + +CHAPTER XVI + +THE DESERTED HOUSE + + +The girls screamed in concert, and whose voice was the loudest was a +matter that was in doubt. Not that the Little Captain and her chums +lingered long to determine. The bear stopped short in the middle of the +road, standing on its hind legs, waving its huge forepaws, and lolling +its head from side to side in a sort of Comical amazement. + +"Run! Run!" screamed Betty. "To the woods!" + +"Oh! Oh! Oh!" That seemed the extent of Mollie's vocabulary just then. + +"Climb a tree," was the advice of Grace. + +"Is he coming? Is it coming after us?" Amy wanted to know. + +She glanced over her shoulder as she put the question, and there +nearly followed an accident, for Amy was running, and the look back +caused her to stumble. Betty, who was racing beside her, just managed +to save her chum from a bad fall. All the girls were running--running +as though their lives depended on their speed. Luckily they wore +short, walking skirts, which did not hinder free movement, and they +really made good speed. + +[Illustration: THE BEAR STOPPED SHORT IN THE MIDDLE OF THE ROAD.] + +They crossed the road and plunged into the underbrush, crashing through +it in very terror. They clung to their small suitcases instinctively. +Then suddenly, as they ran on, there came the clear notes of a bugle in +an army call. Betty recalled something. + +"Stop, girls!" she cried. + +"What, with that bear after us?" wailed Grace. "Never!" + +"It's all right--I tell you it's all right!" went on Betty. + +"Oh, she's lost her mind! She's so frightened she doesn't know what she +is saying!" exclaimed Mollie. "Oh, poor Betty!" + +"Silly! Stop, I tell you. That bear--" + +Again came the notes of the bugle, and then the girls, looking through +the fringe of trees at the road, saw a man with a red jacket, and wearing +a hat in which was a long feather, come along, and grasp a chain that +dangled from the leather muzzle which they had failed to notice on the +bear's nose. + +"It's a tame bear!" cried Betty. "That's what I meant. He won't harm us. +Come on back to the road! Oh, I've torn my skirt!" and she gazed ruefully +at a rent in the garment. + +The girls hesitated a moment, and then, understanding the situation, and +being encouraged by the fact that the man now had his bear in charge, +also seeing another man, evidently the mate of the first, approaching +with a second bear, they all went back to the highway. The bugle blew +again, and one of the bears, at a command from the man, turned a clumsy +somersault. + +Grace burst into hysterical laughter, in which she was joined by +the others. + +"Weren't we silly!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"Oh, but it looked just like a real bear!" gasped Amy in self-defense. + +"Listen to her," said Betty. "A real bear--why, of course it is. Did you +think it was the Teddy variety?" + +"Oh, you know what I mean," spoke Amy, "I thought it was a wild bear." + +"It probably was--once," remarked Grace. + +They were all out in the road now, and the two men, with the bears, were +slowly approaching. Evidently the foremost man had seen the precipitate +flight of the girls, so, taking off his hat, and bowing with foreign +politeness, he said: + +"Excuse--please. Juno him get away from me--I chase after--I catch. +Excuse, please." + +"That's all right," said Betty, pleasantly. "We were frightened for +a minute." + +"Verra sorry. Juno made the dance for the ladies!" + +He blew some notes on a battered brass horn, and began some foreign +words in a sing-song tone, at which the bear moved clumsily about on its +hind feet. + +"Juno--kiss!" the man cried. + +The great shaggy creature extended its muzzle toward the man's face, +touching his cheek. + +"Excuse--please," said the bear-trainer, smiling. + +"Come on girls," suggested Amy. The place was rather a lonely one, though +there were houses just beyond, and the two men, in spite of their bows, +did not seem very prepossessing. + +With hearts that beat rapidly from their recent flight and excitement, +the girls passed the bears, the men both taking off their hats and +bowing. Then the strange company was lost to sight down a turn in the +road, the notes of the bugles coming faintly to the girls. + +"Gracious! That _was_ an adventure!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"I thought I should faint," breathed Amy. + +"Have a chocolate--do," urged Grace. + +"They're nourishing," and she held out some. + +"Girls, we must hurry," spoke Betty, "or we'll never get to Broxton +before the rain. Hurry along!" + +They walked fast, passing through the little village of Chanceford, +where they attracted considerable attention. It was not every day +that four such pretty, and smartly-attired, girls were seen on the +village main street--the only thoroughfare, by the way. Then they +came to the open country again. They had been going along at a good +pace, and were practically certain of reaching Grace's sister's house +in time for supper. + +"It's raining!" suddenly exclaimed Betty, holding up her hand to +make sure. + +A drop splashed on it. Then another. Amy looked up into the clouds +overhead. + +"Oh!" she cried. "A drop fell in my eye." + +Then with a suddenness that was surprising, the shower came down hard. +Little dark spots mottled the white dust of the road. + +"Run!" cried Mollie. "There's a house. We can stay on the porch until the +rain passes. The people won't mind." + +A little in advance, enclosed with a neat red fence, and setting back +some distance from the road was a large, white house, with green +shutters. The windows in front were open, as was the front door, and +from one casement a lace curtain flapped in the wind. + +"Run! Run! We'll be drenched!" cried Grace, thinking of her new walking +suit. Without more ado the girls hurried through the gate, up the gravel +walk and got to the porch just as the rain reached its maximum. It was +coming down now in a veritable torrent. + +"Queer the people here don't shut their door," remarked Betty. + +"And see, the rain is coming in the parlor window," added Amy. + +"Maybe they don't know it," suggested Grace. "Oh, the wind is blowing the +rain right in on us!" she cried. + +"I wonder if it would be impertinent to walk in?" suggested Mollie. + +"We at least can knock and ask--they won't refuse," said Betty. "And +really, with the wind this way, the porch is no protection at all." + +She rapped on the open door. There was no response and she tapped +again--louder, to make it heard above the noise of the storm. + +"That's queer--maybe no one is at home," said Grace. + +"They would hardly go off and leave the house all open, when it looked so +much like rain," declared Amy. "Suppose we call to them? Maybe they are +upstairs." + +The girls were now getting so wet that they decided not to stand on +ceremony. They went into the hall, through the front door. There was a +parlor on one side, and evidently a sitting room on the other side of the +central hall. + +"See that rain coming in on the curtains and carpets!" cried Betty. +"Girls, we must close the windows," and she darted into the parlor. +The others followed her example, and soon the house was closed against +the elements. + +Breathless the girls waited for some sign or evidence of life in the +house. There was none. The place was silent, the only sound being the +patter of the rain and the sighing of the wind. The girls looked at each +other. Then Betty spoke: + +"I don't believe there's a soul here!" she exclaimed. "Not a soul! The +house is deserted!" + + + + +CHAPTER XVII + +IN CHARGE + + +"No one here? What do you mean?" + +"Betty Nelson, what a strange thing to say!" + +"Of course there must be some one here. They're only upstairs, maybe, +shutting the windows there." + +Thus spoke Mollie, Grace and Amy in turn. Betty listened patiently, and +then suggested: + +"Just hearken for a minute, and see if you think anyone is upstairs +shutting windows." + +Then all listened intently. There was not a sound save that caused by the +storm, which seemed to increase in fury instead of diminishing. + +"There is no one here," went on Betty positively. "We are all alone in +this house." + +"But where can the people be?" asked Grace. "They must be people living +here," and she looked around at the well-kept, if somewhat +old-fashioned, parlor. + +"Of course the house is lived in--and the people must have left it only +recently," said Betty. "That's evident." + +"Why did they go off and leave it?" asked Mollie. + +"That's the mystery of it," admitted Betty. "It's like the mystery of the +five hundred dollar bill. We've got to solve it." + +"Perhaps--" began Amy in a gentle voice. + +"Well?" asked Betty encouragingly. + +"Maybe the lady was upstairs shutting the windows when she saw the storm +coming, and she fell, or fainted or something like that." + +"That's so!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"We'll look," decided Betty. + +"Betty!" chorused Grace and Amy. + +"Why not?" the Little Captain challenged. "We've got to get at the +bottom of this." + +"But suppose we should find her--find some one up there in a--faint," and +Amy motioned toward the upper rooms. + +"All the more reason for helping them," said practical Betty. "They may +need help. Come on!" + +The girls left their things in the hall, and, rather timidly, it must be +confessed, ascended the stairs. But they need not have been afraid of +seeing some startling sight. The upper chambers were as deserted as the +rooms below. In short, a careful examination throughout the house failed +to disclose a living creature, save a big Maltese cat which purred and +rubbed in friendly fashion against the girls. + +"The house is deserted!" declared Betty again. "We are in sole and +undisputed possession, girls. We're in charge!" + +"For how long?" asked Amy. + +"Until this storm is over, anyhow. We can't go out in that downpour," and +Betty glanced toward the window against which the rain was dashing +furiously. "We must close down the sashes here, too!" she exclaimed, for +one or two were open, and the water was beating in. + +"What can have happened?" murmured Mollie. "Isn't it strange?" + +"I've no doubt it can be explained simply," said Betty. "The woman who +lives here may have gone to a neighbor's house and failed to notice the +time. Then she may be storm-bound, as we are." + +"No woman would remain at a neighbor's house, and leave her own alone, +with a lot of windows up, the front door open and a beating rain coming +down," said Grace, positively. "Not such a neat housekeeper as the woman +here seems to be; she'd come home if she was drenched," and she glanced +around the well-ordered rooms. + +"You've got to think up a different reason than that, Betty Nelson." + +"Besides, what of the men folks?--there are men living here--at least +one, for there's a hat on the front rack," put in Amy. "Where are the +men, or the man?" + +"They'll be along at supper time," declared Betty. + +"Besides, maybe that hat is just kept there to scare tramps," said Grace. +"I've often heard of a lone woman borrowing a man's hat--when she didn't +have--didn't want, or couldn't get a man." + +"That's so," admitted Betty. "But, speaking of supper reminds me--what +are we going to do about ours?" + +"It is getting nearly time," murmured Mollie. "But we simply can't tramp +through that rain to your sister's house, Grace." + +"No, we'll have to wait. Oh, dear! Isn't this a queer predicament to be +in, and not a chocolate left?" she wailed, as she looked in the box. +"Empty!" she cried quite tragically. + +The rain still descended. It was not, for the moment, pouring as hard as +at first, but there was a steadiness and persistency to it that did not +encourage one in the belief that it would soon stop. The big drops dashed +against the windows intermittently, as the wind rose and fell. + +Around one angle of the house the gale howled quite fiercely, and in the +parlor, where there was an open fireplace, it came down in gusts, sighing +mournfully out into the room, with its old horsehair furniture, the +pictures of evidently dead-and-gone relatives, in heavy gold frames, +while in other frames were fearfully and wonderfully made wreaths of +flowers--wax in some cases, and cloth in the remainder, being the medium +in which nature was rather mocked than simulated. + +The girls stood at the windows, staring drearily out. They could just see +a house down the road on the other side. In the other direction no +residences were visible--just an expanse of rain-swept fields. And there +seemed to be no passers-by--no teams on the winding country road. + +"Oh, but this is lonesome," said Amy, with a sigh. + +"Girls, what are we to do?" demanded Mollie. + +"We simply must go on to my sister's," declared Grace. "What will she +think, if we don't come?" + +As if in answer, the storm burst into another spasm of fury, the +rain coming down in "sheets, blankets and pillow cases," as Mollie +grimly put it. + +"We can never go--in this downpour," declared Betty. "It would be sheer +madness--foolishness, at any rate. We would be drenched in an instant, +and perhaps take cold." + +"If there was only some way to let your sister know," spoke Mollie. "I +wonder if there's a telephone?" + +It needed but a little survey to disclose that there was none. + +"If we could only see someone--send for a covered carriage, or send some +word--" began Amy. + +"Oh, well, for the matter of my sister worrying, that doesn't amount to +much," interrupted Grace. "When I wrote I told her it was not exactly +certain just what day we would arrive, as I thought we might spend more +time in some places than in others. That part is all right. What's +worrying me is that we can't get to any place to spend the night--we +can't have any supper--we--" + +"Girls!" cried Betty, with sudden resolve, "there is only one +thing to do!" + +"What's that?" the others chorused. + +"Stay here. We'll get supper here--there must be food in the house. If +the people come back we'll ask them to keep us over night--there's +room enough." + +"And if they don't come?" asked Amy, shivering a little. + +"Then we'll stay anyhow!" cried the Little Captain. "We are in charge and +we can't desert now." + + + + +CHAPTER XVIII + +RELIEVED + + +That Betty's suggestion was the most sensible one which could have been +made they were all willing to admit when they had thought of it for a +little while. + +"Of course it is possible for us to go out in this storm, and tramp on to +Broxton," said Betty. "But would it be wise?" + +"Indeed not!" exclaimed Grace, as she glanced down at her trim suit, +which the little wetting received in the dash to the house had not +spoiled. "If we were boys we might do it, but, as it is--" + +"I won't admit that we can't do it because we are _not_ boys," said +Betty. "Only just--" + +"Only we're just not going out in this storm!" said Mollie, decidedly. +"We'll stay here, and if the people come back, and make a fuss, we'll +pay, just as we would at a hotel. They won't be mean enough to turn us +out, I think." + +"We'll stay--and get supper," cried Betty. "Come on, I'm getting +hungrier every minute!" + +"If the people do come," remarked Amy, "they ought to allow us something +for taking care of their house--I mean if they attempt to charge us as a +hotel would, we can tell them how we shut the windows--" + +"At so much per window," laughed Mollie. "Oh, you are the queerest girl!" +and she hugged her. + +"Well, let's get supper," proposed Betty again. "It will soon be dark, +and it isn't easy going about a strange house in the dark." + +"There are lamps," said Mollie, pointing to several on a shelf in +the kitchen. + +"Oh, I didn't exactly mean that," went on Betty, rolling up her sleeves. +"Now to see what's in the ice box--at least, I suppose there is an ice +box. There's a fire in the stove, and we can cook. Oh, girls! It's going +to be real jolly after all!" + +"And how it does rain!" exclaimed Amy. "We never could have gone on in +this drenching downpour." + +It was an exceedingly well-ordered house, and the girls, who had been +wisely trained at home, had no difficulty in locating an ample supply of +food. They invaded the cellar, and found plenty of canned fruit, tomatoes +and other things. There were hams, shoulders of bacon, eggs, and some +fresh meat. Great loaves of evidently home-made bread were in the pantry. + +"We shall dine like kings!" cried Grace. + +"Better than some kings," said Betty. "Only I don't see any chocolates, +Grace," and she laughed. + +"Smarty!" was the other's retort, but she laughed also. + +Such a jolly meal as it was! The girls, once they had decided in their +minds to make the best of a queer situation, felt more at home. They +laughed and joked, and when supper was over, the dishes washed, and the +lamps lighted, they gathered in the old-fashioned parlor, and Betty +played on a melodeon that gave forth rather doleful sounds. + +However, she managed to extract some music from its yellowed keys, and +the girls sang some simple little part-songs. + +"Too bad we haven't an audience," murmured Grace, as they ended up with +"My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean." + +"The rain is audience enough," spoke Mollie. "As for someone's Bonnie +lying over the _ocean_--the yard is a perfect _lake_!" she went on, +looking from the window. + +"It would have been foolish to go on," said Betty. "I am glad we have +such a comfortable place." + +And comfortable it certainly was. The house, while a typical country +residence, was very convenient and well ordered. Careful people lived in +it--that was easy to see. And as the rain pelted down, the girls sat +about, the cat purring contentedly near them, and a cheerful fire burning +on the hearth in the parlor. + +"I hope they won't make a fuss about the liberties we are taking," said +Mollie, putting some extra sticks on the blaze. "Some persons never open +their parlors in the country." + +"These people don't seem of that sort," said Amy. "At least, the parlor +was open enough when we closed the windows." + +"And how it rains!" murmured Grace, with a little nervous shiver. + +"Suppose the people come back in the middle of the night?" asked Mollie. +"They'll think we are burglars." + +"We must leave a light burning," decided Betty, "and a note near it +explaining why we came in and that we are asleep upstairs. Then they +will know." + +That was decided on as the best plan, and it was carried out. The girls +went to bed, but it was some time before they got to sleep, though +finally the steady fall of rain wooed them to slumber. No one entered +during the night, and the morning came, still retaining the rain. + +"Will it ever clear?" asked Mollie, hopelessly. + +"The wind is changing," spoke Betty. "I think we can soon start." + +"But can we go away and leave the house alone?" asked Amy. "Ought we not +to stay until the owners come back?" + +"How can we tell when they will come back?" demanded Grace. "Besides, I +must let my sister know why we were detained." + +"I suppose we will have to go on," said Betty. "If the persons living +here didn't care about deserting their place we ought not to." + +"But what will they think when they come in and see that someone has been +here?" asked Mollie. + +"We must leave a note explaining, and also some money for the food +we took," decided Betty. "Or we can stop at the next house and tell +how it was." + +They debated these two plans for some time, finally deciding on part of +both. That is, they would leave a note and a sum of money that they +figured would pay for what they had eaten. They made no deduction for +closing the windows against the rain. They would also stop at the +nearest house and explain matters to the residents there, asking them to +communicate with the occupants of the deserted house. + +When this point had been reached, and when the note had been written, and +wrapped around the money, being placed in a conspicuous place in the +front hall, the girls were ready to leave. + +The rain had slackened, and there was a promise of fair weather. +Breakfast had been partaken of, and the dishes washed. The house was as +nearly like it had been as was possible to leave it. + +"Well, let's start," proposed Grace. + +They went towards the front door, and as they opened it they saw +advancing up the walk a lady with a large umbrella, a large carpet bag, +wearing a large bonnet and enveloped in the folds of a large shawl. She +walked with determined steps and as she came on she glanced toward the +house. As she saw the four girls on the porch she quickened her pace. + +"Girls, we're relieved," said Betty, in a low voice. "Here comes the +owner, or I'm much mistaken!" + + + + +CHAPTER XIX + +A LITTLE LOST GIRL + + +"What are you doing here? Who are you? How long have you been here? Is +Mrs. Black in there?" + +These questions were fairly shot at the girls, who stood in rather +embarrassed silence on the porch. The sun was now breaking through the +clouds in warm splendor, and they took this for a good omen. + +"Well, why don't you answer?" demanded the rather aggressive woman. "I +can't see what you are doing here!" + +She stuck her umbrella in the soft earth along the graveled walk. + +"We--we came in to shut the windows," said Amy, gently. + +A change came over the woman's face. She frowned--she smiled. She turned +about and looked toward the nearest house. Then she spoke. + +"Do you mean to tell me," she demanded, "that after I called her on the +telephone, Martha Black didn't come over, shut my windows, lock up my +house, and feed the cat? Didn't she?" + +"We don't know. I'm afraid we don't know Mrs. Black," answered Betty. She +was getting control of herself now. The aggressive woman had rather +startled her at first. + +"She lives down there," and the owner of the deserted house pointed +toward the nearest residence. + +"No one is here but us," said Betty. "We closed the windows, and we fed +the cat. We also fed ourselves, but we left the money to pay for it. +Shall I get it?" + +The woman stared at her blankly. + +"I--I'm afraid I don't understand," she returned, weakly. + +"I'll explain," said Betty, and she did, telling how they had come in +for shelter from the storm, how they had found the windows open, how +they had closed up the place and had eaten and slept in it. Now they +were going away. + +"Well if that doesn't beat all!" cried the woman, in wonder. + +"We couldn't understand how no one was at home," went on Betty. + +"Well, it's easy enough explained," said the woman. "I'm Mrs. Kate +Robertson. Yesterday afternoon I got a telephone message from Kirkville, +saying my husband, who works in the plaster mill there, was hurt. Of +course that flustered me. Hiram Boggs brought the message. Of course you +don't know him." + +"No," answered Betty, as Mrs. Robertson paused for breath. + +"Well, I was flustered, of course, naturally," went on the large lady. "I +just rushed out as I was, got into Hiram Bogg's rig--he drives good +horses, I will say that for him--I got in with him, just as I was, though +I will say I had all my housework done and was thinking what to get for +supper. I got in with Hiram, and made him drive me to the depot. I knew I +just had time to get the three-thirty-seven train. And I got it. And me +with only such things as I could grab up," she added, with a glance at +her attire, which, though old fashioned, was neat. + +"On my way to the station," she resumed, "I stopped at the drug store, +telephoned to Martha Black, and asked her to run over and close up my +house, for it looked like a storm." + +"It did rain," put in Mollie. + +"I should say it did. And Martha never closed my house?" It was a +direct question. + +"No, we did," said Betty. "Probably she forgot it." + +"I'll have to see. Well, anyhow, when I got to my husband I found he +wasn't much hurt after all. Still I stayed over night with him, as there +wasn't a train back. And when I saw you girls on my porch I couldn't +think what had happened. Are you a Votes for Women crowd?" + +"No," said Betty. "We're a walking club." + +"No politics?" + +"None whatever." + +"All right. Now, then, I'll see why Martha didn't come over. I can't +understand." + +"Perhaps this is she now," said Betty, as another woman was seen coming +up the walk. + +"It is," said Mrs. Robertson. "That's Martha Black." + +The two met. There was much talk, of which the girls caught some, and +then the explanation came. Mrs. Black had started to come over to Mrs. +Robertson's house to close the windows as she saw the rain, but, pausing +to attend to some household duties, she was a little late. Then she +looked over and saw the sashes shut down, and thought that Mrs. Robertson +had come back to attend to them herself. As the storm kept up, she did +not have a chance to call, and only on seeing Mrs. Robertson arrive did +she suspect anything wrong. Meanwhile the girls had been in charge, but +Mrs. Black was not aware of it. + +"Well, I must say I thank you," said Mrs. Robertson, to Betty and her +chums. "And as for me taking your money, I'd never dream of it! Won't you +stay to dinner?" + +"We must be off," replied Betty, and soon, after more talk and +explanations, and the return of the money left by the girls in the hall, +the travelers were on their way once more. + +"Well, I must say, they were neat and clean," observed Mrs. Robertson, as +she went through her house. "Real nice girls." + +But Betty and her chums did not hear this compliment. They went on to +visit the sister of Grace, who was not greatly alarmed at their delay, +though she was amused at the narrative of their experience. They remained +there over night, and the next day went on to Simpson's Corners, where +they were the guests of Betty's uncle. This was a typical country +settlement, and the girls only remained one night. Their next stopping +place was to be Flatbush, where Mollie's aunt lived. + +The weather was fine now, after the storm, and the roads pleasant through +the country. The grass was greener than ever, the trees fully in leaf, +and there were many birds to be heard singing. + +Save for minor adventures, such as getting on the wrong road once or +twice, and meeting a herd of cattle, which did them no harm, nothing of +moment occurred to the girls on their trip toward Flatbush. + +They had stopped for lunch in the little village of Mooretown, eating at +the roadside, under some great oak trees, and making chocolate instead of +tea for a change. Then came a rest period before they went forward again. + +They were within two miles of their destination, going along a peaceful +country road, arched with shady trees, and running parallel for a +distance with a little river, when Betty paused and called: + +"Hark! Listen! Someone is crying!" + +"Gracious, I hope it isn't the twins!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"Out here? Never!" said Grace. + +The crying increased, and then they all saw a little girl sitting on a +stone under a tree, sobbing as if her heart would break. Betty hurried up +to the tot. + +"What is the matter?" she asked, pillowing the tousled yellow head +on her arm. + +"I--I'se losted!" sobbed the little girl "P'ease take me home! +I'se losted!" + + + + +CHAPTER XX + +THE BOY PEDDLER + + +"What are we to do?" asked Amy, in dismay. + +"We can't leave her here," added Mollie, and at the word "leave" the +child broke into a fresh burst of tears. + +"I'se losted!" she sobbed. "I don't got no home! I tan't find muvver! +Don't go 'way!" + +"Bless your heart, we won't," consoled Betty, still smoothing the tousled +hair. "We'll take you home. Which way do you live?" + +"Dat way," answered the child, pointing in the direction from which the +girls had come. + +"Oh, dear!" exclaimed Grace. "Have we got to go all the way back again?" + +"Me live dere too!" exclaimed the lost child, indicating with one chubby +finger the other direction. + +"Gracious! Can she live in two places at once?" cried Mollie. +"What a child!" + +"She can't mean that," said Betty. "Probably she is confused, and +doesn't know what she is saying." + +"Me do know!" came from the tot, positively. She had stopped sobbing now, +and appeared interested in the girls. "Mamma Carrie live dat way, mamma +Mary live dat way," and in quick succession she pointed first in one +direction and then the other. + +"Oh, dear!" sighed Amy. "It's getting worse and worse!" + +"You can't have two mammas, you know," said Betty, gently. "Try and tell +us right dearie, and we'll take you home." + +"I dot two mammas," announced the child, positively. "Mamma Carrie live +down there, mamma Mary live off there. I be at mamma Carrie's house, and +I turn back, den I get losted. Take me home!" + +She seemed on the verge of tears again. + +"Here!" exclaimed Grace, in desperation. "Have a candy--do--two of them. +But don't cry. She reminds me of the twins," she added, with just the +suspicion of moisture in her own eyes. The lost child gravely accepted +two chocolates, one in each hand, and at once proceeded to get about as +much on the outside of her face as went in her mouth. She seemed more +content now. + +"I can't understand it," sighed Mollie. "Two mothers! Who ever heard of +such a thing?" + +"Me got two muvvers," said the child, calmly, as she took a bite first of +the chocolate in her left hand, and then a nibble from the one in the +right. "One live dat way--one live udder way." + +"What can she be driving at?" asked Amy. + +"There must be some explanation," said Betty, as she got up from the +stump on which she had been sitting, and placed the child on the ground. +"We'll take her a little distance on the way we are going," she went on. +"Perhaps we may meet someone looking for her." + +"And we can't delay too long," added Mollie. "It will soon be supper +time, and my aunt, where we are going to stay to-night, is quite a +fusser. I sent her a card, saying we'd be there, and if we don't arrive +she may call up our houses on the telephone, and imagine that all sorts +of accidents have befallen us." + +"But we can't leave her all alone on the road," spoke Betty, indicating +the child. + +"Don't 'eeve me!" pleaded the lost tot. "Me want one of my muvvers!" + +"It's getting worse and worse," sighed Mollie, wanting to laugh, but not +daring to. + +Slowly the girls proceeded in the direction they had been going. They +hoped they might meet someone who either would be looking for the child, +or else a traveler who could direct them properly to her house, or who +might even assume charge of the little one. For it was getting late and +the girls did not feel like spending the night in some strange place. It +was practically out of the question. + +They were going along, Betty holding one of the child's hands, the +other small fist tightly clutching some sticky chocolates, when a turn +of the road brought the outdoor girls in sight of a lad who was seated +on a roadside rock, tying a couple of rags around his left foot, which +was bleeding. + +Beside the boy, on the ground, was a pack such as country peddlers often +carry. The lad seemed in pain, for as the girls approached, their +footfalls deadened by the soft dust of the road, they heard him murmur: + +"Ouch! That sure does hurt! It's a bad cut, all right, and I don't see, +Jimmie Martin, how you're going to do much walking! Why couldn't you look +where you were going, and not step on that piece of glass?" + +He seemed to be finding fault with himself. + +"Gracious!" exclaimed Mollie. "I hope this isn't another lost one. We +seem to be getting the habit." + +"He appears able to look after himself," said Amy. + +The boy heard their voices and looked up quickly. Then, after a glance at +them, he went on binding up his foot. But at the sight of him the little +girl cried: + +"Oh, it's Dimmie! Dat's my Dimmie! He take me to my two muvvers!" She +broke away from Betty and ran toward the boy peddler. + +"Why, it's Nellie Burton!" the lad exclaimed. "Whatever are you +doing here?" + +"I'se losted!" announced the child, as though it was the greatest fun in +the world. "I'se losted, and dey found me, but dey don't know where my +two muvvers is. 'Oo take me home, Dimmie." + +"Of course I will, Nellie. That is, if I can walk." + +"Did oo hurt oo's foot?" + +"Yes, Nellie. I stepped on a piece of glass, and it went right through my +shoe. But it's stopped bleeding now." + +"Do you know this little girl?" asked Betty. "We found her down the road, +but she can't seem to tell us where she lives. First she points in one +direction and then the other, and--" + +"And we can't understand about her two mothers," broke in Mollie. "Do, +please, if you can, straighten it out. Do you know her?" + +"Yes, ma'am," answered the boy peddler, and his voice was pleasant. He +took off a rather ragged cap politely, and stood up on one foot, resting +the cut one on the rock. "She's Nellie Burton, and she lives about a +mile down that way," and he pointed in the direction from which the +girls had come. + +"I live dere sometimes," spoke the child, "and sometimes down dere," and +she indicated two directions. "I dot two muvvers." + +"What in the world does she mean?" asked Mollie, hopelessly. + +"That's what she always says," spoke the boy. "She calls one of her aunts +her mamma--it's her mother's sister, you see. She lives about a mile from +Nellie's house, and Nellie spends about as much time at one place as she +does at the other. She always says she has two mothers." + +"I _has_" announced the child, calmly, accepting another chocolate +from Grace. + +"And you know Nellie?" asked Betty, pointedly. + +"Yes," said the boy. "You see, I work through this part of the country. I +peddle writing paper, pens, pins, needles and notions," he added, +motioning to his pack. "I often stop at Nellie's house, and at her +aunt's, too. They're my regular customers," he added, proudly, and with +a proper regard for his humble calling. + +"I'm doing pretty well, too," he went on. "I've got a good trade, and I'm +thinking of adding to it. I'll take little Nellie back home for you," he +offered. "I'm going that way. Sometimes, when I'm late, as I am to-day, +her mother keeps me over night." + +"That's nice," said Betty. "We really didn't know what to do with her, +and we ought to be in Flatbush at my friend's aunt's house," and she +indicated Mollie. "Will you go with your little friend?" Betty asked of +the child. + +"Me go wif Dimmie," was the answer, confidently given. "Dimmie know +where I live." + +"But can you walk?" asked Amy, as they all noticed that the boy's foot +was quite badly cut. + +"Oh, I guess I can limp, if I can't walk," he said, bravely. "If I +had a bandage I might tie it up so I could put on my shoe. Then I'd +be all right." + +"Let me fix it," exclaimed Betty, impulsively. "I know something about +bandaging, and we have some cloth and ointment with us. I'll bandage up +your foot." + +"Oh, I couldn't think of troubling you!" he protested. "I--I guess I +can do it," but he winced with pain as he accidentally hit his foot on +the stone. + +"Now you just let me do it!" insisted the Little Captain. "You really +must, and you will have to walk to take Nellie home. That will be +something off our minds." + +"Maybe we can get a lift," suggested the boy. "Often the farmers let me +ride with them. There may be one along soon." + +"Let us hope so--for your sake as well as Nellie's," spoke Grace. "It's +really kind of you, and quite providential that we met you." + +"Yes, ma'am," replied the boy, looking from one pretty girl to the other. +"I'll take care of Nellie. I've known her for some time, you see. I +peddle around here a lot. My father's dead, I haven't got any relatives +except a sick aunt that I go to see once in a while, and I'm in business +for myself." + +"You are quite a little soldier," complimented Betty, as she got out the +bandages and salve. "You are very brave." + +"Oh, I haven't got any kick coming," he answered, with a laugh. "Of +course, this cut foot will make me travel slow for a while, and I can't +get to all my customers on time. But I guess they'll save their trade for +me--the regulars will. + +"I might be worse off," the lad continued, after a pause. "I might be in +as bad a hole as that fellow I saw on the train not long ago." + +"How was that?" asked Betty, more for the sake of saying something +rather than because she was interested. The boy himself had carefully +washed out the cut at a roadside spring, and as it was clean, the girl +applied the salve and was; skillfully wrapping the bandage around the +wound. "What man was that?" she added. + +"Why," said the boy, "I had a long jump to make from one town to another, +and, as there weren't any customers between, I rode in the train. The +only other passenger in our car was a young fellow, asleep. All of a +sudden he woke up in his seat, and begun hunting all through his pockets. +First I thought he had lost his ticket, for he kept hollerin', 'It's +gone! I've lost it! My last hope!' and all things like that. I was goin' +to ask him what it was, when he shouted, 'My five hundred dollar bill is +gone! and out of the car he ran, hoppin' off the train, which was +slowin' up at a station. That was tough luck, losin' five hundred +dollars. Of course I couldn't do it, for I never had it," the boy added, +philosophically, as he watched Betty adjusting the bandage. + + + + +CHAPTER XXI + +THE LETTER + + +The effect of the boy's words on the girls was electrical. Betty paused +midway in her first-aid work and stared at him. Grace, who had, +unconsciously perhaps, been eating some of her chocolates, dropped one +half consumed. Amy looked at Betty to see what the Little Captain would +do. Mollie murmured something in French; just what does not matter. + +"Did--did he really lose a five hundred dollar bill?" faltered Betty, as +she resumed her bandaging, but her hands trembled in spite of herself. + +"Well, that's what he said," replied the boy. "He sure did make an awful +fuss about it. I thought he was crazy at first, and when he ran and +jumped off the train I was sure of it." + +"Did he get hurt?" asked Amy, breathlessly. + +"No, ma'am, not as I could see. The train was slowing up at a station, +you know. I think it was Batesville, but I'm not sure." + +"That's the next station beyond Deepdale," murmured Grace. + +"What's that, ma'am?" asked the boy, respectfully. + +"Oh, nothing. We just know where it is, that's all. A five hundred dollar +bill! Fancy!" She glanced meaningly at her companions. + +"Well, that's what he hollered," said the boy. "And he was real +excited, too." + +"Did you know him?" asked Betty, as she finished with the bandage. + +"Never saw him before nor since. It was quite some time ago. I'd just +bought a new line of goods. Anyhow, I'm glad it wasn't me. I couldn't +afford to lose many five hundred dollar bills," and he laughed frankly. +"That's about as much as I make in a year--I mean, altogether," he said, +quickly, lest the girls get an exaggerated notion of the peddling +business. "I can't make that clear, though I hope to some time," he +said, proudly. + +"Me want to go home," broke in little Nellie. "Me want my muvvers." + +"All right, I'll take you to your real mother," spoke the boy peddler. "I +guess I can walk now, thank you," he said to Betty. "Couldn't I give you +something--some letter paper--a pencil. I've got a nice line of pencils," +he motioned toward his pack. + +"Oh, no, thank you!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"We are only too glad to help you," added Betty. "You have done us a +service in looking after the little girl." + +"To say nothing of the five hundred dollar bill," added Grace, in +a low tone. + +"Hush!" cautioned Betty, in a whisper. "Don't let him know anything +about it." + +"And you are sure you wouldn't know that man again?" asked Mollie. "I +mean the one you spoke of?" + +"Well, I'd know him if I saw him, but I'm not likely to. He was tall and +good looking, with a little black mustache. He got out of the train in a +hurry when he woke up. You see, he was sitting with his window open--it +was very hot--he fell asleep. I noticed him tossing around in his seat, +and every once in a while he would feel in his pocket. Then he hollered." + +"Maybe someone robbed him," suggested Betty, yet in her heart she knew +the bill she had found must belong to this unknown young man--the very +man to whom they had once given something to eat. + +"No one was in the car but him and me," said the boy, "and I know I +didn't get it. Maybe he didn't have it--or maybe it fell out of the +window. Anyhow, he cut up an awful row and rushed out. He might have +dreamed it." + +"Me want to go home!" whined Nellie. + +"All right--I'll take you," spoke the boy. "I can walk fine now. Thank +you very much," and he pulled on his shoe, gingerly enough, for the cut +was no small one. Then, shouldering his pack, and taking hold of Nellie's +hand--one having been refilled with chocolates by Grace--the boy peddler +moved off down the road limping, the girls calling out good-bys to him. + +"I hope it's all right--to let that child go off with him," said Mollie. + +"Of course it is," declared Betty. "That boy had the nicest, cleanest +face I've ever seen. And he must suffer from that cut." + +"Oh, I think it will be all right," said Amy. "You could trust that boy." + +"I agree with you," remarked Grace. "Fancy him seeing the man lose the +five hundred dollar bill we found!" she added. + +"Do you think it's the same one?" asked Betty. + +"I'm sure of it," said Mollie. + +"I guess I am too," admitted the Little Captain. "He was the tramp. Now I +will know what to do." + +"What?" chorused her chums. + +"Let the railroad company know about it. They must have had some +inquiries. I never thought of that before. Look, he is waving to us." + +"And little Nellie, too," added Grace. The boy and the little lost girl +had reached a turn in the road. They looked back to send a voiceless +farewell, the child holding trustingly to the boy's hand. + +"Come on!" exclaimed Mollie, as the two passed from sight. "We'll hardly +get to my aunt's in time for supper." + +And they hastened on. + +Somewhat to their relief they learned, on reaching the home of Mrs. +Mulford, in Flatbush--Mrs. Mulford being Mollie's aunt--that the boy +peddler was quite a well-known and much-liked local character. He was +thoroughly honest, and could be trusted implicitly. Some time later the +girls learned from Mollie's aunt that the little lost tot had reached +home safely, and that the boy had to remain at her house for a week to +recover from the cut on his foot. + +The mother of the lost child took quite an interest in Jimmie Martin, the +boy peddler, and looked after him, so the news came to Mrs. Mulford, who +had friends acquainted with the parents of the child who insisted she had +"two muvvers." + +So that little incident ended happily, and once more the outdoor girls +were left to pursue their way as they had started out. They stayed a day +with Mollie's aunt, a rain preventing comfortable progress, and when it +cleared they went on to Hightown, where they stopped with Grace's cousin. + +"And now for the camp!" exclaimed Betty, one morning, when they were +headed for Cameron, where a half-brother of Mr. Ford maintained a sort of +resort, containing bungalows, and tents, that he rented out. It was near +a little lake, and was a favorite place in summer, though the season was +too early for the regulars to be there. Mr. Ford had written to Harry +Smith, his half-brother, and arranged for the girls to occupy one of the +bungalows for several days. Mrs. Smith agreed to come and stay with them +as company. + +"Though we don't really need a chaperon," laughed Grace. "I think we can +look after ourselves." + +"It will be better to have her at the bungalow," said Betty, and so it +was arranged. + +Betty had written to the railroad company, asking if any report of a +lost sum of money had been received, and the answer she got was to +the contrary. + +"That leaves the five hundred dollar mystery as deep as ever," she said, +showing the letter to her chums. It had reached them at Hightown. + +"Maybe we should have told that boy peddler, and asked him to be on the +lookout," suggested Amy. + +"No, I do not think it would have been wise to let him have the facts," +said Betty. + +The girls found the camp in the woods a most delightful place. The +bungalow was well arranged and furnished, and, though there were no other +campers at that time, the girls did not mind this. + +"I'll write home and ask Will to come," said Grace. "He might like to +spend a few days here, and Uncle Harry said he could take a tent if +he liked." + +"Ask Frank Haley, too," suggested Amy. + +"And Percy Falconer!" added Mollie, with a sly glance at Betty. + +"Don't you dare!" came the protest. + +"I meant Allen Washburn," corrected Mollie. + +"He can't come--he has to take the bar examinations!" cried Betty, +quickly. + +"How do you know?" she was challenged. + +"He wrote--" and then Betty blushed and stopped. Her companions laughed +and teased her unmercifully. + +There was some mail for the girls awaiting them at Mr. Smith's house, +having been forwarded from Deepdale. And Betty's letter contained a +surprise. Among other things, her mother wrote: + +"There have been some inquiries made here about the five hundred dollar +bill. Down at the post-office the other day a man came in and posted a +notice, saying he had lost such a sum of money somewhere in this part +of the country. His name is Henry Blackford, and the address is +somewhere in New York State. It was on the notice, but some mischievous +boys got to skylarking and tore it off. Your father is going to look +into the matter." + +"Oh, maybe he'll find the owner of the money, after all!" cried Mollie. + +"Maybe," returned Betty. + + + + +CHAPTER XXII + +A PERILOUS LEAK + + +The boys came to the camp at Cameron--Will, Frank--and, as a +surprise--Allen Washburn. Betty could hardly believe it when she saw him, +but he explained that he had successfully passed his bar examinations, +and felt entitled to a vacation. Will had invited him on the receipt of +his sister's letter. + +"And we'll have some dandy times!" exclaimed Will. + +"What about the man looking for his five hundred dollars?" asked Grace, +for her brother and the other boys knew of the find, and also of the +notice put up in the post-office. + +"No one seems to know much about him," said Will, when he had been told +of Mrs. Nelson's letter. "He hurried in, stuck up that notice, and +hurried out again. Then some kids tore off the address." + +"He's crazy," affirmed Frank. + +"It does seem so," admitted Will. "He asked the postmaster if anyone had +found a big sum of money, and of course Mr. Rock--slow as he always +is--didn't think about the advertisement in the _Banner_. He said he +didn't know of anyone picking up a fortune, and the man hurried off." + +"I must write to him, if I can learn that address," said Betty. + +The weather continued exceptionally fine, and life in the woods, in the +tent for the boys and the bungalow for the girls, was well-nigh ideal. +They stayed there a week, enjoying the camping novelty to the utmost. At +night they would gather around a campfire and sing. Sometimes they went +out on the lake in a small launch Mr. Smith owned. + +Not far away was a resort much frequented by the summer colonists, and +though it was not yet in full swing there were some amusements opened. +These the young people enjoyed on several evenings. + +"Well, I do hope my new suitcase comes tomorrow," spoke Grace, for she +had written for one to be forwarded to her, containing fresh garments. + +"And I need some clothes!" cried Mollie. "This walking is harder on them +than you'd think." + +Fortunately the garments came on time, and in fresh outfits the girls +prepared to bid farewell to the camp, and once more proceed on their +way. The boys begged for permission to accompany them, but Betty was firm +in refusing. + +"We said we would make this tour all by ourselves," she declared, "and we +are going to do it. Some other time you boys may come along. But there is +only another day or so, and we will be back home. Please don't tease." + +The boys did, but that was all the good it availed them. The girls +were obdurate. + +From Cameron they were to go to Judgeville, a thriving town of about ten +thousand inhabitants. Betty's cousin lived there, and had planned a round +of gaieties for her young relative and friends. They were to stay three +days, and from there would keep on to Deepdale, thus completing the +circuit they had mapped out. + +So far they had been very fortunate, not much rain coming to interfere +with their progress. The morning they were to leave camp, however, the +weather changed, and for three miserable days they were compelled to +remain in the bungalow. + +Not that they stayed indoors all the while, for the travelers fully +merited the title, "Outdoor Girls," and they lived up to it. They tramped +even in the rain, and managed to have a good time. + +But the rain sent the boys home, for rain in a tent is most depressing, +and as all the other bungalows were being repaired, they could not live +in one with any comfort. + +But finally the sun came out, and the girls really set off on almost the +last stage of their tour. They expected to be in Judgeville at night, +though the walk was about the longest they had planned for any one day. + +Shortly before noon their way took them along a highway that paralleled +the railroad--the same line that ran to Deepdale. And, naturally, the +talk turned to the finding of the five hundred dollar bill. + +"Do you suppose we'll ever find the owner?" asked Mollie. + +"Of course we will!" exclaimed Betty. "It is only a question of time." + +Once or twice Amy looked back down the railroad track, and Grace, +noticing this, in the intervals of eating chocolate, finally asked: + +"What is it, Amy?" + +"That man," replied the quiet girl. "He's been following us for +some time." + +"Following us!" cried Betty. "What do you mean?" + +"I mean walking along the railroad track back of us." + +"Well, that may not mean he is following us. Probably he wants to get +somewhere, and the track is the shortest route." + +"He's looking down as though searching for something," said Mollie. + +"Maybe he's a track-walker," suggested Amy. + +"No, he isn't dressed like that," asserted Betty. She turned and looked +at the man. He seemed young, and had a clean-shaven face. He paid no +attention to the girls, but walked on, with head bent down. + +"We must soon stop for lunch," proposed Mollie. "I have not left it +behind this time," and she held out the small suitcase that contained the +provisions put up that morning. "I'm just dying for a cup of chocolate!" + +"We will eat soon," said Betty. "There's a nice place, just beyond that +trestle," and she pointed to a railroad bridge that crossed a small but +deep stream, the highway passing over it by another and lower structure. + +As the girls hurried on, the man passed them, off to the left and high on +the railroad embankment. He gave them not a glance, but hastened on with +head bent low. + +When he reached the middle of the high railroad bridge, or trestle over +the stream, he paused, stooped down and seemed to be tying his shoelace. +The girls watched him idly. + +Suddenly the roar of an approaching train was heard. The man looked up, +seemed startled, and then began to run toward the end of the bridge. + +It was a long structure and a high one, and, ere he had taken a dozen +steps over the ties, the train swept into sight around a curve. The road +was a single-track one, and on the narrow trestle there was no room for a +person to avoid the cars. + +"He'll be killed!" cried Mollie. + +Fascinated, the girls looked. On came the thundering train. The whistle +blew shrilly. The young man increased his pace, but it was easy to see +that he could not get off the bridge in time. + +Realizing this, he paused. Coming to the edge of the ties on the bridge, +he poised himself for a moment, and with a glance at the approaching +locomotive, which was now whistling continuously, the man leaped into the +stream below him. + +"Oh!" screamed Grace, and then she and the others looked on, almost +horrified, as the body shot downward. + +[Illustration: THE MAN LEAPED INTO THE STREAM.] + + + + +CHAPTER XXIII + +THE MAN'S STORY + + +There was a great splash, and the man disappeared under the water. It all +occurred suddenly, and the man must have made up his mind quickly that he +had not a chance to stay on the trestle when the train passed over it. + +"He'll be killed!" cried Mollie. "Oh, Betty, what can we do?" + +"Nothing, if he really is killed," answered the practical Little Captain. +"But he jumped like a man who knew how to do it, and how to dive. The +water is deep there." + +"Come on!" cried Amy, for once taking the initiative, and she darted +toward the bank of the stream. + +"There he is!" cried Betty. "He's come up!" + +As she spoke, the man's head bobbed into view, and, giving himself a +shake to rid his eyes of water, he struck out for the shore. + +"Oh, he's swimming! He's swimming!" Mollie exclaimed. "We must get him a +rope--a plank--anything! We'll help you!" she called, and she ran about +almost hysterically. + +The man was now swimming with long, even strokes. He seemed at home in +the water, even with his clothes on, and the long jump had evidently not +injured him in the least. + +He reached the bank, climbed up, and stood dripping before the four young +travelers. + +"Whew!" he gasped, taking off his coat and wringing some water from it. +"That was some jump! I had to do it, though!" + +"Indeed you were fortunate," said Betty. "Are you hurt?" + +"Not a bit--a little shaken up, that's all. I should not have been on +that bridge, as a section hand warned me a train was due, and the trestle +is very narrow. But I was taking a short cut. Railroads seem to bring me +bad luck. This is the second time, in a little while, that I've had +trouble on this same line." + +Grace was rummaging about in the valise she carried. + +"Where's our alcohol stove?" she demanded, of Mollie. + +"Why? What do you want of it?" + +"I'm going to make him a cup of hot chocolate. He must need it; +poor fellow!" + +"I'll help you," said Mollie, and the two set up the little heating +apparatus in the lee of a big rock. + +"Are you sure you're not hurt?" asked Betty, anxiously. + +"Oh, I'm all right," the man assured the girls. "I wish I had some dry +clothes. This is about the only suit I have. However, the sun will soon +dry them, but they'll need pressing." + +"We're making you some chocolate," spoke Grace. "It will be ready soon, +and keep you from getting cold." + +The man--he was young and good-looking--smiled, showing his even, +white teeth. + +"You seemed prepared for emergencies," he said to Betty. "Are you +professional travelers?" + +"Just on a walking tour. We're from Deepdale. We're going home to-morrow, +after stopping over night in Judgeville. We were just going to get our +noon-day lunch when we saw you jump." + +"Indeed," remarked the young man, who was now wringing out his vest. +"From Deepdale; eh? I've been through there on the train. This line runs +there; doesn't it?" and he motioned to the one he had so hastily left. + +"Yes," answered Betty. "But we never walk the track--though we did once +for a short distance." + +"And we found a broken rail, and told a flagman and he said the train +might have been wrecked," remarked Amy. + +It was the first she had spoken in some time. The young man looked at her +sharply--rather too long a look, Betty thought; but there was nothing +impertinent in it. + +"Railroads--or, rather, this one--have been the cause of two unpleasant +experiences to me," the young man went on. "I was nearly injured just +now, and not long ago I lost quite a sum of money on this line." + +At the mention of money Betty started. The others looked at her. + +"How did it happen?" asked Betty, and then of a sudden she stared at the +young man. "Excuse me, but, but--haven't we met before?" she stammered. + +"Sure!" he answered, readily. "You young ladies were kind enough to share +your lunch with me one day." + +"Oh!" cried Mollie. "But you--you looked different then!" + +"You had a mustache and long hair," murmured Amy. + +"That's right, so I did. But I had my hair cut day before yesterday and +the mustache taken off. Changes me quite a lot; doesn't it?" + +"Yes," replied Betty. "But you were saying something about losing money +on this line," she added, quickly. + +"Well, I was on my way to New York, expecting to complete a business +deal. I fell asleep in the car, for I was quite tired, and I guess I had +been thinking pretty hard on that business matter. You see a fellow +offered me an option on a small, but good, concern, for four hundred +dollars. I knew if I could clinch the deal, and get the option, that some +friends of mine would invest in it, and I'd have a good thing for myself. + +"Well, as I say, I fell asleep. Then I dreamed someone was trying to get +my pocketbook. It was a sort of nightmare, and I guess I struggled with +the dream-robber. Then, all of a sudden, I woke up, and--" + +"Was your pocketbook gone?" asked Mollie. + +"No, but my money was. And that was the funny part of it. How anyone +could get the money without taking the pocketbook I couldn't see. +And there wasn't anyone in the car with me but a boy--a peddler, I +think he was." + +The girls looked at each other. Matters were beginning to fit together +most strangely. + +"I didn't know what to do," the young man went on. "I didn't want to say +anything that would seem as if I accused the boy, and I felt the same +about the trainmen. I knew if I said the money had been taken and the +pocketbook left they would only laugh at me. I was all knocked out, and +hardly knew what I was doing. I jumped off the train, and went back over +the line, thinking the bill might have blown out of the window. But--" + +"That is just what did happen!" cried Betty. + +"What's that?" the man exclaimed, excitedly. + +"I say that is exactly what happened!" went on the Little Captain. "At +least, that is how I account for it." + +"What sort of a bill did you lose?" asked Mollie, trying not to +get excited. + +"It was one of five hundred dollars, and--" + +"Did it have a--anything pinned to it?" exclaimed Betty. + +"It did--a note. Wait, I can tell you what it said on it." He hesitated a +moment and then repeated word for word the writing on the note pinned to +the bill the girls had picked up. "But I don't see how you know this!" he +added, wonderingly. + +"We know--because we found your five hundred dollar bill!" exclaimed +Betty. + + + + +CHAPTER XXIV + +BY TELEGRAPH + + +The man stared at the girls as if he could not believe what Betty had +said. A strange look came over his face. + +"If this is a joke, please drop it," he began. "I am almost crazy as it +is. I don't know what I am doing. I--" + +"It isn't a joke!" declared Betty. "It may sound strange, but it's all +true. We did find your bill, under the railroad bridge in Deepdale. It's +in my father's safe now." + +"That's great--it's fine. I'd given it up long ago. I advertised, and put +up a notice in the post-office, and--" + +"Yes, my mother wrote me about it," said Betty. "But she did not give +your address, for some naughty boys tore it off the notice." + +"And do you really think someone tried to rob you?" asked Mollie. + +"I don't know what to think," frankly admitted the young man. "There was +a boy in the same car--" + +"He never took it!" exclaimed Grace. + +"How do you know?" the young man asked. + +"Because we met that boy, and he told us just how you acted when you +discovered your loss. Besides, that boy is thoroughly honest." + +"Say, is there anything about my case that you girls don't know?" asked +the young man with a smile. "But before I go any further, perhaps I had +better introduce myself--" + +"Oh, we know your name!" exclaimed Betty. + +"You do? And you never saw me before?" + +"You forget that your name was signed to the notice in the +post-office--Mr. Blackford," and Betty blushed. + +"That's so. But I don't know your names, and, if it's not too +impertinent, after the service you have rendered me--" + +"We'll tell you--certainly," interrupted Betty, and she introduced +herself and her chums. + +"I suppose you will wonder how I played the part of a tramp," said the +young man. "I will tell you why. I was almost out of my mind, and I +imagined that by going around looking ragged I might pick up some news of +my lost money from the tramps along the railroad." + +Then he told of how he had started to write a letter, stating he could +not buy the business he was after, and had then torn the letter up, +because he still hoped to find the bill and get control of the business. + +"And we found part of that letter," cried Betty. "We tried to find you, +too, but you had disappeared." + +"Indeed. I know how that happened--I took a short cut through the woods." + +"The chocolate is ready!" called Grace, a little later. "Won't you have +some, Mr. Blackford?" + +"Thank you, I will. Say, but you young ladies are all right. Do you do +this sort of thing often?" + +"Well, we like to be outdoors," explained Betty, as she handed him a cup +of the hot beverage. "We like to take long walks, but this is the first +time we ever went on a tour like this." + +"And we've had the _best_ time!" exclaimed Mollie. + +"And _such_ adventures," added Grace. "Will you have more chocolate?" + +"No, thank you. That was fine. Now I must try and get dry. But I'm used +to this sort of thing. I'm from the West, and I've been in more than +one flood." + +"You have!" cried Amy, and the others knew of what she was thinking--her +own case. "I hope he didn't have the same sort of trouble I had, though," +she thought. + +"Perhaps if you were to walk along your clothes would dry quicker," said +Betty. "And if you went on to Judgeville you might be able to get a +tailor to press them." + +"Thanks, I believe I will. That is, if you don't mind being seen with +such a disreputable figure as I cut." + +"Of course we don't mind!" declared Betty. "We are getting rather +travel-stained ourselves." + +"Our trunks will be waiting for us at your cousin's house, Betty," spoke +Grace, for it was there they were to spend the last night of their now +nearly finished tour. "We can freshen up," went on the girl who loved +candy, "and enter into town in style. I hope mamma put in my new gown and +another pair of shoes." + +"Grace Ford! You don't mean that you'd put on a new dress to finish up +this walking excursion in, do you?" asked Mollie. + +"Certainly I shall. We don't know who we might meet as we get into +Deepdale." + +"We will hardly get in before dusk," said Betty. "From Judgeville there +is the longest stretch of all, nearly twenty-two miles." + +"Oh, dear!" groaned Grace. "We'll never do it. Why did you arrange for +such a long walk, Betty?" + +"I couldn't help it. There were no other relatives available, and I +couldn't have any made to order. There was no stopping place between here +and home." + +"Oh, I dare say I can stand it," murmured Grace. "But I guess I won't +wear my new shoes in that case. Twenty-two miles!" + +"It is quite a stretch," said Mr. Blackford. + +He helped Grace put away the alcohol stove, and the cups in which the +chocolate had been served. They were washed in the little stream, and +would be cleansed again at the house of Betty's cousin. + +"You haven't asked us when we are going to give you that five hundred +dollar bill," said Mollie, as they started for Judgeville. + +"Well," spoke Mr. Blackford, with a laugh, "I didn't want to seem too +anxious. I knew that it was safe where you had put it, Miss Nelson," and +he looked at Betty. "Besides, I have been without it so long now that it +seems almost as if I never had it. And from all the good it is going to +do me, perhaps I might be better off without it now." + +"We didn't exactly understand what you meant by the note you wrote," +said Betty. + +"Well, I'll tell you how that was," he said, frankly. "You see, I was +left considerable money by a rich relative, but I had bad luck. Maybe I +didn't have a good business head, either. Anyhow, I lost sum after sum in +investments that didn't pan out, and in businesses that failed. I got +down to my last big bill, and then I heard of this little business I +could get control of in New York. + +"I said I'd make that my last venture, and to remind myself how +desperate my chances were I just jotted down those words, and pinned the +note to the bill. Then I must have gotten excited in my dream. I know +just before I fell asleep I kept taking the bill out of the pocketbook, +and looking at it to make sure I had it. I might have done that while +half asleep, and it blew out of the window. That's how it probably +happened, and you girls picked up the money. I can't thank you enough. +But I'm afraid it will come to me too late to use as I had intended," +the man went on, with a sigh. + +"Why?" asked Betty. + +"Because the option on the business I was going to buy expires at +midnight to-night, and as you say the five hundred dollars is in +Deepdale, I don't see how I am going to get it in time to be of +any service." + +"Isn't that too bad!" cried Amy. + +"And we might have brought it with us," said Mollie. + +"Only we didn't think it would be wise to carry that sum with us," spoke +Grace. "And we never thought the owner of it would jump off a railroad +trestle right in front of us," she added, with a laugh. + +"No, of course not," admitted Mr. Blackford, drily. "You couldn't foresee +that. Neither could I. Well, it can't be helped. Maybe it will be for the +best in the end. I'll have the five hundred, anyhow, and perhaps I can +find some other business. But I did want to get this one on which I had +the option. However, there's no help for it." + +A sudden light of resolve came into Betty's eyes. She confronted the +owner of the bill. + +"There's no need for you to lose your option!" she exclaimed. + +"But I don't see how I can get the money in time. I might if I had an +airship; but to go to Deepdale, and then to New York with it, is out of +the question." + +"No!" cried Betty. "We can do it by telegraph! I've just thought of a way +out. You can take up that option yet, Mr. Blackford!" + + + + +CHAPTER XXV + +BACK HOME + + +Betty Nelson's chums stared at her. So did Mr. Blackford. Betty herself, +with flushed cheeks and flashing eyes, looked at them all in turn. Her +idea had stimulated her. + +"What--how--I don't see--" stammered Mr. Blackford. "If you--" + +"It's this way!" cried Betty, all enthusiasm. "You know you can transfer +money by telegraph in a very short time--it only takes a few minutes to +do it--really it's quicker than an airship," and she smiled at Mr. +Blackford. + +"That's so," he admitted. "I see now." + +"I'll have my father telegraph the five hundred dollars to me at +Judgeville," explained Betty. "Then I can give it to you, and you can +telegraph it to your business man in New York. It is sure to reach +there before midnight, and you can take up your option, if that is the +proper term." + +"It is--very proper," said Mr. Blackford. "I believe you have the right +idea, Miss Nelson. I should have thought of that myself, but that shows +I am really not a good business man." + +"Now let's hurry on to town," proceeded Betty. "We haven't any too +much time." + +It was rather an astonished telegraph operator who, a little later, was +confronted by four pretty girls, a man who looked as if he had been in a +shipwreck, and a much-flustered lady. The latter was Betty's cousin, at +whose house the girls had stopped. It was necessary for the recipient of +the money to be identified, and this Betty's cousin, who knew the +operator, agreed to look after. + +There was a little delay, but not much, and soon Mr. Blackford was in a +position to take up his option. A local bank, where the telegraph concern +did business, paid over the five hundred in cash, and four hundred of +this was at once sent on to New York, by telegraph. + +"I hope it reaches my man," said Mr. Blackford. "I have told him to +wire me here." + +A little later word was received that the transaction had been +successfully carried out. Mr. Blackford could now get control of +the business. + +"And it's all due to you young ladies!" he said, gratefully. "I don't +know how to thank you. You are entitled to a reward--" + +"Don't you dare mention it!" cried Betty, + +"Well, some day I'll pay you back for all you did for me!" he exclaimed, +warmly. "I won't forget. And now that I have some money to spare, I'm +going to get a new suit of clothes." + +He said good-bye to the girls, promising to see them again some time, and +then he left, having made arrangements to go on to New York and finish up +his business affairs. + +"Well, now that it is all over, won't you come on to the house and have +supper?" said Betty's cousin, as they came out of the telegraph office. +"I must say, you girls know how to do things." + +"Oh, you can always trust Betty for that," said Mollie. + +"It just did itself," declared Betty. "Everything seemed to work out of +its own accord from the time we found the five hundred dollar bill." + +"But you helped a lot," insisted Amy. + +"Indeed she did," added Grace. + +"Well, our walking tour will soon be over," Betty said as they neared her +cousin's house. "We'll be home to-morrow. We've had lots of fun, and I +think it has done us all good. We'll soon be home." + +"But not without a long walk," said Grace, with a sigh. "I wonder what we +shall do next? We must keep out of doors." + +"We have a long vacation before us--all summer," said Amy. "I do wish we +could spend it together." + +"Maybe we can," said Betty. "We'll see." + +And how the four chums enjoyed the vacation that was opening may be +learned by reading the next volume of this series, which will be entitled +"The Outdoor Girls at Rainbow Lake; Or, The Stirring Cruise of the Motor +Boat _Gem._" + +The stay of the girls at the home of Betty's cousin was most enjoyable. +They remained two nights, instead of one, sending word of the change of +their plans to their parents. Then, early in the morning, they started +for home on the last stage of their tour. + +"Twenty-two miles!" sighed Grace, as they set out. "Oh, dear!" + +But they were not destined to walk all the way. About five miles from +town they saw a big touring car approaching, and as it neared them they +beheld Will Ford and his chum Frank in it. + +"Hurray!" cried Grace's brother. + +"Welcome to our city!" added Frank. "Get in and we'll take you home +in style." + +"Oh, you boys!" cried Betty, but she and the others got in. Off they +started, all of them seemingly talking at once, and in a short time they +arrived at Deepdale. They attracted considerable attention as they passed +through the town in the car Will and Frank had hired to honor the members +of the Camping and Tramping Club. + +"But it rather spoiled our record, I think," said Betty. "We were to +walk all the way." + +"Oh, we walked enough," declared Grace. "I did, anyhow," and she glanced +at her shoes. + +"But it was fun!" exclaimed Amy. + +"Glorious!" cried Mollie. + +A little later the four tourists were warmly welcomed at their respective +homes, later meeting for a general jollification at Mollie's house. + +"Oh, you dears!" cried Betty, trying to caress the twins, Paul and Dodo, +both at once. "And we saw the dearest little lost girl. Shall I tell you +about her?" + +"Dive us tum tandy fust," said Dodo, fastening her big eyes on Grace. "Us +'ikes tandy--don't us, Paul?" + +"Us do," was the gurgling answer, and Grace brought out her confections. + +And, now that the four girls are safely at home again, we will take +leave of them. + + + +***END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE OUTDOOR GIRLS OF DEEPDALE *** + + +******* This file should be named 10465.txt or 10465.zip ******* + + +This and all associated files of various formats will be found in: +https://www.gutenberg.org/1/0/4/6/10465 + + +Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions +will be renamed. + +Creating the works from public domain print editions means that no +one owns a United States copyright in these works, so the Foundation +(and you!) can copy and distribute it in the United States without +permission and without paying copyright royalties. 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